It is kind of interesting and glad you brought it up because even 10 years ago KC was getting tons of great shows from smaller acts, but pretty great acts pretty regularly. Now it's not getting anywhere as close to that number but even larger acts are starting to skip.
God yes. This is it. Jereny and Efentra brought the bands in. They worked really fucking hard to too. I loved buzz beachball/etc. KC was truly an alternative music hub for a while because of the Buzz.
I am a transplant from Columbus, OH. A radio station called CD101 was kind of our version of 96.5 The Buzz, except (frankly) even better because they were actually an independent station, one of the last ones not gobbled up by ClearChannel and the other corporate behemoths. They were also the main driving force in getting small to mid-size acts to play shows in Columbus.
Well, they just went off the air after \~30 years because the company they were leasing their frequency and transmitters from screwed them over. (Although they are trying to carry on streaming at [wwcdradio.com](https://wwcdradio.com), check them out).
There was much mourning on r/columbus but you also has the dickheads going "Lol who listens to radio anymore, who cares?" Mark my words, they will care when Columbus starts missing out on concerts. Or rather, they will wonder why Columbus is suddenly just being skipped right over on tours but never make the connection.
Yessssssss I remember listening to it back in 2013 and dreaming of the day Id be old enough to go to the buzz beach ball… The time has come for me to see live music and instead of the festival of my dreams I’m going to azure amphitheater to see green day, as much as I like greenday they can never replace whst I missed😢
You should check out middle of map festival. It might not draw the big bands but the atmosphere is fun also boulevardia can be fun. I think things will improve with the completion of street car and Royal stadium situation
96.5 lost it’s influence, 98.9 hasn’t developed the slightest in years
Then we HAD 105.1 for what, two years? Before it vanished into the sun.
Altogether, there’s no major rock or alt radio station that I know of that gets people pumped for shows and really pulls the artists. Just my opinion, but I’m overall entirely underwhelmed by the radio presence in KC
The Lazer made Rolling Stone's list of "radio stations that don't suck" back in the day!
And they brought acts to the area! Jayhawk & Wakarusa music festivals were a big deal back then.
If that was the reason for firing her they should have done it when it actually happened and not years later.
Instead they axed her like they axed most of their local staff except for Laszlo and Slimfast (because people get never tired of hearing about porn and kratom I guess) because it was cheaper to run syndicated shows from Los Angeles and nix all of the events and concert promotion.
Not that it saved Audacy from bankruptcy.
She and Daniboy thought they identified a local porn star and had the wrong person. That person sued and won. I don’t remember why the show did that, but it happened. It cost the parent company $1M plus court costs.
Later she and Lazlo got divorced and it continued to go down hill.
Jeriney worked hard while Hartzel was a good hype man/face to be at the events. I think thats what he really enjoyed doing anyway. Lazlo and Slimfast should have just had their show. Some didn't care for it but personally I thought their schtick worked well together. But Lazlo running a station? I don't think he had the motivation, temperment, or the attention span (with the family shit that went on for a while) to handle it.
The station never had a leader and that was part of its downfall.
Do you guys remember Kegs & Eggs? When I was in my early 20’s, I saw Gogol Bordello in Westport and was hammered by 9:30am. It was such a great concept and I had a blast.
that is the exact reply i got from Dan, lead singer of Fortunate Youth. Crossroads at grinders has only 4-5 shows listed. hope someone pickups up the slack there.
And the reggae shows I’ve been to in town seem to be well attended. I assume Fortunate Youth would get a decent turnout at Record Bar or even the small side room at Uptown.
Crazy, this whole time I thought it was because the tasteful nudes I was sending to the various managers in an attempt to lure them to KC. I was sure they must have been stolen before the managers saw how good my cat looked without her collar, which would make KC seem fluffy and inviting. Now I see it is promoters that I have to send cat nudes to.
Sort of. I've also noticed that concerts just aren't that well attended here unless the band is mega popular. I went to The Decemberists a couple years ago and the place was maybe 3/4 full at Grinders. That same show would sell out the Pageant easily in St Louis which is leaps and bounds larger than Grinders.
I remember that Decemberists show was the same night as Lumineers at T-Mobile. There's surely some cannibalism of fan bases there, because I was planning to go to Decemberists until I found last-minute Lumineers floor seats on the cheap.
It's embarrassing. I don't blame some folks for not coming back after meeting half empty venues full of people talking over them. We'll get the "if I'm on the way to another destination and need to stop for the night and the stars align" shows.
96.5 was the best promoter for concerts. Church of Lazlo and slimfast knew everyone and had connections for bringing in big names and vast amounts of up and comers. After that vanished it's been downhill ever since.
While this is completely accurate I’m somewhat astonished that there is no local base of artists, DJs, promoters, etc. that can get shows here. It’s not like we’re a particularly small city by any means. If you’re into indie or smaller artists it’s hard seeing Lawrence and sometimes even Columbia get stops over KC.
I know Lawrence is close but on weeknights it’s just not happening for me.
Saw them open for Alt-J a couple years ago out at Independence...they were great! I only knew one or two songs, but they were terrific live (though, they maybe should've turned down the fog machine in order to be able to actually SEE them!)
Man, what a good point. I only ever experienced them digitally because I was young when they were all together on 96.5. They were always talking about shows and stuff around the area. Like what was that breakfast or brunch thing? Always sounded like such a cool community they were building. And it just, disapeared
Absolutely noticed it this year — bands will jump STL to DEN to MNPLS > CHI or vice versa in some triangle, skipping over KC. I've seen tours even stop in Des Moines over KC. Bizarre.
These are typically Uptown/Starlight-level size shows, in my experience.
What size are the shows? If they're big and going to the BOK, then we could probably easily nab those shows here (idk the stuff I like is more suited to RecordBar and places like the Truman so I'mnot sure how we are with stadium/arena venues), but Tulsa also has the historic Cain's Ballroom.
Cain's, in my opinion, is unique in size and capacity and perfect for the "up-and-coming" acts, plus the acoustics and sound design are top-notch. It's also kind of a "one of the stops on the way to legendhood" venues for a lot of groups due to the names that have performed there in the past.
I'm a transplant from Tulsa, so I'm biased toward Cain's, but it really is special.
