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07/12/2025

Minneapolis This Week (July 20, 2025)

07/11/2025

We♥KC! July 14-17, 2025 Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City, MO metro)

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They may look like the company photo of your accountants or law team, but underneath that façade, St. Paul and the Broken Bones soulfully proves you can’t judge a book by its cover. …

Read more Kansas City Music Guide.

Will “Swag” yield the song of the summer?

If you hadn’t heard, Justin Bieber just dropped a surprise album, his seventh studio release, and while reports are that it’s filled with sophisticated pop, it’s also a personal and cathartic inward look at his own mental health as well. That kind of leads to the question around this time of year, asking “What is the song of the summer?”

Sabrina Carpenter may have taken the crown last year and tries to again with “Manchild”, and other contenders include Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, and the Kendrick/Sza collab and we kinda like that sombr kid, but Billboard claims to have a chart for this and claims Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” is taking the lead so far. It’s got legs and crosses genres, but time will still have to tell, so feel free to discuss.

Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming week of July 14th-July 17th.

(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline)

MONDAY JULY 14

The Crane Wives, July 14, The Truman,$25.10-$65.92

Grand Rapids, MI indie rock band The Crane Wives (with a name based on a Decemberists song) have amassed more than 1.4m Spotify monthly listeners, 724k TikTok likes and are coming through town in support of their acclaimed new album, Beyond Beyond Beyond, which is out now.

Born of the 2010’s folk boom and now comfortably stationed in their rock era, the band boomed on social channels during the pandemic and are known for their high-energy performances. Their harmony-dense melodies support resonant lyrics, exploring the vulnerable and the ugly sides of the human condition.

TUESDAY JULY 15

WEDNESDAY JULY 16

St Paul and the Broken Bones, Wood Brothers, Yasmin Williams, July 16, Grinders KC, $56.05-$89.26

One of our favorites, St. Paul & The Broken Bones are out on a summer co-headlining tour with The Wood Brothers. Broken Bones singer Paul Janeway shares: “We are excited to join forces with The Wood Brothers. It will be such a pleasure to share the stage with such a talented group of folks. We can’t wait to see y’all out there."

Oliver Wood adds, “St. Paul and the Broken Bones is such a great band. We’re beyond excited to do these shows together. I also have to admit, we’re thinking of ways to steal that incredible horn section.”

STTBB’ s latest album Angels In Science Fiction is out now on ATO Records and the album’s theme follows the literary examples such as Aristotle, William James and John Steinbeck, Janeway penned the album as a series of letters to his then-unborn daughter. We caught them live at this very venue, three summers ago and glad they’re returning to the area.

For nearly 20+ years, Grammy Award-nominated roots music trio The Wood Brothers have been building a devoted audience through a prolific flow of creative output, including eight studio albums and five official live releases. The band’s most recent recording, Heart Is The Hero, was praised for its "immersive take on Americana—part country, soul, Southern rock and gospel” and look for a new record shortly.

Collective Soul, Live, Our Lady Peace, July 16, Starlight,$30-$153.75

The Atlanta, GA band celebrated their 30th Anniversary in 2024 with the release of their anticipated and acclaimed 12th studio album, Here to Eternity, released last May on their Fuzze-Flex Records label. Special guest appearances included Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray, longtime Sheryl Crow bandleader Peter Stroud, and Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship. The band is best-known for their classic hits like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” “Heavy,” and “Where The River Flows.” and have sold over 15 million albums worldwide.

Additionally, a feature-length documentary, Give Me A Word: The Collective Soul Story, was just released via Trinity Content Partners and tells the band’s untold history: the family component to the band (brother Ed and Dean Roland), the creativity, and the wisdom that has been hard won over their career.

Lightning still crashes for a reunited Live and Our Lady Peace remains one of Canada’s best-known band of the last thirty years, so this should be a fun and full evening.

Robin Trower, July 16, Uptown, $50-$130

The 80-years-young guitar legend is keeping a busy year adding nearly two dozen concerts for a 2025 summer tour of the U.S.tour in May. Prior to that, his February-March dates made up those that were rescheduled from 2024 following a “major operation” that he had over that summer.

The 50th anniversary expanded edition of his third studio album, For Earth Below released on June 27, features the album newly remastered, an extended stereo mix of the entire record, a disc of outtakes, rarities and BBC sessions with the majority previously unreleased and a newly mixed concert taped live in Los Angeles from the “For Earth Below” tour, never available in its entirety before.

