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What happens when you stick rock in the middle of Kansas? Well if
it's in the middle of the word you get Kanrocksas and if it's in the
middle of the city you get 2 days packed with more music than KC has
ever seen. 2011 marked the debut of this newbie festival and for its
first year, Kanrocksas decided to give birth to a whole new experience.
Settled in the infield of a racetrack, the festival held 3 main stages,
2 minor stages and 1 tent stage. Set up on the outside of the track,
the parking lot held a mini city all its own - otherwise known as
campgrounds. Tens of thousands flowed in and out of the grounds for
two solid days. And with a constant supply of cold water provided,
numerous food vendors and even a 200 foot high waterslide, there was
always something to do. But, when they weren't seeking shade or watching
the graffiti artists at work, festival goers moved in waves between
sets. Besides the unfortunate "double-booking" which happened
a few times throughout the fest, one was always guaranteed that when
one band ended, a mere 10 minutes later another band would begin.
Day 1:
Friday started the festival off with handful of bands that figured
out one way or another how to make the audience dance. Take Fitz
& The Tantrums; now this is soul music, or at least how my
generation would do soul. In other words, it's soul mixed with a bit
of pop and indie and when you translate that strong sound with its
saxophone and keys to the stage, it makes for the perfect band to
kick everything off. And sporting those necessary afternoon sun shades
just completed the "we ARE cool" sentiment. Following in
the "cool" factor came the Arctic Monkeys, who have
come to be known as some of music's favorite foreigners. When one
calls Yorkshire home, I would not think that the term "heat index"
is generally included in their vocabulary. However, when you plan
a festival in the Midwest and plop it on the first weekend in August
it's gonna be hot. So with the humidity ranking way too high, the
band appropriately suited up in t-shirts, jeans and some Grease-styled
haircuts for their assault on sound. The beauty of the Artic Monkeys
is the vastness of their talent. With the recent album Suck It
And See, they tapped into a bit of the heartfelt stuff. For this
set they busted out some perfect summer pop hits as well as songs
like "Brick By Brick" that just seemed to deserve that awesome
product slicked front hair flip. Powerful 60s guitar riffs and deep
harmonies kept the grooves solid, while the rest of the songs focused
on delicate melodies set to lyrics of love.
With the sun still high, hip-hop fans gathered for Kid Cudi.
His awesome energy and bright smiles instantly got the crowd hyped.
And the massively huge (nearly nauseating) bass beats literally shook
the grounds of Kanrocksas. While his set mostly sat on the slow bumping
tempo, he still managed to keep the energy going. In true hip-hop
spirit, most-to-all instrumentation and music was digital and mixed
but to add a little something-something, Kid utilized the screen already
set up for the headliner to display a mix of Matrix-style graphics
and music videos shots. This was definitely one of the token sets
of the day.
After taking a break from the crowds to annihilate some bratwursts,
I headed back through the chaos for a front seat at The Flaming
Lips' set. It was the usual FLIPS scene: confetti, stage dancers,
gigantic video screen and a human sized inflatable ball. But that's
what we've all come to love about that band. So as to not disappoint
those long time fans, Wayne took a moment in one of the first
few songs to introduce a new element to the Lips show: iPhone. Yes,
Steven had actually brought his iPhone on stage and proceeded
to use his new app as the effects/instrumentation to their next song,
"Worm Mountain". I"m not sure this addition would fly
in a traditional band, however, most traditional bands don't have
someone dressed in a sun outfit dancing on stage. So it worked. Overall
their set had a great sense of youthful nature about it and came as
a nice "odd-man-out" to the rest of the mostly DJ/hip-hop
filled day.
Ending Day 1 was an artist that actually calls Kansas City home (well
St. Joe). Eminem may not verbally announce his connection to
Missouri, but we sure like to point out the connection. And while
most people probably wouldn't admit their excitement, it was easy
to see that his set gathered the largest crowd of the day. Having
not been to this area in at least five years left fans highly anticipating
another appearance from Marshall Mathers. And from the first
song, "Won't Back Down," this chart topping artist had even
the most random fans doing a bit of a thug dance. Every word was precise,
every beat drop was full of relentless attitude and with a plethora
of guest singers, Eminem put on one heck of a performance. One of
the only draw backs was the fact that less than half of the songs
were actually sung in their entirety. Most of the time we got a verse
and a chorus and then it was on to the next hit. This is apparently
a "typical" part of a hip-hop/rap show. Regardless it was
freaking annoying. We came to hear the songs, the entire songs. Notable
selections mostly included songs off the recent release Recovery
with a few moments from The Eminem Show. Songs like "Cinderella
Man" and "Won't Back Down" had such solid bass beats
that they let the lyrics take main stage. One thing that Kanrocksas
did right was acoustics and sound systems, thus making it so each
and every word was easily heard. The set ended with an encore so popular
it nearly caused pandemonium in the crowd. When the movie 8 Mile
came out audiences were introduced to a story about a guy just
trying to make it through life. And the song that captured all of
that was "Lose Yourself". If you want to see hip-hop randomly
emerge from the most random of people, play this song for them. I
saw everyone from kids to parents rapping along to the lyrics. With
a simple up beat tempo across the ivories kept this song very simple,
even when taken on the live stage. Lyrics embedded in our brains,
mixed with beats embedded in our feet, made for a perfect ending to
the evening.
And as exhausted fans dragged themselves back to their cars or campsites,
a nice fireworks show lit the night. Not necessarily what anyone was
waiting for, but still a pleasant surprise.
