Category Archives: Entertainment
Sounds Good: Das Racist@Granada, Fourth of July@Jackpot
The days are getting shorter…
So you know what that means? No more sun dresses, for one, which is a total bummer. A severe rise in the suicide rate.
What else? KU basketball is right around the corner – that’s a good one.
But what I was thinking of is a bit more obvious – shorter days = longer nights.
For those of you who batten down the hatches and lie dormant through the blustery months, read no further!
But for those creatures of the night, please, read on…
Edelman: BROADWAY’S SPIDER-MAN TAKES OFF, LANDS ON ITS FEET
For all of the hype and hemorrhaging, SPIDER-MAN, TURN OFF THE DARK turns out to be alot of fun.
Don’t expect to see Bono and the Edge rubbing elbows with Stephen Sondheim any time soon, though. The crew’s score is probably the weakest link in this opus (Foxwood Theatre on 42nd between 7th and 8th Ave in NYC). It’s Julie Taymor‘s brilliant vision for Spidey’s theatrical debut, as realized by an amazingly athletic cast, that make this new production a guilty pleasure that just might make back its $75 million capitalization.
Fans of THE LION KING and the movie Across the Universe will recognize Ms Taymor’s touch as soon as the house lights dim. We meet Peter Parker in school, where he’s delivering a book report on the Greek goddess Arachne. Turned into a spider by the jealous Athena, Arachne serves as a leitmotif, literally hanging over the entire evening. T.V. Carpio, the actress who played Prudence in Across the Universe, does a terrific job in the part– especially when you consider she spends the entire show eighteen feet off the ground.
Donnelly: Roger Daltrey at the Midland, October 14, 2011
Let’s cut to the chase here people…
Can Roger Daltrey, legendary front man for The Who, still get the job done? Or is his latest tour a glorified Vegas lounge act looking to cash in on aging boomers desperate to re-live their glory days?
Friday night’s show at the Midland answered both questions.
Yes, Daltrey can still hit (practically) all the notes, can still command the stage with his energy and presence, and can still twirl the hell out of a microphone. And no, the show didn’t feel like a re-tread, perhaps due in part to the number of younger folks that ventured out to see the next best thing to The Who for the very first time.
As advertised, the first act of the show consisted of Daltrey’s band playing note for note the classic rock opera, Tommy. Included in the mix was Pete Townshend’s younger brother, Simon, who played well on guitar and even better on vocals for several songs.
Sounds Good: Buddy Guy@Knuckleheads, Roger Daltrey@Midland, Brett Dennen & Blind Pilot@Beaumont
After I sort of panned the Michael McDonald/ Boz Scaggs show last week, some commenters suggested I was perhaps an ageist.
But I like what I like. Which does include some old guy stuff like wide brimmed hats, bocce ball, and Buick LeSabres.
And as if that weren’t enough, look at this week’s lineup!
So stand down, good sirs, stand down…
Donnelly: St. Vincent @ Liberty Hall, October 7, 2011
Have you ever come out of a concert scratching your head filled with odd questions that you keep asking yourself?
"I really liked that, didn’t I?"
Or, "Was that awesome or just kind of weird?"
Or, "St. Vincent is really sexy for a robot."
OK, that last one isn’t a question.
Rewind three hours…
Sounds Good: St. Vincent@Liberty Hall, Minus the Bear@Granada, Portugal. The Man@Bottleneck
All Lawrence all the time this weekend.
Sure, you could pay 800 bucks and go out and see Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs tear up some gilfs and silver foxes.
You could.
Or you could take a little jaunt on down the road to that little hamlet known as Larry and see up-and-coming bands.
Then you could say, "Dude, I saw St. Vincent at this little theater in this little college town back before she got huge."
Instead of, "Dude, I saw Michael McDonald right before his fifth bypass surgery – he was actually dead for three minutes on the operating table before they brought his mellow groovin’ ass back to life!"
Choose wisely.
Hearne: Midland by AMC to Resurrect Vaunted Sandstone Entertainment Auction
One of KC’s most iconic entertainment institutions is poised to re-rear its long absentee head…
The music and entertainment biz fandango known as the Sandstone Auction – an event put on by former concert powerhouse Contemporary – will return in spirit to AEG‘s Midland by AMC.
Year after year the auction offered an array of supercalifragilistic, superstar autographed tschotskes. Items signed by the top artists who’d visited Kansas City stages that year.
What was it like?
Return with me to the October 1999 Sandstone Auction for a few highlights from my column at the time.
“We don’t have any weird stuff this year,” organizer Candy Chorice told me then. “But Olivia Newton-John signed a `Grease’ poster. And at the Lilith Fair I got a guitar signed by all of the mainstage acts, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Indigo Girls and Deborah Cox."
Sounds Good: Garage a Trois, American Royal BBQ, Sound Tribe Sector 9 & Bob Lockwood
Busy, busy weekend coming up – which is a good thing…
Yep, everything seems to be coming together. So long as you don’t mind not sleeping for a few days and existing solely off the nutritional value contained in beer and smoked meats.