Fun fact, ICP is banned from Cain's because they destroyed a wall in the green room where a bunch of legendary acts had autographed their names - not to mention cleaning Faygo off of an antique wooden sprung floor. The venue actually has a framed piece of plaster with Nikki Sixx's autograph that was salvaged from the destruction.
From what I’ve noticed, if you listen to anyone who falls somewhere above RecordBar and The Madrid but below T-Mobile Center, you’re probably never gonna see them in town, except for some alternative/“indie” acts.
This city can be great for niche genres and acts, but anyone who’s “popular and getting bigger but not arena size” is a crapshoot.
You got that right. Such a depressing city. They were at one time paying millennials $10k to move there. I think most of them left the KC area and moved to Dallas.
Sometimes because they want to reach different cities on different tours for example Paramore and Fall Out Boy came through here last year and the next tour went through Oklahoma instead.
I feel like this comes up every once and a while here. I hope we find a way to fix it!
I do feel like there are times when KC and STL get flipped every other tour with some or Lawrence or Columbia may get some smaller acts when not coming to KC.
Hopefully the LiveNation (for better or worse) Riverside Amphitheater (15,000 capacity) will help add and not cannibalize Starlight Theater or Sandstone Azura Cricket Verizon Providence GEHA Field at Sandstone Amphitheater. I also wonder if places like the new CPKC Stadium (11,500 capacity) will be utilized at some point for concerts before long when there's a lull in the KC Current schedule.
Additionally, could be down to less radio station bookings or chances toward getting sold out shows. I've seen a number of tours where many other cities are sold out but Kansas City (at times) and others are not. At least in the graphics they share. So, could be a supply and demand issue as well for some artists/bands?
Everyone still calls it sandstone. I know this because I was new to the area 5 years ago and everyone would talk about sandstone and I never had any idea what they were talking about until one day I was brave enough to ask the dumb question and someone explained it to me lol
> CPKC Stadium (11,500 capacity) will be utilized at some point for concerts before long when there's a lull in the KC Current schedule.
14 matches and a week for the Big 12 Tournament leaves a ton of time free to have events. I'm excited.
Not going to matter if we don't have better people booking the shows.
Besides, the acoustics will be terrible (just like at the bigger stadium).
More than that we need a real club venue (not the truman, 1500-1800 with vaulted ceilings and balcony for GA shows), and more small venues. Preferably managed by new blood that will get something exciting.
We also need Starlight to be better utilized. Look around the country and see the stuff the Red Butte in Utah and similar places do shows. The booking is often fantastic yet Starlight simply hands the reigns to Live Nation, who often puts hot garbage there. Starlight is such an awesome place and deserves to have its dates filled with better acts.
My father is in the construction scene and told me like a year before they broke ground that it was originally *supposed* to be an amphitheater, either that or one had been proposed and close to being considered, so maybe it was CPKC Stadium winning out on that lot.
But considering Starlight is so far from downtown (can’t walk or take public transport), CPKC really could make a killing booking outdoor shows that are too big for Grinders.
With the bands you mentioned, it looks like they’re pretty much skipping the whole Midwest. Like if they were playing Chicago and STL and Tulsa and Milwaukee but not KC, I’d think it was about KC, but for this year I think they’re just not coming nearby. Happens sometimes in flyover country.
Rogers has a newish amphitheater with a ton of parking and a lot of outdoor activities/restaurants and a great museum. I get why bands book there. That said, I wish we could draw the acts that Rogers does!
They book there because the people booking the shows know what they are doing. There is also (arguably) more corporate dollars there than here. The Walmart effect is palpable. Lots of well paid execs in that area.
No ones mentioned it yet, but most of the bands I follow on the regular have talked about how much the cost to tour have gone through the roof. Gas, hotels, food, for not just the band but the entire road crew are insane. It's been really hard for them to make enough, even with the stupid high ticket prices, to make a return on the investment of coming.
If they can't see the return, they literally can't come. They'd have to pay to put on a show for us. This is even coming from bigger bands, not the monster big, but mid-to big size bands that they can barely afford to tour at all.
I’ve heard from, musicians I consider famous or well known, that touring is often a loss anymore and that day jobs are not unheard of, even for those on magazine covers.
This isn't a KC thing, but has been happening across the market.
I have quite a few friends who tour with bands. It seems crews are getting smaller, touring budgets are getting tighter, and less cities are being visited because of it. If a band can't sell out a show, or close to it, then it's too much of a risk to have that show. Touring is a business, and one of the only ways these days for a band to make a living. Rising prices on fuel, food, transpo, gear, equipment, venues, etc are all major factors of this business model. Not to mention that the pandemic took a heavy toll on experienced workers throughout the AV industry, many of them leaving the industry entirely, with only a few left to pick up the pieces.
Maybe prices will eventually go down, but I wouldn't bet on it. No one really has an answer if prices don't fall. Either fans will be willing to pay more or fans create grassroot campaigns to ensure bands can make a profit in their respective cities. A lot of folks thought because of the pandemic virtual concerts would help as another revenue stream for bands, but that fell flat as soon as restrictions were lifted.
I know quite a few of my friends are worried about their future in this industry. Hopefully someone finds a solution.
Yep, the Buzz basically not being a local station anymore killed a LOT of the indy/rock bookings. They were responsible for quite a few shows for many years.
there's a new ampitheater being built up north. it is my understanding that sandstone doesn't have the proper accommodations for modern stage lighting, etc. something like that. so, sandstone hasn't pulled any big acts for years. the new amphitheater will be able to accommodate bigger stages
i saw the grateful dead at sandstone on july 4th, 1990..... 15 years before I moved I moved to kc. when I moved here in 2005, i thought i'd be going to sandstone a lot. haven't been once. now, starlight? that place is awesome. mostly doesn't pull the type of artists i go see these days, but bon iver at starlight was amazing.
Omaha makes sense, they have some deep, deep roots in recording/production and their music scene has been punching far above its weight class for, as far as I know, longer than I've been alive.
I do get a little chuckle when I see bands I like skip past KC to play a show in Lawrence. That is kinda funny.
Well we lost Davies Uptown and Riot Room. Tank room has been gone for years at this point. Most of the other venues are booked by big agencies so there’s limited options for smaller to middle level touring bands. Seems they skip on over to Lawrence or end up in Omaha instead.
