By TIMOTHY FINNThe Kansas City Star
Day 2 of the Kanrocksas Music Festival was different than Day 1 in a few ways: It was hotter; fewer people attended; and there were lasers, exploding balloons and handbells.
Though the lineup, arguably, was better on Saturday, there was no eminent headliner, no one like Eminem to draw 30,000 plus. Saturday’s crowd looked more than one-third smaller. So if the 30,000 to 35,000 figure for Friday is accurate, about 20,000 to 24,000 showed up Saturday. They got what everyone got Friday night: great sound; a great festival layout; and lots of good music. Here’s a breakdown on Saturday’s performances. (Crowd figures are rough estimates.)
Muse: If you can proclaim the success of a band by how extravagantly it executes its mission, then Muse is one of the more successful bands in rock. Unabashedly and unrepentantly melodramatic and garish, the trio from Devon, England, delivers its sound and songs the way Costco sells groceries: in bulk and volume. Subtlety is not within its repertoire; nor is restraint. Any moments of quiescence are brief and only set up the impending explosions of percussion, guitar riffs and bombastic vocals.
Muse is like Queen-times-Oasis with some prog rock and heavy electronic accents thrown in. Occasionally, chief vocalist Matthew Bellamy sits at the grand piano and begins a ballad, evoking Radiohead in its lullaby moments, but that typically ends abruptly with another detonation and eruption into yet another sustained wall of sound and sights.
Saturday Muse headlined Day 2 of Kanrocksas, more than nine months after it canceled a Nov. 2 show at the Sprint Center. Saturday’s show drew close to 20,000 fans. They were treated to a visual and aural feast.
Muse opened with “Uprising,” the lead track on its latest album that rides a call-to-arms riff reminiscent of Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll, Part 2.” Except “Uprising” has lyrics that honor its title and sound like a parody of a college fight song: “They will not force us / They will stop degrading us / They will not control us / We will be victorious.”
It’s hard to imagine any of this being done without tongue in cheek or at least a sense of irony. Either way, it’s hard not to submit to its extravagance and the impressive execution. Muse is a trio that sounded like a small army, even in the expanse of the Speedway.
The set lasted a hair under 90 minutes and included a few instrumentals and one of its better-known songs, “Starlight,” which veers into the Coldplay/Travis realm. Other highlights: “Super-Massive Black Hole,” a funky dance-rock number that recalls the Dandy Warhols in their “Monkey House” phase; “Resistance,” another beefy, rollicking but melodic rock ballad teeming with riffs and harmonies; and “Stockholm Syndrome,” an unruly fusion of prog-rock, metal and Brit pop.
The production was stellar all night, both the sound and the visuals. There were plenty of lasers. And during the encore, they out-ballooned the Flaming Lips, releasing eye-ball balloons that ejaculated confetti when they exploded.
It all fit in with this band’s mission: Less is never more; and more is never enough.
Muse set list: Uprising; Map of the Problematique; Supermassive Black Hole; Hysteria; Citizen Erased; Nishe; United States of Eurasia; Helsinki Jam; Undisclosed Desires; Resistance; Time is Running Out; Starlight; Stockholm Syndrome. Encore: Plug In Baby; Knights of Cydonia.
—Timothy Finn/The Star
The Black Keys: The duo from Akron, Ohio, honored its hometown on stage with a prop: a giant tire. It spent 70 minutes honoring its love of the blues. More than a year after they drew nearly 3,000 fans to Crossroads KC, the Keys drew what looked like nearly 10,000 to the second main stage at Kanrocksas.
They opened their 70-minute set with “Thickfreakness,” the title track of their second album, now 8 years old, then “Girl Is On My Mind,” from the follow-up album, “Rubber Factory” and “I’ll Be Your Man,” from their 2002 debut, “The Big Come Up.”
Back then Dan Auerhach and Patrick Carney delivered blues in the same vein as the White Stripes: as a dirty, skuzzy, psychedelic-rock version of the Delta blues. The duo has evolved since then, especially on its latest album, “Brothers,” which won a Grammy in February for best alternative rock album.
On “Brothers,” the duo expanded its sound into ’60 soul. With help from some sidemen, the Keys showcased that album Saturday, with tracks like “Everlasting Light,” “Howlin’ For You,” the luscious and groovy “Tighten Up” and “She’s Long Gone.”
“Brothers” is not only the Keys’ most-acclaimed album, it is its most popular (it has gone gold), and all that showed, as evidenced by the dancing and sing-alongs it prompted.
