The Pitch: July 10, 2014 by FW Publishing

july 10-16, 2014 | free | Vol. 3 4 No. 2 | pitch.com

House ligHts Can

Rusty sneaRy and

shawnna JouRnagan keep their

Living Room party going?

by Liz Cook

liam neeson mila kunis adrien brody olivia wilde james franco moran atias maria bello kim basinger

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july 10 -16, 2 014 | v ol . 3 4 no. 2 E d i t o r i a l

Editor Scott Wilson Managing Editor Justin Kendall Music Editor Natalie Gallagher Staff Writers Charles Ferruzza, David Hudnall, Steve Vockrodt Editorial Operations Manager Deborah Hirsch Events Editor Berry Anderson Proofreader Brent Shepherd Contributing Writers Tracy Abeln, Krystin Arneson, Jen Chen, Liz Cook, April Fleming, Larry Kopitnik, Sonia Larbi-Aissa, Angela Lutz, Dan Lybarger, Dan Savage, Nick Spacek, Abbie Stutzer

g od’s ad d r ess Does the International House of Prayer have designs on Hyde Park?. b y dav i d h u d n a l l

a r t

Art Director Jeremy Luther Layout Editor Dillon Kinnison Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Angela C. Bond, Barrett Emke, Chris Mullins, Sabrina Staires, Brooke Vandever

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Can Shawnna Journagan and Rusty Sneary keep their

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the vi n y l cu r e Hi-Fi Records’ Kyle Maggart seizes the day in Olathe. by abbie stutzer

22 3 5 7 11 13 15 17 18 19 20 26 28 34

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the pitch

by liz cook

d i s t r i B u t i o n

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GOODS

Living Room party going?

s o u t h c o m m

Chief Executive Officer Chris Ferrell Chief Financial Officer Patrick Min Chief Marketing Officer Susan Torregrossa Chief Technology Officer Matt Locke Chief Operating Officer/Group Publisher Eric Norwood Director of Digital Sales and Marketing David Walker Controller Todd Patton Creative Director Heather Pierce Director of Content/Online Development Patrick Rains

BiSHOP ROBERT FiNN, CATHOLiC DiOCESE ordered to pay $1.1 million for not reporting child sexual abuse. Gov. Brownback’s ECONOMiC POLiCiES stimulate Kansas economy by negative $338 million in one year. JACKSON BROWNE pleased a full house at the Uptown Theater.

Questionnaire

Katie Boody

Co-founder and CEO, the Lean Lab, for innovation in urban education

Hometown: Prairie Village Current neighborhood: The West Side! What I do: I develop educators and community leaders into innovators creating bold and impactful solutions for public ed in KCMO. What’s your addiction? Coffee and scary

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pets. I currently live with a blind and deaf Rottweiler, two adventurous cats and a 1-1/2-year-old t a ine Onl .com puppy. They’re all simulh c pit taneously enticed by one another’s company and terrified of one another’s presence. It’s hilarious.

Q&As

“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” True

Detective.

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Vamonos Pa’l Monte.

“I just read …” Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley and David Kelley. The best advice I ever got: “Did you have a good day? Good. Well, tomorrow is going to get harder, so enjoy it now and get back to work.” My mom, almost every day. Worst advice: Being told I wasn’t ready for a leadership position.

s a b r i n a s ta i r e s

My sidekick: Carrie Markel, my co-founder

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My dating triumph/tragedy: I spilled an en-

termination to build a connected community dedicated to improving public education in KCMO.

My brush with fame: I wish!

My recent triumph: Launching our first fellowship program out of the Sprint Accelerator. We have four lead innovators working on teams to launch awesome, needed and innovative solutions that will impact Kansas City kids. Our Demo Day is July 11 at the Sprint Accelerator. Everyone is invited!

tire bottle of expensive sake on the first date with my boyfriend. Luckily, he has stuck it out, and we’re still together almost five years later.

My 140-character soapbox: If we’re all nice

to one another, work really hard and really work together, we can build a powerful and amazing city.

The Sprint Accelerator (210 West 19th Terrace) hosts Demo Day from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, July 11.

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streetside

God’s Address

Does the International House of

Prayer have designs on Hyde Park?

D av iD HuDn a l l

arlier this year, Private Birthday Party — a collection of unearthed color slides cele brating gay-bar life in Kansas City from 1958 through 1968 — became something of a viral hit, drawing attention from national outlets such as New York and The Daily Beast. Many of the photos were taken at now-closed joints the Colony Bar (3325 Troost) and the Jewel Box (3223 Troost), both of which sat along the eastern edge of the Hyde Park neighborhood. It was a delightful reminder of Hyde Park’s rich LGBT history, which also includes a strong lesbian community that took root in the 1970s and one of the city’s first LGBT community centers. If you had to pick a neighborhood with the strongest gay identity in Kansas City, you would almost certainly name Hyde Park. Which is why it is somewhat jarring to see a Glad Heart Realty sign parked on a lawn at the corner of 44th Street and Campbell. Glad Heart Realty is a real-estate company owned by Diane Bickle, wife of Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer. GHR more or less functions as IHOP’s realestate arm; it was “donated” to IHOP in 2008, and all profits generated from the business flow directly to IHOP. For the better part of the past decade, GHR has been buying up real estate in south Kansas City, Grandview and Belton — locations near IHOP’s headquarters, at 3535 Red Bridge Road — and converting many of them into dorm-style residences where the organization’s worshippers and students of IHOP University live together. Many organized religions have been slow to accept gays and lesbians. But whereas, say, the Catholic Church appears to be gradually softening its stance on homosexuality, IHOP has doubled down against it. Mike Bickle is on record preaching that the “gaymarriage agenda” is “rooted in the depths of hell.” Among the teachings of the IHOP faith is conversion therapy, which is designed to “cure” gays and lesbians of their sexual orientation. There is also the matter of the group’s missionary efforts in Africa, which communicate a message that has been linked (most clearly in the recent documentary God Loves Uganda; it’s on Netflix) to stoking anti-gay sentiment that has led to lifetime prison sentences for accused homosexuals in Uganda. It would be tough to fault, say, an aging gay couple on Campbell Street — who saw half their friends die of AIDS in the 1980s — for not rolling out the welcome mat for such an organization. But is that even GHR’s plan? There are several unusual things about

the home at 4400 Campbell. For starters, it’s the only one of 58 properties advertised on GHR’s website that is not in the general vicinity of IHOP headquarters. Its size and design also stand out: On a block of mostly two- and three-bedroom homes, 4400 Campbell boasts seven bedrooms, with five bathrooms and six exterior entrances. It already looks like a dorm of some kind. The owner of 4400 Campbell is Goshen Homes, whose president is Johnny Youssef — who is also the GHR realtor for 4400 Campbell. Youssef previously ran the IHOPaffiliated Goshen Retreat Center, until the city shut it down. According to Facebook, he’s a district pastor with IHOP. Goshen Homes bought 4400 Campbell out of receivership in May 2013 for $37,500, after the city declared it a vacant nuisance. Under the terms of the sale, Goshen agreed to invest $70,000 in the home’s renovation. A clause in Goshen’s purchase contract also stipulates that, if the house didn’t sell as a single-family unit within six months, Goshen Homes could then present a plan to the city and to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association to convert 4400 Campbell into a multifamily residence. A few Hyde Parkers I’ve spoken with have suggested that Youssef is all but ensuring this outcome with his listing price of

$424,900 (originally $475,000), which they say is far too high. That figure does appear a bit optimistic. In Sunny Slope, the subdivision in which 4400 Campbell sits, the highest-priced home sold in recent times went for $225,000, back in 2005. Two homes in the adjacent Hyde Park South subdivision have gone for more than 4400 Campbell’s current asking price — one for $442,500, another for $750,000. But both are within a block of the Kansas City Art Institute, which is a substantially ritzier neighborhood. Youssef responded on a Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Facebook page to a Pitch blog post last week that raised questions about IHOP’s possible footprint in the neighborhood. “I have absolutely no intention of turning the property into a ‘dorm’ for students in the International House of Prayer,” he wrote. “Glad Heart Realty is the real estate company I work for and I listed the property with them; that is the only involvement of Glad Heart Realty with the property.” He also noted that he has aggressively advertised the home on MLS, Zillow, Craigslist and other sales outlets. And he justified the listing price by pointing out that, at 4,600 square feet, 4400 Campbell is twice as large as nearby residences, making it hard to compare with other Sunny Slope properties.

What are Glad Heart Realty’s plans for this Hyde Park home? Fa i r poi nt s. But c at t ycor ner f rom Youssef’s property, at 4343 Campbell, longtime Hyde Park resident Eddie Tapper is at work renovating a home of similar size: three f loors, eight bedrooms, four bathrooms. Tapper isn’t yet ready to estimate what his listing price might be when he puts 4343 Campbell on the market, but he tells me that the figure won’t be nearly as high as 4400 Campbell’s asking price. “Maybe if it was on the other side of Gillham,” he says. Tapper also says he has already seen some interest in 4343 Campbell. July 2, he found a handwritten note in his mailbox from Youssef, asking that Tapper contact him at his Glad Heart Realty e-mail address. It reads:

pitch.com

“Dear Homeowner, You have a beautiful-looking house! I’m very interested in maybe buying it. I’m an owner on the block and I love this neighborhood and house. Will you please call me and let me know more information about it? God bless, Johnny”

E-mail david.hudnall@pitch.com j u ly 1 0 - 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

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the crushing begins

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E S U O H

S T H G LI

CHRIS M PHOTOS BY

ULLINS

URNAGAN O J A N N W SHA TY SNEARY AND RUS KEEP THEIR M PARTY GOING? O LIVING RO

CAN

O by LIZ CO

unshots. Strobe lights. Stagehands with tie line wrapped around their necks like nooses. This is preview night for the Living Room’s Master of the Universe, cast and crew’s last chance to run through the theater company’s world-premiere adaptation of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck before it officially opens. Last and only: Until tonight, they’ve never made it all the way through without stopping. Two hours before curtain, the production team is still working on tech elements and adding new blocking. “That’s just how world premieres go,” says Living Room co-founder Rusty Sneary. “Traditionally, you open a show, and hands come off the reins. The stage manager takes over. We don’t ever really operate that way.” The mood onstage is more excitement than anxiety. Actors swap jokes and take lastminute notes with good humor, vibrating with the caffeinated anticipation of the soonto-arrive audience. There are goose bumps, some of them literal; the Living Room’s industrial-grade air conditioner is too loud to run during the show, so the thermostat has been turned down to a Hoth-like setting in preparation. The noisy blower mingles with the mechanical crunch of a cordless drill stripping out screwheads. Kyle Hatley, Master’s writer and director, bounces between doling out notes to the actors and rearranging light and sound cues. He’s a one-man catalog of nervous tics, twid-

dling his pen rapidly between his fingers, hugging his arms to his chest and rocking back and forth while he listens to a scene, absorbing the rhythm of his own lines. An hour before the house opens, he shouts up to the booth, asking to jump ahead to the sequence he has been dreading: a lengthy audio recording designed to mask a series of tricky maneuvers as actors shift set pieces and move in the dark. “Let’s just do it,” he calls. “Let’s just train-wreck it.” “Hoookay,” chirps stage manager Mackenzie Goodwin over the God mic. The lights snuff out. Cue sound: an ominous knocking, loud enough to beat against your skull; a woman hushing her son, voice electric with fear. Hatley clicks his pen a few times. He turns to sound designer Joe Concha. “It’s interesting that we have a radio play here,” he says, as if offering a dramaturgical consultation for someone else’s script. “It’s interesting. There’s something dangerous about that design.” Concha glances over, then turns back to his laptop. The recording’s canned sobs give way to the smooth voice of performer Linnaia McKenzie crooning a few bars of a Nina Simone song. It’s a haunting effect, Hatley at his directorial best. Then the lights come up, and Rusty Sneary moves to sit on a chair that isn’t there. Everyone laughs, Sneary loudest. Someone forgot to put the chair where it goes.

