Sheryl Crow, barefoot rockers and a 25,000-person blowout
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25,000 people at Fan Fest during The All-American Rejects concert. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
Sheryl Crow and The All-American Rejects turned the city's final World Cup weekend into a two-night blowout that maxed out the National WWI Museum and Memorial lawn.
The big picture: A capacity crowd of 25,000 shut the gates Saturday, ending 18 days of free Fan Fest concerts with the biggest party of the tournament.
The weekend started with Crow, a Missouri native and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, playing an hour long, 11-song set on Friday on the eve of the city's final World Cup match.
- The Grammy Award-winning singer led a Mizzou vs. K-State call and response, tore through a harmonica solo on "Real Gone," and tested an unreleased song.
💭 Abbey's thought bubble: I thought I only knew one song. I left having scream-sung all of them.
- Also, I couldn't stop thinking: Man, I hope I age like Sheryl Crow.
Saturday belonged to The All-American Rejects, who played a sweltering afternoon set hot enough that frontman Tyson Ritter, who walked out barefoot in a Colombia jersey, had to pull on Crocs when the stage started cooking his feet.
- Social media star Gangster Granny, ahead of her 100th birthday, joined the band on stage and threw back a shot while the audience roared.
What they're saying: KC native Mitch Raybine calls the World Cup "an injection of adrenaline into the spirit of Kansas City" and says the ending is bittersweet. "It showed us what we're made of and what we can be."
- "There's a lot of love and spirit being transferred between the locals and visitors," local Katie Proberts tells Axios. "I hope that KC will continue to carry this energy."
The bottom line: The city spent 19 days showing the world how it can party. Now, KC gets to decide what it does with the encore.