ken valdez @ winter blues fest
Minnesota Blues Challenge Winner Ken Valdez performed at the 2018 Winter Blues Fest in Des Moines on February 10. The New Mexico native was also joined on stage by Kevin “BF” Burt.
the darkness + diarrhea planet @ the truman
On Sunday, April 8th, The Darkness made an incredibly entertaining night of it as the headliner at The Truman in Kansas City. Rockers Diarrhea Planet opened, and Michael Porter caught some pretty impressive photos for us.
billie eilish @ recordBar
Following a gloomy week in Kansas City, April 4 brought crisp and clear weather – and a sold-out show by L.A.’s Billie Eilish at recordBar in support of her Where’s My Mind tour. Some of her fans waited for hours in the cold for a chance to be close to their favorite artist. Imperfect Fifth writer Veronica DeFeo and photographer Michael Porter were there to capture the one-of-a-kind evening. Killer performances from openers Reo Cragun and DJ Kiero got the night off to a great start. Reo busted his lip open a few songs in, but he didn’t let that stop him from delivering a fantastic set, much to the delight of the energetic crowd.
Following Reo and Kiero’s set, anticipation was evident as the concert-goers started chanting Billie’s name. In a moment of electric delirium only found at the best of shows, the lights went down and drummer Andrew Marshall and Billie’s brother, Finneas O’Connell, came onstage to an electronic sample of “my boy”, dressed in white coveralls and Billie Eilish kerchiefs. The crowd went insane when Billie came on seconds later, starting off the night with her acclaimed single, “bellyache”. Every voice knew every word, evidencing Billie’s deep connection with her fans. Not skipping a beat, Billie led the crowd into her hauntingly beautiful “idontwannabeyouanymore”, showcasing her velvety vocals. Next up was “watch”, immediately followed by “&burn”, which features Vince Staples on her record, dont smile at me. Billie not only flawlessly sang “watch”, but also took on Vince Staples’ verse from “&burn”.
Billie gave the crowd a chance to fill in some vocals on the next song, “Bored” (which was anything but boring). Fans were eager to give Billie their gifts throughout the set, and Billie expressed her love and gratitude for everyone who came multiple times, letting them know that she would not be where she is without them. Taking a more serious and mature tone, Billie performed an older track, “Six Feet Under”, which displayed not only her vocal talent, but also her lyrical skills. Billie introduced her drummer and brother to the crowd before inviting Finneas to perform his slinky, moody track, “New Girl”. As her producer, co-writer, backing vocalist and guitarist, but most importantly, brother, Finneas is always supportive of Billie, as well as having his own career as lead singer of The Slightlys and starring as Alistair on Glee.
Billie took the stage once again, enthralling the crowd with a unique cover of Drake’s hit song, “Hotline Bling” – on ukulele. In her next song, “party favor”, Billie showcased more of her ukulele skills during the fun track, which also features hitting lyrics. Billie next treated the crowd to an unreleased song, asking them all to be in the moment with her. The track that got Billie discovered, “Ocean Eyes”, was up next, and the crowd got a unique, lighthearted rendition as Billie accidentally bumped a fan with her mic; following this, Billie closed out the song on a stunning note. An electric, flawless performance of fan favorite “my boy” finished her regular set, but Billie wasn’t done yet. After raucous shouts for an encore brought her back onstage, Billie delivered with “hostage” before taking a selfie with the crowd and hugging fans. Billie closed out her show with a rocking performance of “COPYCAT” that did not disappoint. After commanding her fans to get low during the bridge, the crowd went wild with the signal word “sike!”, and the last seconds of the song were unforgettable.
At just sixteen years old, Billie Eilish has accomplished more than many artists dream to at a young age. When she makes up her mind, she gets the job done; despite her youth, Billie knows her craft and how to work a crowd. Her March 4 performance is not one that will be forgotten. Kansas City can’t wait for Billie to come back.
Listen to Billie Eilish
YouTube – Spotify – iTunes
Stay connected with Billie Eilish
Facebook – Website – Instagram – Twitter
**photos by Michael Porter
jason ricci & the bad kind @ winter blues fest
New Orleans’ Jason Ricci & The Bad Kind played the Winter Blues Festival in Des Moines on February 9. Ricci, is an award-winning harmonica player who performed on Johnny Winter’s Step Back, which won the 2015 Grammy for Best Blues Album.
