In the 1970s, a group of people in Japan who had become disillusioned with society decided to remove themselves from urban centers. “I hate to say ‘drop out’ because that makes them sound like a bunch of hippies,” says Daniel Rosen, speaking on behalf of the Kodo Drummers, who perform at Lawrence’s Lied Center on Tuesday. Nonetheless, this band of…
15 Thursday Margaret Smith, known for her dry, deadpan comedic style, fears that what her therapist calls “the light at the end of the tunnel” is actually a train. Fortunately for Smith, Kansas City has no subway system, so she’ll have nothing to fear when she performs at Stanford Glazer’s Comedy Club, 9601 B Metcalf in Overland Park. This…
A getaway to the azure waters and powdery white beaches of the Caribbean sounds practically intoxicating during the gray, chilly days of February. Unfortunately, there’s the inconvenience of having to pay for the airfare, the hotel and that expensive but potent Planter’s Punch served at the cabana. I’m too broke to hop on the next plane to Antigua, but…
It tastes good, but can you dance to it? Our sexiest young pop music stars, from Jennifer Lopez to Ricky Martin, are of Latin origin, and the equally sexy and spicy cuisine of Latin America — which is tastefully represented in many of the dishes at El Caribe — is making a splash too. In Lawrence, La Parilla (814 Massachusetts…
Wendy Walsh had been at home breast-feeding for two years by the time her grand opus, The Boyfriend Test: How to Evaluate His Potential Before You Lose Your Heart, was published. “It’s really just a look back, a reflection on my single life,” she says contentedly, having reached a state of happy domestic cohabitation. “They say hindsight is 20/20.” Walsh…
If you’ve ever been in a New York City delicatessen, you know that Kansas City’s New York Bakery and Delicatessen really looks like an inner-city deli. But where’s the seriously ethnic stuff — such as blintzes and matzo ball soup — that you’d easily find in Manhattan? Over near the state line, the popular d’Bronx Deli (3904 W. 39th Street)…
A friend of mine, a native New Yorker who now lives in Kansas City, has firm ideas of what a delicatessen should offer: “Fresh breads, good meats and cheeses, crunchy dill pickles, matzo ball soup, a grilled Reuben sandwich and a decent slice of cheesecake.” You could throw in bagels and bialys, gefilte fish, lox and knishes. These are the…
8 Thursday Guy Forsyth’s CD Steak looks like a raw cut of beef and has been described by the Houston Press as “thick, juicy and more than enough for one sitting.” Tonight at the Grand Emporium, Forsyth serves up a classic blues and rockabilly show fit for even Cowtown’s vegetarian music lovers. For information, call 816-531-7557. 9 Friday Juan…
When gay people come out, the declarations are usually made before a parent, friend or sibling over coffee or leftovers — not (regardless of how Ellen Degeneres did it) in a public forum. With The Man Who Was Too Loud, however, artist Peter Max Lawrence comes out with an exhibition of his work at the Kansas City, Kansas, Public…
Quality Hill Playhouse’s new cabaret, Love Is Here to Stay, assertively shows off Kent Barnhart’s knack for compiling songs of the 20th century around a theme — here, romance. But the show’s bittersweet aftertaste suggests the alternate title, If Love Is Here to Stay. Though there are more than a dozen Gershwin tunes of the “moon … June … croon”…
When Sophie Treadwell wrote Machinal in 1927, she shared with such colleagues as Edith Wharton and Dorothy Parker a profound disillusionment of the options afforded the contemporary woman. Maybe Parker was more blithe about it and Wharton more enduring, but Treadwell’s message was undoubtedly apropos for an age caught in an industrial eddy. The arc of a life that…
The Real Tuesday Weld isn’t actually the real Tuesday Weld at all. Rather, the bona fide Tuesday Weld is an alluring actress who made a name for herself on TV’s The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis playing Thalia Menninger before she broke into movies. Most recently she appeared in the Keanu Reeves bomb Feeling Minnesota, but her résumé also boasts…