THURSDAY JULY 17

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, July 17, Uptown, $62-$147

Following a spring excursion with his Acoustic Group, Lyle Lovett again hits the road with his celebrated Large Band for a comprehensive summer tour over the course of 10 weeks, making a local stop in midtown and will wrap at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA on August 7. His most recent studio album is 2022’s 12^th of June.

Craig Morgan, July 17, Prairie Band Casino- Mayetta, $70.95

The patriotic singer, author, actor, and soldier has amassed nearly 2.5 billion career streams and charted over 25 songs on Billboard. With signature hits including “Redneck Yacht Club,” “Almost Home,” “International Harvester,” “Soldier,” “That's What I Love About Sunday,” and his faith-filled tribute, “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost,” Morgan has formed the soundtrack to our lives for over two decades.

His new music, American Soundtrack (via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville), is no exception, with each of the EP’s six songs infused with Craig’s faith and patriotism. His inspiring memoir - “God, Family, Country” is out now and we caught him live, a few years ago at Country Stampede in Topeka

National Touring act coming to Kansas City, Lawrence, KS, Topeka, KS, or vicinity? Let us know so we can spotlight the appearance-email [email protected]

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com

Posted at 07:00 PM in Collective Soul, Crane Wives, John, Kansas City, Kansas City Music Guide, Live, Lyle Lovett, Our Lady Peace, Preview, Robin Trower, St Paul and the Broken Bones, The Wood Brothers | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pure Prairie League at Parkway Theater, Minneapolis (July 10, 2025)

Pure Prairie League at Parkway Theater (July 10, 2025)

Tour Dates

Coming to a town near you…we’re excited to announce our Back On Track Summer Tour dates! Catch us on the road and check out our website pureprairieleague.com for tickets, updates, additional info…

07/10 Parkway Theater - Minneapolis, MN

07/12 Turner Hall Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI

07/13 Peg Egan Performing Arts Center - Egg Harbor, WI

07/17 Ruth Eckerd Hall - Clearwater, FL

07/18 Peabody Auditorium - Daytona Beach, FL

08/08 Bloomington Center - Bloomington, IL

08/10 The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI

08/22 Winspear Opera House - Dallas, TX

08/23 Paramount Theatre - Austin, TX

08/24 Tobin Center - San Antonio, TX

08/25 Main Street Crossing - Tomball, TX

08/30 SamJam Bluegrass Festival 2025 - Piketon, OH

09/05 Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO

09/06 Ozarks Amphitheater - Camdenton, MO

09/11 Beaver Creek Village - Avon, CO

12/04 Musikfest Café - Bethlehem, PA

12/05 Rams Head On Stage - Annapolis, MD

01/09/26 Rialto Theatre - Tucson, AZ

Band Members

Scott Thompson — vocals, drums, percussion

Randy Harper - vocals, keyboards, guitar

Jared Camic - vocals, bass

Jeff Zona - vocals, guitar

John Heinrich - steel, sax

Pure Prairie League

Country-rock royalty Pure Prairie League will be playing the Parkway Theater, in Minneapolis, on July 10, 2025, in support of their new album … read more

It was a perfect summer evening, and there was a casual feel in the air when I stepped up to the Parkway Theater and showed my ID. It wasn’t surprising. The band I was about to see had their last hit song decades before and the fan base on average was getting along in years. There was no reason for the night not to be a sleepy affair.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Like the Four Freshmen which we covered last month at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Pure Prairie League (PPL) has held a similar trajectory starting with its original members and ending up with a completely new set of musicians on their latest tour. In between over thirty musicians have played in the band, some of them going on to have their own careers like Vince Gill, Gary Burr and Curtis Wright.

PPL started in the late Sixties with Craig Fuller on guitar, Tom McGrail on drums and John David Call on steel guitar. Their name was lifted from a fictional temperance union featured in the cowboy movie Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Their 1972 debut album cover features a Norman Rockwell cowboy named Sad Luke, who would go on to appear on every PPL album thereafter as well as providing the backdrop to the new set of musicians who took the stage at the Parkway, they being: Jeff Zona on guitar, Jared Camic on bass, Randy Harper on the keyboard and guitar, Scott Thompson on drums and John Heinrich on pedal steel guitar and tenor sax.

PPL had over ten albums to play from, but they were also supporting their latest album Back on Track which was released in 2024. And by the third song it became apparent that the newest iteration of PPL could play as Harper and Heinrich had a nice call and response with their keys and pedal steel guitar on the song “Early Morning Riser.”

