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In 2012, the music agenda gets busy fast

Radiohead comes to the Sprint Center on March 11, its first stop in this area in nearly 17 years.

The end of the year is typically a slow period for the live-music world. But things are about to get busy.

The roster of shows for 2012 is already long and abundant, with dozens of shows in venues large and small. This list covers just some of the shows scheduled between now and April. So stay tuned; things are bound to get even busier. 

Help this rock doc get made

A group is working on a documentary on the Outhouse, the fabled music venue on the outskirts of east Lawrence. They've launched a Kickstarter campaign to help finance the project. If your not familiar with the history of this venue, watch the trailer. If you've been there even only once (like me), watch and relive the place and listen to some testimonials from some patrons, promoters and well-known bands who played there. | T.F.

Van Halen to tour (again)

David Lee and Eddie V at the Sprint Center, Oct. 26, 2007. File photo.

The news on their web site was brief and incomplete: "Van Halen on tour 2012. First tickets on sale January 10." It'll be the same lineup that performed at the Sprint Center in October 2007 (DLR & the 3VHs), except everyone will be nearly five years older, including Wolfie, who will be old enough to drink come March. No concert sites posted yet. 

Middle of Map news: Buy now, save later

This year's inaugural two-day Middle of the Map Fest in Westport was a rousing success. Headliners included Daniel Johnston (above), Cursive, Margot & the Nuclear So & So's, Two Door Cinema Club and a host of great local bands. Read about it here. The dates for next year's three-day festival have been announced -- April 5 through 7 -- and you have a chance to get a three-day pass at last year's price: $25. Go here; buy now. The bargain is limited to the first 250 buyers. More details about the festival will be coming out soon. 

The year's favorites: Our list of lists

The Foo Fighters show at Sprint Center in September was a favorite in 2011.

We’re approaching year’s end, which means it’s time for our annual avalanche of end-of-year lists. 

Review: The Fray

The last time we saw the Fray they topped a three-band bill with Meese and Jack’s Mannequin out at Starlight Theatre. That was in July 2009, and the show drew nearly 6,000 fans.

Review: Trans Siberian Orchestra

Photo by Susan Pfannmuller, Special to The Star

The annual holiday music extravaganza that calls itself the Trans Siberian Orchestra rumbled into Kansas City on Sunday, all 130-plus tons of it.

Christmas was the theme, in music and spirit, but the mission was something more primal: an excessive display of flash pots, lasers and pyrotechnics, klieg lights, spotlights and other visual effects, plus a performance by a cast of around two dozen musicians, singers and dancers. It’s a ritual that Kansas City has grown to love. Sunday’s two shows at the Sprint Center drew almost 23,000 fans combined.

Andrew Bird tickets: a clarification

Regarding the post below about Ticketmaster fees on tickets for the Andrew Bird show at the Uptown on March 23: The $7 facility fee includes the $5 price of the large bundle of music Bird is packaging with each ticket sold. If you choose to buy a ticket at the Uptown box office, you will also be charged $5 for the download premium. Here's what you'll get, according to his spokespeople: "Bird will celebrate the release of 'Break It Yourself' with a North American tour set to kick off in Texas in mid-March. All concert tickets will be bundled with a unique musical package including a redemption code to download "Break It Yourself" upon release date (March 6). Ticket buyers will also receive a download of 'Fake Conversations,' a live EP culled from Bird’s fall 2011 tour, and a second souvenir live EP from the spring 2012 tour."

Review: The Wilders

LAWRENCE -- ‘Tis the season for great things to come in neatly wrapped packages, and so it was Friday night in Lawrence as old-time country sweethearts the Wilders played one of their final shows for the foreseeable future. The band recently announced it was going on an extended hiatus.

Review: Raul Malo

Photos by Allison Long/The Star

The boisterous audience packed into Knuckleheads on Friday clearly wasn't in the mood for holiday music.

As Raul Malo opened his show with four consecutive Christmas songs, the capacity crowd of about 350 grew increasingly restless. Even an exquisitely reverent rendition of "Silent Night" failed to quell the growing discontent. Just moments into the evening's first secular song, however, the dance floor of the East Bottoms roadhouse filled with Malo's exuberant female admirers.