Nine fine shows in five short days

Snow Patrol with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Thursday 
The Midland
Anglophiles rejoice!  Thursday's triple-bill represents a sonic paradise for fans of Britpop.  While its members hail from Scotland and Ireland, headliners Snow Patrol perform in the British rock tradition of the Beatles, the Cure and the Stone Roses.  Shimmering Snow Patrol hits like "Chasing Cars" successfully straddle the fine line between insipid dentist office fare and arena rock.  Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds offer a slight variation of Gallagher's work as a principle member of Oasis.  Gallagher (pictured above) wrote the monumental Oasis hits "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall."  Teen prodigy Jake Bugg sounds as if he's spent a lot of time listening to both Snow Patrol and Oasis.  Tickets to the 7: 30 p.m. show range from $39.50 to $49.50.

Primus
Friday
Uptown Theater
People who detest Primus' abrasive version of funk-rock may find themselves purchasing tickets to Friday's concert in spite of themselves.  The decidedly odd sensibility bandleader Les Claypool displays on bass-heavy material like "My Name Is Mud" and "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" aren't the show's only attraction.  The event is part of "the first-ever traveling 3D enhanced" music tour.  The concert also features "Quad Surround Sound."  A cautionary advisement posted at the band's site dares queasy concertgoers not to "vomit on your neighbor."   Tickets to the 8 p.m. show range from $37.50 to $53.

Dan Deacon
Friday 
The Granada
Dan Deacon isn't just another electronica musician.  The sounds he creates are far more ambitious than the typical cut-and-paste productions favored by many of electronic dance music's most popular figures.  America, Deacon's current album, has as much in common with classical composers like Philip Glass as it does with the likes of Skrillex.  And Deacon's live appearances are the stuff of legend.  Even in a genre that cultivates communal ecstasy, Deacon's unconventional tactics brings audiences together in entirely unexpected ways.  Joining Deacon Friday are graphic artist Alan Resnick, rap-rock hybrid act Height With Friends and Chester Endersby Gwazda, a producer from Deacon's hometown of Baltimore.
Tickets to the 9 p.m. show are $12 in advance and $15 on the day of the show.

Joe Bonamassa 
Friday 
Music Hall
Billed as "the guitar event of the year," Friday's concert will be chock-full of electrified bluster.   Bonamassa favors showy guitar solos in the tradition of his heroes Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.  While he actually leans toward the rock side of the blues-rock spectrum, Bonamassa's latest album Beacon Theatre: Live from New York recently topped Billboard magazine's blues chart.  While subtlety isn't Bonamassa's strong suit, his formidable technical skills have been awing fans of flashy guitar work for over a decade. Tickets to the 8 p.m. show range from $55 to $95.

Rusted Root
Friday 
Knuckleheads
This polyphonic acoustic-rock world-music band from Pittsburgh is well into its third decade of recording and performing. Friday, night the current six-person lineup, including founding members Michael Glabicki,
Patrick Norman and Liz Berlin headline a show at Knuckleheads that is also a CD-release party for "The Movement." Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk open. Advamce tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $20.

Apocalypse Meow
Saturday 
Beaumont Club
With a goal of making emergency health care affordable for locally-based musicians, the Apocalypse Meow Fund is partially subsidized by an annual concert featuring area musicians.  This year's benefit features a broad array of artists.  Fire-breathing rockers the Architects serve as Saturday's headliners.  Also on the bill are the heavy rock band the Atlantic, honky-tonkers -he Blue Boot Heelers, scuzzy-pop trios the Empty Spaces and Deco Auto, gritty roots act Cadillac Flambe and fledgling rockers in the School of Rock. Tickets to the 6 p.m. show are $10.

Lindsey Buckingham
Sunday
Yardley Hall
When Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, the British band had yet to shed its reputation as a psychedelic blues act.  The American duo's pop smarts dramatically altered Fleetwood Mac's commercial fortunes.  In addition to writing Fleetwood Mac hits including "Go Your Own Way" and "Tusk," Buckingham's bright voice and astounding guitar technique endeared him to millions of fans.  The native Californian's solo performance will undoubtedly include work from all phases of his distinctive career. Tickets to the 7 p.m. show range from $50 to $150.  