Then a “purty” song, “Angel #9” followed by “Heart of Her Own”.

“Man, you guys are kicking it,” said Harper after the applause died down.

He was right. The audience wasn’t sleepy. They were in the moment and showing their approval, especially when Heinrich laid down a sweet and soulful solo on his pedal steel guitar and Zona leaned into his guitar solos.

Harper said that there was only one song that was played at every PPL concert for the past fifty plus years. Most in the audience thought it was their hit song, but Harper said it was actually the Nick Gravenites “I’ll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle”, as in Merle Haggard, which held the same DNA of Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue” and got a big roar from the crowd with lyrics like:

If you're gonna call the world your home
Ya know you're gonna have to get out and get stoned

Somehow a breezy 45 minutes went by. And when they returned for the second half, it was with songs from their latest album like “Picture Perfect Life”, “Skipping Stones” and “I’m the Lucky One.” Then earlier songs like “Jazz Man” and “Two Lane Highway” as well as forays from the 80’s with “Goodbye So Long” and “Let Me Love You Tonight.”

It was a pleasant evening of music from a band who deftly blended songs from past members as well as songs of their own. But Harper finally mentioned what was on everyone’s mind. “If we don’t do this. We will get shot.”

And so they finished a perfect evening with a perfect song, “Aime”, a song that helped start the country rock movement. A song that I would describe as drinking a smooth whiskey on a summer’s eve.

Pure Prairie League at Parkway Theater, Minneapolis (July 10, 2025)

dave ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.app

Posted at 03:29 PM in Dave, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Minneapolis, Pure Prairie League | Permalink | Comments (0)

07/10/2025

Black Sabbath / Ozzy Osbourne & friends - Back to the Beginning at Aston Villa Stadium, Birmingham UK (2025-07-05) Official Photos

Black Sabbath 2025-07-05 Birmingham Astion Villa

BACK TO THE BEGINNING SETLIST

(intro music: Black Sabbath w/ video collage of Birmingham)

Mastodon

Black Tongue

Blood and Thunder

Supernaut (Black Sabbath cover)
with Mario Duplantier, Danny Carey, and Eloy Casagrande

Rival Sons

Do Your Worst

Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath cover)

Secret

Anthrax

Indians

Into the Void (Black Sabbath cover) > Indians reprise

Halestorm

Love Bites (So Do I)

Rain Your Blood on Me

Perry Mason (Ozzy Osbourne cover)

Lamb of God

Laid to Rest

Redneck

Children of the Grave (Black Sabbath cover)

Supergroup (Tom Morello's All-Stars)

The Ultimate Sin (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
with Lzzy Hale, Jake E. Lee, Nuno Bettencourt, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin, and Adam Wakeman)

Shot in the Dark (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
with David Draiman, Jake E. Lee, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin, and Adam Wakeman)

Sweet Leaf (Black Sabbath cover)
with David Draiman, Scott Ian, Nuno Bettencourt, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin, and Adam Wakeman)

Believer (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
with Whitfield Crane, Scott Ian, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, ll, and Adam Wakeman)

Changes (Black Sabbath cover)
with YUNGBLUD, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, II, and Adam Wakeman; dedicated to Diogo Jota

Jack Black (video)

Mr. Crowley (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
with Revel Ian, Roman Morello, Yoyoka Soma, and Hugo Weiss

Alice In Chains

Man in the Box

Would?

Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath cover)

Gojira

Stranded

Silvera

Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) [traditional]
with Marina Viotti

Under the Sun (Black Sabbath cover)

Drum-Off

Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath cover)
Travis Barker vs. Chad Smith vs. Danny Carey, with Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt, and Rudy Sarzo

Supergroup (Tom Morello's All-Stars)

Breaking the Law (Judas Priest cover)
with Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo, and Danny Carey

Snowblind (Black Sabbath cover)
with Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo, and Danny Carey

Flying High Again (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
with Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith, and Vernon Reid

Rock Candy (Montrose cover)
with Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith, and Tom Morello

Bark at the Moon (Ozzy Osbourne cover )
with Papa V Perpetua, Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, and Travis Barker

The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw cover)
with Steven Tyler, Ron Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo, & Travis Barker

Walk This Way (Aerosmith cover )
with Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo, and Chad Smith

Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin cover (Black Sabbath cover)
with Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo, and Chad Smith

Pantera

Cowboys From Hell

Walk

Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath cover)

Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath cover)

Tool

Forty Six & 2

Hand of Doom (Black Sabbath cover)

