It would appear that nobody told Oberhofer they were just the opening act for Matt and Kim. The Brooklyn band behaved like they were headliners…and in return the packed Liberty Hall crowd treated them as such.

The indie noise rock band had the swagger of a band like The Strokes mixed with the sweetness of a band like Tennis. They are basically rock and roll, but with the edginess of puppy. Xylophone and frequent cymbal crashes lace their music and much like the show’s (official) headliners, their songs are easy to jump up and down to and scream at the top of your lungs. At one point during an instrumental bridge singer Brad Oberhofer disappeared only to reemerge half dangling over the balcony playing his guitar — that’s something you don’t see everyday from an opening act, but these guys were giving it their all. I can’t wait for these guys to return and actually headline a show in Lawrence. After the band played radio single “Away Frm U,” and promised just one more song, I joined many in the audience in a chant for more (that’s right, folks, the audience asked for an encore from an opening band). The band happily obliged with two more songs.

Perfectly warmed up for Matt & Kim, the already packed venue squeezed even closer together for a better look at the dynamic duo. Not that it mattered, Matt & Kim made sure to take care of the view for their fans in the back, using a video camera backdrop to provide a unique perspective for the audience to watch their set from all sorts of wild angles. The group has played Kansas City/Lawrence frequently and have gained a very loyal following that was able to keep up with the band’s prolific catalog, singing along to every word and knowing what to chant when the only signal came from the video backdrop rather than a band member’s direction.

Much like Oberhofer didn’t behave like a typical opener, Matt & Kim don’t behave like your typical headliners. They treat each song with the enthusiasm and surprise that most bands reserve for just their final numbers. Their mantra seems to be, “why wait for the party to start at the end of the show when you can celebrate the whole time — here have some balloons.” They climb on their instruments (drums and keyboards), jump with the audience and act and sound like a mix between typical musicians and cheerleaders – key riff followed by a cheer or vice versa all accompanied by very big and bombastic drums.

There’s not a dull moment in a Matt & Kim performance and the same goes for opener, Oberhofer. Do yourself a favor and catch this tour live. You won’t regret it.

Bethany Smith

I'm a geek; I love music, technology and grammar.

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2012 seems to be the year of the feel-good folk music and as long as that means we keep getting bands like Colorado’s The Lumineers, then that’s a really good thing.

Thanks to the success of sweet love songs like “Ho Hey,” the Lumineers have been shooting up in popularity. So it was with little surprise that the band went from playing the tiny Riot Room in Kansas City this April, to quickly selling out the larger Bottleneck in Lawrence to moving the show to an even bigger Lawrence venue, Liberty Hall, and selling that out well before their September performance here. Even with this rapid success, the Lumineers remain a charming and down-to-earth band. when it came time for that big hit tune “Ho Hey,” they stopped the song asked everyone to put down their cameras and cell phones, grab a friend’s hand and simply sing along. They restarted the tune and it was like this magical kumbaya moment in the middle of the show. All bodies were just focused on the feeling of the song.

And this wasn’t the only sentimental and sweet moment of their set. “Elouise” was so beautiful that the audience was requesting the band to play it again. “Dead Sea” has this hypnotizing softness that had people shushing anyone who dared interrupt the lovely song with idle chatter. Other songs were more of a raucous party like “Charlie Boy” or pretty much the entirety of the encore. People were stomping their feet and clapping along like we were at a jamboree.

Each member of the band was wonderfully talented and fit together like puzzle pieces; I couldn’t imagine them trying to do a song with out the cello stylings of Neyla Pekarek, the vocals of Wesley Schultz or the fun little percussion arrangements of Jeremiah Fraites. Jeremiah is the band member to watch though. At times he looked like he was off in his own little world, strolling about the stage in his suspenders and hats, smiling and looking off into the distance as he tapped cymbals and strummed on a mandolin as he strolled. He looked more like he was a troubadour walking through a wide open meadow than a man standing on a stage in front of hundreds.

It was also great to see Jeremiah come out and join the opening band, The Comettes, on drums for a few songs. It was a fun treat for the audience who was already enjoying the trio’s alt rock tunes. But the biggest treat of the night was when the Comettes joined The Lumineers on stage and they all played a Bob Dylan cover. It was a perfect match for the folk rock we had been listening to all night, but it was also like this big cathartic moment where everyone was just goofing around and having a good time, taking their turn at the vocals. This was as much a treat for the bands as it was for the audience and was a great way to end an already fantastic night.

