Happy Fits • Krooked Kings • Double Standard • November 21, 2025 • The Complex
Reviewed and Photographed by Amelia Weyerstall
The Complex in Salt Lake City was filled with excited fans of The Happy Fits. SLC locals Krooked Kings, one of the openers, played a homecoming show. And Double Standard opened up the evening for The Happy Fits.
Double Standard
The New York-based band, Double Standard, delivered an energetic start to the night. Lead singer Lydia Eberling introduced the incredible 5-piece band to the SLC crowd in the sweetest way before playing their most popular song, “I’m gonna introduce the band if that’s okay, Ladies and gentlemen give it up for Meg on the drums. Salt Lake City, can we give a very warm welcome for Zoe on bass, and give it up for Siena on guitar, and I want to hear you loud and clear for Lauren on guitar, my name is Lydia, and our name is Double Standard, and this is American Psycho.”
Double Standard had such a fun vibe on stage. They incorporated the audience into the playfulness of their set. Eberling said, “There’s a very important question we ask at every show that you’re required to play along on. We have a song with a very simple question, as its title, and you have to answer it, but it’s a trick question, and there’s only one answer to it. “Do you want to kiss me or not?” which of course then became the intro to the song.
The incredible vocals of both Lydia and Siena mesmerized the crowd, and the love they shared for the other bands warmed the hearts of the crowd. “We just wanted to thank the Happy Fits for having us on this tour. We’ve been having the most fun getting to play in cities we’ve never gotten to before. We’re double standard. We put out our debut EP back in April. We’ve only been a band for like a year, so we’re just stoked to get to play rooms like this with people like you, so thank you for being so nice to us.” and then concluded their set by including the crowd in their last song.
“For this last song, I’m going to need you to promise me that you’ll sing it back to me. So the words are, I think I’ve been waiting for you. I’m going to say it. You’re going to say it. “I think I’ve been waiting for you”. I think I’ve been waiting for you.” this was a perfect way to include the crowd in their fun and get the crowd excited for the next performers.
Krooked Kings
Krooked Kings started off their set by playing “Lying Through Their Teeth” and saying, “Thank you Salt Lake City, we are Krooked Kings, we are from Salt Lake City, it feels good to be home.” The SLC crowd was extremely welcoming to Krooked Kings. Their indie vibe fits perfectly with their themes of coming of age. Funny enough one of their most popular songs and my personal favorite is titled “Coming of Age”. Their fun stage presence and Utah Indie style draw fans into their lyrics, melodies, and bass riffs.
Krooked Kings formed when vocalist Oliver Martin and guitarist Paul Colgan attended the University of Utah together in Salt Lake City. They were then joined by David Macey on keys, Matthew Monosson on bass, and finally Quinn Casper on drums, creating what is now known as Krooked Kings. Since their formation, they have played at one of the biggest events Salt Lake has to offer musicians in Kilby Block Party, as well as toured all around the U.S. and the world.
Krooked Kings loved their hometown crowd, saying repeatedly how good it felt to be home and play for the crowd. Krooked Kings was so sweet to their fans, offering a meet and greet at their merch booth after their set, where fans could take photos and have the band sign some merch for fans. People definitely took them up on this offer, and a huge line formed to meet the hometown artists.
Tons of people in the crowd were there to see Krooked Kings, and most of the crowd knew the words to at least their most popular songs, like “Catecombs” and “Headhunters”. It was evident that people truly felt their lyrics and were singing/screaming them back to the band. Krooked Kings are a must-see local Utah band because of the fun energy they bring to their sets and the nostalgic feelings they produce for their crowds.
The Happy Fits
The Happy Fits brought their infectious energy to the Salt Lake City crowd. Their set started before they even came out onto the stage when “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You played on the speaker system, which the crowd instantly started singing along to the famous song. When The Happy Fits jumped out onto the stage and the crowd went wild, loving the energy the band brought to the stage. Lead singer and cellist Calvin Langman started the night off by saying, “Salt Lake, we want to see you moving, are you ready for that?”
