Hearne: Smithereens to Play Leawood Town Center

Excuse me while I finish rubbing my eyes…

There’s no shortage of boring press releases to be poured over when you’re in the entertainment media racket. Sundry barbecues, historical events, even shopping center fests that dot the area, usually featuring local bands few people have heard of.

To be blunt, they’re pretty easy to ignore.

Honestly, I can’t think of a single one over more than 30 years at the Pitch, the Star or here that’s ever much even caught my attention.

Until now.

Eighties alt rockers The Smithereens are kicking off a new Sunset Music Fest series at Leawood Town Center on June 6th.

Did I just write that? I did and they are.

The gig goes down at 7 p.m. which, last time I checked my Farmer’s Almanac, was not quite sunset, but maybe there’s an opening act or two.

I got a call in to the mall mensches to get a few more particulars, but at first blush the series kinda reminds me of the Crown Center concerts of years gone by. You know, before they figured out that they really weren’t drawing the sort of shopper types the suits at Hallmark had hoped for.

There’s more.

***  On June 13th Paula Cole – who won a Grammy for best new artist in 1998, before landing a song on the television show Dawson’s Creek, choking out a duet with Peter Gabriel and doing a bunch of Lillith Fairs – will perform.

***  Then on June 20th former Lawrence, Kansas resident Chuck Mead – the onetime leader of the band BR549 and before that the Homestead Grays – checks in with his “Grasst Knoll Boys to kick a little shit with another Kansas refugee, a blues singer who goes by the name Little Rachel.

There’ll be activities for the kiddies and a beer garden for the old folks, even a VIP section for somebody or another. And more concert announcements to come.

Who knew?