Okay, now that we have that out our systems, let’s talk about Des Moines disrespect, before we attack this absolutely incredible festival lineup.
There will be no Des Moines slander up in here. It is a magical city with charm and kind, warm folks. And they have really cool stuff, i.e. the 80/35 non-profit Festival.
This is a festival that knows who it is and what it is bringing to music fans in the Midwest and nationwide.
From headliners Father John Misty’s prophetic and lamenting beautiful prose to Charli XCX’s syrupy sweet hyperpop, filled with iconic earworms from the not-forgotten eras of dance and fun!
Jamila Woods is one of the greatest poets of our day and Japanese Breakfast is putting on the best show in music right now. Check out M. Zauner aka J Brekkie, aka THE GOAT before she wins her Oscar. đź‘€
Not to mention that this festival supports countless of human beings, families, pets, businesses, and the world around us and the air we breathe. So you’ll literally be saving the world by going.
Covid 19 has canceled all major festivals across the world. However, it sounds like one festival in Wisconsin was created because of the deadly virus.
“Herd Immunity Fest” the overwhelmingly underwhelming 2-day festival featuring some of nu-metals least popping names, including Static X, Sponge, Flaw, and Saving Abel took place this past weekend.
Although many artists on the bill, smartly, backed out, the show, much like Coronavirus, goes on. Fans in attendence were asked to socially distance and wear a mask, but it appears that there was little to no responsible activity taken place at “Herd Immunity Fest.” Shocking, eh?
The festival, which didn’t boast Coachella or Lollapalooza numbers, actually asked fans to come out to the venue early, to help set up.
Stereogum reports: “As of last week, there were 326 positive coronavirus cases in Marathon County, where the festival took place. Two people have died.”
Trump’s never-ending beef with China has a new target in the crosshairs- social media platform Tik Tok.
The incredibly popular app, featuring teens doing silly dances and countless celebrities being obliviously too old to look cool, has now come under scrutiny by the Trump administration?
Why would Trump hate something that brings so many so much joy? Because he believes the Chinese-based app is spying on citizens who have signed up for the app.
Which leads us to wonder, is it worth letting an Authoritarian power spy on your most personal content, just to do the Renegade dance, or whatever is popular nowadays.
What can Kanye possibly do that will shock us? The man has seemingly done and said it all! The man literally said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on live TV. While he was 100% right with that statement, still; shocking.
However, it seems Kanye still has some tricks up his Yeezy-branded sleeves. The prolific and controversial rapper and artist announced late on July 4th that he intends to run for President of the United States.
While this is an incredibly interesting idea in theory, in actuality, this is a beautiful, dark, twisted, bad idea. The world need an actual stable genius now.
Apparently, Kanye’s late night tweet wasn’t just lip service, he actually has a platform loosely put together, and it is terrible.
In an interview this morning with Forbes, Kanye flaunted his anti-vaxx views, saying:
“It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed… So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them.”
He also said that ““Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work.” He doesn’t believe in the death penalty. He thinks there should be prayer in schools. One of his main priorities is chemicals: “In our deodorant, in our toothpaste, there are chemicals that affect our ability to be of service to God.”
As troubling as all of these statements are, we can at least take solace in the face that Kanye appears to be over his commitment to Trump. “I’m taking the red hat off with this interview… It looks like one big mess to me. I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.”
The whole interview is incredibly wild, just as the Kanye West fan journey has been. Read the rest of the interview here
Here’s a not-so-hypothetical hypothetical. You’ve worked all week. You’ve slaved at your laptop, you’ve been in and out of meetings, and your boss has been riding you like Seabiscuit all. week. long.
You, the weekend warrior- you, the one who works the desk– YOU deserve to dance.
This Saturday night in Kansas City, two of indie-rocks’ most dancey acts will be playing rock music. And it will be loud, and it will be fun, and it will be carefree. And you should be there.
Joywave and Sir Sly are on the bill, and both have experienced huge levels of success, on record and in concert. Both have played festivals and shows around the world, and specialize in making booties move.
Joywave has been playing high octane rock music since 2010 and hail from Rochester, NY. The group brings an electric vibrancy of sound with slick guitars, heavy drums and bass, and catchy as hell vocals. Lead singer Daniel Armbruster provides a sort of nerdy charm to his performance and guitarist Joseph Morinelli absolutely shreds licks down.