The Lumineers Set List:
Submarines
Ain’t Nobody’s Problem
Big Parade
Classy Girls
Ho Hey
Flowers in Your Hair
Dead Sea
Charlie Boy
Slow It Down
Elouise
Stubborn
Love Flapper Girl
//
Morning Song
The Weight (cover with The Comettes)
Dylan Solo

Dead Sea live:

Bethany Smith

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Most bands save their big hit singles for last…It’s a strategy that makes sense if you’re worried that people are waiting around to hear that one song and will leave if you play it any sooner. Yet Sunday evening, two’s bands took a gamble and played their “big” singles earlier in the set. And guess what? The packed house remained packed. That’s how hooked Imagine Dragons and AWOLNATION‘s fans were on their sets. From the diehards to the casual radio-only listeners, everyone wanted to hear every second of this show; it was that good.

Las Vegas’ Imagine Dragons opened up the show and blew Kansas City away with their happy go lucky sound combined with darker, insightful lyrics. This was the first time Kansas City has had the treat of seeing these percussion-loving guys live. The band’s sound is a little reminiscent of another Vegas’ band’s sound, The Killers, in the sense that both have big driving drum lines and plenty of arena-ready hooks. Their style varies a lot though and Kansas City loved every key and tempo change of this set. From the heavier sound of “Radioactive” to the whistling, cheery sounds of “On Top of the World,” the audience kept up with everything, adding their own claps, cheers and stomps.

“Not many people know this, but I used to live in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.  I love this place.” -Imagine Dragons’ frontman announced before launching into the stomp=stomp-clap of “It’s Time.” It ways a fitting introduction to a song about remembering where you come from and feelings of nostalgia. With a band as poised as these guys are to takeover the music scene, hopefully they’ll continue to stay true to this song and remember who they are: a talented, down-to-earth group of guys. Don’t change, guys; you’re awesome as you are.

Speaking of awesome: AWOLNATION. This band has played Kansas City before and each time they return, it’s been to a bigger, more enthusiastic town. At this rate, they’ll be selling out the Sprint Center and other amphitheatres  in no time. So see them in these club venues while you can. AWOLNATION was filming this performance, so while they already give it their all, they seemed to find some extra energy for this show. Barely a song into the set, and singer Aaron Bruno already had his shoes off and was diving into the crowd. Poor guy even lost his socks doing that, but that didn’t deter him from continuing to have a great night.

AWOLNATION has an interesting sound – it’s surprisingly heavy rock without quite crossing into hardcore; although they’ll head bang at times. Bruno gets a bit of a growl to his voice that really accentuates certain lyrics and then when he’s really feeling passionate, the growl will turn into more of a yell. What I really like about this band though is that while they have this drippingly thick, molasses like sound going on with some of the instruments, they’ll throw on a staccato guitar line. Hit single “Sail” is a great example of this, and the juxtaposition of the two sounds just works.

The band has been touring pretty heavily behind Megalithic Symphony, but they treated the audience to several new tunes and even some surprise twists to the current songs. I can’t wait to hear the next album based on the teasers I heard at the show.

You can check out the full set lists and photos from both bands below.

Imagine Dragons Set List:
Rocks
Hear Me
Radioactive
Tiptoe
Demons
On Top of the World
It’s Time
Nothing Left to Say

AWOLNATION Set List:
Intro
Guilty Filthy Soul
Not Your Fault
Wake Up
Kid (new song)
Jump on My Shoulders
MF
Cannibals (new song)
Kill Your Heroes
Soul Wars
All I Need
Joke
Sail
Burn It Down
//
Knights of Shame

Bethany Smith

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Canadian alt rockers Metric are no strangers to Kansas City, but the popular band has mostly performed as an opening act for Kansas City shows. Finally, the band was playing the city in a much deserved headlining spot and the difference in this performance compared to the other ones in the last few years was astounding. This was Metric’s best Kansas City performance to date.

I hate to claim that Emily Haines’ past Kansas City performances weren’t her at 100%, but if they were, then this show was her at 120%. The frontwoman was a dancing machine and embraced the audience more than I’ve ever seen her do. She fiercely played the keyboards then jumped away from her instrument in this little stomp-strut dance move. Her bandmates also had an added energy that not only made them more entertaining to watch, but it made their sound a lot tighter and better too.

It helped that as a headlining band, the group was able to run their own light show. The strobes and occasional fog were nice additions to their club-ready dance tunes. It really just seemed like everything just clicked for this performance and I think the audience knew it – the reception here was 1000 times better than Metric’s June visit and it made for a more fun show all around. Everyone was jumping, dancing and waving their arms around.

