The Whips. // photo by Nick Spacek Hawkstock with The Whips, City Hall, Rudy Love and the Encore, and Lavender Bride The Granada Thursday, May 2 Ah, Stop Day Eve. The night which officially kicks off the last three days before finals start at the University of Kansas, wherein college kids get one last weekend before summer starts to hang out, kick up their heels, and get nicely faded. Lawrence funk act the Whips put together a fully-danceable four-band bill for Thursday night, bringing to the party themselves, plus City Hall, Rudy Love and the Encore, and Lavender Bride. Lavender Bride ..read more

Silversun Pickups. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge Brian Aubert, decked out in a large black sweater covered in gray hearts, raised both his hands to the crowd in a rock n’ roll type salute at the Midland during their show on Wednesday, April 24. “Surprise! We worship the dark lord,” he gently spoke into the mic, in his ever-so calm Aubert way. It was a moment that brought me into their stratosphere, one where the band has brought audiences for decades and learned how from over a thousand shows at this point. Or maybe the alcohol was finally kicking in. But if one thing is for certain, Aubert ..read more

Alvvays. // photo by Andrew Dodderidge Although touring acclaimed junior record Blue Rev upon its release in 2022, indie/dream pop collective Alvvays—Always was taken—did not make the trek to the center of the U.S. The result in 2024? A sold out Truman on a Thursday in April. Coming here twice in 2018 while navigating Antisocialites (once opening for indie rockers The National at Starlight), Alvvays had yet to have their KC moment. But on Thursday, April 25 at the Truman, it did arrive. Slowly but surely, it became very hard to move inside one of my favorite downtown venues, something I had ..read more

Sessanta. // photo by Allison Scavo Sessanta feat. Primus, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle Azura Amphitheater Tuesday, April 30, 2024 Maynard James Keenan’s 60th birthday was April 17. To celebrate this milestone, he set out to put miles on the ground. Maynard and Les Claypool are similar musicians in that they are both extremely creative, passionate, and experimental with the concept of sound and how it’s made. Together they joined forces to go on tour under the name Sessanta. Primus, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle combined their gear to make one massive two-story stage with double-sided st ..read more

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. // photo by Emily Jacobs The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus with Outline in Color and Shotgun Wedding Singers The Truman Sunday, April 28 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus took audience members back in time to the mid-2000s in the final stop of a brief tour with Outline in Color at The Truman on Sunday night. This timing of this tour is rather random, as they haven’t released any new music recently—although, even if they had, most people still only know their debut record, Don’t You Fake It, which catapulted Red Jumpsuit Apparatus into the mainstream nearly 20 years ago. [I kno ..read more

tripliciti. // photo credit Pat Johnson Local fans of acoustic fingerpicked guitar are sure to be familiar with Topeka’s Andy McKee, whose viral videos have led to a diverse and exciting career, including performing with Prince. McKee’s latest musical outing sees him joining with fellow musicians Calum Graham and Trevor Gordon Hall for a project called tripliciti. The fingerstyle guitar trio’s self-titled debut released in early April, and has garnered ecstatic responses from the likes of Steve Lukather, among others. Alongside the album’s release, tripliciti has put out a series of videos ..read more

Hard at work since basically birth, it’s finally time for Christopher Burnett to get the credit he deserves. The local jazz musician began playing music with U.S. Military bands at 18 years old, eventually touring throughout the country and several places in Europe. With two full-length LPs under his belt, plus one live album a few years back, Burnett is back with the ORIGINALS Quartet, composed of three of his closest associates, including himself. Rochester native Roger Wilder—who has ensembles of his own—features on piano/keyboard, Gerald Spouts, one of the foremost bass players in the ci ..read more

Cypress Hill. // photo by Allison Scavo You may know Cypress Hill for their hit “Insane in the Membrane,” but what you may not know is that this band is a Latin based hip-hop band. The Cuban-American sibling duo, Sen Dog and B-Real, shared an energy that whimsically yet fiercely flowed off and was synergistic with their on-the-spot digital counterpart DJ Lord, all while former Beastie Boys percussionist Eric Bobo laid it out on the drums. Having sold 20 million albums worldwide, this multi-platinum group absolutely shot it up, pun intended, on Friday night. As ethereally connected as the ba ..read more

Photo Courtesy of Donny.com In addition to Donny Osmond being, both a beloved and iconic performer, he’s also a huge—dare we say, epic?—fan of all things Kansas City. We were .04 seconds into our interview before he started shamelessly touting his love for our fair city. “Well, I gotta tell you—the first thing I got to do when I hit Kansas City is go to Q39. That’s my jam,” the singer admitted with a laugh. “After I go to Q39, then I can do a show—and not the other way around. Burnt ends is my middle name. Donny ‘Burnt Ends’ Osmond. That’s my name.” That was merely one o ..read more

Brittany Howard. // photo by Kylee Gregg Brittany Howard with June McDoom The Ruman Wednesday, April 24 Touring in support of her latest solo effort, What Now, singer and guitarist Brittany Howard took to the Truman stage on Wednesday, April 24, for a set of blistering blues, soul, and rock ‘n roll. Floridian singer-songwriter June McDoom opened, and our photographer Kylee Gregg was there to capture it all. Brittany Howard June McDoom Categories: Music Tags: brittany howard, june mcdoom, photo gallery, The Truman ..read more