Hold, please. Rewind. Run it again. This is what a career in the theater gets you: chaos. Chaos of a kind that, for some, breeds confidence. Also: pressure. Pressure of a kind that, for some theater companies, yields to collaborative effort. But collaborating under pressure doesn’t work everywhere as well as it does at the Living Room. It helps that Sneary and his cofounder, Shawnna Journagan, have worked with Hatley each season since their fi rst, in 2010. They know what they’re getting into now. They didn’t back then. The pair’s original artistic vision was smaller, more intimate theater, meant to draw a younger crowd — “More indie film, less jazz hands,” Journagan jokes. “We have ended up doing musicals — Hatley!” she shakes a fist in mock outrage. “But those were our rules, originally: no Shakespeare, no musicals, no casts larger than four. And then, right away, he brings us Carousel.” After Carousel came Hatley’s Titus, which broke all three rules at once. And now, at the close of this most recent season, Master of the Universe has both a large cast and a live band. But Hatley’s shows, Journagan and Sneary admit, have all been wildly successful while remaining essentially true to the Living Room’s roots: accessible, visceral, unpretentious theater. Drawing audiences seems worth the com-

promise. The house for the preview performance is nearly two-thirds full — about 75 people — and if the murmuring in the seats is any indication, many have come because of Hatley. A man in line for the bar whispers to his companion about how many drafts he heard the script went through. Eleven, he thinks. Maybe 12. Hatley addresses that question when the houselights come down for his introduction: 10 drafts. The cast received his final pages only the night before, a hardship he acknowledges. “These actors are warriors,” he says. “This is where I like to do the craziest projects I dream up, the most passionate things I dream up,” Hatley adds. “And I bring them to Rusty and Shawnna. Sometimes they say yes.”

neary and Journagan have made a career of saying yes to crazy ideas. Their decision to open the Living Room may have been the craziest. They lived in New York at the time, where they had moved together from Kansas City. Both were working service-industry jobs to pay the rent, which left virtually no time for their creative lives. “It was really starting to kill us,” Journagan says. She and Sneary tell me the tale as we sit upstairs at the Living Room, in a secondfloor space that’s part continued on page 8

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the pitch

B r i a n Pa u l e t t e

From left: Sneary and Journagan; a scene from Master of the Universe continued from page 7 conference room, part art gallery, part island of misfit furniture: sexy track lighting, purewhite walls, an enormous display case that wouldn’t look out of place in a jewelry store. They pause to scratch one of their two ancient office cats, refugees from a family member who couldn’t keep them. Journagan picks up the story. At a low point in New York, they found an online rental listing for this building, 1818 McGee — former home of the Pearl Gallery. “The idea hatched, as we always say, on the front steps of a brownstone,” she says, then makes a face. As the Living Room’s executive director, Journagan is ostensibly the company’s public face, but she’s quick to make selfeffacing detours from the PR script. “Let’s be real. It wasn’t a brownstone. It was just a front porch. It was, like, a row house.” Their initial plans, she admits, were too ambitious. “It was supposed to be a wine bar as well as a theater,” she says. “We thought we’d have a coffee shop. Apparently, we thought we were business executives and millionaires.” Sneary jumps in to add a list of hits to the misses: They wanted the bar in the lobby to be made out of old televisions (check). They wanted the audience to sit in comfortable armchairs and couches (check). They wanted the houselights to be lamps they grew up with (check). And the name itself was easy. “It made sense,” Sneary explains, “because so much of what we wanted to do was to deconstruct the audience’s fear of theater, or what they thought theater to be. We wanted them to be as comfortable at the theater as they would be in their living room.” So, from the comfortable chairs to the PBRstocked bar to the repertory (plays by David Rabe, David Mamet and Neil LaBute tend to pull in a younger, more testosterone-fueled crowd), the Living Room’s aesthetic was, and remains, consistently anti-formal. But is there really a fear of theater to conquer? It’s a generational thing, Journagan and 8

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Sneary say, equal parts millennial aversion to presumed stodginess and a simple lack of exposure. Both of them believe that audiences for live theater tend to skew much older than other forms of entertainment, and both are concerned about the medium’s longevity. “The subscriber base is probably over 60, the majority,” Sneary says. “And this city has an amazing, supportive audience base, but they’re dying.” “Aging,” Journagan says. “Let’s say ‘aging.’ ‘Dying’ makes it sound like there’s a bunch of corpses in the lobby.” Local data on audience demographics is tough to come by, but national trends show a slight uptick in the number of young theater-

additions, holding firm when Hatley advocates for changing a song. Journagan cracks jokes to keep the tired crew at ease. No one is going to get much rest tonight. More changes to design elements will require showing up early the next day to work them. Hatley says he’ll need a couple of hours to work sound the next morning, and at least one more for lights. “Unless we have bigger cuts than we anticipated,” he adds. “In which case, we’re going to have a huge amount of stuff to do.” Stage manager Mackenzie Goodwin nods and wipes a bead of condensation from the lip of her whiskey glass. Mackenzie Goodwin is patience. Mackenzie Goodwin is composure. Mackenzie Goodwin is somehow not losing

“It made sense because so much of what we wanted to do was to deconstruct the audIence’s fear of theater, or what they thought theater to be.” goers. According to the Broadway League’s most recent audience-demographics report, the average age of the Broadway audience over the 2012–13 season was 42.5, down from a 2009–10 high of 45. The 2012–13 season also attracted the largest percentage of 18-to-24year-olds in the Broadway League’s 16-year history of data collection. And if ticket buyers at Master of the Universe are any indication, the Living Room is statistically in line. The under-30 set made a strong showing at the preview and responded generously to some of the play’s immature humor. (It’s hard, at any age, not to laugh at the non sequitur “Well, I’ll be a snail’s dick” when it comes from the mouth of Charles Fugate.) After the preview, the production team gathers for notes and another round of changes ahead of opening night. It’s Hatley’s show, but it’s Sneary and Journagan’s house, and the three commence a series of good-natured negotiations, leavened by post-show drinks from the bar. Sneary suggests script cuts and prop

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her shit as Hatley cannibalizes her promptbook for the umpteenth time. The notes continue. Solutions are worked out for a stubborn blood pack, a late entrance, a place to stash the child actors during the more obscene parts of the show. “Did we cut the exploding testicle?” someone asks. (The exploding testicle is still there.) More PBR cans snap open. It’s 12:30 a.m. At some point, Hatley stops in the middle of a sentence and laughs, the sound tinged with equal parts exhaustion and resolve. “We’re opening this tomorrow, and there’s so many things we’ve never done.” “That’s good,” Sneary says, leaning back in his chair. “That’s exciting.”

s any fan will tell you, the beauty of live theater is its unpredictability. Each performance has its own energy and rhythm. But funding can be just as unpredictable, and going nonprofit (as the Living Room and

most of this town’s theaters have done) isn’t necessarily a fast track to financial solvency. According to a 2008 National Endowment for the Arts report, the number of U.S. nonprofit theaters doubled between 1990 and 2005 (Missouri ranked sixth among states in terms of theater growth), while total earned income fell sharply. That means theaters have had to lean more heavily on grants and direct donations at a time when the competition for arts funding has never been fiercer. And when ticket sales fund only a small portion of the budget — Sneary estimates that the Living Room’s box office covers less than 25 percent of the company’s expenses — you can’t help but wonder: Is anyone at the Living Room actually making a living? “We get paid last,” Journagan says, in a way that suggests sometimes they don’t get paid at all. “We’ve had tons of fears the last few years because we’re always hanging by a thread. Since we started paying artists this year, rent has been way scarier.” I ask about their recent fundraising gala, the Rent Party. Was it just a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the rent parties of the Harlem Renaissance, or was the need more dire? A little of both. “It was definitely practical,” Sneary says. “This is a big building. A lot of costs.” Those came to a head during the previous season’s first show, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll. The company’s power was shut off — a low point, Journagan admits. “Summer’s hard because we’re dark for once,” she says. “You think, ‘How are we going to pay the bills?’ And the short answer is, we didn’t.” But the season just past has ended on a high note. Though Master of the Universe’s non-equity actors originally signed up as volunteers, without contracts or promise of compensation, Journagan and Sneary were able to cut them checks. “That’s the point,” Journagan says, the lightness momentarily gone from her voice. The couple founded the Living Room as a way

B r i a n Pa u l e t t e

Hatley oversees rehearsal; below, a view of the house from the stage.

It’s Hatley who gets the last word, though, a locker-room speech that could climax a one-man show. Even tonight, he projects an actor’s always-on self-awareness, his baseline adrenaline countering Sneary’s self-assured ease. “What we do is bigger than who we are,” Hatley shouts, and a sea of red-plastic cups rises up from the crowd in response. “Whatever we make, it’s not about us. People pay to see what we do. It’s astonishing. It’s a testament to this city, that we can make things here.” But Hatley won’t be making things here much longer. Next season, a couple of collaborations remain with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre — where his job title has just shifted from associate artistic director to resident director — but Master of the Universe is his last show with the Living Room before he moves to Chicago in August.

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out of big-city starving artistry, but they’ve struggled here, too. For the first couple of years back in KC, they lived in the McGee building, sleeping in the third-floor control booth from which Goodwin now calls the show each night. Privacy was next to impossible: The room was full of windows, and artists and designers were always working around them. “Several times, I remember waking up to Matt Weiss on a ladder, right outside our window, hanging a light or something,” Sneary jokes. They weren’t the only ones who both lived and worked in the space. In its infancy, the Living Room seemed like a theatrical halfway house for artists between jobs, leases or relationships. Part-time residents included Forrest Attaway, Katie Gilchrist, Matt Weiss and associate artistic director Bryan Moses. They’re talented, and they still work in Kansas City, but Journagan knows that may not be sustainable. “If people aren’t employing artists, they aren’t going to stay here,” she says. “That’s why they all leave.” Journagan and Sneary still don’t pay themselves a salary, though bills and budgets are a constant stress. They count on work outside

the theater to make up the difference. Sneary appears regularly onstage at the Unicorn and the Rep, and Journagan does some performing of her own, acting out symptoms as a standardized patient for the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. They say the heavy load is worth it if it allows them to continue working with their crew and their casts. “It’s the daily reminder and humility that come with seeing people come through our doors every day and work so hard for so little,” Sneary says. Theater lifers often refer to one another as members of a family, but when Sneary does it, he conveys a gentleness and a bewildered gratitude that somehow transcend the cliché. “There’s a whole lotta hugging around here,” Journagan says. And there is. At the closing-night party for Master of the Universe, hugs and Costco-size bottles of scotch flow freely. Sneary bounces between clusters of people, wearing a T-shirt and a trilby and smiling as he side-hugs everyone. Late in the evening, he gathers the cast and crew at the bar for a short but genuine-sounding toast to their efforts. They cheer him.

Hatley is a big name and a box-office draw, and his departure is, in the short term, bad news for the Rep and for the Living Room. But even at this tear-down party, there’s a mix of fresh-faced and veteran talent perhaps ready to help fill KC’s Hatley-size hole. The city’s talent pool is broad, but his is one of a handful of names that has dominated playbills in recent years. There have been times when local theater’s presumed meritocracy has seemed disquietingly oligarchic. The Living Room, if it holds true to its mission, might provide an antidote. Sneary and Journagan talk about the importance of providing opportunities for performers who haven’t yet broken into the Rep or the Unicorn. “We take a lot of pride in being a bridge theater,” Sneary says, “in tapping into the young talent that exists here and keeping them here post-college.” And though the Living Room’s budget might not be comparable to some of the older venues in town, the talent and the treatment of each new script are hardly second-string. That’s more cause for optimism because the company has what it takes for a young theater to succeed: production quality to match more established entities, and a niche to fill. Journagan and Sneary still have big dreams for the future. They want a youtheducation program. They want a multilevel acting and playwriting studio to help local artists grow. They still want that wine bar. No check marks for those items yet, but the goal remains the same: “To showcase young talent,” Sneary says (and pay for it). “And, hopefully, to keep it here.”

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Each week, Pitch Street Team cruises around to the hottest clubs, bars and concerts. You name it, we will be there. While we are out, we hand out tons of cool stuff. So look for the Street Team... We will be looking for you!

