For decades Kelly‘s in Westport managed to dodge the "bad news" bullets…
Not so of late. Last Thursday Q104 morning host Mike Kennedy brought his radio crew and recording star J. T. Hodges to Kelly’s for a night of KC fun. Hodges is on Toby Keth’s label and Mike wanted to impress the out of towners with a few beers.
He even bought a bunch of memorabilia from Kelly’s – T-shirts and so forth – for the recording folks.
So things started off pleasantly enough…
Mike’s wife, Nycki Pace of the Jack FM morning show, had came with the group. Pace had been up since 5 AM because her show starts at 6, so she was tired by 9:30 PM when they all got to Kelly’s. Mike – who is also a Vice President of Wilkes Broadcasting and offices in Westport – told me "Kelly’s was quiet with maybe a handfull of others in the place. My group was more than half the crowd."
Poor Nycki was so beat she put her head down on the bar to take a bit of a nap while her husband and his guests visited at the bar. Mike said everything was cool, with longtime Kelly’s bartender "Red" waiting on the group. That is until Red left and a couple new bartenders came on the scene.
One of the new bartenders shook Pace and said, "Hey, wake up and get out. You can’t sleep in here."
Mike saw this and came over to the bartender and explained who he was and that she was just sleepy from being up all day and night. Mike said he was sorry she put her head down and before he could finish the bartender yelled back, "Hey I don’t give a fuck who you are, get the fuck out!"
Now Kennedy was upset and looked at the other bartender and said, "Look guys, we’ve spent a few hundred bucks here. You really don’t want to act this way to us because we do morning radio and will be forced to bring up your ugly behavior on the shows and…"
Before Kennedy could finish, both bartenders repeated in unison, "We don’t care who you are or what you spent, get the FUCK OUT."
Kennedy, now very pissed, gave back the Kelly’s T-Shirts and told them he didn’t want a refund – that he wouldn’t ever wear them and would never be back. Again, he was told to fuck off.
Mike retold the tale on the air. Not a happy camper.
Kennedy told me, "You know I don’t get it. Kelly’s was so empty, we were the entire crowd. It was like already near 11 PM on Thursday and nobody was in there but us. Why would you want to act that way to your only customers? Nobody was drunk. My wife just put her head down. I don’t see what the big deal was! Hey, if Kelly’s wants people to know how they may be treated, I will only be too happy to let my 50,000 plus audience know."
So Kennedy did just that.
Mike said he’s done talking about it and isn’t going to bring it up on air anymore. He also said he will never step inside Kelly’s again, nor will his wife and pals. And the record label people were shocked by the weird behavior on Kelly’s part.
I’m sure Kelly’s has the same interpretation of the story as these guys. So they spend hundreds of dollars at a bar, and then the bartenders for no reason kick them out? I’m sure they weren’t drunk and I’m sure this is the complete story.
Hmmm.
Never seen a bar that is cool with someone sleeping in it.
I think it may be against the law, but I’m not sure. But I have heard doormen tell people that before.
I don’t think liquor control cares what time you went to work that morning, or where you work, or how much money you’ve spent. If it is illegal, it is illegal. And the bartenders will be held responsible.
Heard It On Q
What gets me here is that Mike is a nice guy. It was a dead night there. He explained the situation. They still wanted him gone. Is kellys that busy these days. Kennedy did say all this on his show this week.
It is not who you are, it’s how you act
I am sure as there always are two sides to a story and I am sure this one has one as well.
But as being someone who has dealt with the public most their life I can see what I think happened here by just how Craig tells it.
I fail to see Mike Kennedy as a nice fellow as someone stated here. A nice fellow would have sent his wife on home in a cab or how ever and not forced her to sit in Kelly
Who Cares?
The wife is a certified hammer!! I would have found her a more comfortable place to sleep than the stinking bar.
