Tool As Tool enters its 26th year, we welcome the legendary band to the Sprint Center for a show that, we expect, will not disappoint. This Kansas City date is part of a short January tour, which is serving only to build anticipation for a purported forthcoming album from the band. (Tool hasn’t put out a new release since 2006’s…
While presidential candidates ponder how to “make America great again,” Subterranean Gallery director Melaney Mitchell is asking a different, better question: How do you make an alternative space alternative again? Subterranean has long counted as alternative, if for no other reason than its location: The six-year-old art space lives in Mitchell’s cramped midtown basement. But its innovative exhibitions — such…
Although Kansas City’s Restaurant Week doesn’t start until Friday, January 15, the first weekend of the 10-day “week” is already booked up at many places, promising another big year for the fundraiser. A good example: Affäre, the stylish German-Austrian venue at 1911 Main Street operated by chef Martin Heuser and his wife, Katrin. Monday of this week, nearly every reservation…
Jazz legend Jay McShann led the last of the great big bands out of Kansas City in the 1940s, a group that featured a young alto saxophonist named Charlie Parker. Meanwhile, his jumping, blues-based swing came to define Kansas City jazz. January 12, the late jazzman would have turned 100 — a milestone his hometown marks Saturday night. Benny Green,…
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II stands in an elevator on the first floor of Kansas City, Missouri’s City Hall on a dreary Wednesday afternoon. Cleaver, flanked by a security guard, is heading to the 26th floor, where the City Council is about to meet and discuss the prospect of an $18 million infusion to the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District….
The Power & Light District is the place to watch soccer matches in Kansas City, especially after packing the KC Live Block for the World Cup. Opportunity hasn’t been lost on the owners of Sporting Kansas City. The club has announced plans to open No Other Pub in the former Z-Strike bowling alley space at 1370 Grand Boulevard. Opening day is…
You might have read yesterday, on TMZ or Buzzfeed, about the Overland Park guy who stalked “Video Games” singer Lana Del Rey. On December 1, 19-year-old Zachary Self was arrested following a November break-in at Del Rey’s Malibu home. Self was on “hallucinogenic drugs” during the break-in, which may explain his super-creepy professions of love for the singer. (His Facebook page…
Kansas City Public Schools has found two candidates from the East Coast interested in taking on the toughest K-12 education job in this region. KCPS announced that it narrowed its list of candidates to Ronald Taylor, superintendent of Willingboro Township Public Schools in Willingboro, New Jersey; and Mark Bedell, assistant superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Both men will appear…
Last week, local hip-hop stalwart Stik Figa announced the forthcoming release of a new EP, Shame the Devil, produced by Arkutec. This announcement came with a little New Year’s present: a new music video for a song off that album, called “The Incorrigible.” In it, Stik delivers his verses like sucker punches. He sounds far more combative leading into 2016 than…
Tax-increment financing, a form of public subsidy for private development, has been getting some much-deserved scrutiny in Kansas City over the past few months. TIF is popular among developers because it generates tax revenues that can be used to pay development costs. It’s been used to transform Kansas City’s landscape since the 1980s, but an increasing number of wonky civic…
David Bowie died Sunday of cancer at age 69. The news came via Bowie’s Facebook page last night: “David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.” A lot has already…
%{}% The deal won’t close until the end of February, but Ted Habiger and his wife Jackie Kincaid Habiger, owners of the two Room 39 restaurants in the metro, are going to purchase the two-year-old Sasha’s Baking Co., at 105 West Ninth Street. Some things are already happening: Starting this weekend, the breakfast pastries served at the midtown Room 39…
%{}% Last year ended with 109 homicides in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2015 number was a spike back into the hundreds after a 2014 dip to 81 killings — the first time this city’s murder rate had dropped below 100 killings since 2007. Kansas City’s 2015 total was also the most homicides since the 111 deaths in 2011. Here, eight…
%{}% The 2016 Missouri Legislative session is off to a banging start, and if the 2015 session made you feel gross, just wait for an especially self-righteous 2016. In a bill filed today — the first day of the session — Missouri state Rep. Bart Korman wants lobbyists to tell the Missouri Ethics Commission if they have sex with lawmakers…
%{}% For years, Brad Davis was a thorn in Sporting Kansas City’s side. Now he’s on their side. Sporting KC announced on Thursday that it acquired Davis from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2017 draft and a third-round pick the following year. Davis played for the last 10 years as steady hand in Houston…
%{}% Kansas City Star reporter Judy L. Thomas today continues the paper’s loosely organized series linking militias and anti-government fringe groups to domestic terrorism, with a story slugged “Experts: Oregon standoff may be small, but it’s just the tip of a growing militia iceberg.” As talking-heads roundups go, it’s readable and stats-y. As medium-alarmist troll bait, however, it’s a jingly…
%{}% Sassmaster extraordinaire Josh Tillman, better known as Father John Misty, lit up the KC area twice in 2015, with performances at the Granada in April and opening up for Alabama Shakes in May. He is now set to appear in Kansas City at the Uptown Theater on April 12, with support from Tess and Dave. Tickets will be available…
%{}% The first thing I noticed about Hand & Land was the smell — the delightful smell. The charming home, body and health shop in Leawood’s Park Place immediately hijacked my senses with a clean, piney scent that welcomed me in from the cool winter air outside. Walking into the space felt like entering a spa. Unlike the seasonal products…