Allen Stone
Sunday 
The Granada
One of the primary gimmicks of the televised vocal competition "The Voice" requires judges to select contestants without first laying eyes on them.  Allen Stone would represent a delicious conundrum on the reality show. While he sings like a combination of Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross, Stone resembles a bedraggled cousin of Napoleon Dynamite.  He may look like a goof, but the blue-eyed soul singer's 2012 debut album beats Jason Mraz and Mayer Hawthorne at their own games.  Two Europeans open Sunday's concert.  Selah Sue resembles a Belgian version of Keyshia Cole while the Swedish Tingsek evokes Under the Cherry Moon-era Prince. Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. show are $15.50 in advance and $17.50 on the day of the show.

David Bazan
Monday 
RecordBar
Pedro the Lion's 2002 album Control was the pinnacle of a movement that conflated emo and Christian rock.  The album's themes include sex, divinity, infidelity and salvation.  Pedro the Lion's David Bazan will recreate the landmark recording in its entirety Monday at the RecordBar.  Partly because the painfully sincere Bazan has alternately disappointed and delighted his admirers in the subsequent decade, his appearance promises several degrees of catharsis.  Stagnant Pools, an Indianapolis-based duo that juxtapose pretty melodies with waves of noise, open the show.  Tickets to the 9:30 p.m. show are $13 in advance.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star (with meager assistance from Timothy Finn)

Comments

[wadkc]

I'm seeing Allen Stone in Omaha tonight. It's worth the 3.5 hour drive since I can't make Sunday's show. For all those who read my posts and for those that don't (ok, that should cover it) please go see Allen. He's what's right with music. He could go the "talent" show route and win but is doing it his way, which is for the love of music, not the fame and fortune.

Head to Lawrence people! Thanking you in advance.

[LiveMusicFan]

After reading Bill's preview, wadkc's recommendation, and watching a couple of YouTube videos I think that I'll catch the Allen Stone show at The Granada.

[Ronnie]

PRIMUS SUCKS!

[Geordan]

I'm just getting back from Snow Patrol and Noel Gallagher at the Midland and am wide awake, as I have tomorrow off, so I figured I'd get my write up in now, as I'm still astonished and amused by the fiasco that was Snow Patrol's headlining set. Holy crap, what a mess! More on that later, though. Let's begin with what went right. When Jake Bugg started at 7:30, the balcony, where I was sitting, was maybe 1/3 full. Jake Bugg is already achieving stardom in his native UK for writing swell songs with a lot of depth. Although Jake was only on stage for less than 30 minutes, you get the sense that this kid (he's 18) is going places. With songs like "Lightning Bolt," "Two Fingers" and especially "Trouble Town," this guy may just go on to record my favorite album of 2020, if all the hype doesn't go to his head. There was a bit of artifice, though, as I saw a guy off to the side of the stage 'augmenting' Jake's songs with extra acoustic and electric guitar. The kid is money though, so remember the name.

As more people began to file into the Midland, Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds hit the stage for a fine 65 minute set that was plagued early by sound issues, mainly with Noel's vocals. But that got cleared up and Noel played much of his band's eponymous debut album. I mentioned the awesomeness of "If I Had a Gun" from the new record yesterday, and it was damn good live. Of course, some Oasis material had to, well, materialize, so "Half A World Away" sounded great. Noel also started "Wonderwall" acoustically and then played most of it accompanied by piano and tambourine. An awesome song no matter how it's played, man, it gave me goosebumps. Noel ended his set with a spirited rendition of "Don't Look Back in Anger." Many in the crowd, me included, sang along with the chorus.

Noel had a good bunch of guys in the band. The keyboard player was really good, as was the burly, hard-hitting drummer, who channels John Bonham to the extent that he hits the stage sporting the same type of black derby and the same white jumpsuit I've seen Bonham wearing in live videos. Very 'Clockwork Orange.' Noel's band also includes Tim Smith on guitar, which is a bit odd, as Tim spent many years as Sheryl Crow's Bassist, and did brief stints playing Bass for Power Pop favorites, Jellyfish, and 80's club favorites, The Producers. But these guys did justice to Noel's wonderful songs and I had to hit this show merely out of respect for one of my present-day Rock & Roll heroes. Couldn't decipher much of what Noel said to the crowd between songs with his thick Manchester accent, but that's OK.

