When Andrew Lloyd Webber reached the peak of his creative powers, he had his muse, Sarah Brightman, to thank. It was Brightman who first turned Webber on to an odd idea — yes, even odder than a musical about a bunch of singing and dancing alley cats — of drawing a silent horror-movie classic into the realm of musical…
Ah, to remember the sensitive side of the ’90s alt-rock boom. Back when band names rife with surrealist abstraction were the norm: Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Verve Pipe, Better Than Ezra. A bunch of Colorado grooveheads, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, was named in tribute to blues legend Eddie “Clean Head” Vinson. The down-home rockin’ trio has never…
Roots fans may first have noticed Joanne Shenandoah’s haunting voice on Robbie Robertson’s “The Code of Handsome Lake,” off Contact From the Underworld of Redboy, Robertson’s musical exploration of his own Mohawk roots. And once you hear Shenandoah’s voice, it’s impossible to forget. A Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy-Oneida Nation, Shenandoah has been around almost as long…
Sure, Roger Clyne was a member of the Refreshments. Yeah, he wrote that blur of guitar-pop for the opening credits of King of the Hill. But with his new band, the Peacemakers, Clyne is getting back to his Phoenix roots, back to writing tunes that are, by turns, bleak and comical. Known for drawing inspiration from walking the Chiricahua…
It’s never fun when a band preempts an opportunity to crack wise about itself by making the joke first. And damn it all if Dr. Frank, guitarist, vocalist and sole original member of the Mr. T Experience, didn’t already christen the pop-punkers “MTX Starship” years ago. At least six band members have come and gone since MTX’s first full-length release…
Robben Ford suffers from the same problem that plagues many blues guitar greats: He can’t sing his way out of a paper bag. This doesn’t mean Ford’s shall we say serviceable vocal abilities are outright awful, but they pale in comparison with his fiery fretboard work. It doesn’t really matter, though. Ford’s songs are mostly excuses for his guitar solos,…
While the Deftones and Poison the Well might represent a more sensitive, emotionally evocative brand of metal than the variety practiced by, say, W.A.S.P., fans of these groups still demand larynx-lacerating screams and chaotic climactic choruses. Denali, the opening act for the Deftones and Poison the Well tour last fall, delivers neither. However, it managed to soothe the savage beasts,…
Beck is such a pussy. “Two turntables and a microphone”? Sure, he’s just one guy, but that’s it? How about two guys, four turntables, one guitar, one bass and an assload of drums? Still think you’re hot shit, Beck? Keep strumming that acoustic guitar and leave the real heavy lifting to Ming & FS. Straight out of Hell’s Kitchen, this…
The Prairie Dogg finds the dirt on strippers, The Sopranos and the Boss kicking some Bon Jovi ass with Buddy Nielsen of Senses Fail. PD: Excited to be back on tour? BN: Totally. We’ve been at home for two months, and that long away from the road will make you a little crazy. We’re headed to Baltimore right now for…
I’m speechless. No, really. I didn’t write a speech. And this is such an unexpected honor. All the other nominees deserve this award just as much as I do. Oh … (sniff) … I promised (choke) myself I wouldn’t cry. I’d like to thank the Academy, my family, my friends, my girl (I love you, baby! We did it!), and…
Apparently, less really is Moe. Restraint seems an odd proposition for any group painted into the jam-band corner. It is, after all, a genre in which a road-weary hash of musical excess and instrumental prowess becomes a patchouli pied piper’s sweet sound, luring the nomadic, barefoot masses like so many tie-dyed moths to the flame. Yet Moe’s style has become…
The three heads in Namelessnumberheadman wouldn’t hurt a fly. They’re intelligent, conscientious, responsible and respectful. They’re three all-around nice guys. But they’ll still try to kill you. Rather, the Kansas City trio’s new album, Your Voice Repeating, will try to kill you. After all, it tried to kill them. Two weeks ago, they were driving to a show at the…
With 50 First Dates, it seems as though Adam Sandler is trying to compile a greatest-hits film, cobbling together the stuff that worked in his previous films in the hopes that it’ll play even better all in one go. There’s the falsetto-comedy-song bit from every episode of Saturday Night Live, an angry golfer bit from Happy Gilmore, Drew Barrymore…
War monger: Regarding David Martin’s “War Games” (February 5): I, too, wonder about the wisdom of funding a WWI museum when so much infrastructure in KCMO is rotting. Is this another mess that the citizens are going to have to keep afloat with yet another bistate tax? KCMO has more pressing needs. Councilman Jim Glover is right — fix the…
The Strip was caught unawares when it learned last week that the human race is all but extinct in Kansas. This meat patty has been spending a lot of time on the Missouri side of town lately and hadn’t noticed that the population west of the state line has dropped to alarmingly low levels. But suddenly, solid proof of the…
I can see her standing there, up at the altar, a vision of pure beauty in her powder-blue tuxedo. Her best friend, a folk singer, is finishing a coffeehouse rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings.” I look out over the sanctuary of our hometown church as sunlight streams through the stained-glass windows, bathing our friends and loved ones in glorious…
Sitting inside a café at the Muehlebach Hotel, Sean O’Byrne shakes his head. He’s just spent most of his morning in court, trying to convince a judge to send a schizophrenic homeless man to the Western Missouri Mental Health Center for treatment. “The other day, I was driving up Main Street, and I saw George just yelling at stop…
A McDonald’s near 85th Street perches atop a small hill parallel to U.S. Highway 71. To the east, a highway roils with lunchtime traffic. To the west, the hillside descends into a sprawling mass of industrial complexes hemmed in by single-family houses. Pulling away from the drive-through with a paper bag in his lap, a 53-year-old man peers over…
So far this year, we’ve been invited to two creative theme parties (which we adore): a “wedding reception” (wear your old bridesmaid dress — the tackier the better — or that too-tight tux) and a Seinfeld-inspired Festivus celebration, complete with the airing of grievances and feats of strength. So, when Jericho van de Velde, the founder and leader of the…
For a decade, the ground-floor space in midtown’s Commerce Building at 35th Street and Broadway was home to the Athena Restaurant, the popular Greek dining room operated by Yannis and Susie Vantzos. I had a soft spot for the place, having worked there as a waiter until it closed in 1994. Afterward, Yannis Vantzos moved downtown to open the Sun…
A few years ago, archaeologists in Yemen announced that they had started restoring a tenth century B.C. temple that they believed had been built during the reign of the legendary Queen of Sheba. This queen, mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran, was a hot little number in her day, turning the head of Israel’s King Solomon and seducing…
THU 2/5 Everybody loves a Thursday-night tradition. In fact, Thursday is arguably the most social night of the week. Some people go to dive bars. Others stay home and watch pathetically addictive sitcoms like Friends. Then there are those still searching for the perfect way to spend this particular night every week, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and…
2/5 & 2/8 Watching the PBS documentary on contemporary artists Art:21 — Art in the 21st Century can be frustrating if you view it on a screen that’s too small. On a 10-incher, how are you supposed to read the tiny, handwritten text in Raymond Pettibon’s ink drawings? The Spencer Musuem of Art (1301 Mississippi on the KU campus in…
SAT 2/7 Don’t plan to get any reading done at the Shawnee branch of the Johnson County Public Library (13811 Johnson Drive) Saturday. Concentrating might be difficult when Derek Sharp shows up with a van full of hand drums and percussion instruments for the 10:30 a.m. Rhythmic Drums class. Once the children at Sharp’s all-ages percussion session discover the sonic…
