Belmont at recordBar, Kansas City MO (2026-07-20) Photos

Between you and me, they nearly leveled the recordBar-

Chicago pop-punk metalcore band Belmont needed less than an hour to lay waste to downtown Kansas City for a recordBar stop on their Between You & Me 10-Year Anniversary Tour, playing their breakout EP in its entirety, alongside unreleased live tracks.

Opening support from Major League, Spite House, and All In Ur Head made the evening a full one and between darting and weaving to escape damage to his gear, our photographer captured the headliners in brutal but brilliant black and white, as the music demanded it.

Belmont formed back in 2014 between high school friends and they mix their pop-punk style with metalcore, some jazz-like fusion, a dash of hip-hop, and electronic elements. The core group features vocalist Taz Johnson, multi-instrumentalist Brian Lada, and guitarist Jason Inguagiato and are currently signed to Pure Noise Records.

Their breakout EP helped built their early underground with a self-titled full length released in 2018 followed by Aftermath (2022), Liminal (2024) & and 2025’s Last To Love EP.

The quartet was always known for their high-energy shows and with recent performances like this- lean, fun, restless and technically tight, they’re helping define the standard for bands of any similar ilk.

2022 fan favorite, “Bowser’s Castle” opened the set, with the crowd immediately crushing and swaying, and fans shouting the lyrics back at the band. The first half of the set flew by with selections from their three albums then settled in just past the halfway point, with the 2016 EP in its entirety as circle pits continued to move.

Fans reacted with the joy and loyalty as if they’d been listening to the EP regularly over the last decade, especially responding on favorite, “Overstepping” and the band ended the night strong, encoring with “Pushing Daises” from their self-titled full length.

Complex but making it look easy, the band’s tempo changes and fills are actually more difficult than they let on, but the overwhelming sense of fun and a collective release between performers and audience, made the music seem effortless.

Belmont‘s 2026 tour is a reminder that truly great live bands that choose to commemorate certain works don’t simply mimic what they’ve already put on record—they elevate the work and evolve it into a more interactive experience, to share with the audience that chose to include it as part of the soundtrack of their lives.

A quick round-up of the openers-

Major League is a pop-punk and emo band, which began in Mantua Township, NJ in 2009 by guitarist Brian Joyce and original vocalist Nick Trask.

Their DIY ethos, constant touring, and early EPs like The Truth Is… and Variables increased their fan base and got them signed to No Sleep Records, where they released albums until disbanding in 2016. It’s been only since last November, that the band has reunited and has been back playing live. They even managed to work in a Blind Melon cover during their set.

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Spite House is a Montreal-based post-hardcore and punk-infused band formed by Max Lajoie, Marc Tremblay, and Nabil Ortega after vocalist/guitarist Lajoie unexpectedly lost his mother to cancer.

Their self-titled debut LP was released in 2022 (via New Morality Zine) and explored themes of life being too short to live in fear, with some individual songs and 2023’s Just For a While (Live Plus Two) EP following. Last year’s Desertion is their sophomore full-length album (via Pure Noise Records) and addresses deeper reflections on long-standing tragedy and loss.

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all in ur head is a Portland, OR alt pop-punk band formed in 2023 by the married duo of Travcon (Travis Jeffrey Bennett) and Sammi (Samantha DiPilato Bennett). The pair met on the dating app Hinge, eventually married, and were making music together, in more ways than one.

Their debut EP, Hope is Gone, was released in December 2023 and the duo put out their 5-song EP, LM4D in late February, which includes songs, “Leave This Grave,” “Fake Feelings,” and “Fuk u (& this world)”.

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National / International act coming through the Midwest / Kansas City area? Please email details to johnc@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time to be considered for Show Preview and Show Coverage consideration.