Chef Colby Garrelts will not be flying back to Kansas City with a medal around his neck this morning. The co-owner of Bluestem was not called as the winner in the Best Chef: Midwest category at the 2011 James Beard Awards last night. That honor went to Isaac Becker of the 122 Eatery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Categories: Dining, Food &…
The largest property owner in the United States — the federal government — has excess building space it would like to sell. The Obama administration has put together a cool, interactive map of 7,000 sheds, underutilized office buildings and empty warehouses scattered across the 50 states. The map highlights seven buildings in Kansas City, Missouri, the federal government would like…
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich will be one of the keynote speakers at Truman Days, the party that Democrats in Jackson County throw every spring. Kucinich will have the opportunity on Friday night to share stories about performing ventriloquism on The Daily Show and his fifth-place finish — eat it, Chris Dodd! — in the 2008 Democratic primary in New Hampshire….
Sweat soaks Eric Melin’s black T-shirt as he shouts out cues to eight men and women wailing on imaginary guitars. Melin, known in the world of competitive air guitar as Mean Melin, bounces around the room, fingers working an invisible fret board, hand strumming. The CD player blares Bon Jovi, then the Scorpions, then Jet, Rage Against the Machine and…
At first, talking to Wanda Jackson is a little like talking to your grandmother. You exchange pleasantries, and she rambles about running errands. Then you ask if she had a nice, easy day, and she responds with a spunky yeah! You know the one, from 1961’s “Hard Headed Woman,” a sound signaling that she knows much more than she lets…
Bridesmaids seeks to be something that’s long overdue: a chick flick for people who hate chick flicks. Kristen Wiig, who co-wrote the script, stars as Annie, a single gal who becomes maid of honor when her best friend (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged. She soon learns that it’s a title she’s not really all that equipped to handle. A financially struggling…
Oh, that I could have watched Will Ferrell’s new movie in a vacuum, where his impish smirk wouldn’t have immediately called to mind the image of him streaking down a suburban street. Or praying to “tiny infant Jesus.” Or demanding that his children get off the shed, lest he downsize their faces with a shovel. You see, Everything Must Go…
When Jamey Johnson sings that you’ll find him between Jennings and Jones, he’s not just referring to his spot on the music-store shelves. His brusque baritone twang and honky-tonk mien make him another country neo-traditionalist, one who nails the wit and hard-earned wisdom of Waylon and George’s generation of rebels. Raised by a deeply religious and musical family in Montgomery,…
The season of festivals is upon us. The warm weather manages to coax people from their shelters to bask in the scorching beams of live music. This weekend should be no exception when the Riot Room hosts its annual Local Artist Overthrow, a two-day mini-festival that highlights some of Kansas City’s best on-the-rise bands. The showcase kicks off Friday with…
It’s one of the oldest stories: Human creates robot backing band; human and robot band create infectious metal-tinged rock and roll; robots capture human, making him their slave and delighting in humiliating him onstage. Well, maybe the tale is obscure, but Captured By Robots is just as much a comedy performance as a rock show. There’s a lot of wit…
“Barely legal” isn’t a term that often is associated with singer-songwriters. (Rather, that territory is usually reserved for Disney-manufactured pop-star Lolitas.) But the description fits soft-spoken, impish songstress Jessica Lea Mayfield. The Ohio native just hit her 21st birthday last August, but her tunes have already seduced NPR, Paste and one-half of the Black Keys. Her 2008 debut, With Blasphemy…
I’m willing to bet that most people reading this have never heard of a restaurant called Bistro La Scala. It’s a very strange little dining room inside a very odd little hotel on a very misbegotten stretch of Metcalf. I’m not even sure how I found it, but I’ve eaten three pleasant meals in the restaurant. The place has a…
Man, these guys just keep getting better. Hidden Pictures’ Synchronized Sleeping is an album to love. It’s blisteringly honest in unexpected places, and songwriter Richard Gintowt’s lyrics have the harsh, incisive cut of Ben Gibbard, without the sentimental sap. Hidden Pictures’ warm and fuzzy melodies go down like spoonfuls of sticky brown sugar, but Gintowt’s songs are about sacrifice: working…
Quixotic already has a well-deserved cult following in Kansas City for the dynamic group’s genre-defying aerobatic performances. Now Quixotic is joining the Kansas City Symphony for a fascinating subversion of the ballet-and-symphony tradition. The full orchestra is set to play onstage with the Quixotic performers, accompanying them with familiar classical pieces that have been given striking new arrangements. Frank Byrne,…
This is the age of multitasking. We tweet, text and surf the Web, all at the same time. Who actually pays attention to an entire movie without interruption anymore? These days, all you need to know about a movie is its best five minutes. Here are the best 7,200 frames of Thor. A man with long blond hair and the…
Nice job, Texas County, Missouri! According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest calculations, you guys are the center of the country’s population. Gargle those balls, 2000 center Phelps County! That isn’t to say that the country has somehow shifted to make Texas County America’s geographical center, only that it’s the place that “an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of…
You don’t need to tell Noure Kamal, the owner of the six-month-old Marrakech Cafe, about the stinging aroma of mothballs that still vaguely lingers around the entrance to his restaurant at 4116 Broadway. “We’re working on it,” Kamal says. “Soon it won’t be a problem at all.” To Kamal’s credit, the fragrance of parfum de mothball emanating from the Oriental…
With the announced development of a $15 million Legoland to be installed alongside a planned aquarium and already existing Crayola Cafe, Kansas City’s Crown Center is now only two Oompa Loompas away from rivaling the Wonka Chocolate Factory as a children’s wonderland. The family-friendly theme park will be just the fourth of its kind in the United States, including Lego-building…
This past Friday at about 5 p.m., Lawrence police received a tip that someone had posted a baby for sale on Craigslist, asking $300 or best offer. The price alone should have been a clue that it was all a trick. Even in this economy and even with a badly damaged baby, you can chop the kid up, sell the…
UPDATE: Local sports announcer Christian Vedder, a cousin of the late Yvette Vedders, called in this afternoon to clarify some of the information in this post. The update after the end of the original post. Kansas City has a long history of being a hometown to Hollywood legends. In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s roster of major stars included four who had…
UPDATE, May 9 at 12:25 p.m.: Apparently, the reunion is in honor of Sonic Spectrum’s anniversary, according to Robert Moore’s Twitter page. Click here to check it out. The Golden Republic — a former Kansas City group made up of members of the Republic Tigers and Soft Reeds, respectively — has been hinting at a reunion of the band on…
On Friday night, after the Good Foot played the Spring Invitational at the Riot Room, the local funk band hauled all its gear to the Mustache Club (and underground DIY venue) and put on a secret 3 a.m. show. Our photographer Forester Michael was on the scene. Categories: Music Tags: Mustache Club, the Good Foot
Pitchfork’s sister Internet rag Altered Zones has been loving Kansas City lately. Just last month, it featured KC’s horror-movie synth machine Umberto on its front-page blog roll, and last week, it reviewed the latest release from Polymer Slug (the musical moniker of Chicago’s Adam Tramposh), Cloud Types, out on cassette via Kansas City’s Overland Shark label. Categories: Music Tags: Altered Zones, Overland…
