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A little bit of concert and venue news,
The KC Symphony has welcomed new assistant conductors and five musicians, ahead of this Friday’s “Back to the 80’s” performance, which looks fun with a guest conductor and three guest vocalists, and the scheduled May 18 Australian Pink Floyd show at Uptown is canceled due to “logistical issues” (we caught them live in 2016 in Minneapolis for you).
Construction continues on the 15,000-capacity amphitheater in Riverside (LiveNation will exclusively book) so we’ll wonder how that will affect Azura and Starlight among others, El Torreon’s re-opening has been delayed under late this year (at best), and we’ve heard good things about the new 650-capacity Warehouse on Broadway (except for tough parking), but haven’t been in, just yet.
Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming weekend from April 28th to May 1st.
(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline)
MONDAY APRIL 28
Denzel Curry, Apr 28, T-Mobile Center,$52-$158
In support of his new album, “King of the Mischievous South”, esteemed Miami rapper Denzel Curry is out in support on an extensive 2025 tour. The Mischievous South World Tour, which hits Australia, North America, and Europe along with support from 454, Kenny Mason, and Clip.
The new record is a sequel of sorts to his 2012 mixtape King of the Mischievous South Vol. 1 Underground Tape 1996 and also serves as an expanded version of a similarly titled record he put out this past summer. He’s already been in Australia and New Zealand in February and moved over to North America on March 31 in Phoenix to start the leg which wraps on May 9 in Los Angeles.
Silent Planet, Invent Animate, Apr 28, The Truman,$25-$47
Worlds. Will. Collide!!! Metalcore vets Silent Planet and Invent Animate are on the road together to play their 2023 records Superbloom and Heavener in their entirety, respectively. The two bands also recently teamed up for a new collaborative EP called Bloom In Heaven, which also blends their respective album titles. We checked out Invent Animate on a bill just last year in Lawrence.
We assume the stage will also get crowded as they’re expected to amalgamate to perform at least one of their Bloom In Heaven songs together as well. The trek started April 17th in TX and wraps May 16th, when both bands perform at Daytona, FL’s Welcome to Rockville festival.
Joining the bands for most dates are Pennsylvanian metalcore group 156/Silence and Sweden’s ALLT.
Korine, Apr 28, recordBar, $18
Philly darkwave duo Korine just released their fourth album, A Flame in the Dark, last month and are out on tour in support, including a fun recent weekend at Coachella. The tour hits KC around the mid-way point and is scheduled to finish in Washington, DC on May 19. Recent second single from the record is the electro ballad, “In Your Eyes” (no, not that version you’re thinking of).
TUESDAY APRIL 29
Mayday Parade Apr 29, Uptown,$41-$56
Mayday Parade – vocalist Derek Sanders, drummer/vocalist Jake Bundrick, guitarists Alex Garcia and Brooks Betts and bassist/vocalist Jeremy Lenzo – will be celebrating 20 years together this year and the Tallahassee, FL five-piece is set to release perhaps their most aspirational and ambitious effort yet: a three-part album.
The first entry, Sweet, just dropped April 18 with lead song, “By The Way.” “Being in a band for this long, sometimes you feel like you’re getting it right and sometimes you feel like you’re dancing around what you should be doing. This song feels locked in as a step in the right direction. It’s a song about trying to stay optimistic as the world and everything you know is changing around you. We hope you all enjoy it,” says Derek Sanders on “By The Way.”
The other two releases are expected later this year and into 2026 and $1 from each ticket sold will be donated to the Ally Coalition, supporting LGBTQ+ in NYC.
The Wrecks w Quarters of Change, Apr 29, The Truman, $29-$119
Alt-pop powerhouse The Wrecks have released their new project Inside, via Lava/Republic Records. This serves as the first half of their upcoming full-length album and features previously released singles “Speed” and “Always, Everytime” along with four new tracks.
On the project, frontman Nick Anderson shares: “INSIDE: is about self-realization—coming to know myself on a deeper level through both the highs and the lows. At first, that awareness felt like a cage, but over time, it became liberating. Making music is a lot like solving a puzzle, and this record was the hardest one yet. I spent a year inside my house, writing without direction, struggling with feeling lost, disconnected, and exhausted. I didn’t want to go outside, so I kept trying inside. But through that process, I rebuilt my confidence. These songs are the result of that journey. They gave me a way out—and now I get to go outside and share them with the world. I hope that people connect with it in their own way and if they do, then I set out to do exactly what I wanted to do.”
Dummy, April 29, White Schoolhouse-Lawrence, $15
Dummy, the indie Los Angeles shoegaze band comprised of Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor released their new album “Free Energy” last September following their lead single/video, “Nullspace.” Their debut full-length Mandatory Enjoyment arrived in late 2021 and quickly became one of the year’s sleeper hits.
As for the rural venue, the current structure is the fourth schoolhouse to occupy the site- history swallowed the first circa 1860s structure, flooding consumed the second in 1903 and fire did in the third schoolhouse in 1928, but the fourth and current one has stayed up, being built in 1929. It’s a small and intimate space that should enhance a very personal kind of show.
Foxy Shazam, Apr 29, recordBar, $25
Foxy Shazam charged back into 2025 with a fiery new single "Rhumbatorium" ahead of their new and ninth studio album “Animality Opera”, via the band’s own label, EEEOOOAH.
Acclaimed for their over-the-top visual style and songwriting and playing, the new single features soaring vocals, underpinned by a cacophony of horns, guitars, and drums, culminating in a powerful spoken word verse by fellow artist and collaborator Shamon Cassette. As compelling as that sounds, the band is at its best live, which is its true element and arrive early for the dazzling visuals of Coney Island-based, Hot Fix Sideshow.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 30
Tommy Prine, Apr 30, Knuckleheads, $20
Son of the late John, Tommy Prine's 2023 debut album This Far South was a testimony to Prine's 20s and the defining loss, love, and growth from that era. Co-produced by close friend and musician Ruston Kelly, and Nashville engineer Gena Johnson, the album also received a deluxe version, out last June, featuring reimagined versions, a special guest and a brand-new song.
“Releasing my debut album changed so much in my life. The only things that stayed the same were my family, my pets, and my friends. Everything else changed drastically. I've had a few moments that felt like the point of no return, releasing the album being one of them. Not in a scary way, just in a way that there is no taking back art that you put out into the world. Once it has affected one other person, it has already begun its own life and will in turn change the creator's life.”
Tommy learned to play guitar by watching his father, mimicking the ways his fingers moved, he inadvertently developed his own style with influences as diverse as Gillian Welch, Outkast, Bon Iver, the Strokes and more.
THURSDAY MAY 1
Family Sideshow (play) May 1-10, 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.
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 |
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