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Pau l M c c a r t n e y Basically everyone has a Beatles story, even that one guy who insists that he has never really cared for the band. And for many on Wednesday, seeing one-fourth of the Fab Four at the Sprint Center is the fulfillment of a dream — one that was almost cruelly snatched away from local concertgoers. The 72-year-old Paul McCartney is recently back on schedule after postponing his tour due to an illness, and if the reviews from his 2013 run are any indication, the good knight knows how to put on a show. He would, wouldn’t he? Wednesday, July 16, at Sprint Center • Daily listings on page 28 

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roving that the Kansas City gallery scene is no monolith, a number of spaces were open on First Friday as their way of taking on a holiday. But several open again, or instead, the evening of July 11 — Second Friday. At Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art (2004 Baltimore, 7–9 p.m.), Keith Jacobshagen’s skillful landscapes include an impressive amount of horizon on surprisingly small canvases. In the gallery’s side room, Judy Onofrio has placed a collection of bone sculptures: whitewashed bovine jaws, shoulder blades and ribs delicately woven into wreaths, large bowls and sweeping waves. Glittery gold paint here and there (teeth) turn them from naturalist objects of study into new objects to communicate transformed beauty. Another ongoing show opens July 11: John Balistreri’s giant ceramics at Red Star Studio’s east location (Belger Crane Yard Studios, 2011 Tracy, 6–9 p.m.). The artist himself returns for the next First Friday, August 1. Two shows that opened July 4 welcome us back tonight: At Hilliard Gallery (1820 McGee, 6–10 p.m.), meet artist Tony Armendariz, who says of his watercolors, “My paintings are portraits of timeworn structures and objects in the urban landscape. Through a representational style, my intent is that the structures convey a variety of stories told over years of use and abuse. By placing the viewer up close into the immediate space of the subject, I prompt them to establish a personal connection to these stories.” Meanwhile, at Vulpes Bastille (1737

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Locust, 6–9 p.m.), Jillian Youngbird, a Native American who was born in Arizona and grew up in southern Missouri, “blends her heritage with modern-day realities of American culture.” So says the artist’s statement for 6 Inches of Progress, in which Youngbird’s self-professed need for line-making merges with cultural iconography and her love of, and worry for, nature. Also, starting tonight, it’s time to see the work of the 35 artists selected by Antonia Boström, director of curatorial affairs at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the juror for the 32nd annual River Market Regional Exhibition, at the Kansas City Artists Coalition (201 Wyandotte, 5–8 p.m., with a talk at 6:30). Those pieces occupy the two upper galleries at the coalition; downstairs, there’s new art by Katrina Revenaugh.

Red Star Studios at Belger Arts Center

(2100 Walnut, 6–9 p.m.) is opening its annual resident-artist exhibition, which shows off the hard work of the artists who have been selected over the past year to spin, build, glaze and fire intensively at Crane Yard Studios. This year, it features Shae Bishop, Emily Duke, Lea Griggs, Catie Miller, Noah Riedel and Jamie Bates Slone. The main Belger gallery (same address and time) presents the new exhibition Word Play: Selections From the Collection, with what you might expect from such a title at this institution: Terry Allen, Robert Cottingham, Ralph Goings, Betty Grable, Ellen Greene, Luis Jimenez, Ray Materson, Moses Nornberg,

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Left: “Fatima’s Sign” by Renee Stout; above: “Pilot” by John Balistreri Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Alex Siburney, Larry Stark, Renee Stout, Idelle Weber and William T. Wiley. It adds up to a host of words, phrases and even sentences incorporated into imagery. Case in point: the Rauschenberg print made for President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 inauguration, which reads, “Change is not a contest, Change is survival’s phrase.” Finally, City Ice Arts (2015 Campbell, 6–9 p.m.) opens two four-person shows, one in the main gallery and one next door, at 2025. Paul Cowan, Jeff Eaton, David Elliot and Sean Keenan make what they’re calling “a collective performance of exhibition.” These longtime Overland Park friends share and circulate images among themselves, which they say has become a “kind of instrumental pretext for the representation of our ideas.” The next-door show, Reductions, includes Terence Hannum (Baltimore), Gehry Kohler (KC), Don Voisine and Vincent Como (New York).

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film

A CritiCAl Life

Life Itself director Steve James shows us

a “fast and furious” Roger Ebert.

D a n Ly b a rge r

oger Ebert spent his life making film criticism accessible — and often, he was more entertaining than the movies he reviewed. Creating a documentary worthy of the late Pulitzer Prize winner sounds like an imposing task, then. But director Steve James has some unique qualifications. Like Ebert was, the Hoop Dreams director is based in Chicago, and he understands how the Midwest’s biggest city changed Ebert’s life and, by extension, the way Americans look at movies. To make Life Itself, which takes its title from Ebert’s autobiography, James followed Ebert and his wife, Chaz, during the critic’s final months. His film (available on demand now and opening locally July 18) also includes testimony from filmmakers whose careers received a crucial boost from Ebert’s praise — notably, Martin Scorsese and Errol Morris. James, whose other films include Stevie, The Interrupters and Head Games, spoke with The Pitch by phone from the Windy City. The Pitch: When Ebert died, people referred to him as a “beloved critic.” Most critics are pretty much treated like lepers. James: Yeah, it is kind of an oxymoron. But yet, there you go. He was beloved. People loved the way he wrote about movies. They loved the personality of Roger that peeked through in his movie criticism. He wasn’t this pretentious snob thumbing his nose at movies, quoting philosophers or novelists to show how smart he was. He didn’t act like he was above the movies. I think Roger also fully engaged his audience, especially when he lost the ability to speak and was on the Internet. He would respond to people’s comments to his columns or his reviews. He really connected with people, and whenever people would meet with him or have a cause to meet him in person, he always was so approachable and friendly. I think all of these things contributed to this kind of very profound affection that people attached to Roger. Roger the man, who was also Roger the critic. I experienced something like that myself when I interviewed him by e-mail for Huffington Post about the cookbook he wrote for rice cookers. His answers came back to Kansas City from Chicago in less than 20 minutes, and I knew it was Ebert instead of a publicist because I spotted a couple of minor typos. That’s Roger. He was attentive. He was fast. “Fast and furious” was how his friend John McHugh, the newspaperman, says of his writing. Someone else told me a story that’s not in the movie. One of his editors said some famous actor had passed away. They called Roger at 11 o’clock at night. The edition was going to be put to press at midnight or some-

thing. They said, “Quick, we need a 350-word obit for this actor.” At 11:30 [laughs], it came in right on the nose at 350 words and didn’t need a bit of editing. Life Itself includes interviews with directors who say Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel helped launch or invigorate their careers. Didn’t something similar happen with you and your breakthrough movie, Hoop Dreams? Well, yes. I absolutely have a great debt to him. We didn’t have any distribution, and they [Ebert and Siskel] watched the film here in Chicago. They put it on their show and talked about the fact that basically nobody in their viewing audience could see this movie, but that they really thought it deserved distribution and to be seen more widely. That had a profound impact that made distributors suddenly interested in it who up until then had no particular interest in a three-hour documentary about two unknown basketball players. And then Roger personally, of course, wrote about the film. He wrote beautifully about it in his print reviews, and he included it in his first great-films book series. He continued to write about my other work and review it and was a very positive, critical voice. He made a big impact on my career. There were other film-discussion shows like theirs that tried to imitate their success. From watching their broadcasts in preparing for this

documentary, why do you think they made for good television and their imitators didn’t? I think it helps to be first, number one. They were the first to do it, and there was, at the beginning anyway, a kind of novelty factor to it. But had they not been a kind of perfectly matched duo, it would have failed, just like it did for most, if not all, of these other imitators. I think what it was, was that Roger and Gene approached film in a little different ways. Roger tended to speak more from his gut about films and review from his gut, even though he was a very intellectual guy. Gene tended to take a more analytic approach to film. He was a bit cooler, you might say, in the way he looked at films. So these guys, they legitimately clashed. They had other reasons to clash, as the film makes clear. They were from intensely bitter rival newspapers. [Siskel was with the Chicago Tribune, while Ebert was with the Sun-Times]. They came from different backgrounds. They were intensely competitive guys who disagreed. And then when they agreed on a film, they sometimes disagreed about what they each liked or disliked about a film. This was the alchemy, I think, that made the show great theater or, if you will, great television. How much do you think that his being based in Chicago affected his work? Chicago’s a great newspaper town. There

James (left) with Scorsese, another young unknown whom Ebert had championed. was a journalistic tradition here. Unfortunately, like most places, it’s a bit more endangered these days. He came up as a real journalist, a real writer, a newspaperman. He thought of himself as a newspaperman, and I think he approached film criticism, in a strange way, kind of like that. I think Chicago definitely influenced his work. When he became a critic, there was no real critical film community to speak of here in Chicago because, as the film makes clear, there was a catchall-heading name that film critics wrote under called “Mae Tinae,” which was really “matinee” when you put it all together. It wasn’t valued here in the way it was elsewhere. Roger and Gene, through the show, and Roger, particularly with his writing — because he was way more prolific as a critic in writing than Gene was — they helped put Chicago on the map and made it a place where film criticism was taken more seriously. I think you are seeing some of the legacy of that today. There are a lot of really smart critics here who write out of Chicago and on Roger’s own site, which he helped to cultivate. That is a really terrific site for film criticism.

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Stop RuShing Me

Nick and Jake’s on Main: a location with a curse, a menu with potential, servers with an itch

Ch a r l e s F e r ru z z a

Nick and Jake’s • 5031 Main, 816-421-1111 • Hours: 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Sunday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday • Price: $$–$$$

’ll say this for the waitstaff at Nick and Jake’s: They’re looking out for my figure. At the twomonth-old restaurant on Main, servers whisk away plates as though under strict orders from Jillian Michaels. You can measure a dining experience here in bites rather than in portions. Ask anyone who has done the job whether he or she is forever more critical of servers, and most of them — most of us — will say no. That’s a lie. Of course, I try to imagine that my own time as a waiter made me more sympathetic to front-of-the-housers doing a difficult job. But sloppy service still drives me mad, no matter how delicious the food. And the food I’ve eaten at Nick and Jake’s isn’t delicious. Some of it is good, and the place has better-than-average potential to become the kind of cheery bar and grill that the close-knit neighborhood around it would likely support. (The last few tenants in this space were short-lived flops, though not for lack of interest.) But owners Kevin Timmons and Doug Watkins need to seriously up the service game in their place. After three visits, I’m still puzzled by this restaurant’s complete disregard for timing and pace. Moving courses from kitchen to table is an art that isn’t perfected without a lot of experience, so the first time my dinner was served 10 minutes after the appetizers arrived, I was disappointed but not alarmed. Several nights later, ordering from a different server, my table got its salads before we had finished the starters. I had taken three bites of my salad when suddenly the entrées appeared. And no, I’m not a slow eater. “Do you think they’re e r o M trying to kick us out?” my dining companion asked. There would have been at e n i Onl .com no reason to light a fire h pitc under us; the spacious dining room wasn’t even halffull then, and I didn’t see it approach capacity during my other visits. This is the third Nick and Jake’s restaurant in the metro. It has been a couple of years since I dined at the original, in Overland Park (the other one is in Parkville), but I recall the service there being professional and attentive. Something apparently has been lost in the process of moving the brand close to the Plaza. The new Nick and Jake’s has a talented young chef, Devin Wilson. His kitchen, like those in the other two locations, is at its best when it sticks to traditional American creations, such as a very good meatloaf. The one I sampled on Main properly avoided dryness, and it came with hot mashers and

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noodles looked disturbingly thin the day I tried the dish, but it had a robust consistency once I stirred it a little. By then, I had accepted that a certain crisp snap peas. It’s a diner staple, perfectly executed. Less impressive was the chardon- amount of work was involved when dining at this restaurant, along with some patience. nay chicken, an uptown name slapped on a decidedly downtown chicken breast, sautéed I had endured, for instance, the server who and draped in cheese and dripping in wine stacked five or six dirty plates on the table as though clearing a table at Waid’s. And I butter. It came with pan-seared gnocchi (not had humored another server’s lackadaisical house-made) as chewy as saltwater taffy. And approach to selling desserts: “Yeah, we have don’t even think about bold flavors. This Nick and Jake’s, like its suburban counterparts, a dessert tray. Did you want to see it?” (I tried a couple of the desserts; I wouldn’t be all that courts the family crowd, so nothing is too spicy here. The generous bowl of jambalaya eager to show them off, either.) As for the rest of the menu, jumbles shrimp and chicken the grilled salmon, brushed with the mildest andouille Nick and Jake’s with a discreet brown-sugar sausage I’ve ever tasted. The Crispy Thai shrimp ......... $10 vinaigrette and sided with an wan sauce is called “creole” Buffalo wings ....................$9 impressive array of sautéed but is closer to Canadian. Meatloaf ..................... $13.50 fresh vegetables, was very For now, this is a decent Chardonnay chicken ...... $16 good the night I ordered it. place to try a few bar snacks: Short ribs with grits ...... $22 And the fork-tender short meaty and vinegary Buffalo ribs were outstanding — wings, for instance, with crunchy house-made potato chips that come perched on a mess of grits, sprinkled with what the menu says is gremolata, the lovely with Maytag blue cheese and bacon. (Smoked condiment made from lemon zest, parsley pork is all over the menu here.) Avoid the and garlic. “Irish nachos,” an unfortunate spin on that “What is gremolata?” my dining companion great trashy potato-skins appetizer. Your best asked our server. bet among the more exotic-sounding stuff is “It’s a kind of grated hard cheese,” she said, the Thai shrimp, flash-fried and served under a blanket of fiery aioli. I would order it again. earning points for the confident answer — even You can get the $15 lobster mac and cheese if it was the wrong answer. And, of course, she as a starter, but it’s enough to make a light meal. said it very quickly, eager to keep moving. I preferred her to the apathetic server who The orange cheddar sauce on the cavatappi

Nick and Jake’s gnocchi is more of a gnash than a nosh.

hovered around my table the Sunday I tried brunch here. Nick and Jake’s still does this buffet-style, a rarity around here anymore for the very good reason that it’s not very rewarding for diners. Here, the line is an unassuming collection of obvious choices (scrambled eggs, butter-logged French toast, at least one unidentifiable puff pastry, chicken fingers), adding up to what a few loving grandmothers might pull together after a long church service. The server would have been better off going to a long church service instead of helicoptering over my table, trying to pull away dishes before we were done. She inquired on our progress now and again by asking, “How’s everything working?” Uh, not great, Nick and Jake’s. Not great. I really want Nick and Jake’s to succeed in this location. I don’t believe, despite the lengthy list of saloons and dining rooms that have failed here, that this address is cursed. This stretch of Main Street has four or five commendable dining venues, and 5031 is one of the most appealing buildings on the block. Anything that opens in the space should have a shot at success, and Nick and Jake’s, with its positive track record, could still beat the bad mojo. To do it, the owners must tweak the menu. And they really must train the waitstaff.

