Kottonmouth Kings come back to the Webster after 15 years

The SoCal hip-hop crew's first Hartford show since 2011 lands in the Webster Underground on Sunday, Nov. 8, with a new EP in tow.

The last time Kottonmouth Kings played Hartford, it was March 30, 2011, at the Webster. A lot of the people who were in that room are going to want to know: on Sunday, Nov. 8, the band is back on Webster Street, this time downstairs in the Webster Underground.

The Webster's events page lists the show as all ages, presented by Concert Crave, with doors at 7 p.m. and the music at 8. Tickets are linked from that page. The date was announced Oct. 21, which gives Hartford a little under three weeks' notice — about a week and a half from when you're reading this.

Fifteen and a half years is a long gap for a band that has toured as steadily as Kottonmouth Kings. The Hartford stop sits in a run of November dates through the Northeast and Midwest; a tour listing has them in Harrisburg, Pa., the night before and in Hobart, Ind., three days after.

What's new is the music. The band has been promoting a new EP, *California Burning*, and debuted a music video for the title track this month, per V13. Expect the new songs alongside the older material.

Fifteen and a half years is a long gap — and the Underground is a smaller, closer room than the one they left.

The room matters here. In 2011 they played the Webster's main theater. This time it's the Underground, the venue's downstairs space at 31 Webster St., which our listing puts at around 1,200. It's a different kind of night: lower ceiling, closer quarters, the crowd right up against the stage. For a band whose fans have been waiting more than a decade, that closeness is a feature.

A Sunday show has its own rhythm. Doors at 7 and an 8 o'clock start means the night should wrap at a reasonable hour, and all ages means the fans who were too young to get into the 2011 show — or weren't born yet — can come too. Some of those 2011 fans may now be bringing their kids.

If you're going, check the Webster's page for ticket prices before the weekend and plan to get there close to doors; the Underground fills from the front. And if you were at the Webster in March 2011, this is your chance to see what's changed — and what hasn't.

Sources: Events — The Webster (thewebsterct.com); The Webster Theater — tickets (brief link) (webstertheater.com); THE WEBSTER UNDERGROUND — Etix (etix.com); Kottonmouth Kings Debut 'California Burning' Music Video — V13 (v13.net); Kottonmouth Kings — Instagram (instagram.com); Kottonmouth Kings tour dates — Hypebot concerts (concerts.hypebot.com)