Annoyed by the relative softness of a band opening for Drug Church at recordBar last week, I hiked several blocks to catch a bit of Kansas City’s premier Bill Evans acolyte at Voo Lounge. The swing associated with pianist Michael Pagán is the pinnacle of American elegance. The Berlin based Swiss pianist Marie Krüttli is also capable of playing pretty. Joined by bassist Lukas Traxel and drummer Gautier Garrigue, Krüttli balances beauty with coarseness on the new album Scoria. Not beholden to American jazz tradition, Krüttli’s trio possesses a rhythmic and sonic freedom capable of shocking listeners in North America. Not free but altogether liberated, Scoria’s thorniest improvisations are no less ferocious than the repertoire of Drug Church.
Concert Review: Militarie Gun, Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spaced at recordBar
Original image of Militarie Gun by There Stands the Glass.
I’ve never listened to Jethro Tull’s 1976 album Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die, but an inversion of the title came to me as I was repeatedly jostled by the outer ripples of the mosh pit at recordBar on Sunday, February 25. I’m not too old to rock ‘n’ roll: I’m not too young to die.
Ten years older than the second most aged person in the capacity audience of 400, I knew I looked out of place. As a weirdo who attended his first punk show more than 45 years ago, the noise made by Militarie Gun, Pool Kids, Spiritual Cramp and Spacing is an integral part of my musical DNA.
I fell in love with Militarie Gun’s shouty form of punk when I first encountered it on Sham 69’s "Hurry Up Harry" in 1978. As Militarie Gun put it in 2023, Harry should "Do It Faster".
Pool Kids’ technical emo sent me back to Warped Tour circa 2012. I don't care for its style, but the quartet’s infectious exuberance won me over. On the other hand, Spiritual Cramp hooked me from the get-go. Its furious garage-rock is precisely my thing.
The three-and-a-half hour show began with a blast of hardcore fun from Spaced. As it’s from the underground punk world I’ve rediscovered and gratefully inhabited in the aftermath of the pandemic, the Buffalo band brought me full circle.
Concert Review: Blackstarkids at recordBar
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
I’ve been in a funk since returning to Kansas City following a brief residency in Portland. The malaise has been particularly frustrating because I’m not experiencing an immediate crisis. A sweaty encounter with a buoyant pop band may have cured what ails me at recordBar on Monday, September 26.
Bouncing to the giddy ditties of Blackstarkids felt liberating, but an incident directly related to the Kansas City trio is the root cause of a portion of my emotional impairment. I met with Deiondre, Gabe and Ty at a coffee shop in March of 2020 to verify their willingness to participate in a radio feature.
I was elated. The profile about the then-unknown band almost certainly would have been my best work for an NPR affiliate. Yet when I attempted to book studio time, I was informed the nascent pandemic forced the cessation of all such activity. I have yet to recover from the setback.
In spite of my involuntary betrayal, Deiondre told me last night that my enthusiastic confidence in his band’s prospects bolstered it in an uncertain moment. Ostensibly rejected by hometown record labels, Blackstarkids subsequently signed to the hit-making London based Dirty Hit consortium.
Anticipating a sellout, I paid $15 for a ticket when the show was announced last month. Yet the hometown celebration attracted less than 150 people. Blackstarkids displayed a dazzling stage presence developed through steady touring with more prominent acts for the small audience of friends, family and true believers.
Balancing the slaphappy frivolity of K-pop with the unsettling anxiety associated with members of the Odd Future collective, renditions of songs including “Love, Stargirl” soothed my heavy heart. Ty referred to Gabe as “the future of music” near the end of the show. Here’s hoping all three kids change the world.
Concert Review: Live Skull at recordBar
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
Three notable post-punk touring bands performed at separate venues within a half-mile radius of one another in Kansas City on Saturday, September 24. I passed on Gwar at Grinder’s KC because I’m an adult. I skipped Dinosaur Jr. because I’d already been pummeled by the band two or three times. But I’d never previously had an opportunity to catch Live Skull.
I’ve been a fan of the New York City no-wave pioneers since buying the groundbreaking Speed Trials compilation as a new release in 1985. About three dozen old heads paid $12 to hear the underground legends play a 60-minute headlining set at recordBar. Forty years after its inception, Live Skull still sounds all wrong in all the right ways.
Live Skull was ahead of its time. Not surprisingly, dust hasn’t accumulated on its jagged blend of reverse funk and discriminating noise. The enhanced musical proficiency that comes with age hasn’t diminished the band’s visceral impact. The tense interplay among the current lineup causes Live Skull to seem every bit as dangerous as it did in the 1980s.
Concert Review: Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions at Farewell
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
A music industry powerbroker heard me whine about the multitude of touring acts passing over Kansas City at recordBar six weeks ago. He mockingly reminded me of my complaint when I saw him at Farewell on Thursday, September 1.
Late-arriving punk fans were turned away at the door of the sold-out, cutting-edge show. I was among the last of the several dozen people to pay the $10 cover charge allowing admittance into the small venue to hear three disparate bands.
