The 2011 KC Spring Invitational

How many political punks does it take to change a light bulb? None: Political punks will never change anything. So goes the joke, right? The members of Kansas City’s Bent Left traffic in politically charged pop-punk with songs like “Application for Federal Assistance,” but they’re trying to prove that punks can change things with Recycled Rockstar’s Spring Invitational. Half of the proceeds go to giving kids music lessons and instruments, allowing the next generation to get a jump-start on “creating positive change through the musical arts.” The Spring Invitational differs from the Fall Invitational in that it’s spread over two days and two clubs and features a slew of bands. (When more than a dozen bands play each club each day, it counts as a slew, right? Or is it a shit-ton?) On Friday, May 6, the Invitational takes over the Riot Room with the reggae of the New Riddim Band, the Celtic-flavored folk punk of Omaha’s the Killigans, and the drunken cow-punk of Them Damned Young Livers, among others. The next night, Saturday, May 7, the whole affair moves to the Crossroads and overwhelms Crosstown Station. There, the country-tinged indie of Sons of Great Dane and the post-hardcore of Various Blonde make up some of the music rocking the joint before
everything is wrapped up with a set of pop-punk from Bent Left.