You guys already decided and weren’t There
Hey I don’t know what the deal was. I have been to Kellys many times. Had a nice time. I don’t know Mike Kennedy or his wife, however in these rough times, maybe the people at Kellys could have handled it better. Once Kennedy told them he was a talk show guy and so was his wife, maybe, even if there was a slight issue, the employee might have been cooler. In the end its more bad news for Westport and Kellys. All avoidable in this case. If Kennedy was out of line, who knows. I doubt he and that group were waving weapons or yelling or fighting. So again, may have been handled in a nicer way thats all.
Power People
Hey sounds like both sides maybe over reacted. If it was a big deal more would have happened. Point of the story is who needs the grief.
Dumb
I don’t listen to Q, but I do listen to Jack FM and like nicki. She sounds like a decent gal on the radio. I doubt she is a trouble maker. If they have rules, they could have explained and said if you guys are sleepy you need to go home. Thats all. The rest was dumb on the employees part, so it sounds.
WTF….let your wife sleep on a bar?
are you serious. Mike/his crew(3 or 4 people)…one singer…maybe total of 5 or 6 people spending
$200 at the bar.. I’m not a mathemetican but that a lot of booze at kellys. Thats a ton of booze
at kellys. so I’m assuming these 5 people were a little drunk. Maybe 10 beers each….
and whats this girl doing…sleeping on the bar? What kind of husband with any class would allow
his wife to sleep on the bar….and at kellys…a low dollar bar? What the fuck was this guy thinking.
Maybe they got a little mouthy with the bartenders…maybe they said some shit about the bartenders.
This on air girl ain’t no angel either.
Maybe the bartenders thought she was drunk. and with the problem with the kid drinking at
kellys before he got punched and died on the street they may have thought she was too drunk to
be in their place.
I know the kellys…know red…theres another side to this story. Hope the kelly boys say what actually
happened. Then to broadcast it on the air….if i was the kellys I’d go next door and have a few
“face to face” talks with this mike guy out in the parking lot to straighten a few facts out.
Sounds like a “hearne storY”….full of more holes than a piece of cheese.
In fact….i say bullshit.
Kellys Lawsuit
In a way Harley hit it dead on. By the way I am not saying Kennedy did anything wrong or his wife. However, yes the word is out that Kellys is being sued for more than 2.5 million bucks. This due to the death of Brian. It is an over pour case. Word is all over mid town about the filing. Not sure if it happened yet or not, but is going too. In fact Hearne likely pushed this to happen with his million articles on the murder case. This is the one where a young man about two months back got waxed in Kellys Bar and went outside and was jumped by a couple black guys and beaten to death. Turns out the white guy who got killed was 21 and major league drunk leaving Kellys. LIke twice or three times the limit. So his parents are filing a wrongful death suit against Kellys. Big time.
With this type of thing happening of course the staff over reacts to anything close to someone drinking too much. Maybe had they explained that to the radio people all would have worked out for the best. Still sounds like Kellys went overboard here due to the pressures of the legal matters. They could lose their business over all this. So Harley made a valid point on the murder and the drinking and over pouring situation. I enjoyed Kellys years ago and do feel badly for all their problems. With all these issues of slow business and violence in their place maybe its time the two brothers be there more. I’m not sure.
St. Pats Day
Kellys over serve? Hey ever been there on St. Patricks Day? My lord, if people thought that white boy who got stabbed or beaten was toasted check out March 17 at Kellys, they have to throw them out the back door cause they can’t walk. Cops don’t care, its kinda fun to be there just to watch all the drunks. Hey its a holiday I know but I go there to watch them fall. Nobody cares how many beers you wash down on that day. This year me and my party pal Chip had about 15 beers each by noon. We did take a cab home. I had to carry Chip to the door, nobody was too worried about us. Guess you have to be a hot looking celebrity DJ like Niki Pace to get their attention. Over pour, yeah sure. Its done every weekend I’m there. Nobody gives a crap. As for the black guys, leave by midnight and you will not get shot or stabbed.
Pat Kellys
Did someone say Kellys was worried about people being drunk there? Oh please. Pat Kelly is drunk every night he is there behind the bar. These guys kick out some girl who has her head on the bar? On a quiet Thursday. Hey go there Saturday night when drunk Pat Kelly is flying high around say ten PM. He is drunker than the bar crowd. What a joke, the Kellys care if you are drunk. Sure.
