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Read more Kansas City Music Guide.
Mostly good reports coming out of Springsteen’s recent KC stop, despite having no sax player due to a positive Covid test, just before showtime. At least half their band has been affected, but the tour rolls on, like most traveling shows these days.
P!nk just announced for late October and Jelly Roll is also headlining T-Mobile Center in late August, and Guns n' Roses will play Kauffman Stadium on Sept 23, so the Fall is already starting to take shape.
This week has a good mix from different genres, with a few being very sold out and/or limited tix remaining, so lock in your seat while you can!
Let’s take look at the Kansas City/Lawrence KS metro musical happenings from February 21st-28th.
TUESDAY FEB 21
International Anime Music Festival, The Midland, $45
This inaugural tour brings virtual music superstars to 37 venues and is the first time the popular VTubers (virtually generated animated YouTubers) and Vocaloids (virtual singers with computer generated voices) will appear on stage together.
Stars Kizuna AI Original Singeroid "#kzn", vocal duo HIMEHINA, vocal trio MaRiNaSu, the North American debut of fan favorite GUMI, and pop twins LiLYPSE, the show will be a live DJ-led multimedia concert. Featuring brand new songs and never-before-seen content, the tour brings these characters to life on LED and digital projections. These characters are fan-favorites of international anime-music, generating over 62 million Google searches, and more than 1.2 billion combined views.
National Geographic Live Presents Wild Cats of India with Sandesh Kadur, Kauffman Center, $33.50-$68.50.
With landscapes spanning the Himalaya, arid plains and jungles, India is home to an unmatched diversity of wild cats. Photographer / filmmaker Sandesh Kadur is on a mission to highlight the country’s lesser-known felines in order to protect their future. Through his images and video, you’ll get a unique and up-close look, and the presentation includes an audience Q&A.
WEDNESDAY FEB 22
THURSDAY FEB 23
Giovannie and the Hired Guns, Bottleneck-Lawrence, $23-$25
This rising rock band melds metal, country and Latin music with radio-friendly pop melodies. Formed back when front man Giovannie Yanez was working at a pawnshop, the Stephenville, TX-based band has had great word of mouth related to their live shows and toured last year with Classless Act, who we saw headline to end the year.
In 2019, the band even supported country star Jason Aldean to a crowd of 36,000 at Globe Life Park stadium. With their third full-length, Tejano Punk Boyz, they remain intent on bringing that passion to each and every live set. “Anytime we’re onstage the most important thing is connecting with the crowd in a way that makes them feel like they’re part of the show,” says Yanez.
SunSquabi, recordBar, $17
Incorporating aspects of many genres including electronic, jam band, and funk, among many others the trio is Chris Anderson (drums), Josh Fairman (bass, synth), and Kevin Donohue (guitar, keys, production). They just performed on the Jam Cruise last month and are now making their way around the country. Megan Hamilton also on the bill.
Gary Allan, Prairie Band Casino-Mayetta, SOLD OUT
The longtime Country artist will be performing his greatest hits including “Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain,” "Watching Airplanes," "Nothin' On But The Radio", and others, in a relatively intimate setting. We saw him years ago in Nashville, and his smooth voice and solid songs, are just as strong as ever.
FRIDAY FEB 24
DakhaBrakha, Polsky Theatre. SOLD OUT
This show is Very Sold Out! Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, this unique “ethno chaos” band creates a world of unexpected new music.
They began in 2004 by avant-garde theatre director Vladyslav Troitskyi, with a name that means “give/take” in the old Ukrainian language and their shows are always staged with a strong visual element. Accompanied by Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian traditional instrumentation, the quartet’s astonishingly powerful and uncompromising vocal range creates a trans-national sound rooted in their native culture. Support Ukraine!
Fit for a King w Northlane, Alpha Wolf, Kingdom of Giants, Granada- Lawrence, $25-$28.
****POSTPONED TO FEB 27th*****
Supporting their latest metalcore opus, The Hell We Create (released in Oct via Solid State Records). This lineup is packed so prepare for early doors, a long night, and fervent headbanging. Limited tix left - Act Quick!
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Liberty Hall- Lawrence, $29-$69
Celebrating their 30th Anniversary, the band named themselves after an autograph by blues legend Albert Collins, and since then, they’ve managed to celebrate and revitalize jazz and swing music and bring a sense of joy and fun to audiences.
