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Read more Kansas City Music Guide.
The old saying that “March roars in like a lion” is true, at least in terms of KC-area concerts, as it’s a pretty full first week of shows. It’s still the crazy time of years when temps are 60 and sunny one day, then 30 and overcast the next, so plan accordingly, but don’t fret- outdoor shows return sooner than you know it.
Let’s take look at the Kansas City/Lawrence KS metro musical happenings from March 1st-8th.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 1
Six (musical), continuing thru 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 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.
(Tix basically all sold out at this point, but worth it to keep checking!)
Reverend Horton Heat w Scott Biram, Knuckleheads, $25-$45
A must band to see at least once! After a successful tour last year with Toadies and Nashville Pussy (we caught ‘em last October in Minneapolis), rock’s best modern rockabilly/psychobilly trio returns with a new headlining run of their own.
Reverend Horton Heat led by Jim Heath have been innovating the genre for almost four decades, leading to 12 full-length albums, 3 “best-of” collections, 2 DVD releases and thousands of live performances. Heath and Jimbo Wallace along with new drummer Jonathan Jeter are true road dogs and always find a way to deliver with their live performance.
David Ramirez w Dylan LeBlanc, Knuckleheads,$20
The Austin TX Americana singer-songwriter stayed prolific during the pandemic, releasing My Love is a Hurricane in 2020 and following that up with sixth full-length, Backslider, in 2021.
Early albums like American Soil(2009) and Apologies(2012) put him on the map first locally then beyond, while his STRANGETOWN(2011) and The Rooster(2013) EPs delivered fan-favorite recordings, “Shoeboxes” and “The Bad Days respectively, that are staple singalongs at his concerts.
Muscle Shoals, AL native Dylan LeBlanc’s latest record is 2019’s Renegade, on Dave Matthews’ label, ATO Records, so expect a healthy helping of songs from that, and his three previous releases.
Otoboke Beaver, recordBar,$20
So anticipated, our Ed-in-Chief Vu might forego his traditional Winter hibernation in Minneapolis, to brave the elements and cold weather, to venture out to see this all-girl Japanese punk act (おとぼけビ～バ～).
The band takes their name after a “love hotel” in Osaka and the quartet (singer/guitarist Accorinrin, guitarist Yoyoyoshie, bassist Hirochan, and drummer Kahokiss), have a new record, 2022’s Super Champion, to support, and are marking their first full length tour of North America, which will continue across Europe into 2023, and is recommended for Shonen Knife and riot grrrl fans. Silicone Prairie to open.
THURSDAY MARCH 2
The Rural Alberta Advantage w Georgia Harmer, recordBar, $20-$22
The Rural Alberta Advantage (The RAA) recently released The Rise EP featuring 6 new songs including ‘CANDU’, their first new offerings from the award-winning trio since 2017’s album The Wild, and the first recordings since the return of core band member, Amy Cole. An ongoing series of new songs and EPs will be shared through the year as they're written and recorded by the band, so buckle up! We literally just caught them live in Minnesota, to give you an idea of what to expect in KC.
FRIDAY MARCH 3
Mod Sun w Stand Atlantic, Mar 3, Granada- Lawrence, $25-$27
The MN-born trippy hip-hop and pop-punk act may have his marriage plans to Avril Lavigne on the rocks, but his current God Save The Teen Tour rolls on, featuring special guests Stand Atlantic and Tom The Mail Man as support
Saying these will be his biggest headlining shows yet -- "and that's both exhilarating and a big responsibility to me.” He adds, "I'm going to always focus on the sound and performance of any show I play, but this time I really want to focus on the experience as well.”
SATURDAY MARCH 4
White Reaper, Madrid Theatre, $25-$50
White Reaper just released their fourth and latest album, Asking for a Ride, along with its debut single “Pages”. The Louisville rockers recorded and almost entirely self-produced the new set in Nashville with engineer Jeremy Ferguson. We first caught the Louisville garage rockers back in 2015 in MN.
Katy Guillen and The Drive w Frogpond, Knuckleheads,$15
A local bluesy rock treasure! KC’s own Katy Guillen & The Drive is founded on the creative spark and chemistry between Katy Guillen and Stephanie Williams, with Guillen on guitar / vocals and Williams on drums. After collaborating together in Katy Guillen & The Girls, the pair forged ahead with a melodic, heavy, and soulful sound while maintaining their rock ‘n' roll / blues roots on the new album called Another One Gained. We saw them right before Christmas in Lawrence and definitely came away impressed, especially by Guillen’s Flemenco-influenced solos.