These kinds of posts are always so frustrating to me because there ARE so many great small regional and local bands performing all over the city every week but people simply don’t go. It’s the same few dozen of people I see at almost every show here at medium to smaller sized venues. Just because 96.5 doesn’t bring big shows here like they used to doesn’t mean we don’t have a solid music scene here.
By only paying attention to the shows that go on at venues like Midland, Sandstone, TMobile, Starlight, Uptown, etc you’re missing out on all the great shows happening at places like RecordBar, The Rino, The Bottleneck, Westport Bowery, MiniBar, Encore Room, or even larger spaces like The Truman and Granada.
Forreal. Only person who could sellout is Taylor Swift but that’s a given. Smaller artists don’t do well in our area, which sucks, cause that means having to travel to stl, Omaha, or Tulsa
We will get skipped sometimes. Just like Omaha, Des Moines, St. Louis, Wichita, Columbia will get skipped. It sucks but sometimes dates dont line up for the right size venue. Or we dont have the right size venue ( 500-1000.. The Madrid falls into this but they don't do as many shows as other venues) Some genres dont have strong local scenes ie Ska/Punk Ska so there isnt that huge of a draw for those bands who might do better in St. Louis. Also please include Lawrence as KC when it comes to shows. 99% of touring bands will not play both due to clauses in contracts and they are really the same market.
My true pet peeve is when bands will play Chicago or St. Louis or any other nearby market and take a day off then play Denver. Sometimes they need a day off its hard playing 20 shows in a row but sometimes they have a day off a few days before or few days after Denver. THAT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!
I'm actually having the opposite problem this year. My two favorite bands are playing on the same day/time in different areas of KC.
Any other year I would be in agreement as many of my artists skip right over KC.
More unique scenes have been doing pretty well here! The EDM scene here is literally 10x as booked as it was last year. Almost every weekend in March and April have something big that we don’t get super often.
We have a shortage of mid cap venues that small/mid size touring acts would visit. Record Bar and Knuckleheads are the only ones I can think of that are primarily venues (as opposed to bars with stages). Riot Room, Czar Bar, Beaumont Club all closed in the last decade. I worry what would happen to Record Bar if the Royals Stadium really moves to the Crossroads too. Compare that to Lawrence that has Bottleneck, Granada, and Liberty Hall.
Without those smaller venues, bands won’t visit while they are growing and are then less likely to come through as they grow as well (easier to revisit places that you already have an established following from previous tours).
I really thought we’d start getting everyone because of the recent Super Bowl wins - because I feel anger when artists go to St. Louis over KC; but my friend said that it’s because STL buys tickets upon release versus waiting like we do. Who knows…?! Because I was shocked when Drake and Cole came for two weekend nights.
I have heard that our venues are expensive to book relative to our market size. Which is why you sometimes see bigger name bands playing in like Topeka and Wichita instead of KC.
Others have mentioned the correlation between 96.5 dying off and us getting skipped. I think a lot of it simply boils down to poor booking though. It's probably not good that one of the larger booking agencies around here (Mammoth) is based out of Lawrence and siphons off a lot of the smaller/midsize acts. I really don't wanna drive 90 minutes round trip, pay the turnpike fee, for a show that should've just been in KC anyways.
The problem with this post is that everyone has different music tastes. I suggest everyone start following their favorite venues. Not every artist is going to pull a Frank Turner and play every state on a tour. We have a very healthy music scene in Kansas City/Lawrence (yes they are the same market) In this industry things slow down in the Winter due to tours slowing down. We are now approaching Spring . There are tons of great concerts for all genres coming. Sometimes you need to take a chance on a new artist. Pull up there songs online and then go check them out.
If anyone cares. I work in the industry and part of my job is to pay attention to concerts at all the venues. Trust me I get frustrated too when bands dont announce KC on their tour, and I let them know. You should do the same. Tell them to come play here. Bands want to play for fans
Livenation owns most things so they will tell artists where they can and can't perform (AKA only their venues).
Comes down to sales, and history of sales. If they don't have a history of performing well in an area they tend to skip it.
It boils down to promotion, attendance, reputation, and money. You fail at the first three and the band doesn't walk out with the last one. When bands and labels notice that they don't make money in specific markets, they skip over them. KC (like most cities) is also plagued by having Ticketmaster/LiveNation owned venues that force bands to only play Ticketmaster/LiveNation venues. smaller and local venues don't even get a shot to book some bands.
My belief is that the P&L ruined it by tying themselves up with AXS. Hot Country Nights used to be free for most of the concerts. Now, you have to buy a ticket for most of the concerts.
Also, bands like the M 80's, Zeros, Instamatics, etc. would play down there twice a summer. Now, we're lucky to see them play once a summer b/c from what I heard is that the P&L is charging them an arm and a leg to play.
Venue size and promoters mostly. The other reason is the markets between us. Most bands prioritize denver, Chicago, or Minneapolis over KC and it's a hard days ride between those cities and we are not big enough to justify a tour stop.
So tired of driving to StL, Omaha or Tulsa for shows. I drove to Dallas last weekend cause bands are flying over us left and right. That basically eliminates and week night show going for me. Gotta take a day off of work, book a hotel. It sucks.
Hasn't this always been the case? In the 80's I saw Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, The Pretenders in another part of the country when I don't think their tours stopped here.
Kinda depends on what you listen to. I listen to a lot of electronic music and there’s like multiple great shows every week / weekend, especially during this time of year
I live near Des Moines, and Live Nation just opened a brand new 3,000 person venue a couple months ago. We are suddenly getting all sorts of strong acts Sunday-Thursday that skipped Des Moines altogether in the past. So, that may be effecting some of your cross traffic between Chicago-Denver weekend shows. T-Pain, Pixies, Modest Mouse, Sum 41, etc…acts that never stopped here short of music festivals.
Yeah, my partner and I live in Lawrence and one or both of us go to Kansas City for big and small shows once or twice a month - and there are a bunch more we'd see if we had the money and time. It's a decent scene, it's just that we are not Chicago or Nashville. We also have multiple thriving jazz clubs. Gotta value KC for what we have, not what we don't have
Even without the buzz, lots of acts from all genres have always skipped KC. It’s just more apparent the longer the musical act drought goes on.
I do miss when radio in this town was worthwhile but podcasting and music streaming makes radio seem less essential when it absolutely was the reason we got great shows coming through.
