Kansas City Blog

Do you have a good Internet connection and a healthy amount of time on your hands? If so, you should check out the exhaustive, thorough, and above all entertaining series of photos the Ssion posted on their MySpace blog. All the photos are from their recent tour with Fischerspooner.

Even if you have no idea what's going, who anyone is, or where they might be (although every photo is organized by tour stop), you'll be entertained. The pics are just one huge post which will take the better part of five minutes to load. You also may want to beware that some photos might be construed as NSFW, as not all are constrained by decorum. In other words, these aren't just snapshots of the band onstage. There are photos from parties, the van, backstage, in the crowd--everywhere the band went, the camera went.

As such, the photos feature the following, although not all in one single picture (although that would be amazing and perhaps violate the laws of time and space): partial nipple, pencil sketch wang, ladies in their undergarments, making out, and something I'm not sure how to describe other than "you can see some scant underpants through pantyhose."

A friend of Wayward Blog was kind enough to forward along this message regarding some recent personnel changes at the Replay Lounge and Jackpot Music Hall. Justin Nicholson and Jenny O have both been let go, while Leslie Kay has been retained as booker for both clubs. Her e-mail follows, and does a good job of explaining why getting shows booked for the next few months might be a bit tricky:

Hey folks,
The Replay Lounge and Jackpot Music Hall have just experienced some major management and booking personnel changes. We're doing our best to get caught up on everything, but due to the chaos, email responses will most likely take a bit longer than we'd like. Please bear with us through these changes; your patience is invaluable.
We have every intention of following through with all shows that have been confirmed and to continue efforts on all holds that have been granted.

If you have any confirmed shows coming up, you can really help by emailing us to advance the show, even if this seems repetitious (it will save us from wading through thousands of old emails hunting for details). Please include all show information and any specifics already agreed upon; the best way to do this is probably to resend the last or most informative email thread pertaining to your show.

If you have holds with us, please feel free to follow up. If the date(s) you requested is not terribly urgent however, please give us a bit of time to get caught up on the more pressing holds.

We hope to get through this transition speedily and efficiently and without putting too much strain on any of you. Thanks in advance for your patience and the extra work this may cause for you too. We look forward to booking more great shows with you in the future.
Leslie.
Replay and Jackpot.

Nick Carroll, owner of both bars, had the following to say regarding the situation:

We have been paying too much salary for one manager and booking agent for both venues with the sales we have had in the last year. We are reorganizing to make running the businesses more efficient. The replacement managers and talent buyer are existing employees and we feel that this move is a positive step forward. As far as I know, the employees have left on fair and good terms.

Local experimental musician H Stewart released a freely downloadable album this weekend, entitled Letters to Kansas City. The album is experimental and ambient. The Internet label through which Stewart released the album, Clinical Archives, has this to say about it:

"The songs are written about Kansas City's neighborhoods, their moods and memories according to H Stewart. The songs were made with a cheap Casio, a used microphone, and a laptop which houses odd programs for sound manipulations."

H Stewart is definitely different (her MySpace lists her genres as "Other / Other / Other"). Her songs are lyricless, and very similar to X-Files composer Mark Snow. The songs drift from one to another without any discernible start or finish, taking the listener on a journey through Kansas City, from "Midtown" to "Downtown," through the "Crossroads" and down "Troost," ending in the "West Bottoms." Very chill stuff that would do you right as background music for a night on the front porch, watching the cars drive by, or even tracing the route of the album in the summer heat.

The album can be downloaded via the Internet Archive in 320 Kbps MP3.

Update,12:33pm: H Stewart is a she, not a he.

And once again, we bring you Friday Freebies, wherein we present things to do this weekend that won't cost you any more than the gas it takes to get to 'em.

Lawrence's Be Moved Studio (above Liberty Hall at 2 E. 7th St.) presents "Antheros: An Evening of Haptic Awakening" on Friday night. Jenny Cook, Natalie Ann Dye, Jenny Hoyt, and Anne Katherine Bruce present the viewer with art and dance that explore touch and movement. Alice Streurwald will lead a community ritual honoring the summer solstice at 7:30, then a dance performance by Jenny Hoyt and Anne Bruce follows at 9:00.

