Rod Peal is a rock musician-turned-entrepreneur who opened Halcyon Diversified Trading in December 2009 at 4706 Mission Road, Roeland Park, Kan. Peal buys and sells a variety of hip goods, from used vinyl records to musical instruments to furniture. On the second Friday of each month, he hosts an art opening with live music. Peal had heard that the location was once a rock club, but no one was able to confirm it for him until now. The building once housed not one but two rock clubs catering … [Read more...] about Site of early clubs rocks again
Places
The passion of Stan Plesser
Stan Plesser, who died Sept. 1 at age 79, arguably did more to foster the pop music scene in Kansas City than any other single person. From 1963 to 1971, his Vanguard Coffeehouse, 4305 Main St., brought the stars and semi-stars of the folk movement to midtown. His subsequent (1971-74) Cowtown Ballroom, 3101 Gillham Plaza, and Good Karma Productions not only brought rock’s brightest stars to shine on local kids like me, but they gave Kansas City such gravitational pull that artists from … [Read more...] about The passion of Stan Plesser
Calling all shutterbugs!
Among the holy grails of the Kansas City Rock History Project, in terms of photos, is the Jimi Hendrix Experience concert Nov. 1, 1968, at Municipal Auditorium. If anyone out there has photos of Jimi, Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell on stage in Kansas City, please be in touch with me. And anyone who attended, please feel free to share your memories by commenting below. I have found some ads for the concert, whose opening act was Cat Mother and All-Night Newsboys, on the back of a KUDL Boss 30 … [Read more...] about Calling all shutterbugs!
No posts
No posts for this category yet. This is here so I can add the new sub categories to the menu. … [Read more...] about No posts
Need info on Freedom Palace, 1970-72
Among the places about which I am sorely lacking information - photos, ticket stubs, etc. - is Freedom Palace, the former Pla-Mor Ballroom at 3140 Main St. As noted in this item (at left) from The Westport Trucker, during its 1970-72 lifespan, Freedom Palace played host to such acts as The Who, Sly & the Family Stone and It's a Beautiful Day. Please leave a comment comment below with your Freedom Palace memories, or contact rick@kcrockhistory.com directly if you can help with artifacts! … [Read more...] about Need info on Freedom Palace, 1970-72
Punk/new wave posters
Here are some posters I saved from the early 1980s punk/new wave scene. My faves, the Embarrassment, are represented with a poster from the same general time frame as the photos in the post below. Some of the other key punk venues are here, too: the VFW Hall, Louis Craig Post #18, 3027 Walnut St.; Parody Hall, upstairs at 811 W. 39th St., near Southwest Trafficway; and Lawrence, Kansas' fabled Outhouse, carved out of a corn field three miles west of the city limits. (See map detail on how … [Read more...] about Punk/new wave posters