Kansas City Playlist: Westside 'El QT' Hotspot ALMOST Explained

This week the news in Kansas City has been exceptionally soul crushing so for our weekly musical list we decided to focus on a life-affirming low-rent trend that's playing out on the Westside.

To wit and for the TENS OF THOUSANDS who have passed through this weekend . . .

THE QT ON SOUTHWEST BLVD IS KANSAS CITY'S SUMMER 2024 HOTSPOT!!!

Last week crowds at this location topped out at more than one thousand people. Police from both KCK and KCMO were quickly assigned to cope with the surprise mass gathering. Lowriders, ATVs, loiterers, homeless and urban denizens of every sort gathered BUT there was RELATIVELY little trouble . . . That won't last but for now we remain impressed that one of the most diverse collections of locals didn't immediately erupt in chaos. 

It's easy to write-off this underground mass gathering as merely social media at work but we think it's deeper than that . . . Apropos for Labor Day Weekend . . . Allow us to attempt an explanation . . .

Going out is too expensive and pop-up hang-outs in the QT parking lot are one of the few affordable entertainment offerings for the plebs. As we waited nearly 15 minutes to buy a pop and a bag of chips, from our vantage, the casual crowd didn't seem like ruffians, gangsters or troublemakers but more like denizens of the working-class who don't have the time or money to spend hundreds of dollars on an evening of corporate entertainment but still have the human desire for community interaction. 

Amid rising inflation and sketchy job numbers . . . It's CLEARLY no long an option to pay premium prices for overpriced chicken or Hollywood movies that mostly serve to denigrate audiences. 

Meanwhile . . .

Dropping 10 bucks on snacks and listening to music for a few minutes in a gas station parking lot might not seem like self-actualization but the great thing about Americana is that it never has to justify itself.

This weekend we noticed more police and security guards prepared for the gathering so the party will undoubtedly move somewhere else.

The important takeaway is that even in the midst of the most dire circumstances, Kansas City finds a way to make community under the radar of politicos, developers and so many others looking to capitalize on crowds as we enter the worst part of the 2024 campaign season.

Accordingly, all of this inspires this week's www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist on the topic of low key parties . . .

Again, for Labor Day Weekend we think a Madonna classic is as good of a place to start as any. Whilst her work has been dismissed by many critics, here's a better perspective: Writing on Encyclopedia Madonnica, Matthew Rettenmund referred to "Holiday" as a "prime example of Madonna's reliance on infectious optimism", that has "aged remarkably well". It was considered a "simple song with a fresh appeal and a good mood" by author Mary Cross.

Even better, a quick search revealed this old clip that includes the star's younger brother in a club promo that has been mostly forgotten . . .

This song is A BIT BEFORE TKC'S TIME but as little more than a toddler we remember watching the clip on MTV and admiring the band's discount Canadian charm. Accordingly, here's the backstory on Loverboy's best track: 

The song originated when guitarist Paul Dean was out walking one Wednesday afternoon, looking for inspiration in his songwriting. He noticed that much of the area was deserted, as most people were at work. "So I'm out on the beach and wondering, 'Where is everybody? Well, I guess they're all waiting for the weekend,'" he later said. Mike Reno, the band's vocalist, suggested they change the title to "Working for the Weekend". According to Dean, he first began writing the song in a hotel room following a Montreal concert. At the time, the band were still playing bars to little response from patrons. After completing the song, they used it to open one set, and Dean recalled that "the dance floor was packed".

We try to stay a bit more current with this selection . . . Moreover, in our mind Lana Del Ray's "Queen Of The Gas Station" is our dedication to so many young ladies displaying the admirable self-confidence required to wear booty shorts and tube tops to a night out at a gas station in order to properly display a collection of tattoos and body art. 

What we like about "Queen Of The Gas Station" is it's dance-worthy techno charm from a track on an album that was pulled from shelves after the record company didn't have the cash to fund its release. Everything about the song signals discounted American life which might be the theme for this epoch in our history.

For the break, we'd be remiss if we didn't include at least one hip-hop entry in our playlist given the vast array of sounds blaring in the QT parking lot on most weekends. However, there's not a lot of low-end gas station lyrics penned by aspirational urban musicians. Even worse we found an appropriate song entitled "Gas Station Run" from a West Coast rapper which unfortunately reminds us of a long-ago beef between KC vs. The Bay area that proved deadly but is now mostly forgotten. In the end, the smooth beat and context won out even if the tune is worthy but not one of our favorites . . .

Finally, regarding gas stations and street life . . . We reach back to more traditional Americana and find the best song from an artist who always had a special place in his heart for Kansas City. "King of the Road" is a song written by country singer Roger Miller, who first recorded it in November 1964. The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a traveling hobo who, despite having little money (a "man of means by no means"), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously and cynically as the "king of the road". The crossover record reached No. 1 on the US Country chart.

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.