Concert Review: Steven Wilson at the Folly Theater

Steven Wilson reignited my dormant passion for prog-rock last night.  Largely because the debut albums by the Ramones and the Clash pulverized my teenage predilection for the likes of Kansas, Rush and Genesis decades ago, I attended the show as a curious skeptic. 

Wilson, the most significant prog-rock artist of the last 25 years, succeeded in reviving my interest in ponderous bombast.

Wilson and his band- guitarist Dave Kilminster, keyboardist Adam Holzman (son of Jac Holzman!), bassist Nick Beggs (of Kajagoogoo!) and drummer Craig Blundell- were abetted by impeccable quadrophonic sound (ambient sounds emanated from speakers in the back of the venue) and stunning images on a screen behind the stage.

Renditions of new songs including the soul-crushing ”Routine”, the enchanting ”Perfect Life” and the sensual ”Hand Cannot Erase” were wondrous.  Aside from a preponderance of flashy guitar solos and the aberrant behavior of addled concertgoers seated near me, the two-set show was perfect.  Now, where did I put my copy of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?


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I reviewed Blue Öyster Cult’s concert at the VooDoo.

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Election coverage preempted live on-air audio, but I here’s the text component of my weekly KCUR segment.  I featured Calvin Arsenia.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Leonard Cohen’s fabled appearance at the Midland theater was my second favorite show of 2009.  Cohen died last week.

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Leon Russell’s music was a prominent part of my life in my teens and again in recent years.  My dad got hip to Russell through his collaborations with Willie Nelson in the 1970s.  He and I bonded over our mutual appreciation of those jams.  I went decades without thinking much about Russell until Frank Hicks of Knuckleheads began regularly booking the legend in recent years.  I reviewed a couple of those shows for The Kansas City Star.  I also admired his 2014 album Life Journey at There Stands the Glass.  Russell died yesterday.

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Noël Akchoté and Mary Halvorson’s duet album is RIYL: Joe Pass, skronk, Fred Frith.

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I don’t know if Alicia Keys and her cohorts tried too hard or didn’t try hard enough while creating Here, but the well-intentioned project doesn’t work.  Songs like ”Blended Family” resemble public service announcements.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Kanye West- Yeezus

Yeezus, the relentlessly jarring new album by Kanye "I Am a God" West, is brilliantly profane and alarmingly vulgar.  And I love it.

The album sounds as if the tapes from all of Rick Rubin's productions were put into a blender and reassembled randomly in order to provide West with something interesting to rap over.  A constant barrage of sonic shards reminiscent of Danzig, LL Cool J, Lords of Acid, American Head Charge, Johnny Cash and the Mars Volta make Yeezus an avant-garde art project.  Needless to say, I don't hear a single.

Not only is West angry, he seems to be inspired by intoxicants.  A dizzying drug album, Yeezus could be considered an angry response to Frank Ocean's equally groundbreaking Channel Orange.  Yeezus is the next logical step in West's nearly unprecedented artistic quest.  The album affirms his status as the most vital artist in popular music of the last ten years. 


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Mary J. Blige and Kem are the recipients of the most positive concert review I've ever written.

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There Stands the Glass reader Gary Shindler wrote an accurate review of Blue Öyster Cult's appearance at Old Shawnee Days.

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The Kansas City Dance Festival is June 28-29 at the Spencer Theater.

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Here's a 78-minute performance by Don Byron's New Gospel Quartet.  RIYL: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Steve Coleman, Duke Ellington.

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The disturbing video for Poliça's "Tiff" is almost unwatchable.  I don't want to hear anyone wonder why Poliça isn't more popular.

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I just got around to listening to Jimmy Herring's impressive 2012 instrumental album Subject To Change Without Notice.  RIYL: John McLaughlin, Steve Morse, Widespread Panic.

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The kids in internet sensation Unlocking the Truth are delightful.

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In addition to Yeezus, this week's new releases include albums from Billy Bang (his final session), Kenny Barron, Beady Eye, Bester Quartet, J. Cole, Donna the Buffalo, Bill Frisell, High On Fire (two live albums), Locash Cowboys, Maysa, Delbert McClinton and Glen Clark, Mac Miller, Kelly Rowland, Sigor Ros, Wadada Leo Smith, Eddie Spaghetti and Valient Thorr.

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Kansas City Click: The Czar Bar hosts Steady Breather on Monday.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band plays Crossroads KC on Tuesday.

