For over four years, the founding members of Shy Boys — brothers Collin and Kyle Rausch and Konnor Ervin — lived together in a dilapidated house on Bell Street, on the far west edge of the West Plaza. They called it Bell House. I spent a fair amount of time at this place. One afternoon in 2015, I stopped by…
To the uninitiated, the Kansas City Vibrating Internal Thyroarytenoids sounds like an organization advocating an alternative health practice, perhaps, or a tinfoil-hat conspiracy group.And, in fact, there is something a bit unconventional about KC VITAs (thyroarytenoids is a bit of a mouthful). This chamber choir is infiltrating Kansas City’s choral scene with a subversive idea: to perform and record new…
A state permit issued in June that allows the construction of a $30 million controversial cattle feeding operation near Powell Gardens is deficient and appears to violate state environmental standards, according to an order issued last week by the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission.The commission’s order “stays” the permit the Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued to Valley Oaks Steak Co.,…
Tuesday, July 31Fried green tomatoes with chermoula mayo, pulled pork tacos, veggie tacos with shishito peppers and ash salsa, and more is on the menu during Fox & Pearl’s pop-up at Lucky Boys (1615 Genessee Street), which runs from 5 p.m. to close. Fox & Pearl is the new project from Hank Charcuterie’s chef Vaughn Good, and is expected to…
Dear Dan: I’ve been faithfully reading your column in the Chicago Reader for years, and now I’m reaching out to you about my own problem. I’ve been dating this guy for almost a year. Everything is great, except one thing: He wants me to kick him in the nuts. It really bothers me, and I’m not sure what to do….
The Monarch Bar is probably the most urbane cocktail bar in Kansas City, so it seems only fitting that its Manhattan is literally well-traveled. The Louisiana Purchase, as the concoction is known inside this Country Club Plaza drinks destination, is equal parts ridiculous and impressive. It originates in a tumbler chilled via liquid nitrogen. Poured onto this smoky frost is…
It’s always a fine idea to make the trek out to Dos De Oros Taqueria, the superb street-taco joint at 135th Street and Holmes Road. But that’s especially true on Sundays, when pupusas are on the menu. Traditionally a Salvadoran dish, pupusas are a little like the love child of an arepa and a tamale. Thick corn masa is fashioned…
It is a mark of adulthood, I think, to be able to hold in one’s head two ideas that seem in constant tension.For instance, it is possible to eat at a Puerto Rican restaurant and rum bar that involves no Puerto Ricans. It is possible for that restaurant and rum bar to be called “Ron Rico” but have no relationship…
Advocates for low-income Kansas Citians were seething as they walked out of City Hall one hot afternoon last August. The City Council’s Housing Committee had stomped on a measure they thought would bring some relief to tenants living in dangerous and unhealthy places: a rental inspection program. Over two afternoons of hearings, the response to the program — proposed by Councilman Scott Wagner…
This post was sponsored by Lead Bank.Lead Bank in the Crossroads may have a chic rooftop patio, a prime location on Main Street, and the latest tech in banking, but its focus on community is what really makes it stand out.“I think just walking in the branch, it becomes visible that we care about the community,” says Lead Bank branch…
Monday, July 23From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, stop in to Columbus Park Ramen Shop (549 Gillis Street) for specialty crab cakes (Spongebob Squarepants-inspired “Krabby Patty” cakes, to be exact). The crab cakes are not offered any other time and will be available until sellout. This month’s Wine Dabbler event at Louie’s Wine Dive (7100 Wornall Road) will feature eight…
Last year, the Living Room Theatre refocused its mission on producing new, homegrown plays. To cap its eighth season, the Living Room is extending its commitment to local theater even further: Tomorrow, Inshallah, a world premiere play about Islamophobia and the experiences of American Muslims, is set in Kansas City.The setting wasn’t a foregone conclusion. StoryWorks, a project of The…
The cutest pets have been chosen! Thanks to everyone who participated and voted on these adorable pets!
For a guy who runs a bar and music venue in a busy college downtown, Matt Delvecchio is surpisingly publicity-shy. A self-described introvert, the new owner of the Jackpot Music Hall needed five minutes of convincing before he’d let me shoot the picture above, which, as you can see, he only allowed to be shot from the back. Delvecchio has…
Neurosis, with Converge and Birds in a RowThe Granada Thursday, July 19 When two metal titans like Neurosis and Converge team up for a tour, you know the music’s going to be hot, but the actual temperature inside the Granada Thursday night was pretty balmy as well. (After one set, a shirtless young man popped out of the pit, quipping, “All…
Courtney Barnett with Vagabon The Truman Wednesday, July 18 In the five years since her American debut, Australia’s Courtney Barnett has gone from a bluesy indie performer into a pure rock powerhouse. Sure, “Pedestrian At Best,” from sometimes i sit and think, and sometimes i just sit, has been a rocker since the album came out in 2015, and The Double EP’s “Avant…
On a recent Thursday night at Hamburger Mary’s, in midtown, a succession of drag artists takes the stage — each outfit seemingly more audacious than the last, each wig taller and bigger, each performer doing a special number for the American Idol-style panel of judges in the back of the room. The occasion is Drag Survivor, a 13-week competition that…
A university theater espousing “diversity, equity and inclusion” is staging a show that, given our current reactionary reality, feels slightly subversive — even downright liberating. In the Trumpian age, it’s like being home again, the kind of home that makes wedding cakes for gay couples.On the University of Kansas campus, Matthew Lopez’s 2014 play, The Legend of Georgia McBride, under…
The news cycle moves fast these days.Last week, a headline: “Kansas City in talks with company about dockless scooter app.”The very next day: “Bird electric scooters take off in downtown Kansas City.”Must have been some fast talks!In reality, these scooters were coming no matter what. Taking a page from the “disruptive,” low-wage-powered transportation company Uber — and nearly every other Silicon Valley…
If you’ve heard Heidi Lynne Gluck’s two recordings for Lawrence’s Lotuspool Records — the 2015 EP The Only Girl in the Room and 2016’s Pony Show LP — you might be surprised by the tracks she’s contributed to the Too Much Rock single series, which we’re debuting here today. Those albums hewed toward multi-layered indie pop. These two new songs are just Gluck,…
The Baffler founder, What’s the Matter with Kansas? author, and native Kansas Citian Thomas Frank has been ahead of the curve on nearly every socio-political-economic topic on which he’s weighed in over the last 30 years. He was especially correct in 2016, when he published Listen Liberal, which critiqued the Democratic Party’s abandonment of the working class. Trump, of course,…
Monday, July 16The Pitch’s Burger Week begins today! This means $5 burgers all over town. Details and all the wheres here.Tuesday, July 17Enjoy $8 craft cocktails and free bar snacks from 4 to 11 p.m. tonight (and every Tuesday night) at Freshwater (3711 Summit). Each week, the resurrected midtown restaurant is offering this aperitivo program for customers that sit at…
Americana KC: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, and Old 97’sProvidence Medical Amphitheater Friday, July 13 Friday night was a fine night for fans of “redneck rock ‘n’ roll,” as Jason Isbell put it toward the end of his set at Providence Medical Center Amphitheater. Three separate tours — Isbell and his 400 Unit, Turnpike Troubadours, and Old 97’s…