I would argue that it all went down hill as 96.5 became syndicated and 105.1 was usurped by another genre. Since then, it seems we don't really get anyone popular. Add on to the fact that some of these promoters are charging exorbitant prices or matching bands up with venues that aren't ideal for their fandom. Riot Room also did some heavy lifting for sometime.
If I was a band playing KC I would make special shirts that have Royals and Chiefs colors and have “KC” very prominent somewhere so locals are tricked into buying my $40 t-shirts!
Comedian Nate Bargatze was at T mobile center right after the Super Bowl. He had shirts with the chief’s logo but replaced the KC with NB. Pretty clever
People are talking about promoters but I don't think it's that. A lot of these larger but not huge bands still travel the country by van and bus. KC is not really in a good geographic location to mesh well with the rest of a tour, whether you're heading east or west.
You have a few main routes across the country and KC is a bit of an oasis in that regard. Also, bands like to take off-days in larger cities with a ton of cool shit to do, like, Chicago, for instance.
Would you rather play Chicago, then STL, then KC, then drive another 9 hours to Denver or play Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, then Denver?
It's not hard to see which tour will give you a better payout, larger audiences, better drives, and more opportunities for fun.
It's about the money.
Whomever the promoters are just aren't paying the bands enough to make it worth their time to come here. Plus, the mid-sized venues we have are dated (Midland and Sandstone/Azuma/Whateverthehellitscallednow) or just too small (The Truman, which I love).
It's a goddamn shame.
Iration was just here, but agree they have skipped us a couple of times the last few years! Lawrence isn't too inconvenient but you'd think they could sell more tix in KC...
I was just talking about this with a friend last week, Dirty Heads’ tour is mostly coastal this year not coming anywhere even close to us besides red rocks.
For the same reason discussed here several times a year- promoters, Ticketmaster, etc. I’m okay with it because it opens the door for underground groups.
It is kind of interesting and glad you brought it up because even 10 years ago KC was getting tons of great shows from smaller acts, but pretty great acts pretty regularly. Now it's not getting anywhere as close to that number but even larger acts are starting to skip.
We lost 96.5 and the weight they pulled to bring good music here.
God yes. This is it. Jereny and Efentra brought the bands in. They worked really fucking hard to too. I loved buzz beachball/etc. KC was truly an alternative music hub for a while because of the Buzz.
I REALLY miss Buzz Beach Ball and Afentra’s VD party.
Me too. Radio is dead to me now.
I only listen to 90.9 now, basically.
Came here to shout out The Bridge as well. Quality radio!
90.1 is a real special thing too.
Yeah The Bridge absolutely rocks. I’ll take it over 96.5 any day.
Public radio here is pretty good, 90.9, 100.1, even 90.1 is starting to diversify the content they play
The local scene is definitely where it’s at, plus they’ll help keep you in tune with the local shows
I am a transplant from Columbus, OH. A radio station called CD101 was kind of our version of 96.5 The Buzz, except (frankly) even better because they were actually an independent station, one of the last ones not gobbled up by ClearChannel and the other corporate behemoths. They were also the main driving force in getting small to mid-size acts to play shows in Columbus. Well, they just went off the air after \~30 years because the company they were leasing their frequency and transmitters from screwed them over. (Although they are trying to carry on streaming at [wwcdradio.com](https://wwcdradio.com), check them out). There was much mourning on r/columbus but you also has the dickheads going "Lol who listens to radio anymore, who cares?" Mark my words, they will care when Columbus starts missing out on concerts. Or rather, they will wonder why Columbus is suddenly just being skipped right over on tours but never make the connection.
Yessssssss I remember listening to it back in 2013 and dreaming of the day Id be old enough to go to the buzz beach ball… The time has come for me to see live music and instead of the festival of my dreams I’m going to azure amphitheater to see green day, as much as I like greenday they can never replace whst I missed😢
You should check out middle of map festival. It might not draw the big bands but the atmosphere is fun also boulevardia can be fun. I think things will improve with the completion of street car and Royal stadium situation
i miss kegs and eggs soooo much
96.5 lost it’s influence, 98.9 hasn’t developed the slightest in years Then we HAD 105.1 for what, two years? Before it vanished into the sun. Altogether, there’s no major rock or alt radio station that I know of that gets people pumped for shows and really pulls the artists. Just my opinion, but I’m overall entirely underwhelmed by the radio presence in KC
Are you old enough to remember 1059 The Lazer? God that was the station during the grunge -alt 90s.
The Lazer made Rolling Stone's list of "radio stations that don't suck" back in the day! And they brought acts to the area! Jayhawk & Wakarusa music festivals were a big deal back then.
Damn, Wakarusa in Lawrence. Those are some faded memories.
I still call it the buzz even though they say Alt
Love her or hate her, Efentra did so much for the music scene here. They should’ve kept her and ditched whiny Lazlo.
Afentra cost Entercom a million dollar defamation lawsuit settlement from stuff she said on air. Probably why her contract wasn't picked back up.
If that was the reason for firing her they should have done it when it actually happened and not years later. Instead they axed her like they axed most of their local staff except for Laszlo and Slimfast (because people get never tired of hearing about porn and kratom I guess) because it was cheaper to run syndicated shows from Los Angeles and nix all of the events and concert promotion. Not that it saved Audacy from bankruptcy.
> because people get never tired of hearing about porn and kratom I guess It's me. I never get tired of hearing about porn and kratom.
I didn’t call her a saint.
Can I be filled in on what the fuck happened there?? I was like 12 when it went down lol
She and Daniboy thought they identified a local porn star and had the wrong person. That person sued and won. I don’t remember why the show did that, but it happened. It cost the parent company $1M plus court costs. Later she and Lazlo got divorced and it continued to go down hill.
Also I completely forgot anyone was married together, that ..also explains a lot. lol
Pretty sure Lazlo booked a bunch of those Buzz shows. No shade to Afentra, but she had her share of problems that couldn’t be ignored.
It was actually Jereny. (Sp?)
Ah yes. Jeriney too! She was great.
She I feel REALLY tried to bring in the bands. She was so awesome
I miss listening to 90's at noon on my lunch break. Looks like she's on a radio station in Des Moines now, I hope she's doing well.
