SCENE REPORT: KANSAS
RECAP OF THE WICHITA STOP ON THE EIY SPRING (INTO ACTION) TOUR
I had no idea what to expect from the Wichita meet-up or showcase. Ryan from HTC Productions reached out to us to help book the show when we were having trouble finding a venue in Kansas City, and he worked his ass off to make it an awesome event — which it was. And it was our first show at a DIY venue, which, of course, we loved.
This was by far the biggest meet-up, and it was definitely a very strong family vibe amongst the people in attendance. We had a great discussion and I think we all learned a thing or two about what’s happening — and what needs to happen — in the Wichita scene. We even ended the meet-up with a “scene hug”, which I’m willing to bet has never happened before!
This scene has a ton of potential, but there is some work to be done. The people at the meet-up are all friends, and they all love the same kind of music. They go to each other’s shows and have a great time together — but I’d love to see them start to branch out and diversify the group. Ryan, who is single-handedly bringing the bands and making the shows happen, could use some help getting the word out to promote the shows and make sure the Eagle’s Lodge stays open. I’d like to challenge Ryan to start booking more mixed-genre bills, even if it’s just slightly varied at first. He’s the type of young entrepreneur who is going to be running the music scene in that area some day, and the sooner he starts to expand and try new things, the better. I’d like to see the kids from this meet-up try to befriend bands and kids who might not normally come to a hardcore show. I’d also like to see this group start to infiltrate the music community, attend other types of shows, and get to know what everyone else in the area is up to. When you’ve got a group of bands and friends who are as tight as this, it’s the perfect opportunity to use your powers for the good of the community. Become the ambassadors! Share the love and invite everyone to come dance with you.
Now on to the show! I feel the need to be totally, brutally honest up front. This was the heaviest line-up of bands we’ve seen on this tour so far, and I found it extremely difficult to differentiate between the bands, musically. This made picking a band for Warped Tour an especially difficult challenge, since I couldn’t use the music to pick a stand-out performance. This is another reason I’d love to see the bands from this show start going out and befriending bands in different genres, and hosting mixed genre bills — to find inspiration and new elements to bring back to their songwriting, and break new ground with their music!
It was a blast watching everyone dance and mosh and get super into all the bands. The crowd was having such a good time that it was impossible not to join them. Kudos to the kid who ripped his pants in the pit and decided, “f*** it” — and just took them off so he could keep dancing! That’s love.
Band: The Excellence Of Execution from Dexter, KS
They call themselves “flip-flop core”, which is amazing.
Check them out HERE.
Band: No Remorse from Wichita, KS
Fun set! I think the singer was on his break from work?
Check them out HERE.
Band: In The Trenches from Hutchinson, KS
Nice guys, energetic about the local scene. Lots of dancing!
Check them out HERE.
Band: Untapped Market from Wichita, KS
A local favorite, fun way to end the night, and the guitarist’s last show with the band! Sad!
Check them out HERE.
Like I said, we had to factor in a number of things in order to pick a band from the line-up, since musically there wasn’t enough variation among bands and performances to be able to pick an obvious stand-out. A couple of the bands were super involved in the meet-up, and had a lot of good ideas for their scene. Everyone was really supportive of each other, and kids seemed to love all the bands the same. The bands were passionate, involved, and gave it their all. This was an extremely tough decision, but in the end, after a lot of careful consideration and going back over our notes, we decided to give In The Trenches the chance to represent their scene at the Bonner Springs Warped Tour date this summer! We hope they will bring EVERYONE from the EIY show with them to hang out, dance, and enjoy Wichita’s success as a family.
We sincerely hope Ryan/HTC will continue to book shows and develop his business as a promoter. We hope everyone will chip in, financially or otherwise, to back him up. We will do whatever we can to help this scene. We had a great time and can’t wait to come back.
Love,
Sarah & EIY
2 Responses to “SCENE REPORT: KANSAS”
Leave a Reply
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Sarah thank you and EIY so much for this oppurtunity! Wichita has never had anything like this come through. Hope the rest of the EIY tour is going good and hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks.
In The Trenches
That kid that ripped off his pants was me!