Black Keys setlist: Thickfreakness; Girl Is On My Mind; I’ll Be Your Man; The Breaks; Everlasting Light; Next Girl; Chop and Change; Howlin’ For You; Tighten Up; She’s Long Gone; Ten Cent Pistol; Strange Times; I Got Mine.
—Timothy Finn/The Star, with assistance from Bill Brownlee
A Perfect Circle: This band provided one of the few opportunities for Kanrocksas concertgoers to get in some head-banging. Almost certainly the heaviest rock band at the two-day festival, A Perfect Circle’s masterful hour-long set included several segments that allowed fans to whip their necks back and forth.
While the crowd it attracted to the Ad Astra stage — about 3,000 — wasn’t the festival’s biggest, it was among the most devoted. A supergroup of sorts, the band includes men associated with several popular acts. The primary attraction for most was vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Best known as the front man for the industrial rock band Tool, Keenan inspires a cult-like adulation. He remained in shadows on a podium at the rear of the stage, his body bent as if he was preparing to defend himself from an unseen assailant.
A Perfect Circle’s approach — an intriguing melding of metal and progressive rock — is slightly less obtuse and more overtly political than the arena rock of Tool. The pristine sound reproduction allowed the band’s outstanding musicianship to be heard with ideal clarity. Billy Howerdel’s guitar shrieked and groaned while second guitarist James Iha provided subtle rhythmic flourishes. The exquisitely precise drumming was amplified with the accuracy associated with recording studios.
Songs like the apocalyptic “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums” and the stately “Magdalena” were alternately deeply disturbing and rapturously beautiful. And perhaps most importantly, heads were banged.
—Bill Brownlee/Special to The Star
Girl Talk: Call his act what you want — a novelty, a nifty craft, a bogus talent — Greg Gillis can draw a big crowd and stir it into a frenzy. Saturday night, about 6,000 fans watched him practice his blend of music alchemy: the mashup. For a little more than an hour, he conjoined elements of disparate tracks into one, seamless groove that kept people bobbing, dancing, singing and/or playing “name that tune/bass line/guitar riff.” A very partial list of artists whose music appeared in his set: Black Sabbath, Ludacris, the Ramones, Old Dirty Bastard, Beck, Cheap Trick, Modest Mouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Notorious B.I.G., Three 6 Mafia, the Go-Gos, the Turtles, Pink, Basement Jaxx, Red Hot Chili Peppers, YoungBloodz, Queen, OutKast … — T.F.
—Timothy Finn/The Star
Flogging Molly: This band’s blend of punk, rock and traditional Irish music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea or pint of beer, but those who love it typically show up sufficiently lubricated and in the mood to party, dance and sing along. So it was for Flogging Molly’s 50-minute set, which ended at the onset of dusk. “So many beach balls; so little beaches,” cracked Dave King, the band’s garrulous and charming front man. The set included some favorites (“Requiem for a Dying Song,” “Walk Away, Me Boys” and “Seven Deadly Sins”) and a few new ones. It didn’t matter whether the songs were old or new, the crowd of more than 4,000 was in the giddy mood for either.
—Timothy Finn/The Star
Cage the Elephant: Popular radio personality Johnny Dare occasionally accuses the front men of rock bands of having L.S.D., or “Lead Singer’s Disease.” Dare’s implication is that victims of this “disease” are often rather unpleasant. Matthew Shultz, the primary vocalist of Cage the Elephant, needs neither a diagnosis nor a cure. His surly attitude is precisely what makes his band appealing.
Cage the Elephant wouldn’t amount to much without Shultz. Just like thousands of other bands, its sound is based on the raw power associated with The Stooges and The Sex Pistols. Not terribly adept or original, Cage the Elephant fails to add anything new to the equation. The Kentucky-based band’s “Aberdeen,” for instance, sounds uncomfortably like a cover of The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” Yet Schultz’s unhinged antics more than compensate for his band’s shortcomings.
“Surfin’ in Kansas,” Schultz sneered as he stood on the raised hands of members of the audience during his band’s set Saturday at the Ad Astra stage.
When he wasn’t crowd surfing, Schultz staggered and careened on the stage like a rhythm-challenged grandchild of Mick Jagger. Many in the audience of about 2,500 shouted the words to every song.
“Thank you very much, ‘Can Rock My Ass’,” Shultz said derisively at the conclusion of “In One Ear.” In Cage the Elephant’s case, it’s not image that’s everything; it’s attitude.