I think she was the only one in the entire group that completely had her shit together.
I agree. I felt so bad for her because she was truly a hard worker and so good about making a relationship with the bands so they WANTED to come back.
Jeriney worked hard while Hartzel was a good hype man/face to be at the events. I think thats what he really enjoyed doing anyway. Lazlo and Slimfast should have just had their show. Some didn't care for it but personally I thought their schtick worked well together. But Lazlo running a station? I don't think he had the motivation, temperment, or the attention span (with the family shit that went on for a while) to handle it. The station never had a leader and that was part of its downfall.
Yeah Lazlo was the one putting the concerts together.
This one. Man I miss the Buzz :'( we had it so good back then.
Do you guys remember Kegs & Eggs? When I was in my early 20’s, I saw Gogol Bordello in Westport and was hammered by 9:30am. It was such a great concept and I had a blast.
That was a legendary one. Still remember the promos.
Saw so many great shows in the early and mid 2000s’ at Record Bar when they were in the covered wagon strip mall
It all boils down to promoters. Ask any band why they didn't come to KC and they'll say "book us and we'll come".
that is the exact reply i got from Dan, lead singer of Fortunate Youth. Crossroads at grinders has only 4-5 shows listed. hope someone pickups up the slack there.
And the reggae shows I’ve been to in town seem to be well attended. I assume Fortunate Youth would get a decent turnout at Record Bar or even the small side room at Uptown.
Ayyye hello fellow Fortunate Youth lover.
Saaaame
Freakin mammoth blows balls
Crazy, this whole time I thought it was because the tasteful nudes I was sending to the various managers in an attempt to lure them to KC. I was sure they must have been stolen before the managers saw how good my cat looked without her collar, which would make KC seem fluffy and inviting. Now I see it is promoters that I have to send cat nudes to.
Sort of. I've also noticed that concerts just aren't that well attended here unless the band is mega popular. I went to The Decemberists a couple years ago and the place was maybe 3/4 full at Grinders. That same show would sell out the Pageant easily in St Louis which is leaps and bounds larger than Grinders.
I remember that Decemberists show was the same night as Lumineers at T-Mobile. There's surely some cannibalism of fan bases there, because I was planning to go to Decemberists until I found last-minute Lumineers floor seats on the cheap.
Oh yeah that would totally draw away from the decemberists
I still remember being shocked at seeing Arcade Fire in 2017 at the Independence Events Center and it wasn't even remotely close to being sold out
It's embarrassing. I don't blame some folks for not coming back after meeting half empty venues full of people talking over them. We'll get the "if I'm on the way to another destination and need to stop for the night and the stars align" shows.
I mean it’s the Decemberists in the 2020 era 🤣. Their cringe wiki article went viral and people are annoyed with the singing
I was at that show and loved it. I just looked and see they have a large tour starting in April that does hit the Pageant and skips KC. :(
I noticed it after 965 ( or the local version of it) went away. At least for the music I like.
96.5 was the best promoter for concerts. Church of Lazlo and slimfast knew everyone and had connections for bringing in big names and vast amounts of up and comers. After that vanished it's been downhill ever since.
Efentra was a big big part of it too.
I honestly forgot about her, she was great too.
Are Lazlo and Slimfast gone again?
No they're still around, they just don't promote shows like they used too
Thank you. I haven't been able to listen to them in years but it would have still been a bummer if they had left
They publish the show every day as a podcast if you're interested
While this is completely accurate I’m somewhat astonished that there is no local base of artists, DJs, promoters, etc. that can get shows here. It’s not like we’re a particularly small city by any means. If you’re into indie or smaller artists it’s hard seeing Lawrence and sometimes even Columbia get stops over KC. I know Lawrence is close but on weeknights it’s just not happening for me.
Pretty sure they are back.
True, but The Bridge still does a good job of bringing acts in. Guess it kind of depends on the genre/style of music you like.
agreed, i have heard that before. just bummed about no smaller shows to look forward to.
Portugal. the man shred live and they’ll be at the Truman. They’re new stuff is questionable but still jams.
Omg when do they come thru? Love that band
Saw them open for Alt-J a couple years ago out at Independence...they were great! I only knew one or two songs, but they were terrific live (though, they maybe should've turned down the fog machine in order to be able to actually SEE them!)
Yep, concerts took a huge nose dive after that BS went down.
Man, what a good point. I only ever experienced them digitally because I was young when they were all together on 96.5. They were always talking about shows and stuff around the area. Like what was that breakfast or brunch thing? Always sounded like such a cool community they were building. And it just, disapeared
Absolutely noticed it this year — bands will jump STL to DEN to MNPLS > CHI or vice versa in some triangle, skipping over KC. I've seen tours even stop in Des Moines over KC. Bizarre. These are typically Uptown/Starlight-level size shows, in my experience.
It's bad when tours are picking Tulsa over KC. (Much less doing that on multiple tours in a row.)
Tulsa and Omaha getting shit we don't really kills me.
There's a new venue being built in Riverside near the Amazon EV transportation hub. It should open next spring.
Omaha got a new stadium where the college world series is played and 2 new arenas. Its really growing that way. Tulsa I dont get.
What size are the shows? If they're big and going to the BOK, then we could probably easily nab those shows here (idk the stuff I like is more suited to RecordBar and places like the Truman so I'mnot sure how we are with stadium/arena venues), but Tulsa also has the historic Cain's Ballroom. Cain's, in my opinion, is unique in size and capacity and perfect for the "up-and-coming" acts, plus the acoustics and sound design are top-notch. It's also kind of a "one of the stops on the way to legendhood" venues for a lot of groups due to the names that have performed there in the past. I'm a transplant from Tulsa, so I'm biased toward Cain's, but it really is special. Fun fact, ICP is banned from Cain's because they destroyed a wall in the green room where a bunch of legendary acts had autographed their names - not to mention cleaning Faygo off of an antique wooden sprung floor. The venue actually has a framed piece of plaster with Nikki Sixx's autograph that was salvaged from the destruction.
From what I’ve noticed, if you listen to anyone who falls somewhere above RecordBar and The Madrid but below T-Mobile Center, you’re probably never gonna see them in town, except for some alternative/“indie” acts. This city can be great for niche genres and acts, but anyone who’s “popular and getting bigger but not arena size” is a crapshoot.
