Archives: August 2023

Photos: A psychedelic bluegrass barn-burner at the Warwick

Eureka Strings. // photo by Allison Scavo Eureka Strings with Whiskey Mash Band and MoonShroom The Warwick Saturday, August 19 Whiskey Mash Band started the evening by riling up the crowd with upbeat original tracks. When frontman and guitarist Billy Brady told us the muse for songs, shared stories of being a musician, and told jokes, the crowd became entranced….

The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney is having the most fun these days

The Black Keys. // photo credit Jim Herrington Over the course of their career, rockers The Black Keys have gone from a scrappy duo playing the Replay Lounge to headlining amphitheaters and music festivals the world over. It’s due in no small part to the incredibly catchy songs  which manage to find the sweet spot between blues, punk, rock ‘n’…

Photos: Alex Williams and MarDe Brooks revive outlaw country at Knuckleheads

Alex Williams. // photo by Mike Dotson Alex Williams with MarDe Brooks Knuckleheads Wednesday, August 23 Rising country stars Alex Williams and MarDe Brooks took to the Knuckleheads stage on Wednesday night, bringing the spirit of ’70s outlaw country with a modern twist. Our photographer Mike Dotson was there to capture it all. Alex Williams MarDe Brooks Categories: Music Tags:…

KC Sipps: Maui benefit menus, pop-ups galore, and the return of PSL

Your Kansas City dining guide.

Art by Cassondra Jones Looking for delicious plans? Whether you want to impress a date, show your fam the best of KC, or just get out of the house, we’ve got you covered… all while supporting (mostly) local.  Here is your weekly roundup of the best food and drink offerings around Kansas City. Cheers! Something New Maui relief: Joe’s KC,…

Trump absent but still dictates the narrative as GOP presidential rivals clash at first debate

Fox News debate broadcast Eight Republican presidential candidates gathered onstage Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a heated first primary debate heavily influenced by former President Donald Trump, though the party’s front runner refused to attend the two-hour event. Trump instead recorded a competing 46-minute interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that aired on X, formerly known as…

Creature Feature: Mellow is the sweetest fellow

Mellow. // Photo by Emma Sperry Mellow This charming guy is named Mellow. This sweet boy’s journey began at Wichita Animal Services, where he narrowly escaped his deadline.  Following his time at the boarding facility, it’s become apparent that Mellow thrives best as the solo pet in a loving home. He’s not suited for households with other pets, including cats….

If you like your high school comedies extra bloody you’ll adore how Bottoms fights deliriously dirty

Bottoms. // Courtesy Orion Pictures Let this serve as a warning up top: Don’t go into Bottoms expecting it to be anything like co-writer/director Emma Seligman and co-writer/star Rachel Sennott’s last pairing, the hysterical, cringe-inducing Shiva Baby. It’s a very different movie. Where Shiva Baby was claustrophobic and anxious, Bottoms is open, loose and goofy. Where Shiva Baby was painfully relatable,…

Four Inane Questions with Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop’s Malisa Monyakula

Courtesy photo Restaurateur Malisa Monyakula tells us she started her entrepreneurial—and culinary—journey back in the second grade. Seems she made a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies and tried selling them around her neighborhood.   “We sold out and made $20 in all one-dollar bills. I will never forget—I came home with a wad of bills and showed my mom. We…

Dish & Drink KC: Fresh-baked donuts from Hana’s and sourdough from Hammerschmidt’s Farm Stand

Orange Zest, Raspberry Old-Fashioned, and Pistachio Almond from Hana’s Donuts. // Photo by Lauren Textor Donut pass up the opportunity to eat at Hana’s I love desserts and affirmations in equal measure. When I have a dentist visit coming up, I’m extra mindful about brushing, flossing, and mouthwashing. To reward myself for this diligence (and for staying still while a…

Photos: The Dungeon’s Sunday night show brought even more heat to Kansas

Discotek Mama. // Photo by Maura Dayton Discotek Mama, Corners of the Sky, Lavender Bride, Return to Madness The Dungeon Sunday, August 20 On August 20, Lawrence locals came out to The Dungeon for one last hoorah before fall classes started at the University of Kansas. Corners of the Sky kicked things off with their whimsical psychedelic rock jams. This…

Brendon Small on the return of Metalocalypse

Brendon Small. // photo credit Jim Donnelly Writer/actor/director/musician/et al Brendon Small would be a legend if he’d stopped with the creation of his Adult Swim animated series, Home Movies, in the early ’00s. Following it up with the heavy metal fantasy comedy of Metalocalypse secured that status for all time when it debuted in 2006. Spotlighting the death metal band…

Instrumentalist David Lord returns to Wichita to lead Air House Music in person

"Until moving away from the Midwest, I couldn’t identify this quality, but now I can very much hear my music as being from the Midwest.”

David Lord. // image courtesy the artist For the past three years, Air House Music, a music academy and recording studio based in a low-slung ranch house in Wichita, has been run remotely, most lessons given online, while its founder, guitarist and composer David Lord, was living elsewhere, first in Santa Fe and then in Montreal. But as of the…

Newly founded Diversabilities provides job opportunities, training for disabled communities

“We’re all experts at what we do because we've been living it our whole lives,” Harris says. “And I'll be honest, none of us feel like we're disabled—we just feel like we have different challenges.”

