Knuckleheads Saloon

Great music venue. Way off the beaten path but nice sound. Seating leaves a little to be desired but cool space overall.

Great cozy little venue that has 3 different stages! There’s nothing better than going to a show and being so close to the bands, and 99% of the time, you’ll be able to easily meet the artists and see them mingling with the crowd before/​after sets. They bring in a great variety of artists, and I love that so many local artists play there regularly. Their drinks are always tasty, service is fast, and they even have a small menu of food items available (their cheeseburgers are great!). The owners, Frank & Mary, are there just about every night and are great people. I can’t go on long enough about how great this venue is! Definitely go check it out. The patrons are all one big happy family. Just about every music lover will find a show they want to attend. It’s a little confusing to get to, as it’s located in a residential looking area (there’s plenty of other businesses close by), but once you find it, it will win your heart over!

I can’t think of a similar venue in KC that offers so much local flair and great music. Whether you are a biker, lawyer, doctor, plumber, Governor (yes, I saw Gov. Sebelius dancing to long tall Marcia Ball here) this place is welcoming and safe. While the geography may be daunting to find, once you are there, it’s safe and no one bothers you. Easy access to I-​35 from Front street and easy access from the City Market along Front street as well. The proprietor (Frank) has done an excellent job at improving this venue year after year. Big name acts, food service, reserved seats, merchandise, local charitable events are always improving. Very laid back atmosphere and eclectic — no one bothers you as everyone is here for the same reason — music. The train whistle somehow is always timed to coincide with the band’s current song !

Excellent venue to see live music. I was shocked by how big the space was but how intimate the sound was.

This place was GREAT!
My boyfriend and I went to a show here the other night and we were very impressed. The drinks were reasonably priced, the atmosphere very relaxed, and the sound quality was excellent. We stood in the area in front of the stage, but from what I could see, it didn’t really look like there was a bad seat in the house. Our tickets were pretty inexpensive, as well. Parking was fine, the show ended and we were out the door of the venue, in our car, and back on the road within five minutes. We will definitely be looking to attend more shows here in the future!

Love this bar! It is a dive in the best way possible. Be sure to come with a group and on a night when you are excited about the band and you’ll have a fantastic time.

Nothing is better than a biker bar with live music. Always a fun time here. Drinks are cheap and usually there is a jam session on weekends before the main act which is free. Only downside is there is outside smoking and a non smoking section– would be nice if the smokers stayed in the smoking section so the non smokers could enjoy the «smoke free area». Other than that it is a great spot.

Who doesn’t love Knuckleheads? The event space is unique, especially if you get to enjoy the outside stage. It’s like an adult, musical playground patched together with a wide variety of recycled materials. Live music is only enhanced by the loud horns of the trains going by. I love that Knuckleheads doesn’t pigeonhole themselves by playing only one type of music. Check their calendar, you can find a little bit of everything. I called twice to ask about a recent show and about bringing an underage nephew and they were very helpful answering my questions and said of my teenage nephew, «Of course we’d love to have him here!» Accompanied by an adult at all times, of course. They had a water cooler outside by the bar for easy access to cold water on a hot day. I wish they had a menu on their website but I know on a recent visit I enjoyed deep fried macaroni and cheese bites. Yum! And I really appreciate that they have hosted the Tour de Bier for at least the last two years (maybe more?). I’m glad they open up their place to a bunch of sweaty bikers in spandex, to hang out with a bunch of other sweaty bikers in denim and leather. What a crowd!

I love this place! If you want to hear some great music from local performers or artist famous around the world then this is the place for you. Open jam on Sunday’s is so relaxed and fun. Don’t let the diverse crowd scare you away. Everyone is welcome here. There is always something fun going on at knuckleheads.

I have been here a few times over the last couple of years. I have seen shows in all three stages — the outdoor stage, the adjacent indoor stage and the smaller and very intimate stage that is in an enclosed room. I’ve mainly come to see Blues and local bands, but Knuckleheads hosts all genres of music. The sound systems are great, the drinks are easy to get with several bars and wait staff walking around and the food looks decent, although I’ve never had any. There are several parking lots around the bar, so parking has never been an issue. It’s definitely an older crowd — and you don’t have to dress up. If you like live music, you definitely need to make a trip here.

Came with friends with no expectations. Found a diamond in the rough. Anyone who wanted to play instruments was allowed on stage to play and play they do. The music is awesome! Service with a smile and very personal. Felt like a regular. Will come again and bring friends!

Oh. My. God. This place.
It’s the mother church of live music in Kansas City for my money. Or at least the kind of music I like to listen to.
Directions: past the massive power plant spewing out polluted steam, down the wrong side of the tracks, past the gnarly looking fields where surely a body or two has been dumped, watch out for the worn out sofa someone illegally dumped not quite in the ditch, slow down over the bumpy tracks and be prepared to wait 20 minutes for the train, past the riverboat casino that has nothing to be with really being a boat. Got it? When you’re pretty sure you’re lost and there couldn’t possibly be a business down here look for a music venue underneath an overpass and next to train tracks.
This place is a country song waiting to be written. You can’t build places like this. They’re just slowly born this way over time. I love this place and the bands that play here. Long live Knuckleheads.

Frank, the owner, has created the worlds greatest honky-​tonk, biker bar, roadhouse, blues bar combo ever. Music of all types is performed loots of country, blues and rock. A scant 20 feet from a very busy rail line this is a one of a kind place with cheap beer. Best in the world.

