Kansas City Rock & Metal Fest

Club Wars colonel Jim Kilroy failed to take hipsters by storm with last summer’s Westport Meltdown. Eleven bands at three clubs gave a game effort, but crowds were thin. This year’s similarly formatted Kansas City Rock & Metal Fest figures to lure more street soldiers to Westport, with 26 groups on six stages on the first night alone. Among the myriad bands, Boomstick will play its final show before bassist Marty Johnson (pictured) and his Air Force unit are deployed to Germany. The fest continues with single-venue, multi-act showcases the following three nights, but the club-hopping possibilities of the event’s eclectic inaugural outburst make Wednesday the most appealing option.