Archives: September 2014
Swope Soccer Village was built on broken promises
Swope Soccer Village is back in the news this week. Various media outlets are preceding Friday afternoon’s dedication of the Swope Park soccer complex with stories about how the project is another way for Kansas City to claim that it’s the soccer capital of the United States. What today’s dedication probably won’t mention is how a nearby neighborhood got worked…
SeedCo Studios in Lawrence celebrates new location with a local music fest on Saturday
SeedCo Studios in Lawrence has a brand-new space, and to celebrate the grand opening this weekend, the fine folks over there decided there was no better way than to throw a party. This Saturday, September 13, at Eighth Street and Delaware in the Warehouse Arts District, 21 visual artists and eight local musicians will gather alongside a slew of food…
The Drop serves lite versions of Lehane, Gandolfini and Hardy
Tom Hardy holds the screen like no other actor of his generation. He combines coiled physical tension with a light vocal timbre that lends unsettling purpose to a disquietingly intelligent gaze. Unfortunately, most of the movies in which he has appeared so far hold him. James Gandolfini, who died last year, suffered from a similar imbalance outside his endlessly rich…
2014 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards Exhibition
The 2014 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards Exhibition took place on Thursday, September 11, at the Nerman Museum of Art. Artists Amy Kligman, Garry Noland and Sean Starowitz displayed their bodies of work in galleries and then each gave a brief presentation to a packed theater. For more information, go here. All photos by Zach Bauman.
Neal Patterson wants all the public incentives
Neal Patterson has a tempting offer for Kansas City: The $1.6 billion man said he would chip in to pay the $5 million cost to bulldoze Kemper Arena once and for all. The Cerner co-founder made the announcement Wednesday during an American Royal luncheon. The offer is the latest salvo in the municipal tug-of-war between two developers on what to…
Trampled Under Foot retires this winter, bassist Danielle Schnebelen talks about what’s next
Rumors have been circulating lately that beloved local blues champions Trampled Under Foot are dissolving the band after 12 years together. This was sad news to our ears, but before we rushed off to lock ourselves away for a day of weeping, we decided to check with the band. Over the phone, bassist and singer Danielle Schnebelen confirmed our fears. “We’re…
Mills Record Co. prepares for expansion into the old Vapor Up space in Westport
Construction begins today at 312 Westport Road, the former home of e-cigarette shop Vapor Up. The new tenant? The second room of next-door neighbor Mills Record Co., which will feature an expanded record selection and a proper stage. “This has been a long time coming,” says owner Judy Mills, who has been quietly preparing for the expansion for months. “Having…
Nashville’s Field Division is at the Tank Room on Friday
Justin Vernon did a great thing for Midwestern folksters when he bared his lovelorn soul seven years ago as Bon Iver: His global success validated our romantic interest in songs that reminded us of nature. Since then, singer-songwriters the world over have tried to cure their heartbreak with high falsettos and synth machines. A few are pretty good, like the…
Missouri Legislature overrides Gov. Nixon’s veto of needlessly punitive abortion bill
Missouri last night officially became the third state in the union to pass into law a bill requiring a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion. In doing so, MIssouri joins ranks with Utah and South Dakota, proud states that humiliate and heap undue financial hardship on women during an already difficult time in their lives. Nixon vetoed the…
IKEA wasn’t the only grand opening today; Walmart replaces old Superfund site in Argentine
While Merriam’s IKEA grand opening soaked up the headlines on Tuesday for turning a barren property into an outlet for an international retailer, Kansas City, Kansas’ Argentine neighborhood christened its own real-estate turnaround on the same morning. A crowd of dignitaries heralded the opening of a Walmart Neighborhood Market near 24th Street and Metropolitan Avenue. The scaled-down version of Walmart…
Boulevard releases Za’Tart, KC Bier Co. taps an Oktoberfest, Screenland Armour starts a book club and more
Boulevard released its collaboration with Cambridge Brewing Co. earlier this week: Za’Tart spiced sour ale. Boulevard ambassador brewer Jeremy Danner announced the new beer on the brewery’s website last week. The genesis of Za’Tart came about during this year’s Boulevardia festival, when Cambridge brewmaster Will Meyers — in town for Boulevardia’s Taps & Tastes beer event — approached Boulevard about…
Clipping is at the Replay Lounge this Thursday
Los Angeles’ Clipping — MC Daveed Diggs and producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson — seems content under the rap umbrella. Or, at least, it doesn’t really make a big deal of genres. That’s fine, but the group’s latest full-length, July’s Clppng, is not an album that can be easily labeled and filed away. Clppng employs exploratory rhythms, explosive noise…
This weekend’s Latino Gay Pride Festival has a message — and Jujubee
Last year, as the fifth annual Latino Gay Pride Festival was winding down in Hyde Park, the event’s founder and organizer, Mario Canedo, stepped on the stage, took the microphone and made an emotional speech. He recalls: “I was crying at this point and said, ‘It’s time for me to say goodbye. I can’t do another festival. It’s too much…
Ariana Grande stops at the Independence Events Center in February
One-time Nickelodeon starlet and now full-fledged pop diva Ariana Grande has just announced a 2015 tour in support of her latest album, My Everything. The 21-year-old singer will be stopping at the Independence Events Center next year, on Wednesday, February 20. Tickets go on sale Saturday, September 20 at 10 a.m. at Live Nation. Categories: Music Tags: ariana grande, concert…
Dennis Edwards keeps his family’s grocery store alive in KCK
Dennis Edwards was barely out of his teens, a young felon in Leavenworth Penitentiary, when he got a solid piece of advice from a fellow inmate and veteran Chicago mobster. “His name was Joey Lombardo,” Edwards says. “He looked at me and said, ‘Kid, you’re too smart and too nice to be in a place like this. You need to…
Competitive eater Jamie McDonald bears down on Succotash’s Sumo
Jamie “the Bear” McDonald did not come to Succotash for a leisurely Sunday brunch. Wearing a black baseball cap that complemented his dark, close-cropped beard, the world-record-holding competitive eater and KC native sat unsmiling at a corner table. All business, he ordered a Sumo. The bleary-eyed server suddenly snapped awake. “The sumo is, like, this big,” she said. She spread…
Find The Pitch