I’m actually going to try and attend all the events I’m recommending this weekend. So if I go MIA for awhile, assume I ended up in some dirty van after the STS9 show and woke up somewhere in Colorado.
I’m also going to try and review the new Wilco album, "The Whole Love", (if I can find a solid 45 to listen to the whole thing) which dropped a day or two ago. On first listen, I like it, though you know how first listens can be.
On to the madness…
Donnelly: REM Walks Away Like the Wasted Guy Who Passed Out on the Living Room Floor
REM announced a few days ago that it was calling it quits after 31 years.
"A wise man once said–‘the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave,’" wrote singer Michael Stipe in the band’s official statement. "We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we’re going to walk away from it."
I understand the sentiment, but by Stipe’s rationale, REM is the wasted guy who spilled his drink thrice, knocked over a plant, and is now drooling on himself half passed out on the living room floor.
He’s already raided your Doritos stash and taken a few chunks out of your Velveeta with his claws. You don’t really know him because a friend invited him to tag along, and you don’t want to go to bed with this half stranger in your house.
Stipe’s classy move would have been better executed after 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi, an album that, though not my favorite, is certainly solid. If they had just stopped there, no one would have had to listen to Around the Sun.
Edelman: Broadway Hit ‘Red’ Makes Thrilling Splash at Unicorn
"Make something new," the paint-splattered abstract expressionist Mark Rothko commands his assistant Ken in the Tony Award winning play RED...
Director Cynthia Levin must have been listening, because in her fine production of John Logan‘s new work (now through October 2 at the Unicorn Theatre, 3828 Main) she’s created a new star on the KC scene: Sam Cordes, the terrific young actor who plays Rothko’s assistant.
If the name Cordes rings a bell, it should. Sam is the off-spring of two of our town’s finest theater artists. Dad Scott Cordes is a versatile actor, as comfortable in Shakespearean threads as he is cracking wise onstage between dinner and dessert at the New Theatre Restaurant. Mom Lisa Cordes is a highly-regarded playwright and theater provocateur– her work at the Living Room and other boho spots around town is legendary.
So it should be no surprise that Sam’s got the old theater bug; but where he takes it is another thing entirely.
Sounds Good: Steve Earle@Uptown, Dollar Fox@???, An Horse@Jackpot
Hello everyone, it’s that time once again for "Who’s More Grizzled?" the game show that finds out who’s the roughest, toughest, most grizzled old timer around.
Let’s bring out the contestants. He is our returning champion; he dropped out of school in the ninth grade, is a former heroin addict, and has been married seven times – twice to the same woman. Plus, he attended the execution of an inmate in Texas in 1996, and has been accused of being a terrorist sympathizer.
Everyone say hello to Steve!
Steve, what’ve you been up to lately? – I don’t care much for you.
And I don’t blame you, Steve. Here are your categories: War, Hard Times, Bear Attacks, Ailments, Dead Wives, and finally, the Government…
Sounds Good: Foo Fighters@Sprint, Kauffman Center Open House, Okkervil River@Granada
What is it going to take for you to start doing everything I say?
Last week, I told you to go to the Bon Iver show at the Uptown, but you didn’t listen. And now look at you. All pasty white and disgusting.
When will you learn?
This weekend I’m not recommending anything as strongly as I did that show, but maybe it’s better if you start off with something a little easier, more accessible.
Baby steps, you know? Start with something easily digestible yet still legit, like, say, Foo Fighters. Then, slowly work your way into a little indie band like Okkervil River maybe.
See, it’s easy. Before you know it you’ll be listening to Neon Indian and Richmond Fontaine, craving PBR, and smoking Parliament Lights.
I know, I know, gross. But it’s worth it, trust me…
Hearne: Extreme Micro Wrestling Federation Slams Granada in Lawrence Tonight
To borrow an expression, let’s get ready to rumble…
You guys are about to owe me. That’s right. Because I’m about to turn you on to the Extreme Micro Wrestling Federation‘s midget wrestling show tonight at the Granda in downtown Lawrence. You can thank me later.
Or not.
In any case, I didn’t want you to miss it, since chances you’re bound to see stuff like "people 4’10” and under pummel each other with fists, various props, and Spandex," according to imposemagazine.com (why didn’t I think of that name?). "The entire event involves three one-on-one matches, a steel cage match involving several of the wrestlers, and then a surprise bonus at the end, which is promised to be ‘unlike anything you’ve seen before.’ This ends up being stripping midgets."
Fancy that. But before you guys go Craig Glazer, be advised it looks like all the midget strippers will be dudes. Can’t say for sure, but I couldn’t find any PR pix of chicks other than the full size ones.
Donnelly: Bon Iver at the Uptown Theater, September 9, 2011
After listening to Bon Iver’s latest self-titled album several times leading up to Friday night’s sold out Uptown Theater show, I had an idea in my head of what their performance might be like.