Keep up with Jason Ricci here.
anthony gomes @ winter blues fest
St. Louis-based blues rock artist Anthony Gomes played the Winter Blues Fest in Des Moines on February 9, 2018. The Toronto native and 2017 European Blues Awards winner for Best Musician, rocked the crowd with his ripping guitar solos and soulful lyrics.
Keep up with Anthony Gomes here.
david rosales talks new album, creates peace at sxsw
David Rosales was waiting for me on a street corner in Austin when I meandered up to him for the second time that day. In fact, he had been waiting patiently as some of my other interviews ran late, his back certainly weighing heavy with his luggage and guitar strapped on him and sitting next to him. Despite the 88 degree weather – and what should have been the most aggravating conditions – he brought with him a sense of ease and a feeling of calm that I hadn’t felt yet on 6th Street during SXSW 2018. He was kind, and ready to chat freely about his SX experience, his musical journey, and everything in between.
___
Let’s do this. I know – get your stuff situated, or hold it on your back the whole time, that’s fine too.
David: I’m sweating. I’m not used to this. I’m used to California.
Right? OK, so speaking of, how long have you been out here for South By? When did you get in town?
David: A couple days ago I got in on a Greyhound from Dallas. I flew to Dallas and then took a Greyhound down here with like my guitar on my lap, you know, because I didn’t want it to sit underneath with luggage and didn’t want it to sit in the overhead. Cause it’s not like a plane, you know, it’s a bus…
That’s scary.
David: So I’m sitting there with like a book in one hand and a guitar in the other, cramped up, you know, I’m six foot one so it’s uncomfortable. Those Greyhounds are kind of small. But, yeah, I know, it sounds like the beginning of a song. I think it’s got a song in there somewhere. I got into Austin on a Greyhound. And it was late, it was like three hours late, so…
Meredith: So everything was going correctly?
David: You just need to be mellow when you’re touring. You’ve just to realize that, you know, you just got to flex and flow. You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.
Did you come into the industry with that thought process or did it take a while for you?
David: I don’t know, I guess I’ve been in the “industry” for a long time. I was in a hard rock band for like ten years. I was in garage bands before that through high school, junior high and stuff. Just growing up in L.A., it’s a big market. So I did the whole Sunset thing and touring around the country on an indie label. Then at about thirty, my band kind of dissolved at that time and I had written this EP that was just because I had a baby coming and I went from writing songs about death, and just rock themes, dark and stuff like that. I went in the studio and started writing some about love and stuff I wasn’t really comfortable with before. And when my band dissolved, I was like “well might as well follow this because it is the only thing I have”.
It wasn’t meant for anybody and it was this first EP that I released called Smile. I just went with it because it was the only thing I had. I didn’t have my band anymore and I just had these songs and I just started playing them, people were digging them, buying them. I sing with a girl named Olivia and we kind of did our thing and then we came out with an EP, the duet EP. We were Dave and Olivia for a bit. I did another solo EP called Along the Way that came out in ’14. I’ve just kind of been playing a ton of gigs and stuff since then, writing this new material, recording it, and getting the cash flow up to come out and do something proper with it.
This album we have coming up called Brave Ones is the culmination of all that. It’s eleven songs of love, loss, despair, triumph, you know, everything that’s kind of like the human experience. It’s a lot of relatable stuff. It’s crazy looking at myself as this thirteen year old skateboarder that would jump off rooftops into pools and stuff like that with my garage band and go to like, where I am now. Music’s always been there for me, but it’s changed and it’s grown as humans do. We’re not the same people we were when we were thirteen…
What?!
David: Or even eighteen…
Yeah we are!! (laughs)
David: (laughs) So it’s like, that’s the beauty of life, is kind of accepting those changes and stuff, and just kind of walking kind of gracefully. Fortunately for me, this kind of step that happened six years ago just kind of came at the right time and you just kind of flex and flow with it.
So with your new work, how can you imagine someone listening to it in its’ entirety? With a glass of Scotch sitting by a fire Anchorman style, out with their friends, is there an atmosphere you want to create with this?
David: It’s crazy to picture anybody listening to a complete album anymore…
I know, but I do it. I still do it!
David: That’s why we write these albums and that’s why I am, like, going over and over and over sequencing the songs, because I believe in it. I believe in the story that I’m telling. I believe in a whole vibe of an album. My album’s very round. It has a beginning and it has an end. It has arcs and stuff of a story and it kind of follows this path. I’m a student of songwriting completely so I love the whole story telling. I read Stephen King “On Writing”. I read great writers, I’m a student of it so what do I picture?
