October 23-25, 2026- Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City, MO / Lawrence KS)

Some recent award news–

Raye won the coveted Mercury Prize for her second album, This Music May Contain Hope, which features hit, “Where Is My Husband!” (we love the end line of that song, “your husband…is coming!“). She bested the shortlist likes of Pulp, Flo and the Machine, Suede, and one Sir Paul McCartney.

Also recently, the faith-based Dove Awards were given out, with singer and songwriter of the year Brandon Lake, leading the pack with three. Our resident fan-in-the-stands John R caught Lake live in Minnesota back in April.

Let’s look through the Weekend in Kansas City / Lawrence KS metro musical happenings from Rocktober 23^rd to Rocktober 25^th

(official ticket hyperlinks are embedded in each show’s headline)

FRIDAY OCTOBER 23

Thomas Rhett, Zach John King, Emily Ann Roberts, Oct 23, Morton,$30-$123+

Diamond-certified superstar Thomas Rhett is bringing his live show back to the road this summer with ‘The Soundtrack to Life Tour’ supported by rising acts Zach John King and Emily Ann Roberts. Rhett has spent just over 10 years gathering 24 Number Ones, 16 billion streams and armfuls of awards–eight ACM Awards, two CMA Awards, five Grammy Awards nominations, among others.

Rhett will also donate $0.50 from every ticket sold to Love One International, a 501(c)(3) organization that works to transform the hearts of children and families in Uganda.

Zach John King is signed to Sony Music Nashville and from Fayetteville, GA and blends personal storytelling, contemporary country, and alt-rock influences. He gained traction with independent tracks like “Wannabe Cowboy” and released EPs Wannabe Cowboy (2024) and Slow Down (2025). Hi label debut single “Get to Drinkin'” is from new album I‘m What You Get.

Emily Ann Roberts is a country and gospel singer, born in Knoxville, TN who rose to fame in 2015 as the runner-up on season 9 of NBC’s The Voice at age 16. She released her debut album Can’t Hide Country in 2023, with new, EP Thread out now on RECORDS/Sony Music Nashville and will do a headlining run next year.

Palace, Rollo Doherty, Oct 23, Truman, $43-$76

Palace have been making music together for over a decade- Leo Wyndham, Rupert Turner and Matt Hodges released early EPs Lost In The Night (2014) and Chase The Light (2015) followed by four albums- So Long Forever (2016), Life After (2019), Shoals (2022) and Ultrasound (2024) and the Greyhound EP on their own label, Palace Presents.

Kid was released in April and they’re now out on a 30 date tour of the US and Canada in the Fall. The band says, “Kid is about longing for a child an ocean away. It’s the ache we feel for our people when we’re separated from them. It doesn’t feel like a sadness or heaviness, but more an affirmation of that love, a primal release sung into the sunset as the road flies by.”

SPY w Empty Shell Casing Oct 23, The Rino- NKC, $28.90

San Francisco hardcore punk band SPY is touring extensively through the Fall featuring a September run across the UK and Ireland followed by a North American headlining tour. Formed right before the pandemic in late 2019/early 2020, they quickly blew up in the underground scene for their raw, chaotic, and “deliciously ugly” basement-punk sound.

Opener Empty Shell Casing is a nu-metal, metalcore, and rap-rock band from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, formed in 2024. They describe their heavy, eclectic style as “thug metal,” blending metalcore, hip-hop, electronic textures, techno, and dubstep. Spite House and Failure Drill also on the bill.

Wizard of Oz, Oct 16-25, KC Ballet w KC Symphony, Kauffman,$48-$163

Final weekend! The banner year of Oz-related works continues! Follow the yellow brick road as choreographer Septime Webre’s journey to the Emerald City returns. In the very familiar story, Dorothy and Toto are swept away to OS to join three unexpected friends on a magical adventure to meet the Wizard, outwit a Wicked Witch, and find their way home.

This beloved production returns with Broadway-caliber production values, advanced new LED stage technology, and eight dancers taking flight, the most of any KC Ballet production, matching the mark set when the show last was staged four years ago.

Dancer highlights include 220 pointe shoes, hand-painted in 23 different colors, including six shades of green, and the Ruby Slippers are adorned with 288 hand-placed jewels.

The show features an original score by Matthew Pierce, performed live by the Kansas City Symphony under the direction of KC Ballet Music Director & Conductor Ramona Pansegrau. The production’s design team includes sets by Michael Raiford, costumes by Liz Vandal, lighting by Trad A Burns, puppetry by Nicholas Mahon, and projections by Aaron Rhyne.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 24

Squirrel Flower w Sour Widows, Oct 24, White Schoolhouse-Lawrence, $23.18

Squirrel Flower’s fall 2026 tour supports new album Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going, released in August 21 through Polyvinyl. The moniker is the indie rock and folk music project of Boston-raised, Chicago-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Ella O’Connor Williams.

This marks Williams’ first full-band headlining tour in two years and the songs center on themes of highway travel, the tension between domesticity and independence, and a return to an ethereal, grounded, and spacious folk-rock sound. Support from Sour Widows + Faith Maddox.

Sour Widows is an indie rock and slow-core band from the Bay Area, formed in 2017 by childhood friends Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson, alongside drummer Max Edelman and bassist Timmy Stabler. They blend 1990s alt-rock, folk, slow-core, and bedroom rock, featuring luminous, hypnotic vocal harmonies and complex guitar interplay on second album, Sigil.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25

National / International act coming through the Midwest / Kansas City area? Please email details to johnc@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time to be considered for Show Preview and Show Coverage.