The Freaker's Ball moved into the elegant confines of the Midland by AMC, but don't think Sunday's blowout was a classy event.
Before his camera suffered some collateral damage, Bill Brownlee shot this photo of MiniKiss.
Women flashed their breasts, smoking bans -- tobacco or otherwise -- were flaunted and spilled beer made the floor in front of the stage extraordinarily slippery. In other words, the audience of approximately 2,500 had a great time.
"I was genuinely concerned with how this place would look," said Johnny Dare, morning show host at radio station KQRC (98.9 FM) -- "The Rock" -- told revelers. "This place looks (bleeping) awesome."
Tesla was the clear standout among the annual event's four bands. The California-based quintet didn't offer anything innovative, yet their perfectly-crafted and joyously-performed 70-minute set didn't contain even a whiff of staleness.
"We may be getting old but we're still young at heart," 50-year-old vocalist Jeff Keith admitted.
His bizarre android-style screech propelled new material that seemed every bit as strong as '80s and '90s hits including "Modern Day Cowboy" and the definitive power ballad "Love Song."
The band's swagger was tested when Keith donned an Oakland Raiders jacket. A hail of debris was angrily hurled toward the stage. He was forced to repeatedly apologize.
"Don't be mad," he begged. "We just love the game of football."
Queensryche, on the other hand, could seemingly do no wrong. Devoted fans accompanied the headliners' technically precise and conceptually ambitious rock on histrionic air guitars and drums.
"This reminds me of the old days," vocalist Geoff Tate said in response to the rabid reception.
Of their many hits -- "I Don't Believe In Love," "Eyes of a Stranger," "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Silent Lucidity" among them -- the straightforward rocker "Jet City Woman" fared best. Much of their bombastic arena rock seems somewhat stagnant.
The men of MiniKiss hardly pretend to be extraordinary musicians. They were mildly amusing, but the novelty wore thin long before their 50-minute set concluded.
Perhaps it's no surprise that the winner of the night's costume contest was "The MiniKiss Killer": a child in a blood-smeared mask wielding a butcher knife. For the record, Pinhead took second place; Lucifer had to settle for bronze.
The Wicked Liars also entertained the crowd. Their combination of grotesque burlesque and standup comedy routines were an appropriate fit. And more than four hours before Queensryche's encore, the Kansas City band the Leo Project opened the show with an impressive, well-received set of melodic metal.
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
Yesssss. Awesome review.
Posted by: mankvill | October 20, 2008 at 03:51 PM
Pretty accurate description. I was down just to the left of center stage front row. Mini Kiss was fun for awhile but the novelty wore off pretty quick. Did they really need to do an Ace Frehley solo song?
Tesla rocked the house and kept it coming. Worked the crowd, I don't know what he was thinking with the Raiders bit, but oh well. Queensryche followed right up and kept things coming. Jet City Woman and Empire during encore really fired up the crowd.
The sound was off down front, especially the vocals. The vocals were hard to hear at times and even seemed a slight delayed.
Posted by: SidTripp | October 20, 2008 at 04:55 PM
Yeah, awesome review indeed - I had a chance to catch David Byrne at the Uptown with a friend's extra free ticket - however I decided at the last minute to attend this year's Freakers Ball. Main reason is 98.9 announced that Queensryche would in fact be the headliner - they did a fine 80-minute set. Tesla was way better than the last time I saw them in 2002. Caught the last half of Mini-Kiss and they don't appear to lip-synch like I've been told. They were okay - for an opener. 98.9 The Rock - you guys freaking R-O-C-K Kansas City! What would we do without you?
Posted by: Mike Reed | October 20, 2008 at 05:03 PM
"98.9 The Rock - you guys freaking R-O-C-K Kansas City! What would we do without you?"
Less Crystal Meth, that's for sure!
Posted by: 98.9 the SCHLOCK is more like it | October 20, 2008 at 05:52 PM
The line-up for the event was pretty sweet - of course Queensryche & Tesla rocked the night out!!! The Wicked Liars ablsolutely killed me & my girl spit beer out of her nose she was laughing so hard! We wished the costume contestants would change up a bit - seems like the same people enter each year with the same costumes.
Posted by: Dan Woldolow | October 22, 2008 at 08:19 AM