We♥KC! May 16-23, 2024 Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City / Lawrence, KS)
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Read more Kansas City Music Guide.
Concert season is happenin’!
We’re deep enough into May that there’s plenty of shows here or coming in all different genres, with late summer and fall announcements still coming (i.e. Childish Gambino just announcing an August T-Mobile Center show) and Oct… err, Rocktober starting to live up to its name, as usual. But that’s all down the road-
Let’s take look at the Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings for the upcoming week, from May 16th-23rd.
(ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline).
THURSDAY MAY 16
Can it be?! The Finnish masters of metal finally are out on their first-ever headlining Circus of Doom tour of North America with Dutch goth rock band Blackbriar in support.
After releasing their latest studio album Circus of Doom in 2022, the band has releasing released a live version of ‘Master of Illusion' recorded on January 27th, 2023, at their sold-out headline show in front of over 3000 people at the Helsinki Ice Hall.
Vocalist Noora Louhimo stated excitedly:” We are beyond excited to share with you this live single, celebrating Circus of Doom and our fans around the world. Our tour this year is the last chance to witness this spectacle live before we close this chapter and move on to the next. Hope to see you all on the road!”
The buzzing Canadian singer-songwriter, who’s toured extensively with artists including Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain and George Strait, hits the road as a headliner on the “As You Are Tour”.” Her international touring efforts earned her a nomination for the Country Music Association’s International Artist Achievement Award. 
Townes got her first taste of high-profile stages as a young 9-year-old, joining Shania Twain onstage for a chorus and rendition of “Honey, I’m Home,” and was soon performing the national anthem at hockey games and gaining notice of promoter Ken Truen, who began booking her festival sets.
New music is forthcoming, and she recently was featured on Train’s 2023’s single, “I Know”.
FRIDAY MAY 17
Garcia fronted the pioneering stoner rock band — which featured a young Josh Homme on guitar — for the duration of the band’s run through 1995, going then to form Slo Burn and Hermano, carrying on the desert psych spirit.
Garcia also formed the pseudo reunion act Kyuss Lives! alongside original drummer Brant Bjork, but the name drew a lawsuit from Homme, leading to lingering tensions between the group’s original core members (the band eventually renamed to Vista Chino), though an eventual reunion may still be a future possibility.
Look for Garcia to play songs from all facets of his career and the lineup is loaded with the next gen of upcoming bands, that look to carry the torch, including our favorite-named Telekinetic Yeti, the Iowa duo we caught live as a headliner back in 2022.
Zut Alor! The French blues-rock duo of Laurent Lacrouts and Mathieu Jourdain have embarked on their first-ever North American tour behind 2023's Horizon, which follows their Australian run opening for Robert Trujillo's Infectious Grooves. Newest single is called “The Outsider” which features an artfully drawn music video. Tall Tall Trees to open.
After closing the book on 2023 with a three-night New Year’s Eve run in Chicago with help from drummers Ben Atkind (Goose), Rory Dolan (lespecial), and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), the band is in full touring mode, hitting the circuit in mid-January, and going through most of the remainder of the year, and most know the best way to experience the band is live and in-person.
SATURDAY MAY 18
Living his best life, Superbowl Champion Tight End Travis Kelce returns to Bonner Springs for his second annual Kelce Jam festival, this time headlined by performances by Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Diplo. 
“I like to keep it fresh, new and keep people coming back for more,” said Kelce, whose festival brought out 20,000 attendees last year. He said his event will continue to celebrate the success of the Chiefs, who won their third championship in four trips after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 and are looking for three championship seasons in a row this season. .
Kelce along with his brother, Jason, recently retired from the Eagles, earned a Webby nomination for their flourishing podcast “New Heights.” Swifties probably should not expect a Tay-Tay appearance, as she’s busy selling out stadiums in Europe, but Kelce will likely warble a tune.
