Best of KC 2023: Pouring one out for the Toilet Bowl’s final flush

Photo by Maura Dayton

This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. 

Fem-ran, pro-LGBTQ+ icon venue Toilet Bowl has sadly flushed for the final time. For the community, it’s like losing a limb. Operating as a safe-space music venue spawned from the sewage of a once-flooded basement, the Toilet Bowl was a haven for musicians all throughout the KC and LFK scene. The notoriety of the Toilet Bowl was forged by word of mouth and a sizable but tight-knit Instagram following.

After a year of serving and fortifying the community, persistent police presence, among other things, caused the Bowl to shut its doors. Although the greater KC DIY music scene has now lost an icon, it served as a catalyst for other venues such as The Dungeon and BauHaus. Rest in p(e)eace, Toilet Bowl.