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Read more Kansas City Music Guide.
Dog days of summer are here--
Mostly hot and humid temps but plenty on the social calendars, especially on the weekends.
August does look like a busy month (wait ‘til October!!), despite one of the Broadway seasons ending this week with Moulin Rouge) and note the couple of canceled shows below, originally tapped for T-Mobile Center.
Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming week, from August 1st -5th.
(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show's headline)
THURSDAY AUGUST 1
Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Broadway Touring) through Aug 4, Music Hall, $43-$139
Ooh la la and pop the champagne, the Ten-Time Tony Award winner (including Best Musical) is coming for a must-see run in Kansas City! Enter a colorful world of splendor and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment.
Director Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza, directed by Tony Award® winner Alex Timbers, the musical is a theatrical celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and — above all — Love.
With a book by Tony Award® winner John Logan; music supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Tony Award® winner Justin Levine; and choreography by Tony Award® winner Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! brings the glory days of 20th century Montmartre alive in Kansas City!
Read our Recap of night two: Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Broadway Touring) at The Music Hall, Kansas City MO (2024-07-23 through 08-04) - W♥M (typepad.com)
The Pretenders, Aug 1, Uptown, $196+
The Pretenders will be spending their summer on the road in support of their latest studio album Relentless. The headlining run overlaps with Chrissie Hynde and co.’s also guesting at stops on Foo Fighters’ stadium tour.
Relentless, which arrived in September, is their first record in three years and features Hynde and guitarist James Walborne, along with Kris Sonne (drums), Chris Hill (double bass), Dave Page (bass), and Carwyn Ellis (keyboards and guitars). The band causes a buzz by booking tiny club gigs to help promote the record and to road test the new songs – we caught them in Sept in Minneapolis.
No support listed, so it may be ‘an evening with’, to arrive on time for, and don’t expect all the hits, as at this stage of the game, Chrissie plays what she wants, though there will be many familiar songs.
Orville Peck w Jamie Wyatt, Gold Star, Aug 1, Grinders KC, $39.50-$99.50
Boundary-pushing western-tinged cowboy crooner Orville Peck is on his latest and biggest tour to date, a strong return from abruptly canceling his tour last summer due to mental health issues.
Peck, who recently signed a record deal with Warner Brothers, kicked off on May 28in North Carolina, will wrap in Brooklyn in October. “Stampede: The Full Album” comes out the next day, so this is basically a release party, and the record is a star-studded collection of duets featuring Willie Nelson, Elton John, Noah Cyrus, Midland, Allison Russell, Nathaniel Rateliff, and more.
The new album follows up the single “This Masquerade” and 15-track album “Bronco” from 2023, with the LP featuring “C’mon Baby, Cry” and “The Curse of the Black Eye”, and the new single is with Beck, titled “Death Valley High”, alongside the music video which features appearances from actor Sharon Stone and drag queen Gigi Goode.
Morgan Wallen, Aug 1 and 2, GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, $89-$499
When he’s not throwing chairs off roofs or causing other trouble, hit country music artist Morgan Wallen can actually be an entertaining singer. The KC show is one of ten stadium stops (several are multiple night) on this second leg of his “One Night At A Time”. The concert is based on his recent album “One Thing At A Time”, which has a variety of genres in its songs, ranging from country to hip-hop, to pop-rock.
The album was at the top of the all-genre Billboard 200 chart for 12 weeks in 2023. This was the longest-running country album to be in the No. 1 spot in over 30 years, according to Wallen’s official website. His hit song “Last Night” was the record’s biggest hit and was the most-streamed song of the summer in 2023. Arrive early for the many openers, including Lainey Wilson, who we’re big fans of.
FRIDAY AUGUST 2
Jon Anderson w ELP, Aug 2, Azura Amph, $33-$134
One of the greatest voices in rock, Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks will hit the road this year for the “Yes Epics, Classics and More” tour. In 2023, after connecting with a group of NY musicians called The Band Geeks, Jon embarked on a summer tour performing 2 hours of Yes classics. The result of this collaboration is “True”, their debut album for Frontiers Records. The 9-song album has a timeless sound similar to classic Yes and features the 16-minute song “Once Upon a Dream” as the record’s centerpiece. We last caught Anderson live in 2019 in St. Paul MN.and before that with Jean-Luc Ponty in 2016.
Opening is The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, which features sole surviving member drummer Carl Palmer, playing along to vintage concert footage of deceased members Keith Emerson and Greg Lake.
Kevin Hart (comedy) Aug 2, Starlight, $82.50-$202.50
Comedian, actor, businessman and author Kevin Hart’s new 2024 tour is titled “Acting My Age,” and sees the comedian head to cities for intimate, hour-long stand-up performances. Phones, smart watches and related will be locked in Yondr bags and not allowed out during the performance, and we’re a little surprised a few tickets are still available.