Ænema

Slayer

Disciple

War Ensemble

Wicked World (Black Sabbath cover)

South of Heaven > Wicked World reprise

Raining Blood

Angel of Death

Guns N’ Roses

It's Alright (Black Sabbath cover, shortened)

Never Say Die (Black Sabbath cover)

Junior's Eyes (Black Sabbath cover)

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabbath cover)

Welcome to the Jungle

Paradise City

Metallica

Hole in the Sky (Black Sabbath cover)

Creeping Death

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Johnny Blade (Black Sabbath cover)

Battery

Master of Puppets

Ozzy Osbourne

(intro music: O Fortuna - Carl Orff song) >

I Don't Know

Mr. Crowley

Suicide Solution

Mama, I'm Coming Home

Crazy Train

Black Sabbath

(intro: Sabbra Cadabra w/video of the history of Black Sabbath) >

War Pigs (with “Black Sabbath” intro)

N.I.B. (with band introductions)

Iron Man

Paranoid (with fireworks)

Black Sabbath

The band features faithful covers of Black Sabbath songs but with the lyrics humorously re-written to keep to their fast-food theme – Sabbath’s "Paranoid" becomes "Pair-a-Buns" … read more

The greatest Heavy Metal / Hard Rock concert of all time!

“Back to the Beginning” took place on July 5 at Birmingham UK’s Villa Park Stadium, home to Aston Villa F.C. This historic event marked the first time the original Black Sabbath lineup featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward performed together in twenty years, and was very likely also for their last time.

The concert also held special significance as it represented Ozzy Osbourne’s final solo performance as well. Saddled with health issues including Parkinson’s disease and several surgeries over the last several years, the show marked Ozzy’s first major stage appearance in nearly seven years (though we did see him on stage at last year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and concert).

Beyond its musical importance, this was also a benefit event which raised over £140 million to be shared equally between three area charities close to the Osbourne’s heart- Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice.

The return to Birmingham for this once-in-a-lifetime gathering, held deep meaning for the band as it represented the hometown where Black Sabbath first formed in 1968, and brought their legendary career full circle in the city where it all began.

This event is waaaay too big to cover in one post, so look for a couple related follow-ups including our pics from the pit; and in the meantime, see the official photos from the day below.

(Official Photos are copyrighted and courtesy of Live Nation UK, by Ross Halfin and Kazuyo Horie

Click on any image to enlarge and to see in full)

BACK TO THE BEGINNING at Aston Villa Stadium, Birmingham UK (2025-7-12) by Ross Halfin w Kazuyo Horie

John C ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com ♥ bsky.app

Posted at 08:26 PM in Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Extreme, Gojira, Guns n Roses, Halestorm, Jack Black, John, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Rival Sons, Slayer, Tom Morello, Tool | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Garcia at Turf Club, St Paul (July 09, 2025)

John Garcia at Turf Club (July 09, 2025)

John Garcia Setlist

¹ Kyuss song
² Hermano song
³ Vista Chino song

Cowboys Suck²
Hurricane¹
Jim's Whiskers
Conan Troutman¹
Rolling Stoned (Black Mastiff cover)
Kentucky II
Don't Even Think About It
My Mind
Dargona Dragona³
Instrumental Jam
Gardenia¹
All These Walls
My Everything
Thumb¹

-- Encore --
Green Machine¹

Telekinetic Yeti Setlist

Ghost Train
Abominable
Stoned and Feathered
Ancient Nug
Beast
Toke Wizard
Himalayan Hymn

Tour Dates

John and his band will also be hitting the following dates. Solo material, Vista Chino, Slo Burn, Hermano and Kyuss songs in the line up. Plus some tasty jams from his band.

07/09: St Paul, MN @ Turf Club

07/10: Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi

07/11: Omaha, NE @ Slowdown

07/12: Denver, CO @ Marquis

07/13: Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge

07/19: Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet's

John Garcia Band

John Garcia - vocals

Greg Saenz - drums

Billy Cordell - bass

John Bennet - guitar

John Garcia

Finally time for John Garcia, who played a career-spanning ninety-minute set that was no frills and in-your-face, as the most devoted fans would want … read more

Telekinetic Yeti

Iowa-based two-piece Telekinetic Yeti is headlining the 7th Street Entry this August 29th, in support of their Tee Pee Records debut album, Primordial. … read more

Very hot days, with much more comfortable evenings have been the norm in the Twin Cities for a hot minute. On an appropriately warm day in St. Paul, John Garcia, one of the founders of desert rock, was playing at the Turf Club.

