{"id":49350,"date":"2016-09-17T14:25:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-17T19:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=49350"},"modified":"2016-09-17T22:03:44","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T03:03:44","slug":"kansas-citys-2016-crossroads-music-fest-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2016\/09\/17\/kansas-citys-2016-crossroads-music-fest-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas City’s 2016 Crossroads Music Fest Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authors: Cody Boston, Kate Hartland, and Angie\u00a0Baldelomar<\/em><\/p>\n

Last Saturday, KKFI held its 11th annual Crossroads Music Festival in Kansas City. With over 35 artists across 9 stages, this festival took over KC for a night. Check out our gallery of the ensuing party!<\/p>\n

Rural Grit<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Rural<\/p>\n

Opening the KC Folk Fest Stage, local band Rural Grit brought roots music vibes to the stage. The band has been playing regularly at The Brick for more than 10 years. The different members rotate on each show, making for a new experience every performance. For this festival, the Rural Grit all-stars members participated and brought some of the favorite sounds to stage. What stole the show, no doubt, was their string-instruments-only approach. The guitar, mandolin and ukulele created a unique combination that\u00a0blew the audience out of the water.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda Fish Band<\/b><\/p>\n

Amanda Fish Band opened the Kissick Construction stage at The Recordbar. The band, formed in 2014, drew the almost 50-people audience to be a part of the show. Vocalist Amanda Fish\u2019s hypnotic voice filled the place\u00a0with blues rock music that you could feel through your body and soul. It\u2019s the kind of music that makes you happy music exists and makes you wonder what you would\u00a0be without it. It makes you glad to experience their music live. This feeling drew some folks closer to the stage and made them dance as the show was came\u00a0to an end.<\/span><\/p>\n

School of Rock<\/b><\/p>\n

\"School<\/p>\n

In the Laphroaig stage, a band from the School of Rock in Kansas City started the festival at the Mod Gallery\u00a0venue. The students\u00a0representing the school started their show with a cover of the late-90s classic \u201cAll Star\u201d by Smash Mouth. School of Rock\u2019s stage presence, reminiscent of the film under the same name, was strong although, at some points, they could have benefitted from Jack Black\u2019s charisma. Regardless, they were able to showcase their talent, demonstrating that age don\u2019t matter if you want to rock.<\/p>\n

Kelley Hunt<\/b><\/p>\n

Kelley Hunt, a Kansas City-born musician, has been on the music scene since 2008. Hunt and her band took up the stage with a\u00a0drums set, guitar, bass, and Hunt\u2019s keyboard\u00a0perfectly blended\u00a0and complimented\u00a0her voice. In a relaxed atmosphere, Hunt was able to displayed all their scenic abilities that only years of experience can give you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spirit is the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawrence based band Spirit is the Spirit is a unique blend of \u00a0psychedelic rock that fit perfectly with their designated venue, The Living Room. Lead vocalist, Austen Malone’s distorted voice\u00a0seems to float in the air amongst the colored lights and illuminated chandelier. With spacey synth intercut and woven with\u00a0moaning a trumpet, the audience was able to reach new levels of zen. Featuring songs from the upcoming release of their full album, Spirit is the Spirits performance aligned the chakras of everyone involved.<\/p>\n

An Intermission by Willie Arthur Smith’s Marching Cobras<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Willie<\/p>\n

As I popped out of The Living Room to be on my way to The Record Bar, a large tour bus came to a halt at the\u00a0intersection of 18th Street and McGee. Then, a swarm of what seemed to be a high school drill team came pouring out to stand in formation in the middle of the street. Everyone on the sidewalk, myself included, stopped to see what all the commotion was about\u00a0as an older man stepped out in front of the formation, text that read ‘Willie Arthur Smith’s Marching Cobras’ across the back of his crimson\u00a0and gold uniform. He put a whistle to his lips, let out a brief, piercing whistle, and all hell broke loose. The drumline erupted and the drill team danced in a frenzy, eventually pulling observers watching from the sides into the fray to dance. For about 15 minutes, the street was electrified. Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they filed back into their bus and vanished. The energy they created, however, was there to stay<\/p>\n

