Archives: May 2014

Rex Hobart and the Misery Boys’ ‘I Should Be Gone by Now’ is your Westport Roots Festival song of the day

The inaugural Westport Roots Fest, centered around the Westport Saloon and taking place on Saturday, May 24, is approaching fast. To prepare for the pending roots romp presented by the good folks at Little Class Records, The Pitch will be highlighting a “song of the day” from one of the featured artists in the weeks leading up to fest.  There’s a specific songwriting gene…

HopFest goes big Saturday, don’t miss these 10 beers

Beer-festival season is officially here, and the weekend’s biggest event is HopFest, from 2 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Well (7421 Broadway). (VIPs start at 1 p.m.) Chris Lewellen, owner of the Well and Lew’s, says this year’s event includes more than 50 breweries and 250 craft beers. Cinder Block, KC Bier Co., Martin City Brewing…

Big Rip tears it up Saturday with first anniversary party

If you’re looking for a smaller craft-beer experience, Big Rip Brewing Co. (216 East Ninth Avenue, North Kansas City) is throwing an anniversary party from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. “It should be a good fest,” says Josh Collins, who founded the brewery with Kipp Feldt. “It’s designed to be a super-laid-back festival where, if you want to try a…

Lyft buys itself more time in KC; free rides for the rest of us

Still cruisin’ in KC. My questions about why ride-sharing service Lyft does not believe Kansas City ordinances apply to it – I wrote about all this last week, here – remain unanswered. But the company is not backing down from challenges by our local government, who (rather reasonably, in my opinion) are requesting that it permit up and comply with…

Pezzettino Italian Deli and Market adds a little bite to the Crossroads

I’d like to suggest an advertising tagline for the terrific new Italian delicatessen Pezzettino, at 2101 Broadway: “So good, you’re willing to circle the neighborhood half an hour trying to find a parking place.” Chris and Annie Barbieri Spohn opened the beautifully designed Italian deli and market on April 16, on the first floor of the dark brick warehouse building…

Clawhammer’s ‘Della’ is your Westport Roots Festival song of the day

The inaugural Westport Roots Fest, centered around the Westport Saloon and taking place on Saturday, May 24, is approaching fast. To prepare for the pending roots romp presented by the good folks at Little Class Records, The Pitch will be highlighting a “song of the day” from one of the featured artists in the weeks leading up to fest.  Alternatively calling themselves “dancegrass” and…

Queens of the Stone Age brought old and new to the Starlight last night

Queens of the Stone Age and Primus Starlight Theatre, Kansas City Tuesday, May 13, 2014 For the full slideshow from last night, go here.  “Hi everybody, how the hell you doing tonight?” These were the first words spoken by Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme. Maybe the down-home attitude was a facade or just caked on a little…

Michael Crane takes his homebrews on the festival circuit

Homebrewer Michael Crane doesn’t dislike beer. It’s just, well … “I’m a lightweight, I guess,” he says. “It doesn’t take much to get me quite buzzed.” Crane likes to quote his business partner, Christopher Meyers, who gave this analogy: “He’s like the grandmother who will spend all day shopping and cooking to prepare the meal to bring his family together…

Diallo Javonne French, photographer and filmmaker, answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire

Name: Diallo Javonne French Occupation: Photographer and filmmaker Hometown: Kansas City, Kansas Current neighborhood: Hyde Park What I do (in 140 characters): I’m a black-and-white music photographer and filmmaker. I try to inspire through my images. What’s your addiction? Cupcakes What’s your game? Basketball. I’m older so I’m not what I used to be, but don’t leave me open. Where’s…

Slayer dominated the Uptown last night

Slayer The Uptown, Kansas City Tuesday, May 13, 2014 My brother summed up the bands at the Uptown last night pretty much perfectly when he said that you think of these bands in your mind as being in their twenties, so it’s a bit of a shock when you see older guys on stage. The same went for the crowd,…

The new Godzilla makes landfall

Last September, as Breaking Bad neared its end, New Yorker writer Tad Friend profiled that series’ star, Bryan Cranston, who was then shooting the mega-budget remake of Godzilla that opens this week. “The actor has become the studios’ ancho chili, the ingredient that adds distinction to any dish,” Friend observed. And distinction was called for — no living human remembers…

Wye Oak’s latest album ditched the guitar and saved the band

Jenn Wasner had hit a creative wall. Two years of nonstop touring and playing had fatigued Wasner, the lead singer and guitarist for Wye Oak, and percussionist Andy Stack on the songs that had made their 2011 album, Civilians, a breakthrough success. Wasner couldn’t force herself to write anything that sounded similar, leaving Wye Oak’s future in doubt. Then Wasner…

Jazz Beat: Massey Hall 60th Anniversary, at the Gem Theater

In May 1953, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie recorded a legendary jazz concert in Toronto’s Massey Hall. The saxophone that Parker played that night is on display in the American Jazz Museum. The Gem Theater marks that show’s anniversary Saturday. Pianist Bill Charlap (who has backed Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand) brings his trio, adding alto saxophonist Jesse Davis and…

Part Top Gun, part Super Bowl: The ultimate busman’s holiday in KC

Nicholas Miller was 3 when he found his calling. The year was 1971, and Pinkie Miller had driven with her kids — Nicholas and sisters Kim, 9, and Rhonda, 7 — to see a family friend. Afterward, she stopped at a neighborhood convenience store, near 43rd Street and Cleveland. It was about 10 p.m. when she left her kids in…

Spinning Tree romances Sondheim with A Little Night Music

It can be tough to stay optimistic about young theater companies. When the lifespan of a theater is less than five years, investing in one emotionally can feel as risky as embarking on a new relationship. So heed this bold proclamation from a commitment-phobe: Spinning Tree Theatre is going to make it. The theater’s third season ends on a high…

SSION plays surprise show at FOKL tonight

It appears that the gods of music, wherever they are, have heard the prayers of some Kansas City loyalists and have rewarded us with an unexpected show from art-punk collective SSION – hatched by KC mastermind Cody Critcheloe in the late 1990s – tonight at FOKL. The announcement came over Twitter this morning, and about an hour ago on Facebook.  Critchloe…