The Pitch, Pitch

Nineties KC-Lawrence club fixture DJ Ray Velasquez returns home for a few shows

David Hudnall — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

DJ Ray Velasquez comes home for some shows. by David Hudnall Those tuned in to the local club scene in the 1990s will remember Ray Velasquez. In addition to hosting Nocturnal Transmissions, a Saturday-night, electronic-music program on the much-loved Lawrence station KLZR (the Lazer) 105.9, Velasquez was a pioneering DJ at venues in KC and Lawrence from 1983 until 1999, when he moved to New York City.…

Fast & Furious 6

Jason Shawhan — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

by Jason Shawhan If the entirety of the nitro-burning delirium that is Fast & Furious 6 were just Gina Carano fighting Michelle Rodriguez, it would be the best movie of the year — a new-millennium Faster, Pussycat! Kill!…

Jazz Beat: The Jazz Disciples, with Book of Gaia

Larry Kopitnik — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

by Larry Kopitnik The hard-driving, in-your-face, contemporary jazz of the Jazz Disciples (Gerald Dunn on sax, Everett Freeman on piano, Bill McKemy on bass and Michael Warren on drums) anchors a couple of the Blue Room's most popular monthly shows. This Saturday night, the Jazz Disciples are joined by Book of Gaia, a sharp ensemble featuring three of Kansas City's finest jazz singers: Angela Hagenbach, Pamela Baskin-Watson and Nedra Dixon.…

Burt Bacharach looks back — but keeps going

Dan Lybarger — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

Burt Bacharach talks about his book, his KC roots and his busy career. by Dan Lybarger Burt Bacharach turned 85 this month but did almost nothing to lighten his still hectic schedule. When The Pitch contacted the producer-composer-pianist by phone, he was about to leave a New York hotel to catch a flight, on to the next event.…

Hurlyburly: Coke is tough, being a man tougher

Liz Cook — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

A terrific cast takes its audience on a long, thrilling ride. by Liz Cook The Living Room's electric revival of Hurlyburly caps a spring theater season that has hummed with masculine energy. Director Bryan Moses' production exposes a male angst so manic and so thick that you picture the stage crew hosing testosterone off the walls after every performance.…

Does the city need a new, billion-dollar Kansas City International?

Steve Vockrodt — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

The city studies plans for a new KCI terminal. by Steve Vockrodt November 12, 1972, marked the middle of a terrifying 32-hour jet hijacking, one of the more remarkable such air-industry ordeals in U.S. history. A trio of hijackers, one of them a prison escapee, commandeered a Southern Airways DC-9 leaving Alabama with 27 passengers and four crew members.…

Streetside: Surviving the Mystery Train's murder-mystery dinner theater

David Hudnall — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

We take a stab at the Mystery Train. by David Hudnall There was a time, and it was not that long ago, when the promise of a free meal was enough to persuade people to accompany me to just about any event, no matter how stupid. But lately, everybody seems to have a little more money and a lot less time.…

Music Forecast May 23-29: Cheap Trick, Japandroids, Drive-By Truckers, El Ten Eleven, Dawes and more

David Hudnall — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

by David Hudnall Cheap Trick The power-pop pride of Rockford, Illinois, is still touring 40 years into its career. Cheap Trick knows no other way — or, at least, its members have no other marketable skills.…

Barry Anderson's The Janus Restraint: The Ascension chips off some Iceland for summer

Tracy Abeln — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

by Tracy Abeln Barry Anderson is known for his bright, colorful video works: bars and diagonals and bubbles, light-rich abstractions that act as moving collages. His art features regularly in group exhibitions around the country and is in a number of museum and private collections, and recently he has collaborated with bands such as the U.K.'s Written in Waters, making abstract videos for their music.…

Waldo's Kokoro Maki House makes decent sushi — and good Korean food

Charles Ferruzza — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:00:00 -0500

Find both Korean cuisine and sushi at this Waldo spot. by Charles Ferruzza "There are not four Korean restaurants in Kansas City," said a friend of mine who is something of an expert in the cuisine of the Korean peninsula. "There are seven."…

DelHi Soul Food Buffet closes in KCK

Charles Ferruzza — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:04:42 -0500

Fast Pitch reader Chris Whitmore arrived at the DelHi Southern Cuisine Buffet, the family-owned soul-food restaurant at 8055 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, a little too late. It was closed - for good.…

OSHA orders reinstatement of Wolf Creek whistle-blower

Steve Vockrodt — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:36:00 -0500

There's more bad news this week surrounding the closest nuclear reactor to Kansas City after regulators determined that a contractor for the Wolf Creek Generating Station was fired in retaliation for calling out unsafe practices there.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on May 15 published an order to reinstate an unnamed employee for Enercon, a contractor for the nuclear power plant 80 miles away near Burlington, Kansas.…

Police leave Union Station after suspicious package found

Ben Palosaari — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:39:00 -0500

Police have cleared the scene at Union Station, where a suspicious package was discovered earlier today. The Star reports that the package was found at 7:30 this morning.…

Which out-of-town restaurant would you lobby to bring to KC?