Instant Karma!<\/b><\/p>\n

Twenty minutes before go time, the four members of Instant Karma took the stage to form a visually incohesive bunch. On the right, Cody Calhoun was looking sharp in a suit, no tie. On the left, Branden Moser was looking hip in a worn denim jacket. Cole Bales, vocals, and Zach Harris, drums, fell somewhere in the middle. But when the tune-up was complete and the guys punched into the set, there was nothing inconsistent about it. 26 minutes in, people started dancing (including an elderly woman who was sporting the band\u2019s t-shirt). 34 minutes in, Cody\u2019s jacket came off. Instant Karma! is like a younger brother to the Black Keys-influenced by style, but stubborn enough to want to be different. Calhoun\u2019s voice and the hint of psychedelic vibes are what keep this Kansas City-born band from drowning in the alternative-spiked rock genre that is so popular right now. Their sound sways between soulful psychedelic with Calhoun\u2019s vocals and zippy rock with the instrumentals in between. <\/span>Instant Karma delivers tunes that you should play if you want to impress your girlfriend, look cool in front of your co-workers, or listen to Kansas City nights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not A Planet<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kansas City darlings known as Not A Planet were greeted with a packed Record Bar once they sauntered\u00a0onto the stage, each in entirely white outfits. It was a special night for Not A Planet because the show also marked the release of their LP\u00a0Smoke Bombs and Cigarettes: The History of Now<\/em>. Though the band members have the look\u00a0of an 80’s hair band, their rock n’ roll style pulls from a more modern rock feel and it was apparent that the audience was eating it up.<\/p>\n

The Phantastics<\/b><\/p>\n

The Phantastics, \u201cwith a P-H, y\u2019all,\u201d have been doing their music thang in Kansas City since 2010, and on September 10, they took control of the Brick\u2019s stage with an ease those years have cultivated. This group\u2019s hodge-podge cast of characters stirs excitement rather than wariness because a group like this can only be together if they really are that good. The guitarist on the right could have just hopped out of a VW bus, the electric bassist has a face-painted mask that would make Tech N9ne shudder, and the guy on keyboards is most likely the one smiling out at you from a Hobby Lobby check out counter. Vocalist Kemet the Phantom\u00a0exudes style, and when vocalist Leigh Gibbs runs on stage a few minutes late, she raises the energy level more than a few notches. \u00a0\u201cI just came from another gig,\u201d she explained. \u201cI had to change in the car. Woo!\u201d The hectic schedule didn\u2019t seem to put her off as she jumped right in, and up and down, and side to side.\u00a0<\/span>As the funky sounds of the soul rock team bounded out the door, people came streaming in to get down and groove. The audience wasted no time in getting jiggy with it, and the Phantastics were thoroughly enjoying giving these people all the phunk they could handle. The energy is infectious, and a big part of why the Phantastics are so successful. Even if you could recreate their quirky mix of funk, rap, and rock, you still wouldn\u2019t have the jam-packed stage of individuals that make the night so phun. <\/span><\/p>\n

Radkey<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Radkey<\/p>\n

This trio of brothers have perfected their brand of Dragonball Z inspired garage punk.\u00a0Between the lead vocalist\/guitarist Dee’s insanely animated dreadlocks and bassist Isiah’s rolled back eyes, the punk was palpable.\u00a0It was apparent that this brand of rock transcends all ages as I realized I had been headbanging in tandem with a man to my left who was 40 years my senior. With smash hits from their latest album\u00a0Dark Black Makeup<\/em>, Radkey threatened to bring the new Record Bar crashing down around them and from the rubble the whisper of only one word would\u00a0be heard: “Rad”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authors: Cody Boston, Kate Hartland, and Angie\u00a0Baldelomar Last Saturday, KKFI held its 11th annual Crossroads Music Festival in Kansas City. With over 35 artists across 9 stages, this festival took over KC for a night. Check out our gallery of the ensuing party! Rural Grit Opening the KC Folk Fest Stage, local band Rural Grit brought roots music vibes to the stage. The band has been playing regularly at The Brick for more than 10 years. The different members rotate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5490,"featured_media":49314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,3268],"tags":[5441,5432,5398,5433,5439,5440,5438,5434,3576,3355,5435,5436,3107,5431,790,5437],"class_list":["post-49350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-on-kjhk","category-music","category-music-articles","tag-angie-pinto","tag-crossroads-music-festival","tag-festival-review","tag-green-lady-lounge","tag-instant-karma","tag-kate-hartland","tag-kelley-hunt","tag-not-a-planet","tag-organ-jazz-trio","tag-radkey","tag-rural-grit","tag-school-of-rock","tag-spirit-is-the-spirit","tag-the-living-room","tag-the-phantastics","tag-willie-arthur-smiths-marching-cobras","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Drumline_01.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}