Sam Baker and Mary Gauthier Folly Theater, Kansas City, Missouri Saturday, September 20, 2014 “You know, this is the opposite of takeoff,” Sam Baker declared last night, early in the show at the Folly, as he and co-headliner Mary Gauthier began trading songs in a songwriter’s circle of two. They’re both known for brittle, spare and heartbreaking tunes, and Baker…
Back in 2012, former Lake Quivira Mayor Larry Meeker wanted to run for the Kansas House as a Democrat. The one-time vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City filled out all the necessary paperwork and left it with a local Democratic Party factotum to deliver, along with candidacy papers for other local office-seekers, to the Kansas secretary of…
Five months after Longboards Wraps & Bowls founders John Bailey and Gilbert Macpagel signed a lease for the former Little Caesar’s Pizza location in the Mission Mart Center, the venue is almost ready. When Bailey spoke with The Pitch back in April, he was hoping for a July or August opening. The new date set for the Mission restaurant’s opening…
Well, this is embarrassing. I’ve never seen Stop Making Sense, the most revered concert movie ever made. (It’s the one with the big suit, as seen above.) It’s a puzzling, borderline-inexcusable failure, especially given that the soundtrack of the Jonathan Demme-directed Talking Heads showcase has been one of my favorite records since my best friend traded me a tape of…
The word diva gets thrown around a lot when talking about a strong-willed female performer — with connotations that conjure images of Celine Dion in Vegas or a Mariah Carey movie. But local jazz legend Ida McBeth is the embodiment of the spectacle-free diva. For more than 30 years, McBeth ruled as Kansas City’s foremost jazz singer. And when she…
Though his years in the music industry are short in number, Max McElligott of British rock outfit Wolf Gang is very aware of the power of recollection and growth, especially when it comes to his music. In 2011, when McElligott was a student at the London School of Economics, he felt the need for a change and elected to take…
Before the ink was dry on the Kansas Supreme Court’s order Thursday to scrub Chad Taylor’s name off the November ballot for the Senate, a firefighter in Wyandotte County was ready to sue the Democratic Party in order to name a replacement for the party’s primary winner in August. How did David Orel, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, anticipate…
Timber the pit bull was shot in the head at point-blank range with a shotgun. He survived. Jacob Julius Meyer of New Friends Photography and Design started filming Timber’s story five months ago when the the pit bull was taken in by Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption. At the shelter, it was discovered that the bullet shattered his Atlas vertebrae. Luckily, it…
There are two ways to deal with a movie like This Is Where I Leave You, a comedy about a mourning family that herds a dream cast of TV stars through sitcom-grade shenanigans. You can decide in advance to forgive the shortcomings of any project that miraculously collects Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman, 30 Rock’s Tina Fey, Girls’ Adam Driver and…
Kris Kobach’s effort to put an empty candidate before voters in November failed on Thursday when the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that Chad Taylor can quit the Senate race if he wants to. No Democrat will appear on the ballot when Kansans cast their votes for senator because Taylor, who won the Democratic primary and appeared ready to duke it…
Chris Bauweraerts is in Kansas City for “the world’s smallest toast.” And he’s not alone. He’s brought a small gnome toy that he has named “Marcel” with him. I meet Bauweraerts on the patio outside Boulevard Brewing Co.’s tasting room. We’re here because Brasserie d’Achouffe, the Belgium brewery that he founded (with Pierre Gobron) in 1982 and sold to Duvel Moortgat…
Die Antwoord Crossroads KC Wednesday, September 17 You could hear the music from the Crossroads crystal-clear all the way to Czar last night. As you got closer, the bass increased to the point where it was thumping in your chest as you entered the venue. This was just from the opening DJ, blasting a mixture of trap and dubstep, with…
Kansas City Fashion Week is getting closer and closer to filling seven days. This year’s five-day run features local and national designers, and events throughout the city, from Tuesday, September 23, through Sunday, September 28. We can’t see it all, but we’re most determined not to miss these five highlights. Paolini Garment Co. Comes to the PlazaAnyone who blushed hard…
John Couture arrives at Bier Station holding a fistful of papers. “Just picked up our permits for Zwanze Day,” he says. It’s around 9:30 a.m. on the first chilly day of September, and Couture, owner of the tasting bar and bottle shop at 120 East Gregory Boulevard, wears a blue Bier Station hoodie. “I don’t want to lose these,” he…
Looking for a bag of wine corks? (Great for some future craft project.) Framed artwork? Snazzy votive candleholders? Maija Diethelm-Floyd, owner of Boozefish Wine Bar in Westport, is selling all kinds of things — except the kitchen equipment — in an estate sale that she kicked off yesterday at her 13-year-old restaurant at 1511 Westport Road. The sale continues today…
It has been 20 years since Brady Vest started Hammerpress, his Crossroads-based letterpress and design studio. In that time, it has grown from a dinky operation that made posters for Vest’s friends’ bands into a business with 12 employees and a global reach. Hammerpress’s various letterpress products can now be found at retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Paper Source,…
The Big Rip Brewing Co. is throwing its second annual Ripper Halloween party on Saturday, October 25. You’re going to want a costume for this one from the looks of last year’s party. Big Rip plans to have its Oktoberfest/Amber beer out by then. And there will also be a guest tap with a lighter beer for drinking games. Expect a…
I loved the idea of a barbecue sundae when I saw it on the menu of the three-year-old Next Year’s Winner BBQ and Catering (2306 Northwest Vivion Road, 816-587-4227), and the description was certainly enticing: “Layers of rib tips, beans, cole slaw, and pulled pork with bacon-wrapped meatballs on top.” But when the “sundae” arrived in a tall red-plastic cup,…
