Local Artist Overthrow beats the cold with hot local talent

The Riot Room’s annual Local Artist Overthrow fought hard to take its place on one of the busiest weekends that Kansas City’s midtown has seen since the sun decided to make a seasonal appearance. With Rockfest raging down the road, and with that pub crawl we all love to hate and hate to love monopolizing the Saturday day drunk, Westport was a veritable stomping ground for festivalgoers and party hoppers. Add to that a string of miserably cold, damp weather and you’ve got one confusing mess of a weekend.

It’s no surprise then that attendance at the Local Artist Overthrow, which featured more than 20 of some of the the area’s best local bands, was sporadic. But that didn’t seem to phase the bands, which brought the heat with polished sets, new songs and old favorites, and some enviable stage energy.