Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds came to The Midland on June 18, but we in Kansas City got ready early. Sonic Spectrum’s Robert Moore curates a slew of tributes on divergent and linked bands and musicians. Sunday, June 16, was one that pulled the souls out of some of my favorite musicians in town and left them on the recordBar stage for 1 hour 36 minutes and 16 seconds.
First, Shaun Hamontree, Terrence Moore, and Kristin Thompson Conkright brought beautiful harmonies, acoustic guitar, keyboards, and subtle electric guitar to the crooning side of Nick’s catalog. Shaun may have been bummed that “The Mercy Seat” didn’t work out the way he had envisioned, but I think I felt a commiserating smile on his face when Nick and the Bad Seeds came into trouble on the same Wednesday night.
Then Alex Alexander, Jeff Harshbarger, Ryan Shank, Steve Tulipana, Rich Wheeler, and Cody Wyoming dug electrically into a high-powered set of rarities and well-knowns. Each song was heartfelt and dynamic. Watching Steve rotate through instruments was a blast. Rich’s sax brought soothing salve to the wonderfully dissonant guitars while Cody and Steve’s sonically different vocals were right for each song. I think “The Weeping Song” may have been my favorite of their set.
Two things I really enjoy about these tribute series are hearing each group’s interpretations of the songs and learning what has played a part in influencing their original music. Most of the time, the groups are made up of members that are not in bands together. That kind of cross-pollination and collaboration affects the course and subtle weave of threads that make up Kansas City music.
—Todd Zimmer
If you spot a man in a kilt taking professional photos of your band, it’s probably Todd Zimmer, and your band is about to have some incredible shots. Apparently he can also write, because he wrote this article!
Here’s a link to recordBar’s live feed recording of the tribute show. You can check out the rest of Todd’s photos, both from the tribute show and the Bad Seeds show, check out his Flickr page at this link.