Courtesy BB’s Lawnside Blues & BBQ Blues and barbecue both have tremendous legacies woven into the cultural fabric of Kansas City. The historic jazz district of 18th and Vine has showcased some of the biggest names in jazz and blues in history, including Count Basie and Kansas City native Charlie Parker, and discussing the KC food scene without debate over…
Photo by Maddy Shugart Styx and Kevin Cronin w/ Don Felder Starlight Theatre Wednesday, July 2 Starlight Theatre hosted some of rock ‘n’ roll’s most treasured names Wednesday night, July 2. Styx and Kevin Cronin’s The Brotherhood of Rock Tour made its way through town with Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles, opening the show. While the crowd was made…
KC Sipps logo by Theodore Rosen Life in KC is pretty delicious. In fact, there is often so much going on that it can be hard to decide where to go and what to try. That’s where I come in. I’ve curated this weekly list of events, openings, deals, and celebrations to keep you in-the-know. Cheers! Something New News Bites:…
The Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis (Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent). Abortion services will resume in Missouri on Monday following a Jackson County court order blocking enforcement of almost all of the state’s laws restricting the procedure. On Thursday afternoon, Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang, for the third time, issued an order to enforce the abortion rights amendment approved by voters in…
Nadine Seiler, 60, of Waldorf, Maryland, protested against the president’s tax cut and spending bill outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday as House Republicans were stalled in whipping enough votes for floor passage of the massive budget reconciliation bill. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom) TOPEKA — President Trump’s spending and tax cut bill, which will add billions to the country’s…
The Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent) A fight over wording for a proposal to reverse the abortion rights amendment Missouri voters added to the state Constitution in November will look very much like a similar fight in 2023. The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Cole County with two objectives: Keep the proposal designated…
Kyla Jade as Evillene. Photo by Jeremy Daniel The yellow-brick road leads to Kansas City with the arrival of The Wiz as the iconic musical is celebrating its 50th anniversary. But for one cast member, it’s more than a performance. It’s a homecoming, too. Kyla Jade has taken the stage all across the country on the National Broadway Tour, but…
The Driver Era. // photo by Isabella Galvan The Driver Era with Valé Starlight Theater Sunday, June 29 Sunday night, indie pop rockers The Driver Era took to the stage at Starlight to bring a performance as hot as the weather in which they played. Touring in support of April’s Obsession, they brought along Colombian pop artist Valé for the…
Amelia Earhart and husband George Putnam. 1931 source: International News Photos, // Wikimedia Commons Documentarian and journalist Laurie Gwen Shapiro’s forthcoming book is about an Atchison, KS native who has (most likely) been dead since 1937. The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon hits shelves July 15. The book will…
Photo Courtesy of Cheatin Snakes Grant Kratzer’s clothing brand Cheatin Snakes and its small downtown Kansas City storefront have somehow led him to becoming the creative director for Post Malone’s Big Ass Stadium Tour. It’s a leap that seems impossible, but when you hear how it came together, it’s easy to see how the merge was inescapable. It all began…
Photo by Elijah LaFollette When we arrive in Cawker City, Kansas—home of the world’s largest ball of twine—we have been driving for several hours, so our first stop is the town’s small public library, where we ask to use the facilities. The librarian kindly allows us to do so, while also explaining that they aren’t technically available to the public,…
Greetings, dearest readers, and welcome to the annual Music Issue of The Pitch—homegrown right here in Kansas City, U.S.A. 2025 has been a year for pure, unmitigated chaos, and the music scene has been no exception. I’m not unaware that, since 2020, many of my Letter from the Editor scrawls have had to acknowledge these unprecedented times and, sure, at…
Universal Pictures Humanity has grown tired of dinosaurs, reads the opening crawl for Jurassic World: Rebirth. That may be true in the world of the movie, but in the real world, judging by the box office receipts, that’s far from the case. Despite diminishing artistic returns ever since the OG (and perfect) Jurassic Park hit theaters in 1993, these movies…
Le Champion // Photo by Tiffany Watts So here’s what happened. I’m in Westport during my wax appointment at Trifecta Studios (shout out to Erin, the GOAT), and mid-convo, she goes, “You know Le Champion just opened today, right? You have to go.” Despite my being a content creator and food writer, I don’t always know what new spots are…
Elvis Costello and The Imposters. // photo by Allison Scavo Elvis Costello and The Imposters Uptown Theater Tuesday, July 1 Elvis Costello and The Imposters delivered a quiet and powerful performance at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City last night, a perfect, historical venue for such an intimate set. As part of his Radio Soul! Tour, Costello leaned into nostalgia…
Prepping for the new production. // Photo Courtesy of Brianne Taylor Growing up in rural America where women’s voices are too often quieted—especially in traditionally masculine spaces—Brianne Taylor has forged a career centered on amplifying those femme voices. At the KC Fringe Festival, Taylor will perform Keeper of the Plains, a solo show depicting the life span of a woman…
A mural commissioned by the AIDS Service Foundation on Broadway Boulevard in Kansas City commemorates people lost to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (Suzanne King/The Beacon) As federal funding for HIV prevention and treatment programs becomes less certain, the number of people newly diagnosed with the virus in the Kansas City region is trending up. Provisional data from the Kansas City Health…
Faith Maddox of Virga. // photo credit Nell Schmidt Faith Maddox – the brainchild behind Lawrence “rock” band Virga – has been experimenting with the sounds she has wanted to explore ever since her time at Kansas University. Six years and seven projects later, including her solo material, she has zoned in on a heavier creative side in Eremocene, but…
Photo Courtesy of Victoria Webb Kansas City will feel a disturbance in the force as world-renowned Star Wars collector Duncan Jenkins makes the jump to our city. Since the summer of 1977 when Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope released in theaters, Jenkins has amassed one of the largest collections of Star Wars memorabilia in the world. “I…
