Original image of Christian Death’s Maitri and Valor Kand by There Stands the Glass.
I forced myself to choose between appearances by Christian Death and Joe Jackson in Kansas City this week. Christian Death’s general admission show at the recordBar had a compelling underbill and a $35 price tag. A reserved seat at the back of the floor for the British veteran’s concert at the Uptown Theater cost $57.
I settled on small. My decision was validated upon entering recordBar at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 8. Armed with costumes, props and melodies, Descartes a Kant was blowing the minds of earlybirds. The charming Mexican glam-pop band was a wonderful surprise.
Gene Loves Jezebel provided a different form of astonishment. Based on the heavy MTV rotation of “Motion of Love” in the late 1980s, I expected frothy pop. Instead, the band played sleaze-rock in the vein of Guns ‘N Roses. My head rebelled, but my heart submitted to the 50-minute-set.
Attending a Christian Death show in 2026 is as transgressive as visiting at a Hot Topic store in a suburban shopping mall. Deliriously campy and occasionally unintentionally amusing, the current lineup of the seminal goth-rock band entertained about 150 people for ninety minutes.
What do Descartes a Kant, Gene Loves Jezebel and Christian Death have in common? Nothing! The gloriously nonsensical lineup is among the reasons I’m glad to have spent four hours at recordBar crossing Christian Death off my live music bucket list. Joe Jackson will have to wait.