Day 2:
Rested, stretched, hydrated and fed, we gradually found ourselves
back within the confines of the festival on Saturday. The day we knew
was going to be full, not only of music, but of humidityand sunshine,
so a few bottles of sunscreen were packed as well. The first set of
the day was The Black Angels who probably easily grabbed the
title of one of the best up-and-coming bands of the weekend. A huge
70s and 80s classic rock vibe came flowing from the stage on this
one. Black sunglasses and long hair worked well with distorted rhythm
guitar notes and a subtle bass grind playing throughout. This was
a set with minimal frills but this was a band that would feel very
at home in venues like CBGBs or a dark basement.
From classic rock to what one could describe as dance rock, dressed
in brightly colored 3-piece suits, the four members of Ok Go
promptly hopped on stage and took the day to that next level. Kicking
it off right away with "Do What You Want" the energy was
instantly at high octane. The infectious lyrics and melodic pop rock
tendencies in the guitars made even those of us in the photo pit jump
around. As one fan said, "Ok Go - making hand bells cool even
today" makes it no surprise that our set contained the song "Return"
and those famous bells. However, this song met the fate of an outdoor
stage and the fact that when an artist steps away from their precious
microphone, voices are sometimes lost to the vastness of outside.
Still, a pretty song. Realizing that they may have taken a step back
with "Return", Damien literally took a step off [the
stage that is] in the next song "Last Leaf". While this
was another acoustic-type song like that of the former, with the sole
performer standing in the middle of the audience that supposed to
hear it, it seemed to work a bit better. Awesome hits like the treadmill
dancing "Here It Goes Again" and even oldie (but goodie)
"Get Over It" with its attitude-packed and crazy rock riffs,
took slots in this very short time. And then to end with audience
participation on "This Too Shall Pass" and lyrics "When
the morning comes / this too shall pass" ringing in each pair
of ears, they seriously had one of the best setlists of the weekend.
Rolling through the antics of a Cage The Elephant set, the
next preparation was for a Mr. Todd Maynard and his alternative
band A Perfect Circle. The music from APC was on a completely
different level from the rest of the day and with the deep colored
lights illuminating an army mesh backdrop, the entire experience was
as unique as the music. The genius of Maynard has been seen with Tool
for many years now, but it's A Perfect Circle that has really given
fans a chance to see another side of the artist. Heavy bass progressions
and guitar work so fluid it almost commanded a head bang filled the
50 minute set. While the music may have worked better at an indoor
venue, the festival tried to make the best of it. So under a sky lit
with stars and the occasional floating lantern, the band worked through
sounds from albums like Thirteenth Step and eMOTIVe.
And though a common complaint heard related to the long distance between
stages, at that moment it worked in our favor, as competing for time
slots with APC was Girl Talk - though one would've had no idea,
as standing in front of that stage made it felt like that was the
only music being played in the entire festival.
A 180 from the stylings of Todd was that of the next act. And with
just a guitar and a set of drums, the classic rock-ness of The
Black Keys echoed through the grandstands. I'm not really sure
how they did it, but somehow those two guys created such a strong
sound you'd think they had an extra 4 or 5 members on stage. The title
"Hardest Working Men In Showbiz" easily goes to the Keys.
Take "Howlin' For You" with a little hand clap, a little
synthesizer and the talent of Patrick and Dan, made for an extremely
fun song. The music created seemed so comfortable in the Midwest,
old school and classic.
The headliner for Saturday also felt like the headliner for the entire
weekend. Muse was originally supposed to stop by KC in 2010,
but the unfortunate news came of show cancellations for not only us,
but a few surrounding cities. Therefore their performance at Kanrocksas
almost felt like a make-up show. What a make-up show it was. Though
those of us (40!) photographers missed a few of their well-known hits
while in the pit, the set as a whole was pretty freaking amazing.
The stage was equipped with massive video screens and smoke cannons.
And even Matthew (lead vocals) came out sporting a matching
pair of blue LED sunglasses. Besides major numbers like "Supermassive
Black Hole" and "Map Of The Problematique", most of
the night came from the recent album The Resistance. With each
song came cinematic level effects, dance grooves with hints of prog-rock,
pop and even hip-hop sprinkled on top. No matter if it was the sultry
synth tones in "Undisclosed Desires" or the chaotic punk
guitar in "Hysteria", each song had just as much energy
as the song before. The icing on the cake came at the end of the main
set when the song "Stockholm Syndrome" came with its full
blown insanity, cleverly disguised as guitar notes, the band also
busted out their very expensive laser light show. Now I've seen my
fair amount of laser shows, they do not compare. One moment I was
afraid we were all going to have seizures and the next it felt as
though the lasers were going to land right on top of us. This was
a multi-sensory experience, the body didn't know where to focus, lights,
guitar, vocals, bass, drums, lights, guitar, lights, vocals. Pure,
awesome, insanity. When the main set finished, the question was left
lingering in most fans minds: "wait, don't they have another
hit?" Yep. After a brief pause for a song from Origin Of Symmetry,
they answered everyone's question with "Knights Of Cydonia".
And with that came those famous "ahh-ahh-ahhhhhhs" and the
most randomly placed Beach Boys-esque note slide. The whammy
bar takes hold of the notes on this song and if you listen real close
on the album, you'll also hear a few trumpets. For the stage, it was
that memorable chorus that kept fans fully involved in their last
number. Each Muse fan in that audience was patiently waiting for the
mid-song break and their chance to belt at the top of their lungs:
"No one's gonna to take me alive! /The time has come to make
things right! / You and I must fight for our rights! / You and I must
fight to survive!" This was an excellent song to end the night
[and weekend] on.
Preliminary numbers have rolled in for the festival at about 70k
in attendance for the weekend. So yeah, for the amount of great music
and its first attempt, I'd log this in as a success.
-Rachel Fredrickson
Kanrocksas Music Festival
August 5th - 6th, 2011
Kansas Speedway, Bonner Springs, KS
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