Caroline Rose comes back to recordBar with a new album to unpack

Nearly three years after their last Kansas City show in the same room, Caroline Rose returns Friday, March 12, with Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall.

In April 2024, Caroline Rose played recordBar. In March 2027, Caroline Rose plays recordBar again. In between came two records, a run opening for Modest Mouse and an album title long enough to need its own line on the marquee. Kansas City gets to hear the newest one up close.

Caroline Rose plays recordBar on Friday, March 12, 2027. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $36.55 through OpenDate. It was announced Oct. 20 and is Rose's first Kansas City show since April 24, 2024, in the same room.

The reason to go is the new album. Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall came out Oct. 23 on SUCK Records, after Rose announced it in August with the single "Chow Mein," as Stereogum and Under the Radar reported. Pollstar covered the same announcement alongside a batch of fall appearances. In a September conversation with Michigan Public, the framing was that Rose threw out the rulebook on this one.

It is not the only thing Rose has put out since their last visit. The year before, they released year of the slug, a record that went out only on vinyl and through Bandcamp, a choice that kept it more or less off the streaming radar for casual listeners. If you were at recordBar in 2024 and have not checked in since, there is a lot of catching up to do.

The fall kept Rose busy on the road. They spent September and October opening for Modest Mouse across North America, including a Sept. 29 stop at The Sylvee in Madison, and then crossed the Atlantic for a string of in-store performances and signings in the UK and Europe running from Oct. 28 into early November. By March, the new songs will have had a season of live miles on them, and a headline set in a club this size is where they get to stretch out instead of fitting into an opener's slot.

recordBar holds about 400 people, which is the right size for an artist who works the room as much as the setlist. It is close enough that the jokes land, and small enough that a quiet song stays quiet. For a Friday night in March, that is about as good a setup as you can ask for.

In between came two records, a run opening for Modest Mouse and an album title long enough to need its own line on the marquee.

Some artists come back to a city and size up. Rose is coming back to the same room, with more songs than last time and a reason to play them. That is worth a Friday.

Sources: Stereogum: Caroline Rose announces new album Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall (stereogum.com); Under the Radar: Caroline Rose announces new album, shares Chow Mein (undertheradarmag.com); Pollstar: Caroline Rose Announces New Album, Adds Fall Appearances (news.pollstar.com); Michigan Public: How Caroline Rose threw out the rulebook on their latest album (michiganpublic.org); Under the Radar: Caroline Rose new album, tour (undertheradarmag.com); JamBase listing (jambase.com)