Kansas City’s hidden gems to help music fans avoid high ticket prices

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the 2024 summer has drawn to a close, Kansas City has once again seen a large number of big-name touring acts perform at the city’s major venues.

However, many fans are still being left out of seeing their favorite songs live.

In the age of digital streaming, concert prices have skyrocketed. Tickets to shows like Taylor Swift’s “ The Eras Tour ” and Zach Bryan’s “ The Quittin Time Tour ” cost fans hundreds of dollars; why is that?

Streaming has revolutionized the music industry in several ways, some bad, some good. It’s made music of all kinds widely accessible, introduced many people to genres they’ve never heard and brought back music from generations ago.

Streaming has, on the other hand, forced many musicians to hike up the price of playing live.

Before the mid to late 2000s, when streaming started taking off, musicians made their living by selling records. With apps like Spotify and Apple Music paying artists literal fractions of a cent per stream, that’s no longer the case.

Now, acts must earn their keep by touring, something which once was used almost entirely to promote record sales.

According to Pollstar, the average cost of a concert ticket in 2000 was around $35 (around $63 today due to inflation). Today, Pollstar reports that the average cost of a concert ticket is over $125, which is, frankly, out of budget for many Americans.

Meanwhile, Kansas City offers visitors and residents alike numerous venues where music lovers can see both local and touring acts for cheap.

If you’re a music fan, you’ll want to know about these spots in Kansas City:

recordBar

Located in the Crossroads area off Grand Boulevard, recordBar features local and touring performers of all genres nearly seven nights a week. Comedy shows aren’t out of the regular here either. The venue has frequent all-ages shows, and tickets are normally under $30. There’s also a handful of free shows.

The owner of recordBar, Steve Tulipana, also was involved in the creation of a safety-minded outdoor venue, Lemonade Park in the stockyards district. This venue is also a great spot to catch shows for under $30.

Upcoming shows at recordBar can be found here .

Farewell/Howdy

Farewell and Howdy are both DIY-style venues located in the same building on Stadium Drive. The venues have a clear focus on local talent, as even when a touring act stops in, it’s not out of the norm for a couple of local artists to be in the lineup.

It’s also not rare for the two venues to have shows on the same night. Both Farewell and Howdy feature all kinds of music, but Howdy is 18+ and Farewell is 21+ as there’s a bar inside.

Most of the time, you can expect to pay around $10-$20. Farewell and Howdy give most of these proceeds to the acts themselves, which, as mentioned earlier, is crucial for artists. It should be noted that both of these venues are cash-only as well.

Upcoming shows at Farewell can be found here .

Upcoming shows at Howdy can be found here .

Knuckleheads

If you’ve ever been to the J. Reiger and Co. distillery, you’ve probably noticed Knuckleheads , which sits right across the train tracks on Rochester Ave.

Knuckleheads is the only venue on this list that incorporates multiple stages. The venue features an outdoor stage and courtyard theater, the Knuckleheads garage, the saloon stage and the gospel lounge stage.

Shows at Knuckleheads are normally touring artists, with local acts booked occasionally.

Ticket prices are still manageable, normally no more than $30. There are also free shows periodically here.

Upcoming shows at Knuckleheads can be found here .

miniBar

miniBar is just a few blocks south of the Uptown Theater , another popular venue in Kansas City, on Broadway Boulevard.

This is another venue that features a plethora of local acts with the occasional smaller touring talent stopping through periodically.

This venue is the smallest space on this list, but what it lacks in room is made up for in affordability and experience. The bar is open seven nights a week, with live music nearly every night as well.

Tickets are typically in the $10-$20 range at miniBar depending on the show.

Upcoming miniBar shows can be found here .

THE RINO

The Northland’s THE RINO , which sits off Armour Road, is another smaller venue, slightly bigger than miniBar but not by much.

THE RINO has live music from primarily local acts, with out-of-town talent stopping in a little more frequently than some of the other venues on this list, multiple times a week. Additionally, the venue offers both musical and comedy open mics every Tuesday and Wednesday respectively for those who’d like to try their creative hand in a performative setting.

Tickets for shows at THE RINO can vary, but they’re normally in the $10-$20 range.

Upcoming shows and the schedule at THE RINO can be found here .

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