Side note: While it was loud, I felt like the band had taken just the smallest edge off the volume, which made it pleasantly loud and not simply painful loud. Thanks guys!

Getting things started was Telekinetic Yeti. The stoner rock duo from Iowa has two albums, with their most recent being 2022’s Primordial. On guitar/vocals & drums, this was a loud sound for just two people. A long introduction on the first number finally gave way to the low rumble of reverb vocals. A celebratory “cheers” to the crowd after the first song, and they were right back into it. The repetitive guitar chords on the third sound were a base for Telekinetic Yeti to riff in a variety of directions around that center. A slight change in tempo moved into the best guitar solo of the evening and those kinetic drums fed that intense feeling they had going.

We got some programmed electronic synth sounds at the start of the next number, Ancient Nug, and a lot of impressive drums before the guitar came back in. This was a very spacey sounding version of the hard rock/metal, and the crowd was head banging to that irresistible beat. Telekinetic Yeti was also doing a great job of riding the line of psych band without going into full jam session, with songs averaging a little over five minutes each. A little technical set up from the drummer prior to Beast probably had the most scream-like vocals of the set, and also had the fastest tempo guitar work in a very stoner rock vibe. Finishing on Himalayan Hymn, Telekinetic Yeti started on a slower tempo song that had at least two or three movements, with distinct changes in feel. This was a well-paced and enjoyable forty-minute set.

John Garcia is a stalwart of the Palm Desert Scene. He was a co-founder of the hard rock band Kyuss, the progenitor of the desert, stoner rock, that Garcia, Brant Bjork, Queens of the Stone Age, and others have really built out. That hard rock base with some psych rock jam sessions and a bit of alternative rock hooks is a distinct sound. Post-Kyuss, Garcia has been in several projects while always keeping his solo career going with multiple album releases, including 2019’s John Garcia and the Band of Gold. A quartet (vocals, guitar, bass, and drums), the band went all over the back log of those different projects. They started with Cowboys Suck, a Hermano song, and went straight into a Kyuss number and then into Jim’s Whiskers off the afore mentioned Band of Gold album. And while Garcia is/was lead singer for all three of those bands, his vocal style was slightly different across them. It’s also worth noting that while he could (and did) slide into that more spoken/ screamed style throughout the evening, he really is a singer at his core.

Thanking the crowd for being at the show (“Is it a Tuesday? A Wednesday? I don’t f’in know.”), the band moved into Rolling Stoned, a harder edged song both musically and vocally, with Garcia giving a more gravelly sound. The driving guitar lick was super catchy, and Garcia spoke highly of the band Black Mastiff that he had seen originally perform it. Garcia went on a small tangent about getting older, but how much he appreciated the crowd age range and helping keep music like this alive. Don’t Even Think About It was nearly metal at times, and Garcia went significantly higher in range, including some well-done falsetto before a longer guitar solo closed it out. Introducing the band, Garcia launched into Dragona Dragona from yet another band he fronted, Vista Chino. It was a lot of fun to essentially get the full tour of that Palm Desert sound.

Garcia left the stage, allowing the rest of the band the opportunity for an extended instrumental jam, another hallmark of the desert rock genre. Returning to the stage, Garcia started the slow descent towards the close, though that didn’t mean a decrease in intensity. All These Walls had a heavy drum and bass intro and Garcia fully into the lyrics. I’m a big fan of performers who care, and it seemed like Garcia cares a lot for the music and the experience the band was trying to share with the audience. Garcia and band went into Thumb, with the crowd erupting. After a brief break, the band came back for the encore, ending with Green Machine, a pretty great encapsulation of the evening, with a thankful Garcia ripping ripping through the song and raising hands victorious as they left.

Telekinetic Yeti

John Garcia

John Garcia at Turf Club, St Paul (July 09, 2025)

thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 05:36 AM in John Garcia, Kyuss, St Paul, Telekinetic Yeti, Thaddeus, Turf Club | Permalink | Comments (0)

07/09/2025

The Wiz (Broadway touring musical) at The Music Hall, Kansas City MO (2025-07-08 to 07-13)

(The Wiz playbill from The Music Hall, Kansas City, MO)

KANSAS CITY SHOWTIMES

Tuesday, July 8: 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 9: 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 10: 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 11: 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 12: 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 12: 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 13: 1 p.m.
Sunday, July 13: 6:30 p.m.

