Beautiful, multi-layered, intelligent, powerful, heartfelt, honest, and just straight-up fucking amazing. These are the words that describe a performance by Manchester Orchestra. They are not larger than life rock stars trying to be more than human, they are just down to earth artists that make great art that everyone can enjoy. You can rest assured that when Manchester Orchestra takes their positions on stage, you are going to have some good laughs at the between-song witty band dialogue and you are also about to have an emotional...

Josh talks with Kate Cooper (singer/guitarist) and Damon Cox (drummer/singer) of An Horse before their performance at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City. Check out www.anhorse.com for more information. By Josh Davis

As I followed a troupe of boys into the Beaumont on Tuesday day, each uniformly clad in black, I knew I was walking into the right place. With as many concert-goers sporting children as Mohawks, it should comes as no surprise that most were here to see a band that has been performing for over 30 years. The floor was filled with a collection of social misfits and former social misfits ranging from six years old to sixty. They were there for some deviant behavior, loud music, cheap beer and a good ole dose of rebellion. They were...

I missed local Kansas City openers The Conquerors Tuesday night April 26 at a sparsely filled Beaumont Club. I came in as the final note of their set blared from the Beaumont Club’s amps. Though it seems I wasn’t alone walking into the venue I was one of about maybe 75 patrons on the high side in the venue. The Beaumont is a venue I love to hate in Kansas City. I just want to get that out of the way now. On a night like last night it is exacerbated though for reasons I typically don’t lament about the place....

It was sometime during the summer of 1997 when I was first introduced to the Deftones. I was a teenager, angst-filled being a kid in a town I had relocated to with a step father I didn’t always get along with. Thus from the moment I first heard the feedback and amps cranked to 11 opening of track 9 “Headup” off of their 1997 release Around the Fur with its blast in the face scream of guitar and matching wave of lyrical content, I knew I had found a new outlet amongst the other bands (Korn, Limb Bizkit) I was...

I have seen so many bands over the past couple years that it’s hard to remember them all, there are always few that really catch my attention. SUUNS is one of those bands, mostly due to the fact that they experienced so many technical difficulties during my first experience with the band  and still managed to impress and leave me wanting more. So the second I saw that SUUNS would be in Lawrence there wasn’t much that could keep me from attending the show. The best part was the added incentives of The Black Angels...

EMINEM AND MUSE WILL HEADLINE THE INAUGURAL KANROCKSAS MUSIC FESTIVAL, AUGUST 5-6 First Lineup Roster Includes 14 National Acts on Three Stages at the Kansas Speedway; Free Camping/Parking, Deejays, Fan Experiences, and Charitable Tie-Ins Also Planned 04.25.2011– Kansas City, Kan. – Eminem and Muse will headline the inaugural two-day Kanrocksas Music Festival this summer, August 5 – 6, when it takes over the Midwest and Kansas City area at the Kansas Speedway as one of the top music festivals in the nation. Today, Kanrocksas...

If an unknowing, blind observer had walked into the Bottleneck on Friday, April 22, he may have sensed that he was in the presence of a church congregation more so than a sold out concert at a small, seedy bar. As The Civil Wars played, the audience stood in nearly utter silence, allowing the somber tone that flowed out of Joy Williams and John Paul White to be the only sounds echoing from the walls. The silence would have been awkwardly deafening had anyone noticed it. The crowd seemed so entranced with the music they were experiencing...

There is something about the band Gobble Gobble that I just can’t put my finger on.  I was first introduced to the band through the song “Lawn Knives”, it was like nothing I had ever heard before but instantly, I knew I liked it. This is how I would have to describe my whole experience with the band Gobble Gobble. After a long two weeks at SXSW I decided that I would end my experience with the band and their intriguing sound. The thought was: find a place to sit and hopefully discover something new, take some...

THE WICKED TOMORROW (Brooklyn, NY): I’d have to say there is nothing so foreign and strange when it comes to music as walking down the streets at SXSW and hearing great jams that force you to find the source of the intriguing tones. The first and definitely not the last time this happened to me was with a band called The Wicked Tomorrow at an Irish pub. The band embodied the very soul of my favorite kind of music: plain and simple old-school rock. The kind of sounds that never made it in the mainstream past the 60′s....

I don’t think I could ever describe the magic that is SXSW, Mr. Jones. No YouTube video or secondhand story could ever give you a hands-on feel of the stress, magnificent energy, and flat out fun that makes up SXSW. Thinking back on it, I don’t even understand how such an event could even happen; it feels extraterrestrial. I mean, where else could you be professional as you write at the CNN Grille, and then only an hour later you’re exiting your skin at a rave at Malaia on sixth street? I’m telling you,...

MIDWEST MAYHEM! US AIR GUITAR INVADES KANSAS CITY TO SEND ONE LOCAL AIR GUITARIST TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP http://usairguitar.com/   2010 US Air Guitar Champion Romeo Dance Cheetah will perform a halftime show at the Crosstown Station in downtown Kansas City May 19. (Photo Credit: Zach McNees)  “Kansas City is one of the few cities we didn’t hit last year that was added to this year’s US Air Guitar tour. We’ve had our eye on KC and we believe that this midwest metropolis of rock...

After the sprinting pace that SXSW was going, we decided to start things off a little slower and stop in for a bite to eat at the MTV Garage. The thing about taking it easy at SXSW is it’s never just a mellow experience. A day of food and beer quickly turns into a great way to discover new music and what better way to do it than while eating great food around fantastic people. Even as I write this in the middle of day three I have to confess that MTV has remained on the top of my best day parties list. The food, bbq of...

When offered the chance to see a band you love play in front of 300 people in a small auditorium, the answer is always yes. So was the case on March 18th 2011 when the band Bright Eyes played the Austin Club at SXSW. The secret Pop Up show was the talk of the town and I was in. The crowd was stirring with anticipation as the doors opened. All the fans of Bright Eyes wanted was to see the band, running past the free drinks to get a good spot, now that’s dedication. As the crowd filled in, the lights dimmed and a hooded Conor...

So here it is-a note of hope for all those who have seen the idle, mindless, thoughtless majority  scratch at the hope for progress in America. It was a note of hope; it was a moment. It was a movement of almost pure achievement. There was no selfishness, no secular thinking, just a bunch of strangers banding together without a word after being pushed around for trying to enjoy some music. It was non-violent, even with mace in our eyes and mouths. It was non-violent, even after they stomped our goals we did not throw fists,...