Donora I’ve heard of before. I saw their name on the schedule at the defunct Kobo Live in early 2013 (or was it late 2012)? Somewhat ironically, though their music halfway piqued my attention at the time I wouldn’t get to see them until I didn’t live within walking distance of that venue anymore. When I finally saw them Kobo had been replaced by the slick Spacebar.

The band is sunny indie pop. The outfit of singer Casey Hanner seemed to reflect the demeanor of the music – bright. Colorful. Even the mood lighting of Spacebar seemed to give off a different vibe that evening. The dim lighting of the array of Edison bulbs above the band made me think of a sunrise. While the tunes weren’t super memorable right off the bat, the band – only a stone’s throw away in Pittsburgh – seemed to have a small legion of fans in attendance. Interestingly, the looming presence of the two Jakes who rounded out the band was kind of ironic. Two burly guys playing lighthearted tunes? Nothing wrong with that!

The evening was rounded out by Columbus indie favorites Damn the Witch Siren and Way Yes. Both are heavyweights in Columbus at the moment, with the former being more of a buzz band (and favorite of the local press) and the latter having demonstrated staying power. Don’t get me wrong – I think, given the pedigree of DTWS – they will stick around too. Anyway, DTWS played a set very similar to what’s been the norm for the past few months. Highlights from this particular set included “Imagination” and “Life Like Movies.” The band still struggles a bit with their transitions, although some of that I chalk up to their beefed up stage set up – they had some additional lighting this time. A lot for 2 people to handle!

Way Yes drew without question the largest crowd of the night, although the room was hardly empty earlier. Tonight’s performance made me think of the contrast in personalities in the band. For example, the outgoing Tim Horak (who also drums in Van Dale) preferred to quietly hold his own in the back. On the flip side, I’m used to observing Max Lewis solemnly preside over the room from his perch in the audio engineer’s booth – not breaking concentration, and largely remaining expressionless. Live, as the percussionist on the front end of the stage, he tends to let loose with his body language more. Of course, the music sounded great too. I recognized several favorites from 2013’s Tog Pebbles.