Don’t miss “Destruction” and “Somebody New” for optimal dancing tracks that are guaranteed to make you forget about your week.
In addition to Joywave, Los Angeles indie-rockers Sir Sly will open the show.
Sir Sly’s sound pulses with electronic synthesizers and chest-rattling bass. Their songs hit like a dart to the head- they STICK IN THERE.
Sir Sly has made a big name for themselves cutting up the club scene and pretty much touring constantly for years. They’ve proven to be formidable in making crowds eager to sing and dance along with their catchy tunes.
The National’s music is notoriously depressing. Their music paints the picture of despair, heartbreak, and sorrow- so much so that “Sorrow” is the title of one of their songs. It’s the kind of music that can bring tears to your eyes. Luckily for me, and the attendees of their October 7th Kansas City show, it was pouring rain out, so nobody could tell I was crying.
Indie-rock vets from Cincinnati, the National, strode through Kansas City and brought their saddest record to date, Sleep Well Beast, with them. These downtrodden tracks found dancey life under a shroud of furiously beating down rain. Under the veil of wet, and cloaked by plastic ponchos, the crowd let loose in musical freedom of expression and euphoria.
The National’s show could best be described as the world ending all around us, so why not dance? Singer Matt Berninger often found himself striding into the crowd head first, standing on chairs, holding onto peoples’ heads for stability, and throwing beers around- just generally being a wild ball of chaos in a fiery rainstorm.
“Bloodbuzz, OH” and “Graceless” were racuous showstoppers, while “Dark Side of the Gym” and “I Need My Girl” brought all the soaked, plastic-wrapped lovers to a slow sway.
“Fake Empire” as a closer is always a staple for the National, and in these politically heated times, Berninger said “This wasn’t written for these times, but it might as well have been.”
For the encore, “Terrible Love” lit the fuse and “Mr. November” blew the place to smithereens. Amongst the rubble, we all rose our voices together in harmony to sing along to “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.”
A beautiful night full of the ups and downs, crazy emotional rampages and quiet embraces that make up a life. Maybe that’s why the National’s music is so sad— it’s relatable. It’s us, it’s life, it is what it is. At the end of the day, whether wet or dry, happy or sad, we can all say that the concert meant something to us.
There are few bands as emotionally captivating as The National. Cincinnati’s finest have played to small clubs and large festival crowds for years. While their sound and style has evolved and expanded over time, one thing has remained the same, the reaction one feels when they hear their music.
On October 7th, The National bring their brooding, bracing and bold repertoire of tunes to the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. The indie-rock greats will be supporting their Grammy-winning album Sleep Well Beast.
Seeing The National perform live is an unforgettable experience. The music touches the soul in such a way that immediately elicits emotion- pain, pride, and of course, “Sorrow.” Combine the beautiful artistry of the band’s sound with singer Matt Berninger’s gruff growl and coarse and snarling drawl. His deep bellow on record translates to hyper shouts and riveting stage presence.
Berninger and Co. have been playing live since 2001 and have only gotten better and better, more precise, more biting, and more poignant. Can’t miss tracks include “Mr. November,” “Bloodbuzz, OH,” and “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness.”
Tickets can be found here:Â https://www.kcstarlight.com/events/event-detail-production/the-national-2018
Who knew that three Jewish sisters from Los Angeles could perform one of the best rock sets of 2018? Uh, I did. It’s 2018, get over it.
(I really considered not making that my intro sentence, but I’m basically writing this for myself, so screw it.)
Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim strutted through Kansas City’s Uptown Theatre on May 10, and instantly blew the roof off the place with high octane, highly danceable rock music.
HAIM have been rocking since 2013, and creating some of the best on-stage banter in the music scene today. Their catalog, full of catchy, bold, and awesome indie-pop tunes translate to a live setting so perfectly, these three sisters are IMPOSSIBLE to dislike.
Starting off with the unstoppable one-two-three punch, also known as a PERFECT COMBO in Mortal Combat, “Falling,” “Don’t Save Me,” and “Little of Your Love,” rocked through the venue and got everyone’s feet moving. Even the coolest cucumbers in the room, those who came to the show, not to dance, but to look cool, quickly got pickled in the power of dance.
The hits kept coming throughout the impressive almost 2-hour-stunner. “My Song 5, “Walking Away,” and “The Wire,” kept the temperature of the room at about 200 degrees. I say that, because I sweated through my shirt whilst dancing. Totally. Fucking. Worth it.
