Taj Mahal, that walking encyclopedia of American music, is one of the few acoustic-blues-folk-Caribbean-etc. performers capable of filling up — with both humans and sound — the cavernous vault that is the Beaumont Club. As if mastering every variety of music on the continents of North and South America weren’t enough, Mahal’s recent albums for children show he’s one of…
That’s just the way it is/Some things will never change. At least that’s what Bruce Hornsby said back in 1986 on “The Way It Is.” But even though Hornsby has swung in and out of the spotlight since then, this perennial sideman and former Grateful Dead keyboardist — a position that’s seen as much turnover as Spinal Tap’s roster of…
The beauty of Sonic Youth is its ability to continue making albums — such as this year’s fantastic Sonic Nurse — without falling prey to nostalgia or recycling ideas. But when it comes to capturing the essence of the legendary New York City sound manipulator, there is no substitute for its raucous live show (though the band’s recently released Corporate…
Nobody actually admits to watching reality television. And for serious music fans, the “make me a superstar” subgenre is an especially secret, blush-inducing pleasure. That said, the USA Network was on to something with its Country Idol spinoff, Nashville Star. Surviving the show’s week-by-week ordeals was as likely a way of making the big time as taking traditional routes would…
Black Dahlia Murder may be the best name for a death-metal act ever. The Detroit quintet took its name from a gruesome 1947 unsolved murder case in which a 22-year-old aspiring actress named Elizabeth Short (nicknamed the Black Dahlia for her ink-hued hair) was carved up with a butcher knife, drained of blood and sexually assaulted. So, perfect name for…
PD: What’s the best thing about Canada? AL: It’s nice, although it’s been raining a bit up here, which makes mud, which isn’t great for an outdoor crowd. Kind of tough to walk through in a Victorian dress, I’d imagine. Honestly, I don’t do the dolled-up thing as much as I used to. Now I just grab my bondage pants…
Wrangler butts drive me nuts. In the lexicon of rural America, that statement — generally reserved for bumper stickers, sleeveless T-shirts and mud flaps — is considered a compliment. A small slice of warm apple flattery that purports to say, “The sight of your ill-fitting jeans fills me with feverish lust” or, in simpler terms, “Self-imposed wedgies make me horny.”…
The String Cheese Incident finds beauty in bucking the system. The Colorado quintet also finds strength in traversing the road less traveled while others jump through hoops, chasing the brass rings of an outdated and bloated music industry. “We never related to the bands that had videos on MTV or getting heavy rotation on the radio,” bassist Keith Moseley explains….
This is a scrapbook that I started keeping,” Todd Bell explains to the video camera. Bell is sitting at a kitchen table, thumbing through pages with the kind of unfettered nostalgia usually reserved for high school football stories or John Mellencamp tunes. His old buddies are gathered around, pointing at the pictures. “That’s me, Todd, Pete … ” They’re talking…
Jonathan Demme’s gutsy The Manchurian Candidate, which dares to rear its head just as the Democratic National Convention convenes in Boston, is the anti-Bush movie for those who refuse to see Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. It’s less a remake of director John Frankenheimer’s 1962 original, about a brainwashed assassin out to make his mommy’s husband president, than a reconceptualization in…
Perhaps the most unlikely thing to capture on film is the creative process — the spinning of gears, the tripping of wires, the breaking of hearts and the snapping of tempers that go into the making of art. Too much has to be explained, and the magic loses its luster in the diagramming of the trick. For that reason…
The vet offensive: Richard Lawrence Miller quotes a single source in his letter about Vietnam vets never being spit upon (Letters, July 22). Yet, a Google search on Vietnam + vets + spit produces several hits with interviews with vets who claim to have been spit upon. However, his single source makes a single claim that dismisses all of those…
Cool or Embarrassing? Kansas City’s new expansion hockey franchise has selected Express, Outlaws and Twisters as the three finalists in its “Name the Team” contest — despite such worthy fan submissions as Ice Chiefs, Beefeaters, Bad Motha Fuckas and Puckers. (We like the hybrid Bad Motha Puckers.) The winning name was to be announced after the Pitch’s press time on…
It was the tuxedo that got me. This summer’s politics might be especially toxic, but if nothing else they provided lively dinner-party conversation the other night among friendly Democrats. Everyone at the table agreed on most of the issues — except who was the better candidate for Missouri governor. Jessica and Nick (OK, not their real names) were voting for…
One morning in May, at the monthly board meeting of the Economic Development Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Kay Barnes hit the highlights of her plan to build a downtown arena. The mayor wanted new taxes on hotel stays and car rentals to cover about half of the cost, which would be $225 million to $250 million. Funded by the…
On a chilly fall morning in 1978, Melanie Morgan sat eating breakfast at the posh Pam Pam Room restaurant, inside what was then the Alameda Plaza Hotel on the Country Club Plaza. Morgan, a 24-year-old reporter for KFIX AM, lived in an apartment on the Plaza and sometimes stopped in for French toast at the hotel before walking to…
The night started like a bad joke: The Night Ranger walks into a bar — Buzzard Beach, to be precise — and runs into two exes (the ex-Work Crush and the Jovial Hookup) and friends of a third (the ex-Summer Fling). The quasi-awkwardness just reinforced the incestuous nature of our big small town, especially when it comes to bar territorial…
Last week I read a news story about how obesity was becoming an increasingly serious health problem in China. The wire story was a subtle attack on our American values! Imagine thinking that our beloved exports McDonald’s and KFC could possibly be luring once-lithe Chinese citizens away from their traditional healthy diets and seducing them with the provocatively named Big…
I’ve heard a lot of strange things over the years in restaurants, both as a waiter and as a customer. But until I sat down for a Sunday-night supper at Overland Park’s Hannah Bistro Café, I had never heard a server admit that she was “the world’s worst waitress.” In her defense, she was being too hard on herself….
7/22-7/31 Even with stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Richard Linklater’s 2001 indie film Tape probably netted less than one afternoon’s coffee tab for the crew of Spider-Man 2. True to its theatrical roots, the film used one set, three characters and tons of angst. In the original play by Stephen Belber, three high school acquaintances meet 10 years after…
FRI 7/23 Kansas City native Molly Magdalain seems to have her hands in just about everything. She’s a singer-songwriter who lives here as well as in Nashville, where she’s pursuing her recording career. In college, she studied art, and her photographs and paintings are on display this month at the Yoga Gallery (5615 Johnson Drive in Mission). She’s also…
Wrestling fans are among the most devoted in all of fandom. Particularly the fans of Midwest Renegade Wrestling, who follow their heroes all over Missouri and Kansas and talk righteous smack to each other on the Internet. If you can’t yet count yourself among this fevered multitude, head to Amos Activity Center, on the hardcore streets of Lenexa (10111 Lenexa…
SUNDAYS Comfort food, as it is commonly understood, involves assloads of casserole. Unless, of course, you grew up eating goulash. Similarly, whereas most people take it for granted that the movie for tuning out on a Sunday night is Sixteen Candles, there are people who feel more at home with Fellini. The Brick (1727 McGee) understands this, which is…
Mud wrestling is sexy because, when they’re coated in wet earth, humans appear quite animal-like. And if you put two animals in the same mud puddle, anything is possible. Scratching. Teeth-gnashing. Dominance and submission. Hey, we ain’t nuthin’ but mammals. Mud wrestling, then, is an appropriate means of fund-raising for a primal, carnal sport such as rugby. For the…
