It’s Taylor time.
The hoopla surrounding Taylor Swift’s two-night stand at Arrowhead Stadium has dominated local music discourse for months. Even so, dozens of exceptional live music experiences are on tap for the Kansas City area in July.
Our 10 selections begin with the aforementioned superstar, but a pair of outings by the Swiftian trio of singer-songwriters on July 15 and July 16 represent opportunities for meaningful interactions between the audience and artists that most Swift fans could only dream about.
Concerts at the Midland by Sparks, the Smile, and Death Grips represent three generations of the cutting edge of popular music. Additional offerings include a Kansas City tradition in the 18th and Vine jazz district and an elegant rock recital at one of Kansas City’s most storied venues.
It’s enough to make Swift wish she could stick around.
Taylor Swift: July 7-8
- When: 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 7, and Saturday, July 8
- Where: Arrowhead Stadium, 1 Arrowhead Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 64129
- Tickets: Tickets for the sold-out concerts are available on the secondary market
Taylor Swift has reached the sort of rarified stardom previously attained by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and Michael Jackson. Talent, determination, and uncommon intelligence elevated the one-time country ingénue to pop culture’s loftiest heights.
Swift applies her formidable celebrity to incite change. In addition to seamlessly transcending music genres, she’s conquering onerous music industry practices and putting politicians on notice.
Her 2018 appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, in support of her “Reputation” album, offered a lavish spectacle and immaculate pop. Fans expect Swift to surpass those dizzying heights this month. Muna and Gracie Abrams are her tourmates.
Sparks: July 8
- When: 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 8
- Where: Midland Theatre, 1228 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri 64105
- Tickets: Starting at $37.50
Russell Mael crooned “when do I get to feel like Sinatra felt?” on Sparks’ mid-career, 1994 cult favorite, “When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way.'” More than 50 years after they began releasing music, the time has finally come for Mael and his brother Ron to feel like heroic stars.
Sparks struggled to gain traction while likeminded contemporaries, including Cheap Trick and Queen, scored hit after hit. In spite of occasional flirtations with the mainstream, such as the MTV hit “Cool Places,” Sparks’ deep-seated sense of irony relegated it to the underground.
The Mael brothers are taking a belated victory lap as they tour in support of their 25th album, “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte.” They’ve certainly done it their way.
Will Downing and Avery Sunshine: July 8
- When: 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 8
- Where: Gem Theater, 1615 East 18th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64108
- Tickets: $70
Visitors to Kansas City’s jazz district can’t help but notice the metal plaques embedded in the sidewalk along 18th Street.
Two new plaques will be unveiled Saturday, July 8: Burt Bacharach, the Kansas City native who wrote dozens of hits, and the accomplished vocalist Dionne Warwick will be honored in an induction ceremony overseen by the American Jazz Walk of Fame outside the Gem Theater at 6 p.m.
The ceremony is free to attend, but tickets are required for the subsequent concert by Will Downing and Avery Sunshine. Both artists are prominent purveyors of the grown-and-sexy form of R&B.
Tears for Fears: July 14
- When: 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 14
- Where: Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64132
- Tickets: Starting at $29.50
Initially lumped in with British new wave artists of the 1980s like Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears has more in common with stately British groups of previous generations, such as Genesis and Pink Floyd.
Best known for the ubiquitous 1985 smash, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” the duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith continues to meticulously construct an admirable catalog of songs built to last.
Kansas City is indebted to Tears for Fears for introducing Oleta Adams to the world on the 1989 hit “Woman in Chains.” They first encountered Adams as she performed in a hotel lounge on the Country Club Plaza. Cold War Kids opens the concert.
Souls of Mischief: July 14
- When: 8 p.m. on Friday, July 14
- Where: recordBar, 1520 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri 64108
- Tickets: $31.16
Much as the hip-hop groups A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan represented the New York City area in the 1990s, Souls of Mischief were documenting life in Oakland, California.
