Kansas City is really lucky, because we get to witness Andrew McMahon in all of his forms pretty frequently. While other musicians skip our metropolitan area more often than now, we are seemingly prioritized by his tour manager and team every single time, be it for Andrew McMahon in The Wilderness, Something Corporate, or Jack’s Mannequin.
And we show up.
Kansas City sold out the Tuesday night show at The Truman, a warehouse venue in the downtown area that has space to move — which is great, given the amount of dancing – and llama crowdsurfing – that was happening.
As we head banged through “Holiday From Real,” “Kill The Messenger,” “Amy, I,” and “Miss California,” a genuine feeling of camaraderie seemed to echo through the space. Per usual, Andrew provided anecdotes for a few songs, giving us a true look at what his life was like twenty years ago when MFEO – the album he played in full on this tour – was released. It was during this time that he was battling cancer.
While some fans seemed to be learning of his earlier health woes at this show, he has been touring with his Dear Jack Foundation – which raises funding to improve the lives of young people with cancer and their families – in tow for years.** At this particular show, he was raffling off a signed drum head for donations. Toward the end of the show, he boarded a llama pool floatie and crowd surfed from the stage to the back of the venue to find out the winner of the raffle. Known for being interactive with his crowd, this was a really entertaining approach. (And we didn’t drop him!)
**Not for nothing, we played his “Dear Jack” documentary at the inaugural cancer walk at my university, as suggested by my rad twin sister. His story, his strength, and the way he has allowed his life to open up since is quite inspiring and fun.
The set list for The MFEO Tour has varied slightly. The following songs were played by Jack’s Mannequin at The Truman on June 17th.
Holiday From Real
Spinning
The Mixed Tape
Release Me
Kill the Messenger
Crashin
Miss Delaney
Swim
Television
I’m Ready
Amy, I
Bruised
Miss California
The Resolution
Rescued
MFEO: Pt. 1 – Made for Each Other / Pt. 2 – You Can Breathe
Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
La La Lie
Encore:
Last Straw, AZ
Dark Blue