Again, it’s not to say Metric wasn’t enjoyable in June or other KC visits, but they just seemed to really excel when in control of the tour and being able to enjoy a full, rich set that a headlining spot allows. I hope this means that we’ll get more of these headlining shows rather than Metric falling back into 5-song sets at radio shows. After the high bar set from this performance, it would be hard to settle for anything less.

Check out the set list and photos from the show below:

Set List
Nocturne
Youth
Speed (with Outro)
Dreams
Kitten
Empty
Help
Synthetica
Clone
Breathing
Sick
Dead
Stadium
//
Monster
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme

Bethany Smith

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The Rufus Wainwright show at the Vic Theater in Chicago can probably be described as a religious experience. The lights are off and the this turn of the century building is sitting in an apprehensive silence. Out of the darkness a voice starts singing, “I’ve tried to do what I can, but the churches have run out of candles.” Church has begun and the choirs are singing. 

Rufus Wainwright is the ultimate performer and one of the most endearing artists I’ve seen on stage. He captured the crowd from the very beginning and made sure you were invested until the very end. His set started with songs off his 2012 album, Out of the Game but included some great oldies like “April Fools” and “The One You Love.” As the performance moved on, we moved away from the church motif, and the concert took on a more intimate setting. In between each song Wainwright let us into his life like not many performers do. His banter seemed more like conversation and his backstories and dedications only made the already emotionally, wrought music move you even more deeply. Whether he was dedicating “Barbara” to his friend Rose on her 86th birthday, or Judy Garland’s “The Man that Got Away” to her daughter, Liza Minnelli (she refuses to listen to Wainwright’s renditions of her mother’s music), you wanted to hear more. You wanted to know more about him and his life as if he was an old friend whom you hadn’t talked to in quite some time. He even dedicated a song to the actress Vivian Leigh and her unmistakable, “Vivian Leigh Face” because before the show he was looking at youtube videos of her. He was charismatic and charming, like the best friend we all wanted.

Jude JM

Jude enjoys buying shoes & talking about how she ate too many burritos.

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For ten years, The All-American Rejects have been touring & putting out new music. Most bands get burnt out pretty quickly & it either shows in their performances or they break up. That’s not the case for the All-American Rejects; not only are the original four still playing together, but they’re all playing together and smiling. That’s right – these guys still have a fresh attitude and genuinely enjoy still being on the stage. Lucky for them & most importantly lucky for their fans that came out to their performance at Kansas City’s the Beaumont Club. 

Opening for the Rejects was another band that’s been together an impressively long time & also still have a great attitude toward music: A Rocket to the Moon. A Rocket to the Moon has a bit more country/folk sound to their music, mostly due to the tendency to use plucked out chords and slides rather than strumming it all at once. Vocally, A Rocket to the Moon sounds a bit akin to the Starting Line. Nick Santino’s vocals are very crisp and distinct – they’re also really easy to sing along to, which meant the audience had an easy and fun time singing along with a song like “Dakota.” Though they at first seemed like a strange genre fit, at heart, they’re singing about the same things as the Rejects: love, life, & learning how to grow as a person. By the time they made it to “Mr. Right,” they had the whole audience undoubtably in love with their music.

Now, we already knew the audience was in love with the All-American Rejects — specifically singer Tyson Ritter, who even joked about the guys having a hard-on for him. Despite the crude humor at moments such as that, the band has matured a lot in the last few years (heck, I remember them passing out inflatable nude dolls at earlier shows & making waaaay more penis jokes). The maturity isn’t just noticeable in their stage presence & banter, but also in their newer songs. About midway through the set, the band slowed things down for an acoustic duet with Tyson backed by guitarist, Nick Wheeler. Together, they performed “I For You,” which is a beautiful & heartbreaking songs about messing up things with the love of your adult life & trying to be better.

This and “It Ends Tonight” were some of the few mellower moments though, as the band’s music is mostly upbeat, anthem-like pop rock songs.  From the first song, “Dirty Little Secret,” until the last main set song, “Move Along,” it was a big jump & wildly sing along party. I loved the new songs off Kids in the Street, but goddamn if those early songs from the self-titled didn’t put a giant smile on my face. The band knows how to play a catchy hook that sticks with you for years. 

I’ve touched a little on the stage presence, but I really can’t say enough about how great it is; this is a band to see live just for the in between songs & random nonsense. In our show, the group improvised little instrumental fills, had a sing off with a girl in the front row & even wrote a hilarious song about how weird we are in Kansas City for putting honey on our pizza (If you haven’t tried it, do it! It’s especially delicious with a wheat crust pizza). I imagine you could follow AAR around on tour & each performance would be fresh and have its own unique treat like that. So check them out — and check out the newly released album — because this is one fun night of music that you don’t want to miss.