Mike Who Needs Kellys
Mike I know you are a great guy and never cause problems anywhere. I know cause you used to drink with us at times at McCoys in Westport. Last year. I worked there behind the bar. We always enjoyed you and your staff. Great tips and conversation. Mike I never saw you drunk not once sir. So readers I tend to believe Mike Kennedy in this case. His wife came in like twice with him and she couldn’t have been sweeter. So you have lots of choices in Westport for a beer, just don’t go to Kellys. Besides who needs to get shot or stabbed by their black rap customers.
correction and suggestion
Hey Harley, They didn’t run up a $200 booze tab. It says they bought lots of Kelly’s merchandise so your drink calculations are off.
I would sure like to see Kelly’s side to this story. I’m sure this has been called to their attention. They ought to post a rebuttal here and I sure hope its not that abrasive ‘Kelly’s Guy’ who posts here responding. He’d threaten someone and muck it up worse.
This has been part of Kelly’s problem. Its too bad they’re so online PR and promotion clueless.
Don’t forget he bought a bunch of t-shirts and stuff to give to the artist. Part of the $200 probably – maybe a good part.
For the record, the young man’s name is Brian Euston. He was 24 and it happened last October. His blood alcohol level tested .387, nearly five times the legal limit to drive.
Too Busy Drinkin
Agreed, they are clueless dumbshits. I used to go there back when Lone Star was huge. Kellys was always busy. Day and night. Their worst pr guy was Pat Kelly a fat drunken loud mouth. He likely doesn’t own a cell phone yet. Kyle was better but also could be hateful. Red was their best man. Get rid of Pat Kelly that would be a start.
I SAY …ITS KELLYS BAR…IF THEY DON’T LIKE YOU…GET THE
hell out. Crybaby gets on the air and says big bad boys at kellys kicked him and his tin horn
cowboy no talent crooner out of the bar. So what. Take your cheap ass somewhere and buy
the out of towners some reall booze instead of the cheap ass beer they tap at kellys.
And I’m sure the bartenders at kellys would love to see this guys wife again.
If i was this $10 an hour dj i’d be looking over my shoulder when i left the office..
these guys are prety tough dudes and now that you’ve pissed them off you might
want to pack some heat.
As for the broad who fell asleep on the bar…the bartenders chould have thought maybe
somebody slipped you one of them date rape drugs. they don’t know what your situation
is. As for falling asleep on the bar….ive never heard you on the radio… but if i saw some
girl asleep on the bar at kellys i would thing she was a floozy.
MaYBE THE $10 AN HOUR DJ NEEDS TO KEEP MOMMA AT HOME WHEERE SHE DOESN’T
ACT LIKE SOME TIN HORN SLEEZE BAG……JUST NO CLASS AT ALL.
Bartenders may have overreacted but again….mr. dj…i’d be serious about watching
where i went …….those kelly boys got some tough ass irish ball busting friends.
MR. $10 AN HOUR DISC JOCKEY…
you only wish you had 50,000 listeners….dream on.
Now get your wife home before she falls asleep …..maybe get her to
a doctor to cure that sleep apnea….or leave her in the car when you
entertain your high class guests at such a nice lavish place like kellys.
Boy you tin horns really know how to impress out of town people…
taking them to kellys. Where did you take them to eat…town topic.
OH…WOW…BOUGHT HIS GUEST SOME KELLYS T SHIRTS…
BIG BIG SPENDER. When you’re making $10 an hour i guess you gotta
make sure the money gets used wisely.
Next time you entertan out of town guests show some class. Take them
to capital grill…or ruth chris…or maybe mccormicks….
You took them to kellys….what the hell…you waznt your out of town
guests to think we’re a bunch of low life drunks.
Deeper into the shithole…
Westport just sucks worse and worse. Even Kelly’s is in the downward spiral.