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ichael Smith’s new CoCo Bolos is nestled within the theme-park-like maze of residential and retail development called PrairieFire, at 135th Street and Nall, and it took me three laps to get to it. By the time I sat down at the Mexican restaurant’s expansive bar, I felt like I had earned a drink. Ryan Rama was ready to meet my needs. Those needs involved the unusually specific ingredient that had been on my mind recently: Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao. I’d noticed it popping up in nearly every experimental cocktail I’d seen around, but I had only a vague idea of what role the liqueur played. Or, honestly, how to pronounce it (say cure-uh-SOW). I unburdened myself to Rama, and he patiently unraveled the mystery for me. “We use dry curaçao to replace triple sec fairly often here,” Rama told me. “It’s in one of our margaritas and our house sangria. Dry curaçao tends to express the fruit in a drink a lot better, without using loads of sugar to make it shine. And it definitely has a lot of layers of flavor rather than being onedimensional, like a triple sec tends to be.” Rama added that Pierre Ferrand is fairly new to the market — it debuted in April 2012 — and it owes much of its popularity to its bitter-orange flavor. It maintains a dryness 18

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Rama freestyles Off the Cuff. largely absent from triple sec, which typically takes on a sweet-orange profile and ends there. And the Pierre Ferrand dry is made with a blend of orange peels, spices, brandy and cognac — components that make it a more versatile cocktail ingredient. For Rama, in fact, it’s already a staple. I asked Rama to make me a drink that would show me just what curaçao can do. “Just something off the cuff?” he asked, looking at the tall stack of shelves containing CoCo Bolos’ impressive booze collection. I signaled yes, and Rama took down a bottle of Plymouth Gin and a bottle of Absinthe Ordinaire. He mixed the gin and the curaçao in a shaker, using a straw to add drops of absinthe, along with dashes of house-made lavender bitters and some lemon juice. He shook the mixture, then strained it over ice into a tall wineglass before topping my drink with cava. He spent a moment carefully arranging the garnish, a long orange peel and a hefty helping of mint leaves. “This is based on something I’ve kind of been working on,” Rama said. “I’m really obsessed with the Spanish-style gin and tonic, where what they do with a two-ingredient drink is magically expanded because they

Natalie GallaGher

throw all sorts of botanicals in there to really enhance the experience. I mean, it’s not just gin and tonic with a little lime wedge hanging off of it. They throw in mint. They throw in citrus peels, star-anise pods, cardamom pods, you name it. It’s almost like a culinary experience, but with a gin and tonic. So using that as an inspiration, I’ve been working on something with gin, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, lavender bitters, sparkling wine, and a little bit of the curaçao to enhance the acidic qualities of the gin.” The result, which he has named “Off the Cuff,” was a dainty-looking thing, like the sort of fancy lemonade you would expect at a summer wedding. But looks can be deceiving. The orange from the curaçao was the first thing I noticed, both on the nose and in the flavor, but that gave way quickly to a heavy juniper presence from the Plymouth. That was further enhanced by the lavender that Rama had chosen. The cava brightened things up considerably, adding just the right amount of effervescence to encourage continued sipping. And a very light hint of licorice (from the absinthe) left a lasting impression. With every taste of Rama’s Off the Cuff, I marveled at the new flavors I tasted: citrus, hints of spice, traces of fruits I probably couldn’t name in a game of Pictionary. The subtle, morphing profile of this drink could be attributed to the curaçao, but let’s just give Rama credit for a certain sorcery. “The thing with cocktail recipes is that they kind of remind me of a Mr. Potato Head,” Rama said. “You can kind of pull the eyes out and put something else in there and have fun with it. To me, recipes are more like guidelines rather than something dogmatic that you have to adhere to. I like to use recipes as the framework and then go from there.”

OFF THE CUFF

1 oz. gin (Rama uses Plymouth) 1 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao 2 drops absinthe (Rama likes Absinthe Ordinaire) 2 dashes lavender bitters 1/4 oz. lemon juice A splash of cava Rama’s instructions: “Having absinthe is kind of critical, but if not, then some other kind of anise liqueur, like ouzo. And then, basically, it’s just throwing it all together, shaking it up, straining over ice, and topping it with some sparkling wine.”

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nce upon a time in the suburbs, Hen House stood out as the upmarket grocery. But now middle-market, value-oriented Price Chopper and Hy-Vee are getting in the game. The remodeling of Price Chopper (7201 West 151st Street, Overland Park) and the construction of Hy-Vee (14955 West 151st Street, Olathe) represent suburban grocery stores designed to be something more than a supermarket. The Hy-Vee is an “experience” and a “destination,” according to Joe Burke, Hy-Vee’s manager of store operations. So we treated both stores that way for a day.

chip is no longer just a chip at the remodeled Price Chopper at 151st Street and Metcalf. It is crafted, fed into a machine as a potato and, a minute later, returned glimmering with oil as a chip. A bag of barbecue, ranch or “naked” goes for $3.99, the customer-favorite sweet potato for $4.99. Only the chocolate-marshmallow flavor languishes on the shelves, forever alone. The operator of this machine is officially known as the “chipmaster,” one of whom spoke to The Pitch anonymously. Across from this engineering marvel is a popcorn station, where a retro-cinematiclooking machine takes kernels to their higher calling. There are buttered and caramel and the vibrant vermilion of cinnamon, plus the more exotic flavors of blueberry and chocolate. Requests have been made for events and children’s birthday parties, according to the chipmaster, who moonlights on this contraption. The expanded produce section comprising the center of the store is an understandable distraction, but don’t think about leaving before visiting the new Asian station — “Because everyone has Chinese,” the chipmaster said — or the smokehouse station for all of the smoked meats. It just wouldn’t be the same.

VOTED BEST LOCAL

Price Chopper’s chip-making machine

scant 24 hours after the new Hy-Vee opened its automatic doors April 8, there was controlled chaos around the international cheese bar. Turophiles marveled over manchego and gawked at the gouda. Adjacent is a bulk-grains aisle and a standalone row of bulk candies (the Fresh Market is doing it, too) as long as a sailboat. Nearby: cutlery, nice plates, $50 dispenser carafes. For bread lovers, a bakery with a prominent oven yields loaves that multiply and spill haphazardly, yet artistically, across the counters. Walk a few steps to complete the scene of biblical abundance with fish. At the patisserie, strawberries and kiwis dance on circular stages of tarts topped with chocolate shells. Is the appeal enough to turn us into hedonists, ready to hand over a paycheck for pastries? Perhaps if Kansas Hy-Vees sold booze. For that, there’s the Market Grille, an all-day, full-service restaurant with a fully licensed bar, according to Burke. “The idea is, you come to the restaurant on Friday,” he says, “and then come back to grocery-shop Saturday.” Forget the grocery totes and bring a weekender. But are all these novel offerings distracting shoppers from a higher price tag? Hardly, argues Burke: “From a pricing standpoint, you’ll know if you’re not doing it right because people won’t be shopping in your store,” he says. “If they’re not returning and shopping a full cart, you’ll know you’re doing it wrong.” Are these food temples set to become the new standard? “The sky is the limit,” Burke says.

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WHERE THE BEST MUSICIANS IN THE WORLD PLAY

KNUCKLEHEADS F re e S h u tt le in S u rr o u n d in g A reth e a

music

TimE AwAy

Sara Swenson’s adventure abroad delivered her latest album.

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t first, it’s difficult to imagine the similarities between teaching high school English and singing radio-ready pop songs. But for Sara Swenson, the two go hand in hand. “I think, in both respects, you’re trying to engage and connect with an audience in a meaningful way,” Swenson tells me. She has been teaching since 2004 — three years before she began making original music, in 2007, which was followed by her 2008 selftitled debut. Her interest in teaching came first, she says, but now she loves both sides of her dual life equally. “A lot of being a teacher is being an entertainer and trying to get the content across in that way,” she says. “I’m always trying new things and borrowing ideas and making them my own — figuring out creative ways to accomplish and communicate what you’re trying to do.” On her latest album, Runway Lights, a lot of what Swenson is trying to communicate comes across in big, sweeping arrangements. These songs are rich and varied, with lush, bedroom-y synths, bighearted horns and soul elements. Swenson’s voice is a versatile instrument, one she can push to a delicate, flickering falsetto (“Sometimes I Hold You”) or keep at a playful soprano (“Good Boys Win”). Lights is a much different record from her previous two, which were folky, strippeddown affairs. That’s because, Swenson says, she had a lot more room to consider the music this time around. “I moved abroad to the U.K. in April 2012

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Swenson: ready to take off to be with my now husband,” she says. She smiles as she utters that last word, still getting used to saying it. “Runway Lights was entirely influenced by my move, in that all the songs were written in that time period when I left the States and was living in London and in Belfast, Northern Ireland. That was the setting of my songwriting time. I quit my teaching job, and I had time to think about things in the world around me and the experiences I was going through, and I had the time to put that on paper and in song chords.” She goes on: “The whole album is really just documentation of that time in my life, which was crazy — moving abroad and adjusting to a new relationship, and eventually getting married and finding how to live without the comfort of friends and family around me. It was a really rich time for me to be creative.” Sitting in the crowded Broadway Café, wearing a breezy summer sundress with her blond hair pulled into a loose bun, Swenson looks casual and comfortable — and like the least likely candidate for a whirlwind romance abroad. When she talks about the 18 months she spent overseas, she laughs a little shyly, as though she can hardly believe it, either. In a way, Swenson says, that’s why Runway Lights is so important to her. It’s a way of remembering a period in her life when she took a risk. “When you move abroad, you experience life a different way and can feel things differently,” she says. “That’s what I wanted to say to people, and that’s why these songs

Natalie GallaGher

feel important: They are life lived.” She taps her fingertips to her chest, over her heart, for emphasis. “This wasn’t me trying to come up with rhyming words. Don [Chaffer, Swenson’s producer] described these as high-stakes songs, where there was always something on the line, whether they were joyful or not. There’s some honest experiences in there, and that’s what feels important to me, sharing that with people.” Swenson and her husband moved back to Kansas City in December 2013, with a stop to record Runway Lights at Chaffer’s Nashville studios, just two weeks before she finally settled back in her hometown. Now, Swenson splits her time between teaching English at the Northland Career Center in Platte City and working on her music. Both remain integral to her identity. “There was a year where I took off teaching to do more touring, and I saw myself as the same person when I was full-time in a classroom,” Swenson says. “And when I was in the U.K., I missed that — being with kids on a day-in, day-out basis. There was a point once when it was getting hard to do both, and I thought about stopping the music. That depressed me. I remember thinking that I had to make this decision, and I just couldn’t make it. So I’m still here doing both.”

