And, yes, it was a hit-and-run accident. Sort of. If you had made plans to attend tonight’s Halloween party at the Green Lady Lounge at 1809 Grand, don’t be put off by the boarded-up windows in front of the club. Yes, the nightclub is still open; it survived an early Thursday-morning accident when a pickup truck was hit by a…
Funny story about Deer Tick. About a year ago, I got on the phone with lead singer John McCauley for an interview. I’d heard things about how he could be a douche with the press, but I was confident in my angle. I had tons of questions prepared and sectioned off according to the degree to which McCauley was hungover….
When the Sic Alps broke up, back in August, the sound of heartbreak echoed throughout the garage-rock community. Tears were shed and many whiskey toasts were consumed as indie kids remembered almost a decade of strange experimental noise. Then, out of the ashes, came Sic Alps frontman Mike Donovan with a solo record and a reassuring nod, as if to…
Sisters Maria and Tess Cuevas have been making music together since they were big enough to hold instruments. Call it a family tradition: For a decade, Maria and Tess toured with their grandmother’s Mexican folk band, Mariachi Estrella. When Mariachi Estrella came to an end, the Cuevas sisters took the opportunity to begin a new project. In 2011, they found…
There was an interesting little aside last week when I was interviewing Josh Berwanger and Michael Hutcherson ahead of the band’s album-release show tonight at RecordBar. These two dudes, with faces that will suggest they are eternally going to look like they fall in the “under 30” category, got very quiet and very serious when I asked them how old…
Chef Peter Castillo plans to start serving soups, including menudo and pho, in Westport. When chef Peter Castillo (Tenerife Cafe, Great Plains Catering) decided to call his new restaurant Eat Me, he got some flack immediately. “This one lady told me that the name was crass,” Castillo says. “But I asked her, ‘Doesn’t food – delicious-looking food in particular –…
A local woman named Jodi Gentry received quite the surprise when the good folks over at Liberty Hall returned a purse that she had lost at their venue a decade ago. In one of the most delightful finds, Gentry recapped the contents of her accidental time capsule: Hey, at least the birth certificate and Social Security card were intact. Incidentally,…
When beer brings on a shopping craving – or shopping makes you thirsty – The Pitch’s first Crafts & Drafts has you covered. Saturday’s event features close to 60 arts-and-crafts vendors ready to complement the local and national beers on tap. The vendor list for this free event makes drinking and browsing your weekend’s one-two punch. You’ll find handmade jewelry,…
Moore will scale back his duties at KMBC. Larry Moore, the beloved longtime news anchor at KMBC, announced last night that his role at the station will be moving into what he’s calling an “emeritus” one, effective November 27. He says he wants to spend more time with his grandson, Emmett, and the rest of his family. “I’m not leaving…
Click here for this month’s First Friday gallery openings and events.
I keep agreeing to spend precious weekend nights covering events like Temptation at the Station, the annual sexy Halloween party for KC’s young-professional set that was held Friday, October 25, at Union Station. Why? I try not to think about it too much, but it obviously has something to do with hating myself and believing that I deserve to suffer….
There’s no sugarcoating it: Stephen Sondheim is hard. And Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street might be the composer’s most exacting show, requiring straight-razor musical precision. So kudos to the Lawrence Arts Center for taking on a serious dramatic challenge with its production of the bloodthirsty classic. Director Ric Averill has gathered a capable cast to meet the…
In a city with at least nine big bands — ranging from the black-suited formality of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra to the original mayhem of the People’s Liberation Big Band — New Jazz Order (NJO) stands out. While some large ensembles claim a musical niche, NJO’s jazz spans classic Count Basie to the more modern charts of Thad Jones…
A woman with a bright shock of long, hot-pink hair smokes in the Team Auto Sales doorway. She laughs at something she hears from inside the office of this tiny, crowded used-car lot at 79th Street and Wornall. Sondra Freeman, director of promotions for the Midwest Music Foundation, stubs out her cigarette on the pavement and heads back inside. She…
Margo May is done folking around. The songwriter’s new record, set for digital release in early November, is a tropical-inspired set of dance songs titled Runaway Island. “I don’t know how people are going to receive it, but really, it’s so great that I do not care,” May says. On the eve of Island’s debut, she’s on the road with…
Former Anniversary singer and guitarist Josh Berwanger has crafted the most glorious man cave in the basement of his mother’s Leawood home. It’s an elaborate setup: Star Wars collectibles still in their original plastic, lava lamps, a bookcase stacked with vinyl, a jukebox, a samurai sword. There’s also a soundproof practice space and a bed for Berwanger’s bandmate, Michael Hutcherson,…
Replay Halloween Party It’s always a chore to coordinate your Hallow’s Eve schedule, between the parties and the shots and sneaking photos of kids in adorable costumes. This year, save yourself the trouble and head to the Replay for a night of ghoulish musical revelry. A smorgasbord of local bands is set to occupy the stage on that unholiest of…
When Union Station CEO George Guastello fired Kansas City Museum director Christopher Leitch on June 9, the dismissal caught most museum supporters by surprise. “You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Northeast News publisher Mike Bushnell told The Pitch that day. At least one person might have seen it coming: Amy Hull, a retired Kansas City police detective…
