Photo Gallery: Shiner at Lemonad(e) Park

Paul Malinowski and Allen Epley of Shiner. Photo by Aaron Rhodes.

Somewhere over 100, but fewer than 200 fans on their best behavior assembled at Lemonad(e) Park on Sunday night to see Kansas City's space rock favorites Shiner. The new outdoor venue -- run by staff from Voltaire and recordBar -- held its first show in late July and has been bringing live music back to the West Bottoms every weekend since. All staff and patrons -- aside from the bands while on the truck-bed stage -- wore their masks throughout the evening (though patrons in small groups at distanced tables were allowed to remove theirs once seated).

Despite there being a palpable, underlying anxiety from the pandemic, folks were all smiles as soon as the music began. (DJ Thundercutz spun rock singles between sets and hearing guitar amp feedback blasted at concert volume for the first time in nearly six months -- courtesy of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" -- made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.) Robbed by COVID-19 of a formal release show back in May, Shiner performed many songs from their new album, Schadenfreude, on Sunday (and at a Friday evening show at the same location) during their 80 minute set.

 

It was far from a party atmosphere -- I observed no dancing, only a select few people banging their heads, and only one table that could qualify as rowdy -- but rather a polite gathering of rock music appreciators. The band was as tight as ever and though the new material is perhaps more mature and toned-down than past releases -- 19 years will do that -- it's hardly a step backwards. And though moments of heavy riffing made me yearn to be in a packed, sweaty club, the set's more atmospheric moments felt perfect performed under a warm summer night's sky.

 

The second half of the set saw the band delve into work from their previous few albums. The squealing guitar outro on "Bells And Whistles" was invigorating and main set closer "Pills" offered pure rock-n-roll catharsis to a crowd that, as a whole, has likely never needed it more. Vocalist/guitarist Allen Epley provided some comic relief before their final two songs -- "Imagine we're going off stage to blow a couple rails and come back to a big encore." Fan favorites from 1997's Lula Divinia -- "The Situationist" and "My Life As A Housewife -- brought the responsible evening out to a close.

Full photo gallery here.