KC Confidential

Does anybody have the guts to tell it like it is?

Allow me to answer my own question, when it comes to issues of race, the answer is almost always a resounding no. Take the large gatherings of African American tweens and teens on the Country Club Plaza.

Largely white male run media organizations like the Kansas City Star live in abject fear of being called out as racists. So they temper the news coverage to obfuscate situations involving black kids on the Plaza to avoid criticism from – let’s be frank here – older, establishment blacks.

So while the kids involved are merely referred to by the Star as “teenagers,” “children” and “youths,” photos like the one today accompanying its editorial reveal the kids to be 100 percent black – with 100 percent no mention of race. Continue reading →

The verdict is in…

From Bill Maher to CNN, post Boston Marathon, everyone seems to agree that what passes for privacy these days is a thing of the past.

Big Bro’s watching and if he misses something – not to worry –  some clown with a cellphone will pick up the slack.

“How anybody thinks they can get away with anything in this age when everything is photographed at all times is amazing to me,” Maher said Friday, re the soon to be nabbed Marathon suspects. Continue reading →

Let’s not get carried away like the writer at a certain local alt weekly did but…

As long as death seems to be the topic of the day, deceased Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett definitely deserves a shout out.

Who didn’t see the sultry Australian redhead’s 1991 video of the song,  “I touch myself” on MTV and conjure fantasies of…well, you know.

It didn’t hurt that Amphlett’s sexy stage persona went down in ultra short skirts and garter belts and low cut tops.

The Pitch erroneously calls the Divinyls a “one hit wonder.” Continue reading →

This one almost got lost in the Boston Marathon confusion…

Lumpy died.

That’s right, Frank Bank – who the New York Times writer Anita Gates described as the “sweet teenage nitwit” on the sitcom “Leave it to Beaver” (1958-1963) died April 13, the day after his 71st birthday in Los Angeles.

You may recall that Bank – who later became a stock jock – moved to KC in 1992 to practice the fine art of counseling people on investments before moving back to LA in 1997.

The 50 year-old Bank told the Star at the time that, “It wasn’t the snow that enticed us. The people are wonderful.” Continue reading →

Not so fast, my friend…

Make no mistake super good guy, FYI writer Tim Engle is a fan of KC Confidential. Why else, given the chance to corner Kansas City comic Jason Sudeikis – ostensibly for a schmooze piece about his improv gig tonight at the Midland – would the crafty Engle (and his headline writing copy editor) lead with the “news” that Sudeikis is not getting married in Lawrence?

Gee, I wonder where anyone got that idea? Continue reading →

I’m migrating this story over in part from KCC’s sister site in LA…

Because while everyone in Lawrence knows how incredibly bad the South Wind 12 movie theater there sucks, they need help in calling attention to the situation. Do they ever.

And here’s why. Continue reading →

A funny thing happened on the way to Knuckleheads in Kansas City…

The “Sons of Anarchy” tour that went down last night at the Midland with actress-singer Katey Sagal was supposed to play the East Bottoms club on May 11th.

That’s because Knuckleheads owner Frank Hicks – a motorcycle dude of the first stripe – had parlayed a brainstorm and a few phone calls into what was have been a one off, mega biker blowout with Sagal.

“Nobody had any interest in her at all, but I did,” Hicks says. “So I called her agent and told him we wanted to fly her in for a show and that I’d hire local musicians to back her up.” Continue reading →

It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to…

Wait a minute…if you recognize the above lyric as having been written by Bob Dylan and happened to be at the Midland last night for actress/singer Katey Sagal and the “Sons of Anarchy” tour, chances are those words will never sound the same.

Not after Sagal made it clear that the then 33 year-old seminal folk-rock singer tried to force himself upon the 19 year-old Segal and then fired her butt as backup singer after she refused to sleep with him. Continue reading →

Got Netflix?

Along with an appetite for bikers, bawdiness and badasses? Then head down to the Midland by AMC tonight for the 8 p.m. “music and cast” incarnation of the FX series, The Sons of Anarchy with Katey Sagal.

You remember her, right?

Christina Applegate‘s mom Peggy Bundy on the long running Fox comedy series “Married….with Children.”

Well, forget everything you think you know about Sagal because not only are we talking anarchy, we’re talking biker anarchy. Continue reading →

This just in…

The March ratings are and as of yesterday local alternative station 96.5 The Buzz is fading fast. Really fast.

The Buzz sank to 14th place with a 2.9 share of listeners 12 and older, Monday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to midnight.

That’s down more than 20 percent from the holidays. Continue reading →

There’s more to Kanrocksas than meets the skeptical eye…

After dropping some serious coin two years back with its inaugural festival at the Kansas Speedway, organizers vowed not to make the same mistakes this time out. Starting with not tying up nearly $3 million on a single act like Eminem.

Eminem was cool, but he obviously wasn’t that big a draw.

Lesson learned.

This year’s lineup isn’t punctuated by any huge dollar sign magnets, but what it does have is a healthy mix of bankable acts like MGMT, Fun., Yeah Yeah Yeahs, DJ Tiesto and 60 some odd others.

It may look good on paper, but kick ass fests are not about over-the-hill headliners like Paul McCartney… Continue reading →