Harris and Diversabilities team lead Aidan // Courtesy Amy Harris Amy Harris didn’t think she would go to college. Growing up with a learning disability, she was always told she would never make it to college because she wasn’t smart enough. By the time she graduated high school in 1994, the prognosis was the same— there was still so little…

Kansas City’s Eric Morrison announces 2024 gubernatorial candidacy

Morrison is the two-time defending runner-up for the Democratic nomination.

  Courtesy campaign Eric D. Morrison, a Kansas City native and pastor of Kingdom Word Ministries, launched his campaign for the 2024 Democratic gubernatorial nomination from the State Capital building on Thursday, August 17.  Morrison, 60, is the second Democrat to declare, following Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade’s July 9 announcement. It’s his third consecutive try for the nomination,…

Wheel of Fortune: Westsiders wonder what Pennway Point’s entertainment district means for their future

With an entire neighborhood's destiny in the balance, communication on how to create an equally beneficial future between developers and the community needs to improve.

Final rendering of Talegate and Barrel Hall concepts // Courtesy Whiskey Design and Pixel Foundry Fleeing the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution of 1910, many immigrants headed north to seek employment in the booming railroad and meatpacking industries with job opportunities in the Midwest. Such prospects brought Hispanic families to Kansas City, primarily settling on the West Side of the…

Four Inane Questions with The Spot KC’s Shanita McAfee-Bryant

Courtesy photo If you’re on a perpetual prowl to try new foodie digs in the metro, look no further than The Spot KC, which opened in late July. This 1,200-square-foot café, coffee shop, and fresh grocer (2010 Vine St.) is staffed by students enrolled in a 16-week culinary job training program. It’s headed up by chef-activist Shanita McAfee-Bryant, who is…

‘Completely unjustified’: Affidavits point to abuse of power in raid on Kansas newspaper

Editor and publisher Eric Meyer gestures during a press conference Wednesday at the Marion County Ledger. Max McCoy / Kansas Reflector TOPEKA — Affidavits signed by a police chief and magistrate to warrant the raid on the Marion County Record were supposed to provide evidence that a reporter committed a crime. Instead, they serve as evidence that the local officials…

Queens of the Stone Age’s Michael Shuman talks about catastrophic art ahead of KC show

"For some reason, all of our records are really hard to make? I'm not sure why. Some catastrophic thing is happening in our lives and we need the album process to sort it out."

Photo by Andreas Newman Josh Homme and the fellas from the world’s most famous desert rock outfit hit KC as part of their “The End is Nero Tour” wherein—as appears to be the case across the new album In Times New Roman…—Homme has just discovered the joys of dad-joke portmanteaus. Naming goofiness aside, the new album marks the heaviest groove…

Four Inane Questions with AffirmaWear’s Laura Treas

Laura Treas. // Courtesy photo Laura Treas is a connoisseur of fabric. The local seamstress and garment guru tells us she went to college for fashion—and adds she’s “been sewing my entire life.” As her skills grew, she became mesmerized by the construction of garments. In fact, she jokes she never met a thrift store she didn’t like and would…

Kansas City has over 100 high-fee crypto ATMs, mostly in low-income neighborhoods

Bitcoin, RockItCoin and other crypto ATM companies are plentiful in low-income Kansas City neighborhoods. Experts say the machines are targeting residents with extraordinary fees.

Cryptocurrency ATMs are plentiful in lower-income neighborhoods around Kansas City (Barbara Shelly/The Beacon) Finance professor Jocelyn Evans first encountered a cryptocurrency ATM on the way to talk about financial education with students last fall. Evans stopped at a gas station on her way to Sumner Academy in Kansas City, Kansas. She came across the machine with the word “BITCOIN” on…

Photos: Izzy Hedges Band brought cool indie vibes to Replay Lounge

Support from Brother Spacebear and The Fun Guy.

Last night, LFK locals came out for an indie rock-filled matinee show at the Replay Lounge featuring Izzy Hedges Band, Brother Spacebear, and The Fun Guy. The Fun Guy kicked off the show making their live debut, playing many original rock tunes and covers of The Cure, The Smiths, and the Pixies. Brother Spacebar threw fans a wild card by…

Landscape with Invisible Hand is a darkly funny economic allegory

Corporate aliens? Art as commodity? Sure! Makes sense.

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. Making authentic art in a capitalist economy has never been easy, but it’s uniquely hard right now. SAG and the WGA are both on strike for the first time since the 60s. The WGA has been on the picket lines for the longest stretch in the organization’s history. Studios refuse to pay a living wage…

Collective poetry book Kansas Speaks Out provides opportunity for survivors and advocates to spark community conversations

Edited by Dennis Etzel Jr. and Jericho Hockett, Kansas Speaks Out took home the 2023 Kansas Notable Book award.

Dennis Etzel Jr. and Jericho Hockett present Kansas Speaks Out // courtesy Dennis Etzel Jr. Washburn University faculty Dennis Etzel Jr. and Jericho Hockett will present the collective poetry novel Kansas Speaks Out on September 16 at the Kansas Book Festival at the Washburn University campus. The award-winning 2023 Kansas Notable Book of sexual assault survivors and survivor advocate poetry…