LOL …
Harley’s on a roll today
… ditto re: Big Spending DJ entertaining out-of-town ‘celebrity’ at Kelly s
… thanks, Kenndy … nice way to impress out-of-towners ,,,,
Kellys a No Show
We have worked with both Mike Kennedy and Wilkes as well as Entercom and Jack FM with Nyki Pace. They have both been very kind and helpful. They both gave their time and compassion to us yearly. When we asked Kellys to participate in two different programs which not only didn’t cost them anything, they would have had extra customers for working together in a sense they told us to F off. We don’t see them as good guys. Mike Kennedy and his lovely wife are both kind and considerate. Simple as that. Kindness vs. greed.
I’m Sure It Was Nigro
Heard all about the incident. Word is Bill Nigro got Kennedy up to pulling this stunt. It’s a conspiracy to get Kellys closed down for good. Headed up by that mob guy Nigro.
Kellys not what it was
Used to go there almost daily. Now nobody from even five years ago is there anymore. Love Red, but its only busy on weekend nights now. Its a pitty. I hate to hear this kind of story about them.
Gross..
I wouldn’t touch anything or even walk in that bar. I wouldn’t walk in that bar when I was 21 I thought it was disgusting then and I still do. Why anyone would take anyone there is beyond me? Maybe they figure the place will probably go down in a little bit anyway after this lawsuit. That place is just a stinking dirty DIVE.
Four things to consider
1. Pretty uppity to think that you are cool enough to sleep at a bar. No bar tolerates this… not even sleepy dives.
2. The Kelly’s bartender should not have pulled the HMFIC routine. Be nice… politely say that you will not tolerate the sleeping… ask if you need to call her a ride… Just be cool.. We need more of that.
3. If Kelly’s is in a potential lawsuit… they will be extra edgy about everything… natural.
4. The karma in Westport is horrible. Just a great place to avoid. Not enough good hotels, not enough food choices. The music scene has dwindled. Not enough lighting. You have to park in dark and eerie locations.
OMG Kellys Dead
Hearne read this story yesterday. Was at P&L til say midnight last night it was Saturday Night! My party of six girls stopped in Westport to go to Harrys Bar, we went over to Kellys for a last drink, had to get up for todays holiday, OMG Kellys had like 20 people in the bar, 20! I was shocked. Maybe this story with Mike Kennedy hurt their business. Not for sure, so very upsetting when I went to KU we lived in that place. Guess time moved on.
By the way…
Brian Euston wasn’t “jumped by a couple black guys” as legal eagle describes….he has hit once for acting like a jerk and is dead.
Did Niki Pace’s face turn green on the side that was sleeping on the bar? I don’t think I’d want to put my grill on that bar for fear of contamination. And go home if you’re that effing tired. My guess is she was drunk.
Whats Become Of Karma
Speaking of dead, whats going in where Karma was? Anything?
so the big time dj talks about his problems at kellys
he uses the companys air time to air his dirty laundry. And put his wife up to
scrutiny for falling alseep on a bar (real classy).
Hopefully the owners of the radio station heard it and protect themselves.
As far as kellys….for you uneducated idiots….every business evolves..
kellys has had a great very profitable run adn I’m sure they are in excellent
financial condition. but times have changed…new areas have opened up…theres
literally bars on every corner in joco…up north and then there’s waldo area.
All competing for the same dollars that were probably in the market about 6 years ago.
The pie’s being split up even more…so once busy kellys may not have the crowds they
once had but they probably still ae making good money.
so lay off the kellys. They have the right to refuse to serve people who sleep on the
bar. did the girl who fell asleep on the bar tell her story on morning drive in her show..
‘OH LAST NIGHT I FELL ASLEEP ON THE BAR AT KELLYS…AND BECAUSE IT WAS
INAPPRORPRIATE …AND WHILE MY HUSBAND FORCED ME TO GO WITH HIM WITH
SOME SECOND TIER COWBOY SINGERS…THE BARTENDERS ASSKED ME TO LEAVE.
MY HUSBAND…WHO HAS A EGO DEC IDED TO ACT LIKE A TOUGH GUY IN FRONT OF THE
TIN HORN SINGER AND THE KELLYS GUYS….SO AS I LAID MY FACE ON THE FILTHY
BAR AND SLEPT THEY KICKED US ALL OUT…EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO BUSINESS.
hAD the girl said this i’m sure she would have been fired by her compan in about 10 minutes.
