Kansas City, MO 2025 part 1: World's Quietest Active Airport + "Art Deco Prison"

[taz_39]

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This post covers Monday and Tuesday.

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MONDAY

Up kinda early to finish packing and eat breakfast before Ubering to Green Bay airport. I didn't realize how small of an airport it was...TSA wasn't open until after 9am so I had to sit and wait near ticketing! I wasn't alone at least, lots of people don't get that memo about this airport it seems.

 

Once inside I was still essentially alone because mine was the only flight leaving out of that terminal, and I was too early.

 

I have never been in such a QUIET airport. It was weird.

Watch on YouTube

 

The flight was fine with a short layover in St. Paul and then on to Kansas City.

KC airport was being festive.


I got to the hotel right at 4pm and was able to check in right away. Another Residence Inn! Full-size fridge! *sigh of joy*

And having been to KC many times, I know that the best grocery store is Cosentino's, just a few blocks away.

 

Cosentino's has saved my a$$ many times over the years. When I was with the circus, it was the ONLY grocery option available. When I was here with Tootsie and we didn't have fridges or microwaves at the hotel, Cosentino's hot bar and nonperishables selection was there for me. When I lived in KC for a year and had to work or take gigs downtown, I knew I could rush into Cosentino's on a short break and grab one of their awesome pre-made sandwiches. And now they'll stock my fridge while I'm here with Beauty and the Beast. Cosentino's is the best!

 

I got my groceries, got back to the hotel and unpacked, then retrieved my packages from the front desk. Two of them were pieces for my Grey Stuff costume; the hat is from eBay and the sweater from Poshmark. Each one was $10. They match better than I expected!!

 

The third was a piece of merch from Hazbin Hotel, Alastor's mug that he uses in a scene of the show.

Shown here with the Alastor shot glass I picked up at Hot Topic in whatever-city-that-was a few weeks ago.

 

Since we have trunks on this tour I thought it would be nice to travel a real coffee mug. For one thing the band has our own Nespresso machine which we set up in each theater. For another, a real mug is nicer than my plastic Aeropress cup and better than using a bunch of disposable hotel cups. I've no excuse for the shot glass, though :p

 

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TUESDAY

 

I was up early to raid the hotel breakfast. Replenished my single-serve peanut butter stash, stole some bagels and fruit for the week, and will be back to liberate some walnuts and pumpkin seeds in a day or two, muahahaha :P

 

A slow morning of working on Foodie Finds and meal planning. I am feeling better and am glad I didn't waste the antibiotics on whatever-this-is-green-snot-illness is. We hit the 10-day mark and it was like a switch had flipped and I was on the mend. Highlight text for possible TMI: (yesterday during travel I had very obnoxious persistent postnasal drip that was making me choke and cough (I wore a mask but still felt bad to be The Cougher at the airport!) Today I notice that my throat is a lot less sore, the mucus is thinner, and it's clear yellow instead of the thick cloudy yellow that was coming out of my nose, or the disgusting green/grey semi-solid chunks that were coming out of my throat. The green stuff is gone so I think we are over the hump.) And I can still decide to use the antibiotics if anything changes.

 

I tried to take it easy today, still, because there's a lot I wanna do throughout the week and would like to be recovered for that. I did explore the hotel to find a stairwell since I'm on the 2nd floor and there's no need for an elevator when I can easily walk. Read my book. Had some Throat Coat tea. Packed dinner and snacks.

 

Around 3:15 I walked to the theater. I've played Kansas City Music Hall many times and I do not like it. From the outside it looks like a prison or a bunker, and the pit is narrow and cramped. I call it "the Art Deco prison."

 

My spot in the pit. Usually I keep both trombones to my left, but it is so cramped here that I can't do that. Instead I have to shove my Aviom to the other side of my music stand and put my tenor trombone where the Aviom would normally be, in front of my right knee.

 

This setup did work well, though all week I will have to move deliberately and carefully to avoid hitting my instruments against each other or the wall. As if that weren't enough, it's also a really loud pit. Tim (trumpet) has asked me to play more quietly in this city, and I don't want to give him hearing damage so of course I'll try. Maybe in the next few days I'll get over it/get used to it. 

The opening night show went well regardless of all that. It sounded like a nice crowd.

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Wednesday: A bunch of errands including washing my tenor trombone, printing the signage for my Halloween costume, and dropping off a sweater at a thrift store. Watching the Hazbin Hotel Season 2 premiere! And one evening show.

Thursday: Foodie Finds including a local KC BBQ joint and a handmade ice cream shop, followed by a musician's union meeting. Probably washing the bass trombone too. One evening show.

Comments

[pineapple_sour]

Glad you seem to be getting over the illness hump!

I suppose the good thing about touring is if you don't like a venue, you'll move on to the next one soon enough.

[taz_39]

Thanks. Hopefully this is the last one for the year.

Yep, that's one good thing about touring, you can leave those sucky venues behind ya. Local musicians have to call that home base (I'd be SO MAD if that were my pit!) The downside is that you're constantly having to adjust to new spaces and acoustics (as I'm sure you know.) Opening night is annoying because you want to do your very best but there just IS an adjustment period that requires time in the space.

[brittdreams]

Ah the joys of a small airport. I fly out of a small one and they have LOTS of signs up to let people know that TSA does not open until two hours before a flight. People still do though.

[taz_39]

Ah well! Me and my weird luggage like to get there early anyway in case my oatmeal container arouses suspicion or whatever haha