I received this email from my friend who moved to Kansas City some time ago after living in New York City. I immediately asked for permission to repost it here:
it’s springtime and the flowers are out and birds are singing, what’s not to like?
but Saturday night “X”* and “I”*went to the movies at the plaza (i love you, man) and when the star trek movie preview came on i of course broke into applause. in NYC (i know, i know, i have to retire that phrase one day) the entire packed movie house would be on its feet screaming. i was not only the only one, but the rest of the room (only a couple dozen other people, as is always the case when we go to the movies here, even on opening weekend, as it was, for a movie starring a hometown boy, AKA Paul Rudd, who grew up in overland park) then laughed at me.
anyhoo… here’s a sign of KC’s lameness. it’s not always or often lame. it’s often cool. but this here is very lame.
kenny chesney tickets, as the headlines told us, sold out in KC in 14 minutes.
meanwhile, one of the BEST, coolest bands touring this spring to rave reviews, THE KILLERS, who sold out in minutes in the UK and U.S. East Coast is coming to kansas city and months after tickets went on sale there are still many many (as in thousands) of tickets available. i talked to the manager at the bonner springs sandstone and was basically told that there would be PLENty of room. what a crying shame.
i mean, i would love an explanation. the killers are not some obscure art band. they are on a major label. they play SNL. they pack stadiums everywhere else. my friend in london said people were BEGGING for tickets and pulling connections to pay hundreds (of pounds no less) for them. what the heck???
meanwhile, kenny chesney….
*names changed to protect the innocent.
Sometimes I think that the culture shock is harder to overcome when moving between the states than when coming from a different country, mostly because you don’t expect it in the former case, but are prepared to face it in the latter. Are we less prone to express our emotions at the movie theater or elsewhere in public than New Yorkers? I never heard Kenny Chesney sing (I keep a firewall between me and the country music) and I might have heard a song or two by The Killers but will be hard-pressed to identify them. Does its perceived taste for the country music makes Kansas City lame, or is it its seeming disrespect for world-renowned artists that make Kansas City seem backward?
P.S. These are my friends so I reserve the right to delete the insults. Don’t waste your time.
I am putting up a poll just for fun.
[poll id="19"]
Meanwhile Kenny Chesney has sold millions of records and is probably the top male country western star in the whole country. However, Tina Turner and Bruce Springstein also sold out in a few minutes so it’s not just Country Western that’s popular here. Sorry, I’ve never heard of The Killers except for those on Troost.
I understand what your friend is saying, but The Killers are a bit obscure for KC. I own two of their albums and would gladly see them in concert, but the KC airwaves are polluted with country music and the Rocket & Theresas of the world instead of decent DJs who play GOOD music rather than what the crappy labels pay them to play.
JOOLS is on the right track, mostly. Other acts like Tina Turner, The Boss, Coldplay, Dave Matthews…they sell out in minutes.
I think what might be worth considering is that KC residents are a little more stingy with their concert dollars than in other regions. (When in doubt, blame the economy, right?)
My daughter would opt for the Chesney concert. I’d pass on both. Country music is no longer true country and I never listen to it. Cliff and I like the old, corny country music from the 50’s through the late 80’s, so we listen to my self-created Pandora station.
I wish my knees could hold up for a day of standing on concrete: I’d go to Van’s Warped Tour every year. Now THAT’S fun! Some of the music is pretty good, and I loved the way the kids looked at me, the old lady, standing in the mosh pit with my granddaughter.
I wonder if your friend understands that when he stands up and breaks into applause at a movie theater, the people on the screen can’t actually hear him.
Culture shock, indeed. ‘emawkc’, up above, humorously pointed out the obvious cultural contrast. To each their own.
Same for ‘The Killers’(!). They are obscure for here, I submit.
My wife & I recently returned from a trip to Branson, MO. I was struck by how little it had changed – down home and corn pone – with garish billboards advertising ‘family entertainment’ & many large establishments for Sunday worship services. The Bible Belt cuts a huge swath across the Mid West, and KC is very near the buckle of that belt.
To each their own.
…if it ain’t on the satellite , forgeddabodit!
and country and the killers don’t make (my) satellit.
Radio here sucks, a lot! Like Shane I blame that for the “obscurity” of the killers. However, I would not pay to go see either act. Given free tickets, I would go to the killers.
Cultures shock… not sure, never been to NY (just the airport) and people were just freaking rude there. Chicago is awesome, but so is KC… lame, don’t think so.
emaw nails it. I would add that what your friend is applauding is his own (perceived) good taste. It’s a narcissistic move, fosho! Worries about lameness are the hallmarks of adolescence, but since that’s the coin of the realm these days your friend has nothing to fear. Perhaps he should avail himself of a performance by the Kansas City Chorale, KC’s own Grammy-winning outfit. He might find adult-oriented activities to be fun. I’d heard OF the Killers, so I Youtubed them…eighties’ deritive dreck. Chesney is blandly harmless, though I tend more to agree with Donna W. that modern country has little to offer. Just fill up my glass and play me some more George Jones songs. Oh, and rock has sucked ever since the Beatles ruined it.
Ill have to agree with neilitist on the possum, you can’t beat George. That said I’d just as soon run a drill into my ear as listen to the killers or chesney. Your friend is indeed having culture shock, this is the midwest. Broadway here has Chubbys and the Blood Bank. You might tell him to chill out on standing up in front of people and clapping at a movie, here in KC that could get him a 5.00 cup of coke to the back of his noggin.
SRSLY… The Killers aren’t that great. I liked them after their first album but then the second one sucked so I’m glad I saw them off the first. Wouldn’t pay to see them now no matter where I lived.
What bugs me about too-cool Kansas Citians is how they give you the stink eye when you stand up and applaud and scream at Royals Stadium, in the bottom of the seventh with two men on and two strikes on the batter!
I can’t believe 96.5, which would be the only station in KC to play the killers is so low rated. I think it is the lack of college students here. KC has to be high on the list of major metro areas with the fewest active college students, since we do not have even a medium sized university in town. I think the results of your poll so far reveal the awareness of the existence blogs among Kenny Chesney fans.