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Hail, hail! The 10th update from our roving anarchists PL, James Christos and Jamel Rockwell!

PL: We made it to Austin, with little hassle. It was only warm, in comparison to Phoenix. Couldn't check into the hotel until 3, so we had a few hours to kill. We decided to relive our college days and began stealing stuff from the University of Texas. Nothing major: air conditioning, electricity, and internet. The experience made us consider going back to school. I can see me at 55, roaming the yard, and rocking the 'stocks!

Welcome to Austin. Get humpin'.

Checked into the hotel, and caught up on some rest, before the show. Dirty Dog Bar, here we come! Thanks to MC Overlord for putting us on!

Buy our merch, fill our tank.

We thought we were late for soundcheck, but the great Rev. Dave told us we were, "Right on time!" My soundcheck was excellent! (Check the video.)

High in the atmosphere!

The show was righteous! The crowd was all over it; especially "Punk Rock" (available on iTunes). Shameless plug!!! Now, go cop that!!!

Male-pattern tire baldness

Due to special -- and rather vehement -- request, here's the lineup for this Saturday's Taste of Troost festival at 7621 Troost: a KC 4th of July street party for the ages, dammit! In fact, at this very moment, Rich the Factor is getting in his ride and rolling down to T.O.T. (Schedule subject to change. Acts are hip-hop/rap unless indicated otherwise.)

10:45-11 a.m.: Ike Berg
11-11:15: Pitts Philthy
11:20-11:35: Ballstar
11:40-11:55: Miss G
12:00-12:25 p.m.: K-Dean
12:30-12:45: Stefanie Wienecke (jazz)
12:50-1:05: Tey Martel
1:10-1:25 : Hustle
1:30-1:45: Kick Kick (pop-rock)
1:55-2:15: Black Walt
2:20-3:00: Max Groove (jazz)
3:05-3:20: Young Devi
3:30-4:00: Jahration (reggae)
4:05-4:20: Cash Image
4:25-4:50: Block Life
5:00-5:30: Making Movies (rock/latin)
5:35-5:50: Ron Ron
5:55-6:10: Skiem Hiem / Killa Tay
6:20-6:50: SeedLove (reggae)
7:00-7:30: The Good Foot (soul)
735-End: Rich the Factor and the MFR Family

BY SAMMY LOREN

When telling people that I am back in Kansas City after a year in Paris, the most common reaction has been pity. "From Paris to old KC," they say incredulously. "Boy, why on earth would you come back here?" That question, full of disbelief at my misfortune, is answered with three responses: the world's most plentiful thrift stores, the best coffee shop ever (YJ's, baby) and the surprisingly inventive and sanguine music scene. Last night's DIY-folk show featuring Margo May and the Honeybabes, Chicken Little!, and Henry Daags at the Crossroad's Info Shop on Troost Avenue proved my trifecta right once again.

Sammy Loren

Fourth of July plays the Replay on the Fourth of July. Wow, if that's not meta, I don't know what is. Anyhow, we're attempting to showcase a flier every week we think goes above and beyond the usual clip art / movie still means of show promotion, and creates something that might actually be construed as "art." As far as inaugural pieces go, this one's a corker.

If you have a flier you'd like to submit, drop me a line.

And once again, we bring you Friday Freebies, wherein we present things to do this weekend that won't cost you any more than the gas it takes to get to 'em.

Obviously, it being the first Friday of July, First Fridays down in the Crossroads is your best bet to get your holiday weekend started. My choice for what to check out would be the Dr. Sketchy's exhibition at Pi Gallery, mainly because it makes figure drawing fun again, by rendering it a tad bit cheeky.

Since you're in the Crossroads looking at art, why not go to the Crossroads KC at Grinders and see yourself some free music from Carbon Leaf and Garrett Nordstrom Situation? The show starts at 7pm and is all ages. Just across the highway, in pretty much the exact opposite direction lies the Power & Light District, which also plays host to a free concert Friday night. Running from 7-10pm is a Dave Matthews Band tribute band (yes, I know that is both conceptually and grammatically awful, but it's happening). The show is 21 and up.

More music comes on Saturday. While we couldn't begin to list every free fireworks display in the area without exhausting ourselves, we can offer up the following as probably one of the best deals in town. See, the Gaslight Tavern in Lawrence reopens Saturday at noon with free music from Sky Smeed, Bryan Newbury, and the Border Band. As an added bonus, the city's fireworks display has moved back to downtown after a disastrous move out by Clinton Lake. The Gaslight's got free admission, and is probably one of the few places in town where you can park your ass in a chair with a legal beer. Get to their patio early--it's going to fill up fast.