Great music. Gospel lounge or main indoor stage. Cold cheap beer. Food is there if u want it. This is a true kc gem.

Any place that holds a national act concert and charges $ 3.50 for a tall boy beer is worthy of a 5-​star review in my book. I’ve been here twice. Once for a Unilocal Elite event last year and I saw Eric Johnson live in concert here. It’s an intimate yet great venue for seeing GREAT live music.
They also have a kitchen here which I did not get to try out, but it’s good to know there is hot food available if you have a hankering for some vittles. I did get a look at a menu. It seemed like a lot of fried food and burger type stuff. I’m sure it’s perfect for a drinking environment and live music.
If there is an obstructed view or bad seat in the outdoor venue, I certainly didn’t see it. There is also a separate inside bar as well as a retail shop. I really enjoyed the stage set up and being able to hear everything crystal clear as well as see from the 2^nd story balcony where we were sitting.
I would happily come back to this venue to see live music any time. I really enjoyed the set up, the sound, the performance, and the drink prices. Knuckleheads is a good spot for live music in Kansas CIty for sure.

Knuckleheads is the best place for music in Kansas City. The setting is perfect for blues, Americana, southern rock and/​or country. When I say «country» I am talking about the authentic variety replete with fiddles and steel guitars in which if the man is singing about going to prison, you take him seriously.
The setting is a wooden honky-​tonk bar connected to an outdoor music venue — something you could have brought from back in time somewhere. The surrounding Cargill plant and the nearby railroad tracks add to the raw American ambiance.
My concert of choice was a Steve Earle concert with a wonderful opening band called The Mastersons that also covered fiddle, piano, electric guitar, steel guitar and vocals duty for Steve. At one point Earle was serendipitously singing a song about trains (this is country after all) when a train started rolling by. The venue is the perfect setting for such a concert as everyone can see the musicians very close. There is not a bad seat in the house in this intimate setting and the stage is close to the front of the crowd.
This place is certainly not for the pretentious. For those that can plug in Junior Brown in their Pandora Station and enjoy the outcome and appreciate music in a setting like I described above, Knuckleheads is a must.

Knucklehead’s is pretty much the perfect dive bar. The outdoor stage has hosted a wild variety of jazz, rock, country & blues acts over the years… never seen a bad show here. The sound system is top-​notch, even though the place looks like it’s held together with baling wire, so you’re going to hear it perfectly. Cheap beer at the outdoor bar, or a wider variety of mixed drinks & such at the larger indoor bar. The food is standard bar-​dive food — fried mushrooms, nachos, burgers — but it comes out fairly quickly after you order at the window. No wait service, they give you a buzzer & you go to the window to pick it up when it’s ready. Cash only, don’t try to use your credit card here. Parking is pretty decent, they have three gravel lots across the street that they’ll direct you into, so it’s not totally haphazard. Check the calendar, they always seem to have a ton of interesting shows coming up.

Talk about an old throwback.
Knucklehead’s is a music venue where the lights are hot, drinks are ice cold, shirt collars are blue and a perfect place to let your hair down and have a good olé time.
Much of the music is slanted towards the old-​country honky tonk hepcats, but you’ll also see some good blues and rock artists come through and play on either the indoor or outdoor stage. I will say that if you know your inside show is going to be busy you might want to get there early because the sight lines diminish as you get farther back.
Another small note, as much as I love this venue, it is literally in the middle of the nowhere that is the East Bottoms. If you’re having a good time, which I guarantee you will, please make sure that somebody in your group is okay to drive or make sure you bring some extra cash for a cab because there’s nothing close that you can walk to.

I have been here a couple of times now, and both experiences were superb. I think this venue is unique in Kansas City. First, do your research before making the trip. You’re going to travel through some run-​down parts. I would guess whoever owns this got it for dirt cheap since the train runs about ten feet away from the side of the building. Parking is pretty sketch if you’re attending a larger function than what their parking lots accommodate. You’ll walk through lots of broken glass to get to Knuckleheads.
Once you are there, you have some decisions to make. Here are my suggestions: sit in the balcony if you can! You will have an excellent view of the stage if it is a show on the outdoor stage. Do not sit at the picnic tables in front of the outdoor sections. While your seat will feel great up until showtime, once people crowd into the front of the stage area, you will be looking at hineys and lose any view of the show you thought you had.
When the weather is cold, a smaller stage is indoors which means a much, much smaller crowd can be accommodated. I haven’t ever been to an indoor show, but i am sure the dynamics would change. Whatever the case, I feel like much of KC isn’t aware of exactly what this hidden gem offers. I kind of do not want to post this review, but being selfish isn’t nice, so here goes!

Knucklehead’s is as perfect a venue for good, old country music as you’re going to find. I love the music scene in Nashville and Austin, but when exploring those cities I never did find a venue that is as raw and real as Knucklehead’s.
The last show that I saw here was Billy Joe Shaver, a legendary older country musician who owns the stage when he’s on it. Maybe it’s all the pictures on the wall of him around the joint, but I get the feeling he’s at home here every time he plays. What’s even better is after the show the musicians can mingle with the crowd and you can have a few drinks with them more often than not.
Whether the back patio is open or not, you’re bound to have a good time here with some great music and colorful characters.
*Last note: I saw the Black Keys at Sprint Center back in April and could not help but think how much better the show would be in a setting like Knucklehead’s. If you’ve ever been somewhat bored at a large venue event like I was there, then check Knucklehead’s weird website calendar and get some friends together for it.