E-mail natalie.gallagher@pitch.com

J a z z B e at AngElA HAgEnbAcH, AT THE broAdwAy JAzz club

For more than 20 years, Angela Hagenbach has filled Kansas City jazz clubs with a voice that controls the room. Her low contralto wraps a jazz standard in equal parts seduction and joy. Her masterful scatting sometimes hints at an interest in Brazilian jazz. Saturday night, Hagenbach is joined by veteran jazz guitarist Danny Embrey; bassist Zach Beeson; longtime Sons of Brasil drummer Doug Auwarter; and, on trumpet and flugelhorn, special guest Lawrence Jackson, who has returned to KC, his hometown, after 20 years of performing around the world. It’s a talented cast of musicians to hold up the considerable sway and attraction of Hagenbach, and an evening you should definitely make room for on your calendar. — Larry Kopitnik Angela Hagenbach, 7–11 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at the Broadway Jazz Club (3601 Broadway, 816-298-6316), $5 cover.

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Music

The Vinyl Cure

Hi-Fi Records’ Kyle Maggart seizes the day in Olathe.

A bbie S t u t z er

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s a b r i n a s ta i r e s

BURNING TIDE

yle Maggart is always prepared. Whenever he goes anywhere that he expects to find a record player, he slides his most recent vinyl finds into a leather satchel and ferries a portion of his personal stash to that day’s turntable. Often, that turntable is the one where he works. When we meet at Hi-Fi Records, the shop that Maggart runs from inside Olathe’s vintage mall Green Expressions, he pulls out two gems: The Cure’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and a reissue of the Stooges’ 1969 self-titled debut. “I just found the original a few weeks ago,” he says with a grin, holding up the Stooges’ record as if it were a prize he had won. He gets up, slides the Cure record onto the platter, and waits for the music to start. As the first few notes pour out of the speakers, he melts into his chair, and his grin widens into a blissed-out smile. Maggart doesn’t keep all of the best stuff he unearths — no one in his business can. Instead, he adds a new round of finds to Hi-Fi’s stock every Friday. And his customers know it. “You tell people that you’re putting out 250 new records on Friday, they will be there,” he says. “Record collectors are ravenous.” Maggart isn’t a grizzled bargain-bin hound. About to turn 25, he contracted what he calls “record madness” only two years ago. That’s when Bettsy Ortiz, Maggart’s girlfriend, bought him a vinyl pressing of Paul Simon’s rent doing this, but it gives us something to Graceland for his birthday. Ortiz, a lifelong avid do together.’ ” collector, figured that her boyfriend would dig But sell records they did, and it wasn’t long the gift, and she was right. She didn’t plan to ignite an obsession, but soon, Maggart was before Maggart moved his records to a bigger buying up records by the box. And as any- space inside Green Expressions. To afford the higher rent, he started one who regularly hunts working two days a week for records knows, you sift Hi-Fi Records at Expressions in addition through a lot of rocks to find Inside Green Expressions, to working what he says is one diamond. 203 West Dennis Avenue, a high-stress, full-time job. With cratefuls of pretty Olathe, twitter.com/ Adding to the stress: good rocks piling up around Hi_FiRecords Ortiz’s cancer diagnosis. him, Maggart decided to “At the time, Bettsy had enter the market himself — and he caught a lucky break. “My mom to receive some more treatment, and I just found an ad that just said, ‘Vendors wanted knew I had to do something,” Maggart says. He was able to change his full-time gig to — Olathe’ and a phone number,” he says with part-time hours and to take a little time off. a laugh. “So I called it up.” He also doubled down on vinyl, taking out He dialed Jet and Russell Magathan, who a loan and buying as many records as he could run Green Expressions. The couple hadn’t yet find. He and Ortiz visited surrounding states opened the store, and they set him up with together, hunting for collectible albums. a small space for about $100 a month. Hi-Fi “Life is too short to not do what you love Records was now official. “Bettsy and I were able to set up, like, four 100 percent of the time, every second of the day,” Maggart says. “Going through all that crates of records I didn’t want — just priced with Bettsy made me see that. I can devote to sell — and a few other knickknacks, like as much time or as little time as I need to [to comic books and old things that I needed Hi-Fi Records],” he says. “If Bettsy’s not feelto get rid of,” he says. “I remember telling ing well, she can ride along with me, look at Bettsy the first day, as I was leaving, ‘You know, we’ll probably never even make our records, and she enjoys it.”

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Maggart: bin there, done that. Maggart’s goal is simple: Carry great used stuff at reasonable prices, with customer comfort paramount. “If I had to pick a store that I modeled my business after, it’s Love Garden,” he says. “I love how they do things. No matter what you buy, they have something good to say, or they don’t say anything at all.” He cites another metro staple as a guiding star: Zebedee’s RPM — in particular, that store’s easygoing return policy. “If someone buys a warped record, or it’s just not what you thought it would be, you can return it,” he says. Growth has been slow, but it’s happening, he says. The latest incarnation of Hi-Fi Records — which celebrated its grand opening on May 30 — is now filled with a diverse selection of rock-themed T-shirts, original art, used audio equipment and more. “The bigger the better,” Maggart says. “I don’t know what that encompasses, but I think that this store will succeed in Kansas City. I want to carry new music, CDs, cassettes, shirts and local art. The more people who have access to dope-ass music, the better.”

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Kanza Hall and 99.7 The Point Present

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DOORS AT 7PM • SHOW AT 8PM 7300 W. 119TH ST / OVERLAND PARK, KS / 913.451.0444 / ONEBLOCKSOUTH.COM

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Music

Music Forecast 1515 WESTPORT RD. • 816-931-9417

n ata l ie G a l l a Ghe r

talent live than at Knuckleheads, where the open-air stage lets electric-guitar sermons rise up into the night. Saturday, July 12, Knuckleheads Saloon (2715 Rochester, 816-483-1456)

Wed 7/9 The Groove Jam Thu 7/10 TBa Fri 7/11 Good Sam CluB SaT 7/12 allied SainTS Wed 7/16 Troy allen & FriendS WIFI NOW AVAILABLE!

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Lucero, Murder by Death

SUN 12PM-12AM MON. TUES. SAT. 4PM-1:30AM WED.THURS.FRI. 12PM-1:30AM 1020 WESTPORT RD

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How do you take your alt country? Shaken, with a mystery shot and a long pour? Gently stirred with a tender hand? Or neat, like the serious listener you are? Between the rowdy barroom sing-alongs and back-porch ballads of Lucero and the contemplative orchestrations of Murder by Death, there’s bound to be something to whet your palate. It all goes down smooth on Tuesday at Crossroads KC, when two of the genre’s heavyweights share the bill. Tuesday, July 15, Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 East 18th Street, 785-749-3434)

WED. 7/9 ZEPPERELLALED ZEPPELIN TRIBUTE THE PHILISTINES THURS. 7/10 VELA/FRESH THE PLAZA A GECKO NAMED TERRANCE FRI. 7/11 7PM THE SEXY ACCIDENT/SAD AMERICAN NIGHT 10PM GYPSY SPARROWS/EVEN EYE SAT. 7/12 2PM SECRET SHOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 5PM CAMP ENCOURAGE SHOWCASE 10PM NOW NOW SLEEPYHEAD AKILLES/THE AUTHOR & THE ILLUSTRATOR Cloud Nothings SUN. 7/13 POP-UP PIG ROAST If you didn’t get to see Cloud Nothings at WITH CHEF RICK MULLINS the Riot Room back in April, the sun may be MON. 7/14 THE FAMILY/JIM ROBERTS/ shining in your corner of the lot this week. BRIAN DAVIS/JIMMY STUCKEY The Cleveland band is back in town, riding waves of raves for its recent live shows. This TUES. 7/15 7PM THE CRAYONS 10PM HALLSTEP/MUFFPUNCH/THE ANTLERSALMON is unsurprising, given Cloud Nothings’ latest

WED. 7/16 MIDWEST GOT NEXT 7/20 THE DONKEYS 7/23 EL TEN ELEVEN 8/7 DEAD RIDER 8/10 TRIBAL SEEDS 8/13 THE BASEBALL PROJECT 8/15 THOSE DARLISN/DIARRHEA PLANET

full-length, the excellent Here and Nowhere Else. Throughout the album, 22-year-old lead

WEEKLY EVENTS MON:SONIC SPECTRUM MUSIC TRIVA WED:BOB WALKENHORST & FRIENDS THURS: TRIVIA CLASH TUES.FRI.SAT. ROTATING DINNER SHOWS 24

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Cloud Nothings singer Dylan Baldi smashes his grunge-era whine against frantic guitar work for an imperfect marriage of 1990s garage rock and post modern malcontent. He’s unafraid to push abrasive growls and full-throated yelps on otherwise lovely hooks, and somehow, the mismatch makes for an entirely enjoyable ride. Opening for Cloud Nothings on Wednesday is Brighton, England, band the Wytches. Wednesday, July 16, the Granada (1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence, 785-842-1390)

Trampled Under Foot

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated group of fans than a Trampled Under Foot crowd. For what it’s worth, TUF is just as invested in its legion of devotees. Live shows tend to evoke a churchlike effect, with the smiting vocals of Danielle Schnebelen lifting the TUF congregation to jubilant fits. And there’s no better place to see this homegrown

f o r e c a s t

It’s almost too easy to hate on Young & Sick, the stage name for Nick Van Hofwegen. The Netherlands-via-Los Angeles musician calls Y&S a “music and art project,” which sounds a little highfalutin from a man who has done cover art for Foster the People and Robin Thicke and T-shirts for Urban Outfitters. Most of Young & Sick’s songs sound like they were created almost entirely on a MacBook in some super-exclusive coffee shop where all the patrons look like they just stepped out of a J. Crew catalog. But despite all that, the selftitled debut album is a weirdly infectious mix of bubblegum synths and nouveau soul, with Van Hofwegen’s startling soprano stretched luxuriously over. Hard to say how that sound translates in a live setting — it could be more hipster nonsense (likely), or it could blow your mind. We’ll find out Tuesday. Tuesday, July 15, the Riot Room (4048 Broadway, 816-442-8179)

Pat Benatar, Rick Springfield

It was 1983 when Pat Benatar proclaimed that we stand together, heartache to heartache. There is no part of “Love Is a Battlefield,” from the heavy electronic drumbeats to Benatar’s defiant singing, that is not pop gold. The same can be said for much of the original heartbreaker’s catalog, which you’ll be able to hear reproduced live on Wednesday. Bonus: Benatar’s guitar-god husband, Neil Giraldo, is along for the ride, and former Zoot member and “Jessie’s Girl” singer Rick Springfield is also on deck. If you were a teenager in the 1980s, this night is your night. Wednesday, July 16, Starlight Theatre (4600 Starlight Rd., Swope Park, 816-363-7827)

K e Y

Pick of the Week

Synth City

Love Is a Battlefield

Locally Sourced

Twang With Me

Haters Gonna Hate

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Worth the Weeknight

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Babies from the ’80s

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JULY 19 SHOWCASE AT THE RIOT ROOM

OFFICIAL BALLOT 2014

AUGUST 3 JULY 25

SHOWCASE AT KNUCKLEHEADS SALOON

(August 2013–June 2014)

❑ Josh Berwanger — Strange Stains (September) ❑ My Brothers & Sisters — Violet Music: Volume I (December) ❑ My Oh My — Your Heart Not Mine (April) ❑ The Pedaljets — What’s in Between (November) ❑ Shy Boys — Shy Boys (January)

EDM/DJ/PRODUCTION ❑ D/Will ❑ Sheppa ❑ Sigrah ❑ Spinstyles ❑ Trace Beats

HARDEST-WORKING ACT ❑ The Grisly Hand ❑ Hearts of Darkness ❑ Making Movies ❑ Schwervon ❑ Victor & Penny

HIP-HOP/RAP ❑ The Abnorm ❑ Approach ❑ Gee Watts ❑ Reggie B ❑ Stik Figa

JAZZ ENSEMBLE

EMERGING ACT ❑ Bummer ❑ Burial Teens ❑ Katy Guillen and the Girls ❑ Outsides ❑ Psychic Heat

FOLK ENSEMBLE (Country, Blues, Americana)

❑ The Clementines ❑ Freight Train Rabbit Killer ❑ Kansas City Bear Fighters ❑ Loaded Goat ❑ Truckstop Honeymoon

FOLK SOLO (Country, Blues, Americana) ❑ Billy Beale ❑ Samantha Fish ❑ A.J. Gaither

❑ Tyler Gregory ❑ Kasey Rausch

❑ Eboni and the Ivories ❑ Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 ❑ Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle ❑ Project H ❑ Peter Schlamb Quintet

JAZZ SOLO ❑ Megan Birdsall ❑ Shay Estes ❑ Brett Jackson ❑ Hermon Mehari ❑ Matt Otto

