KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri’s very own Uptown Theater hosted Turnstile, a popular Baltimore hardcore band, for their Turnstile Love Connection Tour on Oct. 18.
Initially, the line for the venue stretched beyond all expectations for the concert. The frigid temperatures did not stop the nearly 2,000 eager fans from waiting for the show to begin.
Walking into the venue, it became apparent this Turnstile show was not an average concert, nor did it have an average audience. Hardcore fans could be seen in every direction drinking overpriced beer, murmuring among themselves and smoking joints inside the venue. There were even children present at this potentially dangerous concert.
Snail Mail, a Baltimore indie artist, emerged onstage at 7 p.m. She mainly played laid-back, groovy albums like “Lush” and “Valentine.” She played a good set that night, and the crowd reciprocated with applause and cheers.
Next up — around 8 p.m. — was JPEGMAFIA, also known as Peggy, an experimental rapper from Baltimore. He played a whopping 18 songs, one of which was a cover of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. JPEGMAFIA served an excellent set leading up to Turnstile.
Mosh pits began to form as the clock approached 9 p.m., and Turnstile finally took the stage, kicking their set off with “HOLIDAY.” Turnstile played an exceedingly eccentric show and performed a total of 18 tracks, mostly from their recent album, “Glow On.” The band also played several songs from other albums, including, “Time & Space,” “Nonstop Feeling” and their 2011 EP, “Pressure to Succeed.”
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During Turnstile’s performance, the crowd erupted into a frenzy of hardcore moshers and indie-pop fans. Waves of crowd surfers floated above the masses as security hurled them over the barricades to rejoin the crowd. The madness was indescribably hectic.
They ended the set with the song “T.L.C. (Turnstile Love Connection),” and pink confetti began raining down on the beaten crowd, celebrating a near-perfect show. A few Turnstile members even stayed around to take pictures and shake the hands of the satisfied audience — some of which visibly had bruises and whose clothes were drenched in sweat.
Brendan Yates, lead vocalist of Turnstile, gave a flawless performance, casually dancing, two-stepping and moving energetically with the audience. “Freaky” Franz Lyons, bassist, was full of electric energy. Pat McCrory, rhythm guitarist, was one with his instrument. Daniel Fang, drummer, played a grueling show with an especially gnarly drum solo mid-set. Together, the members of Turnstile put on a diverse, lively and amusing concert. It is obvious why this band will be touring with Blink-182 in 2023.
