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Barrage Releases Silver Linings: The Night the Work Became Real

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Barrage Releases Silver Linings : The Night the Work Became Real A Kansas City Album Release Built from Change, Community, and Refusal to Quit The raccoon arrived at Westport Bowery carrying a camera and the distinct suspicion that this was not going to behave like an ordinary show. The data was correct. This was an album release. The distinction matters. A concert shows the audience what a band can do under lights. An album release reveals what the band managed to finish before the lights ever came on. The writing. The rehearsals. The tracking. The revisions. The technical problems. The plans that changed shape halfway through. The work completed without applause. The repeated decision to continue when abandoning the entire operation would have been considerably easier. On June 13, Kansas City hard rock and metal band Barrage gathered with The Hard Margarets, When Forever Finds Me, Kegare, Endrid, and a room full of the humans who had helped carry the project into existence. They were...

Stygian Bough at Warehouse on Broadway: A Journey Through the Void

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  Slightly Feral Media  Stygian Bough at Warehouse on Broadway: A Journey Through the Void Live Music Photography, Doom Metal, and Ritual at Warehouse on Broadway Stygian Bough at Warehouse on Broadway Some shows are collections of bands. Some shows are experiences. This was the second kind. The raccoon arrived at Warehouse on Broadway with anticipation. I was about to experience one of my favorite bands in one of my favorite venues, and the camera was ready to collect data. There are only two bands I have intentionally seen more than once: Drifter and Barrage. This weekend I got to see both. Both contain musicians I first met while working as a stagehand. Both are extraordinarily talented. Both are populated by genuinely good humans. Stygian Bough was on the list and when one of your favorite bands makes a weighty suggestion, a wise raccoon listens.  It was a good weekend for the raccoon. This particular evening brought Drifter, 40 Watt Sun, and Stygian Bough to Warehous...