LIVE ACT ❑ Jorge Arana Trio ❑ The Conquerors ❑ Metatone ❑ The New Riddim ❑ Radkey

VOTING ENDS

JULY 28

Winners will be announced August 3 at The Pitch Music Awards at the Uptown Theater and August 7 in The Pitch.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

AWARDS AT THE UPTOWN THEATER

AUGUST 7 WINNERS PUBLISHED IN THE PITCH

METAL ❑ At the Left Hand of God ❑ Hellevate ❑ Marasmus ❑ Stonehaven ❑ Troglodyte

PUNK ❑ The Bad Ideas ❑ The Big Iron ❑ Black on Black ❑ Lazy ❑ The Sluts

REGIONAL (Beyond KC/Lawrence)

❑ Dots Not Feathers ❑ Eyelit ❑ Ha Ha Tonka ❑ Me Like Bees ❑ Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

ROCK/POP ❑ Cowboy Indian Bear ❑ Not a Planet ❑ Rev Gusto ❑ Spirit Is the Spirit ❑ Various Blonde

SINGER-SONGWRITER ❑ Akkilles ❑ La Guerre ❑ Mat Shoare ❑ John Velghe ❑ Your Friend

M A I L T O : 1627 Main, Suite 700, Kansas City, Missouri 64108 OR complete your ballot online at pitch.com. RULES: Check one choice per category. One ballot per voter. Ballot stuffing will be detected. Original ballots only (no photocopies or other reproductions). Entries may be filled out online or mailed to The Pitch, or completed at Showcase venues (July 19 at the Riot Room or July 25 at Knuckleheads Saloon). The Pitch Music Showcase tickets are available at pitch.com or by calling 816-561-6061. Tickets cost $11 in advance or $15 day of Showcase. A combo ticket for both events is available in advance for $15. Tickets to the August 3 Pitch Music Awards cost $11 in advance or $15 the day of the event, available at the Uptown Theater box office, 816-753-8665, or ticketmaster.com (VIP tickets: $25 in advance or $30 the day of the event). 26

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❑ Yes! Please include me on the pitch.com e-mail list so I can be among the first to hear about exciting upcoming events and promotions.

NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: PHONE:

STATE: E-MAIL:

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DAILY MENU

SPECIALS

HAPPY HOUR

MONDAY-FRIDAY

July 10th Jeff Hayden - 8:00pm

July 11th

Bryant Carter Band - 9:00pm

July 12th Pawnshop Troubadours - 9:00pm

Live Music Live Music 7 nights 7 nights a week

a week

816.561.2444 www.erniebiggs.com nsas 4115 Mill Street West Port Ka

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AGENDA

continued from page 11

Thursday | 7.10 |

ART EXHIBITS & EVENTS

TRASHBOAT REGATTA

Joe Bussell & Fred Trease: The Petri Dish: An exhibition of paintings and digital drawings | 6-9 p.m. Friday, Kiosk Gallery, 3951 Broadway, kioskgallerykc.com

PERFORMING ARTS

Fringe Festival Preview Event | 6:30 p.m. Kansas City Central Library, 14 W. 10th St., kclibrary.org

Color and Line: Masterworks on Paper | Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak, nelsonatkins.org

COMEDY

Dustin Kaufman’s Variety Show | 9 p.m. Uptown

Arts Bar, 3611 Broadway

Conversations— Marking 20 Years | Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd., kemperart.org

Laugh ’Til I Cry Comedy Tour featuring R.C. Hampton, Tidy “Funnyman” Dillard, Cortez Carter, Phillip Adams, Robert Jackson and John Blaze | 7 p.m. Vox Theatre, 1405 Southwest Blvd., KCK

DAY SATUR

7.12

X-Rated Hypnotist Anthony Potmesil | 7:30 p.m. Improv Comedy Club and Dinner Theater, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

at s led bo Recyc aw. K e n th f loat o

SHOPPING

Annual Brookside Sidewalk Sale | 63rd St. and

Brookside Blvd.

KC Trashboat Regatta | 1-6:30 p.m. Lewis & Clark Historic Park at Kaw Point, 1 River City Dr., trashboat.org SPORTS & REC

Royals vs. Tigers | 7:10 p.m. Kauffman Stadium

Seahaven, Documentary, Bottle Breakers, Vigil and Thieves | 7:30 p.m. Czar, 1531 Grand

KC T-Bones vs. Grand Prairie AirHogs | 7:05 p.m. CommunityAmerica Ballpark, 1800 Village West Pkwy., KCK

Sky Parade: Magic and Variety Show, Sora Korso, Nicholas St. James | 8 p.m. The Bottleneck,

Free State Story Slam | 7 p.m. Lawrence Arts Center,

940 New Hampshire, Lawrence

737 New Hampshire, Lawrence

SHOPPING

3601 Broadway

Crossroads Song Swap | The Tank Room, 1813 Grand

Gerald Spaits & Charles Perkins Quartet | 7 p.m.

Annual Brookside Sidewalk Sale | 63rd St. and

Paul Wilks and the Hard Likker | 7 p.m. The Phoenix,

COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Blue Room, 1616 E. 18th St.

302 W. Eighth St.

A Day in the LIfe of a Record Label | 7 p.m. Mini-

Bar, 3810 Broadway

Devils and Angels with John Keck | 8 p.m. Coda,

1744 Broadway

Freakabout, 2twenty2, the Perfect Pursuit | Jackpot Music Hall, 943 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Action Pack: Bangerz & Sass Sing-Along | 8 p.m.

Music trivia bingo | 9:30 p.m. The BrewTop Pub & Patio, 6601 W. 135th St., Overland Park

MiniBar, 3810 Broadway

The Hardship Letters, Sherry Lawson and Delilah, the Accidentals | 8-11:30 p.m. Davey’s Uptown

PERFORMING ARTS

Means, Monroe & Jones | 5:30 p.m. Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand

8-10 p.m. The Living Room, 1818 McGee

Iron Mike Norton | 9 p.m. Knuckleheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester

Comedy Club and Dinner Theater, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

2715 Rochester

the pitch

Artspace, 16 E. 43rd St. (at Kansas City Art Institute), kcai.edu/artspace

Second Friday Troost Art Hop | 6-10 p.m. Vibe Tribe Studio, 5504 Troost, troostarthop.com The Starr Miniature Collection: Masterworks in Miniature | Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak, nelson-atkins.org

Tall Grass. Deep Water: An exhibition by Chris Wolf Edmunds and Pam Sullivan | Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire, Lawrence

Kemper East, 200 E. 44th St.

SPORTS & REC

DJ Solo, Nostalgia, Proper Grammar, Zombie Kitten, Grom | 7 p.m. The Granada, 1020 Massachu-

Royals vs. Tigers | 7:10 p.m. Kauffman Stadium Kansas Invitational Show-Jumper Charity Horse Show | Kansas Speedway, 400 Speedway Blvd., KCK, kansasinvitational.com

MUSIC

Amendment 21 | 9-11:45 p.m. Martin City Brewing

Megan Birdsall | 7 p.m. Broadway Jazz Club, 3601

Broadway

COMEDY

Shawn & Marlon Wayans | 8 & 10:30 p.m. Improv

The Outlaws & Blackhawk, Outlaw Jim & the Whiskey Benders | 9 p.m. Knuckleheads Saloon,

Kansas City Flatfile Exhibition | H&R Block

Catfish Keith | 9 p.m. B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ, 1205 E.

Co., 500 E. 135th St.

Kit and the Kats: Music of the ’50s and ’60s |

4525 Oak, nelson-atkins.org

This American Life | Fridays and Saturdays,

Friday | 7.11 |

Ramblers Club, 3402 Main

In the Looking Glass: Recent Daguerreotype Acquisitions | Nelson-Atkins Museum,

movie Mean Girls at 9 p.m., Crown Center Square, 2450 Grand

Alamo Drafthouse, 1400 Main

XO Blackwater with Steve Gardels | 10 p.m.

Grand Marquis | 7 p.m. Jazz, 1823 W. 39th St.

Brookside Blvd.

WeekEnder | The Patrick Lentz Band at 6 p.m., the NIGHTLIFE

of Art, 4525 Oak, nelson-atkins.org

L I T E R A R Y/ S P O K E N W O R D

MUSIC

The British Invasion | 6 p.m. Broadway Jazz Club,

Edgar Degas Pastels | Nelson-Atkins Museum

85th St.

setts, Lawrence

Filthy 13, the Clementines, the Quivers | 9 p.m. Coda, 1744 Broadway

For the Broken CD-release show with the Guild and 9-Volt Junkies | 8:30-11:45 p.m. Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main

The Gypsy Sparrows, Even Eye, the Sexy Accident, Sad American Night | 7 p.m. RecordBar, 1020 Westport Rd.

Rich Hill | 4:30 p.m. Broadway Jazz Club, 3601

Boogaloo 7 | 10 p.m. Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand

Broadway

Caprice Classic | 9 p.m. Llywelyn’s Pub, 6995 W. 151st

Hivelords,Sadgiqacea, Keef Mountain | 8 p.m.

St., Overland Park

Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway

continued on page 30 j u ly 1 0 - 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

pitch.com

There’s a NEW game in town!

KC’S ONLY FM SPORTS STATION! SPORTS RADIO 102.5 THE FAN LINEUP:

5AM-8AM: Tiki Barber, Brandon & Dana 8AM-11AM: John Feinstein 11AM-2PM: Jim Rome 2PM-5PM: Doug Gottlieb 5PM-9PM: Chris Moore & Brian Jones 9PM-1AM: Scott Ferrall 1AM-5AM: D.A. - Damon Amendolara

INTERNS WANTED P p

If you have an interest in marketing, advertising, design, event planning and/or media, we may have an opportunity that will fit your internship needs. To qualify you must currently be enrolled in college and able to receive college credit. You also must be able to handle multiple projects at once and have related computer knowledge. The Pitch is currently accepting applications for interns for the Fall semester in the departments listed. Feel free to send us an email letting us know why you would like to intern with us.

Marketing / Business jason.dockery@pitch.com

Sales / Business erin.carey@pitch.com

Graphic Design / Advertising christina.riddle@pitch.com

knuckleheadsKC.com

Graphic Design / Editorial Layout jeremy.luther@pitch.com

1701 Main St • KCMO • Crossroads District

816.561.6061 pitch.com

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the pitch

continued from page 28 Maps for Travelers, Sundiver, Promagnum, Author & the Illustrator | 7:30 p.m. Czar, 1531 Grand

g ! y

it’s re er lon e h y ev yda a

Delbert McClinton with Joe KIng Carrasco | 9 p.m. Knuckleheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester

Me Like Bees, Middle Twin, Westerners | 8 p.m.

5 58 6) (81

ri o tt .c om

The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

Pass the Flask, Contraceptives, Nate Cartwright | 5 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway Lonnie Ray Blues Band | 9 p.m. The Phoenix, 302 W. Eighth St.

Need some

EAR CANDY?

Slow Ya Roll, Lucas Parker Band, No Man’s Band | 8 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire,

Lawrence

The Transients | 10 p.m. The Dubliner, 170 E. 14th St.

celebrating the music and dancing of the Swing Era in Kansas City | 3 p.m. Kansas City Masonic Temple, 903 Harrison, kansascitystomp.com NIghTLIFE

Bad Ink Redemption | Angels Rock Bar, 1323 Walnut Dior Addict Beauty Bar | 8-10 p.m. Mosaic Lounge, 1331 Walnut

DJ Alex Reed | 10 p.m. MiniBar, 3810 Broadway Flirt Friday | VooDoo Lounge, Harrah’s Casino, 1 Riverboat Dr., North Kansas City

Flirt Fridays with DJ Parle | Hotel Nightclub, 1300

ULY 9 WEDA.NJD KYLE MITCH th 0 1 Y L ENBERGS THDUA.NDJTU HE EICH BRA TH 3 1 Y . JFUOLUR SUNDAY SUHN T2O NCERT

NIG ATIO CO NIGHT P- THE STOLEN SERIES BAGOS WINNE OR SHINE - RAIN

Grand

girl 2 girl Social | 6 p.m. Uptown Arts Bar, 3611

Broadway

BER CHAD A

Young Friends of Art Second Friday happy hour | 6-8 p.m. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak

Saturday | 7.12 |

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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | The Coterie Theatre, Crown Center, 2450 Grand, first level, thecoterie.org Dykes of Hazzard | Beginning Friday, Late Night Theatre, Missie B’s, 805 W. 39th St.