All three groups blended multiple rappers with jazz-leaning samples to become preeminent ensembles during what’s often considered the golden age of hip-hop.
Souls of Mischief’s current tour commemorates the 30th anniversary of its classic album “‘93 til Infinity.” The quartet’s lyrical interplay on the title track retains its charm.
Kim Richey, BettySoo and Bonnie Whitmore: July 15-16
- When: 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 15
- Where: Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester Ave., Kansas City, Missouri 64120
- Tickets: $35
and
- When: 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 16
- Where: Venue 1235, 1235 N. 3rd St., Lawrence, Kansas 66044
- Tickets: $10
The three singer-songwriters performing at Knuckleheads on July 15 titled their current outing “The Biggie, Smallie and Curlie2 Tour.”
The Ohio native Kim Richey released a trio of major-label albums in the 1990s that anticipated the rise of the rootsy form of music now known as Americana.
BettySoo and Bonnie Whitmore are Austin-based aspirants. The big-voiced Whitmore has a penchant for salty language. The subtler BettySoo is no less talented. The trio will swap songs and stories in the East Bottoms on July 15 and in Lawrence on July 16.
The Smile: July 19
- When: 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19
- Where: Midland Theatre, 1228 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri 64105
- Tickets: Starting at $59.75
A bit of heresy: The Smile is every bit as good as Radiohead. In fact, the music of the Smile might be even better than the groundbreaking work of the storied band.
Consisting of core Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and the innovative drummer Tom Skinner, the Smile builds on the most interesting elements of contemporary music.
By incorporating jazz, hip-hop, and electronica into the art-rock they made with Radiohead, the post-punk innovators Yorke and Greenwood are reinvigorated. The Smile’s like-minded collaborator Robert Stillman opens the concert.
Trombone Shorty, Ziggy Marley, Mavis Staples and Robert Randolph: July 22
- When: 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 22
- Where: Grinders KC, 1826 Locust St., Kansas City, Missouri 64108
- Tickets: Starting at $62
The lineup appearing at Grinders on July 22 is so auspicious that attendees are likely to talk about the slate for years. Four headlining acts band together on the memorable package tour.
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are New Orleans’ most prominent musical ambassadors. Ziggy Marley, the son of reggae legend Bob Marley, maintains the legacy of his iconic father.
Mavis Staples, an octogenarian with one of the most iconic voices in American popular music, is likely to steal the show. Like Staples, Robert Randolph is rooted in gospel. His mastery of pedal steel guitar is unparalleled.
Tedeschi Trucks Band: July 24
- When: 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 24
- Where: The Kansas City Music Hall, 301 W. 13th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64105
- Tickets: Starting at $59.50
Dead & Company, a vestige of the Grateful Dead, is making what’s ostensibly its final tour this summer. Yet aficionados of the jam band aesthetic needn’t fear for the future.
Tedeschi Trucks Band is every bit as good as its forebears, including the Grateful Dead. If the collective doesn’t neatly fit into the category, it’s only because it dramatically improves on each of the attributes jam bands are alleged to possess.
Led by the husband-and-wife tandem Susan Tedeschi and Dereck Trucks, the band features superlative vocals, sturdy songs and elite musical interplay. Vincent Neil Emerson opens.
Death Grips: July 25
- When: 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25
- Where: Midland Theatre, 1228 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri 64105
- Tickets: Starting at $35
Progenitors of a new wave of noise, Death Grips have introduced countless impressionable listeners to extreme sound in the past dozen years.
A violent collision of punk, metal, hip-hop, and electronica, the trio challenges basic conceptions about music. MC Ride shouts transgressive lyrics, while Zach Hill and Andy Morin make outlandishly abrasive sounds.
A song title on the setlist of the year’s most confrontational high-profile tour reflects the frenetic tone of Death Grips’ sound: “I Break Mirrors with My Face in the United States.”