HAIM’s power goes beyond the music. They are cool, funny, strong, and profoundly talented musicians. Their music hits you hard in the soul and reverberates through your bones, forcing you to dance. It is highly emotional and shoots through your heart like that scene in Pulp Fiction.
If you get a chance to see these amazing women live, jump at the chance. And if their opening act Lizzo finds herself in your area, GO. Don’t ask questions, just go. You’ll be glad you did.
There are places and times to best experience music, music heard in its’ prime environment and ambiance. For example, it’s a well known fact that AC/DC is optimally listened to while driving 45 mph down a vacant road, dirt preferred. Beach House is best heard at, you guessed it, a cabin in Colorado in the dead of winter.
As for Issaquah, Washington indie-rock legends, Modest Mouse, the optimum viewing experience led about 6,000 music fans to the Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on Friday, May 10.
What tricks does a band that’s been rocking consistently for about 26 years still have in store? It turns out, a lot.
The band came prepared with 9 members on stage, including two drummers, horns, and theatrical violins and an upright bass. Isaac Brock and Co. really came to impress.
And impress they did! The band came out absolutely swinging with “Dark Center of the Universe” from long-time fan favorite album, The Moon and Antarctica.
The band kept going through hits played liberally from their five most recent albums. Some of the most viciously fun songs played were “Dashboard,” “Lampshades on Fire,” “Cowboy Dan,” and of course, “Float On.”
The surge of people I saw sprinting up towards the stage, to take a selfie during “Float On” was just astonishing. There was a security guard, whose only job, was to prevent people from taking selfies near the stage, AND HE COULDN’T HANDLE THE RUSH! I tried to keep tally, but lost track.
But still, can we just reflect on how good that song is? And how good this band is? I mean, everyone has heard of Modest Mouse. They’ve been around for 30 years! But they’ve kept every bit of excitement, experimentation, and catchiness for their entire career. They never receded away, and never backed down.
Modest Mouse continue their tour through mid-October, (impressive, right?) and will be coming to Wichita on the 21st. So, check them out. You’ll be glad you did.
On Thursday night, I attended my third concert in three days. A rowdy Jack White show and an intense JPEGMAFIA/ Injury Reserve show preceded my finale of the trifecta, a syrupy sweet indie-pop set from Alvvays.
After the week I’ve had, my ears, knees, and sleep schedule may never recover, but it was a perfect week. All I can say is thank god for Alvvays.
The Toronto dream-pop group played the most pleasant, lovely, catchy, impactful tunes I’ve heard in a long time. Beneath clouds of light and warm blankets of guitars and bass, Alvvays swooned and serenaded a sold-out crowd at the RecordBar into pure bliss.
The music that singer Molly Rankin and Alvvays produce from instruments and amps is emotional yet uplifting, powerful yet soothing. There is a general serenity throughout the room when they play.
I was fortunate to watch from a balcony, so I was able to see the entire crowd. Indie kids bobbed their heads in glee, smiles on every face in the audience. In fact, there’s a specific indie-kid bounce that happens during this kind of sweet poppy music, it’s like a bobble back and forth with head-nods to the beat throughout. I’m guilty of it too, and it’s just delightful to see. But how can you not dance to “Adult Diversion”?
The show was jam-packed with insanely lovely songs, with the band never even stopping to take a breath, let alone a sip of water. “In Undertow” led right into “Plimsoll Punks” and followed by “Lollipop” and then “Not My Baby.” Hit after hit after hit after hit!
“Your Type” got everyone’s feet moving and heads bobbing around. The song is fun to cruise to in a car, but sounds 10 million times better live.
The main entree of the night was “Archie, Marry Me,” which I wish never ended. Even now, as I’m writing this, some two-hours after the show, I wish I was still listening to “Archie, Marry Me” in that dingy bar. That song is perfect, and the performance of it was flawless.
Alvvays are already a big deal in the indie world, but while watching them crush their set with the precision of a Swiss wristwatch, I couldn’t help but think of them taking over the world. They have a phenomenal sound, incredible live show, and songs that could fit into a movie or a commercial, or a main stage at a music festival. The world is really Alvvays’ oyster.
If you can make it out to an Alvvays show, do it. You’ll be instantly taken away to a magical place where music heals and love is eternal.
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