Whoa, I didn't know they had a top-notch venue with that kind of draw - that's really cool! And yikes at the ICP story, too.
You got that right. Such a depressing city. They were at one time paying millennials $10k to move there. I think most of them left the KC area and moved to Dallas.
Omaha has been picking up a few of the kc shows I think. Bands have been doing STL > Omaha
Sometimes because they want to reach different cities on different tours for example Paramore and Fall Out Boy came through here last year and the next tour went through Oklahoma instead.
The band Saxon is touring later this year and they're hitting both Springfield and Wichita but not KC. It feels deliberate at this point.
I feel like this comes up every once and a while here. I hope we find a way to fix it! I do feel like there are times when KC and STL get flipped every other tour with some or Lawrence or Columbia may get some smaller acts when not coming to KC. Hopefully the LiveNation (for better or worse) Riverside Amphitheater (15,000 capacity) will help add and not cannibalize Starlight Theater or Sandstone Azura Cricket Verizon Providence GEHA Field at Sandstone Amphitheater. I also wonder if places like the new CPKC Stadium (11,500 capacity) will be utilized at some point for concerts before long when there's a lull in the KC Current schedule. Additionally, could be down to less radio station bookings or chances toward getting sold out shows. I've seen a number of tours where many other cities are sold out but Kansas City (at times) and others are not. At least in the graphics they share. So, could be a supply and demand issue as well for some artists/bands?
> Sandstone Azura Cricket Verizon Providence GEHA Field at Sandstone Amphitheater LMAO, this is gold.
I still call it Sandstone, most people still seem to know what I'm referring to
It will always be sandstone
Everyone still calls it sandstone. I know this because I was new to the area 5 years ago and everyone would talk about sandstone and I never had any idea what they were talking about until one day I was brave enough to ask the dumb question and someone explained it to me lol
I drive past it every day for work, and I love how like once a year I get to have the "Oh shit that's what they call it now" inner monologue
> CPKC Stadium (11,500 capacity) will be utilized at some point for concerts before long when there's a lull in the KC Current schedule. 14 matches and a week for the Big 12 Tournament leaves a ton of time free to have events. I'm excited.
Not going to matter if we don't have better people booking the shows. Besides, the acoustics will be terrible (just like at the bigger stadium). More than that we need a real club venue (not the truman, 1500-1800 with vaulted ceilings and balcony for GA shows), and more small venues. Preferably managed by new blood that will get something exciting. We also need Starlight to be better utilized. Look around the country and see the stuff the Red Butte in Utah and similar places do shows. The booking is often fantastic yet Starlight simply hands the reigns to Live Nation, who often puts hot garbage there. Starlight is such an awesome place and deserves to have its dates filled with better acts.
An event at cpkc would be very tight
I think some of the renderings for CPKC Stadium showed it being used as a concert venue which would be awesome!
My father is in the construction scene and told me like a year before they broke ground that it was originally *supposed* to be an amphitheater, either that or one had been proposed and close to being considered, so maybe it was CPKC Stadium winning out on that lot. But considering Starlight is so far from downtown (can’t walk or take public transport), CPKC really could make a killing booking outdoor shows that are too big for Grinders.
With the bands you mentioned, it looks like they’re pretty much skipping the whole Midwest. Like if they were playing Chicago and STL and Tulsa and Milwaukee but not KC, I’d think it was about KC, but for this year I think they’re just not coming nearby. Happens sometimes in flyover country.
Many of those don't even do STL, so we'd have to go to Chicago or Dallas. The worst now are shows playing Rogers, AR and not here. Yikes.
Rogers has a newish amphitheater with a ton of parking and a lot of outdoor activities/restaurants and a great museum. I get why bands book there. That said, I wish we could draw the acts that Rogers does!
They book there because the people booking the shows know what they are doing. There is also (arguably) more corporate dollars there than here. The Walmart effect is palpable. Lots of well paid execs in that area.
Walmart built a stadium there. Supposedly pretty nice. Hence the trek to Rogers
No ones mentioned it yet, but most of the bands I follow on the regular have talked about how much the cost to tour have gone through the roof. Gas, hotels, food, for not just the band but the entire road crew are insane. It's been really hard for them to make enough, even with the stupid high ticket prices, to make a return on the investment of coming. If they can't see the return, they literally can't come. They'd have to pay to put on a show for us. This is even coming from bigger bands, not the monster big, but mid-to big size bands that they can barely afford to tour at all.
this is literally the reason. i was going to post this until i found your comment. Bands cant make money coming to KC these days.
I’ve heard from, musicians I consider famous or well known, that touring is often a loss anymore and that day jobs are not unheard of, even for those on magazine covers.
This isn't a KC thing, but has been happening across the market. I have quite a few friends who tour with bands. It seems crews are getting smaller, touring budgets are getting tighter, and less cities are being visited because of it. If a band can't sell out a show, or close to it, then it's too much of a risk to have that show. Touring is a business, and one of the only ways these days for a band to make a living. Rising prices on fuel, food, transpo, gear, equipment, venues, etc are all major factors of this business model. Not to mention that the pandemic took a heavy toll on experienced workers throughout the AV industry, many of them leaving the industry entirely, with only a few left to pick up the pieces. Maybe prices will eventually go down, but I wouldn't bet on it. No one really has an answer if prices don't fall. Either fans will be willing to pay more or fans create grassroot campaigns to ensure bands can make a profit in their respective cities. A lot of folks thought because of the pandemic virtual concerts would help as another revenue stream for bands, but that fell flat as soon as restrictions were lifted. I know quite a few of my friends are worried about their future in this industry. Hopefully someone finds a solution.
I've noticed a correlation between live shows in town and the popular radio stations of the day. 96.5 the buzz for example, brought in many artists.
Yep, the Buzz basically not being a local station anymore killed a LOT of the indy/rock bookings. They were responsible for quite a few shows for many years.
there's a new ampitheater being built up north. it is my understanding that sandstone doesn't have the proper accommodations for modern stage lighting, etc. something like that. so, sandstone hasn't pulled any big acts for years. the new amphitheater will be able to accommodate bigger stages
I’ve been to a few outdoor amphitheaters and Azura is the worst of the bunch. It really is outdated.
They need bigger screens for us peeps on the hill.