I picture somebody driving. It’s kind of like driving music. I think it’s somebody who could be cruising. Maybe like on the 101 in California, or just a long distance where they have…they can just kind of…Did you ever start a drive and you, “OK, I got to my location but I don’t really remember too much of the in between. I was vibing on it, but I just got here.” I want to take people away. I want to have them kind of look at – and relate to – what I’m writing. I think that I’m writing about relatable human experiences.
That’s the great thing about songwriters. Songwriters are, we’re just like you or somebody else that maybe doesn’t play music or something like that, but we just kind of recognize these mundane human experiences. These day to day things and we kind of put them in a song so that you go “Oh I had that same experience” or “I can relate to that” or “I can vibe on that”.
Absolutely. Here’s a quick, off the cuff, question: What’s been your favorite food at South By?
David: I’m staying with my cousins, so my cousin’s chorizo. She makes it like my mom where it’s not too greasy.
Dammit. Makes us all jealous. I’m going to tell people his favorite thing in Austin is this, but you can’t have it, sorry.
David: I really haven’t eaten too much food – I’ve been drinking a ton here. I’ve been kind of hydrating, that’s what I’m doing. Hydrating. So I haven’t been eating a ton of food when I’m playing gigs. It’s tough to eat and play and talk to people, so it kind of gets lost. I’m one of those people where I forget to eat, just in general. I run a lot and I’m almost forced to eat, so that kind of keeps me eating. I forget because I’m just so busy. It’s tough. So being a dad, running, my wife, just everything, I think about myself last in a way because everybody else comes before me.
Meredith: You’ve performed already at South By clearly, you’ve been here a little bit…
David: I’ve done three shows and done some interviews and press and stuff like that and I have two more shows tomorrow. We’re playing at the Westin Rooftop on the 20th floor for Chive TV at 1pm, and then an hour later at 87 Rainey Street.
Meredith: That’s a quick turnaround! You sound fancy!
David: I don’t know if I’m fancy. But I love it!
Keep up with the wonderful David Rosales and his intricate and beautiful musical path here.
courtship. @ recordbar
On Thursday, March 22nd, Courtship. played for a pretty packed room at The recordBar in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Their second time to hit the stage in KC in months, they maneuvered their way around their set like old pros, even beat boxing for us when there were some technical issues. It was a fun evening, and here are some photos that captured that fun.
lights @ the madrid
A mixture of old and young fans filled up the Madrid Theatre on Thursday night. Granted, they were probably parents of the younger demographic as they were sitting against the wall while their kids stood in the middle of the floor, waiting for the the show to begin. That’s the thing about Lights: she has no target demographic, and her fans are loyal as hell. The Madrid provides the right amount of intimacy that performer like Lights yearns for. As seen in her Instagram posts, she loves connecting herself with her fanbase. And if you’re not following her on there, do it.
Toronto based performer DCF, or David Charles Fischer, kicked off the night with his one man act, followed by Australians Chase Atlantic. The crowd came for the entire lineup. Singing back every song and even calling out the next titles, both DFC and Chase Atlantic have a fan base here in Kansas City that built the atmosphere for the rest of the night.
Lights started her set off with “New Fears” off her fourth album “Skin and Earth.” Since the start of the tour in late January, Lights admitted that the band hasn’t been feeling well and are fighting off a bug, but the excitement and love that Kansas City brought to the table helped them continue to play on. She even posted a picture on her Instagram story thanking KC for helping her power through the show while battling the stomach flu. That’s dedication right there.
Nearly 10 years since beginning her career, Lights remembers when she first came here in the late 2000s. With that kind of connection, it’s easy to see how much this city loves her. “I think the first time we played here was in 2008, it’s been a while, Kansas City!” she said.
As she begins to wind down her tour, it’s exciting to see what Lights’ next moves will be. It’s pretty hard to top a concept album and comic book, but there is no doubt that she continue to surprise, and build, her loyal fanbase.
Keep up with Lights here.
**by Ashleigh Lee
nada surf @ brooklyn steel
On March 8th, Nada Surf made an spectacular appearance at Brooklyn Steel on the right coast. Photographer Christie McMenamin was on hand to nab some gorgeous shots for us.
