Proving that the Kansas City gallery scene is no monolith, a number of spaces were open on First Friday as their way of taking on a holiday. But several open again, or instead, the evening of July 11 — Second Friday. At Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art (2004 Baltimore, 7–9 p.m.), Keith Jacobshagen’s skillful landscapes include an impressive amount of horizon…
More like 1,950 percent. The payday-loan lobby is quite powerful in Missouri, a state that’s home to more payday-loan operations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. Given the growing awareness that its practices are designed to burden borrowers with long-term debt, the payday lobby, along with members of the Missouri General Assembly, put together a bill in the recent session that…
Our Crossroads neighbor Raygun is throwing a party tonight in honor of the 10 winners of the T-shirt shop’s Instagram contest. Raygun put out the call to Kansas City’s Instagram community to submit their four best photos taken with the app and hashtagged #igkansascity. They then picked the winners from more than 140 submissions. Those winners each get five photos professionally printed…
A couple of local blogs reported this week that chef Bryan Merker’s Cajun restaurant, Nica’s Lagniappe Cajun Kitchen, had been closed since June 28 for repairs and remodeling. Today, Merker announced, through his publicist Jackson Bonar, that the three-year-old restaurant, which originally opened as Nica’s 320 in 2011 in the former Shiraz location at 320 Southwest Boulevard, will not reopen. “Bryan was…
This year, the 2014 Pitch Music Awards Showcase is split over two nights: Saturday, July 19, at the Riot Room and Friday, July 25, at Knuckleheads Saloon (lineup details and tickets here.) The PMA Awards Show is at the Uptown Theater, held this year on Sunday, August 3, and hosted by World Air Guitar Champion Eric “Mean” Melin and Mills Record Co.’s Judy Mills…
If the Kansas City Royals want to make the playoffs this year, they are going to have to come up big when facing the defending AL Central Champions. That is why this week’s four game series against the Detroit Tigers means as much as a pre-All Star break series can mean. The Royals currently sit five games behind the Tigers,…
Patrick Mullin wanted to pay tribute to his friend Jordan Fields, who died last November. So, with the help of Martin City Brewing Co., he created Dozer, a barrel-aged imperial coconut porter named after Fields’ adopted pup. The beer taps at 7 p.m. Thursday at Martin City Brewing Co. (500 East 135th Street), with 100 percent of the proceeds going…
Michael Smith’s new CoCo Bolos is nestled within the theme-park-like maze of residential and retail development called PrairieFire, at 135th Street and Nall, and it took me three laps to get to it. By the time I sat down at the Mexican restaurant’s expansive bar, I felt like I had earned a drink. Ryan Rama was ready to meet my…
Nick and Jake’s has opened south of the Plaza. Read Pitch food critic Charles Ferruzza’s review here and see photos by Pitch photographer Angela C. Bond.
Jeremy Messersmith with the Invisible World Czar, Kansas City Tuesday, July 9, 2014 Jeremy Messersmith needs a bigger stage. It’s not that the Czar Bar’s setup was too crowded (although it was), but the Minneapolis singer’s sound was too big for its constraints. Hailed by Time last year as one of this year’s 14 most promising artists, Messersmith is Ben…
Once upon a time in the suburbs, Hen House stood out as the upmarket grocery. But now middle-market, value-oriented Price Chopper and Hy-Vee are getting in the game. The remodeling of Price Chopper (7201 West 151st Street, Overland Park) and the construction of Hy-Vee (14955 West 151st Street, Olathe) represent suburban grocery stores designed to be something more than a…
This year, the 2014 Pitch Music Awards Showcase is split over two nights: Saturday, July 19, at the Riot Room and Friday, July 25, at Knuckleheads Saloon (lineup details and tickets here.) The PMA Awards Show is at the Uptown Theater, held this year on Sunday, August 3, and hosted by World Air Guitar Champion Eric “Mean” Melin and Mills Record Co.’s Judy Mills…
Whenever someone utters the phrase “cover band,” my mind immediately conjures up a sad scene of social misfits in tie-dyed T-shirts and socks-and-sandals combinations, holding up lighters for a clutch of musicians playing what vaguely sounds like the Grateful Dead or Van Halen. But Los Angeles four-piece Zepparella blasts that stereotype to bits. Drummer and founder Clementine (who goes by…
Dazed and Confused by Zepparella from Ms Zepparella on Vimeo.
Name: Katie Boody Occupation: Co-founder and CEO, the Lean Lab, for innovation in urban education Hometown: Prairie Village Current neighborhood: The West Side! What I do: I develop educators and community leaders into innovators creating bold and impactful solutions for public ed in KCMO. What’s your addiction? Coffee and scary movies What’s your game? Darts What’s your drink? Gin gimlet…
Earlier this year, Private Birthday Party — a collection of unearthed color slides celebrating gay-bar life in Kansas City from 1958 through 1968 — became something of a viral hit, drawing attention from national outlets such as New York and The Daily Beast. Many of the photos were taken at now-closed joints the Colony Bar (3325 Troost) and the Jewel…
Kyle Maggart is always prepared. Whenever he goes anywhere that he expects to find a record player, he slides his most recent vinyl finds into a leather satchel and ferries a portion of his personal stash to that day’s turntable. Often, that turntable is the one where he works. When we meet at Hi-Fi Records, the shop that Maggart runs…
Gunshots. Strobe lights. Stagehands with tie line wrapped around their necks like nooses. This is preview night for the Living Room’s Master of the Universe, cast and crew’s last chance to run through the theater company’s world-premiere adaptation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck before it officially opens. Last and only: Until tonight, they’ve never made it all the way through…
Roger Ebert spent his life making film criticism accessible — and often, he was more entertaining than the movies he reviewed. Creating a documentary worthy of the late Pulitzer Prize winner sounds like an imposing task, then. But director Steve James has some unique qualifications. Like Ebert was, the Hoop Dreams director is based in Chicago, and he understands how…