AAR’s Set List:
Dirty Little Secret
Beekeeper’s Daughter
My Paper Heart
Fallin’ Apart
Fast & Slow
I Wanna
Someday’s Gone
Walk Over Me
Stab My Back
Swing, Swing
I For You
(key solo)
It Ends Tonight
(bass duet)
Gonzo
(drum tease)
Move Along
///
Bleed into Your Mind
Kids in the Street
Gives You Hell

Bethany Smith

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There are plenty questionable things going on at the annual Afentra’s VD Party at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City. Cock Ring Toss with inflatable penises (penii?), Spin the Bottle, Unhook the Bra Races and much more. Between the pot smoke and the borderline rape moves, you could almost forget to watch the bands. Almost. Fortunately, the one non-questionable thing about VD Party is that there is going to be good music, good enough to keep your eyes on the stage and off the sketchier behaviors of the audience. This year’s Buzz VD Party featured Middle Class Rut with Chain Gang of 1974, The Lonely Forest and local openers, O Giant Man. 

Local openers, O Giant Man, got the show off to a killer start. If I hadn’t known they were local, I would have assumed they were a national act. The band performed with a happy confidence on a giant stage that I’ve seen plenty of local acts fall apart on. One of my favorite members to watch was keyboardist Rick Schulenberg. Rick was all smiles and rarely sat still as he played the keys. He ventured away from the keyboard toward the end of the set and teased the lead singer, who never wavered despite his bandmate’s hilarious antics. O Giant Man reminded me a bit of Vampire Weekend’s clever indie rock with the upbeat rhythms and keys, but they weren’t overly squeaky clean like the Columbia grads, venturing into the more ambitious and experimental areas of bands such as Modest Mouse. It was fun rock music and i expect big things from these guys.

Next up was the broody Chain Gang of 1974. They were a bit of an odd fit for the evening’s lineup, but I was still excited to see them. Unfortunately, the anticipated excitement level quickly dropped. I had trouble connecting with this band, despite loving their record. Perhaps it was the pitchy vocals, the unnecessarily low lights or the feeling that the band just didn’t care that much, but I never fully connected with them. To be fair, I saw the band a year ago at SXSW in a small venue, and I had a blast at that performance, easily getting amped up to dance. But something just seemed off — and it affected not only the band, but the audience’s reaction. If you haven’t heard this synth heavy group before, they sound like something right off a John Hughes soundtrack, so it was fitting that they gave a shout out to Molly Ringwald, dedicating a song to her.

While Chain Gang fell below my expectations, The Lonely Forest quickly surpassed them. These indie rockers can be almost stereotypically geeky and awkward, saying things like “We’re watching the X-Files after this” or “Does anyone out there have any peanut butter,” but their overshare tendencies just make them endearing. I was surprised to hear them start off with the radio singles. Generally, if you’re playing a radio show, you save the radio singles for the end of the set so you don’t lose the audience. Yet, they never lost the attention of the audience. That’s because after singing along, ‘turn off,” repeatedly, the audience was hooked and ‘turned on’ to the music of The Lonely Forest. They happily obliged when asked to put up cell phones or sing along to a particular verse and I saw plenty of couples getting cozy to some of the slower numbers. There was a ‘wtf moment’ when the evening’s first crowd surfer surfed through a slow number, but I guess he was just warming up for the heavier rock of Middle Class Rut. Regardless of the ‘wtf moment,’ this was a great performance and I think it left many in Kansas City already checking for the Lonely Forest’s return to our city. 

Headliners Middle Class Rut are a favorite in Kansas City. They’ve already played the radio station’s shows for Halloweenie Roast and Buzz Beach Ball, but people keep turning up for them. While they’re a bit heavier at times than what I normally listen to, I can’t help but feel awed every time I hear them and see that there really are just two members in the band. I sometimes have to do a double take because they sound so much bigger than a drummer and a guitarist. Both members sing, so that does help with the big sound, but that just adds to the impressiveness — it’s incredibly difficult to drum and sing at the same time, and their drummer drums hard. With their set, the crowd went wild — in a good way. I wouldn’t be surprised if almost everyone took a turn crowdsurfing and it looked as though everyone knew all the Middle Class Rut songs.

