The two most important things to know about the Bulldog are that (a) it has one of the coolest drink menus in town; and (b) if a guy named Buzzey is kind enough to offer to show you his particular party trick, go with it. Believe us, the drinks will gird you against anything. We visited this fine establishment on…
A few Sundays ago, in an upscale restaurant in the Crossroads District, I did something that I’d never done before: I asked for a different server. It was an awkward decision, because the young man who initially waited on us had lots of redeeming qualities: He was neat, friendly, articulate. But it was immediately apparent to me and to the…
The only thing worse than arguing with a 9-year-old kid is actually losing the argument, which I nearly did one recent Saturday night when I had dinner with my friends Lisa and Gia and Gia’s son, Johnny. The kid insisted that we see a movie that night. But not just any movie. He had his heart set on Alien…
SAT 8/28 It isn’t often that pirate fetishists and the theater set show up at the same soirée. Not so, however, when the Kansas City Repertory Theatre (4949 Cherry Street) kicks off its 41st season from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday with a Season Preview Pirate Party. The theme isn’t as arbitrary as it might seem. The popular Gilbert and…
WED 9/1 More than 100,000 online members of Democracy for America (a grassroots political action committee founded by Howard Dean) exercise their right to vote on a monthly basis. But they’re not voting for common-sense, fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates just yet. They’re voting on Meetup.com for where to get together on the first of the month. Meetup.com is an…
8/27-8/29 Named after Col. George S. Park, Parkville is a quiet little town along the Missouri River 10 miles northwest of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The place still has a certain turn-of-the-century flavor and a few beautiful parks that beckon urban dwellers tired of summer in the city. This weekend the hamlet hosts its 36th annual Parkville Days Riverfest at…
8/29 & 8/31 Categories: News Tags: Annie Fischer, Christopher Blunk, Columns, J. Christopher Gale, Milan Hanson
In the mid-19th century, Mexican aristocrats coveted all things European. They hosted lavish balls in their mansions, where they tried to dance like the Germans and the French. Outside, the peasants — who made up the majority of the population — looked through the windows at the elite and, thinking they looked ridiculous, mocked them. Eventually the European dance…
Thursday, August 26 You’re getting sleepy — very sleepy. Your eyelids feel heavy, and you’re incredibly relaxed. Now, reach slowly into your pocket, remove your wallet and hand us the twenties. When I snap my fingers, you’ll wake up and remember nothing that just happened. We think that might be sort of how hypnotist Jerry Valley works his magic…
Don’t let the name of the event fool you — no one will be naked at the Full Frontal Olympics. Well, no one plans to be naked. But you never know. The presenting comedy troupe aspires to the truest form of improvisation, where nothing is suppressed. Full Frontal Comedy founding member Tina Morrison says that because her crew is Kansas…
Polly Apfelbaum Like any good artist, Polly Apfelbaum makes complex work. But it is also dazzlingly beautiful, which in the past has caused some snooty art-world folk to dismiss it as mere décor. “People don’t want you to deal with beauty,” Apfelbaum says. “I was interested in the decorative arts. I was interested in the everyday. Screw you. If it…
When the H&R Block Artspace had to postpone its summer exhibition, director Raechell Smith decided it was the perfect time to test the new audiovisual equipment her staff had purchased for the upcoming exhibit of work by Shirin Neshat, a video artist from Iran. The gallery began projecting movies on one of its big, blank, white walls on Thursday, Friday…
When Arthur Dodge packed up his guitar case and headed to Nashville in 2001, many doubted that he’d ever return. A local fixture even prior to his 1997 eponymous debut with the Horsefeathers, Dodge already had proven himself on the regional circuit and eventually came to the same conclusion as many area critics — that he was just too good…
Most Little Wings albums are toy chests, caches of simple playthings where a single shiny knickknack worries itself into the consciousness at the exclusion of everything around it. The rhythmic tumble of a “Next Time” or the subtle sucker punch of a “Shredder Sequel” bliss a full-length into a glorified single. By contrast, Magic Wand is all worn wooden trucks…
First, the bad news: Half Smiles is the final album from Guided By Voices. But the good news shouldn’t surprise anyone: Bob Pollard is NOT gonna stop putting out records. For now, one might expect Pollard to sing his own swan song with minimal self-conscious fanfare, and Half Smiles is a rather unassuming affair. But Pollard isn’t too casual, which…
A rap album’s potential can be gauged by its guest appearances. Too few and things can get boring quickly, but too many and it’s likely the artist in question lacks imagination. Kiss of Death is plagued by the latter. Less than half of the actual songs feature the headliner; Death becomes a hip-hop Love Boat, with stop-bys from Kanye West,…
To paraphrase Jan Brady by way of Ashlee Simpson, “Jessica, Jessica, JESSICA!” Expressing the Little Sister Complex in song on “Shadow,” Ashlee writes: I was stuck inside someone else’s life/And always second best. We wouldn’t necessarily have assumed this to be true had she not decided to call her debut Autobiography. So why’d Ashlee ditch a gig on Seventh Heaven…
Back when they were Long Beach teenagers, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G formed a trio and dubbed it 213, after their SoCal area code. The group never got off the ground — Warren G’s half-brother Dr. Dre was so taken with Snoop that he drafted the future Doggfather for his Chronic opus, and the rest is history. So…
The Cowboy Junkies were born somewhere in the hazy halcyon days of the early ’80s, when bands basking in post-Velvet Underground glow were swimming upstream against the Euro synth-pop that was flooding radio and MTV. The Canadian quartet has steadily maintained its just-left-of-cool popularity through a regular dose of releases — 15 in the past 19 years — and an…
The Warped Tour is finally over, and all those preteen punks are heading back to school. But Killradio and the Kinison are doing all they can to keep their careers in an endless summer. After riding the Warped Tour to exhaustion, both bands are on the road again and promoting new albums. The Kinison released What Are You Listening…
House of Pain frontman Everlast once rhymed that he was not Phil Collins but more like Henry Rollins. Nonpoint would probably flip that equation, particularly now that the Florida foursome has garnered attention for its modern-rock update of Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.” But Nonpoint is more than another faceless metal act with a novelty hit on its hands. Puerto…
Soulfly leader Max Cavelera has plenty of creative flaws. Luckily for us, his conviction is still compelling enough (thanks in part to the energetic blur of his shows) to tip the scales in his favor after nearly 20 years. As Sepultura’s frontman from 1984 to 1997, Cavelera’s passions were balanced by three other members. Left to his own devices in…
The day has come for all you retro revivalists with the turned-up polos and the massive jelly bracelet collections. The kings of the early ’80s — Hall and Fucking Oates, dudes — are back as a “rock and soul review” (alongside Michael “Doobie Brothers” McDonald and the Average White Band). Although the “rock” part of that equation is debatable, there’s…
All of the St. Lunatics stand in the shadow of Nelly, but youngest member Murphy Lee probably has the biggest profile of the bunch. He’s not only appeared on some of Nelly’s signature tracks (“Batter Up,” “Air Force Ones,”) but also collaborated with his boss and P. Diddy on last summer’s Grammy-winning, dance-floor-packing single “Shake Ya Tailfeather.” Too bad the…
