By CHARLES FERRUZZA When the J.E. Dunn Construction Company pulled out of advertising mogul Bob Bernstein’s much-hyped West Edge project last week, it didn’t just leave the long-delayed office-hotel-and retail complex in limbo. It added more stress to the life of restaurateur James Frantze. Frantze owns JJ’s Restaurant, directly across from the unfinished Moshe Safdie-designed complex (which still looks like…
Urban litter doesn’t just pile up in the city — it flows right into the Missouri River. Every year, intrepid volunteers pull on work gloves and tromp through the muck to dig out trash from the banks of the Big Muddy.
By ANDY VIHSTADT Oakland’s Rogue Wave answered a few questions and performed for MySpace’s Transmissions Series. Included in the acoustic set are a few from last year’s Asleep at Heaven’s Gate and a cover of the Smiths’ “What Difference Does It Make.” Download it all in a zip file below. ZIP: Rogue Wave, MySpace Transmissions Session Categories: Music Tags: MP3,…
By OWEN MORRIS I went down to the Royal Saturday night to see what was cooking and check up on who-did-how in the invitational. My bus driver (hey, I practice what I preach and took the shuttle) said that Friday night had been “crazy busy” including a couple of out-of-control people on his bus who left “souvenirs” on some of…
Most of y’all probably had no idea that legendary Throwing Muses singer Kristin Hersh was coming through Kansas City on September 25 to play a house show for about 30 lucky friends of local Muses fanatic Tom Kennedy. But, well, she did. Kennedy has posted audio of the entire concert — 15 tracks in two parts. It’s so intimate and…
By CHRIS PACKHAM I heard ’round the way that the Dow dropped below 10,000 this morning for the first time since 2004, and nobody’s really surprised. At least I’m not. When I was five years old, my dad sat me on his knee and said, “Son, as long as you live, you will never, ever have to see Gene Hackman…
By OWEN MORRIS Free State Brewery is an institution in Lawrence. Townies as well as college kids are drawn to its excellent, mostly stronger beers. So it’s sad to see that just as they were getting ready to expand into bottling and distributing, the East Lawrence plant they were refurbishing for the job caught fire and suffered extensive damage. Categories:…
The colorful designs of Pitch art director Zach Trover, Sike Style, Nathan Fox, Scribe, Brian Bullets and Jeremy Madl drew a big crowd to the Pitch art gallery on the evening of October 3.
By OWEN MORRIS KC Masterpiece has been on a deathbed before and lived, so now that it’s down to just one restaurant and near obscurity, it’s only fitting that there are plans to revive it once again. (KC Business Journal) I always thought June Cleaver must have had a stash of booze hidden somewhere in that household of hers but…
Prefect Wedding Guide Bridal Show
Best of KC Party w/ Badfish…a tribute to sublime
By ALAN SCHERSTUHL Jess Akin (left) as Cleante and Patrick Du Laney as Tartuffe. These days, there’s no actor in town I look forward to seeing more than Patrick Du Laney. The odd thing? You’ll mostly see him in academic productions. His current success, one that deserves to fuel months of shows, runs just this weekend. We’ll get to Du…
THEIR COMMENTERS ARE MORE METAL THAN OUR COMMENTERS. Earlier this month, Blabbermouth.net, the blog of metal label Roadrunner Records, picked up Pitch writer Peter Rugg’s interview with Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster/St. Anger-era group psychologist, Phil Towle. Last week, Towle called us to let us know that Lars had read our piece and, according to Towle, liked it. It’s a…
By DAVID MARTIN David Cordish, president of the company that operates the Power & Light District, is furious that the Sprint Center lacks an anchor tenant and is pleading with city officials for more police. Cordish sent an e-mail to Mayor Mark Funkhouser yesterday demanding that the city put on a “show of force” after a shooting in a Power…
“Politicial Persuasion: Street Posters for Barack Obama” is an exhibition at the H&R Block Artspace. It spotlights posters from the private collection of Kansas City Art Institute professor Hal Wert. The work demonstrates how forcefully the Obama phenomenon has affected artists. It’s up through December 13.
%{}% By OWEN MORRIS UPDATE! Parking was already a hassle by 4 p.m. Friday which means forget getting anywhere close Saturday. If you do want to park in an independent location near the Royal, I heard from three sources the going rate in people’s yards is $10. I swear my neighbors are more excited about tonight than they are about…
From the press release: Local musicians, Aaron Moreland and Dustin Arbuckle, are headed to Iraq and Kuwait later this month as part of the second BLUZAPALOOZA tour. Created by blues producers Steve Simon and John Hahn and presented by Armed Forces Entertainment, this 12 day BLUZAPALOOZA tour stars blues icons Shemekia Copeland, Michael Burks, Deanna Bogart, Zac Harmon, Moreland &…
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI As pundits on the cable networks counted down to the vice presidential debate in St. Louis last night, more than 50 protesters gathered at the J.C. Nichols Fountain near Country Club Plaza for a rally against Republican hopeful Sarah Palin, calling attention to the Alaska Governor’s record on women’s rights and the environment. Attending the “Palin: Every…
By OWEN MORRIS I stopped by Extra Virgin, Michael Smith’s new tapas bar next to his eponymous restaurant at 19th and Main. (They share the same foyer.) Extra Virgin was scheduled to open in late September but from the looks of the construction it will probably be a couple more weeks, minimum — there’s paint on the walls but no…
By ANDY VIHSTADT Tom Morello will always be best known for his guitar work for Rage Against the Machine, but his second LP under the moniker of the Nightwatchman, titled The Fabled City, came out earlier this week on Epic. If you’re unfamiliar with Morello’s post RATM and Audioslave work, stream a sample of his politically driven folk persona at…
Yesterday, 40 head of (yearling) cattle descended upon downtown, kicking off the 2008 American Royal Barbecue. By LORNA PERRY Click on photo for slide show. Categories: News Tags: American Royal, moo, slide show
By CHRIS PACKHAM House opposition to the financial sector bailout is collapsing amidst the very important political imperative to give rich fuckers a giant prize for blowing up the country. So, you can sleep well knowing%{}% that at least there’s a gigantic financial Hail Mary pass spiraling toward the end zone and that the House Democrats will use some bump-and-run…
By OWEN MORRIS For supposedly drinking beer all day, KC Beer Blog really churns out the posts. (I’m beginning to suspect they may secretly be teetotalers.) Here’s a great roundup from a sushi bar where the old world of trains delivering food (a la Fritz’s) meets the new world of sushi? (KC Beer Blog) I’d still rather be a fisherman…
