The Truman filled a concert venue void we didn’t know existed: Best of KC 2018

This month, we published The Pitch‘s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2018. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout October. 

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Between the Midland, Sprint Center, the Folly, the Music Hall, Crossroads KC, Knuckleheads, Riot Room, the Brick, and several others, we thought we had all of our music-venue needs covered. But the one-year-old Truman has proven us wrong. Thanks to its simple-but-smart stage design and layout, this 1,000-person venue — on the northern edge of the East Crossroads — manages to feel intimate and expansive at the same time. The sight lines are clean, there’s no incline, the sound has been crisp and clear at every show we’ve turned up at, and there are enough bars — one near the entrance, two in the main room — to keep drink lines from getting out of control. Staff is diverse, friendly and professional. (At one show we shall not name, the security guy wanded our weed pen and still let us through — an act of extreme chill for which we are especially grateful.) Perhaps most important, the shows have been winners, including everyone from hometown hero Tech N9ne (who opened the venue) to First Aid Kit to Wolf Parade to Neal Brennan to the Breeders. Ol’ Harry S. would have been proud.

The Truman, 601 E. Truman, KCMO.