Concert Review: The Mosh Lives Tour at Aftershock

As I stood in line outside the men's room at Aftershock on Saturday, I witnessed a group of strangers bonding over their military service.  Enlisted men with close-cropped hair swapped literal and figurative war stories with shaggy veterans.  The encounter made me proud to be a metal fan. 

I paid $20 to bang my head and push and shove the other members of the capacity audience of 450.  Emmure headlined a six-band bill that also featured Volumes, Thy Art Is Murder, Gideon, Sworn In and On The Shoulders Of Giants.

Thy Art is Murder, a gnarly Australian band, gave my favorite performance.  Violent songs like "Reign of Darkness" and "The Purest Strain of Hate" almost incited a jubilant riot.  There are worse ways to die than getting trampled in a mosh pit in Merriam, Kansas. 

Tuscaloosa's Gideon was almost as riveting.  Hearing the sweaty dudes in the mosh pit shout along to every hardcore outburst without breaking stride impressed me. 

Volumes, the Los Angeles-based band I had been most excited about seeing, was enormously disappointing.  I was surprised to find that the two vocalists were bros.  I can live with that, but their total frat move antics and the band's thin sound were unacceptable.

When you're sandwiched between Thy Art Is Murder and Emmure, that weak sh*t just doesn't cut it.  After all, "The Key To Keeping the Show Fresh Is… I'm Dead".


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My notes on Regina Carter's performance Sunday at Helzberg Hall are at Plastic Sax.

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Approach's 2013 album Make-Out With Violence is temporarily available as a free download.

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Mac Lethal meets Ellen.

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Gwar's Dave Brockie has died.

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Only Madlib's imaginative production makes Piñata, the bafflingly acclaimed album by Freddie Gibbs, bearable.  Not a fan.  RIYL: Shoutouts to TechN9ne, Jay Rock, Earl Sweatshirt cameos.

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"We Made It", a new track by Jay Z and Jay Electronica, is tone-deaf. 

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My Hank Williams collection was complete- until now.  The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 will be released in May.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original expert photography by There Stands the Glass.)

Counting Nickels and Dimes With Jay-Z

A lot of the critical backlash directed at Jay-Z's Magna Carta... Holy Grail is undeserved.  Many critics are feigning surprise at the rapper's gloating.  They're  shocked (shocked!) that a hip-hop album would include such content.  Magna Carta... Holy Grail sounds like a million bucks to me. 

I don't begrudge Jay-Z his success.  He earned the right to brag about buying museum-quality art.  My idea of wealth revolves around the ability to buy ten-dollar beers at concerts and sporting events without flinching.  (I'm a long way from achieving that level of financial security.)

The uproar over Jay-Z's so-called excesses parallels one of my pet peeves.  A lot of people conflate artist's personas with the quality of their music.  That's ridiculous.  Just as horrible people make great music, nice people regularly produce inferior sounds.  I don't want or expect Jay-Z to be my friend.  As he suggests of "Nickels and Dimes", the relationship couldn't possibly be healthy anyway.

For that matter, I don't really have any interest hanging out with musicians.  I expect a lot- everything, really- from music.  I don't expect or demand any personal connection with the people who produce those sounds.


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That said, I'd be willing to throw back a Guinness or two with Ian McLagan.  I reviewed his appearance at Danny's in Lenexa on Saturday night.

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The video for Trampled Under Foot's "Bad Bad Feeling" looks great.  The band's Badlands album is released on July 9.

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All the cool kids are raving about Laura Mvula.  I remain unconvinced.

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Reminder- Plastic Sax is my other music blog.

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I covet the new The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story.

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I'm looking forward to hearing this week's new releases by Ciara, Donell Jones, King Tuff, Omar and the Howlers, Robert Pollard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Thundercat and Chucho Valdes.  First, however, I expect to be enlightened by In Search of the Miraculous.

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Kansas City Click: Deafheaven hit the RecordBar on Monday.

Mindless Behavior appear Tuesday at the Midland.

Marcia Ball returns to Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Big B opens for the Dirty Heads at the Midland on Thursday.

Take Five Coffee + Bar hosts Todd Strait on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)