—Bill Brownlee/Special to The Star
Grace Potter: Rock festivals must seem like heaven-sent marketing opportunities for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. The band is precisely the type of instantly accessible act that wins over new audiences with ease. Potter is a stunning front woman who can sing like Chaka Khan. Her band plays familiar boogie without seeming as if it’s stuck in the past. Potter also knows how to turn on the charm.
“I feel like this is the beautiful sister festival to Lollapalooza,” Potter said as she noted that she and her band appeared at the long-running Chicago event on Friday.
The Vermont-based act has performed in the Kansas City area frequently in the last few years. Saturday’s audience of about 2,500 was one of the biggest it has enjoyed in the region. A significant portion of the cheers for memorable songs including “Goodbye Kiss” and “Medicine” were undoubtedly from brand new converts. Potter and her cohorts are counting on many of them to show up the next time the band comes to town.
—Bill Brownlee/Special to The Star
OK Go: The treadmill video may have made this band something it didn’t deserve: a novelty act.
Yes, they showed up at Kanrocksas on a hellish day dressed in colored suits, looking like Crayola crayons. And frontman Damian Kulash has an arrogant/diffident air about him that no doubt annoys those to take it seriously.
But OK Go can craft some catchy pop tunes. Those songs are typically derivative, but they draw their influences from good places. I heard a variety of inferences, from Cheap Trick and INXS to Badfinger and Spoon. And the song “A Million Ways” bore a slight “Love Is A Drug” /Roxy Music vibe.
They drew a crowd of more than 1,000 to an afternoon set at the Ad Astra Stage and gave the crowd what none other got at the entire festival: a performance with hand bells, white gloves included. Kulash also performed solo/acoustic while amid a horde of fans in front of the stage (he called the performance “hippie shit”).
Other songs on the setlist: “Do What You Want,” “A Good Idea at the Time” and “Here It Goes Again,” that catchy-as-hell treadmill tune for which they will long be remembered.
—Timothy Finn/The Star
Best Coast: This trio from Los Angeles issues a sunny garage-pop sound that goes back to the 1960s, a sound that has been described as “the Standells having a beach party with the Shangri-La’s.” Its leader is Bethany Cosentino, and her voice bears a resemblance to Neo Case’s in her poppier moments. She also sounds like Denise James, an unheralded singer/songwriter whose songs sound of the ‘60s.
A crowd of several hundred gathered in front of the Stagesaurus Rex stage (or in whatever scrap of shade they could find nearby) and gave Cosentino and her band a warm reception during its 40-minute set. Her songs are short, fuzzy and sweet and most are about love and heartache, expressed in simple terms and set to straightforward but infectious melodies. The setlist included “Sun Was So High (So Was I),” “Bratty B” and “Goodbye.”
—Timothy Finn/The Star
The Black Angels: Given the heat index during their set – a searing 100-plus – this Austin, Texas, five-piece band could have temporarily christened itself Hell’s Devils. Nonetheless, a crowd of what looked like 500-plus stood in the heat for 40 minutes and grooved to its dark, swampy, psychedelic rock. They opened with “Entrance Song,” from last year’s stellar “Phosphene Dream” album, then “Young Men Dead” from “Passover,” which drew a big cheer from the crowd. So did “Telephone,” also from “Phosphene.” Despite the heat or and despite how the Angels’ alluring sound doesn’t vary dramatically over the course of 40 minutes, most of the crowd stayed for the entire set.
—Timothy Finn/The Star
Gardens & Villa: Mustering energetic enthusiasm for a band while broiling under a cloudless Kansas sky in August can be an insurmountable challenge. That’s why Gardens & Villa, an unassuming indie rock band from California, was well-suited for an early afternoon slot Saturday at the Stageasaurus Rex stage at Kanrocksas.
The quintet’s undemanding sound provided breezy accompaniment for an audience of about 250, most of whom sat or lay on parched grass as they listened. Gardens & Villa evoke Talking Heads by way of Vampire Weekend. Replete with falsetto singing and squiggly synth lines, Gardens & Villa seemed as if it was about to break into Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” at any moment. Instead, the quintet surprised the audience by ending its set with a cover of Gary Numan’s “Cars.”
“The only thing that would make this better is if there were actual race cars going around us,” a member of the band suggested. Well, a few clouds would also have been nice.
—Bill Brownlee/Special to The Star
Bill Brownlee contributed to this review.
