King Nothing

For every endorser or sponsor who decides to abandon a poor-performing individual, company, product or event, there are several more free-spenders and quick-touters who write checks and hoist thumbs upward regardless of the popularity or competence of their beneficiaries. Take Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, who, perhaps as a result of one too many late hits, willingly declared the Foreigner/Bad Company/Night Ranger bill at Sandstone on June 23 to be his "Rock and Roll Fantasy." Or check out Burger King, which is lending its regal name to this whopper of a group: Foreigner's Lou Gramm, Billy Joel Band drummer Liberty DeVitto, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and Steve Cropper of the Blues Brothers. That motley crew, officially known as the BK Rock and Roll All-Stars, also carries Kansas City's unofficial stamp of approval, having been selected as one of the attractions for the metro's annual where-are-they-now revival known as Spirit Fest.

This year, Spirit Fest trades in its traditional Labor Day slot for a date near Memorial Day, making extra work for itself in an attempt to create a weekend to remember. Lost in the shuffle was the ability to inform would-be festivalgoers about event headliners well in advance; Spirit Fest's musical lineup remained a mystery well into May.

"We would've liked for it to come together sooner," publicist Jeff Campbell says, "but the home-run acts hold out until the amphitheaters announce their schedules."

Choking up on the bat, Spirit Fest scored a double (Double Trouble, who also appeared at last year's Blues and Jazz Festival) but struck out when it came to locally tied general-interest acts such as Melissa Etheridge (who, having shared Red, White and Boom duty with Bon Jovi, Pink and Enrique Iglesias two summers ago, likely blanches at the thought of playing another area festival) and Sheryl Crow (who, like Etheridge, opted for a solo headlining tour). Recycling last year's talent from City Market and Beaumont parking-lot shows, Spirit Fest found Sister Hazel and Better Than Ezra. Blues whippersnapper Jonny Lang, who makes pained faces while delivering his solos despite being decades away from dealing with the arthritic fingers that doubtlessly plagued some of Spirit Fest's headliners in recent years, tops Saturday's lineup, and .38 Special shoots its Southern-fried blanks at the close of Sunday's ceremonies.

Last year's hope-for-the-future act, Snapdragon, saw its debut disc disappear, perhaps because singer Summer Rose dared to mock Eddie"The Root of All Evil" Money in this column. (Money appears again this year; apparently Spirit Fest organizers were receptive to his "I Wanna Go Back" demands.) Steering clear of the curse, Chris Evenson, guitarist for this year's token still-active act, Sense Field, discusses the other artists on the bill only in general, nonderogatory terms.

"This will definitely be the strangest lineup we've ever been on, although we just played with Earth, Wind & Fire in Florida," Evenson says. Even stranger is its slot; Sense Field plays Saturday afternoon at 4:15, opening for a seven-plus-hour blues block that includes Fast Johnny Ricker, Brody Buster, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, Double Trouble and Lang. An emotionally engaging hardcore-lite outfit with a wispy radio hit in "Save Yourself," Sense Field lacks any trace of blues derivation. "We are more of an orchestral influenced band, if anything," Evenson says.

Having played a slew of Warped Tour dates, Sense Field is at least familiar with playing its anguished material outdoors, where its lyrical tears evaporate in the potent heat. "The overall tone of the music has a pretty positive and sunny feel to it," Evenson reasons. "We like the whole drinking-beer-in-the-sun kind of thing. It's fun!"

Indeed, a good portion of Spirit Fest's crowd comes for the whole drinking-beer-in-the-sun kind of thing rather than for any particular headliner. "A lot of people make plans to come in for Spirit Fest way before we've announced any talent," Campbell says. "Spirit Fest is about more than just who's playing. It's not just a concert; it's a festival."

For the past few years, there's been another festival at Penn Valley Park, but this summer, the Blues and Jazz Festival won't be taking place, at least not on the grand scale to which patrons have become accustomed. Spirit Fest picks up the slack somewhat with Double Trouble, Lang, Buster, Leon Russell and Elvin Bishop, as well as with the return of a three-day blues-and-jazz pavilion featuring Millage Gilbert, Cotton Candy and other top local players. However, Campbell reminds, Spirit Fest has always booked the likes of Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal and B.B. King. "We don't feel like we're filling a void," he says. "We're just filling our mission, which we've always done."

Another popular pavilion revisiting the Fest this year is the reggae tent, which offers Common Ground, Green Card and Az-One but faces the tough task of drawing fans away from Friday night's Toots & the Maytals-fronted One Love extravaganza at the City Market. Many of the area's top record-spinners (Billpile, Steve Thorell, Miss Michaela, The Simply Soul Syndicate, Koncept) let the music play at the Electronic Music Showcase. And after a turn on the big stages in 2001, local rock groups return to the sidelines. Oddly, on the same grounds where dinosaurs such as Money and Gramm will roam freely, progressive acts such as Eric and the Stella Link will play a pavilion known as the "Retro and Rock" stage. The "retro" tag accommodates Sunday afternoon cover bands Poster Child and the Bad Dadz, but thanks to space constraints, the stage's official name pops up in conversation and even on Spirit Fest's official Web site (www.spiritfest.org) as simply "retro rock," thus misidentifying 20 of the 22 featured artists. "What the hell is up with that?" wonders Stella Link singer Dave Gaume.