On the opening cut of this two-disc set of remixes, Junior Vasquez uses instrumental tracks by Pre YMO to lay down his house-music thesis. He takes simple percussive figures and layers them into luxurious polyrhythms that are, yes, intellectually stimulating, but that’s a side benefit. These tracks are also hypnotically transcendental, but that’s not really the fundamental point. The sinewy…
It’s unfair to expect perfection from a debut, and some might argue that it’s unrealistic to demand a great deal of originality. As long as the band promises future rewards, then obvious influences and uneven quality get a one-time free pass. By this standard, Coldplay’s debut album, Parachutes, is a success. There’s nothing dreadfully boring or offensively bad here, but…
Lest there be any confusion, the fine print of Rush bassist and singer Geddy Lee’s solo debut, My Favorite Headache, declares that all eleven songs were “written and composed by Geddy Lee and Ben Mink.” Written and composed. To think that Prince has been missing out on that extra credit all these years. Okay, so that really means that Lee…
Despite the crass commercialization of Christmas, the winter holiday season does maintain a sense of compassion and charity; shoppers often temper their consumption with donations to the less fortunate. The corporate co-opting of love has not inspired the same generosity, but two area benefit shows offer music fans the opportunity to tender a gift with longer-lasting impact than quickly…
The bass player leans close to the microphone, peers over narrow shades and addresses a hooting crowd. From the back of the theater, the combination of his ponytail, high hairline and dark glasses could pass for the visage of Rush singer Geddy Lee. Come closer, and the man’s height and girth give him away. The impostor, George Whitlow of Thunderhead,…
David Rakestraw II and Jason Heller look at each other in silence. They open the pickup doors and put their hands outside, like the deputies tell them to. Arms held high, they walk backward in the dark past the giant gray fenders of Heller’s ’92 Dodge, past the trailer crowded with cattle. The seven cows and three calves shift uneasily,…
On any given day, you’ll likely find Willie Jarrett and Tony Cecena at Indian Springs Mall with a few dozen of their gray-haired buddies. Beginning at 9 a.m., they walk power laps around the spacious concourse and catch up on gossip. But they rarely spend a dime at the stores. “Where you gonna shop at?” Jarrett asks, gesturing toward a…
When the lights finally came up in the Washington, D.C., movie theater, Leonard Nimoy sat still, silent, and a bit shaken. He could scarcely believe what he had seen—and what he had not seen. The movie was beautiful, but beneath the surface sheen, there was no heart, no soul. It had been hard enough for Nimoy to once again…
“Hello, Kansas City,” shouted guitarist Jim Suptic, greeting arena-rock regulars with a familiar phrase before offering a twist. “We’re the Get Up Kids, and in case you didn’t know this, we’re from Kansas City too.” A sizable roar followed, boosted both by scenesters whose chests swelled with pride to see the Kids playing at a large KC venue for the…
The apocalypse is upon us! Kansas Citians who just can’t wait for the Rapture can get a preview of it now that Left Behind has risen straight up out of video. The thriller is based on Tim LaHaye’s popular pulp novels about a group of Antichrist-fighting folks who remain on earth after faithful Christians evaporate into heaven. The official Left…
City Limits Chain reaction: Fine with me if KC’s VIPs don’t have the cajones to fix downtown (C.J. Janovy’s “Chamber Maids,” January 18). Is it really an improvement that Denver’s downtown is now homogenized like the rest of this country? I hope when they do fix downtown they do it KC-style, not Denver-, NYC-, Minneapolis-, Chicago-, Dallas-, Orlando- or L.A.-style….
This is the time of year when homemade “I lost 40 pounds” signs pop up on every street corner, overpass and telephone pole from Olathe to Liberty. Next winter, look for this message on Kauffman Stadium: “We spent $30 million and lost our asses … while working part time at home.” After Alex Rodriguez signed a ten-year, $250 million deal…
