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May is flowering musically--
First weekend of the month and plenty to pick from- from rising acts in small venues, to a classic opera, to some smooth arena-sized R&B, with a usual dash of harder thrash out there, as KC seems to be a strong market for the genre.
Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming weekend from May 2nd-4th.
(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline)
FRIDAY MAY 2
Brigitte Calls Me Baby, May 2, Knuckleheads, $18
ATO Records' buzzing Chicago five-piece Brigitte Calls Me Baby has released a new cover of the George Michael /Wham! classic “Careless Whisper.” With their name nodding to frontman Wes Leavins’ teenage pen-pal correspondence with iconic French actress, Brigitte Bardot, the quintet emerged in early 2023 and soon scored a breakout hit with “Impressively Average”—a shimmering anthem that shot to the Top 10 at radio.
Their debut LP, The Future Is Our Way Out, is out now and spans genres and eras, merging the romanticism of mid-century pop with the energy and intensity of early-millennium indie-rock. Leavins’ voice is part-Morrissey channeled through a young Roy Orbison, and it all equals the kind of band we would have loved to have been in, in our younger days. In a full circle, the band will also open for Moz for a June UK run.
Rounded out by bassist Devin Wessels, drummer Jeremy Benshish, and guitarists Jack Fluegel and David Rosendahl, their sped-up but still familiar cover has become a fan favorite in the band’s acclaimed live show over the past year. “George Michael’s voice and songs have always resonated with me, but there was no specific pursuit of covering one of his songs until a very natural and organic version was developed in our show,” explains frontman Wes Leavins. “With any song that we cover there is only truly one requirement: there must be something we can bring to the song that doesn’t already exist within the original or any version otherwise. There must be an opportunity to present ourselves within the track. The case of ‘Careless Whisper’ is no different.” 
Tribulation w Unto Others, May 2, recordBar, $25
Swedish goth metal band Tribulation are on these shores for their Spring 2025 North American Tour with co-headliners (formerly Idle Hands) Unto Others, Unreqvited and Final Gasp which starts the night before in Chi-Town, and lands in KC for their second show of the run.
Tribulation is touring in support of their 2024 album Sub Rosa in Æternum. The LP saw the Swedish band pushing further into goth-rock territory while retaining elements of the extreme metal that defined its early work. Meanwhile, Unto Others are also coming off a 2024 release in the form of their third album, Never, Neverland.
Turandot (opera) May 2-4, Kauffman, $39-$222
Presented by KC’s Lyric, Turandot is a classic opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924, but it still premiered in 1926, after the music was posthumously completed by Franco Alfano.
The opera is set in China and follows the Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. in order to win her hand in marriage, a suitor must solve three riddles, with a wrong answer resulting in his execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death. Is one night enough to soften her scorn? Oh, and this is the opera that “Nessun Dorma” comes from (during the final act), maybe the greatest opera song ever.
Family Sideshow (play) Through May 10, KC Melting Pot, $21.50-$32.50
In this dark comedy, a dysfunctional family reunites for a chaotic and absurd night of revelations, confrontations, and unexpected twists, all unfolding under the glow of the family’s carnival sideshow held at the theater. It’s the World Premiere of Brysen Boyd's “Family Sideshow,” the winner of the 2020 KCMPT Black Playwright Festival. 
Boyd is a playwright, TV writer, and essayist originally from Tacoma, WA who served on the writing staff for HBO’s “Succession”, is the inaugural Playwright-in-Residence at Reverie Theater Company, a member of Youngblood/Ensemble Studio Theater and was an Artist-in-Residence at the Williamstown Theater Festival.
The play was also a Playwrights’ Center Venturous Prize Nominee, O'Neill Conference Semi-finalist, and 2022 Juilliard Finalist.
SATURDAY MAY 3
Sturgill Simpson, May 3, Cable Dahmer Arena- Independence, $54-$196
Who the f*ck is Johnny Blue Skies!? Not asking, we know it’s the name of Simpson’s 2025 Tour and the moniker behind his latest full-length album, Passage Du Desir,
The eight-song album was produced by Simpson aka Blue Skies and David Ferguson at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville, TN and Abbey Road Studios in London. Simpson’s band- Kevin Black (bass), Robbie Crowell (keys), Laur Joamets (guitar) and Miles Miller (drums) are all along for the ride, as usual.