The ostensibly anarchist politics of the Barcelona band Algara were lost on me, but I adored the voluble delivery of the headliner’s vocalist. The quartet’s timeless attack was accompanied by small-scale crowd surfing and stage diving.
The response to P.S.Y.W.A.R. was even more frenetic. I later initiated a pointless argument by insisting the Kansas City band plays metal rather than punk, but each participant in the debate agreed the band’s martial-themed noise is effective.
An exhilarating blend of no wave and industrial music, the sound of Kansas City’s New Obsessions is more complex. As indicated by the accompanying photo, the duo of local notable Jorge Arana and his brother Luis also makes a striking visual impression.
I don’t regret busting the chops of the owner of the new venue on Thursday, but I hope he knows I’m appreciative of his endeavor. He and his associates at Farewell have dramatically improved the quality of Kansas City’s music scene in recent months.
Concert Review: Show Me the Body with Soul Glo, Wifi Gawd, Ebony Tusks and Piss Kinks at recordBar
Original image of Piss Kinks by There Stands the Glass.
A five-band bill at recordBar on Wednesday, July 13, confirmed that multi-genre shows are the best shows. More than 300 people paid $25 apiece to experience the four-hour showcase of experimental punk and hip-hop.
The eventful evening opened with the farewell performance of the furious Kansas City quartet Piss Kinks. Skin was bared, instruments were abused and ears were violated.
Ebony Tusks, a Kansas trio that seemingly shares my belief that Yeezus is the best Kanye West album, followed. I’d previously witnessed the industrial hip-hop crew fizzle in front of befuddled spectators, but the members of Ebony Tusks had Wednesday’s crowd in the palms of their hands.
WifiGawd didn’t stand a chance following Ebony Tusks’ triumph. I didn’t care for the marijuana-obsessed Washington D.C. rapper before Wednesday. I like him even less after enduring his cliche-ridden outing.
Stage diving began in earnest during screamo revivalists Soul Glo’s dynamic set. One of the breakout bands of 2022, the Philadelphians almost lived up to the hype. Traces of Gang of Four make the headlining band Show Me the Body an even more interesting proposition.
Yet the atmosphere suddenly turned sinister during the New York band’s brief headlining appearance. A couple creeps insisted on rubbing their sopping-wet t-shirts on each of the 200 people still in the building. A young woman separated from her friends openly wept.
Violence on and around the stage resulted in at least two contested ejections and what appeared to be a fan’s broken nose. The chaos appealed to me. After all, both rock and roll and hip-hop are supposed to be dangerous.
Kansas City's Ten Best Music Venues
Original image by There Stands the Glass.
Uninformed trash talk in the comment section of a radio station’s social media post about a local music venue irritated me last week. While I’m not free of bias, my longtime patronage of performances ranging from rap to opera makes me uniquely qualified to assess Kansas City’s live music landscape. Additional commendable spaces would obviously be included on an expanded list. The primary genres associated with each establishment are in parentheses.
1. Knuckleheads
Improbably transforming from a motorcycle repair shop into a sprawling music complex with four stages, Knuckleheads is the authentic roadhouse the House of Blues franchise pretends to be. (Blues, country, oldies.)
Kansas City’s most popular presenter of jazz features more than 70 hours of live music every week. The adjacent Black Dolphin and Orion Room supplement the primary stage. (Jazz.)
3. The Ship
The bohemian West Bottom establishment renowned for good vibes just added a larger stage to an upscale annex. (Soul, country, jazz.)
Kansas City doesn’t possess the natural splendor of cities like Denver and San Francisco, but the expansive al fresco amphitheater in Swope Park is very pretty. (Musicals and popular touring acts.)
5. recordBar
Every big city has a go-to rock club. An excellent sound system and loyal staff help make the downtown venue Kansas City’s top intimate room for touring bands and local rock-and-rollers. (Rock, hip-hop, pop.)
The absence of a Kansas City landmark on this list isn’t an oversight. Cowtown’s arts scene has its own version of the fable about the unclothed emperor. The Folly Theater has substantially better acoustics than the two halls of the more prestigious performing arts center. (Classical, jazz, oldies.)
The theater below the coffee shop is Kansas City’s finest listening room. There’s no need to go hungry or thirsty as music is played. Burgers and drinks are available in the adjacent tavern. (Jazz, poetry comedy.)
On its best nights, the venue operated by the American Jazz Museum offers the sounds and ambience that travelers from Europe and Asia hope to experience while visiting Kansas City. (Jazz, soul, blues.)
The authentic Kansas City- not the splashy metropolis depicted by tourism bureaus- is exemplified by the earthy roadhouse serving up savory barbecue and beer-soaked blues. (Blues.)
10. The Black Box
The flexible indoor/outdoor space in the West Bottoms is a relative newcomer to Kansas City’s live music scene. (Rock, hip-hop, jazz.)