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Wanting to get out and dance a bit, we surveyed the local rags a few weeks prior to New Year's Eve to see if there was anything worth venturing out into the cold night for (and dodging drunk drivers).  Nothing really stood out, until we stumbled on an ad for Harrah's Voodoo Lounge in North Kansas City.  They were hosting the Daft Punk tribute band, One More Time, which looked promising.  Thinking it might quite a crowd, were ordered advance tickets, and later, realizing it would probably be standing room only, booked a table too; neither turned out to be necessary. We arrived early and thought we might grab some quick food a the 810 Sports Zone Bar & Grill.  We probably could have left and gone some place else in the time it took us to get seated.  They were not really busy, but the hostess seemed a bit confused as to how to handle the massive influx of 5 people waiting to be seated in the half-empty restaurant; meanwhile, the person appearing t...

Talking around a bit on the message board, I quickly discovered a new weekly starting up at an old strip club down in the West Bottoms.  A couple of local groups were putting the night together, Stylus Friday, featuring "European & Domestic Trance/Techno" in the main room, and House Lounge in the back room; exactly what I was looking for.  Underground did exist in Kansas City! Eventually, I talked with DJ FitzRoger, the host of the main room.  He thought the concept photo project I was looking to do was a fantastic idea, and welcomed me to come talk a bit more about in person, and take a few shots. "The date that will live in infamy" arrived as any typical December 7 in Kansas City, and bombs were about to be dropped, in the form of 5 core years of covering nearly every underground music event in Kansas City, and a bunch beyond.  There was nothing particular special or unique about it.  Actually, thinking about to that, the streets did see...

Sometime after returning from New Orleans, I caught a story on a local news station on EDM in Kansas City.  In the typical media fashion, they were building up a new scape-goat, attempting to assert that EDM was the source of all things evil in the city.  Children too young to stand on their own were out dancing all night long, taking drugs, over-dosing, and doing it all over again, night after night. Ridiculous. I knew most of what they were inferring was not true, and was immediately incensed by the ridiculousness of it all.  I had seen the media do this too often in the past, and it fueld my desire to seek out and help to raise awareness that EDM was really no different than much of what had gone before.... kids having a good time, dancing until the break of dawn, for their love of music.  It was their release, and as usual (and as is even more typical now), the establishment was seeking to disrupt and destroy. I started off traveling around a little to d...

We traveled out to St Louis this past Saturday for a rare and unique performance by the band Pomplamoose at The Firebird!  After having marveled at their videos, and interesting twists on various covers of some of our favorite tunes, I was surprised and excited to get tickets to the event for my birthday! The only disappointing part of the entire show was the late start; even then, for us that was not quite so disappointing, since we arrived late, to a near sell out.  The line stretched out a half block, and everyone was pretty excited about the coming performance. The venue was perfect too, perfectly located downtown, with reasonable drink prices and a friendly staff.  All that is good though, right?  So maybe there really was no disappointment, after all. John Schroeder, their lead guitarist opened the show, with a bit of solo acoustic work.  One of the tunes a little too sleepy-time, and another seemed to stretch the range of his voice, but h...

We heard that KC & the Sunshine Band would be playing a free show at the Kansas City Power & Light District and decided to head down. It had been quite a few years since we saw the band play; excepting on television, perhaps.  We got there pretty early and had dinner at Johnny's Tavern, so that we could get a good spot.  Turns out we could have probably just shoved our way through around 8 o'clock, rather than standing around for hours. They finally took the stage around 9 o'clock and played for an hour or so, and put on a pretty good show.  A collage of videos are available through the YouTube below view more photos from this event

We stopped in on the Chicago Jazz Festival, while out on walkabout on Lakefront Trail, near Navy Pier.  It was good to relax in the shade of the surrounding buildings, after having been out on the Windy for a couple of hours.  We arrived before anyone was playing the main stage, and just sort of lounged on the lawn.   Within 30 minutes or so though, we were treated to the sweet sounds of the Ari Brown Quintet on Jay Pritzker Pavilion; a great way to spend the evening.  There are a couple of clips within the YouTube below, and the few photos are below that. there are no more photos from this event

We stopped in on a festival going on in Heber Springs, and were stumble on a car show going on at the same time. Numerous hot rods were scattered around, but most of the fleet was comprised of various Volkswagon vehicles from days gone by. view more photos from this event

The latest release of photos picks up where I left off in my last post.  We returned to Mardi Gras 2001, and were equally amazed at the controlled chaos New Orleans descended into. We arrived early enough to catch a friend’s performance at Checkpoint on Lundi Gras, and met some interesting folks from Slovakia.  They had arrived looking for a place to stay, on their way west to get married in Las Vegas. There is no such thing in the days leading up to Mardi Gras.  If you didn’t book it a year ago, you’re on the street.  They were not.  They were invited to stay with us, and we began a long friendship across the globe.   Mardi Gras Day found us all over the French Quarter, later returning again to the street-stage of improvisational music in the Marigny, to dance the night away.  It was a fantastic day of photos that covered nearly every aspect of the Mardi Gras in and around the French Quarter. Returning later in the year for an off-season ...

For a complete change of pace, we dropped in on a show at Davey's Uptown, called Schtick a Pole in it.  A mix of comedy and pole dancing; who would have guessed those go to together.  It was a good time though, and the few photos taken withe phone camera are shown below. there are no more photos from this event

We offered up our skin to the cold waters of Longview Lake to raise money for the Special Olympics; of course, I say we, but really mean part of our team did. I was not so brave, and remained wrapped in a blanket. There does not seem to be much sense in running through the water in January, but it was for a good cause. Those from the team that did participate had a really good time, and I did too, taking photographs from the relative warmth of the waters edge. view more photos from this event

We took some time head down to the Westport Flea Market and celebrate the birth of DJ Solaris, with old friends and new.  The highlight of the evening was Matt and Tim serenading us with their own personal karaoke rendition of "Eye of the Tiger." view more photos from this event