Is there any word more evocative of high school than prom? (Besides suckfest or wankerville, that is.) There’s something about the four-letter word that unleashes memories of teen angst cloaked in yards of taffeta and adorned with a garish corsage. Or so we would assume — we never went to prom, though we suppose we made up for it in…
My late father, who never quite recovered from the deprivations of his Depression-era youth, would have been scandalized by the idea of a “gourmet” cheeseburger and a tower of onion rings — no matter how delicious they might have tasted — that cost nearly $14 at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers & Spirits (see review). Then again, he would have fainted…
Due to circumstances beyond my control, my milkshake does not bring all the boys to the yard. It did, however, bring my friends Ben and Jen — not the movie stars but a couple of attractive locals — to Independence. Jen wasn’t thrilled with the idea of driving “out into the boondocks” for a burger and a shake, but…
2/27-2/28 Modern dance seems to be all but exploding in the college town heretofore known for basketball, home brew and William S. Burroughs. “For a place of this size, there’s a lot going on,” says dancer and choreographer Ellie Goudie-Averill. She and a healthy smattering of her peers demonstrate some of that activity at the Prairie Wind Dancers Choreographer’s…
THU 2/26 Ours is a fascinating postfeminist age. Hot on the heels of the burlesque revival and the reclaiming of pornography by icons such as Camille Paglia comes another unlikely champion in the form of actress, dancer and now author Sheila Kelley. What’s she reclaiming on our behalf? Stripping — and not “striptease” of the Lilly St. Cyr grindhouse variety….
SAT 2/28 The funniest cartoons aren’t appropriate for kids. The Family Guy, The Simpsons, King of the Hill — hilarious, all of them. But who wants to talk to a five-year-old about what Homer’s doing at Moe’s, why the Griffon family dog snorts white powder and why Bobby Hill should learn a method of self-defense other than kicking men…
TUE 3/2 Dennis Rodman didn’t show up for his two scheduled clashes with the Kansas City Knights, leaving Corbin Bernsen, researching a role in an American Basketball Association-based film, as the team’s biggest celebrity visitor. But with the team only two games out of first place, who cares if there are stars in the stands or on the opposing…
SAT 2/28 It’ll be just like the old days, when the federal government still futilely prohibited the use of semi-hallucinogenic substances. OK, so it’ll also be a lot like the not-so-old days, but with an old-days kind of vibe. It’ll be 1925 at the Bacchus Ball this Saturday, a time when every moment promised another opportunity to indulge in the…
Darcy Lange was injured severely last year trying to clear what he calls “a little jump” on his motocross bike. “I just came up short on a jump and went over the handlebars, and the bike came back and hit me,” he says casually, as though it were no big deal that the bike broke his back. “Last year…
Thursday, February 26, 2004 Nothing messes with a good show like an early bedtime. It’s hard to get into your favorite band when you’re watching the clock the whole time, wishing it would hurry up and finish. Or worse, hearing the next day that the group did a kick-ass cover of your favorite song for its third encore an…
David McTier isn’t your typical campus revolutionary. The professor of theater at Rockhurst University believes that plays can be fun. Not funny but fun. Neither a comedy of manners nor a ribald farce, Rockhurst’s Reckless nonetheless has members of the audience jumping out of their seats. With each plot twist, viewers follow the action as it travels back and forth…
My parents said I could be anything, so I became an asshole. I can’t take credit for thinking of that on my own. It’s on a T-shirt for sale here at the Gun and Knife Show. I don’t belong here. That’s been obvious from the moment I pulled into the Blue Ridge Mall parking lot, driving the lone compact…
Now that Ultimate Fakebook will soon join the ranks of local bands that have bitten the dust, fans of uppity rock will have to look elsewhere for angsty yet somehow fun sonic droppings. Though Anything But Joey has been shilling its three-chord valentines since 1996, the KC quartet has yet to earn the respect of local hipster elitists. Its new…
The Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ first hit, “Scooby Snacks,” was easy to dismiss as kitschy imitation gangsterism. But the misspent youth of frontman Huey did once land him in jail and, subsequently, in the military. More important, beneath the sly, street-level tales is a humanistic heart. Even more important is how Huey and keyboardist and programmer Fast’s fetish for cognac-smooth ’70s…
Irony’s not dead, just lame. Dave Grohl might have proven this once and for all with this self-indulgent metal album on which he plays the instruments while guest stars provide the vocals. Thankfully, Grohl doesn’t treat metal with the tired, tongue-in-cheek condescension typical of twerps like Rivers Cuomo. He tries sincerity instead. This is a project with portents of disaster,…
You can’t accuse the Elected of being undemocratic. Among the constituents represented in the L.A. quartet’s postmodern pastiche are Harry Nilsson, Donovan, the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Gram Parsons, Simon and Garfunkel, the Eagles and a host of other artists from the Vietnam years. None of these folks are quoted directly, but they influence the Elected’s work as surely as…
Your niche might be my rut, so when I report that neither of these discs clangs my bells, I don’t mean to dissuade those inclined toward this strain of coffeehouse country. These are the strongest albums yet from both artists. Both albums are solid and pleasing. Trooper’s “Apology” is a lovely song about apologizing. Kelly’s “Set Me Free” could make…
Raekwon ranks among the Wu Tang Clan’s premier lyricists, but he’ll probably never top his 1995 solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The self-proclaimed “Chef” disappointed his fanbase with his marginal follow-up, Immobilarity, which put the pressure on Raekwon to deliver the goods the third time around. Lex Diamond is no Clansterpiece, but it’s certainly one of the tangier…
Annie Quick is the type of larger-than-life moniker that befits a Powerpuff Girl or a hip-hop tongue twister. But a superpowered stage name wasn’t enough for Quick, so she created Georgette, the guitar goddess alter ego who dominates her new disc, Bigger. As its title implies, Bigger builds on Quick’s solo debut, Orange Juice, adding layers of narrative structure and…
Maternity leave isn’t the most common excuse for a musician’s hiatus, but at least it’s not rehab. Mary Lou Lord, the Boston indie folk artist, is returning after spending the past several years raising her daughter. Lord made her first splash in 1994 on the Kill Rock Stars label after making a name for herself busking in the subway tunnels…
Quick, name three jazz artists from Newport, Rhode Island. Now name three from Kansas City. So why the hell is the Newport Jazz Festival celebrating its fiftieth anniversary when we don’t even have a jazz festival anymore? It’s embarrassing. A town that pimps its rep as a jazz and blues crossroads generally can’t pack the Blue Room on a Friday…
Minus Story seems to be working hard to subtract sales from its upcoming album. The band not only saddled the April release with the ungainly title The Captain Is Dead, Let the Drum Corpse Dance but also dubbed its recording technique “Wall of Crap.” Fortunately, the group’s live shows cut to the charming chamber-pop core without some of the diminishing…
Howie Day is the sweet boy with the sad songs. The undeniable voice. The prodigious looping and sampling talent that has won over fans nationwide. So why give all that up? Perhaps for something bigger. After more than four years performing alone, Day has decided to call in reinforcements. But when a good solo artist goes band, what gets lost…
Statistics is at least a couple of standard deviations away from the usual experimental alt-rock mucky muck. The brainchild of Desaparecidos frontman Denver Dalley, the Omaha outfit’s full-length debut, Leave Your Name, is a gem that’s caused a Pavlovian droolfest among critics. For once, the hype is merited. This Saddle Creek indie supergroup has issued a compelling effort that puts…
