The Vandoliers set up their June Kansas City show at The Riot Room’s small but fun outdoor stage three months prior. They visited Kansas City with troubadour Austin Lucas and played Knucklehead’s Saloon, the only problem was that their night was cut short. Lead vocalist Joshua Fleming was very sick and couldn’t sing and it was obvious that show was a bit of a low point for the Texas band.

The Vandoliers play the Riot Room’s outdoor stage in Kansas City, Missouri on 6/11/19.

Just three short months later they play a early show on a Tuesday night at the Riot Room and of course rain is in the forecast for the outdoor show. The band started the show about 40 minutes early to make sure Kansas City didn’t get cheated out of another Vandoliers show. This time the new and improved Joshua Fleming (now sans cigarettes and booze) dominated the stage with his enthusiastic performance and strong voice. Their country-ska sound is mostly upbeat and requires a lot of energy and the band was more than willing to deliver. The full sound complete with keyboards, trumpet and violin accented the more traditional instruments to fill out the sound.

They hit their latest release “Forever” extremely hard, hitting all the high points like opening with “Miles and Miles” and closing with the sing-along anthem “Bottom Dollar Boy.” Some autobiographical songs were mixed in the middle with “Troublemaker” and “Bluebonnet Highway” as well as a fair share of casino sagas with “Shashone Rose” “All on Black” and later a blistering cover of the Wilco classic “Casino Queen.” The six piece blasted through a set of 14 songs in under an hour to beat the rain. The driving “Sixteen Years” was an obvious highlight as was a rare set changup for the band in “Cigarettes in the Rain.” Right on queue the rain started to fall during the most rocking part of the set with the closing combo of “Juke Joint Lover” and “Bottom Dollar Boy” the end the night before the clock even hit 9:30. All was fine though because the Vandoliers gave Kansas City their redemption show.

Vandoliers setlist from the Riot Room outdoor stage in Kansas City, MO 6/11/19:

Miles and Miles
Troublemaker
Fallen Again
Bluebonnet Highway
Rolling Out
Endless Summer
Shoshone Rose
All on Black
Sixteen Years
The Native
Cigarettes in the Rain
Casino Queen (Wilco Cover)
Juke Joint Lover
Bottom Dollar Boy