In Kansas City, the Central branch of the Kansas City Public Library shows Near Dark as part of its New Cult Canon series. Doors for the showing of this 1987 vampire Western open at 8pm, and the screening starts at 8:45 on the rooftop terrace. I recommend you RSVP, and make it a point to check this out. Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton are fantastic in this (yes, even better than they were the year before, in Aliens).

If you're looking for a little more family-friendly film fare on Friday, the Westside CAN Center presents Kung-Fu Panda on the lawn at Boulevard Brewery (26th & Jarboe). The movie starts at 9:30pm.

The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival started their 2009 season on Tuesday, but performances of this year's play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, happen every night at 8pm from now until July 5 in Southmoreland Park. There are no performances on June 22 or July 4, so plan accordingly. Bring a picnic and eat your dinner while you watch one of the Bard's lesser-known comedies.

Get the rugrats off the couch for a few hours and make 'em sweat out all the Kool Aid they've been knocking back. On Saturday afternoon from noon-4pm, the Power & Light District has a Family Fun Day. The theme is "Summer Fit 'n' Fun." There will be zumba (which, according to the Zumba website "is a fusion of Latin and International music that creates a dynamic, exciting, and effective fitness system"), yoga and karate demonstrations, a rock wall, putting green, hoola-hooping and more.

Also on Saturday afternoon, the Lawrence Public Library has "Writing Your New Story: Mythology and Poetry," wherein Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg will present a poetry writing workshop for adults. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned writer, this session will help you hone your skills and focus your abilities. It runs from 2-4pm.

Normally, this would be something I'd post in tomorrow's Friday Freebies, but this is A) Late at night and B) Pretty doggone unique.

Visitors to Lawrence's historic 1955 Amtrak station are used to the sounds of growling diesel engines and the screech of wheels against steel rails. This Friday night, the depot will be surrounded with different sounds--the voices, guitars, and banjos of local bluegrass and old-time music performers, including Steve Mason and members of the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band.

"Amtrak has built a half-hour Lawrence stop into the schedule of the westbound Southwest Chief, their Chicago to Los Angeles mainline train. Normally, it's pretty forgettable for the passengers," said Carey Maynard-Moody, chairperson of Depot Redux, a local organization promoting restoration of the Lawrence depot. "We want to liven things up and leave them with an impression of Lawrence as the vibrant place that it is."

This Friday night, June 19, will be the first in what organizers hope will be a series of "On-Time Performance" concerts. Other concert dates will be announced later.

"On-Time Performance" is free and open to the general public as well as Amtrak passengers, crew, and depot hosts. "We hope local night-owls will come down to hear the music, see the Southwest Chief, and visit the beautiful depot, which is the finest example of Mid-Century Modern architecture in the area," said Maynard-Moody.

The music will start at 11:30 PM and end with the scheduled departure of the train at 12:32 AM. The Lawrence Amtrak depot is just east of downtown Lawrence at 413 East 7th St.

Over the past few weeks, I've been watching my homies over at Lifted Logic (a design and media company that I wrote the "Troost Tube" feature about in January) put together their second annual Independence Day street party near their headquarters on the grounds of 7th Heaven, at 7621 Troost.

Briston Davidge

Making Movies is set to play Taste of Troost.

Last year, it was a neighborhood affair that featured mainly metal bands and East Side rap acts. This year, they're aiming to bring a bigger party with a more eclectic lineup of entertainment, plus food, drinks and stuffs for the kids.

This July 4, Taste of Troost will give free outdoor stage time to (according to the press release) ...

"rock bands Making Movies, Kick Kick, and Melodie, reggae groups SeedLove, and Jahration, local jazz legend Max Groove, and MCs Pittsburgh Filthy, Ballstar, K- Dean, Miss G, Fierce, Cash Image, Young Devi, Skiem Hiem, Block Life, Rappin Twan, Sliccs Gotcha, and Ron Ron."

