You Can Always Give by Sam Billen
April Fleming Midlake Riot Room, Kansas City Saturday, December 7, 2013 People can easily be forgiven for staying in on Saturday night – after a few days in which the weather has been well below freezing, a trip to Westport becomes less than appealing. The brave souls who made it out to see Midlake and Sarah Jaffe, though, were rewarded…
Drake with Miguel and Future Sprint Center, Kansas City Saturday, December 7, 2013 For the full slideshow featuring Drake and Miguel, click here. On Saturday night at the Sprint Center, it didn’t matter that temperatures outside were meanly low or that the wind was snapping angrily about. There was an astonishing amount of scantily clad ladies tottering around on impossible…
Drake gave a tremendous performance for a nearly sold-out crowd at the Sprint Center on Saturday, December 7. Miguel opened. All photos by Zach Bauman.
Cliff Illig stood toward the back of the press room Saturday night with a Bud Light in hand, sporting a grin and a brand-new scarf draped around his shoulders, denoting that the team he owns, Sporting Kansas City, owns Major League Soccer’s biggest prize. The grin on Illig’s face was probably wide enough for Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes…
Last year, lead singer, guitarist and head songwriter Tim Smith left Midlake, the indie folk-rock band he co-founded in 1999 and helped lead to critical acclaim. That was shocking enough, but perhaps the greatest surprise came with finding that Smith’s departure didn’t deter the remaining six band members from business as usual. Midlake’s second guitarist Eric Pulido took over lead…
I have been listening to Drake’s Nothing Was the Same on repeat for the last month. It cycles through the CD player in my car, and somewhat against my will, I find myself engrossed in Drake’s monotonous raps. On one hand, I love how thoroughly specific and confessional his lyrics are (his shout-out to “Courtney from the Hooters on Peachtree”…
Local folk-pop artist David Bennett’s last album, Something You’d Say, released this past August, was filled with delicate, fuzzy songs that seemed to catch in the air on glittering spiderwebs. Somehow, the 26-year-old Bennett – who performs as Akkilles – has decoded the preciousness of tape recordings and built his own electronic language from his findings. The first track off Something You’d…
Local indie rock duo Schwervon, featuring drummer Nan Turner and guitarist Matt Roth, have apparently managed to shake off the jetlag from their recent European tour relatively quickly. They just got back home last week, and already have lined up a homecoming gig in the form of a free in-store show at Mills Record Co. on Saturday, December 7. Schwervon…
St. Joseph punk-rock heroes Radkey have just released a new music video for their high-energy, high-octane song “Start Freaking Out,” and if it’s not the extra spike your morning coffee needs, you’re probably not listening properly. The brothers – Dee, Isaiah and Solomon – have recently returned from a jaunt through the U.K. and are currently at work writing their…
The year’s last First Friday falls on the feast of St. Nicholas, named for the fourth-century Greek bishop whose life and legend, via 600 years of circuitous cultural appropriations, inspired the whole Santa Claus, child-focused, gift-giving centerpiece of U.S. capitalistculture. So yes, there are some bazaars tonight, along with worthwhile group shows, and yes, you may need to stop at…
For the first time in three years the MLS Cup Finals will not be a matchup between the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo, rather Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake are the two teams battling it out for the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. Sporting Kansas City entered the MLS Cup as the second seed in the East and are…
There was still snow lingering on the ground in Kansas City today as late as 2 p.m. The Old Farmer’s Almanac reports that the official first day of winter in 2013 will begin with the solstice on December 21. I say winter begins with the first snowfall, and today is winter, baby. But does this change of seasons put the…
Topeka MC Stik Figa might be one of the most underrated local rappers around. His most recent album, the October-released City Under the City (a collaboration with producer L’Orange), is a brilliantly layered, socially conscious hip-hop album that smoothly unfurls its beats like a night fox on the prowl, stalking prey. “Blind Tiger” is one of the strongest tracks on…
Minneapolis alt-country band the Pines is at a comfortable place in its extensive musical life. Since 2007, the septet – led by the sophisticated songwriting of lead singers and native Iowans David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey – has released three acclaimed albums and concentrated on building a strong, dedicated following in their native Midwest. Tomorrow night, the Pines are stopping…
Media coverage in the run-up to Saturday’s Major League Soccer Cup final has focused on the supposed disparity in both teams’ styles of play, when the true differentiator between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake was the kind of season each team was supposed to have. Sporting Kansas City on paper started the season looking like one of perhaps…
