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Read more Kansas City Music Guide.
No April Fools here as the new month starts with a bang and plenty of shows on the horizon. It’s easy to be bummed about the tours skipping KC (Cure, Depeche Mode, Madonna, Queen, Clapton, Duran Duran, to name but a few), but there’s enough other action to not feel too bad.
Let’s take look at the Kansas City/Lawrence KS metro musical happenings from April 1st-5th.
SATURDAY APRIL 1
Masters of Percussion featuring Zakir Hussain, Yardley Hall. $16-$55
He is a two-time Grammy Award winner and the 2022 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy, and for the past thirty years, Hussain has served as curator, conductor and producer for his series, Masters of Percussion, which brings the very best of Indian music and world percussion.
Hussain has sought and unearthed lesser-known folk and classical traditions which feed into the greater stream of Indian music, and also plays an educational role in exposing them to a greater visibility and wide audience while on tour. Over time, the ensemble has expanded to include drummers and percussionists from many world traditions, including jazz and Latin music.
Dan Deacon, The Bottleneck-Lawrence, $20-$25
Deacon is a Baltimore-based artist / performer renowned for his studio albums of innovative electronic music and interactive compelling live performances where he usually plays on a low table in the middle of the room-- in other words, prepare to dance on stage ...and everywhere else!
Ten years ago, the weather for Rock the Garden started so badly, but Deacon just set up shop in the art museum’s garage and the next year, he properly got the arena-size crowd all ready for Arcade Fire.
While most stayed cocooned during the pandemic, the prolific Deacon went the soundtrack route, releasing five albums Well Groomed (Domino Soundtracks, 2020); Ascension (Milan Records, 2021); All Light, Everywhere (Milan Records, 2021); Strawberry Mansion (Milan Records, 2022); and Hustle (Netflix Music, 2022).
Tracy Byrd, Ameristar,$45-$135
You will not want to miss a night of "10 rounds of Jose of Quervo" while doing the "Watermelon Crawl" with “The Keeper of the Stars”. In 2019, Texas native Byrd released a CD and DVD Live from Billy Bob’s Texas and still is out performing live regularly.
Tommy James and The Shondells, Kauffman Center. $35-$125
The longtime group have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and have 23 gold records, nine platinum albums and 32 Billboard Hot 100 Chart hits. "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Crimson & Clover," "Mony Mony," "I Think We're Alone Now," "Draggin' the Line," "Hanky Panky," and "Sweet Cherry Wine," are just a few of their many hits.
In his 63rd year in the business, James released the album Alive! in 2019 and he continues to tour around the country. Kelley Hunt, the Kansas City-born Roots R&B/Americana Blues singer/songwriter/piano player/guitarist opens as support.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers (re-scheduled date), Knuckleheads,$17.50
The Tempe AZ longtime band blends a musical mix of punk rock, mariachi and Country Western, for a unique sound that has thrilled audiences for decades, having been at it since 1998. Live, they work in several Refreshments songs (from their previous band) and also their version of Cracker’s “Low”.
Harlem Globetrotters, T-Mobile Center. $30-$100
After a kerfuffle in Topeka involving a laundromat and Uber driver who wouldn’t move the car, The Harlem Globetrotters hit KC bring out their amazing basketball skills, outrageous athleticism and a non-stop good time for both an early and a late game. The world’s winning-est team go head-to-head against the Washington Generals and you’ll never guess the outcome…!
SUNDAY APRIL 2
MONDAY APRIL 3
Buckcherry, Knuckleheads, $32.50
The LA rockers formed way back in 1995 by frontman Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson and made a huge splash on rock radio with their 1999 self-titled debut LP and hit single, “Lit Up”. They’ve since survived lineup changes, the perils of rock n roll and an extended hiatus, to still be on a comeback roll, which may have started with lewd but addictive single, “Crazy Bitch”.
Hellbound was released to positive reviews in 2021, and keeping momentum going, the band’s upcoming Vol. 10 is available for preorder (hurry to grab a signed version!) and releases this June. Live on this The Gang’s All Here Tour, (co-headlined w Skid Row, but some off-night shows as well, like this one) they’ve been opening with “Lit Up” (talk about getting the crowd going from the start!) and be grateful they’re playing sweaty intimate clubs, as we last saw them from the upper deck supporting Kiss.
Rising modern rock band No Resolve (lead singer Oscar Pegorraro, guitarists Jason Hatmaker and Matty Shea, bassist Dennis Patterson and drummer Derek Bjornson) listed as support.
