dashboard confessional makes up for lost time at boulevardia 2022

dashboard confessional makes up for lost time at boulevardia 2022

Dashboard Confessional was slated to headline Boulevardia 2019. Then, a massive summer storm blew threw and everyone ended up hanging out under shelter, many in a parking garage in Kansas City’s West Bottoms region.

Kansas City was ready for a Dashboard Confessional show. Way past due, Carraba started the show by addressing that night, and explaining how much he had been looking forward to hanging out with us over the last three years. We bought it, and sang the night away under the stars–our echoes reverberating off the downtown skyline–during one of the most excruciatingly hot weekends of the summer. Ah, Boulevardia.

Wouldn’t change a thing.

the wombats release captivating, yet blunt, new single “everything i love is going to die”

the wombats release captivating, yet blunt, new single “everything i love is going to die”

This past year has disrupted how I understand the concept of time within our society. 

Staying inside for weeks felt like months, and primarily interacting with my peers via Zoom merely emphasized the ever-increasing feelings of physical alienation I was experiencing. However, in retrospect, I wish I had done more during this dark period the world was and continues to endure. Everything has made me realize how no matter what’s going on outside, life doesn’t last forever, and we have to enjoy the time we have while we still have it. 

English indie heroes The Wombats illustrate this realization with the fourth single off their upcoming five studio album Fix Yourself, Not The World titled “Everything I Love Is Going To Die.” The harmonious guitars and punchy drums are captivating from the start, backing the lyrics sung by frontman Matthew “Murph” Murphy that focus on how everyone needs to acknowledge and appreciate how beautiful their lives are in the moment before they are simply memories lost to time. 

When explaining the song, Murphy described the song as being “about the impermanence of life and the beauty of each passing second.” 

“The key line for me is ‘Icarus Was My Best Friend, So I’m Gonna Make Him Proud In The End,’ which I guess is a playful take on living life to its fullest even though the consequences of that might be dire,” he said. “Certainly not a call to Nihilism, however, but perhaps a call to being present and the joy that can be found in appreciating each moment we find ourselves in.”

All in all, the song is another jangly, electro-pop anthem from the band that won’t stop giving. Their new album Fix Yourself, Not The World comes out January 7, 2022, and you can pre-order it here. Less than two weeks later, they plan on starting their worldwide tour in support of the album in North America before heading overseas to Europe and the UK later in April and May. All dates are below. 

North American Dates:
January 20 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
January 22 – The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA
January 25 – Terminal 5, New York, NY
January 26 – House of Blues, Boston, MA
January 28 – Corona, Montreal, QB
January 31 – St. Andrew’s, Detroit, MI
February 1 – Newport, Columbus, OH
February 3 – Park West, Chicago, IL
February 4 – The Fillmore, Minneapolis, MN
February 5 – The Truman, Kansas City, MO
February 7 – Cannery, Nashville, TN
February 8 – Buckhead, Atlanta, GA
February 10 – House of Blues, Houston, TX
February 11 – Emo’s, Austin, TX
February 12 – House of Blues, Dallas, TX
February 14 – Ogden, Denver, CO
February 15 – Union, Salt Lake City, UT
February 17 – Showbox Market, Seattle, WA SOLD OUT
February 18 – Venue Nightclub, Vancouver, BC SOLD OUT
February 19 – Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
February 21 – The Regency, San Francisco, CA
February 22 – The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA
February 25 – The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA

European/UK Tour Dates:

April 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
April 15 – The O2, London
April 16 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
April 18 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow
April 22 – Mountford Hall, Liverpool
April 23 – Mountford Hall, Liverpool
April 29 – La Machine Du Moulin Rouge, Paris (France)
May 1 – Carlswerk Victoria, Cologne (Germany)
May 2 – Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg (Germany)
May 4 – Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm (Sweden)
May 5 – Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo (Norway)
May 6 – DR Koncerthuset, Copenhagen (Denmark)
May 7 – Huxley’s Neue Welt, Berlin (Germany)
May 9 – Gasometer, Vienna (Austria)
May 10 – Backstage Werk, Munich (Germany)
May 12 – Estragon, Bologna (Italy)
May 13 – Fabrique, Milan (Italy)
May 14 – Komplex 457, Zurich (Switzerland)
May 16 – De Roma, Antwerp (Belgium)
May 17 – Paradiso, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
May 18 – De Oosterpoort, Groningen (Netherlands)
May 19 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (Netherlands)
May 26 – Open Air Theatre, Scarborough

you monster you pay homage to hometown history in new video for “downtown”

you monster you pay homage to hometown history in new video for “downtown”

Local Kansas City punk rockers You Monster You are celebrating Halloween early with the visuals for their new single “Downtown,” the latest from the band’s upcoming album Not Dead Yet, due sometime next year. The release is the third of twelve self-produced tracks they plan on releasing bi-monthly throughout 2021 and 2022. 