THE WIZ TOUR DATES

Jul 15-20 Fort Worth, TX Bass Hall
Jul 22-27 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre
Jul 29-Aug 3 Louisville, KY The Kentucky Center
Aug 5-10 Durham, NC DPAC
Aug 12-24 Boston, MA Boston Opera House
Sep 9-21 Dallas, TX Music Hall at Fair Park
Sep 23-28 Nashville, TN Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Sep 30-Oct 5 Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips Center
Oct 7-12 Miami, FL Arsht Center
Oct 14-19 Tampa, FL Straz Center
Oct 21-26 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center
Oct 28-Nov 2 Greensboro, NC Tanger Center
Nov 4-9 Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall
Nov 11-16 Dayton, OH Schuster Center
Nov 18-23 Omaha, NE Orpheum Theater
Nov 25-Dec 7 St. Louis, MO Fabulous Fox Theatre
Dec 9-14 East Lansing Wharton Center
Dec 16-21 Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre
Jan 6-11, 2026 Tucson, AZ Centennial Hall
Jan 13-25, 2026 Costa Mesa, CA Segerstrom Center
Jan 27-Feb 1, 2026 San Jose CA Center for the Performing Arts
Feb 3-8, 2026 Portland, OR Keller Auditorium
Feb 10-15, 2026 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre
Feb 18-22, 2026 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre
Mar 3-15, 2026 Cincinnati, OH Aronoff Center
Mar 17-22, 2026 Indianapolis, IN Clowes Hall
Mar 24-29, 2026 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Center
Apr 7-12, 2026 Washington, DC National Theatre
Apr 14-19, 2026 North Charleston, SC N. Charleston PAC
Apr 21-26, 2026 Richmond, VA Altria Center
Apr 28-May 3, 2026 Chattanooga, TN Soldiers & Sailors
May 5-10, 2026 Tulsa, OK Tulsa Performing Arts Center
May 12-17, 2026 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
May 19-24, 2026 Oklahoma City, OK Civic Center Music Hall
May 26-31, 2026 Toledo, OH Stranahan Theater

Read More

Broadway in Kansas City

Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album.... …

It’s the right time to ‘ease on down the road’!

With the success of last year’s “Wicked” film and its sequel on the way this November, ‘Wizard of Oz’ mania is back and strong, but fans shouldn’t have to wait a year to again scratch that itch.

Luckily for Kansas City audiences, another well-known and unique take on the mythos is refreshed and back in circulation. The Tony® Award-winning Best Musical, The Wiz returns to stages across America in an all-new tour, direct from Broadway, playing downtown at the Music Hall, now through the weekend.

This production got its start back in late 1974, with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown and would move to Broadway early the following year.

It won a total of seven Tonys, and with its soul, gospel, rock and funk soundtrack and all-black cast, became a revelatory whole new groove of the original creation from the turn-of-the-century book series by author L. Frank Baum.

Of course, many are most familiar with the 1978 film version, which starred Diana Ross, a young Michael Jackson as the scarecrow, Nipsey Russell as the tin man, along with Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, and other names of the day. Quincy Jones supervised and produced the music, but the missteps may have been with a Joel Schumacher script and Sidney Lumet directing, resulting in mixed reviews at the time, but it’s become much more beloved and emerged as a cult favorite, over the years.

A December 2015 live television version was well-received and in the fall of 2023, this updated production, directed by Schele Williams with new material by Amber Ruffin (a comedian and writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers) opened in Baltimore and soon moved to Broadway the following Spring, featuring a cast that would include the likes of singer Deborah Cox, and comedian Wayne Brady as the wizard.

The story is so familiar, there’s no real need for any re-cap, and this version begins set in rural Kansas as well (though there was no strong mention of such for the KC crowd). A hopeful and emotive opening scene between young Dorothy (Dana Cimone) and an eye-opening Kyla Jade (who plays Aunt Em as well as Evillene) whose soaring vocals made her a finalist on The Voice, combined to make for a memorable beginning to the story.

“Ease on Down the Road” is the cornerstone signature song for the production and we hear parts of it often, as Dorothy recruits the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion, to join her on her trip down the yellow brick road to Emerald City.

As with the 1978 film, the Scarecrow takes an active lead comedic role that is a linchpin to the entire narrative working, and actor Elijah Ahmad Lewis proves himself in fine voice, is as limber as needed during the dance routines, and stays humbly likable in a sometimes sublime performance.