In a statement, Hart said, “‘Acting my Age’ is my ninth tour and I wanted to change things up by creating a more intimate environment. This hour is about connecting with the audience and feeding off the crowd’s energy and laughter.”
Shiner w RxGhost, Lafayette, Aug 2, recordBar, $24.36
KC’s spacey post-hardcore vets are reissuing their classic, long-out-of-print ’90s/early 2000s catalog on Spartan Records and the longtime band is celebrating with this release show.
Everything just sounds bigger and more modern with the remasters, and it sonically fits right in with the current crop of post-hardcore/grunge/shoegaze bands that Shiner helped inspire in the first place.
Singer/guitarist Allen Epley says of debut, “Splay”: “It needed an update sonically, so we found the 2” reels and let Shiner bassist Paul Malinowski work some remix magic on it at his studio Massive Sound in KC. The bass guitar presence is probably the biggest change, but it all became so much more after he dusted it up.”
Arrive early for KC shoegaze/dangerpop band RxGhost who has released a video for "Candles" off their new album 'Scaffolding.' Frontman Josh Thomas says, "'Candles' is about how it's important to still try to do interesting things and strive for change… We could die at any time, like tea candles floating on an ocean, getting extinguished by random waves. This song is about how, even in this current reality, it's important to try to do interesting things, even when the system is rigged against us. We won't be here long, let's do something interesting."
Along with Thomas in this new project, drummer Justin Brooks and guitarist James Capps – alongside bassist Chris Smead and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah James, join him. "I'm probably about as happy as I've ever been," the musician enthuses. "Things feel fresh and exciting. It was rough last decade, but I feel more on top than I ever have."
SATURDAY AUGUST 3
NEW ADDITION! Zauntee, Aug 3, Luxe Event Space (200 N Liberty St, Independence MO, $20-$65
The rising Tampa, FL Christian rapper hits an intimate venue in the KC metro we weren’t aware of, so this is likely a chance to get up close and personal with his mix of hip-hop, gospel, alternative, and rock, on the “Rookie of the Year Tour”.
Following years of independently gigging and recording, he achieved viral impact with "God Taught Me," gathering over 11 million Spotify streams and adorning his 2020 full-length debut, 3:34. 2022's The Stonebrook Project followed, and he’s returned in 2024 with the 20-track We Already Won featuring "Hard Work God First" which reeled in 3.3 million Spotify streams followed by "God Had Other Plans" with 2.2 million streams. Zauntee recently inked a deal with Atlantic Records, so the future truly looks bright. (FYI- Ticket Link embedded in the headline includes a $10 Off offer too!)
Cody Jinks, Aug 3, Starlight, $33.50-$180
The Country singer songwriter has been releasing hit album after album following the initial success of his debut, 2016’s I’m Not The Devil. Since 2016, Jinks has been busy playing his other albums After The Fire and The Wanting to fans across America, and headlining this show, while is providing support to Luke Combs on other dates this summer.
Fans can expect to hear some of his best hits, including “Must Be The Whiskey”, “I’m Not The Devil”, and of course “Somewhere Between I Love You And I’m Leavin’”.
SUNDAY AUGUST 4
Ken Carson, Aug 4, Uptown, Sold Out
The rising Atlanta rapper is out on his 2024 Chaos World Tour, in support of his new album, A Great Chaos, which came out last October, and new track “Overseas.” Carson gained buzz performing at Coachella and is helping lead the current Opium sound in hip-hop and has been added to several Red Hot Chili Peppers stadium dates.
Boyz II Men, Aug 4, Starlight, $35-$175
The Philly-made R&B harmony group is on their 2024 tour along with hitmaker Robin Thicke. Boyz II Men, comprised of Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman, recently returned from touring Europe. The R&B group began in 1985 in Philadelphia when Morris and Marc Nelson started singing together in high school. The group has gone on to win four Grammy Awards and release hits "End Of The Road," "I'll Make Love To You" and "On Bended Knee."
Hobo Johnson and The Lovemakers w Remo Drive, So Much Light, Aug 4, The Truman, $30-$60
California emo rapper Johnson (aka Frank Lopes, Jr) has has caused an indie rumble since he hit the scene in 2015. He reformed the LoveMakers band last year and has a new EP, “FLOOD THE EARTH/JANSPORT”, that follows up another double single release from March, which all may evolve into an upcoming full-length release. It leans more towards his initial sound, and live is the place to hear the new songs, as he road tests the new material with old faves, on this two-month tour.
Kid Cudi w Pusha, Aug 4, T-Mobile Center, CANCELED
MONDAY AUGUST 5
Peso Pluma, Aug 5, T-Mobile Center, CANCELED
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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