This weekend there will be some great opportunities to check a few things off that dreaded to-do list.
#1 – See a rockin’ band before they hit it big, so you can be the asshole that tells everyone about it for the next decade even though you barely remember the show because you were ridiculously shitfaced.
Check.
#2 – See a couple of musical legends performing together and pretend like you understand just how expertly they have perfected their craft.
Check.
#3 – Pay twenty bucks to watch some guy that makes funny sounds with his mouth.
And check… Wait- what?… Tell me more about the mouth thing…
Friday, March 11
- The Noise FM at the Riot Room in KC
You may remember a review I wrote in December about these guys after their Toys for Tots benefit show at the Bottleneck. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with this former Lawrence (now Chicago) band’s version of heavy prog-pop mixed with clean falsetto vocals. Lately, the band has been hitting Chicago clubs hard and working on their new album before hitting the road for a good stretch. If you can’t catch them at the Riot Room on Friday, they’ll also be at the Boobie Trap in Topeka on Saturday with Cowboy Indian Bear, and at the 8th Street Tap Room in Lawrence on Sunday.
So you really have no excuse miss this band again before they get big, which will happen sooner than later.
- Victor Wooten Band and Stanley Clarke Band at the Granada in Lawrence
Wooten and Clarke are both renowned bass players who cross genres from jazz to funk to rock to fusion to hip-hop to – well you get the idea. Wooten is probably best known for his time spent collaborating with virtuoso banjoist Bela Fleck as a member of the Flecktones.
Clarke is a legend, having won about every possible award given for bassists, including the 2011 Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. A few years ago Wooten and Clarke joined forces to release a “bass supergroup” album, so you can be sure there will be mucho collaboration between the two at this funky funky show.
Saturday, March 12
- Keller Williams at Liberty Hall in Lawrence
Keller has been a mainstay on the summer festie circuit for years ever since his collaboration with Colorado jammers the String Cheese Incident. Employing his own version of the one man band using loop stations, bass, guitar, drums, and just about anything else you can play, bang on, or otherwise get some sort of sound out of, Williams is entertaining even to just watch how he does what he does as he moves from instrument to instrument.
While sometimes I think he writes songs for kids, he’s a pretty rippin’ acoustic guitarist, and his high energy shows are as unpredictable as his mouth trumpeting. That’s right, he transforms his mouth into a trumpet. Seriously, how does he do that?
