30 years ago… Go Kart plays the White Rabbit in Austin, Texas during the 1995 SXSW Music Festival.
They were ambassadors of Kansas City’s music scene…
Go Kart performed at the legendary festival on March 18, 1995.
This is the cover art for the album "Swank" by Go Kart.
Six degrees of separation (or less).
My guitar instructor in the early-to-mid-‘90s, Brian Sullivan, also happened to be in an Alternative rock band (Go Kart). The band became a staple of our area’s live music scene, playing at some of our city’s most storied bars and venues, along with those located in various college towns across our region. I saw them live at The Hurricane in Westport (Kansas City). Go Kart would ultimately record a single and looked to be on the brink of greater success, as they later recorded a full-length, 10-song album (Swank) and performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in 1995.
Hoping to be discovered.
Around 3,600 bands reportedly sent audition tapes to festival organizers, each hoping for a chance to perform live and be discovered. A little over 500 acts, including Go Kart, received an invitation. The band played the legendary White Rabbit on March 18, 1995. The former venue, located along Austin’s Sixth Street entertainment district, was dedicated to live music, developing upcoming local and regional acts.
March 18, 1995: Go Kart live at the White Rabbit in Austin, Texas during the 1995 SXSW Music Festival.
Featured in The Kansas City Star - Sunday, March 26, 1995
The band Sublime also played the White Rabbit the night before. Their performance turned into an after-hours encore and landed the band on the cover of USA Today. Reportedly in attendance for the Sublime show were “Vans Warped Tour” founder Kevin Lyman, as well as punk promoter Paul Tollett of “Goldenvoice”.
In April 2000, as Go Kart prepared for its grand finale at Davey’s Uptown in Kansas City, the band’s drummer, Scotty Rex, told writer J.J. Hensley of The Pitch, “We’ve had a cool little local following, but we haven’t been touring as much as we used to. We got to do some cool stuff, though, like playing South by Southwest, and we won some Ticketmaster thing and got to fly to Cleveland to play. So we got to do a couple of rock star-ish things along the way.”
A second act.
Go Kart co-founder and guitarist Larry Groce later joined with two other legendary Kansas City-area musicians to form one of the best cover bands around, the Zeros. I have been a fan of this band since 2005, when my now wife and I saw them perform live at one of our favorite nightclubs (the former Raoul’s Velvet Room) and later at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center (now Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center) for that year’s New Year’s Eve Ball.
The Zeros playing live at Raoul’s Velvet Room in the mid-2000s.
Our first Summer… Me and the Mrs. in 2005.
Source: hyattnye.com (archive)
‘80s Forever!
As described in their promotional materials, “The Zeros offer the most authentic and dedicated 80’s and new wave tribute in the Midwest complete with an electrifying and energetic stage show that is a must-see.” The Zeros have set the standard and continue to serve as an inspiration for other cover bands, including ours!