And, they, add: "Kansas City's own underground rap legend Rich the Factor will headline the evening's festivities."

Personally, I am very excited for this festival. It's been a profound pleasure getting to know the guys at Lifted Logic over the past half year or so. I'm pretty sure they genuinely want to do something good for their neighborhood and Kansas City's East Side. But, most of all, I can definitely vouch that they want to throw a good party. And with that exceptionally diverse lineup already in place, they're more than halfway there.

But this still room for more, so if you've got a band or a business and want to get in on the hot TOT action, e-mail info@tasteoftroost.com or call 816.298.7018.

Kansas City's greasy rockabilly heathens Them Damned Young Livers recently posted to their MySpace blog the following missive regarding a follow-up to last year's Let The Sin Begin:

Phillip Pursel

We reckon it's time for a new album... But this time it's gonna get done in Bobs house with a bunch a shit we're gonna F up our credit with. We decided we're gonna ruin our good names and charge a bunch of spensive gadgits that we may or may not be good for. We figure we got about 9 new songs and 3 or 4.5 new covers since the release of LET THE SIN BEGIN and frankly we're almost tired of listenin to that thing. So in order for us to continue to sit around talkin bout how bad ass we are and strokin our own gratification locations, we must continue to document the sound track of our lives. So between the Raspy Josh recordings, our own endeavors and even one pre Bob track yer gonna see a new album in October and probably a split and a cover EP by Christmas! Think we might even plan on a new video for ALL HELL! Loan companies will curse us, our egos will thank us and hopefully some of ya'll will by some records cause we need more beer.

Hallelujah, brothers and sisters! You can catch the band around the area over the next month or so. They're at the Newsroom on June 26, with Three Bad Jacks at the Replay Lounge on July 12, with Scott H. Biram at the Riot Room on July 20 and there again August 7 as part of the {Un}Scene KC Fashion Show.

Check out their cover of Billy Joe Shaver's "Georgia On A Fast Train" below.

As the Plog has just reported, the Kansas City Power and Light District has enlisted a PR firm to handle the DJ Jazzy backlash. In a press release sent out less than an hour ago, the district's management describes the technical hazards Jazzy's set posed to the sound system and says, "To characterize this incident in racial terms is absurd and illogical."

Read the whole press release here.

The story continues to make national waves.

Earlier today, I spoke with Kansas City Power & Light District President Jon D. Stephens about why DJ Jazzy Jeff was asked to leave in the middle of his set last night in the district. Read his explanation on the Plog.

As my colleague Justin Kendall reported early this morning on the Plog, DJ Jazzy Jeff had his set cut short last night at Power and Light for, I was told by witnesses, "playing hip-hop." I was at the show, but at the moment Jazzy and his MC, Skillz, allegedly got escorted out, I was inside of Raglan freakin' Road, buying a drink. Gah! The crowd was not rowdy at all. It was the most diverse crowd I've seen at P&L, and everyone seemed to be enjoying Jazzy's jams. I don't know what happened. Afterwards, when Jeff and Skills were long gone -- as if to further the buzzkill -- the people responsible for sound began pumping Bob Seger and Bryan Adams through the PA.

Comments to Kendall's post have already blown up, you'll see. Furthermore, Jazzy has continued to tweet, adding,

i guess...Kansas Just don't Understand...lol
about 10 hours ago from web

Local hip-hoppers are outraged, including Miles Bonny, who, in the wee small hours, posted this video blog to his Web site.

And three local heads repping KChiphop.com sent an open letter ThisMayConcernYou.com in which they say,

Hip Hop & Black America will wake up today and laugh at Kansas City. And we -- the young black professionals and the KC hip hop heads -- are hanging our heads, embarrassed by the Power & Light, The Cordish Co. and KC Live.

And, to top it all off, someone has made an entire blog dedicated to this mess. Behold: Kansas City Hip-Hop vs. Power & Light

I'll try to get in touch with a Cordish rep today and get their side of the tale.