Archives: November 2016

Music

The Naked and Famous: ready to reconnect

Nick Spacek,

You’ve heard New Zealand indie dance-pop quintet the Naked and Famous, even if you don’t know the group by name. Its first single, “Young Blood,” has turned up in absolutely everything since its arrival in 2010 — movies, TV shows, video games, commercials. And even after all this time, it generates not weariness but an “Oh, it’s that song!” kind…
Music

Josh Berwanger gives himself an Exorcism

Ron Knox,

Josh Berwanger has been underground forever. He’d like to get out at some point.This week, the local guitarist and songwriter reaches for the light with Exorcism Rock, his second full-length with his eponymous band. It’s a record he hopes will propel him into some bigger, better rock-and-roll strata.But at the moment, he’s at the Burger Stand in Lawrence, nursing a…
Art

Grateful dead: November’s First Friday is all about altaring your views

Tracy Abeln,

As Daylight Saving Time ends, Election Day looms and Black Friday waits for your money, this weekend offers welcome cultural and artistic respite. For the former, there are two surefire Day of the Dead events. And this month’s First Friday openings offer their own useful interrogations (plus snacks).Día De Los Muertos Exhibition & FestivalMattie Rhodes Gallery (919 West 17th Street)Open…
Questionnaire

Jay Lockett, owner of JayFabWerks, talks bad dates and when to take a break (or not) in The Pitch‘s Questionnaire

David Martin,

Name: Jay Lockett Occupation: Chief executive of JayFabWerks, a welding and fabrication shop Hometown: Kansas City, Missouri Current neighborhood: Waldo What I do: If I’m not helping companies with a workload on a project or building custom parts for a car, you can find me usually in a Barnes & Noble unwinding, reading the latest Psychology Today magazine. Also, I…

The Crown wants to rule Netflix, Werner Herzog blows his top, and Iggy Pop is Jim Jarmusch’s punk king

%{}%Thursday, November 3There could be no better tour guides through the volcanoes of Ethiopia, Iceland and (believe it or not) North Korea than Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer. Into the Inferno, streaming on Netflix now, is everything you want from a Herzog doc: beautiful, strange, disturbing, philosophical. There’s enough remarkable footage of hot-magma bursts and erupting volcanoes to make…
Food & Drink

Ça Va’s license troubles are over, a result that calls for champagne

Natalie Gallagher,

Ça Va is open for good, you guys.Caitlin Corcoran, the Westport champagne bar’s general manager and co-owner, wants this to come across clearly. She’d like it shouted from the rooftops, accompanied by fireworks. But she will settle, she says, for a très classy champagne toast celebrating the end of Ça Va’s liquor-license troubles. Recall that, this past March, Ça Va learned…
Music

Jazz Beat: Tony Tixier at the Blue Room

Larry Kopitnik,

Pianist and composer Tony Tixier was born in France, where he studied classical piano and first took the stage at age 7. Now 30, he has made jazz his musical voice. He plays with absorbing depth, gentle introspection and beguiling intelligence, with solos of uncanny inventiveness and precision. Tixier and Kansas City musicians have developed a surprising rapport. In 2012,…
Theater

The Way We Get By, Neil LaBute’s scolding of millennials, is just good enough

Liz Cook,

I can think of few literary mashups less likely than Fool for Love meets Girls. Yet that’s exactly the tone and tenor of The Way We Get By, playwright Neil LaBute’s zippy two-hander about millennial relationships and the courage sincerity requires. The play’s focal point is LaBute’s hyper-realistic dialogue, and the Unicorn Theatre assigns two capable actors to make a meal…
News, Politics

Election officials had to fit a lot of words on the paper and screens we will use to vote

David Martin,

The 2016 election presents voters with a profound choice. The high-stakes presidential contest has drawn comparisons to 1932 (with its backdrop of the Great Depression) and 1964 (Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater).Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not the only candidates on the ballot, of course. In addition to congressional and state races, voters will be asked to evaluate judges…
Beer & Spirits

On Tap: KC Craft Beer Week is big, but it’s not the only brew game in town this week

Jonathan Bender,

Break out the proper glassware and tell work you’re taking a personal day: KC Craft Beer Week has arrived.The beer celebration kicks off Sunday, November 6, and runs through Saturday, November 12. The Sunday after KCBW is for rest, something to keep in mind as you attempt to hit a plurality of events (full schedule: kccraftbeerweek.com).Consider the following your pre-game:…
Food & Drink

Q39 expands (and gets new Jen Tosatto cocktails), Monarch Coffee comes to 35th and Broadway, and the week’s restaurant events

April Fleming,

A visit to the bustling Q39 (1000 West 39th Street) usually requires a wait — particularly if you’ve come for barbecue on the weekend. Owner Rob Magee aims to ease your pain, beginning December 1. That’s when he expects to open an expansion on the west side of his current space, accommodating nearly 100 additional diners.“We’ve really drilled down on…
Food & Drink

Uncommon stack: Speak’s pastrami sandwich needs no frills to be great

Liz Cook,

As a lifelong Midwesterner, I’ll cop to a defensive eye roll whenever someone suggests that New York cuisine can’t be replicated for the landlocked set. I’m squinting at you, bagel-water truthers, pastrami purists and protectors of the OG foldable slice of grease-poached pizza.So I hustled to Speak Sandwiches, the rookie deli and brainchild of Genessee Royale owners Todd Schulte and…

News

Sick that The Kansas City Star endorsed Roy Blunt? Read The New York Times

David Martin,

The Kansas City Star’s one-man editorial board endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt on Sunday.Calling Blunt a “problem solver,” the endorsement reads like a set of talking points from his campaign. In an effort to the make candidate seem less partisan, the 1,200-word (!) endorsement identifies five Democratic members of Congress and two African-American clergy members who have co-sponsored bills with…

Run the Jewels returning to Kansas City this February

April Fleming,

Killer Mike and El-P have been teasing the release of their third album, RTJ3, most recently releasing the song “Talk to a Panther” via Soundcloud. Today, the duo announced a lengthy U.S. tour, which includes a Kansas City stop at the Midland on February 13. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday via Run the Jewels’ website. Don’t skip…