It’s a follow up to her 2022 debut EP, “You Might Not Like Her,” where Zahm sang about the conflict between her sexuality, depression, and the self she thought she was meant to present at church. In 2022, her song “Fat Funny Friend” went viral on TikTok, sparking conversations about the subjects in the songs and their perception in society.
SUNDAY MAY 19
NC trio Southern Culture On The Skids has been consistently recording and touring around the world since 1983 with their unique and classic blend of country, garage rock, surf, rockabilly and soul. The band (Rick Miller – guitar and vocals, Mary Huff – bass and vocals, Dave Hartman – drums) has been playing together for over 30 years. 
Their legendary live shows are a testament to the therapeutic powers of foot-stomping, butt-shaking rock and roll and what Rolling Stone dubbed “a hell raising rock and roll party.” We’ll always love hearing “Eight Piece Box” live, seeing the band’s throwing fried chicken out to the audience.
At Home with Southern Culture on the Skids is the latest full-length album from the band and was released in March of 2021. It was recorded during the stay-at-home period of the pandemic when the band was stuck at home, like the rest of us. The album consists of 11 tracks recorded and mixed in Miller’s living room with some additional tracks recorded at his studio, The Kudzu Ranch.
MONDAY MAY 20
Daniel is a rebirth for the band, made in nine days, in Nashville with Daniel Tashian (Kacey Musgraves, Sarah Jarosz) as producer. We just caught the band live, last month in Minneapolis, playing an 80min headlining set in front of diehard fans who hadn’t seen them live, in six years.
Arrive early for Matador Records Brooklyn band Water From Your Eyes, composed of vocalist Rachel Brown and instrumentalist Nate Amos. They released Everyone's Crushed, and then enlisted their contemporaries like The Dare and Nourished By Time for remix album Crushed By Everyone. The band is touring with a drummer for the first time, which changes and grows their music a bit. Latest EP from Brown’s project Thanks for Coming is called What is My Capacity to Love.
TUESDAY MAY 21
WEDNESDAY MAY 22
Saliva continues their SNAFU Le Tour with Drowning Pool, in support of Saliva’s newest album Revelation out last September. Saliva has had two recent charting singles, with recent song, “High on Me” reaching Top 20 in Mediabase and Billboard and follow up, “Come Back Stronger”. 
“With the passing of Wayne (Swinny, founding guitarist) in March, I felt lost. Where do I go? I knew we had this record we were all stoked about. Wayne’s influence is all over these songs and in my opinion his playing on this album is next level. It’s the only right thing to do to honor him and all our hard work and release it. I just want to share with the world what we have worked on the last 3 plus years,” says Bobby Amaru of the band’s most recent work.
THURSDAY MAY 23
A dollar from each ticket sale will go to the Ally Coalition, the nonprofit organization that Antonoff co-founded with his sister, Rachel, in 2013 to support LGBTQ+ youth – the Kansas City show is long ago, and way sold out. Samia will open as support. 
Erra, the Alabama progressive metalcore unit, is out with their sixth full-length album, CURE, released via UNFD on April 5th, and features recent single, "Slow Sour Bleed". It follows 2021's self-titled release and further grows the band’s musicality and fanbase with every release.
"This song scratches an itch of influence that we haven't had the courage to explore in the past," says guitarist Jesse Cash. "We covered "Heresy" a few years ago and it was so fun to listen to, so we wanted to do an original song in the spirit of Nine Inch Nails."
The critically acclaimed band is back out on their “North American Spring Tour 2024,” in support of their 10th anniversary In Time deluxe reissue, which includes all 14 original tracks, plus the never-before-released single “Tonight Is The Night,” the group’s take on Glen Campbell’s “Gentle On My Mind” and a rare conjunto version of “Ven Hacia Mi.” Playing multiple nights in most, this is Night One of Three and as the diehard fans know, expect a different experience and setlist every night of the run.
National Touring act coming to Kansas City, Lawrence, KS, Topeka, KS, or vicinity? Let us know so we can spotlight the appearance-email johnc@weheartmusic.com
| john c (johnc@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |