Archives: November 2013
Just announced: Amos Lee coming to the Uptown Theater on March 4
Americana singer-songwriter Amos Lee has some good news for the wistful denim-on-denim-wearing hipsters and their parents: He’s coming to town, and he’s carrying a mountain of blues-drenched sorrows on his back. Lee is coming to the Uptown Theater on Tuesday, March 4. His new album, the tritely titled Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, is a continuation of Lee’s well-developed…
Farm to Market’s Black Russian bread isn’t just for sandwiches
The Farm to Market Bread Co.’s newest limited-edition bread, a robustly dark pumpernickel called Black Russian, was created as a collaboration with the Roasterie – both local companies are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year – using the Roasterie’s Sumatra Concentrate Toddy coffee, cocoa and raisins. Farm to Market began delivering loaves of the fragrant, richly flavored Black Russian to…
Missouri’s minimum wage will (slightly) rise in 2014
Minimum wages will rise this much. Currently, minimum wage in the state of Missouri is $7.35. That is arguably not a livable wage. Thanks to a ballot initiative from 2006, though, the minimum wage in Missouri is required to be recalculated annually based on changes in the state’s cost of living (which is based on the Consumer Price Index). So,…
Heyrocco takes over FOKL tonight
Heyrocco makes me believe that indie pop-rock is a thing, a thing with a future, a thing with a real place in the world. The Charleston-bred trio of boys released its debut full-length album, Comfort, last year, and there’s already a new album on the way. Strong shows of support have risen up around the band, now that it has…
ACLU teams with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt to halt execution of his shooter in Missouri
Joseph Franklin confessed to shooting Larry Flynt in 1978, which bound the Hustler publisher to a wheelchair for life. Franklin also tried to kill civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. But it was for other murders he committed that Franklin is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Missouri on November 20. Flynt is among those who don’t want to see Franklin…
Iron & Wine gave fans the show they wanted on Saturday night at the Midland
Iron & Wine is Samuel Beam, an indie folk-singer type who rose to success back in 2002 when indie folk-singer types were running rampant. The Iron & Wine that performed Saturday at the Midland was a 13-piece band. This orchestration was not utilized for broadening Beam’s range; rather, all members of the full band seemed to be playing at all…
Sporting Kansas City ties first playoff game against Houston, has long layoff until next game
Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo slugged out a 0-0 draw in an unremarkable Saturday-afternoon match to reach the halfway point of their two-game playoff series. The torrid pace of the game was expected; both teams have played a glut of playoff games over the last week, including both slogging out double-overtime games last Wednesday. The scoreless result was…
The Melismatics: “There’s a pinpointed energy to this record”
Rising Tide, the brand-new album from Minneapolis four-piece the Melismatics, is a collection of fuzzy indie-pop songs. They’re a little rough around the edges, but they aren’t without their charm; “Halo” and “Looking for Trouble” are standout pop standards, paying homage to classic ’80s styles and still keeping up with the band’s own take on what it likes to call…
The Josh Berwanger Band and Uzis have a free in-store show at Mills Record Co. tonight
Perhaps you missed the epic, awesome times that the Josh Berwanger Band delivered last Thursday with a Halloween CD-release show at RecordBar. We feel sorry for you. There is hope for you yet, though: The cool kids over at Mills Record Co. are hosting a free in-store show tonight featuring Berwanger and local garage rockers Uzis. We talked to Berwanger…
The Found Footage Festival brings VHS culture to town this weekend
Ready the VCR, Alamo! Not to be confused with Found magazine, which artfully repurposes found notes, the Found Footage Festival is a celebration of ridiculous VHS tapes found at “garage sales and thrift stores and in warehouses and dumpsters throughout the country,” by the show’s hosts, Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher. Think job-training videos, exercise videos, sex-ed videos, and terrible…
The Body delivered face-melting ear candy to an elated crowd last night
The Body with Bummer and Faultfinder Mid-East, Kansas City Thursday, November 7 “I almost hit the dog with the car, and then I almost dropped the amp on it,” says Mike Gustafson, the bassist of the newish local metal band Bummer, “but then I just stepped on its foot.” This is the introductory sentence to my evening at a house…
Is Tim Huelskamp backing off his hostage-taking strategy to thwart Obamacare?
When you have nothing to lose, you’ll tend to act more freely. That concept helped Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp mount a strident campaign against the implementation of Obamacare earlier this year, leading to the half-month government shutdown in October. Huelskamp is politically insulated in a congressional district covering huge swaths of western Kansas, where his brand of far-right conservatism is…
Cupcakes are officially over
Sorry cupcake fans, but it was inevitable. The heavily iced cake-let known as the cupcake is so last year. (We suspected this was coming in 2009.) That’s the view of the restaurant industry’s best-read trade publication, Nation’s Restaurant News, which published a story this week titled, “Hot Restaurant Trends for 2014.” Nation’s Restaurant News quoted Andrew Freeman, chief executive of…
Iron & Wine, plus Sam Beam’s beard, take over the Midland this Saturday
The last time I saw Sam Beam live – two years ago, when he was touring in support of Kiss Each Other Clean – his set stretched near the two-hour mark and devolved into something dangerously reminiscent of a Christopher Cross adult-contemporary jam session. The show reviews for Beam’s latest tour, in support of his recent Ghost on Ghost, suggest…
Turkey talk: Roasting the perfect holiday bird
I had roasted holiday turkeys only twice in my life before I had my epiphany: The best turkey dinner you can ever get is the one served in restaurants. At least for me, who roasted the turkeys in much the same way that Lucy Ricardo might have done on I Love Lucy – utterly incompetently. There are rules for defrosting…
Brother Jerry Love gets 13 years in the slammer for scamming the IRS (updated)
Gerald Poynter told an audience at a Doubletree Hotel in Atlanta that the folks working at the Internal Revenue Service weren’t too terribly bright. Poynter, known as “Brother Jerry Love” to his adherents, was holding a seminar in the Atlanta hotel in 2008 to tell people that filing bogus tax returns was an easy way to scoop up quick cash. He…
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