They declared the song as a love letter to their past when they filled concert halls and bars with their sweeping, breakneck energy and a rallying cry to the future when everyone can reclaim these safe spaces from the pandemic. It’s a stark departure from their last two singles, “Iron” and “Grip,” both of which portray the hardships of enduring the lockdown period for the past year, as it’s instead what the quartet looks forward to and perhaps previously took for granted. 

The video perfectly encapsulates the meaning behind its source material, presenting frontman Trent Munsinger as a vampire scouring an assortment of dark corridors for his prey inside of a unique and relatively unknown location in the heart of Kansas City.

Union Station has a third floor that wraps around the building and was used to house soldiers in times of war as well as sporting several bullet holes from the 1950 Kansas City Massacre. Today this historic space is one of the nation’s largest graffiti galleries! The walls and long halls are covered with ever-changing artwork from local KC street artists; giving them a safe place to practice their craft while the rest of the time, it is rented out for thrilling laser tag parties under the name ‘Survive KC.’ It blows our mind that this place is hiding right above us in Union Station, so we saw it as an opportunity to make a charming and campy tale of revenge in a spooky corner of Kansas City that many are completely unaware of.

“Downtown” is available to stream on your favorite platforms today.

kcwmn spotlight | alisa jefferson

kcwmn spotlight | alisa jefferson

As much as we love covering music on an international scale, we see the value in (and need for) local artist spotlights. Since Imperfect Fifth is based in Kansas City, we have teamed up with the Kansas City Women’s Music Network to bring you artist highlights about twice per month.

About Alisa Jefferson:
Alisa has always been very passionate about music and the songs she delivers as a singer/songwriter. She grew up in the Kansas City area with influences from ’70s Motown to mostly ’80s and ’90s rock/pop. She played viola in orchestra before she received her first acoustic guitar at age 13 and she hasn’t looked back since.

Currently, Alisa is writing, recording, and planning to release a 10+ track LP this summer. She has released four singles from this new LP to most major music platforms.

Check her out on Apple Music, Facebook, and Instagram. Find out more at
alisajeffersonmusic.com. If you are interested in being featured in KCWMN’s next Member Spotlight, check out the website here.

kcwmn spotlight | ro myra

kcwmn spotlight | ro myra

As much as we love covering music on an international scale, we see the value in (and need for) local artist spotlights. Since Imperfect Fifth is based in Kansas City, we have teamed up with the Kansas City Women’s Music Network to bring you artist highlights about twice per month.

About Ro Myra:
“I grew up in a small, dried-up oil and farming town in the middle of nowhere Nebraska,” says Ro Myra. “I spent most of my life running away from it, and now I’m right back where I started.”

‘Nowhere, Nebraska,’ Myra’s extraordinary debut, is more than just a musical homecoming, though. Recorded in Denver, Nashville, and Austin, the self-produced collection is a complex reckoning with the past, a nuanced, literate reexamination of small-town life in the shadow of heartbreak, self-destruction, and second chances. While the arrangements here are broad and sweeping, Myra’s storytelling is sharply focused and firmly rooted. She writes with a novelist’s eye and sings with the kind of weathered grace that makes even hard truths go down easy, calling to mind everything from Kathleen Edwards to Lucinda Williams as she makes peace with the past in order to more fully inhabit the present.

Though her path seemed anything but obvious, Myra knew from an early age that her future lay beyond the endless cropland that surrounded her growing up. She taught herself piano as a child, studied classical composition in college, and spent her post-grad years working with international non-profits before returning to music at the urging of her mentor, renowned composer Dr. Eric Funk. The result is a captivating debut all about memory and forgiveness, a warm embrace of an album as raw and windswept as the landscape that inspired it.

Ro Myra may have left home, but home, it seems, never left her.

Find Ro Myra’s music on Spotify, Facebook, Kickstarter, and Instagram. If you are interested in being featured on the Member Spotlight check out the KCWMN website.

kcwmn spotlight | alison hawkins

kcwmn spotlight | alison hawkins

As much as we love covering music on an international scale, we see the value in (and need for) local artist spotlights. Since Imperfect Fifth is based in Kansas City, we have teamed up with the Kansas City Women’s Music Network to bring you artist highlights about twice per month. Our Member Spotlight today is Alison Hawkins of True Lions!

About Alison:
Alison Hawkins is a writer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and music teacher. They are an organizer for Bandwaggn KC, a music camp for girls/trans/gender-expansive youth in Kansas City. Alison dropped out of music school and dedicated their life to intersectional activism. In 2018, they created the keytar pop band True Lions, releasing two EPs in 2019 and a full-length album in 2021.