Though the book was updated, the songs were kept to their mid-70s original versions; sounding often nostalgic, sometimes dated, and a reflection of that seminal funk/soul era. We wouldn’t have minded some more modern hip-hop beats and lyrics infused into the music as part of this yellow-brick refresh but understand the choice to keep the original classic music classic, as-is.

It should also be noted that costumed dancers represent certain inanimate objects (the winds of the tornado, poppies in a field, etc.) which leads to some nice expressive routines, and the first act would end with the group just arriving at the gates of Emerald City, in search of the mysterious wizard.

Following the intermission, Oz is revealed as a swanky green dance club and we meet The Wiz himself, played with a dapper confidence and swagger by Alan Mingo Jr. (best known as “Lola” from “Kinky Boots” and he also worked in the KC Rep company of A Christmas Story), only to later find he’s just an ordinary man.

Almost as if the cast were holding out during the first act (or maybe just building momentum), the second act absolutely crests with standout vocal performances from Jade as Evillene (on “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News”), Sheherazade as a sparkly Glinda (“Believe in Yourself”) and Cimone shows how her Dorothy can truly hold a note, on the closing “Home”.

A buoyant “Everybody Rejoice” was the centerpiece song of the second act (sung as part of a “free love” Age of Aquarius-like colorful dance number), and the tune reprises after the final bows, for a joyous send off to end the evening on a fun note.

Given a fresh coast of yellow-brick paint with some updated modern sensibilities while retaining its classic core, The Wiz returns like a brand-new day, to entertain on live stages once again.

The WIZ plays in Kansas City at The Music Hall through Sunday, July 13 with tickets available here: THE WIZ | PNC Broadway In Kansas City

(Tour photography by Jeffrey Daniel / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

1.THE-WIZ.Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-In-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1920x1280

5.THE-WIZ.Kyle-Ramar-Freeman-as-Lion-Avery-Wilson-as-Scarecrow-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Phillip-Johnson-Richardson-as-Tinman.Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1920x1280

3.-Keenan-D-Washington-Maya-Bowles-Avilon-Trust-Tate-in-_Tornado._.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-1920x1280

7.-THE-WIZ.-Kyle-Ramar-Freeman-as-Lion-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-in-Be-A-Lion.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-

8.-THE-WIZ.-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-in-Believe-in-Yourself.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023

3.-Pre-Broadway-Production-of-THE-WIZ-featuring-Avery-Wilson-as-Scarecrow-in-22You-Cant-Win.22-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel.-c-2023-1920x1280

6.-THE-WIZ.Deborah-Cox-as-Glinda-Nichelle-Lewis-as-Dorothy-in-Hes-The-Wiz.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1920x1200

7.-Allyson-Kaye-Daniel-as-Addaperle-in-_Hes-The-WIz_-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-1920x1200

10.-THE-WIZ.-Phillip-Johnson-Richardson.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel.-c-2023-1920x1281

17.-Collin-Heyward-Amber-Jackson-Keenan-D.-Washington-Avilon-Trust-Tate-in-_The-Emerald-City._-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-1920x1280

Pre-Broadway-Production-of-THE-WIZ-featuring-Melody-Betts-as-Evillene-in-22Dont-Nobody-Bring-Me-No-Bad-News.22-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-c-2023-1920x1200

26.-Olivia-Jackson-Amber-Jackson-Shayla-Caldwell-Maya-Bowles-in-_Poppies._.-Photo-by-Jeremy-Daniel-1920x1280

john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / Twitter.com

Posted at 10:38 AM in Broadway, John, Kansas City, Michael Jackson, Musical, Review | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jax: August 8 to August 10, 2025

07/08/2025

Mpls: August 8 to August 14, 2025

Amazon Prime Day 2025

Amazon Prime Day (July 8-11, 2025)

Amazon

Then, since Amazon Prime Day/week, I’ve had two packages that were delivered to the wrong location. I believe both were delivered by the USPS… so now I … read more

Kindle

As you may have heard, Amazon is releasing its first color Kindle called the Kindle Colorsoft on October 30, 2024. The device is a 7-inch tablet that use Kaleido 3 does not appear ... read more

Amazon Prime Day is here. The event will run through July 11. I ask you to not buy anything on those dates, because Amazon will mess up on your orders (wrong items, wrong location, missing deliveries)… it’s almost not worth it for the savings. I’ve experienced these problems first hand. Oh, also, I should also add to the note that the delivery time takes much longer. Normally you get your products in one or two days, but on Prime Day (this also applies to Black Friday), it may take up to a week! It’s incredibly frustrating, so again, I urge you wait two weeks after July 11, if you plan on buying anything on Amazon.