I figured it’d be a quiet, intimate show with lots of instrumentation, lots of ambient noise, and precise musicianship. And of course, Justin Vernon’s unique falsetto vocals that combine one part Prince and one part Beck from Midnite Vultures.
You know, some mellow nap-rock that would take me away to my own cabin in the winter woods of Wisconsin, where I could grow a beard and contemplate things by myself.
I couldn’t have been more wrong…
Sounds Good: Bon Iver@Uptown, Blink-182@Sandstone, Crossroads Music Fest
I’m kind of confused… 
My friend says that Wilco is soft – at least anything post Ghost is Born. Really?
I mean, yeah, Wilco (The Album) kinda sucked, as did Sky Blue Sky to a certain extent, but does liking those albums automatically make me a pussy?
I’m asking.
He also says that the best new stuff around is Bon Iver. (Say it like you’re French, like "bone eve-air," squares). You know, wispy, high pitched vocals, songs about lost loves, and stuff like that.
And Wilco’s soft?
No, they’re not soft I keep telling myself. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, right? He’s the one who, after the My Morning Jacket show said, "Well, they’re no Bon Iver."
What does that even mean? I kind of want to release my "friend’s" contact info to the infamous KCC commentariat to do with it what they will. Hmmm…
Side note: Wilco is coming to the Uptown on December 3rd just shortly after the release of their new album, that I hear is not "soft" at all. Nor crappy like the last two. So to recap that’s: 1) new Wilco album and show at the Uptown; 2) not soft; and 3) not crappy.
On to this weekend’s picks…
Edelman: Stan Plesser, The Man Who Made Cowtown (1932-2011)
Before there was Chris Fritz, Jeff Fortier, AEG, Live Nation, whatever, an ex-shoe dog from NYC put our town on the rock and roll map and made this a cool place to live.
He’s gone now: Stan Plesser, club owner, band manager and KC’s first rock and roll impresario died Friday. They don’t make em like Stan anymore.
My first impression of the man was listening to his spots on KUDL or WHB in the 60s. Plugging his Vanguard Coffeehouse, Stan did his own voice-overs, hawking in that nasal Broadway accent his roster of talent. Danny Cox, Brewer & Shipley, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Steve Martin— they all played the Vanguard. It was THE place to go to impress a date.
Sounds Good: Marilyn Maye@Jardine’s, Hospital Ships@Replay, Gillian Welch@Liberty Hall
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We’re going to take it down a notch this week…
Last week was a time to focus on the eccentric bands – the impeccable perfectionist swank of Steely Dan, the weirdo jazz of Dweezil, and the category-less TV on the Radio.
Don’t know about you, but I could go for something kinda simple, something classic, timeless…
Donnelly: Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa@The Midland by AMC, August 26, 2011
You could tell Dweezil was having a great time from the moment he and his band walked onto the Midland stage a few minutes early at 7:56.
He was all smiles as he announced, "We’re gonna start this with something kinda fun that you can dance to."
The eight piece band launched into the Zappa classic, Dancin’ Fool, sounding in sync and full, with the distinctive sound of jazz xylophone accentuating the rare musical style that Frank Zappa explored. It became quickly apparent who the real fans in the audience were.
I mean, people who really like Zappa are, well let’s just be honest, a little bit eccentric usually, right?
You have to be slightly twisted deep inside to truly appreciate what Frank Zappa did for years with his unique brand of music. He put premiums on extremely complex rhythms, mixed with the most off-the-wall lyrics and storytelling, mixed with an ethos that always tried new and weird things just for their own sake.
So like I was saying, people that like Frank Zappa REALLY like Frank Zappa.
I counted at least three standing ovations during Dweezil’s hour long set…
Donnelly: Steely Dan@Starlight Theater, August 25, 2011
When I was younger, I hated Steely Dan. Not that I even knew who they were.
There was a radio show every Sunday night called "Reelin’ in the Years," that played classic rock and other "oldies." Appropriately, the theme song for the show was the Steely Dan song by the same name.
What is this old crap, I thought?
Plus, my parents listened to the Dan on long road trips. Yuck.
Then, in college, I "discovered" Pretzel Logic. THIS is the band that played that theme song?
I got hooked.
Thursday night was my first Dan show, and I must say I was impressed…
Sounds Good: Steely Dan@Starlight, Zappa Plays Zappa@Midland, and TV On The Radio@Crossroads
A lot going on this weekend…
Not only am I personally recommending three really great shows featuring some unique and legendary artists, there’s also some great local music happening in Lawrence and KC, as well as the Chiefs on Friday night and Sporting KC on Saturday night.
Yep, it could be an epic several days if everything goes according to plan.
Thursday it’s some chill rock with Steely Dan, Friday we get a little weird with Dweezil, then Saturday it’s off to LIVESTRONG to watch Sporting keep climbing the ladder. But no after-game beers this time because it’s a bee-line for Crossroads to catch one of the cooler live acts around on Saturday night, TV On The Radio.
Who’s with me?
