This San Francisco six-piece pays homage to the psychedelic rock that made its native city the capital of sex, drugs and jammy guitar solos in the late 1960s. It’s almost as if LSD had been spliced into the DNA of young bands in Northern California — conspiracy theorists, have at it — because all that psychedelic history is certainly at…
Don’t let this show’s name fool you: the Crossroads’ Spring Dance has nothing in common with the hormone-addled formal you attended in high school. This jam features three of Kansas City’s best-known dance bands. Hearts of Darkness brings progressive Afrobeat tunes, Making Movies supplies foot-tapping Latin rock, and the Good Foot serenades the crowd with soul-swinging classics. In short, groove-inducing…
I have the same feeling about Ethiopian cuisine that I do about some of my friends: wonderful on certain occasions but not for everyday consumption. That’s not an uncommon reaction to that country’s distinctive cuisine — spicy stews, sauteed meats, a soft bread used in place of forks. But even in this meat-and-potatoes community, there’s been at least one Ethiopian…
Nothing bolsters an artist’s popularity like a smidgen of controversy. In 2000, John Vanderslice released a moody rock number called “Bill Gates Must Die” on his debut solo album, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines. Rather than letting this faux death threat fade into obscurity, however, Vanderslice orchestrated a hoax that included an angered Microsoft threatening legal action over the song. (In…
Cold beer and distraction” are what draw men to Mama Nadi’s bar. And the bar’s entertainments help customers forget the horror of the civil war outside in the same way that the pleasures of Lynn Nottage’s Ruined help the audience. The play opens on Mama Nadi and Christian, a traveling merchant, engaged in a barbed, flirtatious bickering that is a…
Kansas City has a wide variety of ethnic restaurants, but not so many representing the Eastern European community. There have been Croatian, Hungarian and Russian restaurants over the years that have come and gone, including the old Jennie’s restaurant near Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas, which served Croatian dishes. (The mother of former Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Carol Marinovich,…
Everyone’s been a-buzz about the Kanrocksas Music Festival since it shuffled into the spotlight sometime last week. Now, we’ve got the official lineup in hand. First things first: The festival will be held at the speedway in KCK, on August 5 and 6 (days after the Pitch Music Showcase). Pre-leaked headliners included Muse, and rumors included Eminem; and, as it…
You know what might stop unplanned pregnancies? Stripping away money for family-planning services. This may not make sense to you, but it does to Kansas lawmakers (think the ones with fetus pins on their lapels and R’s behind their names), who want to do what those in the national party couldn’t do: Strip federal funding from villain du jour Planned…
The official day for celebrating Cinco de Mayo — the anniversary of the 1862 victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at the battle of Puebla — will be Thursday, May 5. But festivities begin as early as this Saturday when Azteca de Greater Kansas City hosts its 20th Cinco de Mayo celebration at Emerson Park, at the…
UPDATE: KCK police have identified the victim of the Easter homicide as 16-year-old Ryder Spillman. KCK police say an arrest has been made in the case, and charges are pending. There are two Facebook tribute pages dedicated to Spillman (see them here and here). Original Story: A man was shot to death on Easter near Thomas Edison Elementary School in…
It was all about bold colors and bolder models at The Rock N Fashion Show held Saturday, April 23, at Crosstown Station. Photos by Scott Spychalski.
The world came to Kansas City, Kansas, on Saturday, April 23, at the annual Wyandotte County Ethnic Festival. Photos by Forester Michael.
If you can’t quite put your finger on what you feel like having for dinner, maybe you can slide your finger on it. Dine Missouri — a new free, iPhone and iPad application from the Missouri Restaurant Association — has an index of more than 1,200 restaurants (all members of the MRA) across the state. You can search by location,…
I’m a little late to the party on this one, but it’s too good not to share. A woman caught a “big-ass” goldfish in Troost Lake about a week ago. Olivia Riley hooked the big red fish, and the aftermath (with Riley screaming, “It’s beautiful”) is on YouTube for everyone to see (and, so far, more than 300,000 people have…
The Pitch’s Nadia Pflaum caught up with the Popper a few weeks ago before his video shoot for “For the MO” at Lincoln Prep — where the Popper actually went to school, back in the day. (Read Nadia Pflaum’s music feature on the Popper here.) Now, Tech N9ne and the Popper appeared on NBC Action News on Sunday, after the…
We could never replace the Replacements, but Kansas City’s artists did pay them proper tribute on the stage of RecordBar on Sunday, April 24. (Performers included John Velghe and the Prodigal Sons, Uft!, Christopher Tolle and Friends, Adam Stotts, Chad Rex and the Victorstands and Dead Girls.) Allie Mason captured some of the night’s moments. Click here for more. Categories:…
It’s been a handful of years since The Golden Republic — one of the biggest indie super-bands to come out of the area since the late 1990s — split up and went their separate ways. Lead singer Ben Grimes keeps the local scene fresh with his new band Soft Reeds, drummer Ryan Shank slays the skins in both Roman Numerals and…
An appeals court has given new life to the felony theft case against a Wyandotte County attorney accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities. Late last week, the Kansas Court of Appeals overturned a 2009 district court ruling that threw out 57 felony charges against Rodney Turner, the Star reported. A grand…
Kim Gordon and chef William Najger are sitting at wooden tables and chairs that have just arrived from Habitat Re:Store inside the space that will become Conveniently Natural. The vegan dinner and grocery delivery service is hoping to open in May with a flagship location at 3711 Southwest Trafficway, where diners can try dishes like barbecue seitan and see the…
Buzzy, buzz-buzz. Whir. Slam! Soooooaaar … The words above make for my condensed description of Marnie Stern’s “For Ash.” The song appears on the musician’s self-titled album, which was released in October 2010. Stern, a guitarist, raging singer-songwriter and a bad-ass guitar wizard, will grace Kansas City, Missouri, with her (and her band’s) delightful presence and cavity-shaking atmospheric rock July…
