The weekend: What'd you see?

There were dozens of shows big or small from Friday through Sunday. We caught six: B.B./Buddy, Rascal Flatts, Bobby "Blue" Bland, the Nevilles/Dr. John, Alice in Chains and Trey Anastasio and friends (review on the way). Tell us what you saw and what we missed.

Comments

[Greg]

I went to see Guy Clark and Knuckleheads. The venue was sold out. Age is catching up to him (he moves with a limp, slowly, he forgot the lyrics momentarily on 3-4 songs, took a long set break and then another break during his 2nd set--Verlon Thompson played 3 of his own numbers during this time).

That said it's impossible to not be entertained by his combination of storytelling, songwriting, and humor.

He played 3 songs off of his newest album and then a mix of what I would call his "favorites" (LA Freeway, Things that Work, Desperados, Dublin Blues, Old Friends, etc). I had not heard the new material before, but I will submit that his encore number 'The Guitar' holds up with anything he's ever written.

He and Verlon mentioned several times throughout the evening how impressed they were with the venue ("we're moving here and becoming the house band", "you don't find many joints like this", "y'all are lucky"). They have opened up the venue since I was last there and while I've always really liked it, with the improvements I have to agree that there's no other place I rather see a show like this one.

[Tim Finn]

last time i saw guy clark was at the old point, now the recordbar. townes van zandt opened for him. TVZ was blotto-drunk, could hardly sit on his stool much less remember lyrics. Guy and his son helped him out and even tolerated when TVZ crashed their set. the clarks were great though. ... that must have been like 13 years ago or more.

[Ellen K.]

I drove (okay, rode) up from Kansas City to St. Joseph for a pair of Kansas City bands Saturday night, The Elders, and True North.

The Elders (Celtic rock) I've been a fan of for a long time now. They didn't disappoint. I'm looking forward to their annual Hoolie coming up March 13 at the Midland Theater.

True North (country / roots music) were new to me. I'm glad to have discovered them. They are quite good and I look forward to hearing them again.

[Bewlay]

Did nobody go to the Trey Anastasio show (not that I'm a Phish-head)?

[onthemark]

Weekend prior (not last weekend) I was at Knuckleheads and saw Joanne Shaw Taylor open for Eric Sardinas. She was phenomenal! Blistering blues rock guitarist, very impressive. She is touring on her debut CD 'White Sugar' and she really tore it up. My early contender for 'Newcomer Of The Year'!

[wadkc]

Waiting for the review (Trey) to come out before we comment in that section.

[kmoon]

BB and B Guy, of course! I wanted to see Guy Clark last night, but it said it was sold out.

[pellboy]

No bands this weekend but I did catch the excellent Wilco film, Ashes of American Flags at the Screenland Armour Friday afternoon. Really enjoyed it and it was even cooler being able to catch it while throwing down a few coldies ($2 PBRs & Miller Lite bottles btw).

My Guy Clark experiences involve catching him twice as part of some Singer/Songwriter Showcase along with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt and Joe Ely. If they ever do this again, I highly recommend it for fans of those artists.

[Timmy P]

Jack's Mannequin at the Beaumont.

Went in with low expectations and left very impressed.

Show was sold out, a young crowd but Jack's put on a great show.

[northlander]

I wondered if anyone else went to Jack's Mannequin. Not a big fan, but my daughter convinced me to go and I'm glad I did. Crowd was intensely into it, and the band Fun was, well, fun. Not as impressed as the direction Vedera has taken but still enjoyable.

[XXX]

Tried to see Nick Oliveri at Czar Bar. Arrived early to pretty empty house(bad weather doesn't help). Sat through 2 openers: Waiting for Signal and Old Black(nice 90's throwback sound, look forward to seeing these guys grow). During Old Black something was mentioned about not seeing anything of NIck yet. What? Apparently he wasn't at the venue yet. Old Black runs out of material and throws down a pretty decent acoustic version of Corrosion of Conformity's Albatross and still no headliner. Sit and twiddle our thumbs for a bit and begin to get a bit antsy. It's 1230 and there's no headliner even in the house. Including arrival and setup, it looks like seeing the headliner is getting slim. About 1245, management proceeds to announce that Oliveri is 70 miles from KC and that it doesn't look good, at all. We are offered refunds at the expense of the opening bands and $1 PBR's or $2.50 wells for the remainder of the night. Didn't stick around for the drink specials. Opted to forgo the refund, since the opening acts need to eat too. Checking Oliveri's myspace, he was in Denver on Friday night. NO EFFING excuse for not making it to KC by Saturday at midnight! Not even if he had to chew off his arm to not wake the coyote he woke up next to. Way to screw some people trying to make a living in a tough economy, FU Nick.

