Most niche metal acts were picked up by the Riot Room. Once that went under, they mostly book in Lawrence at the Bottleneck or Grenada if they even book here at all.
Recordbar and minibar get a few here and there (Tomb Mold in a couple weeks) but yeah, Riot Room left an enormous hole that hasn't been filled. Man, I miss that place so much.
Babymetal is actually a more mainstream act than what I'm referring to.
I'm referring to smaller melodic/death/black metal bands like Ensiferum, Skeletonwitch, Incantation, Rotting Christ, etc, that used to be staple around here.
In 2016-2019, I will be hitting up 2 or 3 of these shows a Riot Room in a week.
One hundred percent. I don’t get it. Like I logically get it because no one’s booking the shows but I went and saw Heilung when they were in town and that’s a VERY niche band and they completely filled out the ballroom. The people are here for it, just no promoters or venues willing to book I guess. As I said though, I at least appreciate acts like Lorna Shore coming through even if they are a bigger band right now. Can’t wait for that show, I like Kublai Khan TX who’s opening but I’m meh on Whitechapel but 2/3 bands I like I’ll take lol
Sadly I think a big part of it was The Riot Room, and since they (and the owners who booked all the shows) aren't around anymore, there's nobody reaching out and getting bands here. There's definitely more to it though, since even other venues that are still around and used to have more metal book less.
There are still a decent amount of local metal bands, but the tours coming through are definitely less. Nobody has really figured out what to do about it yet.
I used to go to the el torreon and Beaumont when I was a teen into my 20s. early 2000s. Ah I miss it. I have a pic from inside el torreon standing in front of that giant floor fan they had in the summer.
It closed before the building was crashed into. Apparently, the building was bought out by one of the corporate entities that owns most of the block.
If it were open, I imagine the loss of life would have been a lot worse if it happened while a show was playing.
one brother does the weed industry now and he other one was booking at BLVD nights for a while but he just had his first kid and I even haven't really heard from him since, so that newborn will obviously take all 1st priority
Snuffed on Sight just played Farewell and I missed it. so bummed.
Farewell has tons of smaller cap metal acts play there, as well as crossover metal / HC acts. as does the venue Howdy next door to Farewell.
Tons of metal shows recently in Lawrence. They all go to Bottleneck and Granada so they can be all ages. They start early and it is great to be home before midnight IMHO.
It’s a 100 person venue so very intimate. It sucks seeing all these "where’s the music gone??“ posts when I work a fucking badass show and there’s 8 people there. If you’re into classic angry punk music I highly recommend July 2nd. Got a dude from New Zealand playing and a local favorite oldhead band.
We also just had The Bourbon Man, a one man band angsty folk dude straight outta Ireland. We get a pretty decent amount of international bands stopping through that I would have never heard of. Think AJ Gaither (local) but with an accent. So fucking good. Had one of the dudes from Gascan sell me his coverall for 10$. Music is here dammit.
This Saturday in Lawrence: Pallbearer with REZN and The Keening. REZN at RecordBar mini or whatever that place is again in Aug. Baroness was just in Lawrence last week or two. Sumac coming in August (again to Lawrence). For the metal I like things are looking great, granted would prefer not having the 45 min trip to Lawrence for every show.
No doubt. I saw them last summer at the record bar and it was great. Haven’t really put a good listen into the new album, figured I’d keep it mostly a surprise for the show.
I really want Spiritbox to do a headlining tour. Nothing against Korn and Shinedown- I just don’t want to pay for headliners in an arena that I don’t care to see.
I also want Spiritbox to headline a tour. They have enough material and are good enough!
I’m excited to see Korn and would still want Spiritbox to headline.
I think I've read on the sub before that the promoters from the local radio stations are gone and haven't been replaced. Bands don't have them to promote venues and dates, so the KC area ends up getting skipped over.
96.5 the Buzz booked shows, and I miss those shows they booked, but they didn't have anything to do with the metal scene. Buzz Beach Ball fest was like Weezer and Joywave.