Simpson has released five full-length studio albums—2013’s High Top Mountain, 2014’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, 2019’s Sound & Fury and 2021’s The m—along with the 2020 projects, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, won a Grammy Award in 2017 for Best Country Album and has six Grammy nominations across four genres: country, rock, bluegrass and Americana. 
Free Comic Book Day at your local independent Comic Book Store- Free!
Free Comic Book Day is an annual event founded on the belief that for every person out there, there’s a comic book that they’ll love and helps to promote literacy. Every year on the First Saturday in May, the industry comes together to give away free comics and encourage fans, both old and new to flock to the best place in the comic community: your local comic shop. Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 3- check your local listings!
Red Hot Chilli Pipers, May 3, Ameristar Casino Kansas City, $25-$30
Pipers, we said PIPERS! The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are a Celtic rock group featuring bagpipes, guitars, keyboards and drums. They became one of Scotland’s most popular live acts after winning the UK TV show “When Will I Be Famous” in 2007 and have since gone global with their brand of “bagrock.” 
The Pipers have released 11 albums over the past two decades, including original songs and contributions to the “How to Train Your Dragon 2″ soundtrack. They also cover classic rock songs by artists like AC/DC, Queen and Journey (but typically not RHCP tunes)- expect a fun show nonetheless!
Maxwell, May 3, T-Mobile Center, $45-$330
Swooning in the aisles is likely on Maxwell’s The Serenade Tour. Continuing from last year’s 26-show run, the show found the smooth singer-songwriter performing songs from throughout his catalog, leaning heavily on tracks from his fan-favorite sophomore album, Embrya.
Maxwell will be joined by solid openers Marsha Ambrosius and Lucky Daye in KC, and we just saw Daye performing last year with Mary J. Blige at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cleveland. The 23-date tour is currently scheduled to end on October 5th in Raleigh, NC.
Exodus, Havok, Misfire, May 3, Truman, $29.50
Although there was initial trouble locking down all the acts for these 40th-anniversary shows, metal legends Exodus are triumphantly on the road. Exodus guitarist Gary Holt says: "We are hella stoked to announce the 'Swarm Of Horror' tour. This will be pretty much one of the heaviest things on the planet and we can't wait to destroy everyone!” 
Havok have officially stepped in to replace Possessed (who withdrew due to “recent medical reasons and limitations”) who in turn was already replacing Deicide who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Now, Havok will take their place alongside Misfire as support. The trek kicked off on April 27 and runs through May 13.
Chicago’s Misfire makes old-school flavored thrash metal in the tradition of classic metal trios like Venom, Motörhead, and Raven.
Save Ferris, May 3, Bottleneck-Lawrence, $25
Formed in 1995, Orange County’s Save Ferris remains one of the seminal bands from the third wave of ska, blending punk, rock, and SoCal sounds and is powered by Monique Powell’s high-octane vocals.
The band signed with Epic Records in 1997, unleashing their debut album, It Means Everything, and toured the world for the next six years, having a hit with their version of “Come On Eileen.”. In 2003, SF went on hiatus until Powell, with a new lineup reformed SF in 2013, and have been back ever since. 
SUNDAY MAY 4
Mereba, May 4, Bottleneck-Lawrence, $25-$30
The rising R&B gem and one to watch, Mereba is out on a short US Tour before heading across the Atlantic. New album, The Breeze Grew a Fire, was released in February and finds the Ethiopian American blending a soulful mixture of R&B and hip hop with a raw storytelling approach. Mereba’s vocals can also be found on tracks, "All Bad” by JID and “PTSD” from J Cole’s Revenge of the Dreamers III.
Discussing her recent album, Mereba comments, “For this [album], it went back to me being on my own for the creation of a lot of the songs, and it was really important for me at this time of life because I was a little disconnected from the world, and from who I was. So, I was trying to find my way back to myself first. What do I like? What do I want to hear? What do I want to say to people now?”
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]
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