Next up was Snow Patrol. They remind me a bit of Coldplay, in that I like a few songs although anyone who tries this hard to write Stadium anthems comes off as a bit annoying. But I stuck around and thought I'd give them a chance. WOW......the show could have been filmed and titled, "The Curse of Gary Lightbody's guitars." Unlike Coldplay's Chris Martin, Snow Patrol guitarist/singer Gary Lightbody actually seems like a decent guy and isn't a bad frontman by any means. But from the start of their set, his guitars were not working. He dedicated the song "Run" (which I do like) to Noel Gallagher, only to abort it a few notes in. When the guitar would actually work, it sounded like sh*t (Gary's words, and absolutely correct). Due to this, Snow Patrol had to chop off a chunk of the setlist. This means another song I wanted to hear, "Shut Your Eyes," was also dumped. This, naturally, left me with little else to enjoy from them last night.

So, the band had to play songs without the extra guitar, although there was a lead guitarist, as well as a keyboard played who also played guitar. The show became laughable, as guitar techs changed Gary's guitars and pedals a number of times, in the middle of damn near every song, which disoriented and frustrated the singer, who was trying to make things work and ended up failing at almost every turn. He walked off stage in the middle of songs with a "what the $#@& is going on?" look of panic. He would come back onstage and try to put his heart into the band's songs, but just looked distracted and exasperated by the end. After only playing an hour, the band walked off stage and the house lights came back on. Then, the booing started. Sensing they may not get out of downtown KC alive, the lights quickly went down for an encore. I almost left, but this fiasco was kind of fun to behold. People paid good money to see a professional band that likely did a lengthy sound check before hitting the stage. What the hell happened, Snow Patrol?

Anyway, the band then asked the crowd whether they wanted a "loud" or a "quiet" song to send them home. When the crowd opted for "Loud," Lightbody said that although they didn't have the appropriate guitar, they were going to play a certain song I forget, only to have a tech come onstage to tell them that it wouldn't work. Lightbody then threw his arms up in defeat. I didn't stick around for the 'quiet' encore. So....I won’t soon forget my live introduction to Snow Patrol. They relied on too many slower songs and for %$#@ sake, Snow Patrol, did you need to have the massive strobe lights flashing for 90% of the show? I almost had a couple of seizures and I have never had any history of Epilepsy in my family, until last night that is. What's sad is that this might have turned out to be a pretty good show, had competency prevailed, but it was one of the bigger $#@%-ups I've ever seen by a headliner and if there is a guitar tech left on Snow Patrol's payroll tomorrow, I'd be shocked. It was brief show that started off OK and then took a wrong turn before ending with a whimper. Hell, I could have stayed home and watched the Chiefs if that’s what I was looking for.....

[KC Jones]

^^^ either way, you would have been witnessing an embarrassing debacle.

[Geordan]

Yeah, probably so, KC Jones. I did want to give a shout out to Kev, who posts here occasionally. It was good seeing you again at last night's show and thanks for showing me the pics you took with Noel Gallagher before the show. Very cool.....Oh, and I meant "Half The World Away" on that Oasis title. There were also a couple of other Oasis deep tracks played last night. Again, Noel was very cool to see on stage here in KC. Snow Patrol, not so much.

[NEW]

That's a pretty funny review Geordan. You would think that any touring band (and this applies to both musicians and techs) would have trouble shooting completed within a song or two.

Shoot these guys make enough bank to have back up guitars, patches, pedals, amps, etc. If you are playing an instrument in front of 2,000 people and don't have the knowhow to trouble shoot problems in a few minutes, you have no business playing that instrument.

[TK]

I've seen Snow Patrol a number of times over the years, in different cities, and they've always sounded stellar. I wonder what happened to this gig?! They sounded fine at Beaumont this summer. Glad I skipped it, now!

[Country Jesus]

Rosie Flores and Marti Brom kicked of the second leg of their tour promoting their tribute album to Janis Martin last night and Knuckleheads. Rosie hadn't been here in 7 year and I don't think Marti has ever played here. It was a 2 hour show and was pretty damn good. I don't know if was as entertaining as the Snow Patrol train wreck though.

[wadkc]

I love Tim Smith! He's a talented bassist and vocalist.

[Mojo Nixon]

The Flores/Brom show at Knuckleheads was outstanding. If anyone has any video they would like to share, please contact me.

nix8505@gmail.com

[Kev]

Geordan, great review AS ALWAYS! Thanks for saying hello at the show. Cindy & I bailed after Noel to try to see Noel outside the Midland. We did but he high tailed it to the bus with his security guys. Can't say that I blame him with more than an occasional drunk stumbling by.
BTW - I didn't know this until last night, Noel's drummer Jeremy Stacey, keyboardist Mikey Rowe and guitarist Tim Smith all played with Sheryl Crow within the past 10+ years.

