Plenty of KC area concert news to digest…
First, as pointed out by Hearne a few days ago before any formal press release, it seems that the worst named music festival ever will not be returning for a second year. Instead, the Kanrocksas organizers claim they’re taking a year off "Due to a major construction project at Kansas Speedway during the summer of 2012."
They say they’ll be back in 2013, but I put the odds of that at about 50/50.
Also, last week 96.5 the Buzz announced the lineup for their annual Beach Ball, which is being held again this year at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in KCK. The schedule is about as impressive as I’ve seen the Buzz put together, at least for the last 6 or 7 years.
Headliners include The Shins, Foster the People, Flogging Molly, Sublime With Rome, Metric, The Kooks, and a few others. The show takes place on June 2nd and tickets start at just $20!
That just happens to be the weekend of Wakarusa, so I’ll be interested to see how the shows might end up affecting each other.
On to this weeks picks…
Friday, February 24th
The Fourth of July & The ACBs at the Brick in KC
My two favorite local indie pop bands come together again for one show in the Crossroads. Both of these bands’ latest albums are the type that will get stuck in your cd player- if you still have one – and your head.
The ACBs latest effort, Stona Rosa, is a journey into washed out slacker pop that features some seriously high falsetto vocals and catchy as hell riffs. The first time I saw these guys live I thought of Weezer’s Pinkerton, but after the last time I caught them at the Jackpot they seemed more like a cross between Vampire Weekend and Foster the People. If you like indie (whatever that even means anymore), these guys are the best local band doing it right now.
The Fourth of July is a bit different, a bit more folky, and with a more mellow, lo-fi vibe. Their latest album, Until Our Hearts Explode, simply kicks ass. The songs are all about failed relationships, drinking beer in Lawrence, and sleeping around. A definite plus is the male and female harmonies that weave themselves through their tales of missed connections.
So mess up your hair, put on a sweatshirt with an eagle on it, and get your ass out to the Brick.
Saturday, February 25th
The Reverend Horton Heat at the Bottleneck in Lawrence
How does one describe the good Reverend? It’s not as easy as you think. Well, let’s see, he kind of created the genre now known as psychobilly. What’s psychobilly you ask? Umm, it’s kind of a punk, country, swing, rockabilly, metal, big band type of deal. Got it?
The Rev has garnered a cult following for decades now, but even if you’re only a casual music fan no doubt you’ve heard his songs. They’ve been featured on bunches of TV shows and movies, like Ace Ventura and Johnny Bravo. But maybe the biggest kick they’ve gotten recently was from being featured on Guitar Hero II.
Ask your kids.
Along for the ride is the Oregon old-timey string band Larry and His Flask, who blend copious vocal harmonies with a punk attitude and an Appalachian wardrobe. And get this – no one in the band is actually named Larry. They spent last summer on the Warped Tour and recent reviews have gone something like this:
"You can tell that playing scores of sets in all sorts of circumstances this summer on the Warped Tour really honed the band’s skills and tightened up their show," wrote Ben Salmon of frequency. "It’s still a wild time, but not quite the unnerving chaos it was, say, 18 months ago. It’s more of a controlled chaos these days."
Sounds kinda cool, right?
The Buzz
I don’t know if I’m as excited as you are about the Beach Ball lineup, but at least it doesn’t include over the hill, retread 90s bands that are just looking for a paycheck. I’m looking at you Jane’s Addiciotn and Bush.
Something to think about
Once upon a time, a radio station called KY102 was the hippest thing on the KC dial.
But instead of staying the course, management allowed the air talent to get long in the tooth, they stopped playing new music and hung with the classics.
To what extent are younger people listening to the Buzz or local radio in general for that matter?
The answer’s not zero but it’s nowhere near what it was even 10 years ago. So do they cater to the older listeners that they have or book cutting edge shows to attract new listeners?