Just don’t go back…don’t make a scne…they don’t like you…if maybe you tipped more than
fifty cents for $100 worth of drinks maybe they would have let the girl sleep on the bar.
I think the dj is a pussy. He should have taken on the kellys guys in the street instead of hiding
behind a mike…….interesitng to see what happens next.
OH COME ON MERMAID….
stop the b.s.
you won’t walk into kellys because it’s nassty.?
That coming from a woman who sleeps with guys screwing
many many girls at the same and also dating numerous excons.
Harley Chill
Harley you are calling Mermaid out when you wrote a story about how YOU ARE A SWINGER and you and your wife swap with other couples. Come on now my brother. Who is the dirty bird? You are.
Westport is fatally flawed- They are toast
I used to love Westport. But it’s time has passed. Unfortunately, Kellys spent a lot of jack on a new deck and kitchen, in an economy that is coupled with other conditions that cannot be overcome. Harley is right. The KC population has not changed, Cleaver drove away all of the conventions, and there are hundreds more bars competing for less business. JOCO did not have bars 20 years ago. They had Dick Clark’s. They have all types of places now.
Kelly’s was famous in all of Big 8/Big 12 country for decades. Then… we lost our role as permanent basketball host.
No one with disposable income wants to go to Westport. The only people that live there are the inked up tweeked up goth losers, and any of them that had any talent moved to the CrossRoads. And I don’t care what anyone says… It may not be dangerous on Penn, or Westport Road… But it is real dangerous on the surrounding blocks where people are forced to park. It is still poorly lit.
So the best thing for Westport to do is to understand their limitations and get more offices in there. The only people walking around Westport during the day are unemployed “artists.” HAAAAAAAA. Bring in some professionals.
Well Said Rainbow Man
Great post Rainbow man. Westport needs to be upgraded for sure. You can’t keep selling the same six old bars. It needs some new blood and fast. Kellys is slow due to Westport being slow. The young college kids today never heard of Kellys like we did.
15 years ago I remember thinking the people tending bar at
Kelly’s were pricks. We never ended up staying there long – always migrating over to Harpo’s or McCoy’s or elsewhere. Can’t say that I’m that surprised by this report. The guys working at Kelly’s always seemed to think it was just that much better than anywhere else, due to it’s longevity, I suppose. As a lifelong Kansas Citian, I’d be sad if Kelly’s shut down from a purely historical perspective. However, based on my own long term personal experiences, I could care less whether their owners continue to make money. It’s certainly not a place that I have any affinity for and it appears that few others do as well.
Have no idea whether the report from Kennedy is true, but I’ve seen enough with my own 2 eyes that it’s well within the realm of possibility.
Take your meds…
What’s up Harley? Did you go bi-polar on us? Or do you love Kelly’s that much that you had to put me down. The place is nasty and no I would never and have never patronized that bar. I would be over at Harry’s then go see Craig and chat up all the comedians. Very fun and very classy. Kelly’s is not classy. And by the way I don’t comment on your life because I don’t assume to know you but you on the other hand are assuming you know me and writing things that you are assuming. So why don’t you only write things that are fact and since you do not know me that would not be much. By the way why don’t you come out and tell people who you are instead of being a coward. I think everyone would appreciate that.
shhhhhhh mermaid….calm down
don’t be a hypocrite. Feel kellys shoudl get a fair shake on this story but they don’t.
No don’t think so..
Why should I calm down Harley? Your talking about who I SUPPOSEDLY am sleeping with? No do I get involved in your personal life-NO because I could care less. ONE MORE WORD OUT OF YOUR MOUTH THAT IS NEGATIVE ABOUT ME AND YOUR GETTING KICKED OFF THE SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kinda late but wondering
Somebody mentioned Nigro as being mobbed up. Isn’t Nyki Pace’s grandfather Nick Spero who was found shot to death in the trunk of car back in the 70s. Also her great uncles are the infamous Spero brothers.