Frogpond is a familiar name, known around these parts since the 90’s and fills out this female-empowered night of rock.
SUNDAY MARCH 5
Black Violin, Lied Center- Lawrence, $21-$60
The two-time Grammy-nominated duo, brought to life by Kev Marcus and Wil Baptiste, invokes a mystifying musical fusion of classical sounds and hip-hop beats. A concert performance that will merge centuries of music with a message of hope and possibility.
On stage, Marcus gives an electrifying violin performance along with Baptiste’s viola and vocal performance and joining them are Nat Stokes on drums, DJ SPS on the turntable, and Liston Gregory on keys.
Bobby Weir and The Wolf Bros, The Midland,$39.75-$99.75
Deadheads unite! Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros formed in 2018 by Weir along with the legendary producer and bassist Don Was and Jay (ex-RatDog and Primus) Lane and play GD classics along with Weir solo material. In 2020, Jeff Chimenti joined the Wolf Bros and is also now joined by Barry Sless on pedal steel.
They recently released their first ever vinyl collection of recorded material, Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live in Colorado, on Third Man Records. The two volume set, produced by Weir, Was and Lane, features a collection of songs recorded during the band’s performances at Red Rocks in Morrison, CO and the Ford Amphitheater in Vail,
MONDAY MARCH 6
jxdn, Granada- Lawrence,$29-$34
The Tennessee Tik Tok and pop-punk/emo-rap star just began his latest tour, releasing a new single called “Sober” last November, which followed his 2021 Travis Barker-produced debut album, Tell Me About Tomorrow. Mark Hoppus collaborators Beauty School Dropout will also be on the bill.
TUESDAY MARCH 7
Crash Test Dummies w Carleton Stone, Madrid Theatre, $45-$79
After some pandemic delays, the Canadian alt-rock band is reuniting for the first time in 17-years to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their seminal sophomore album, God Shuffled His Feet, featuring the original line-up of Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid, Dan Roberts, and Mitch Dorge.
Says bandleader Roberts, “It was a wild ride for us that year. Now we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary reuniting with our original line-up and dusting off our old set lists. It will be the first time we’ve toured with the full band since 2001, and we’re very excited about it.” The 1993 platinum-selling Grammy-nominated album hit #9 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart and features their most unusual and popular singles, “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” and “Superman.”
WEDNESDAY MARCH 8
Eric Johnson, Madrid. $35-$55
Another show rescheduled due to the pandemic, the guitar hero’s Treasure Tour 2023 will celebrate two separate and new albums, The Book of Making and Yesterday Meets Today, released this past July via his new partnership with Blue Élan Records.
Among Johnson’s many accolades are a Grammy award for “Cliffs of Dover” (a track from his Platinum certified Ah Via Musicom), ten more Grammy nominations, lifetime induction into the Guitar Player Gallery of Greats and his listing among the “100 Greatest Guitarists of the 20th Century” by Musician magazine.
Subtronics w MUST DIE!, Kompany, UBER, AUSTERIA,The Midland,$28-$45
A love for SUBwoofers and elecTRONICS has brought us Subtronics from Philadelphia- aka Jesse Kardon, had a passion for his drum set and Radiohead. While in high school, he discovered electronic music and became enamored with the scene. Fusing his blend of cutting-edge sound design with hard-hitting bass, Subtronics seeks to push the envelope with sound engineering.
In January 2022, he dropped his debut album ‘FRACTALS’ which came in at #4 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Album Chart. The album coincided with his 50+ date national headline FRACTAL TOUR, which featured state-of-the-art production and ground-breaking visuals, traveling with a custom-built stage, featuring a floating DJ table within a reflective black hole, dubbed ‘The Wormhole.’
Elle King w Red Clay Strays, Uptown, $39.50
Elle King has continued to do things her way, with a unique style that encompasses country, soul, rock and blues. King is a four-time Grammy Award nominee, two each in the rock and country categories, and received honors from the Country Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Latest release is the cheekily-named Come Get Your Wife released in January and is more country-tinged, with King ready for her own headlining A Freakin-Men tour, after several dates with Chris Stapleton last year.
We caught her live, early on back in 2015 in Minneapolis, and knew even back then, how driven and fiercely independent she seemed to be. South Alabama rockers Red Clay Strays to open, in support of new full-length, Moment of Truth.
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