Archives: March 2014
These are the basics on today’s Kansas Supreme Court school finance decision
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday morning dropped its long-awaited decision on whether Kansas violates the state constitution for elementary and secondary education financing. The decision is 110 pages long and does not represent a simple, concise summation of the situation. What we have here are the basics of the decision. For some background on the issues leading up to…
Westport Ale House opens for business tonight
Drink up. We feel a special affinity here at The Pitch for the building at 4128 Broadway. In 1980, when its tenant was a record store called PennyLane Records, a group of music geeks gathered together in the basement and launched a local rag called the Penny Pitch; over the next 30-odd years, that publication morphed into the one you’re…
The Soul of John Black takes over Knuckleheads this Saturday
John Bigham – or, if you like, the Soul of John Black – is an old-school funk throwback. On last September’s A Sunshine State of Mind, the former Fishbone member channels Prince and gets his groove back. The album floats breezily along, adhering only to Bigham’s own soul-driven schedule – a loose one at best. He croons luxuriously to blues-guitar…
Diane Birch is at the Bottleneck this Saturday
When Diane Birch released her debut, Bible Belt, in 2009, I felt a little guilty for liking it so much. It had a rootsy but polished 1970s vibe, presenting her as a folk girl trying to talk herself out of being a pop artist. Birch’s follow-up, last fall’s Speak a Little Louder, throws a whole new light on the 31-year-old…
Little Class Records sets up shop in Westport, celebrates grand opening this weekend
Local roots and rockabilly music dreams come one step closer to becoming realized with the addition of a physical incarnation of Westport’s Little Class Records to the KC sound scene, opening this weekend. The label’s new spot – above Westport Saloon at 4112 Pennsylvania – gives LCR the opportunity to showcase acts onstage downstairs. “The two most exciting things about our new location are proximity to…
Layers, lairs and lords: your First Friday hit list
Among other things, this week’s First Friday offers 13 answers to the question “What do artists fear?” At Beggar’s Table Gallery (2010 Baltimore), Anastacia Drake has invited a baker’s dozen of folks – Alan Barnes, Jennifer Bertrand, Jenifer Cady, Traci Findley, Christopher Frye, Jenny Hahn, Rick Kloog, Ada Koch, William Saunders, Tom Styrkowicz, John C. Sutton III, Larissa Uredi and…
King Buzzo of the Melvins on his upcoming solo tour
Buzz Osborne is the frontman for the Melvins, the West Coast sludge-rock forbearers who inspired many a band to pick up a guitar and make dark, angry music. He’s releasing his first acoustic album ever in June on Ipecac Recordings, but will preview it with a 10-inch record entitled This Machine Kills Artists. That piece of vinyl will be available…
Gina Kaufmann named new host of KCUR’s Central Standard
Kaufmann will grab the mic at the end of this month. Back in January, it was announced that KCUR 89.3’s weekly, community-oriented magazine program KC Currents would merge into the station’s 10 a.m. show, Central Standard. Today, KCUR revealed the new host of that program: Gina Kaufmann, who will join Central Standard starting the week of March 31. Kaufmann’s name…
Missouri House finds new way to shame women seeking abortions
More nonsense from Jeff City. For those of you keeping track at home, there is now exactly one abortion clinic in the entire state of Missouri: Reproductive Health Services, in St. Louis. (There are three left in Kansas.) What does that mean for a woman in, say, Springfield, Missouri, who gets pregnant and decides – as is her right under…
The big Kansas Supreme Court ruling on education finance comes down tomorrow
Sunflower State politicians are girding for the release of the long-awaited Kansas Supreme Court decision on K-12 education finance tomorrow morning. Court officials told media to expect the decision at about 9:30 a.m. Friday. Originally expected in January, the ruling could be a crucial one for the future of Kansas. Many expect that the Kansas Supreme Court could agree with…
Sporting Kansas City‘s media day
Sporting Kansas City showed off new jerseys — and the MLS Cup — at the franchise’s media day at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. Photos by Brooke Vandever.
Kings of Leon were less than charming at the Sprint Center last night
Kings of Leon with Gary Clark Jr. The Sprint Center, Kansas City Wednesday, March 5, 2014 For a full slideshow from last night, go here. Since first forming more than a decade ago, Tennessee’s Kings of Leon has enjoyed a sort of skyrocket career. It has recorded six studio albums, toured with Bob Dylan, won a multitude of awards, and established…
300: Rise of an Empire
A remix of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” plays over 300: Rise of an Empire’s end credits – one last desperate attempt to rouse your meathead sympathies for this sequel to 300, Zack Snyder’s Xerox adaptation of Frank Miller’s formative comic book. By then, you’ve had 102 minutes of campy, oversaturated images of musclebound slo-mo Chippendale types slashing and ramming one…
First Friday
Click here for this month’s First Friday gallery openings and events.
Egads shines upon Godspell
Prepare ye the way of the power ballad. Egads Theatre Co. is Bible-belting some of the most spectacular showtunes of the 1970s with its revival of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak’s Godspell. Godspell’s spiritual sincerity may not have aged well, and finger-wagging lyrics such as There’s gonna be a quiz at your ascension can give you hives even if you’re…
MET’s The Night of the Iguana is more than reheated Williams
Such pandemonium breaks out at the start of The Night of the Iguana that you wouldn’t think it was the middle of a languid day in Puerto Barrio, Mexico. You almost long for the solitude and quiet of one of the small, screened-in rooms at this oceanside Costa Verde Hotel. But there may not be much peace there, either. The…
Jazz Beat: Jaleel Shaw, at Take Five Coffee + Bar
“Energetic” and “turbulent” have been used to describe Jaleel Shaw on alto sax. He’ll power through a solo with a cascade of post-bop originality and a warm tone, driven with mature intelligence and power. In New York, he performs with the Mingus Big Band and legendary drummer Roy Haynes’ quartet, in addition to his own ensembles. Thursday, he returns to…
Valerie June on the songs that move her and the stories she tells
Tennessee native Valerie June has been making music professionally for more than a decade, but only recently has the 31-year-old artist earned the sort of attention she deserves. Her 2013 breakthrough, Pushin’ Against a Stone, produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, is her fourth studio album. Stone, like June herself, is otherworldly, hanging on the air somewhere between traditional…
Clairaudients’ last hurrah before taking a break
From the outside, Arts Asylum doesn’t seem like much. Located on a sketchy downtown corner, the building is barely visible in the streetlamp’s glow. It used to be a church, but right now it looks less than inviting. On this chilly Saturday evening, though, the vibe inside is one of inclusion. A small flurry of activity is under way as…
Music Forecast 3.6-3.12: Diane Birch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Dr. Dog, and more
Lydia Loveless Aside from having one of the best names in music, Lydia Loveless also has talent. The 23-year-old’s most recent album, February’s Somewhere Else, is at first a country disc — but, oh, it’s nothing for today’s country radio. Under twangy guitars and her supple, whiskey-coated voice, Loveless is really a black-eyed punk following her own agenda. On Somewhere…
A preview of Sporting KC’s 2014 season
For the third year in a row, Sporting Kansas City enters the season as a presumptive favorite to win a Major League Soccer championship. Last season, Sporting realized its potential and claimed the cup. Defending it won’t be easy. Sporting’s schedule is one of the toughest Eastern Conference slates in years, with the East shedding its inferior label. Changes to…
Find The Pitch
