The long-running acoustic punk Revival Tour made its first-ever stop in Lawrence (or Kansas City) on Friday night. The Granada Theater in Lawrence was filled with folks in the mood for a sing-along. Surprisingly, though, the place wasn’t packed. Whether it was the fact that Bad Religion took everyone’s money on Monday, or that people weren’t aware that the frontmen for the Get Up Kids, Rise Against, and Hot Water Music were playing solo acoustic, the crowd was far smaller than I was planning on. read more »
The new memoir by Rhoney Gissen Stanley about her years with Owsley “Bear” Stanley, entitled Owsley and Me: MY LSD Family, is currently out via Monkfish Publishing. The publishing house is best known for some really heavily spiritual reads, so it should come as no surprise that Owsley and Me is super-new age / hippie-dippy.
The book (co-written / tweaked / helped with by Tom Davis) is a series of stories that are, plot-wise, intensely interesting, but told about a series of people toward whom you have no attraction nor sympathy. It’s rare to say that I’ve ever actually hated anyone depicted in a book, fictional or not, but when one considers that this is a memoir, and talking about real people, I was continually astonished that the personages in Owsley and Me are so astonishingly unlikeable. read more »
So, where were these Middle of the Map pictures and videos last week? Thanks to some fine Internet mischief-makers, I couldn’t access the site for the better part of two days. Thanks, guys. That was dandy. I understand some of you folks out there have a problem with our hosts at GoDaddy, but some of us don’t have the time, energy, and money to swap service providers and DNS hosts every time somebody does something stupid.
Anyhow, video above from Oils and below from y(our) fri(end), both Lawrence artists performing at the RecordBar on Saturday, April 6, 2013, as part of the I Heart Local Music showcase during the festival. Pictures follow the y(our) fri(end) video, featuring both bands in motion, as well as the Capsules, Pujol, Soft Reeds, and Divine Fits. read more »
Kansas City’s third annual Middle of the Map festival took place last weekend in Westport. In addition to photographs, we shot video of quite a few bands. We’ll be rolling out some local acts tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out video of Danish punks Iceage doing “Ecstasy,” from their new album, You’re Nothing, above and Nashville garage rockers Pujol below, performing “Mission From God,” from United States of Being.
- Many more small-scale shows, fewer of the blow-out parties of last year. Even Iceage and Jeff the Brotherhood back-to-back at the Riot Room wasn’t nearly as crazy as Fucked Up / Coalesce the year before.
- Speaking of Iceage: holy shit. A total clusterfuck mess. Far more entertaining than their show at the Jackpot, though. Honestly, they could’ve played “Ecstacy” over and over for the half hour they were on stage, and I would’ve been happy.
- Not A Planet has half a set that sounds like Kara’s Flowers, which I really enjoyed, and another half of a set that sounds like the White Stripes, which I didn’t care for. Good pipes on that singer, though.
- If ever there were a band which i didn’t understand, it would be the Joy Formidable. Their drummer was all crash and bang. They’re essentially a less-dynamic Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or a band that listened to a lot of My Bloody Valentine, only to get the roar and none of the subtleties. There must’ve been a reason the Uptown was packed for their set, but I can’t figure out why. Everyone couldn’t've been waiting for Grizzly Bear.
- Grizzly Bear was amazing. Words can do no justice, and I think the images (complete with weird moving flaming jellyfish-style lights) do more to evoke what was taking place on that Uptown stage than anything I could write. They were just beautiful.
This year’s Planet Comicon was absurdly huge. Having moved from its longtime home at the Overland Park International Trade Center to Kansas City’s Bartle Hall allowed for huge halls in which to fit even bigger guests than before. Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Adam Badlwin, and Nicholas Brendon were just a few of the names that have taken Kansas City’s convention from something which you went to because, “well, it’s in KC” to an actual event to which pop culture obsessives could freak over the course of the year.
Lines moved quickly, people were friendly, and I enjoyed myself something ridiculous. Were it not for the fact that it feel on the same weekend as the equally-wonderful Middle of the Map festival, I could’ve easily spent my entire weekend popping from panel to panel. As it was, Sunday provided ample opportunity to run into friends and chat with some of my favorite writers and artists.
Next year, I’m collecting pictures of every incarnation of Doctor Who and/or Adventure Time characters.
Buffalo trio Lemuria have been purveying a strain of rocking indie pop for almost a decade now. With a slew of singles behind them, it’s surprising that they’ve only recently finished recording their third full-length. As yet untitled, the LP will be released later this year on Bridge 9 Records, following their second, Pebbles (also on Bridge 9) and their debut, Get Better, on Asian Man. We harrassed the hell out of drummer and vocalist Alex Kerns via Twitter and e-mail, and he was surprisingly willing to answer some questions for us. read more »
Writer Jai Nitz‘s biography describes his work thusly: “Jai Nitz is an American comic book writer who has written for Marvel, DC, Image, Disney, Dynamite, and other publishers. He won the prestigious Xeric Foundation grant in 2003 for his self-published anthology, Paper Museum. He won the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 for excellence in illustrated narrative for Heaven’s Devils from Image Comics. He is currently writing Green Hornet at Dynamite Entertainment.”
We here became aware of Nitz because he’s a regular at Astrokitty Comics, as well as a lecturer at the University of Kansas. He’s a super-funny guy, as well as being immenently approachable, so you should go see him when he appears at this weekend’s Planet Comicon. However, if you can’t, or you need extra convicing, Nitz was kind enough to speak with us and answer a few questions. read more »
Artist and writer Ben Templesmith is perhaps best known for his work on the vampire comic 30 Days of Night with Steve Niles, but his work on such creator-owned projects as Choker and Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse have also generated their fair share of (justifiable) acclaim. As of late, Templesmith has been concentrating on his work with 44FLOOD, a group of like-minded artists and creators. Being as how he’s appearing at this weekend’s Planet Comicon at Kansas City’s Bartle Hall, we figured it was the perfect opportunity to e-mail him a slew of needlessly detailed questions. Templesmith was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer them for us. read more »
When you hear that Eric Davidson from the New Bomb Turks has a new band, along with a slew of singles you get excited. Such was the news regarding Livids and one of their first releases, the (Some of Us Have) Adrenalized Hearts EP for Oops Baby Records. The press release describes it as a recording which was “banged out.”
Sadly, it seems like that’s less hyperbole, and more a statement meant to keep you from getting your hopes up. The songs are good, if a bit rough, but the recording is more like a really good demo than a proper release. Your initial impulse on listening is that you’d like to pogo around the stereo, but nothing sounds strong enough to really rock you solidly. read more »
