The Isley Brothers are set to headline Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City on Saturday, September 26, for a concert billed as “Rhythm & Cigars,” a show sponsored by Compadres Premium Cigars that pairs the legendary soul group’s live set with an outdoor terrace smoking lounge. The performance was promoted locally on FOX 4 Kansas City television broadcasts ahead of the date, and it lands at a moment when the historic auditorium itself is in the middle of a major civic makeover.
According to FOX4KC.com, the show is being promoted as part of the station’s Great Day KC programming, tying the concert date directly to the venue and its sponsor. Ticket listings for the event, detailed by Ticketmaster, list JUBU as a special guest, with the cigar lounge set up on an outdoor terrace to accommodate the venue’s indoor smoking restrictions.
A Landmark Venue Riding a Wave of New Investment
Municipal Auditorium isn’t just any concert hall. Opened in 1935 as an Art Deco landmark in downtown Kansas City, the building seats roughly 10,700 people, according to Ticketmaster’s venue history. That legacy is now colliding with a fresh round of public investment: Kansas City voters approved a $100 million general obligation bond measure in August, with about $40 million earmarked specifically for repairs and renovations at the auditorium, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the bond measure covering Bartle Hall and City Hall.
The funding push comes as the building works to shed a growing list of deferred maintenance needs, and it isn’t the only sign of the auditorium’s expanding footprint. The venue is also returning in 2026 as the primary home court for the UMKC Roos men’s basketball team under a revenue management deal with Playfly Sports, a commercial arrangement the report notes marks a return after the team had played its home games elsewhere. Between the concert bookings, the bond-funded repairs, and the college basketball deal, Municipal Auditorium is positioning itself as a multi-use hub for downtown Kansas City rather than a fading relic of its Final Four glory days.
Six Decades of Hits and a Growing List of Honors
The Isley Brothers arrive in Kansas City carrying a chart legacy few acts can match. The group originated in Cincinnati and formed in the early 1950s, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ronald Isley has made Billboard appearances across eight decades…