There were warnings of storms looming all day on Saturday, July 1st in Kansas City, Missouri. At any moment, a pop-up shower could leave any part of the metropolitan area drenched. And it did. Multiple times.
But not that night.
Not that evening when German rock band – and Midwest fav – Milky Chance opened for Young The Giant at the gorgeous Starlight Theatre. They dazzled the crowd with eye-catching style, serotonin-boosting tunes, and envious hair (according to pretty much everyone there). Here are some beautiful moments from the opening of the show.
At 9:30pm on Friday, June 16th, Jason Isbell took the stage to headline Day 1 of Boulevardia in Kansas City, Missouri. The festival focuses on the vibrant beer-centric culture in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It brings hops from all over, as well as music, vendors of all kinds, and interactive experiences you can’t find anywhere else. Find Boulevardia in Kansas City every Father’s Day weekend. (aka quite often the hottest weekend of the summertime.)
The Grammy award-winning act took the main stage overlooking Crown Center. Here, the bustling center in the heart of the Crossroads District now plays home to the annual fest. Surrounded by smoke – and an incredibly talented band – Jason Isbell entertained the masses who had gathered in the street to get a glimpse of the Americana crooner.
With the lights of the city behind him, Isbell set the tone for the rest of the (sweaty) beautiful event.
Haven’t seen Idles live yet? You’re missing out on… an entire experience. Luckily, the insanely talented Anthony Mulcahy shared some photos from his recent night out to see the band at Terminal 5. You can almost taste the sweat.
Sci-Fi influenced and experimental indie-rock, are just two ways to describe the music project Baron Minker, the alias for songwriter Dane Erik Frost.
Frost released a video for his most recent single “Anthem of the Rich and the Bored”, which is the only politically charged and influenced track on his upcoming album. “Anthem of the Rich and the Bored” calls out those that abuse their power, mainly those of a social elite status that look down on other classes of people.
The video is colorfully trippy, perfectly complimenting the sounds of the track. With the use of a skull that moves in time to the track, and looks as if the skull itself is the one singing these words, the video visually feels hypnotizing.
Baron Minker is a music project that carves out a balance between worlds that are savage and serene. By combining indie sheen with electric absurdity, Minker has a sound that calls back to 1970s psychedelic culture.
As things get weird outside, we like to create our ambiance every day. Most of that involves music videos, and we get to see our fair share. So, per usual, we have sifted through all the new stuff and given you a (random) soundtrack of all the best ones! So get lost for a while… seriously. These videos will inspire.
Keep coming back all month long for new additions to the soundtrack. Because, really, what else are you doing?
In March of 2017, we were in a different place. Financially, emotionally, career-wise… but the biggest difference? We were covering SXSW as official press (for a different publication). Imperfect Fifth has thrived on what we learned within that community, learning tenfold about the industry in one week over what we had in the previous five years combined working within it. Because we are all feeling a sense of lack of community right now — and almost none of us are out enjoying ourselves in the streets of Austin — I wanted to share some video interviews from that first, fated SXSW. You know, when social distancing didn’t exist and we all did yoga in bars together.
For official SXSW coverage and takeovers all week, head to our Instagram!
Murder by Death returned to Lawrence, KS, on March 7 for a show at historic Liberty Hall. The group is mid-way through their current tour celebrating 20 years as a band. The crowd was so happy to welcome them back to Lawrence. The night included a great moment when lead singer, Adam Turla, acknowledged their love and long history with the town, from playing house parties in the early 00’s, to Liberty hall on Saturday. The group was energetic and cohesive – you could tell they’ve been performing together for 20 years.
Joseph’s February 11th concert at the Madrid Theatre, promoting their newest album “Good Luck, Kid,” was the band’s first Kansas City performance in almost three years. Even so, the trio admitted to always being fond of KC, reminiscing of a stop on one of their first nationwide tours, and apologizing profusely for an early edition of a tour poster which placed Tuesday’s concert in Kansas City, KS…
KC clearly loves them back. An energetic crowd enthusiastically sang the band’s lyrics back to them. In the front row were participants of Joseph’s recent “Good Luck, Kid” cover contest, which the band mentioned by name. There was a celebratory mood all night as Joseph performed an outstanding show for their eager KC fans.
Politically charged music is still prominent in rock and roll, and New York band Lower Power ride its wave in new album One Planet at a Time. The album collectively addresses issues impacting our society like the increasing gun violence, mental health, war, inequality, and much more.
The lead track “All About Me” has a main focus on narcissism that affects our society. This track kicks down the door and introduces listeners to the impact Lower Power is trying to create.
The video for “All About Me” are clips of money being transformed into different shapes, and being warped through snapchat filters. As well as home video using similar snapchat filters. The idea here is capturing through silly filters, obscuring the view of normal, with a very “me-centered” persona. The narcissistic tendencies being pointed out in the song and the video go beyond everyday people, but the economy and government themselves.
This in-your-face, pay attention, mentality One Planet at a Time has makes listeners think about these heavy topics. It forces listeners to face these hard-hitting issues, charging them up.