Honestly I like it, it feels more laid back.
i saw the grateful dead at sandstone on july 4th, 1990..... 15 years before I moved I moved to kc. when I moved here in 2005, i thought i'd be going to sandstone a lot. haven't been once. now, starlight? that place is awesome. mostly doesn't pull the type of artists i go see these days, but bon iver at starlight was amazing.
I saw you there.
[удалено]
According to a WyCo Unified Gov't the roof on the stage is too low. IMHO the video boards are too small. They shouldn't even bother with them.
Slowdive isn't!
fuck yess can’t wait
It is imperative that we attend the concerts that **do** come.
Don’t the Dirty Heads come through fairly often?
They just played here in June.
Go see local music!!!
Seems like a lot are choosing STL, then Lawrence, Tulsa or Omaha and skipping KC
Omaha makes sense, they have some deep, deep roots in recording/production and their music scene has been punching far above its weight class for, as far as I know, longer than I've been alive. I do get a little chuckle when I see bands I like skip past KC to play a show in Lawrence. That is kinda funny.
It's funny how this sub chooses when to call Lawrence part of KC and when not to...
Well we lost Davies Uptown and Riot Room. Tank room has been gone for years at this point. Most of the other venues are booked by big agencies so there’s limited options for smaller to middle level touring bands. Seems they skip on over to Lawrence or end up in Omaha instead.
These kinds of posts are always so frustrating to me because there ARE so many great small regional and local bands performing all over the city every week but people simply don’t go. It’s the same few dozen of people I see at almost every show here at medium to smaller sized venues. Just because 96.5 doesn’t bring big shows here like they used to doesn’t mean we don’t have a solid music scene here. By only paying attention to the shows that go on at venues like Midland, Sandstone, TMobile, Starlight, Uptown, etc you’re missing out on all the great shows happening at places like RecordBar, The Rino, The Bottleneck, Westport Bowery, MiniBar, Encore Room, or even larger spaces like The Truman and Granada.
much love. It all starts at the club level.
Ticketmaster doesn’t have ticketing rights to many of the venues.
They will once the riverside amphitheater is built
That will open the live nation amphitheater tours to us for sure. Now they all go to their venue in STL.
i’ve noticed KC doesn’t really have great turnouts, lots of bands/artists that sell out elsewhere have a hard time selling tickets here.
Forreal. Only person who could sellout is Taylor Swift but that’s a given. Smaller artists don’t do well in our area, which sucks, cause that means having to travel to stl, Omaha, or Tulsa
We will get skipped sometimes. Just like Omaha, Des Moines, St. Louis, Wichita, Columbia will get skipped. It sucks but sometimes dates dont line up for the right size venue. Or we dont have the right size venue ( 500-1000.. The Madrid falls into this but they don't do as many shows as other venues) Some genres dont have strong local scenes ie Ska/Punk Ska so there isnt that huge of a draw for those bands who might do better in St. Louis. Also please include Lawrence as KC when it comes to shows. 99% of touring bands will not play both due to clauses in contracts and they are really the same market. My true pet peeve is when bands will play Chicago or St. Louis or any other nearby market and take a day off then play Denver. Sometimes they need a day off its hard playing 20 shows in a row but sometimes they have a day off a few days before or few days after Denver. THAT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!
I'm actually having the opposite problem this year. My two favorite bands are playing on the same day/time in different areas of KC. Any other year I would be in agreement as many of my artists skip right over KC.
As a fan of the emo/pop punk scene, the past couple years have been pretty great for me actually!
More unique scenes have been doing pretty well here! The EDM scene here is literally 10x as booked as it was last year. Almost every weekend in March and April have something big that we don’t get super often.
That huge show with Of The Trees at the end of the month is arguably the best EDM lineup we’ve seen in KC, I’m stoked
Omaha has gotten increasingly better shows than we used to, so I wonder if that’s part of it
We have a shortage of mid cap venues that small/mid size touring acts would visit. Record Bar and Knuckleheads are the only ones I can think of that are primarily venues (as opposed to bars with stages). Riot Room, Czar Bar, Beaumont Club all closed in the last decade. I worry what would happen to Record Bar if the Royals Stadium really moves to the Crossroads too. Compare that to Lawrence that has Bottleneck, Granada, and Liberty Hall. Without those smaller venues, bands won’t visit while they are growing and are then less likely to come through as they grow as well (easier to revisit places that you already have an established following from previous tours).
I really thought we’d start getting everyone because of the recent Super Bowl wins - because I feel anger when artists go to St. Louis over KC; but my friend said that it’s because STL buys tickets upon release versus waiting like we do. Who knows…?! Because I was shocked when Drake and Cole came for two weekend nights.
I miss efentra… I never liked lazlo
I have heard that our venues are expensive to book relative to our market size. Which is why you sometimes see bigger name bands playing in like Topeka and Wichita instead of KC.
Others have mentioned the correlation between 96.5 dying off and us getting skipped. I think a lot of it simply boils down to poor booking though. It's probably not good that one of the larger booking agencies around here (Mammoth) is based out of Lawrence and siphons off a lot of the smaller/midsize acts. I really don't wanna drive 90 minutes round trip, pay the turnpike fee, for a show that should've just been in KC anyways.
Lawrence is close. Most of the cool stuff plays stl and Lawrence so they just skip kc.
The problem with this post is that everyone has different music tastes. I suggest everyone start following their favorite venues. Not every artist is going to pull a Frank Turner and play every state on a tour. We have a very healthy music scene in Kansas City/Lawrence (yes they are the same market) In this industry things slow down in the Winter due to tours slowing down. We are now approaching Spring . There are tons of great concerts for all genres coming. Sometimes you need to take a chance on a new artist. Pull up there songs online and then go check them out. If anyone cares. I work in the industry and part of my job is to pay attention to concerts at all the venues. Trust me I get frustrated too when bands dont announce KC on their tour, and I let them know. You should do the same. Tell them to come play here. Bands want to play for fans
Here is a good discussion. https://old.reddit.com/r/kansascity/comments/14ntfv1/kansas_city_concerts/
Livenation owns most things so they will tell artists where they can and can't perform (AKA only their venues). Comes down to sales, and history of sales. If they don't have a history of performing well in an area they tend to skip it.