In the first part of my do not buy (on Prime Day) list, I gave you some items that I personally have purchased for the home. In my second do not buy on Amazon Prime Day list, I compiled some items that I’m thinking of getting for the home. Again, I did not buy these (except for one item), so I can’t testify if they are good products or not.

P.S. Also worth noting is that Walmart and Best Buy have their own similar deals/sale. Walmart Deals are July 8 to July 13, while Best Buy is called Black Friday in July (ends July 13).

Kindle Colorsoft Essential Bundle

As I previously mentioned, if you were in the market for the new Kindle Colorsoft, you can get a bundle with a case and wireless charging station for $212, that’s a huge savings considering that the Colorsoft itself costs $280. And if you’re already thinking of getting the charging station and a cover for it (great for traveling) … this bundle makes a whole lot of sense. Just think of it as getting the accessories for FREE.

My logical sense tells me to wait it out. Wait for a larger Colorsoft or wait for a version 2.0 of the Colorsoft. Keep in mind that the first generation of the Colorsoft is the poorest reviewed product from Amazon because of the yellow bar defect.

In my Top 10 Reasons to get a Colorsoft, one of the biggest selling points is that the Colorsoft is waterproof. I also urge you to read Top 10 Reasons to avoid the Colorsoft.

Kindle Colorsoft Essential Bundle

Still, that $212 is very tempting. If you were to buy the individual items, the price is nearly 50% off.

Price	Item
$280	Amazon Kindle Colorsoft
$43	Plant-Based Leather Cover
$45	Wireless Charging Dock
$368	Grand Total

Weather Stations

Weather Stations

Since moving to Jacksonville, it’s been a struggle for me to deal with the Summer heat. Lately, it’s been averaging above 90 degrees, so I have my personal Air Conditioner on all the time. This makes it hard for me to tell how hot it is outside. So, I would like to have a large display showing the temp (and maybe the time and date). These things are called Weather Stations, and they usually come with in two parts: the display and the sensor. You hang the sensor outside (on a tree or under your roof) and it will wirelessly send the readings to your display.

The average prices are about $40, which I think might be too expensive for me. Especially if I don’t really know how good or accurate the wireless transmitter readings are. For the time being, I think I can live with opening my phone to get the temperature. At least I know the phone’s data is gospel.

Bidet

Bidet

I’ve own two bidets, the first one is no longer being manufactured and I got it around the pandemic (since it was hard to find toilet paper). Since I moved to the new home, we had to install a new toilet… and obviously that didn’t come with a bidet. For a few months, I thought I could live with just using toilet paper. I’ll admit it was hard to return to paper. One time, I ran out of toilet paper in a middle of a ‘session’!

So, I caved in and bought a cheap bidet attachment. This model that I bought is currently on sale for $25, and is made by HOPOPRO. I bought it based on its very slim and compact design. This one also seems to work with most toilet designs, including those one-piece toilets.

It was easy to install, but can get messy and difficult if you have limited access to your water pipes. They only offer the hose at one size, so make sure it matches with your toilet’s hose.

The Hopopro model offers a standard rear wash and a ‘feminine’ wash, which, if you use it side-by-side, I cannot tell the difference. I think it just shoots at different angles, but as far as water pressures goes, there is no difference.

My only minor complaint is that this model does not offer any sort of hot water option. Being in a hot area, such as Florida, that is not a problem a problem for me… but I would have liked to have the extra option.

Flowtron Bug Zapper

Bug Zapper

One of the biggest changes for me, new to Florida, is dealing with all the bugs and gnats! I’ve never seen so many insects in my life, and every day I’m discovering new ones. I think it’s so cool, but sometimes, especially with the Summer, I cannot handle the flies and mosquitos. They are irritating, especially if I’m sitting on the patio or trying to eat food.

I haven’t purchased a Bug Zapper yet, but I am considering getting a really nice portable one. Unfortunately, the average prices are too much ($30-$40), in my opinion. The one I really want to buy is the Flowtron, but it costs $70. I’ll have to do additional research later… but it might be worth it, just based on the testimonials and their photos.

I will eventually buy one, I just can’t commit to one right now, because I have to travel in the next couple of weeks. Once I get back, I will need to buy a Zapper to help control the pests.

Hope that gives you an idea, if you’re also in the market of decorating or updating your home.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Posted at 12:01 AM in Amazon, Best Buy, Black Friday, Kindle, Technology, Walmart, Weekend Gamer | Permalink | Comments (0)