A Kansas City-based “flosspunk” alt-pop supergroup led by Alison Hawkins, True Lions meshes the band members’ backgrounds in classical, punk, jazz, folk, and blues, ultimately creating a well-rounded, unique pop sound. The band’s revolving lineup includes Elizabeth Kosko, Teri Quinn, Claire Adams, Adee Rocket Dancy, Aryana Nemati, KuJo, Iona DeWalt, and Miki P. While they’re a gender-diverse collective of women/nonbinary/trans/boi/vegan multi-instrumentalists and genre-flirts, the focus of this project is not their genders or dietary restrictions, but rather, their attitudes, imaginations, and the group’s inspiring ability to empower and celebrate one another through the refuge they create within their music. They emphasize friendships with bandmates over conventional instrumentation, and prioritize character and integrity over musical perfectionism. Combining flossy harmonies, clever metaphors, and solid hooks, True Lions confronts serious subject matter with a light and often silly approach. They maintain an anti-patriarchal agenda while still having a fun party time, calling it “carbonated honesty.” They’re known for collaborations with artists such as Calvin Arsenia, Fritz Hutchison, and The Swallowtails, and cite influences like Cibo Matto, The Go-Go’s, Sleater-Kinney, The Raincoats, and Fanny. Their debut album, The Fempire Strikes Back, releases April 9, 2021 via Manor Records.

Check out True Lion’s YouTube, Bandcamp, Facebook, or Instagram.

If you are interested in being featured on the Member Spotlight check out the KCWMN website

kcwmn spotlight | jillian riscoe

kcwmn spotlight | jillian riscoe

As much as we love covering music on an international scale, we see the value in (and need for) local artist spotlights. Since Imperfect Fifth is based in Kansas City, we have teamed up with the Kansas City Women’s Music Network to bring you artist highlights about twice per month. Jillian Riscoe – an Imperfect Fifth favorite – is this week’s Member Spotlight!

About Jillian:
Any performance singer/songwriter Jillian Riscoe puts on showcases a depth of soulfulness and emotion. Performing as a solo artist, in a rock band, and with various cover groups of all genres through her years of actively performing live, she is as well versed and dynamic as it gets.

Singing and performing since the age of 7, Jillian has had her share of success. The Kansas City native has toured and performed across the United States, including the NAMM show, major sporting events, the Grammy Museum Music Revolution Project, and the CDBaby DIY Musician’s Conference. She has received regional music awards, secured national radio airplay, and opened up for artists like Pat Benatar, Rick Springfield, Lisa Loeb, Everclear, Tantric, Stabbing Westward.

Keeping busy as always, Jillian performs on a regular basis including acoustic sets and shows with the KC based cover group The Wannabes, is a music instructor of various private music lessons and classes and as of late, collaborating with Avenue Record Company, releasing original solo material exploring topics such as resilience, courage and finding our place in the world. Her latest single “People in the Real World” can be found on all digital music platforms.

Check out Jillian’s cover of Rihanna’s & Mikky Ekko’s “Stay” on YouTube. You can find Jillian’s music on Spotify. You can find Jillian on Facebook and Instagram.

jillian riscoe, “people in the real world”

jillian riscoe, “people in the real world”

Pop-rock talent Jillian Riscoe was gracious enough to share her new track “People in The Real World” with us to premiere during our Women’s Month Instagram Live series this week. A songstress out of Kansas City, Riscoe has found a way to balance the fine line between intense ballad and soulful anthem, while bringing in futuristic sounds to really play with our ability to classify it. Endearing work, to say the least, and the track is available to enjoy now!

amy farrand and the like, the one

amy farrand and the like, the one

It is with great pleasure that we wait with bated breath for Kansas City’s own Amy Farrand and The Like to play the official record release show for their debut album One this Saturday, April 28th. The band – adequately self-described as genre-defiant – is comprised of a group of incredible musicians, including, of course, esteemed songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (and band namesake) Amy Farrand, who has been working on this musical project since 2015. Having entertained at some incredible local events – including, but certainly not limited to, Kansas City’s Middle of The Map Fest and Apocalypse Meow – the sextet is amped to let their work reach more ears, and to continue with their incredibly endearing live performance tactics with the new tracks.

One was recorded at Weights and Measures Lab with Duane Trower and is an eleven track stunner you absolutely do not want to miss. If you haven’t heard it already, it was released recently, following the success of the single “Scared To Death of Dying”, which is the perfect jam track. A musical journey alongside Amy Farrand and The Like includes some incredibly soulful vocal vibes, accompanied by a robust-sounding horns section and high energy percussion that really bring everything to life and create some versatility to the tracks. While tracks like “White Girl Wasted” and “Scared to Death of Dying” actually address some common social commentary, the band is laser-focused on tracks like “Dragon Woman” and “Sweet Thing”, two of our absolute favorites from this collection.

Join Amy Farrand and The Likes in celebration of this honest and beautiful collection of songs on April 28th at 8pm at Davey’s Uptown Rambler’s Club (3402 Main Street, Kansas City, MO). Inviting the warm weather in with this crowd is going to be an absolute delight!

originally published on playlistplay.com.