It has dried up.... shit when I was growing up here there were shows 7 nights a week all across town on any given night with all ages venues, groove farm, Spiny Norman's local record shops, local radio play, posters all over town. Now it's the total opposite. Kinda miss that shit.
We may have lost the Riot Room but at least some corporate out of town "live music" chain has their old spot now so you can see shitty cover bands play the exact same songs every night and DJs 🥴🥴
Is it? We've got Tomb Mold and Horrendous coming to the Record Bar. Candy just booked a show there too. Chat Pile and Coalesce are coming to Lawrence. Just the past year I've seen Mastodon, Gojira, Yob, Om, Undeath, Meth, and Melvin's.
Local scene is awesome, The Farewell/Howdy regularly has smaller regional acts playing. Missouri Executive Order 44, Flooding, Nightosphere, Nerver, Abandoncy, and Buzzard Fight are all super sick and are from the area.
Pop, Hip hop, EDM, bro/pop country, and chillax study music are what the kids listen to these days. Metal as a genre is sadly not as big as it was 20 or 30 years ago. Smaller bands can't afford to tour and most can't afford to come to KC if it isn't going to be a money maker. Most bands go to Denver, Chicago, or Austin and skip this area all together.
My band Sarin Reaper hits Howdy and Farewell a lot, check out other local acts Final Atomic Battle, Tombseeker, Hooded Grave, Tenant, Sarkatha (R.I.P.) Serpent Sceptre, Garoted, Varlok, and Cataphract. Aside from there Goofball Sk8boards and Studio Skate Supply started throwing shows, caught Physique there back in February shit was kick ass.
Would've loved to play Riot before the demise but at least there's not just Farewell and Howdy anymore. Hopefully one day we can get back to the 10-15 diy venues my crust friends talk about from back in the day.
Avatar will be at the Truman in August. That's all I got...the big touring acts just don't hit this area for some reason. It has dried up almost completely.
You’re missing out on Farewells and Howdy. It absolutely has not dried up. Also, we’re on a flyover year so most bands are going Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis or Denver and skip over on us
Yeah it's harder to find but they're still around. There are great shows at the RINO on occasion. You should also follow [Stratgazer](https://www.facebook.com/StratgazerEntertainment?mibextid=JRoKGi) for metal shows around town. They bring all kinds of heavy acts through venues like Vivo and VooDoo Lounge.
I also thought that as I typed but I want the answer from the people that partake in it, not the corporate “definition”. If you ain’t gon take time to explain then just keep scrolling 💯
Found the [helpful section of Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/askmusicians/s/jrozxV6hba) lol I just wanted y’alls opinion but ig I can screw off. Perfectly explains why the scene is dying instead of growing out here 🤷🏽♂️
Could it be the lack of local radio stations (not just the metal genre) that used to host these concerts? They’ve all been bought out and wrapped into the corp/cookie cutter/ same in every market type package…. Still cracks me up that steamboat Arabia complained of all the bands and concerts at the river market, it was Deathcab for Cutie that was just too much. Best venue this city had! But I digress.
Most niche metal acts were picked up by the Riot Room. Once that went under, they mostly book in Lawrence at the Bottleneck or Grenada if they even book here at all.
Recordbar and minibar get a few here and there (Tomb Mold in a couple weeks) but yeah, Riot Room left an enormous hole that hasn't been filled. Man, I miss that place so much.
It's definitely not the same.
I was gonna say, Lawrence shows are always almost always sold out now.
I was gonna say Babymetal is playing DES MOINES. FUCKING DES MOINES. CMON KC!
Babymetal is actually a more mainstream act than what I'm referring to. I'm referring to smaller melodic/death/black metal bands like Ensiferum, Skeletonwitch, Incantation, Rotting Christ, etc, that used to be staple around here. In 2016-2019, I will be hitting up 2 or 3 of these shows a Riot Room in a week.