The Buzz pimped their show as a place to hook up and find a new love interest. I don’t know how people did finding romantic relations with other people, but I would still say this night was a success as almost everyone fell in love with at least one of the bands. Here’s to an even crazier VD Party next year!

Bethany Smith

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Two performances in and Kansas City has already set the bar high for the most memorable show of Jack’s Mannequin’s winter tour.

A young man in the front row was relentless in his request to hear b-side “No Man Is an Island.” Despite Andrew McMahon saying it wasn’t practiced and he didn’t know it well enough, the man would not give up holding his sign high. Finally, Andrew gave in and attempted it solo. The piano chords were beautiful and the lyrics powerful..”No man’s an island when a woman is his home…” For those in the back, it was an enjoyable number, but the cheers seemed misplaced. Why did that chord illicit a cheer and not this other one? Why this lyric instead of that one? It turns out the front row was cheering for the man that requested the number. He had just proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes. 

A note to all men hoping to recreate the magic of this proposal: not all concerts are fitting places for a proposal. But if you’re going to propose in the heat of a crowd in the middle of a noisy venue, you couldn’t pick a more perfect band than Jack’s Mannequin. This little episode of the numerous memorable moments in Jack’s Mannequin is a testament to how powerful this music really is and just how many universal and emotional themes that Andrew McMahon can touch upon in his lyrics. In the thousands of concerts I’ve attended, I’ve never seen an audience react the way they do to Jack’s Mannequin lyrics: the tearing up during “Swim” or “Bruised,” the raw power of the cheers of “Fuck yeah” in “Holiday From Real,” and then the smiles and handholds during songs like “No Man Is an Island” and “La La Lie.”

The venue was overflowing with people, but McMahon and company made it feel like a small intimate show and the stage decorations of antique lamps just added to that vibe. Of course, there was also the ridiculously massive disco ball, but that was like another member of the band and it even got its own shout out. Unlike some of his past shows, Andrew spent more time than ever behind the piano. He got up only a few times such as during “Bloodshot” when he danced on top of his beloved instrument. While it meant less of his wild dancing, it also meant we got more of his beautiful piano riffs as heard on his recordings, whereas in some past shows those had been replaced with guitars or loops for when he ventured away from the keys.

Every time Andrew talked, it was like he was speaking directly to you and as if he was talking to an old friend. “It’s totally appropriate for a song about the piano to totally fuck up the introduction,” he chuckled as he restarted “Hammers and Strings.” He also touched lightly on his difficult past — the battle with cancer and his triumph over it. “For everyone that cares and worried about me, I feel like that with this tour it’s really all behind. This is a celebration of a new chapter.”

When it came time for the final song, “Dark Blue,” the show really had felt like a big celebration. Engagements, dancing, tears and catching up with old friends. Despite the song being lyrically about feeling alone, the vibe was all about feeling loved & part of group with a similar understanding. What could have been a sad closer just made the celebration bigger and more spectacular as confetti and dancing closed out the night.

Opening for this tour are Allen Stone and Jukebox the Ghost. Allen Stone’s big band retro jazz vibes made for a nice dance warm-up and their many covers made for fun singalongs. Jukebox the Ghost are a spectacular trio with some impressive piano riffs that made me ache for a piano playoff between Jack’s Mannequin and Jukebox the Ghost. The piano pop band delivered an upbeat set with plenty of catchy songs that made for an irresistible debut appearance in Kansas City. For those familiar with their tunes, they treated everyone to a couple of new songs that indicate their next release will be equally as addicting as their other records. The highlight of their set though was a Donna Lewis cover of “I Love You, Always Forever,” which got everyone dancing and amply warmed up for the headlining act. You couldn’t have picked better openers to compliment Jack’s Mannequin. 

Set List:
The Mixed Tape
Release Me
Annie Use Your Telescope
Spinning
Amy, I
Holiday From Real
Television
The Resolution
Hey Hey Hey
Bloodshot
My Racing Thoughts
No Man Is an Island – requested
Platform Fire
Kill the Messenger
I’m Ready
Bruised
///
Swim
Hammers and Strings
La La Lie
Dark Blue

Bethany Smith

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Middle of the Map Fest is returning to Kansas City April 5-7, 2012. Last year’s festival was a two-day festival featuring local and international touring acts. This year, the festival is expanding to a third day and promises more exciting local bands and even bigger national touring acts.

In addition to announcing the 2012 dates, Middle of the Map Fest is also holding a special on ticket presales. The first 250 tickets purchased will only be $25. Act fast!

Middle of the Map Fest should begin announcing bands in January 2012. We’ll keep you posted.

Bethany Smith

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