There are two kinds of rock shows that are almost universally short on excitement: benefit concerts and gigs held at high schools. This makes Rock for Hope VIII a challenging proposition to say the least, given that the long-running charity event takes place at Shawnee Mission West. But RFH has a history of providing high-quality lineups: Past artists include Ultimate…
Lacking the thuggish mentality of area hardcore-rap denizens and the competitive spirit of the region’s rockers, the brightest up-and-coming hip-hop acts stress positive vibes, verbal skills and top-flight showmanship. Having amassed a solid grassroots audience in the area, these local hip-hoppers are now beginning to convert national heads. Lawrence’s Approach recently inked a deal with Coup d’Etat, home to MC…
Princess Superstar titled her current tour, which recently stopped at the Hurricane, “DJs Are Not Rock Stars.” Technically, that might be true, but big-name spinners attract arena-sized crowds and inspire more motion than a mosh pit. A few turntablists exude charisma (DJ P, Kid Koala), so spectators’ eyes remain fixed on the stage while their bodies gyrate to the rhythms….
It’s a story line that’s fueled countless musical dramas: Take a small-town coffee-house folk singer, drop her in New York City and observe the emotional bruises that result from the uneasy transition. These Coyote Ugly-caliber tales usually offer hard-won happy endings, but in some cases the metamorphosis can be immediate and painless. Dar Williams had no trouble with the transition….
Just a day in the life of Nelson El/Look around, everything came from keeping it real/I thank God every time I sit down to a meal/Hop a plane, bless the mic or drop something you feel — Nelson El, “In the Life,” Chop City, 2001 In April 2003, a day in the life of Nelson El likely involves meetings with…
Home sweet homeland: C.J. Janovy’s “Your Homeland Security Dollars at Work” (Kansas City Strip, April 17) was both funny and sad. I agree with the sentiment of the piece, but isn’t this kind of crap just what the American people deserve for giving in to fear and allowing this “homeland security” gig to get started anyway? It seems to just…
After leading the University of Kansas Jayhawks to college basketball’s title game, the team’s coach, a North Carolina alum, kept his plans for the future shrouded in obscurity. He had once announced his intention to stay during a surreal public ceremony, and gullible observers took comfort in his pledge. When he departed, fans were stunned. Many predicted the worst for…
Torean Walker glanced around at the crowd of women in bikinis and men in beach shorts and thongs, bumping and grinding on the dance floor at Gay Black Pride 2002’s “Paradise Beach Party” at the Best Western on Southwest Boulevard last August. Under flashing lights, a DJ spun hip-hop and house music. Punch flowed freely. Walker was exhausted from planning…
Travis Fox draws himself pretty well. Fox’s photocopied-and-stapled comic book is called Foxymoron. In it, he chronicles conversations about war with people who sound like they’re quoting bumper stickers, his wife’s frustrations with video-store patrons who don’t understand the beauty of the widescreen format, and his fear of the snake that’s living underneath his house. When he’s not doing Foxymoron,…
If there’s anything we like almost as much as coffee and alcohol, it’s Venn diagrams, those two-circle figures that overlap to make a third entity. They just rock (in a nerdy sort of way)! So when we heard about the Daily Dose Bar and Coffee House — which Venn-iliciously encompasses two of our favorite things — we headed out to…
Excuse me, but is that KSHB Channel 41 news anchor Elizabeth Alex escorting that party of five to a table in Lenexa’s Los Chavez (13424 Santa Fe Trail)? Yes, it is the Emmy-nominated news personality, but no, she hasn’t taken a part-time job to supplement her Channel 41 salary. Alex and her husband, Brian Moran, along with Alex’s sister, M.J….
On the first Friday of each month, the downtown art galleries throw open their doors to the art lovers, the gawkers, the socialites, the mixers and the cruisers. “I don’t go to look at the art,” confesses my friend Steve. “I go to look for sex!” Another notoriously cheap friend is more interested in finding free wine and food….
Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft wrote that “searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.” Among those ghoulish destinations, he wrote, were “the carven mausolea of nightmare countries” and “the moonlit towers of ruined Rhine castles.” Now Kansas City has earned a place on the list, too. At the thirteenth annual World Horror Convention, nearly 400 writers, publishers, artists and fans will…
Thursday, April 17, 2003 Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is one of the most-produced plays in the United States. But it’s never been done like this. The English Alternative Theater in Lawrence throws several twists into the classic play about a young man struggling for independence from his family. Most notably, the setting shifts from a small apartment in…
Jello Biafra is busy looking for a few unchallenged minds. Because he’s bringing his national spoken-word tour to Topeka, he’s hopeful about his prospects. “Nowadays it seems as though it’s been a bit more preaching to the choir,” says the Dead Kennedys alum and Alternative Tentacles record-label head who sought the Green Party presidential nomination in 2000. “But I…
A few things learned from the memoirs of Marines who served in Gulf War I: They’re more terrified of being killed by friendly fire than enemy artillery; they’re bored brainless most of the time; they harbor fantasies of being shot, but never somewhere too painful or where it might inflict permanent damage (a shoulder, say, but not a lung); and…
The most shocking film ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar was Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick’s stylized adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ cult novel about a society’s love-hate relationship with violence — “ultraviolence,” it’s called — didn’t win in 1972, but the fact that it made the cut says a lot about how astutely the Academy followed its…
The heirs to Britney Spears’ sparkly pop throne are young female musicians who flout their authenticity (Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton) — or at least pretend to (Avril Lavigne). By contrast, upstart roots-rock artists don’t have prefab teen queens to overthrow — accessibility and raw realness are already trademarks of the genre. This entrenched musical integrity raises alt-country’s required talent quotient…
Lately, hordes of indie rockers have discovered there’s life below the waist. Add Chicago quintet Watchers to a burgeoning list that includes Out Hud, Erase Errata, Radio 4 and GoGoGo Airheart, all of which are finding groove in the art, to paraphrase Deee-Lite. Like those ensembles, Watchers evokes a peculiar strain of brainy Caucasian funk that incubated in New York…
Further Seems Forever’s debut disc featured Mr. Dashboard Confessional himself, Chris Carrabba, on vocals. Carrabba split and proceeded to break hearts and bank accounts while FSF was left floundering. For those over the age of fifteen, this incident was probably met with a shrug of indifference, but emo kids aren’t known for taking anything lightly. Carrabba’s much-debated replacement, Jason Gleason,…
Oldominion we know; they’re the vast, multiethnic crew of MCs, DJs and producers (close to two dozen of ’em at last count) holding down the Pacific Northwest’s thriving alt-hip-hop scene. And we know Onry Ozzborn and Barfly — they’re two of those two dozen, with the better-established Onry’s 2002 release Alone having reached as high as No. 2 on CMJ’s…
Although it sounds more like “classic” Jayhawks than anything since Tomorrow the Green Grass, Rainy Day Music is the first post-Mark Olson Jayhawks record not haunted by Olson’s absence. Even on the Jayhawks’ huge, pop-driven Smile, loyal fans scoured and deconstructed all 48 tracks of the mix, believing Olson’s voice must be hidden in there somewhere. On Rainy Day, fans…
You’ve got to admire electronic-music paragon Richard D. James’ cheek, if nothing else. Although it would be dishonest to say he did all 26 remixes gathered here for the Benjamins, even when he’s phoning it in, James creates some mighty interesting polished turds (see Jesus Jones). The artists whose work he’s deigned to revamp range from kindred spirits (Seefeel, Meat…
Whatever happened to the industrial revolution? It started out as a promising amalgamation of heavy metal and dance music in the ’80s and seemed to fizzle out near the dawn of the Internet age. However, Pigface has managed to survive this loud, abrasive habitat for more than a quarter-century. The group doesn’t lack fans — it’s sold more than 20…