The Color Vibe 5k | 9 a.m. CommunityAmerica Ballpark, 1800 Village West Pkwy., KCK

Dead girl Derby doubleheader | 5 p.m. Hale Arena, 1701 American Royal Ct., facebook.com/DeadGirlDerby Dine-in Theater: Sporting KC away game | 6:30

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Through Sunday, Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd., kcstarlight.com

Lysistrata Jones | Egads! Theatre, Off Center Theatre, Crown Center, 2450 Grand, egadstheatre.com The Mystery Train: Legally Dead | kcmysterytrain.com for location and schedule

4th Annual Northland hot Trot 5k and 1-Mile Walk | 8 p.m. Chouteau Greenway Park, N.E. 42nd St. and Chouteau Trfwy., nni.org/hottrot

Kansas Invitational Show-Jumper Charity horse Show | Kansas Speedway, 400 Speedway Blvd.,

Tractor Daze, Touch-a-Truck, Swap Meet and Mud Run | 9 a.m. The National Agricultural Center and

Hall of Fame, 630 N. 126th St., Bonner Springs

KCK, kansasinvitational.com

F00D & DRINK

Psycho Psummer 50k, 10-mile and 20-mile trail run | 8 a.m. Wyandotte County Lake Park, 91st St. and

Salute! Wine and Food Festival grand Tasting and Auction | 6 p.m. Holiday Inn Holidome, 200

Rock the Crossroads 5k | 7:30 p.m. Grinders, 417

ChEAP ThRILLS

Leavenworth Rd., KCK, psychowyco.com

E. 18th St.

Royals vs. Tigers | 6:10 p.m. Kauffman Stadium

McDonald Dr., Lawrence, salutewinefest.com

Celebrate America | 10 p.m. Worlds of Fun, East Loop I-435, worldsoffun.com

L I T E R A R Y/ S P O K E N W O R D

MuSIC

LFK Poetry Slam | 7-9 p.m. The Granada, 1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Awesome Force, AKADungeonMaster, the Fluorescent, Thunderfox | The Brick, 1727 McGee

ShOPPINg

Cheap girls, the Feel Bad hit of the Winter, Cupcake, Scruffy and the Janitors | 7:30 p.m.

Annual Brookside Sidewalk Sale | 63rd St. and

Brookside Blvd.

Wild Winged Raptor Art Show, benefiting the Eagle Valley Raptor Center | opening 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Eagles Nest Art Studio and Buffalo River Art Gallery, 170 English Landing Dr., Ste. 131, Parkville

The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

The Conquerors, Mat Shoare Band, Rev gusto | Jackpot Music Hall, 943 Massachusetts, Lawrence Curtains, Lazy, Fake Fancy, Thunders, Joey Molinaro | 8 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway Alan Evans | 8 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737 New Hamp-

COMMuNITY EVENTS

shire, Lawrence

Kit and the Kats: Music of the ’50s and ’60s |

Bikers Against Child Abuse charity bikini bike wash | 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Blue Springs Harley-Davidson,

3601 Broadway

8-10 p.m. The Living Room, 1818 McGee

Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway

Miranda Sings | 7 p.m. Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th St., follytheater.org

3100 N.W. Jefferson, Blue Springs

greater Kansas City gardeners of America’s horticultural tour | 10 a.m. The Kansas City Zoological Park, 6800 Zoo Dr.

hello Kitty Day | 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Yoki, 400 Grand COMEDY

Comedy Club and Dinner Theater, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

the pitch

Bingham-Waggoner Estate, 313 W. Pacific, Independence

Dates and times vary.

PERFORMINg ARTS

Shawn & Marlon Wayans | 7, 9:15 & 11:15 p.m. Improv

27th Annual Antique Craft Fair | 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

COMMuNITY BENEFIT

Paquita La Del Barrio | 7:30-10:30 p.m. Kauffman

ULY 1Y6 J . D E W NATH

Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2110 Harper, Lawrence, thebodytherapeutics.com

p.m. Alamo Drafthouse, 1400 Main

2014 KC Stomp: workshops, lessons and discussions

Lawrence Metaphysical Fair | 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

SPORTS & REC

Eddie Moore & the Outer Circle, the Phantastics | 8:30 p.m. The Blue Room, 1616 E. 18th St.

P 1 E -7 -7 4 w S-SAT 11A c, r k 36 est port rd. hme 6 t • r ecordswi

TheaTer

ExPOS

pitch.com

Sprint Family Fun Days: Beach Party | 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Power & Light District, 14th St. and Main

Angela hagenbach | 7-11 p.m. Broadway Jazz Club,

Jazz Disciples | 8:30 p.m. The Blue Room, 1616 E.

18th St.

King g | 9 p.m. Dirk’s Bar and Grill, 8132 N.W. Prairie

View Rd.

Kodascope, the Dynamite Defense, Modern Day Fitzgerald, the underhouse Dogs Dinner Show | 6:30 p.m. Coda, 1744 Broadway

Meta hi-Fi | 10 p.m. Uptown Arts Bar, 3611 Broadway

modest mouse

museum exhibits & events

Sunday | 7.13 |

Citizen Soldiers on the Prairie | Johnson County Museum of History, 6305 Lackman Rd., Shawnee, jocomuseum.org

PERFORMING ARTS

Kit and the Kats: Music of the ’50s and ’60s |

Cowtown: History of the Kansas City Stockyards | Kansas City Central Library, 14 W. 10th

2-4 p.m. The Living Room, 1818 McGee

St., kclibrary.org

COMEDy

Shawn & Marlon Wayans | 7 p.m. Improv Comedy

The Discovery of King Tut | Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd., unionstation.org/tut

ExPOS

The Land Divided, the World United: Building the Panama Canal | Linda Hall Library,

Club and Dinner Theater, 7260 N.W. 87th St.

y s u n da

7.13

5109 Cherry

lawrence Metaphysical Fair | 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

n into Float o town. the Up

Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2110 Harper, Lawrence, thebodytherapeutics.com

Metamorphosis: The Art & Science of Change | 1-3 p.m., in conjunction with Family Day, Spencer Art Museum, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, naturalhistory.ku.edu

ShOPPING

Annual Brookside Sidewalk Sale | 63rd St. and

Brookside Blvd.

Modest Mouse, Mimicking Birds | 7 p.m. Uptown Theater, 3700 Broadway

On the Brink: A Month That Changed the World | National World War I Museum, Liberty

Memorial , 100 W. 26th St., theworldwar.org

SPORTS & REC

Eddie Moore & the Outer Circle | 6-9 p.m. Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand

Now Now Sleepyhead, Akkilles, the Author & the Illustrator | 10 p.m. RecordBar, 1020 Westport Rd. The Rock n’ Roll Dream Concert 2014, featuring

tributes to the Eagles, Eric Clapton, Bob Seger and Queen | 7 p.m. Cricket Wireless, 633 N. 130th St., Bonner Springs

Shannon & the Rhythm Kings | 9 p.m. B.B.’s Lawn-

side BBQ, 1205 E. 85th St.

Signal KC | Smokin Guns BBQ, 1218 Swift Ave., North Kansas City

Brian Steever Trio | 9 p.m. Green Lady Lounge,

1809 Grand

Trampled Under Foot, Katy Guillen & the Girls | 9 p.m. Knuckleheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester

2014 KC Stomp: workshops, lessons and discussions

celebrating the music and dancing of the Swing Era in Kansas City | 10 a.m. Kansas City Masonic Temple, 903 Harrison, kansascitystomp.com

Royals vs. Tigers | 1:10 p.m. Kauffman Stadium

Tim Whitmer & KC Express | 4:30 p.m. The Phoenix,

KCK, kansasinvitational.com

302 W. Eighth St.

American Jazz Museum, 1616 E. 18th St., americanjazzmuseum.org

Kansas Invitational Show-Jumper Charity horse Show | Kansas Speedway, 400 Speedway Blvd.,

Glass Animals, Outsides | 7:30 p.m. The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

MUSIC

The Zeros | 5-7 p.m. Legends at Village West, 1843

Village West Pkwy., KCK

Take Five Tours | 6 p.m. Tuesday,

Chicken and Pickin’ — A Bluegrass Song Swap | 8 p.m. Westport Saloon, 4112 Pennsylvania

Jazz brunch with the Roger Wilder Trio |

The Confessors | 6-9 p.m. B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ, 1205 E. 85th St.

Nature Boys, Neighborhood Brats, the Big Iron | 8 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway

1592, DJ Jabberock, the Irieplacables | 9 p.m.

Stick Up Kid, Seaway, Candy hearts | Jackpot

10:30 a.m. Broadway Jazz Club, 3601 Broadway

NIGhTlIFE

DJ Politik | Mosaic Lounge, 1331 Walnut Dropout Boogie | 10 p.m. MiniBar, 3810 Broadway F.A.M.E. KC — Fashion, Art, Music and Entertainment | 9 p.m. VooDoo Lounge, Harrah’s Casino, 1

Riverboat Dr., North Kansas City

Czar, 1531 Grand

Foundation 627 Big Band | 9 p.m. Green Lady

Lounge, 1809 Grand

Music Hall, 943 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Tater’s honky Tonk Sundays | 7 p.m. Knuckleheads

Saloon, 2715 Rochester

continued on page 32

July 19 Featuring:

INSIDE STAGE

NIGHTONE...

at the

RIOT ROOM OUTSIDE STAGE

Approach r e m m u B Abnorm Rev Gusto Sheppa Bad Ideas Josh Berwanger Band New Riddim

Go to pitch.com for advance $8 one night tickets or $15 two night tickets. pitch.com

j u ly 1 0 - 1 6 , 2 0 1 4

the pitch

farmers markets BadSeed | 4-9 p.m. Friday, 1909 McGee Briarcliff village farmers market | 3-7 p.m. Thursday, parking lot, 4175 N. Mulberry Dr. Brookside farmers market | 8 a.m.-

NIGHT TWO... July 25 at

KNUCKLEHEADS Featuring:

A.J. Gaither Pedaljets Katy Guillen Grisly Hand Not A Planet & more!

1 p.m. Saturday, Border Star Montessori, 6321 Wornall, brooksidefarmersmarket.com

City market | 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.3 p.m. Sunday, 20 E. Fifth St.

Cottin’s Hardware Store | 4-6:30 p.m. Thursday, back parking lot of 1832 Massachusetts, Lawrence, cottinshardware.com/farmersmarket deSoto farmers market | 8 a.m.-noon Sat-

urday, St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, 1004 Rock Rd., De Soto

downtown lee’s Summit farmers market

| 7 a.m. Wednesday and Saturday, Second St. and Douglas

| 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays, 7950 Marty

gladstone farmers market | 7 a.m.-noon

Saturday, 2-6 p.m. Wednesday, Gladstone Hy-Vee, 7117 N. Prospect

KC organics and natural market | 8 a.m.12:30 p.m. Saturday, Minor Park, Holmes at Red Bridge Road lawrence farmers market | 8 a.m.-noon

Monday | 7.14 |

Trivia with matt larson | 8 p.m. Bulldog, 1715 Main

Tuesday | 7.15 | l i T e r A r y/ S P o K e n W o r d

Performing ArTS

Writers Place Poetry Series | 7 p.m. Central Resource Library, 9875 W. 87th St., Overland Park, writersplace.org

Blue monday poetry and open mic | 8-10 p.m.

exPoS

Comedy

midwest.io | 8 a.m.-5 p.m., $249, Marriott Hotel, 200 W. 12th St., midwest.io

Uptown Comedy open mic with norm dexter |

f e S T i vA l S

exPoS

Cass County fair | 6:45 p.m. Cass County Fairgrounds, 26521-26799 Missouri 58, Pleasant Hill

Uptown Arts Bar, 3611 Broadway

10 p.m. Uptown Arts Bar, 3611 Broadway

midwest.io: Bringing together developers for an eclectic collection of talks covering the latest trends, best practices and research in the field of computing | 8 a.m.-5 p.m., $249, Marriott Hotel, 200 W. 12th St., midwest.io

mUSiC

Busker’s Banquet | 9 p.m. Uptown Arts Bar, 3611

Broadway

film

The Nance, with Nathan Lane, presented by Lincoln Center | 7 p.m. Tivoli Cinemas, 4050 Pennsylvania, tivolikc.com

Cannibal Corpse, Suicide Silence, Wretched, gornography | 7 p.m. The Granada, 1020 Massachu-

setts, Lawrence

everette devan | 5:30 p.m. Green Lady Lounge,

1809 Grand

T.J. erhardt | 7 p.m. B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ, 1205 E. Big Bill, the Hansom Cabs, Captains of moderation | 7 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire,

Lawrence

dirty Kills, Thuggeess | 8 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern,

85th St.

eboni fondren | 4 p.m. Broadway Jazz Club, 3601 Broadway

3740 Broadway

Hermon mehari Trio | 6 p.m. The Majestic, 931

The family, Jim roberts, Brian davis and Jimmy Stuckey | 10 p.m. RecordBar, 1020 Westport Rd.

muff Punch | 10 p.m. RecordBar, 1020 Westport Rd.

mark lowrey Trio | 6 p.m. The Majestic, 931 Broadway

naughty Pines Happy Hour Band | 6-9 p.m. Coda,

Broadway

Andrew ouellette | 7 p.m. The Blue Room, 1616 E.