You can find a good-sized list of Kansas City area fireworks displays About.com. Check your little slice of the area, too. Pretty much every burg from Iola to Atchison will play host to a series of thunderboomers.

Harper adds: And if you're looking for free live music during the day on Saturday, by all means swing by the Taste of Troost Festival at 7621 Troost, which, with performances by a plethora of talented artists and bands like the Good Foot, Making Movies, Ron Ron and Rich the Factor, will be a 4th-of-July-in-KC street party for the ages.

From the pages of The Pitch to Fricke's Picks in Rolling Stone and, most recently, to a brand-new, Minneapolis-based 'zine, locally born compilation album Titan: It's All Pop! continues to stretch its midwestern power-pop legs.

Refresher: From 1977 to 1981 in Kansas City, Tom Sorrells and Mark Prellberg built a label dedicated to releasing records by Midwest acts like the Boys, the Gems, Arlis Peach, Gary Charlson and others. In 2008, the two released a double-disc compilation CD of cuts from the original Titan! days, putting it out via Chicago's Numero Group, a label dedicated to digging up undeservedly forgotten sounds of the past. Likewise the Mpls 'zine Brain Lapse, whose first issue features a 16-page, full-color feature on our boys.

The latest dispatch from Christos and co.'s Anarchy Tour comes from the keyboard of DJ Jamel Rockwell.

Rockwell: What's Good, KC? This is Jamel Rockwell handling the tour diary for the 1st and of July. Tuesday nite we did our thing at the Stray Cat in Tempe, AZ, and it felt good to be on the stage again.

The reception was more than positive, and we made a few Industry contacts, one of which might help immediately. We met famed Cali indie MC Xololaxinco (i hope to god i finally spelled that right). Not only did he leave the stage smokin' when he was done, but he's also offered us a set at his gig in Austin, TX, this weekend in addition to the show we have scheduled for tomorrow.

PL with Xololaxinco

In fact, everyone we've told about goin' to Austin says the scene out there is pretty live. Combine that with a July 4th show (we're swapping the show in Houston for this one), and we're bound to see fireworks of some sort, right?

Video: PL at the Stray Cat

Theater League's jazz, blues and comedy hour, 12 O'Clock Jump, will make its own jump to live broadcast this weekend, when KCUR 89.3 starts carrying the program from midnight to 1 a.m. on Saturday nights.

The show features vocalists David Basse and Nedra Dixon; actors Pearl MacDonald and Pete Webber; and musicians Tyrone Clark on bass and Mike Warren on drums, along with the show's musical director, Joe Cartwright, on piano. Guest hosts will join the cast to perform and talk about the music of the featured artist of the week.

The weekly broadcasts of the show, live from the Mutual Musicians Foundation in Kansas City's 18th and Vine Historic District, begin on Saturday, July 4, with clarinetist Pete Fountain the featured artist and Lynn Zimmer the guest host. More information is available on KCUR's website.

Because the announcement of Needmore Discs' imminent closure has sent ripples, murmurs and even shockwaves through the scene, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with that other Shawnee record store, Vinyl Renaissance, just a few blocks north on Nieman Road, at 10922 Shawnee Mission Parkway.

Jason Harper

Vinyl Renaissance soldiers on in Shawnee

Fortunately, retail manager Frank Alvarez (whom you may remember from the late midtown record haven Recycled Sounds) says that his shop is doing great. He says he was surprised when he found out that Needmore was closing. "It was a big surprise -- everytime I go in there, there's always people buying stuff. They're great people, and I frequent their store almost every week, so I'm gonna miss 'em. They've got a great DVD section.

"Plus, you know, it's nice having neighbors who do the same thing you're doing, because more people come out, figuring they'll hit us both."

We wrote yesterday about the impending closure of Needmore Discs, and how sad it was to see another local record store go. Erik Voeks was kind enough to give me a few more details on the specifics behind closing the store down:

"The music retail business has been changing for years (obviously). With everybody moving to downloads it's become harder and harder for a small independent store like ours to survive...without resorting to carrying "smoking accessories" and black lights. We always wanted the store to be about the music. So many major new releases are being sold exclusively through big box stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and such...it sometimes feels like the music industry is intent on killing the very stores that made them what they are. We had six fun years and met some great people and are thankful for the customers that saw us through our time."

It's especially sad when you realize that record stores in the 'burbs are pretty much a thing of the past. Even in the rare instances when a record shop manages to stick around, it's usually to be found in an area that's a destination, as opposed to near where most people live. Lawrence is fortunate to have two independently owned and operated record stores, but they're both downtown, which is becoming more and more of a niche destination, as opposed to an area where folks live and work, much like Westport.