As of last week, a semi-local band has just been added to High Dive Record’s ever-growing roster: Rooftop Vigilantes. Once a staple of the Lawrence music scene, the band went on hiatus in 2011 after the band’s four members went their separate ways. We called High Dive Records co-founder Jeff McCoy to talk about how Rooftop Vigilantes became the latest…
In 2004, Kansas City’s Moaning Lisa relocated to Los Angeles and — with a few lineup changes — became the band Culture Killers. Despite success with club shows and some exposure online, the band never really took off. In 2011, the band came back to KC for a couple shows under the guise of their old band name, meaning this…
Fact: Kenny Cohrs is incapable of making a bad drink. If you enjoy cocktails around Kansas City, you’ve likely experienced one or two from Cohrs, and you therefore understand the powerful pull of his recipes. Which is why we’re thrilled to have him on the roster for our annual Bacon & Bourbon festival on Thursday, April 16, at the Guild. Along…
Yes, the big illuminated sign in front of the low-slung building at 8314 Wornall still reads: Paparico’s Mexican Restaurant. But here’s the 411: Paparico’s has left the building. Two months ago, the Garrido family — Carlos, Ophelia and Carlos Jr. — took over the restaurant and have renamed it La Chula Mexican Grill. “La Chula means a very pretty, very…
The Kansas City Royals had a frightening moment during their Opening Day victory, when Yordano Ventura went to the ground holding his right hand in the seventh inning. Luckily, it was only a thumb cramp, as the appendage locked up on Ventura days after he agreed to a five-year, $23 million contract. But all is well for the Royals, who…
Thursday, April 9 Torn Label tap takeover, at Llywelyn’s Pub (6995 W. 151st St., Overland Park), 6 p.m. Torn Label tap takeover, featuring Quadjillo, Alpha Pale Ale, Monk & Honey and Coffee Dubbel, and meet the brewers, at Local Tap (7300 W. 119th St., Overland Park), 8–10 p.m. Tapping of Summit Double IPA cask, at Flying Saucer (101 E. 13th…
Looking to make a quick buck? I mean literally one dollar. Still interested? Me, too! The Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), an international nonprofit promoting vegan lifestyles and animal rights, is setting up a large, customized truck on the UMKC campus today, tomorrow and Friday. Inside, eight TV screens with headphones are set up for viewers to come in and watch…
You know what’s worth a three-hour drive and a state line? A 50-plus lineup of national music acts like Weezer, Wilco, Jenny Lewis, Run the Jewels, St. Lucia, Talib Kweli…. The mouthwatering list for Des Moines’ 80/35 Music Festival goes on. If you’ve got Friday, July 10, and Saturday, July 11, open on your calendar, maybe now’s a good time…
Sam and Nick Silvio know a few things about meat. The brothers co-own Em Chamas Brazilian Grill, the eight-year-old upscale churrascaria in the Northland. The Silvios are now turning their meat expertise to traditional Kansas City barbecue. Last December, their sister, Gina Silvio, bought Riverside barbecue shack Hawg Jaw Fritz from Bud and Marlye Laub, and she has hired her…
Father John Misty with King Tuff Granada Theater, Lawrence Tuesday, April 7 For the full slideshow from last night, go here. Both Kansas City and Lawrence experienced their warmest days yet of the year yesterday, with temperatures topping off in both cities over 80 degrees. That and the humidity ensured that the Granada would approach sauna-like conditions for last night’s…
All Photos by April Fleming
Name: Maeret Lemons Occupation: Stand-up comedian; co-founder and creative director of kcstandup.com Hometown: I like Lenexa. Current neighborhood: My mom’s basement What I do: By day, I book and promote comedy shows, design fliers and maintain kcstandup.com. By night, I’m a working stand-up come-dian and performing all over the Midwest. What’s your addiction? How much time you got? Ha! Seriously,…
Voters in Wyandotte County’s 4th District have rid themselves of Tarence Maddox, who has led four troublesome, ineffective years representing that district. Maddox received far more attention for various missteps (a temper tantrum at Legoland, threatening to sic City Hall at a gas-station owner, among others) than anything he achieved in office. In his place will be Harold Johnson, a…
The least dynamic primary election in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday settled itself with Sly James trouncing his two hapless opponents. James picked up 26,840 votes, easily distancing himself from his upcoming general election opponent Vincent “The General” Lee, who snagged 3,499 votes. The only somewhat surprising reality in the Kansas City mayor’s race is that Clay Chastain couldn’t overcome…
Shawnee Councilwoman Michelle Distler will move into that city’s mayoral seat, defeating Dan Pflumm in Tuesday’s general election. Distler won with a comfortable but not overwhelming margin; she captured nearly 54 percent of the vote. Distler ran on a plank that included promoting government transparency, something that’s been largely hard to come by in Shawnee government in recent years. Shawnee…
It takes very little to convince Katy Wade that we should sample some fernet — just four words, in fact. An hour before Westport’s Julep opens its doors on a bright weekday afternoon, I drop by to see Wade and say, “I’m thinking about fernet.” I’m barely done picturing my usual Fernet-Branca bottle when I see that she has, with…
Like a lot of writer-directors with a natural gift for comedy, Noah Baumbach has spent a lot of his filmmaking career trying not to be too funny. He’s a whiz with a one-liner, and he populates his films with characters who talk just past each other as they maintain a running commentary on everything they see and feel. But to…
Futurebirds Before Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music last year, there was 2013’s Baba Yaga, by Futurebirds. Any Simpson fan should recognize the similarities in sound: Futurebirds, from Athens, Georgia, delivers the same brand of neo-psychedelic country, with tracks washed in reverb and twang. Futurebirds’ latest tour anticipates the band’s forthcoming album, which has been a long time coming….
Bassist Dominique Sanders stands out among Kansas City’s young jazz talent. He can play standards with the best musicians but has a wholly unconventional take on jazz with his new album. With sampling and sound effects and music ranging from R&B and funk to early hip-hop to compositions just this side of Pat Metheny, Sanders looks less at where jazz…
It’s unlikely that Broadway is in Mikal Shapiro’s future. But the singer-songwriter admits an affinity for the grand musical-theater operations that have swept its stages. This news might surprise some — even Shapiro confesses that she hid her love of musicals when she was a teenager — given her past leanings to folk and roots music. But Shapiro’s latest album,…
The basement of Abby Livingston-Shelburne’s Kansas City, Kansas, home is nothing special. Whitewashed stone walls, cool concrete floors, a fine dust atop the washer and dryer. The lighting is dim, the invitation to creativity seemingly minimal. But singer-guitarist Livingston-Shelburne and the rest of her band, Yore — singer-guitarist Jonny Riede, bassist Alex Leonard, drummer Nick Talley and singer-keyboardist Kelli Snyder…
Why is it so hard to find a good bowl of ramen around here? It’s not a complicated dish: a clear soup, often made with a richly seasoned pork stock or a fish-based broth, and hearty wheat noodles. (I’m not talking about the cheap-in-every-sense dehydrated blocks that got you through college.) Yet it appears on local menus mostly as an…