The whole show was themed after the new album “Lovesick,” having a banner on the back of the stage with the album cover, with most of the songs being from that album. Guitarist Reina Mullen asked the crowd a very important question during the night, “Are you lovesick? Well, someone in this room is more lovesick than anybody else in this room. You think it’s you? You think it’s you? You think it’s you? So we asked you guys to leave us a voicemail about why you’re lovesick. And I think this person takes the cake.”
This then started a voicemail that said, “You go on a cruise and meet the guy of your dreams, have a three-month fifties romance, and he asks you to marry him. Then he cheats on you for the girl you didn’t have to worry about. Then the happy fits writes black hole with some of the exact words he said to you. Consider me lovesick.” The voicemail was a super cute way to incorporate the crowd.
Later in the show, Mullen said, “We just released a new album called Lovesick. Have you heard of it? That’s great. Sounds like they liked it. Did anyone come to the show with something that they love? a chance to make out for the entire song. You get one song, and that’s it, all right? You can make out there, I know there’s songs too. This is a love song, it’s called I Can Stare At You For Hours.
I wrote it for my girlfriend Kayla before we started dating. She would come over to my apartment, and we would just talk on my couch for hours. And I was like, man, she’s way too beautiful for me to even think about making a move. Instead, I was like, I guess it’s alright if I just stare at her. You know, in retrospect, it’s a little bit creepy. Now that we’re together, a little less so.” This made the audience awe with how sweet the story was, and how it was extremely relatable to everyone’s “having a crush” feelings.
The Happy Fits had very interesting ways to introduce songs and were very on theme for the fall season, “Salt Lake City. Make some noise if you’re excited for Thanksgiving. Me too. I’m sad I’m going to be on the road instead of in my kitchen making my favorite Thanksgiving foods like mashed potatoes and gravy, and apple sauce. Meatball slugs. Meatball subs, from Moochies. More gravy. I think that’s everything I’m bringing to Thanksgiving. Luke, what are you bringing?” “Dude, I’m bringing some cold turkey,” replied drummer, Luke Davis, starting off their hit song “Cold Turkey” and definitely had the crowd feeling the Thanksgiving.
Lots of the band’s songs contain love themes, happy about love, and sad about love. A cute moment of crowd engagement. “All right, I say we pick it back up, yeah? It’s freezing outside, and I want everyone to leave sweaty so it doesn’t feel so bad. We’re gonna do a little contest right now. If you’re a couple in this room and you think you’ve been together longer than any other couple, make some noise. How long? How long for you guys, yeah? Fifteen! Can anyone be? We got in the back, how long? 27. Wow. Can anyone be 27? Yeah. First date. All right. You’re getting there. Wow. I got to clean my car yesterday. He’s an awesome dude. What a G. Well, to the 27-year couple, please give us some tips and tricks after the show.
This next song is about how we… Oh, 40! I’m sorry, you guys have been dethroned. We got 40 up there, okay! Well, this next song is about how we fight sometimes in relationships, and how, being together for so long with the same person, sometimes, every day, you can start to feel the same. You can start to feel like a lull, kind of how there’s like a lull in the set right now. And you’re kind of just begging deep down inside to be shaken. You know Salt Lake? Can you shake me, Salt Lake?”
The Happy Fits are huge on community within their fanbase. The whole band has so much love for the Salt Lake crowd, saying, “The first tours we ever did, we were playing to like 10 people a night. And, you know, we weren’t sure if this was cut for us. And we came to Salt Lake, and we played Kilby Court. And the 30 people that were there were giving us everything they had. And they kept us going. So Salt Lake, thank you.”
They then shared some of the band’s core values, “Salt Lake, I want to give a shout out to anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community who are coming out tonight. Louisiana, we love you! We had a really awesome fan meet for us today. (holds up a trans flag with The Happy Fits painted onto it. I think it’s the coolest thing in the world. You’re amazing. We’ve been doing a cool thing on this tour where every stop we’ve been donating a portion of our merchandise to a local organization that supports LGBTQ rights and supports building communities. If you want a little more about that, go check out Kayla at the merch table over there. We got three songs left for you, Salt Lake! Can you give me everything you got? I said, Can you give me everything you got?”
The Happy Fits, Krooked Kings, and Double Standard brought the energy. They were electric, and the crowd loved them.