Duke Robillard appears at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Gloriana entertain in the Power & Light district on Thursday.

Matt Otto returns to the Blue Room on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Love My Way: Saluting the New Wave of Classic Rock

In the last 28 days I've attended concerts by Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Cheap Trick, Urge Overkill, Limp Bizkit, They Might Be Giants, Blue Öyster Cult and the Psychedelic Furs.   Scheduling conflicts kept me away from performances by the Smithereens and Greg Ginn's Black Flag.

With the possible exception of They Might Be Giants and Soundgarden, these bands are well past their artistic and/or commercial primes.  And while I'm far more interested in contemporary sounds than in music from past decades, I enjoyed all but one of these nostalgia-fueled events.  A ranking of the shows in the order of my appreciation of each performance follows.

1. Limp Bizkit Ticket price: $32.  Audience: 800.  Look, I'm not particularly fond of Limp Bizkit, but there was no denying the electrifying nature of its performance at the Granada.

2. They Might Be Giants Ticket price: $24.  Audience: 500.  I have great memories of seeing They Might Be Giants and Poi Dog Pondering at the Grand Emporium on Halloween in 1988.  TMBG is an even better band 25 years later.

3. The Psychedelic Furs Ticket price: $13.65.  Audience: 800.  As Tim Finn's review of last night's concert suggests, the band's enthusiasm was infectious. 

4. Blue Öyster Cult Ticket price: free. Audience: 3,000.  The oldest band in this grouping opened its headlining performance at Old Shawnee Days with the proto-speed metal classic "The Red & the Black".  Aside from dodgy drum and bass solos, the underrated band's 90-minute set remained taut.   BOC deserve to be as revered as Judas Priest, Kiss and Motörhead.

5. Cheap Trick Ticket price: $50.  Audience: 500.  Cheap Trick has returned to its roots.  The band played early influential jams like "Heaven Tonight" with childlike glee. 

6. Alice In Chains Ticket price: $50.  Audience: 40,000.  Alice In Chains' headlining appearance at Rockfest was a slick, by-the-numbers effort.  The songs are great but the polished approach was too slick for me.

7. Urge Overkill Ticket price: free.  Audience: 500.  Like a poor man's version of Cheap Trick, this woulda-shoulda-coulda band played with exuberance. 

8.  Soundgarden Ticket price: $40.  Audience: 3,000.  Soundgarden is my favorite of these eight bands, but their concert was spoiled by nightmarish sound. 

While I'm not too cool to appreciate REO Speedwagon, Styx and Ted Nugent, I passed on their triple-bill appearance at Starlight Theatre last month.  The new and surprisingly vital face of classic rock with roots in the '80s, '90s and 00's has overtaken the previous generations of rock and rollers. 


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Chad Kassem and his Salina-based Acoustic Sounds are featured in a The New York Times story about the vinyl resurgence.  

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The newly announced Buzz Beach Ball concert doesn't replace Kanrocksas- it lacks the hip hop and R&B acts I was most eager to see at the ill-fated festival- but it boasts a pretty darn impressive lineup nonetheless.

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As evidenced by this telling fan footage of the Shy Boys, people standing near the stage would not STFU at the Crossroads Summer Block Party last weekend. 

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Damir Out Loud consists of "eight Berlin-based musicians from five different countries."  The band's new Graduation Day album is RIYL Balkan brass bands, Bobby Hutcherson, ECM. 

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King Khan & the Shrines' "Born to Die" is mindblowingly great.  RIYL: Cream, Nuggets, Ty Segall.

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Who doesn't love Wayne Coyne?

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A video for Dessa's "Call Off Your Ghost" was released today.  RIYL: Ani DiFranco, Doomtree, Alanis Morissette. 

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I can't wait to hear the new album by David Murray Infinity Quartet featuring Macy Gary and Gregory Porter.  Also out this week are new releases from Joseph Arthur, The Black Dahlia Murder, Black Sabbath, Boards of Canada, Marc Cary, Children of Bodom, Davell Crawford, Jason Isbell, Chrisette Michele, Aoife O'Donovan, Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell, Carmen Souza and Hezekiah Walker.

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Kansas City Click: The Riot Room hosts Lord Huron on Monday.

David Ramirez appears at the Czar Bar on Tuesday.

David Nail sings at Kanza Hall on Wednesday.

Gee Watts hits the Czar Bar on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)