They began their 30th (officially in April 2023) celebration early by gathering eight other musicians they’ve played with throughout the years, for a total of 17, and delivering a big band sound in their hometown of Ventura, CA and now their show again hits the road-- no telling how many will be on stage, but it will be crowded!
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, “The Future” feat. Lee Langston, Kauffman Center. $33.50-$68.50
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra embraces the future of music through performance and education. The Future is built wholly upon that tenet, providing the stage for this art to emerge, featuring current and future legends one and all. Along with the big band, vocalists Eboni Fondren and Lee Langston will put their modern spin on tunes from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole, and Sam Cooke. In addition, some of Kansas City’s rising stars, students from Soundwave Academy and KCK Community College, will join onstage.
SATURDAY FEB 25
Blue October, The Truman, $39.50-$75.00
Out on their Spinning the Truth Around Tour, the longtime Houston rock band has an album out by the same name, as part of a planned ambitious triple-album, with the second part due out next month. Always putting on a great live set, we caught them last in Minneapolis in 2019.
Greensky Bluegrass, Uptown, $29-$50
The veteran Kalamazoo-based Americana outfit is out on the road to support their just-released Courage For The Road: Fall 2021 live record, along with cuts from their previous eight studio albums. The five-piece features Anders Beck [dobro], Michael Arlen Bont [banjo], Dave Bruzza [guitar], Mike Devol [upright bass], and Paul Hoffman [Mandolin].
Summer Breeze performing Let It Be, recordBar, $20.
KC’s own soft/yacht rock hits tribute band, whose playlist usually includes the likes of Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Hall & Oates, Linda Ronstadt, Kenny Loggins, and Steely Dan, turns its attention to the classic late-era Beatles classic, performed in its entirety, along with special surprise guests!
SUNDAY FEB 26
Kimbra w Tei Shi, recordBar, $22
The New Zealand native who saw her US breakthrough via Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” has returned with new tour and full-length, A Reckoning, with “Foolish Thinking,” as its third single. We caught her live back in 2018 in Minneapolis and she’s even better in concert than you expect.
Opener Tei Shi is a Canadian Colombian singer with music inspired by indie pop, shoegaze and R&B sounds, she's supporting her new EP BAD PREMONITION featuring single, “¿QUIÉN TE MANDA?”. It follows her 2020 EP, Die 4 Ur Love, and features production from herself, Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, and more. We last caught her headlining back in late 2017.
MONDAY FEB 27
ICM Presents Pianist Claudio Martinez Mehner, 1900 Building, $30 ($10 students)
As part of Park ICM’s 20th Anniversary, a rare U.S. performance by the classical master pianist of a virtuosic work! Friends since their days in school, Park ICM Founder / Artistic Director Stanislav Ioudenitch invited Mehner to come and play Isaac Albeniz’s Iberia, considered one of the most challenging works for piano written. This collection by Spanish composer Albeniz evokes the spirit of Spain and the region of Andalusia in particular, with rhythms and harmonies gleaned from Spanish folk music. Bravo, Bravo!
TUESDAY FEB 28
Stephen Sanchez w Cece Coakley, recordBar, $15
The buzzing Nashville-based singer/songwriter has returned with his brand-new single, “Evangeline” (via Mercury Records/Republic Records) and he’s out on a 32-date tour.
He became popular on social media, amassing over two million views and a deal with Republic Records. With this opportunity, the young singer wrote another hit song, “Kayla,” in 2021, and a few months later added his EP, What Was, Not Now. Sanchez continued to accumulate hits with his first full album, Easy on My Eyes in 2022.
Joey Molland and Badfinger, Knuckleheads, $38.50-$55
Known for such classic hits as "Baby Blue," "No Matter What" and "Day After Day," Badfinger was one of the first bands to be signed by The Beatles when they decided to start their own record label. Paul McCartney wrote their breakthrough single "Come and Get It," while George Harrison produced both "Day After Day” and "Baby Blue", the latter of which went to #1 decades later, after being featured on the final episode of AMC's "Breaking Bad".
As the only surviving member of this legendary pop band, Joey Molland (a Brit but MN-based for decades) continues the legacy of their music, while also continuing to create new music.
Six (musical), Feb 28- Mar 5, Music Hall, $136+
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived! From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of heartbreak into a celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over (as they are saying!)
SIX has won 23 awards in the 2021-22 Broadway season, including the Tony Award® for Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.
Much anticipated to play locally, the entire run is just about sold out so secure any remaining tix now!
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