The headliner of night 1 at Boulevardia 2024 was Milky Chance, a band the event’s organizers had been trying to contract for years. They were giddy as they introduced them, as the night set in on the streets of downtown Kansas City. The band was as fun as ever and the music created an entirely standalone vibe in the main stage. Milky Chance kind of sprinkles magic where they go with their feel-good energy. Photos below to prove it.
It’s been a known stereotype that artists will use their work to process and channel their own emotions. This could be their heartbreak into paintings, their loneliness into a story, or–with the newest single by singer-songwriter Becca Stevens–the loss of their loved ones into a song. Stevens, a 2x Grammy-nominee, has been quite busy recently with both a role in the cast of the Sufjan Stevens-inspired musical “Illinoise” for the rest of the summer but also with her newest album, the entirely acoustic Maple to Paper, which releases August 30th.
Stevens has described the new album as very personal, and the lead single “Now Feels Bigger than the Past” shows her at her most vulnerable. This is largely due to three major events that shaped the tone of the album: the death of her mother, the birth of her first daughter, and the death of mentor and frequent collaborator David Crosby. The song is immediately upfront about these events; opening with a verse seemingly about artists not being appreciated and loved until they’re gone. It’s a bitter and almost angry way to open the song, but it’s clear that it’s out of Stevens’ love and respect for Crosby. She had played on his last four albums, and her vocals and sound are a dead ringer for other 70s folk singers like Joni Mitchell or Vashti Bunyan.
Stevens recorded all of Maple to Paper live without overdubs, and this single alone adds to the honesty and personal sentiments of her lyrics and vocals. It’s cliched to describe folk music as “authentic” or “intimate” but Stevens’ soft, wistful voice and the intentionally sparse production successfully capture those feelings, and it complements the song’s mournful tone perfectly.
Stevens continues to sing about loss, examining how it’s easier to appreciate someone’s flaws after they’re gone. “Imperfection is beautiful in retrospect… And great big flaws are charming when there’s no one there to correct.” This leads into the final verses where she sings of the grief brought about by her mother’s passing and the sudden disillusionment of now having to provide the same role with her own child.
It’s a heartbreaking song, yet also a masterful and poetic work by a great artist. The music video, directed by Jep Jorba, uses trick photography to show a modern-day Stevens and an older Stevens (achieved through makeup and hair curlers) singing verses to each other as though it were a dining room conversation. It visualizes the themes of Stevens contemplating her own mortality as she grows into the role her mother had, but now only has herself to talk to. “Now Feels Bigger than the Past” is an entirely haunting yet emotionally gripping lead single into Becca Stevens’ upcoming Maple to Paper.
Love them or hate them, bands that were popular at the turn of the century are making a comeback. And Hanson? They never really went anywhere. After going indie when their label failed them professionally, the three-brother band has maintained a brand – with multiple creative endeavors within it, including a beer company, tiered fan club membership, collaborative fan community, and more – that has continued to serve them and their growing family over the years. They have consistently toured, continuously contributed to nonprofit funding efforts, and continue to deliver new music as a sibling project year after year.
On Friday, June 14th, Hanson entertained a large crowd gathered in front of the Visit Missouri main stage at Boulevardia in Kansas City, Missouri. There, they announced the release of their new peach cider venture – that comes in honor of the 20th anniversary of “Penny & Me” – that they would be pouring themselves at the Taps & Tastes event the following day.
Boulevardia draws thousands to the Kansas City area every Father’s Day weekend for an interactive beer and music festival, with local makers and food vendors galore.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think Gen Z needs to be more aware of the countless R&B and funk superstars from the 70s and 80s. A lot of these artists just seem to be overshadowed by larger artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, or Stevie Wonder. I love the music of those three too, but there’s so much great music that needs to be rediscovered and praised as classics. One of these artists is Chaka Khan, known as the “Queen of Funk” and has multiple hits with both her band Rufus and her solo career. She still has a large following, but only a handful of her biggest hits have reached younger audiences. If you’re unfamiliar with her work, I can’t recommend her Tiny Desk Concert performed last week at NPR enough as a starting point.
