Incoming: Two Pop-Punk Shows to Make You Salivate

There are two great punk tours coming through Lawrence and KC in the coming weeks, and I thought I’d post them together, because if you’re looking forward to either, you’ll definitely enjoy the other.

Kevin Seconds, of the illustrious straight-edge hardcore band 7 Seconds, played the Jackpot on July 29. He’s playing solo acoustic, which means you’re not gonna get any breakdowns. Not to worry, though, because you get Seconds’ tourmate, Kepi Ghoulie, of the Groovie Ghoulies. I saw this pairing at Opal Devine’s during SXSW, and it was stellar. I’ve now seen Kepi live three times, and he always plays some Groovie Ghoulies tunes, some neat covers (Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town”!), and his between-song banter is par excellence. He and Dino, his bass player, usually have art for sale, too. Real paintings that are real tiny and really reasonably priced.

The Red Scare tour hits the Riot Room on August 3. Cobra Skulls and the Copyrights will bring their pop-punk to the Riot Room’s patio, along with local openers Bent Left. The Copyrights’ last two records, Make Sound and Learn the Hard Way have been stellar examples of quality pop-punk, balancing both sides of the equation with aplomb. “Kids of the Black Hole” (not the song by the Adolescents) is stupid catchy, and I really, really want to hear it live. I’ve already gushed over the Cobra Skulls today, so I’ll spare you a second helping.

The only problem is that the Red Scare tour is on the same night as the Shitty limits show at the Batcave, meaning you have choose your punk flavor that night. If you like the hard stuff, you’re not going to have any interest in the Copyrights, but you pop-punk kids might like the Limits. Damn—this just keeps happening lately, doesn’t it? Although, really, if it’s a choice between too many shows or too few, I’ll take feast over famine any day.