Jonathan Bender — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:52:00 -0500

Let's call this one the Powerball question. Should you luck into a pot of money and be able to convince a given restaurant to franchise or simply relocate, what eatery (be it chain or single shop) are you bringing in from out-of-town?…

Kanrocksas single-day tickets now on sale

David Hudnall — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:33:33 -0500

Kanrocksas is fast approaching, everyone. As of today, you can purchase single-day tickets to the music festival - held Friday, June 28, and Saturday, June 29, at the Kansas Speedway - for $99.…

Insane Clown Posse fans will be chugging Faygo in Lawrence tonight

David Hudnall — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:12:44 -0500

Are you down with the Clown? The FBI, which recently classified Insane Clown Posse as a criminal street gang, is not.…

The Gaf has closed in Waldo

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:04:00 -0500

The Gaf (7122 Wornall) poured its last Guinness on Saturday. The Waldo pub and bar closed after eight years in the former Romanelli Grill space (Charles Ferruzza wrote about the spot's stylish upgrade back in 2005).…

Pitch Taste of KC beats the weather, draws 700 hungry people

Charles Ferruzza — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:57:00 -0500

The predicted torrential rains arrived in downtown Kansas City precisely as The Pitch's Taste of Kansas City was wrapping up for the evening. By then, though, the 700 people leaving the Live Block of the Power & Light District had been sated by a variety of victual vendors that had offered up cheeseburgers and phad Thai and macarons and petit fours and plenty of other good things.…

Giovanni's Deli goes big in the Northland

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:10:30 -0500

Giovanni's Italian Deli & Pasta (6100 N.E. Antioch Road) is the rare place where you can get a ham sandwich and a pound of ham for when you're hungry three days later. The hoagies are done in the style of a classic Italian tradition.…

Boulevard's Saison-Brett hits store shelves and taps Tuesday

Jonathan Bender — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:14:00 -0500

With beer, absence simply makes you thirsty. On Tuesday, you have a chance to drink a beer that even Steven Pauwels, Boulevard's brewmaster, misses.…

Rob Schamberger shows his paintings and sells prints of wrestling champions tonight with 100 percent of proceeds going to Make-A-Wish

Justin Kendall — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:00:22 -0500

Before Raw at the Sprint Center (read our interview with Cody Rhodes here), Kansas City artist Rob Schamberger shows some of his bigger paintings of wrestling champions, including the Rock, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio, at the River Market Event Space (140 Walnut, 816-591-4346).

Schamberger is selling prints for $15 (or two for $25) with 100 percent of the proceeds going to WWE Champion John Cena's favorite charity, Make-A-Wish.…

Big Rip Brewing Co. opens to the world Sunday

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:04:00 -0500

The Big Rip Brewing Co. is set to let it rip Sunday. The two-man microbrewery in North Kansas City (216 East Ninth Avenue) will be serving up samples to the participants in the Tour de Brew bike race as part of the official open of their Tap Room.…

Indios Carbonsitos and the Hangover III and other weekend possibilities

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:30:37 -0500

Indios Carbonsitos, one of the city's original food trucks, is giving out free tortas on Saturday to help promote Hangover III. (The event kicks off at 10 a.m.; the free food starts at noon.)…

The Pitch's Taste of KC is ready for eaters this Sunday

Jonathan Bender — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:38:00 -0500

Eat your way across Kansas City's culinary landscape at The Pitch's Taste of Kansas City 2013 this Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in the KC Live Block of the Power & Light District. The annual local food-and-drink sampling party includes more than 20 restaurants (Clark's, BRGR, Los Alamos, KC Smokeburger, Thai Orchid and Poco's among them) and beer from Sam Adams.…

The Humdinger: Stand in line to get in, baby

Charles Ferruzza — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:09:00 -0500

This hot afternoon called for a cold milkshake. Not one of those bland boring (and probably chemical-laden) shakes at one of the conglomerate fast-food restaurants, but something a little more eccentric.…