King Tuff w Tchochtke, recordBar, $20
Vermont native aka Kyle Thomas released his newest, Smalltown Stardust via Sub Pop, in late January. Described by Thomas as “an album about love and nature and youth,” the record was co-written and co-produced by SASAMI, and features lead single, “How I Love” which Thomas even declares as one of his personal faves. He just played a hometown church show in rural Brattleboro that people are still talking online about.
“Sasami wrote this song for me way back in 2018, but it didn’t really come together until we started demoing in 2020,” says Thomas. “This is the type of song I’ve wanted to do for years, but maybe never had the confidence to achieve. I’ve always hid behind loud guitars, but here I’m exposed, and I love how open and empty it is, yet so comfortable too. I wanted to show another side of myself through this record, and I think this song is the perfect example of that.
We caught him live way back opening for Father John Misty (WHM to cover his upcoming St Paul MN show though) and NYC orchestral power-pop trio Tchotchke is set as support, who have been produced by The Lemon Twigs (who just played in Lawrence).
John Mellencamp, Apr 3 and 4 The Midland, $49.50-$139.50
Out on his massive 76-date “Live and In Person 2023 Tour”, the Indiana legend is playing smaller venues over multi-nights in most cities, so it’s a rare chance to see him closer up, than you would in a larger venue or arena. We last caught Mellencamp live, headlining the Starkey Hearing Benefit Gala in St. Paul playing a mini-set. Expect to hear some hits, a few critical and personal favorites (i.e. “Minutes to Memories”) and even unreleased song, “The Eyes of Portland”.
Related, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also announced a permanent exhibit called “Legends of Rock: John Mellencamp” which includes the suit worn in promo photos for his 2003 album Trouble No More, one of his custom 1976 Fender guitars, and an oil painting by Mellencamp himself.
Beabadoobee, Uptown, POSTPONED
TUESDAY APRIL 4
Watchhouse Duo (formerly Mandolin Orange), Madrid Theatre, $30
Soon after Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz reintroduced themselves on their 2021 self-titled LP, the pair shared a surprise release: Watchhouse (Duo), a self-produced recording of the pair performing the most elemental possible arrangements of all songs from the LP.
They started over a decade ago playing coffee shops and restaurants around North Carolina and went on to sell out places like Red Rocks and the Ryman Auditorium. Last year, they toured acoustically with Punch Brothers and headlined shows, collaborating with Planet Bluegrass. This will be a special duo set (so no talking!).
Houndmouth, Granada- Lawrence,$25
The Indiana indie alt-blues band [Matt Myers (guitar, vocals), Shane Cody (drums, vocals), and Caleb Hickman (keyboard, vocals)] who formed in 2011 released their fourth full-length, Good for You in 2021 via Dualtone Records and we caught them last playing live back in 2016, playing an early set at the wonderful and gone-too-soon Festival Palomino, curated by Duluth band Trampled by Turtles.
Ex-member Katie Toupin just played the area, and this is a chance to see the whole band.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 5
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Uptown, $28-$50
The New Zealand band just released a double album, V, which followed up initial single, “I Killed Captain Cook”. The album was influenced by "West Coast AOR, classic hits, weirdo pop and Hawaiian Hapa-haole music" according to the band.
The song, the release notes, “is told from the perspective of the Hawaiian that killed Captain James Cook, the English explorer largely responsible for the colonization of Polynesia, who attempted to kidnap Hawaiian chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and eventually met his demise in Hawai’i as a result.” When Nielson was a child, his mother would tell him the story, and the song is his tribute to her.
Amulets to open.
BJ Barham (of American Aquarium), Knuckleheads, $25
The guitarist and lead singer of the Americana band is out on a solo jaunt but expect a setlist of mostly AA songs. He has released Slappers, Banger, and Certified Twangers series Vol 1 and 2 on his own, which are made up of 80s and 90s Country covers.
Spencer Sutherland, Madrid Theatre, $22-$30
The singer/songwriter known for songs like “Wonder” and his TikTok covers is out on the road on the In His Mania Tour- “Let me be the FIRST to welcome you to THE IN HIS MANIA TOUR!!!!!” he wrote on Instagram with the tour poster. “Let’s make this a tour to Remember!!!!”
He’s an actor too, recently starring in Netflix’s Afterlife of the Party with Victoria Justice.
Air Supply, Ameristar Casino, $68+
The Aussie soft rock duo started all the way back in 1975 in Melbourne and is still going today – America seems never "All out of Love" to hear their songs. In addition to their own classic hits, they’ve been working in their version of Nilsson’s “Without You” into their encores.
| john c (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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