As deplorable and upsetting as the George Zimmerman verdict was for many, at least one good thing may have come out of it (apart from reminding everyone that racial injustice is alive and well and worth your outrage): More people might see Fruitvale Station. In a story that recalls the Trayvon Martin saga, this fact-based film (which won both the…
Besides straight theatrical productions, Fringe Festival’s opening weekend offered an eclectic mix of poetry, film and performance art. It was, in other words, the usual for this event: a roulette wheel ready to take bets. Here are the highlights and lowlights from this reviewer’s gambling excursion. On the Unicorn’s Main Stage, the Coterie’s Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen is a…
It’s a hip-hop lover’s dream,” says Dallas Gutschenritter of the second-annual Guerilla Fest, to be held this weekend at his club, the Riot Room. That’s particularly true if old-school characters such as Slick Rick, Spice 1, PMD and MC Eiht (who will all perform) match your flavor of rap. Or if you’re looking to brush up on local hip-hop talent:…
Tip that martini glass and pour a little out — the long-running Victor Continental Show is coming to a close. The live sketch-comedy musical show, hosted by Jerry Mitchell’s oversexed European playboy, has built up a loyal audience over the past 15 years in Lawrence. Will Averill, the head writer, director and co-artistic director of Card Table Productions (the company…
Jimmy McFadden was a hoofer through the 1930s and ’40s, tap-dancing onstage with the likes of the Count Basie Orchestra and Jay McShann. He began teaching his sons to tap when they were 3; one of his sons, Lonnie, added trumpet to his talents. Today, you can see the second-generation McFadden continuing the family tradition — blowing that trumpet, singing…
Call Nan Turner a pioneer of punk-rock tap dance. At a recent show at the Brick, the Schwervon drummer stepped out from behind her cymbals and strapped on a pair of shiny leather tap shoes. Sporting bleached-blond hair and short shorts, she joined the audience on the floor, heels clicking and jazz hands waving. Matt Roth, Turner’s boyfriend of 14…
The Postal Service Give Up, the surprise 2003 electro-emo hit record from the Postal Service, is now 10 years in the rearview — you’re old as dirt — and to celebrate, creators Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello are touring the country and playing the old songs. In New York City, where many of the college kids who bought Give Up…
Here come the cops. The five people drinking in this North Kansas City bar — a place not yet open for business — see a telltale flash of red and blue flickering outside as a black SUV parks. They register the guilty looks of high-schoolers whose parents have just arrived to bust up a party. Cinder Block owner Bryce Schaffter…
Original founders (from left) Hunt, Fritz and Brandmeyer: All these people now hate one another. We dissected the failure of Kanrocksas a few months back, after the festival was abruptly canceled in late May. But the story continues. On Monday, Mammoth Inc., the booking and promotions company hired by Kanrocksas, filed a lawsuit in Wyandotte County against festival founder Bill…
Facebook: Bourgmont Bourgmont hopes to turn the lights on in their own brewery one day. This week’s cover story in The Pitch looks at the microbreweries that have opened or will open this year in Kansas City. In the course of writing the story, I learned a lot more than I could include. Today, I wanted to introduce the Fast…
Facebook: Little Freshie The watermelon basil is a classic flavor at Little Freshie. The State, an erstwhile comedy group that peaked on MTV, had a classic sketch about the finest way to spend $240. And while I’m not ready for that amount of pudding, I can tell you that when summer in Kansas City arrives, I’m willing to spend that…
Flame on, Kansas City. Tulsa has thrown its Stetson into the 2024 Summer Olympics ring. Well, until Mayor Dewey Bartlett yanked his support from the Tulsa2024 movement, likely signaling the end of the push to get the Olympics in Tulsey Town. Seriously, that’s what they call it. In Kansas City, we’re Midwest hayseed dreamers, goddamn it. Former Mayor Mark Funkhouser…
When Twinkies made their grand return to shelves July 15, I expected Price Chopper to be busier. This was the first time that the beloved treats were available since Hostess Brands shut down last November. Billboards looming over Interstate 35 announcing the corporation’s comeback had taunted me for weeks: bold, colorful signs depicting golden snack cakes large enough to engulf…
Name: Bobby Voelker Occupation: Professional MMA fighter Hometown: Overland Park Current neighborhood: Kansas City What I do (in 140 characters): I work construction, go to school and train all the time. What’s your addiction? Movies! What’s your game? Sand volleyball What’s your drink? Corona Where’s dinner? Kyoto Sushi & Steak What’s on your KC postcard? A picture of me pigging…
Brian Bromwell is all about the meat at Anton’s Taproom. Brian Bromwell is hoping that 4 will be his lucky number. He is, after all, the fourth executive chef to oversee the kitchen at Anton’s Taproom & Restaurant since it opened 10 months ago. But if that turnover sounds a bit dramatic, Bromwell is philosophical. He knows that owner Anton…
Taco Bell Sorry kids, you’ll have to order off the grown-up menu at Taco Bell now. Sorry, Mom and Dad, but the Taco Bell at 1306 Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard is no long selling kids’ meals. Neither is the location at 9690 Metcalf. (“We stopped offering them a few days ago,” the manager told me. “It all came down from…
Still COA: Kyle James Fresh off yet another scrape with the law, local pseudo-celebrity Kyle James returns to the blog today for music-related reasons. His party-boy track, “Bender,” which we discussed a little last year, has been remixed and turned into a nine-minute song. How do you turn a five-minute song into a nine-minute song? By recruiting just about every…
Jim James My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James released his soul-tinged solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, earlier this year. I’ve had the chance to see him perform live a couple of times since, and he and the band that he has assembled are a treat. (I gushed about it a little here.) James is playing LouFest…
Peter Vermes is sticking around Kansas City. With Sporting Kansas City sitting in first place with a four-point cushion in MLS’ Eastern Conference, the team announced Tuesday morning that it locked up coach and technical director Peter Vermes through the 2017 season. It’s not a very surprising update from the club. While fans of the Royals and Chiefs complain annually…
Ashford Stamper Stone’s Arrogant Bastard is now on both sides of State Line. Stone Brewing Co. rolls into Kansas this week, and the San Diego brewery is celebrating with a series of events. There’s a T-shirt and pint glass night (both are for sale) at Barley’s Brewhaus (16649 Midland Drive, Shawnee) tonight beginning at 7 p.m. with Stone’s Smoked Porter,…
Don’t just slow down. Stop and eat at the bright-yellow truck. It’s too easy to use frozen french fries. They’re readily available. They cook consistently. And most of us just gobble them down with no regard to whether they started fresh or frozen. So if you’re going to serve fresh fries out of a mobile kitchen, you really have to…
Angela C. Bond Fill up at the Genessee Royale Bistro. In a city of drivers, it’s only natural that we would be good at repurposing old service stations. Bon Appetit has released a list of the “16 Great Restaurants in Old or Still-Functioning Gas Stations.” Specificity aside, a pair of Kansas City restaurants – the Genessee Royale Bistro in the…
The health issues of chef-owner Joseph Clark, who opened Clark’s American Caribbean Restaurant, at 3623 Broadway (formerly occupied by Chubby’s, New Tandoor Cafe and Royal Kabob King, to name a few) with his father and brother earlier this spring, has caused the venue to finally, after a very short life, close. The building’s owner, Greg Patterson, confirmed that Clark’s American…
