Over a year ago, Maija Diethelm, the owner of the popular Boozefish Wine Bar at 1511 Westport Road, told The Pitch that she was looking for a new buyer to take over the bistro she had opened, with very little money but lots of hard work, in 2001. It took nearly a year, but last month, Diethelm — who now…
Lawrence’s Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk (henceforth to be referred to as BBDDM) moved from the area to New York City in 2013, and since then, they’ve released some very well-regarded music via Brooklyn’s Fire Talk Records – including Kill the Fuzz, out on cassette earlier this week. But it’s always been the live shows that were the real appeal…
The Church of Scientology has told Jackson County over the years that it’s working hard at renovating the building at 1801 Grand that it purchased in 2007. But city permit records indicate that local Scientologists are hardly working. In the current edition of The Pitch, which hit the streets on Wednesday, we examined how scant work appears to have been…
Pop quiz: What are the oldest drive-ins still operating in Kansas City? Answer: Winstead’s on the Country Club Plaza (1940), Mug’s Up Root Beer Drive-In at 700 East 23rd Street (1957), Harold’s Drive-In at 1337 Admiral Boulevard (1958), the Humdinger at 2504 East Ninth Street (1962) and Teresa’s Drive-In at 6540 Truman Road (1968). There’s also Homer’s Drive-In in Leavenworth,…
Thursday, April 23 New Belgium La Folie tapping, at Flying Saucer (101 E. 13th St.), 7 p.m. Release of Green Room Burgers and Beer’s Papa Louie’s, at the Harvesters benefit Forks & Corks, at the Kansas City Convention Center’s Grand Ballroom (301 W. 13th St.) Great Divide and Two Brothers tappings with visits from their brewers, at Bier Station (120…
The Bacon Brothers are perhaps best known as “that band Kevin Bacon is in with his brother,” but that’s a reductionist view of the duo. The duo plays a mix of music that, while initially disparate, can easily be grouped under the Americana header. It’s a soulful blend, which demonstrates that brothers Michael and Kevin are so much more than…
Boulevardia is getting a beer to call its own. Boulevard announced today that Show-Me Sour will be officially released at this year’s festival (June 19-21). The beer is a bit of a collaboration between Boulevard brewmaster Steven Pauwels and Side Project Cellar co-owner and brewer Cory King. Boulevard ambassador brewer Jeremy Danner wrote on the brewery’s blog that King “has…
If you didn’t have the opportunity to catch Hozier at his sold-out show at LIberty Hall in February, good news: The Grammy-nominated Irish singer-songwriter has just announced a slew of new tour dates. He stops at Starlight on Monday, September 14. That’s plenty of time for you to become familiar with a song besides “Take Me to Church.” Tickets on…
Screenland Crossroads and Tapcade celebrate frikins May 1 and 2 with the second Firkin Fest. This year’s festival is moving from the Armour theater to the Crossroads theater/arcade/restaurant/craft-beer emporium (1701 McGee). Here’s what we know: Firkin Fest will feature more than 10 casks of beer from 4 Hands, Tallgrass, Left Hand, Rock & Run, Cinder Block, Torn Label, Summit, Empyrean,…
When I first heard about Kansas City Salt Mine, I expected it to be a crystalline underground room accessible only by a rickety freight elevator. I pictured the kind of place that knocks you on your ass in awe at nature’s majesty and humanity’s occasionally destructive determination — something like Springfield, Missouri’s Fantastic Caverns, give or take the stalactites. I…
Sufjan Stevens with Little Scream The Midland, Kansas City Tuesday, April 21 For the full slideshow from last night, go here. It was over an hour into his concert at the Midland last night before Sufjan Stevens at last addressed his audience directly. “I’ve been thinking about occupation, and how we occupy our time,” Stevens told the audience. “I went…
Going to Union Station can make me feel fancy, even when I am two months from my last haircut, am in public wearing cat socks and a Royals hoodie, and have almost definitely parked illegally. And I can double down on that snazzy feeling for about $5 when, once inside the depot, I order a lavender mocha at Parisi Café….
Name: Brian Huther Occupation: Writer, performer Hometown: Creve Coeur, Missouri. (It means “heartbreak,” ladies.) Current neighborhood: North Hyde Park What I do: I write and perform theater, media and music, and spend daylight as a greeting-card writer and creative consultant. What’s your game? Candy Crush — 751 levels in, and I’ve spent nary a nickel. What’s your drink? Negronis, lately….
Death Cab for Cutie If you’re not already a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, it’s doubtful that you’re going to suddenly start digging it. The band’s latest album, Kintsugi, doesn’t break from the emo pop rock that was popular when Death Cab came up in the late 1990s. Singer Ben Gibbard’s voice retains its boy-on-the-edge-of-puberty quality. The difference now…
Tenor saxophonist and flutist Steve Lambert is one of the most in-demand musicians among Kansas City’s new jazz generation. His soaring solos explore new directions with unrestrained imagination, or they might lightly float with impeccable tone over the rhythm. Thursday night, Lambert leads a quartet in the Blue Room with pianist Andrew Ouellette, bassist Ben Leifer and drummer John Kizilarmut….
Between co-writing and co-starring in the hit TV series Portlandia and co-fronting the legendary punk outfit Sleater-Kinney, Carrie Brownstein could not possibly get any cooler. Unless she were to, say, write a book or something. Oh, right — her memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, comes out in October. All right, Carrie. We get it. Sleater-Kinney — guitarist and…
Famous Mammoth practices about three times a week in a sparse, tidy room in a house off Southwest Boulevard. Bed sheets, not blinds, cover the windows. The space lacks what you’d call character, but it’s a vast improvement over the band’s previous rehearsal spot, a StorageMart a few neighborhoods away. “Oh, that was rough,” Colby Bates says, wincing at the…
Joe Shirley may be the best-known chef in Kansas City without his own restaurant. Of course, a restaurant of his own is in the plans, but not anytime soon. The 36-year-old Shirley has decided to wait until his son, now 11, graduates from high school before pursuing his own place. Until then, Shirley and his wife, Carolina, both restaurant veterans,…