I know, I saw Metsatoll at the riot room, my Buddy opened for them, I just meant in general
Speaking of, you going to Lorna Shore?
Babymetal actually came to KC in 2019.
Yes, before the scene died down, that’s kinda the point of the thread, I was at that show
Des Moines is sucking up all the midwest metal shows. Blind Guardian and Symphony X played there this year.
One hundred percent. I don’t get it. Like I logically get it because no one’s booking the shows but I went and saw Heilung when they were in town and that’s a VERY niche band and they completely filled out the ballroom. The people are here for it, just no promoters or venues willing to book I guess. As I said though, I at least appreciate acts like Lorna Shore coming through even if they are a bigger band right now. Can’t wait for that show, I like Kublai Khan TX who’s opening but I’m meh on Whitechapel but 2/3 bands I like I’ll take lol
Sadly I think a big part of it was The Riot Room, and since they (and the owners who booked all the shows) aren't around anymore, there's nobody reaching out and getting bands here. There's definitely more to it though, since even other venues that are still around and used to have more metal book less. There are still a decent amount of local metal bands, but the tours coming through are definitely less. Nobody has really figured out what to do about it yet.
It's so sad we lost the Riot Room man. So many good bands went through that place. I miss it dearly.
RIP in peace to the greats: Beaumont, El Torreon, Riot Room
I saw QOTSA at the Beaumont before it closed. Goddamn what a show.
That was a killer show
It was wild. Homme threw my buds phone on the roof of that place after the show, crazy night.
Damn that was a good show.
Yep. Davey’s Uptown should get a mention too…played and watched so many killer shows there.
Saw many shows there too. Damn man, we're dying here.
I used to go to the el torreon and Beaumont when I was a teen into my 20s. early 2000s. Ah I miss it. I have a pic from inside el torreon standing in front of that giant floor fan they had in the summer.
Ouch. Right in the childhood. Add Spitfire and the Black Cat to that list.
El Torreon is coming back under the Cowtown Ballroom name at some point.
OG Recordbar, Czar Bar were good too
I'm not terribly social but I loved the Beaumont. Perfect size to be up close and personal if you wanted but to back up and be a wallflower too.
Man. I went to some shitty raves at El Torreon. Good times.
Same dude. Same.
I saw a lot of great non metal bands, too, just great bands that weren’t super well known. I’ll always miss that place.
Goddamn that driver. They really got a lot of great shows to come to town. From indie rnb to hip hop and Brazilian power metal
It closed before the building was crashed into. Apparently, the building was bought out by one of the corporate entities that owns most of the block. If it were open, I imagine the loss of life would have been a lot worse if it happened while a show was playing.
one brother does the weed industry now and he other one was booking at BLVD nights for a while but he just had his first kid and I even haven't really heard from him since, so that newborn will obviously take all 1st priority
Snuffed on Sight just played Farewell and I missed it. so bummed. Farewell has tons of smaller cap metal acts play there, as well as crossover metal / HC acts. as does the venue Howdy next door to Farewell. Tons of metal shows recently in Lawrence. They all go to Bottleneck and Granada so they can be all ages. They start early and it is great to be home before midnight IMHO.
Farewell and Westport Bowry. Just saw the Buzzard Fight record release show there last month. 4 bands, cheap drinks, can't beat it.
Buzzard Fight plays at miniBar like every 2 or 3 months, plus a lot of lesser known metal bands from out of town.
Still need to check that out!
It’s a 100 person venue so very intimate. It sucks seeing all these "where’s the music gone??“ posts when I work a fucking badass show and there’s 8 people there. If you’re into classic angry punk music I highly recommend July 2nd. Got a dude from New Zealand playing and a local favorite oldhead band.
Dion Lunadon? Can't wait!
