Plans call for the location to become much less of a music venue and much more of a “townie bar.” Carroll said the timing was right for him to sell the business that he started in 2004. Carroll said local bands are still pumping out good music and in good quantity, but he said the number of bands touring the country has declined significantly."I suppose it is because of the gas prices," Carroll said.
Carroll said the slowdown in touring acts has made it difficult to book enough high-quality shows to keep the business viable. But Carroll will continue to own and operate the Replay Lounge across the street.
This just in from the Midland folks: The Lupe Fiasco show scheduled for Thursday, October 6 at The Midland by AMC has been cancelled. Refunds are available at point-of-purchase locations.
It's been a good year for Lawrence, Kansas' CVLTS and Hospital Ships. People outside the Midwest seem to have started to notice the great (though very different) work that both bands have been doing. And, hey! Look at this. Late last week, both bands got some more national dap.
Kansas City, we've hit it hard in the past year and a half, haven't we?
We busted up our shoes bouncing at punk shows, retched on the pavement outside pop shows, blinked back tender tears at folk shows, and slopped whiskey and whistled cat-calls at rock shows. You held my beer while I wrote. I held yours while you hit on the girl next to you. It's been you and me, buddy -- us against the world.
That's why it's bittersweet for me to call it quits at The Pitch.
On May 23, I hand over the reins to my successor in the music editor's chair. Of course, I'll miss the flashing lights, the buzzing bass, and the wash of the dark grungy noise that feeds this job. But as I prepare to ride off into the sunset and all that blather, Kansas City stands on the brink of a summer for the ages.
Even the most curmudgeonly critic must admit that it's a good time to be in this town.
There's an honest-to-God, real-life festival -- forget the wince-worthy name -- that's bringing thousands of honest-to-God, real-life fans to Kansas City from all over the country. And a host of baby-boomer Americana gods draw more unsuspecting souls here in late August.
With new live venues such as the Union, Westport continues to strengthen its foothold as this city's best bar district, one that gives our rich local scene a strong, amplified voice.
Frank Hicks and his East Bottoms roots-music shrine prove that, with a lot of hard work and a little luck, even the most unlikely endeavor can blossom into something worthy of nationwide fame.
Thanks to a fresh sound from innovators such as Hermon Mehari and Les Izmore, Kansas City's jazz legacy lives in a new generation.
And that's all just scratching the surface. So, sure, I'm slipping out the door before the main act.
But rest assured: Ramshackle bands will play leaky basements and drafty warehouses; kids will ooze sweat and blood on barroom floors; barflies will bitch behind hazy glasses of beer; and The Pitch will be there, armed with a satirist's eye and a small-town heart. I won't be in the back of that smoky club -- as far as you know -- but David Hudnall, the new music boss at this paper, will.
The scene will keep raging gloriously in all of its strange, obscure ways, and The Pitch will have its back. We've been here, a rhythm run hard and fast, for more than 30 years, and there's no reason to stop now. So thanks for letting me cut in on this dance for a bit, Kansas City.
Rave on.
Reality programming is begging to resemble a Taco Bell menu. There are only so many ingredients, but inventive marketing guys keep finding ways to package them together in seemingly new ways.
The latest reality smash-up might just star one of this city's own. The Kansas City Star's Aaron Barnhart reports that Stretch (Jeff Rumaner) is the headliner in a new pilot, "Hungry Men at Work," for Spike TV. It sounds like a cross between "Ax Men" and "Food Detectives."
If you haven't read our music and calendar editors' reviews of Rockfest, you should. There are boobs, a panty tree and inappropriate T-shits. What more could you ask for?
Knuckleheads has added a second Rainmakers reunion show on May 15. The first show scheduled on May 14 is sold-out. The May 15 show is $15. Doors open at 7 p.m. I doubt I need to tell you to hurry, but yeah -- hurry.
Huzzah to Lawrence, Kansas', Hospital Ships (and Lawrence in general): NPR recently featured the Lawrence band and said, "It's the ability to meld optimism and despair that makes Hospital Ships so winning." The news website gave high praise to the Lawrence music scene, too.
Here are some other music-related items:
Wayne Coyne, of the Liberty Hall-bound Flaming Lips, just wants your full attention
Dancefestopia, a hip-hop and pop-oriented festival, arrives this weekend
Summer 2012 music concerts
Music Forecast May 31-June 6: DJ Ozgood, Blitzen Trapper, New Edition, Disney classics and more
The Rumblejetts' Jud Kite on drums, art and the band's latest, Motor Honey
Q&A: Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper
Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart on art, human angst and naps
Joe Pug on touring, giving music away, and becoming an adult