For those that don’t know, Tiny Desk Concerts are performances held in NPR’s headquarters in DC. What separates them from just a normal concert is that all the musicians and equipment must be able to fit behind the desk where NPR’s weekly podcast “All Songs Considered” gets recorded. That means all the musicians get squeezed just inches apart from each other in an office space. If it sounds awkward, that’s the fun of it! With the audience only a small group of NPR employees right next to the space, it makes the concerts more intimate, up-close, and personal. The limited room makes the music fully center stage instead of surrounding it with other stage effects and unnecessary parts of a more corporate concert performance. Really, just think of Tiny Desk Concerts as a late millennial/Gen Z version of MTV Unplugged except less pretentious and not entirely acoustic.
Despite the tight space that Chaka Khan and her band have, what’s even tighter are the nonstop grooves and funk rhythms they play for their 30-minute show. (Was that clever writing? I thought it was.) The entire time I was listening to it, I couldn’t stop dancing, swaying, and moving to the music. Chaka’s backing band that accompanies her is absolutely on fire, with the funk starting immediately and never letting up. My favorites were the percussion, shakers, and sparkly chimes, as well as the bass playing. If I had one tiny criticism, it would be that a synthesizer is used to replicate horns and orchestrations, even if a lot of classic synth-funk did that as well. However, it still sounds serviceable (even great during the closing songs), and I doubt they could fit anyone else with the limited space they had.
The concert set list is a collection of seven singles from both her solo career and time with Rufus, spanning from 1974 to 1985, with the most famous singles being at the very end. Okay, let’s talk about Chaka Khan herself during this show. You would never believe that she’s 71 years old because she looks and sounds fantastic. Her energy is loose and fun, her singing hits the high notes with ease, and she sounds almost identical to the original studio recordings. Just as good as her are her backing vocalists, who get moments of their own to shine (see Tiffany Smith getting a solo to show off her pipes on “Sweet Thing”). The onstage chemistry between Chaka, the backing vocalists, and the band is always apparent during the show.
Like many Tiny Desk Concerts, part of the fun is also the interactions between the band and the crowd. A show highlight was Chaka letting the NPR audience sing several verses on their own during “Sweet Thing”, and it’s adorable hearing the enthusiasm and love for the music from the crowd. By the time the show closes with “I’m Every Woman”, it’s impossible for anyone on stage (or yourself, for that matter) to keep a smile off their face. Chaka Khan’s Tiny Desk Concert is nothing but delightful, and a victory lap for a monumental artist.
Every Father’s Day weekend – for years now – Boulevardia has taken over a crucial area of Kansas City, bringing the best taps, tastes, and tunes to the metropolitan area. (And region, if we are being honest.) The relocation to Crown Center a handful of years ago made the festival a little more central — though no less sweltering hot.
I arrived later on Friday, making it a point to get there in time to see Pom Pom Squad. Frontwoman Mia Berrin introduced the band as Hanson – who was coming up next on the Visit Missouri main stage – and then proceeded to rip our faces off. Berrin’s dynamic vocals serenaded us through a breezy, hot Midwest sunset. A few fun photos below.
Keep up with Pom Pom Squad here.
Considering the band members that comprise psych-tinged alt-rock quartet Liily – Dylan Nash (Frontman), Sam De La Torre (Guitarist), Charlie Anastasis (Bassist), and Maxx Morando (Drummer) – are all artistic in a variety of ways, it comes as no surprise that the video for single “Swallow” off their fresh drop Liily was so fully ideated and realized by the band, who directed it. The song – which is very specifically about their disdain for trauma porn – is, according to the band, “a pretty simple rock tune, we wanted to keep it straight forward along with the rest of the EP, no bells and whistles! We saw it as our chance to be musical vs over-intellectualizing something that is meat and potatoes.”
About the composition, they are correct. A little bit of a dirty edge to it, with a steady rhythm most can get into, the song is more catchy than one would assume when they think of the subject matter. With both vocals and a video that are sprinkled with the stereotypical bored demeanor of a true rock outfit, the build of energy in the song is almost unexpected, but equally welcoming.
“Swallow” was shot by members of Liily in 2022 with a little help from Keegan James Hurley, Justin Billings, and Andie Jane. Guitarist Sam De La Torre edited it, giving it an admittedly engaging finish.