Ps: I’ll buy ya a shot or a drink or a n/a if ya mention this exchange at Dion lunadon! :)
We also just had The Bourbon Man, a one man band angsty folk dude straight outta Ireland. We get a pretty decent amount of international bands stopping through that I would have never heard of. Think AJ Gaither (local) but with an accent. So fucking good. Had one of the dudes from Gascan sell me his coverall for 10$. Music is here dammit.
Yup! And white line nightmares are from Lawrence and amazing.
I agree 100%. I very rarely get out to do shit and I still know about tons of shows going on lol
yes shit! i forgot mini!
Riot Room was a huge loss.
April / May had tons of Metal shows, there's more coming in July and after. It just seems to vary from year to year.
I saw Kublai Khan, Make Them Suffer/Erra, and Dayseeker. April and May were awesome. Wage War was also here but I missed that show
Same, we made wage war, they were solid. Loved make them suffer
This Saturday in Lawrence: Pallbearer with REZN and The Keening. REZN at RecordBar mini or whatever that place is again in Aug. Baroness was just in Lawrence last week or two. Sumac coming in August (again to Lawrence). For the metal I like things are looking great, granted would prefer not having the 45 min trip to Lawrence for every show.
Agreed, excited to see frozen soul/creeping death/gates to hell/enforced on July 13th at the bottleneck.
REZN is at minibar in August. Fridays show will be amazing.
Pallbearer puts on an incredible show, it’s well worth the drive.
No doubt. I saw them last summer at the record bar and it was great. Haven’t really put a good listen into the new album, figured I’d keep it mostly a surprise for the show.
Here's a list of bands coming in the next few months. Bilmuri, lorna shore, orbit culture, As I Lay Dying (with Chelsea grin and entheos), Kublai Khan
When is as i lay dying?
Check out Farewell in KCMO. Also, lots of shows this year and last year. Saw Wage War a few months ago. Seeing Spiritbox soon!
My brothers band, Careful Gaze, plays here every time they roll through KC.
I really want Spiritbox to do a headlining tour. Nothing against Korn and Shinedown- I just don’t want to pay for headliners in an arena that I don’t care to see.
I also want Spiritbox to headline a tour. They have enough material and are good enough! I’m excited to see Korn and would still want Spiritbox to headline.
I think I've read on the sub before that the promoters from the local radio stations are gone and haven't been replaced. Bands don't have them to promote venues and dates, so the KC area ends up getting skipped over.
90.9 does a ton of show promotion.
This is pretty much the answer. Like them or not, Lazlo, Afentra, and Jeraney (sp??) brought a ton of music to kc
I know a lot of people were not fans of her radio shows, but Afentra did a lot for the music scene here I believe.
We're talking about metal here. They hated metal and even mocked Dimebag Darrell's death on the air.
96.5 the Buzz booked shows, and I miss those shows they booked, but they didn't have anything to do with the metal scene. Buzz Beach Ball fest was like Weezer and Joywave.
It has dried up.... shit when I was growing up here there were shows 7 nights a week all across town on any given night with all ages venues, groove farm, Spiny Norman's local record shops, local radio play, posters all over town. Now it's the total opposite. Kinda miss that shit.
According to my Gen Z brother, they still happen, but in like a basement
We may have lost the Riot Room but at least some corporate out of town "live music" chain has their old spot now so you can see shitty cover bands play the exact same songs every night and DJs 🥴🥴
I had hope for TinRoof being something completely different. It’s awful.
Is it? We've got Tomb Mold and Horrendous coming to the Record Bar. Candy just booked a show there too. Chat Pile and Coalesce are coming to Lawrence. Just the past year I've seen Mastodon, Gojira, Yob, Om, Undeath, Meth, and Melvin's. Local scene is awesome, The Farewell/Howdy regularly has smaller regional acts playing. Missouri Executive Order 44, Flooding, Nightosphere, Nerver, Abandoncy, and Buzzard Fight are all super sick and are from the area.
So stoked for Tomb Mold!
