Even good Westerns these days tend to look like pageants — excuses for people to dress up and go through ritualized motions of gunfights, shootouts and hard rides. Sergio Leone’s operatic spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s, glorious as they are, share in the blame, having fetishized every sidelong glance, every reach for a pistol. But Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff acts…
It’s not hard to see what prompted the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson to sign California’s Truth & Salvage Co. to his new Silver Arrow imprint. With four songwriters in the quintet, Truth & Salvage Co. is chock-full of sunny roots balladry powered by bright, singsong melodies. The band’s self-titled 2009 debut mines a sound that harkens back to the Eagles;…
It’s almost absurd that Axl Rose’s stage antics — old hat by now — overshadowed the fact that he replaced Slash with a man wearing an unadorned Kabuki-style mask and a KFC bucket on his head. But Buckethead is best-known for his almost absurdly complex, innovative guitar work. Since playing with Guns N’ Roses, Buckethead has toured with a bassist…
The Wilders don’t have to prove anything. They’ve played the BBC, NPR and PBS, with a huge fanbase to show for their work. They’ve stomped their way across stages with electric live performances of their brand of Americana, which spans alt-country, honky-tonk and bluegrass. Someone’s Got to Pay, the group’s 2008 album, was based on a real-life murder trial and…
Stripping down local musicians never sounded so appetizing (just kidding, guys). Kansas City Uncovered, conceived by Bill Sundahl and Matt “Slimm” Adkins, debuted last year at RecordBar. Five local artists draw one another’s names from hats. They then play five songs by the artist whose name they draw. This year, the event is back with a lineup that’s sure to…
Henry Wolfe has lived in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon for just three and a half years, but his debut LP, Linda Vista, bears the unmistakable imprint of the music that bloomed there in the 1970s. His folk songs are blended with a jazzy cabaret and Brill Building pop vibe inspired by Harry Nilsson, as well as the several years spent learning…
Yes, it seems a little odd that a Thai restaurant would be named after a Polynesian cocktail invented in the United States. Victor Bergeron created the classic Mai Tai for the first Trader Vic’s restaurant, in Oakland. The original 1944 recipe called for Jamaican rum, fresh lime juice, orange curaçao and a splash of almond-flavored orgeat, served over crushed ice….
UPDATE: Kansas City police say the victim of Saturday morning’s homicide is 26-year-old Alphonso Pankey. Original Story: Kansas City’s homicide total for 2011 climbed to 33 over the weekend. A man was found shot to death in the parking lot of Gillham Park at 41st and Kenwood around 1:02 a.m. Saturday. The victim, who hasn’t been named, is described as…
%{}% One of the high flyers in the subprime-mortgage game was based in Kansas City. Shares of NovaStar Financial traded at $70 at one point. It was an illusion baked in pie crust. NovaStar’s business practices were so shoddy that even Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt during the mortgage crisis, knew enough to stop buying and selling NovaStar-originated loans in…
Oh, hello — I didn’t see you there. I must have been too busy tuning my 24-string guitar. In a second here, I plan to shred the everliving shit out of this Steve Vai solo I just learned, but since you’re already here, I may as well introduce myself. Categories: Music
A creative collaboration between Lidia’s Kansas City and the Living Room theater troupe, Brunch Theatre, kicked off last Saturday and Sunday with a show that the director, Alex Espy, calls an “environmental experience.” It’s a comedy about a restaurant that’s set in a restaurant featuring a waiter who isn’t really a waiter. It’s really a play that isn’t really a…
Fishing this spring is getting off to a strange start. Just last month, a woman caught (if you believe the video, which I’m not sure I do) a goldfish in Troost Lake. And the Missouri Department of Conservation announced today that a late-April fishing trip in the Lake of the Ozarks netted an even larger, more significant catch. The MDC…
The last time I dined at one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants in the city, Pho 97, I noticed that a few storefronts to the east, the original entrance to the long-shuttered Vista Theater — a 1932 movie house at 26th and Independence Avenue — was slightly ajar. Peeking in, I could see the original concession stand. The candy cases,…
It’s a good time to be a craft-beer lover. Beer KC — the folks behind McCoy’s Public House, the Foundry and Beer Kitchen — will be holding their first ever Kansas City Craft Beer Festival on Saturday, June 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. The event includes 19 different brewers, each of whom will be bringing a “seasonal or year-round…
Some people just know how to ruin a special moment, even if they don’t realize it. Kansas City Royals mascot Sluggerrr shared a moment with this Ren Fest couple only to have the photo-op ruined by the most unamused man in Kauffman Stadium. Caption contest, anyone? Categories: News Tags: kansas city royals, photo bomb, Sluggerrr
On Friday, chef Brian Aaron talked about his culinary career before Tannin, and tomorrow, he’ll provide the five keys to a successful tailgate. Today, he shares the brief — but outstanding moment — he had with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain as part of a Q&A that Fat City conducted with the executive chef at Tannin Wine Bar & Kitchen. What are…
If you’re one of those athletic types, it’s the season for you to be hitting the pavement and grinding out some 5K and marathon successes. And if you’re one of those types who also likes live music, then the second annual Rock the Crossroads 5K run is especially for you. The run (or walk, whichever you choose) starts and ends…
Want a better sex life? Try atheism. A study found that atheists have far better sex lives than religious folks. Oh, those poor, poor Christians. They still do it, but they feel so guilty that they can’t enjoy their post-coital afterglow — for days and even weeks. Categories: News Tags: atheism, Christians, sex
Forbes blogger Larry Olmsted attempted to turn the barbecue universe on its ear this morning by suggesting that barbecue can be “upscale and good.” Exhibit A in his argument: Kansas City’s own Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue. Olmsted writes: I have been to the mountain of “fine dining” barbecue and am back to tell you it can not only be done,…
A fight five days prior led to the killing of 25-year-old Mohamed Hussein. A witness told police that he saw Umar Muhammad shoot and kill Hussein after dropping Hussein off at Independence and Brooklyn avenues, court documents say. Early last Thursday morning, police found Hussein suffering from a gunshot wound, sitting outside a black Honda in the road at Independence…
A mile-wide, rain-wrapped tornado killed 89 people Sunday in Joplin. Sadly, that number is likely to rise. Joplin is in ruins (as you can see in Cloven Life’s Flickr photos), including St. John’s Regional Medical Center, which looks bombed out. Bark was stripped from trees. Vehicles were in mangled balls, looking like they were straight out of a Hollywood disaster…