I do have a little information about Snow Patrol. I talked to guy before the show with a Snow Patrol backstage pass/laminate. I asked if he was in the band (I'm not that familiar with SP) and he said he was brought in to replace their guitar tech that couldn't make it to the KC show. I imagine they're scrambling to get their regular tech back on tour.

RE: Tim Smith and Jellyfish - I found some high quality vids recently posted on youtube from the Jools Holland show. I mentioned these to Tim before the show in light of their quality, the sound is absolutely stellar. I knew these were broadcast way before dvr's etc so I wondered where these came from. Turns out the person that posted those runs sound for Noel Gallagher. Small world, kinda.

[wadkc]

Kev,

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the heads up on the Jellyfish/Jools vids. Fantastic!

[Geordan]

Yes, I second that, Kev. Loved Jellyfish back in the day! I know keyboardist Roger Manning is still making music, but don't hear much from drummer/vocalist Andy Sturmer these days. Again, Thanks Kev! Loved the performance of "Ghost At Number One." Power Pop heaven....

[Joe]

Noel is the best songwriter this city has ever hosted. Snow Patrol was a good closer to put the fans to sleep after the amazing Gallagher wow us.

[longchamper]

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[longchamps bags]

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[Corky]

So,just returned from seeing Lindsey Buckingham perform at JCCC....

Billed as 'An Intimate Evening with..' it prepared me for a solo gig, and I also assumed no opener.

But frankly, I didn't think this artist would skate after one hour!

He did stroll back out afterwards, & favor us with one more tune. Still, just an hour & 15 minutes...total.

LOTS of folks grumbling & bitching as they were leaving. Too short of a show, and NOT a cheap one either, at a minimum of $50 & the meet & greet seats at $150 each.

[Wrangler]

Too bad Corky... and agreed.

There are getting to be more and more of these short shows... and the tickets prices sure as hell are not getting cheaper.

What the heck else do these artist have to do? are they in a hurry to be somewhere else? I thought they enjoyed doing this for a living... WTF!?

Sheeesh it would take me over an hour an hour of travel/ parking/ walking to go out to a show like this in bumfk JOCO... and to see a 1 hour show, I would be pissed.... fk everything about that crap.

[onthemark]

Corky, I was at that show. I was looking forward to seeing Lindsey again, and he sounded great. Variety of guitars, a mix of his new and older solo stuff along with some classic Fleetwood Mac tunes.

But I am with you, way too short of a performance. I cannot recall ever walking out of a concert at 8:15!

[corky]

That short of a set wouldn't passed muster at Knuck's....

We know where all the exits are!

You're right. I've NEVER left a show at 8:15.

They shoulda had an opener. Wouldn't have left everyone with such a bad taste in their mouths.

[pellboy]

Holy crap...over at 8:15! Maybe he should have at least started later to give the illusion of a longer set. Thought about going to this as I saw one of his recent Uptown shows and really enjoyed it, but the $50 price tag scared me off. Glad I didn't go now and the JCCC venue doesn't excite me either as you can't even get an adult beverage there.

[LiveMusicFan]

Allen Stone absolutely burned down The Granada last night. There were only about 100 people there, but I'm sure that all of us will be telling everyone we know about him because he's an amazing performer. I saw a mic stand by the soundboard, so I hope that the recording be up on the Live Music Archive in the next few days. It was a fun, fun show and I'd love to hear it again.

[pellboy]

That dude needs a new name. Mr.Stone actually sounds like somebody I'd be interested in seeing in the future, but I can't get it out of me head that he's a modern country artist w/ that moniker. Tack a middle initial on there or just go by Stone or something otherwise I'll forever lump him in with the Josh's, Gary's or Brad's that currently fill the country airwaves.

[LiveMusicFan]

His name doesn't jump out at you and on his tour poster he looks like the lovechild of Napoleon Dynamite and Jeff Spicoli, but DAMN can that man sing! I listened to the recording of the show last night and it was even better than I remember it being.

http://archive.org/details/allenstone2012-11-04

The whole show is great, but my favorite part might be the encore when one of the openers plays one of his songs with the band.

[wadkc]

Pell-

You won't see an artist because his name sounds country? Allen Stone? That's his real name and nothing like country. Sounds weird that you wouldn't go because of an artist's name. You missed a great one if it was anything like his show in Omaha or the previous 12 I've seen.