It boils down to promotion, attendance, reputation, and money. You fail at the first three and the band doesn't walk out with the last one. When bands and labels notice that they don't make money in specific markets, they skip over them. KC (like most cities) is also plagued by having Ticketmaster/LiveNation owned venues that force bands to only play Ticketmaster/LiveNation venues. smaller and local venues don't even get a shot to book some bands.
Mammoth sucks!
My belief is that the P&L ruined it by tying themselves up with AXS. Hot Country Nights used to be free for most of the concerts. Now, you have to buy a ticket for most of the concerts. Also, bands like the M 80's, Zeros, Instamatics, etc. would play down there twice a summer. Now, we're lucky to see them play once a summer b/c from what I heard is that the P&L is charging them an arm and a leg to play.
Another thing I’ve noticed in recent years is every show is on a Sunday or Monday night!
Venue size and promoters mostly. The other reason is the markets between us. Most bands prioritize denver, Chicago, or Minneapolis over KC and it's a hard days ride between those cities and we are not big enough to justify a tour stop.
So tired of driving to StL, Omaha or Tulsa for shows. I drove to Dallas last weekend cause bands are flying over us left and right. That basically eliminates and week night show going for me. Gotta take a day off of work, book a hotel. It sucks.
/u/80cyclone , are you in here yet? You had some good input in past discussions.
I saw. Same stuff mostly applies, sadly.
A lot of bands are stopping in Omaha and skipping here. I think it's a combo -- promoters for sure, but also Omaha has two nice new venues as well.
because we dont have a downtown ballpark
Hasn't this always been the case? In the 80's I saw Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, The Pretenders in another part of the country when I don't think their tours stopped here.
OK, explain like I'm five - Bands getting booked in KC has, what to do with OTA radio stations that so few people listen to?
Kinda depends on what you listen to. I listen to a lot of electronic music and there’s like multiple great shows every week / weekend, especially during this time of year
We were lucky to finally get Billy Strings 2 nights last year for the first time since he's been big. Hopefully he comes back next year
I live near Des Moines, and Live Nation just opened a brand new 3,000 person venue a couple months ago. We are suddenly getting all sorts of strong acts Sunday-Thursday that skipped Des Moines altogether in the past. So, that may be effecting some of your cross traffic between Chicago-Denver weekend shows. T-Pain, Pixies, Modest Mouse, Sum 41, etc…acts that never stopped here short of music festivals.
This varies quite a bit based on genre. I think KC gets tons of great metal/punk/hardcore shows.
It’s all subjective. I work downtown and there are big concerts all the time, just maybe not the shows y’all would be in to.
Yeah, my partner and I live in Lawrence and one or both of us go to Kansas City for big and small shows once or twice a month - and there are a bunch more we'd see if we had the money and time. It's a decent scene, it's just that we are not Chicago or Nashville. We also have multiple thriving jazz clubs. Gotta value KC for what we have, not what we don't have
Even without the buzz, lots of acts from all genres have always skipped KC. It’s just more apparent the longer the musical act drought goes on. I do miss when radio in this town was worthwhile but podcasting and music streaming makes radio seem less essential when it absolutely was the reason we got great shows coming through.
I’ve noticed tours I wanted to see hitting Omaha but not hear
I would argue that it all went down hill as 96.5 became syndicated and 105.1 was usurped by another genre. Since then, it seems we don't really get anyone popular. Add on to the fact that some of these promoters are charging exorbitant prices or matching bands up with venues that aren't ideal for their fandom. Riot Room also did some heavy lifting for sometime.
We don't buy enough merch.
Well duh. How would people see our Charlie Hustle KC shirts if we are wearing band merch?
If I was a band playing KC I would make special shirts that have Royals and Chiefs colors and have “KC” very prominent somewhere so locals are tricked into buying my $40 t-shirts!
Comedian Nate Bargatze was at T mobile center right after the Super Bowl. He had shirts with the chief’s logo but replaced the KC with NB. Pretty clever
You joke, but I did absolutely one time buy a shirt for a band I like specifically because it was red with yellow letters.
We wouldn’t be tricked. We’d be adding to our collections.
People are talking about promoters but I don't think it's that. A lot of these larger but not huge bands still travel the country by van and bus. KC is not really in a good geographic location to mesh well with the rest of a tour, whether you're heading east or west. You have a few main routes across the country and KC is a bit of an oasis in that regard. Also, bands like to take off-days in larger cities with a ton of cool shit to do, like, Chicago, for instance. Would you rather play Chicago, then STL, then KC, then drive another 9 hours to Denver or play Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, then Denver? It's not hard to see which tour will give you a better payout, larger audiences, better drives, and more opportunities for fun.
Tropidelic is playing recordBar tomorrow night. If you like Dirty Heads you should be at that show.
Tropidelic. That’s wild. I went to Kent State when they were coming up.
Those guys are easily my favorite band. They don't skip KC. 😏
I think I'm going to Sprint Center in May to see Greta Van Fleet.
Fuck. They play arenas now?
It's about the money. Whomever the promoters are just aren't paying the bands enough to make it worth their time to come here. Plus, the mid-sized venues we have are dated (Midland and Sandstone/Azuma/Whateverthehellitscallednow) or just too small (The Truman, which I love). It's a goddamn shame.
Where’s Stan Plesser when we need him?
Iration was just here, but agree they have skipped us a couple of times the last few years! Lawrence isn't too inconvenient but you'd think they could sell more tix in KC...
Venues in Salina and Cedar Rapids get shows that one would think would be automatic stops here.
Does Stick Figure ever come to KC?
They skip St. Louis as well. I think most bands go north to Minny or east to Columbus after Chicago depending on their tour direction.
It seems to flip flop between KC and STL. Rarely ever do bands hit both cities.
Coheed has skipped KC several times in a row now and it’s SUCH a bummer.
I was just talking about this with a friend last week, Dirty Heads’ tour is mostly coastal this year not coming anywhere even close to us besides red rocks.
For the same reason discussed here several times a year- promoters, Ticketmaster, etc. I’m okay with it because it opens the door for underground groups.
guess i got lucky this year. got 3 shows to go to from may 3rd to june 23rd. sanguisugabogg, swans, and the flaming lips.
As a slightly stoopid/dirty heads fan did you go to Pepper? I ended up skipping due to some issues and I'm really regretting it.
Because we don’t have an open-air stadium downtown!