1744 Broadway

Saturday, 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, 824 New Hampshire

18th St.

liberty farmers market | 7 a.m.-noon Wednes-

Penny and Sparrow, the Cold Stares, rose & louise, Adriana nikole, John mcKenna Band |

old man markley | 8 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737 New

day, 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Merriam Marketplace, 5740 Merriam Dr.

rambler’s Songwriter roundup with gary Cloud | 7 p.m. Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main

The Pale Blue dots, the feel Bad Hit of the Winter, Chad vaughn | 8:30 p.m. Czar,

olathe farmers market | 7:30 a.m. Saturday

Wild Cub, grizfolk | 7:30 p.m. Czar, 1531 Grand

day, Feldmans Farm & Home, 1332 W. Kansas

merriam farmers market | 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Satur-

and Wednesday, Black Bob Park, 14500 W. 151st St. (Field 1)

Parkville farmers market | 7 a.m.-noon Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Wednesday, English Landing Park, First St. and Main Waldo farmers market | 3-7 p.m. Wednesday,

Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 303 W. 79th St.

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celebrating the music and dancing of the Swing Era in Kansas City | 11 a.m. Kansas City Masonic Temple, 903 Harrison, kansascitystomp.com

1020 Westport Rd.

mUSiC

5 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday, the corner of Truman and Main, Historic Independence Square, 210 W. Truman Rd.

the pitch

2014 KC Stomp: workshops, lessons and discussions

grand Court farmers market | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

independence farmers & Craft market |

Casino, 3200 N. Ameristar Dr.

Sonic Spectrum music Trivia | 7 p.m. RecordBar,

downtown overland Park farmers market

Saturday, Grand Court Retirement Center, 501 W. 107th St.

Go to pitch.com for advance $8 one night tickets or $15 two night tickets.

continued from page 31 The Temptations | 7 p.m. Star Pavilion at Ameristar

pitch.com

lukas nelson & PoTr | 8:30 p.m. Knuckleheads

Saloon, 2715 Rochester

8 p.m. The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

Hampshire, Lawrence

1531 Grand

Typesetter, the rackatees, documentary |

nigHTlife

geeks Who drink Pub Quiz | 8 p.m. Green Room

Burgers & Beer, 4010 Pennsylvania

Karaoke | 10:30 p.m. The Brick, 1727 McGee mr. & mrs. Kansas City Pageant | 8 p.m., registration at 5 p.m. Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main

10 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway

young & Sick, Bent denim | 8 p.m. The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway

Zorch | 8 p.m. Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402

Main

DOZER BARREL-AGED COCONUT PORTER CHARITY TAPPING

Hosted by:

Eric “Mean” Melin & Judy Mills

DAY TH U RS

7.10

Performances by:

to Tap in y. n Cit Mar ti

S A B R I N A S TA I R E S

6 PM VIP 7

AUGust

DOORS & GA

Dozer Barrel-Aged Coconut Porter Charity Tapping | Patrick Mullin wanted to pay tribute to his

bad ideas outsiders your friend kansas city bear fighters GA Tickets $ 11

VIP TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE!

Go to pitch.com, ticketmaster.com or call 816.753.8665

friend Jordan Fields, who died last November. So, with the help of Martin City Brewing Co., he created Dozer, a barrel-aged imperial coconut porter named after Fields’ adopted pup. The beer taps at 7 p.m. Thursday at Martin City Brewing Co. (500 East 135th Street), with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption, which faces eviction from its home in Mission. Also Thursday: live music, raffles and a puppy-kissing booth.

Wednesday | 7.16 |

Brian Ruskin Band | 7 p.m. The Phoenix, 302 W. Eighth St.

F E S T I VA L S

Cass County Fair | 1 p.m. Cass County Fairgrounds, 26521-26799 Missouri 58, Pleasant Hill SPORTS & REC

Dine-in Theater: Sporting KC away game | 6:30 p.m. Alamo Drafthouse, 1400 Main MUSIC

Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo, Rick Springfield | 7:30 p.m. Starlight Theatre, 4600 Starlight Rd.

Carl Butler’s Gospel Lounge | 7:30 p.m. Knuckle-

Saintseneca, Riala, Vic G Trio | 7:30 p.m. Czar,

1531 Grand

The Sawyer Family, MJP | 8 p.m. Black & Gold Tavern, 3740 Broadway

Bob Schneider with Dawn & Hawkes | 8:30 p.m.

Knuckleheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester

Spoken, Leering Heathens, A Light Within, Ensilage | 9 p.m. The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway 12th Street Jump, Joe Cartwright Trio | 7:30 p.m.

Broadway Jazz Club, 3601 Broadway

heads Saloon, 2715 Rochester

Cloud Nothings, the Wytches | 8 p.m. The Granada,

NIGHTLIFE

Girlz of Westport | 8 p.m. Californos, 4124

1020 Massachusetts, Lawrence

Pennsylvania

Dom Chronicles A.T.O.M.S. album-release show with Gen the Assassin, Imperfekt, Pistol Pete | 10 p.m. RecordBar, 1020 Westport Rd.

Nerd Nite #26 | 7 p.m. MiniBar, 3810 Broadway

Earphunk, Brother Bagman | 8 p.m. The Bottleneck,

Poetic Underground open mic | 9 p.m. Uptown Arts

Bar, 3611 Broadway

737 New Hampshire, Lawrence

Trivia | 7-9 p.m. Westport Saloon, 4112 Pennsylvania

Chipper Jones, Sneaky Creeps, Wolf the Rabbit | 10 p.m. MiniBar, 3810 Broadway

Weirdo Wednesday Supper Club with Amy Farrand | 8 p.m. Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club, 3402 Main

The Kansas City Songwriters Scene Original Open Mic | The Tank Room, 1813 Grand Paul McCartney | 8 p.m. Sprint Center, 1407 Grand Pat Nichols | 7 p.m. B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ, 1205 E.

85th St.

E-mail submissions to calendar@pitch.com or enter submissions at pitch.com, where you can search our complete listings guide.

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dating.

S ava g e L o v e

Over and dOmme Dear Dan: I’m a straight female who was a domi-

natrix for a while — and out of all the jobs I’ve had, I loved it the most. Working as a secretary — one with a master’s in writing — wasn’t that hard to beat, I guess. But professional dommes aren’t immune to workplace romances, and I fell in love with a client. Long story short, we’re still together after a year and a half, after I closed my practice and sold (most of) my toys because he didn’t want to be with a woman who was still practicing this kind of physical intimacy with others. Fair enough. But the list has grown longer. His jealousy flared when I told him that I went to lunch with a male friend that I’d played with before, and again when he found an old picture on my computer of me blowing my ex. (Snooping sucks when someone’s not mature enough to handle what they find.) But the latest and most bitter pill is that he no longer wants me to write anything about my experiences, not because it might cause professional fallout if people knew about his dating a former pro domme (notwithstanding the fact that he was a client once) but because he doesn’t want me to think about the experiences I’ve had. Fuck, Dan, I love this guy, but “retiring” has never been so hard and so scary. I honestly miss the sex-positive community and the impact (ha) I had on people who decided, for whatever reason, to pay a professional to share this creative, spiritual, eros-infused intimacy with them, if only for a few hours every month or so. It seemed like I needed to give that up to have a marriage and family, which, as I get into the latter half of my 30s, seems like I better get going on if I want this to happen. DTMFA, I know, but why has it been so hard to do this time?

Despairing Over My Man’s Expectations Dear DOMME: “DOMME’s letter struck a chord

with me because I was once in a relationship with a guy who did very similar things,” said Mistress Matisse, a professional dominatrix, writer and sex-worker-rights activist. “He knew exactly who I was when we started the relationship — just like DOMME’s guy did — and he said it was fine. But once I got emotionally invested, that all changed. He tried to control me by making me feel insecure, like I was a flawed person and my only chance for a relationship was him — who else would be willing to be with an (ick) sex worker? As dumb as it sounds now, I think part of what blinded me to what he was doing was the fact that I was a dominatrix! Surely a dominant woman could not be in an abusive relationship, right? Wrong. Leaving him was the best thing I ever did.” And that’s exactly what Matisse thinks you need to do: DTMFA. But Matisse isn’t telling you anything you don’t already know. So why is it so hard? “It’s ‘so hard’ because she’s in a relationship

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with an abusive, controlling man who has been systematically tearing down her confidence and her sense of self for a year and a half,” Matisse said. “He’s made her give up things that were positive and meaningful to her. He gets angry when she sees her friends. And now he’s trying tell her what she’s allowed to think? This flaming hypocrite isn’t just chipping away at her self-esteem but going after it with a jackhammer!” Matisse doesn’t want you giving your boyfriend a second chance, and neither do I. His controlling, slut-shaming behavior is simply unforgivable. “DOMME’s boyfriend is leveraging all the power of a sex-negative world to make her think she has to give up all of who she is, her past and her future — even her own mind — to be in this relationship. Leave him. She shouldn’t agree to talk it over, or try to understand his feelings or work out a compromise.” He might pretend to make some bargain with her, like telling her that if she married him, or had a child with him, then he would possibly feel OK about her writing about her own life. Don’t fall for this,” Matisse said. “Her thinking about, writing about or even being a dominatrix is not the problem. He is the problem. If DOMME sticks around, she’ll just be giving her boyfriend a chance to do more damage than he already has. She should leave and not look back, and she should spend some time with a therapist. This guy has planted so much poison in her head, more than she can even see right now. She needs to dig it all out, so she can move on to a happy relationship with a man who loves her exactly as she is. And those guys are out there.”

Dear Dan: I’m a straight guy, and my girlfriend just read my journal. I’d written some pretty harsh things in there about her, about her personality. But despite my questions about our relationship, I really do want to see whether we can work through our issues. I believe that we have a strong connection despite having very different personalities. I don’t question the strength of our bond. I feel guilty that she saw some of the things I wrote, but I’m also angry that she read my journal. What do I say to her? Stupid Conflict About Reading Entire Diary Dear SCARED: “Good-bye.” She invaded your

privacy, which was bad enough. But if you were so stupid as to put “Things That Cannot Be Unsaid” into writing — now “Things That Cannot Be Unread” — then I don’t see how this relationship can be salvaged.

Dear Dan: I’m a big fan! (I’m also not a native English speaker, so my letter may sound a bit too formal.) I’m a straight girl with a question re-

D a n S ava ge

garding oral sex. My boyfriend wants to come in my mouth. I can deal with the taste, but in order to climax, my boyfriend needs to pump his penis very fast. He needs to do this at a speed I can’t match even with my hands. This fact makes it very hard to contain his dick in my mouth. He also thrusts, which makes me feel choked, and I pull away. Is there something fixable here, or is this simply a question of “what he needs to do to come” and I consequently have to learn to deal with it? I hope this question doesn’t sound too silly. I’m not very experienced!

No Signature for Wonderer Dear NSFW: Your question isn’t silly, and I’m happy to answer it for you. Most men need to thrust during oral to come — if oral isn’t foreplay prior to thrustbased vaginal or anal penetration — and that thrusting action can present problems for even the most enthusiastic and experienced cocksucker. The solution: Shorten your boyfriend’s cock by wrapping a fist (or two) around the base of his shaft, and let him thrust through your wet fist(s) and into your mouth. Because your fist(s) can grip his dick firmly, you can relax your mouth a bit — you don’t need to maintain a suction seal during this stage of the blowjob. You relax your mouth and jaw, your boyfriend thrusts in and out, his cock won’t go all the way to the back of your throat (so no choking), and your clenched fist(s) provide(s) the necessary friction and pressure to get him off. Find the Savage Lovecast every Tuesday at savagelovecast.com.

Have a question for Dan Savage? E-mail him at mail@savagelove.net

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