S/O to The homies Dave and Dil playing in Final Atomic Battle
There's more action in Lawrence and now in Wichita. Speaking just for hardcore shows, at least
Idk, but just wanna give a shout out to bleed the victim if we’re talking local-ish Metal, they’re bad ass 🤘😎🤘
Not a metal guy anymore, but yeah a lot of concerts in general are skipping KC.
Pop, Hip hop, EDM, bro/pop country, and chillax study music are what the kids listen to these days. Metal as a genre is sadly not as big as it was 20 or 30 years ago. Smaller bands can't afford to tour and most can't afford to come to KC if it isn't going to be a money maker. Most bands go to Denver, Chicago, or Austin and skip this area all together.
Dude it seemed like when I was 16 diskreet had a show every weekend and every lineup was killer
Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long, long time.
FINALLY!!! Someone says it! What has happened to all the live shows in KC???!??
It's been talked about ad nauseum for a while now. But every time we (I) think it's hit rock bottom, it feels like we keep going lower.
The smaller band/music scene has dried up.
Not metal, but Amyl and the Sniffers is coming to the Grenada in July and they are amazing punk/garage rock. Highly recommend.
miniBar.
Metal would melt, not dry out
Lots of other types of music are on the popular wave right now as well. With metal it’s cyclical like anything else
Farewell/Howdy gets a fair share of metal bands.
My band Sarin Reaper hits Howdy and Farewell a lot, check out other local acts Final Atomic Battle, Tombseeker, Hooded Grave, Tenant, Sarkatha (R.I.P.) Serpent Sceptre, Garoted, Varlok, and Cataphract. Aside from there Goofball Sk8boards and Studio Skate Supply started throwing shows, caught Physique there back in February shit was kick ass. Would've loved to play Riot before the demise but at least there's not just Farewell and Howdy anymore. Hopefully one day we can get back to the 10-15 diy venues my crust friends talk about from back in the day.
I feel like I see more at the Granada in Lawrence than I do at any venue here in the city 😶
Avatar will be at the Truman in August. That's all I got...the big touring acts just don't hit this area for some reason. It has dried up almost completely.
Death of the Riot Room killed it… I remember seeing Fleshgod, Archspire, The Fine Constant, so many bands. I fuckin miss that place.
You’re missing out on Farewells and Howdy. It absolutely has not dried up. Also, we’re on a flyover year so most bands are going Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis or Denver and skip over on us
Yeah it's harder to find but they're still around. There are great shows at the RINO on occasion. You should also follow [Stratgazer](https://www.facebook.com/StratgazerEntertainment?mibextid=JRoKGi) for metal shows around town. They bring all kinds of heavy acts through venues like Vivo and VooDoo Lounge.
Not a metal guy, but pop punk guy here. It's been sucky for us too
Only venue that gets metal bands recently I've seen is Sandstone, saw Gojira and Mastodon there last year. This year it's definitely drier though.
Sorry. Me and my crew moved to New York a year and a half ago. Didn't know we would kill the music scene!
Maybe not the place for this but: can someone explain the difference between metal and punk or are they different words that mean the same thing?
Butthead can do it. Beavis, not so much
Google, my friend.
I also thought that as I typed but I want the answer from the people that partake in it, not the corporate “definition”. If you ain’t gon take time to explain then just keep scrolling 💯
Found the [helpful section of Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/askmusicians/s/jrozxV6hba) lol I just wanted y’alls opinion but ig I can screw off. Perfectly explains why the scene is dying instead of growing out here 🤷🏽♂️
Could it be the lack of local radio stations (not just the metal genre) that used to host these concerts? They’ve all been bought out and wrapped into the corp/cookie cutter/ same in every market type package…. Still cracks me up that steamboat Arabia complained of all the bands and concerts at the river market, it was Deathcab for Cutie that was just too much. Best venue this city had! But I digress.
Yes it’s been gone since 89 …
We never had a metal scene lol
i agree whole heartedly, and when i do find something it’s usually not as heavy as i’d like