It isn’t clear what Kansas City’s High Diving Ponies mean when they call their music “danger pop,” but it’s safe to say the seven-piece band is successful in producing controlled chaos. Simple lyrics with droning cello and noisy banjo might not equate to everyone’s indie-rock cup o’ tea, but when swirled together with angular, Guided By Voices-like bass lines and…
In the Dark Ages, Christian mystics expressed their faith by lashing themselves with nasty-looking whips and looking for excuses to get burned at the stake. Their modern counterparts aren’t as hardcore. They start freaky-ass rock bands and wail about Christ’s blood over fiendishly distorted guitar riffs. On its debut, In the Valley of Elah, Kansas City’s Tarkus Attacks sets a…
Stanley Crouch would hate It’s Bananas to a G’rilla, the recent release from Kansas City’s Rush Borda. The New York Daily News columnist, cultural critic and jazz writer famously nurses a dislike of gangsta rap. In fact, he blames a single movie — Scarface — for the birth of crotch-grabbing, middle-finger-to-the-heavens rap artists. So listen up, Stan: If Tony Montana…
Students from Haskell Indian Nations University’s Wetlands Preservation Organization are staging a protest today from 3 (now!) to 6 p.m. on 31st Street near the wetlands on the university’s property. Conservationists are upset because sometime late last week, Douglas County public works employees removed a beaver dam — a “natural obstruction” — causing water to drain from the northern end…
Update (3:25 p.m. May 26): Kansas City police have recovered homicide victim Ronald Burns’ 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck. The KCPD’s East Patrol Division found the truck around 1 p.m. Original story (1:30 p.m. May 26): The Metro Squad say 52-year-old Ronald Burns was the victim of Monday evening’s homicide in the 4400 Northwest D’Mons Drive. Categories: News Tags: homicide, Killa…
An independent investigation into the University of Kansas’ Athletics Department and fundraising branch has revealed that five former athletics employees and a consultant sold or used 17,609 men’s basketball tickets and 2,181 football tickets (as well as parking passes and club passes at Arrowhead) for personal gain. Some of the tickets were allegedly funneled to ticket brokers from 2005 to…
I’ll give Taco Bell credit — it takes guts to introduce a new limeade to a town that already has versions from Topsy’s, Winstead’s and Sonic firmly entrenched. But courage and a busy food science lab doesn’t mean that the classic limeade and cherry limeade sparklers are worth your $1.69. The proof lies at the end of the straw-scoop hybrid….
Furthering Kansas City’s venue version of hot potato, the Beaumont has now lobbed Saturday’s Insane Clown Posse show over to Memorial Hall. The Beaumont cites the fact that the show is “controversial,” and that’s what prompted the move. Check out that Juggalo love to the right. Controversial, indeed. Categories: Music
If you walk past Howl at the Moon today, you can’t help but notice the yellow caution tape blocking off a collapsed portion of brick sidewalk. Not even three years old yet, the Power & Light District is already showing signs of wear near the piano bar’s side door at 1334 Grand. Bricks have crumbled, and you can see the…
Adios, Tienda Casa Paloma Tienda Casa Paloma, the inexpensive cafe and Mexican market (although that aspect of the venue always felt like an afterthought) has closed. Former Hereford House manager Lisa Sanchez Lara and her husband Bernardino opened Tienda Casa Paloma in 2005, but sold the venue at 8220 Metcalf a couple of years ago. Except for the Mexican market…
After heading down to Austin, Texas, to play SXSW’s official showcase this year (which is awesome), local electro-funk rock group Antennas Up are heading out to remote Western Maine to record their sophomore album. (Specifically, they’re going to the Sunday River region, which looks kinda like this. Sounds pretty sweet.) They’re leaving in mid-June, and the band will be taking…
The people I follow on Twitter put up the coolest stuff. Videos, links, songs — many of which I swipe and place here for your enjoyment. This is another one of those cases. A gentleman whose legal name I won’t print for fear of getting him into ASCAP/RIAA trouble posted a two disc mix to Last.FM of local artists doing…
Davidson “Thing” requires a large celery stalk Actor-singer John Davidson, currently appearing in a play at Overland Park’s New Theatre Restaurant, has had a long and interesting career: Sears catalog underwear model, wholesome Disney leading man, TV game show host, Tonight Show fill-in host, nightclub and Broadway performer, murderous drag queen (a cult favorite 1974 episode of Streets of San…
That Insane Clown Posse show that was going to turn Sandstone into an outdoor circus of the damned? Yeah, it got moved. The show — which is this Saturday, May 29 — is now at the Beaumont. All Sandstone tickets will be honored. However, Kittie is no longer on the bill. Juggalo Championship Wrestling is, however, so if you’d like…
Warrensburg’s Kosher were a punk rock band, but they were more rock than punk. Case in point: they did a by way of the Replacements take on the Beatles’ “Daytripper” that sadly never made it on record. They weren’t the sort of act to break out Clash covers, even when their style had much in common with Joe Strummer and…
With ambitious plans for a specialty cake department and a growing staff, the folks at the Bloom Baking Company (15 E. 3rd St.) are hoping to become a fixture at the City Market. “I want us to be known not only for exceptional products, but also really personal service. I make it a point to know our regulars’ names and…
Moving Kansas City’s Pride Festival Week to Riverfront Park due to a combination of rain and butt rock is costing the parks department $10,000 — and the parks board wants AEG Live to pick up the tab. Doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a problem. AEG Live’s Joe Litvag told the Star: “That doesn’t sound like an unreasonable request.”…
Mixtape master Diplo has teamed up with British electro-pop stars La Roux on his latest endeavor, Lazerproof. It’s a joint effort between Major Lazer — Diplo’s dancehall-freaky side project with Switch — and the awesomely-coiffed Elly Jackson and her bandmate, Ben Langmaid. (Diplo was also responsible for M.I.A.’s 2004 mixtape, Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1, and Santigold’s Top Ranking in 2008.)…
When the Missouri House of Representatives ended its most recent session, Rep. Beth Low immediately transitioned into her new role as the director of the Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition. In that capacity, she flew to Detroit last week to attend the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. Now back in Kansas City, Low tells Fat City about her…
A December 6 trial date has been set for Clayton Remoue Dunlap, the man accused of causing a multi-car crash at Gregory and 71 Highway in March that killed 12-year-old Damian Slayton. Dunlap is charged with second-degree murder and driving with a revoked/suspended license. Witnesses told police that Dunlap was traveling at a high rate of speed when he struck…
%{}% You’ll get the meat sweats just from reading about the relaunch of Benton’s Prime Steakhouse. The Vietnamese crepe is a highlight at Sung Son. It’s time again for the Xtreme Eating Awards, and one of the winners is the Cheesecake Factory for its pasta carbonara with 2,500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat. A comedy writer spends 24…
UK folk-punk troubadour (and Architects’ tourmate) Frank Turner wants to release a split 7-inch with you. “You” meaning “someone out there who also makes music and wins this contest he’s doing.” The contest is based on Turner’s song “Try This At Home.” Essentially, Turner wants to give someone out there recording music in their bedroom to have a chance at…
Accused of multiple sex crimes, El Forastero Motorcycle Club member Eric G. Burkitt pleaded guilty Tuesday to felonious restraint and received a five-year prison sentence. Burkitt, 25, was charged in March 2009 with forcible rape, two counts of forcible sodomy, two counts of assault, and sexual misconduct for allegedly assaulting a 29-year-old woman in November 2008. Burkitt was known in the…