[NEW]

I heard I-70 was closed out West for a while on Saturday, XXX. Having been caught in that dilemma, I can understand not making it from Denver. Not being realistic and calling a few hours in advance to cancel however is inexcusable. Kudos to the Czar Bar for offering discounts on drinks as well as refunds and kudos to you for recognizing the opener's need to eat as well.

As for myself, I went to Radiators at Knuckleheads on Friday. They redeemed NO from the 30 minute DR. John set and the 45 minute Neville's set by delivering a solid 2:15 show. I saw them for the first time in 15 years last year expecting them to be way past their prime and I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. This year was no exception.

Referring to the Neville's/Dr. John show, I am wondering if that show was kept short at the request of Ameristar. As I speculated here before, it seems the casino shows are often short and end early, perhaps in an effort to get you to spend more money at the tables. Any thoughts on that, Tim?

[Bubba]

Heard a bunch of useless reports about how 'the' golf great TIGER WOODS asked for everyone's forgiveness. Who cares? There are simply bigger fish to fry! Who's with me on this?

[DumpIT]

2 thoughts-

1) Completeley understandable not being able to make it, driving in from Denver, uh .... DID YOU HAPPEN TO NOTICE THE STORM COMING FROM THAT DIRECTION??

2)
IF the casinos are requesting performers play short sets to get people playing the tables quicker .... THEN FK EVER GOING TO A CASINO SHOW EVER AGAIN!!

I suggest the casinos head this off at the pass, becasue they are on the verge of pissing off a lot of people/buyer/cutomers/gamblers/etc/etc with this "TREND", not to mention people will direct thier dissappointment at the band(s)

buyer beware???
nope ..
"PERFORMER BEWARE"

[NEW]

Count me in, Bubba.

[Scott]

I dont see much at the casinos, I think I saw Wolfmother at Voodoo, they played a good set, but it was on the first cd so then didnt have a lot to play. I remember seeing Moe there as well, I dont recall them ending early.

[pellboy]

Haven't been to an Ameristar show as yet but I have seen several shows at the Voodoo Lounge, everyone from jamband-type acts like the Black Crowes, Derek Trucks and Govt Mule to Dave Mason and the English Beat (the Beat had probably the shortest set of all those mentioned and it still clocked in at a solid 90 minutes)and none of them have been abnormally short. Don't screw yourself out of some outstanding and generally affordable entertainment simply because Ameristar sucks. I'll never trust a venue that charges premium prices for tired acts like Kansas and Bret Michaels.

[who?]

Tiger who?

[Tim Finn]

Alice Cooper did 90 minutes at Ameristar in August. The pretenders did 95-plus minutes last February. ...

[NEW]

OK. It was just an observation on my part. Pellboy is correct that DTB and GM both played long sets but as I recall, the shows were also over by 11 or 11:30 and they were on a weekend. During their last visit to KC proper, GM played in the lot behind that subshop turned bar who's name we will not mention here and they didn't finish up until well past midnight.

I guess I am trying to say that the shows I have seen have not necessarily been short but they have ended relatively early and I wonder if that is something Voodoo or Ameristar requires. Personally, I appreciated the early start and stop times for weekday shows. I just wonder if there is something more to it (PS, a 90 minute show is OK but it is nothing great).

[Tim Finn]

VooDoo shows are pretty much like shows at other venues. Don't remember any of those being unusually short. Black Crowes played more than 2 hours there one night.

Ameristar shows are more apt to start right at 8 p.m. or very close and sometimes have no opener.

[XXX]

Thanks for the heads up on the I-70 Closure, New. Count me a bit bitter towards Oliveri. I tried to see Mondo Generator at the old Cowtown Ballroom(name of newer venue escapes me). Even though they were on the bill, they weren't there for whatever reason. Just seems to be a bit unreliable. Or, maybe terrible luck has plagued my efforts to see Oliveri. At any rate, I will likely try to see him again if he wants to make it up to us. I understand that he did show up late and play at the Mercy Seat. Not sure how that would have went over.

That NOLA sound is magical. I really enjoyed the Neville's set at Neil Young. Too bad the casino gig was so short.

[mankvill]

None last weekend. None this upcoming weekend, either. The magic starts for me on March 4th at the Jackpot for Misery Index and Magrudergrind.

[pellboy]

Nothing this weekend for me either but I'm gearing up for a week from tonight...the Avett Brothers at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia.

[Matt]

Pellboy,

get there early enough to check out the openers The Low Anthem....good stuff.

[pellboy]

Thanks, Matt, I'll do that. Planning on leaving right from work so I should be rolling into Columbia in plenty of time.