It was the end of the seventies. Surrounded by wheat fields, cowboys, and cars, four bespectacled misfits in Kansas — Bill Goffrier, Brent Giessmann, John Nichols, and Ron Klaus — grabbed instruments and blasted out “a ravenous strain of rock ‘n’ roll” as tuneful, brainy, and enthralling as anything coming from the coasts. They worshipped the Stooges and witnessed the Sex Pistols bring punk to the Great Plains, igniting an uncontrolled prairie fire to do-it-themselves within them. As the Embarrassment, they threw a house-wrecking party and invited “a thousand loving friends” into their secret world of “weirdo new wave freaks” in Wichita and beyond. They played Chicago, D.C., and New York, drawing the attention of influential figures like Allen Ginsberg, John Cale, and Jonathan Demme — but their independence and refusal to sell out sparked tension within the group and kept mainstream success at bay. Through original interviews, restored concert footage, and appearances by fans including Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, and Thomas Frank, this documentary shows how the Embarrassment rose out of nowhere to become a post-punk legend that's almost been forgotten — until now.
Also sponsored by Art Busch & JoAnn Lofland, Jeff & Janice Van Sickle, Hatman Jack's, Vortex Souvenir, Ron & Lee Starkel, Planet Hair, House of Schwan, Pizza Hut + Taco Bell.
Community Partner Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum
More information on The Embarrassment:
Obtuse. Agitated. Art Punk. Neurotic. Gnarly. Gangly. Awkward. Nervous. Punk/Art/Pop. Fractured. It’s incredible how many adjectives can be written about a band when people futilely attempt to describe something they can’t fully grasp. The Village Voice’s long-time chief music critic, Robert Christgau, called them a “great lost American band.”
The Embarrassment formed in Wichita, Kansas, in 1979. The original members’ Brent “Woody” Giessmann (drums), Bill Goffrier (guitar, backing vocals), and John Nichols (vocals, organ), all grew up together in the same apartment complex in Wichita and started writing songs together while in grade school. They played as a trio as they got older until Woody met Ron Klaus (bass) in college to complete the lineup.
They released their debut vinyl single in 1980 and started playing live shows in Wichita, Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. They recorded extended play (EP) records, and albums, and appear on many compilations. The band gained a cult following and were able to headline their own national tours, as well as doing performances with Iggy Pop, William S. Burroughs, and John Cale, amongst others.
Towards the end of 1983, the band decided that it was best for each member to pursue their own interests, musical and otherwise. The band never officially “broke up” and stayed friends, continuing to write music together.
Since then, the band has performed anniversary shows in Wichita, Lawrence, New York, and New Jersey, keeping the fire burning for the members of the group as well as their audience. Their insatiable fans, still clamoring for more recordings by the band, have inspired the release of solo albums, appearances in compilations, and reissues of their previous recordings in the years since, continuing to build their fan base.
The Embarrassment influenced others in the music industry. R. E. M. performed the Embos’ song “Sex Drive,” and Boston’s Dumptruck later released their own cover version of it. Japan’s Shonen Knife recorded a cover of the Embos’ “Faith Healer,” learning of it through the band the Big Dipper, Goffrier’s Boston-based band which often revived Embarrassment songs. In 2020, The Embarrassment was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.
The Embarrassment will come together, once again, for the 20th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival to perform on the stage of the historic Orpheum Theater with the three original members, Geissmann, Goffrier, and Nichols. Tom Brewitt, who previously played with Goffrier and Giessmann in the Big Dipper, will be standing in for bass player Ron Klaus who is believed to be on an adventure somewhere in the middle of the ocean. The concert will follow the debut of a feature-length documentary, “We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment,” chronicling the rise, heyday, and fall of an iconic yet nearly forgotten post-punk band from Kansas.
Discography - https://www.embos.org/discography.htm
Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/CoIc
It was the end of the seventies. Surrounded by wheat fields, cowboys, and cars, four bespectacled misfits in Kansas — Bill Goffrier, Brent Giessmann, John Nichols, and Ron Klaus — grabbed instruments and blasted out “a ravenous strain of rock ‘n’ roll” as tuneful, brainy, and enthralling as anything coming from the coasts. They worshipped the Stooges and witnessed the Sex Pistols bring punk to the Great Plains, igniting an uncontrolled prairie fire to do-it-themselves within them. As the Embarrassment, they threw a house-wrecking party and invited “a thousand loving friends” into their secret world of “weirdo new wave freaks” in Wichita and beyond. They played Chicago, D.C., and New York, drawing the attention of influential figures like Allen Ginsberg, John Cale, and Jonathan Demme — but their independence and refusal to sell out sparked tension within the group and kept mainstream success at bay. Through original interviews, restored concert footage, and appearances by fans including Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, and Thomas Frank, this documentary shows how the Embarrassment rose out of nowhere to become a post-punk legend that's almost been forgotten — until now.
Also sponsored by Art Busch & JoAnn Lofland, Jeff & Janice Van Sickle, Hatman Jack's, Vortex Souvenir, Ron & Lee Starkel, Planet Hair, House of Schwan, Pizza Hut + Taco Bell.
Community Partner Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum
More information on The Embarrassment:
Obtuse. Agitated. Art Punk. Neurotic. Gnarly. Gangly. Awkward. Nervous. Punk/Art/Pop. Fractured. It’s incredible how many adjectives can be written about a band when people futilely attempt to describe something they can’t fully grasp. The Village Voice’s long-time chief music critic, Robert Christgau, called them a “great lost American band.”
The Embarrassment formed in Wichita, Kansas, in 1979. The original members’ Brent “Woody” Giessmann (drums), Bill Goffrier (guitar, backing vocals), and John Nichols (vocals, organ), all grew up together in the same apartment complex in Wichita and started writing songs together while in grade school. They played as a trio as they got older until Woody met Ron Klaus (bass) in college to complete the lineup.
They released their debut vinyl single in 1980 and started playing live shows in Wichita, Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. They recorded extended play (EP) records, and albums, and appear on many compilations. The band gained a cult following and were able to headline their own national tours, as well as doing performances with Iggy Pop, William S. Burroughs, and John Cale, amongst others.
Towards the end of 1983, the band decided that it was best for each member to pursue their own interests, musical and otherwise. The band never officially “broke up” and stayed friends, continuing to write music together.
Since then, the band has performed anniversary shows in Wichita, Lawrence, New York, and New Jersey, keeping the fire burning for the members of the group as well as their audience. Their insatiable fans, still clamoring for more recordings by the band, have inspired the release of solo albums, appearances in compilations, and reissues of their previous recordings in the years since, continuing to build their fan base.
The Embarrassment influenced others in the music industry. R. E. M. performed the Embos’ song “Sex Drive,” and Boston’s Dumptruck later released their own cover version of it. Japan’s Shonen Knife recorded a cover of the Embos’ “Faith Healer,” learning of it through the band the Big Dipper, Goffrier’s Boston-based band which often revived Embarrassment songs. In 2020, The Embarrassment was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.
The Embarrassment will come together, once again, for the 20th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival to perform on the stage of the historic Orpheum Theater with the three original members, Geissmann, Goffrier, and Nichols. Tom Brewitt, who previously played with Goffrier and Giessmann in the Big Dipper, will be standing in for bass player Ron Klaus who is believed to be on an adventure somewhere in the middle of the ocean. The concert will follow the debut of a feature-length documentary, “We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment,” chronicling the rise, heyday, and fall of an iconic yet nearly forgotten post-punk band from Kansas.
Discography - https://www.embos.org/discography.htm
Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/CoIc