The Pitch: January 2019

S LT

,M

IS

RE

SO

UR

IR

C YC L ED S

EPU

B L IC

O U ND S

ANS SEEK TO OVERTU

RN T

HE

RE

SU

JANUARY 2019 I FREE I THEPITCHKC.COM

DE A I R I T HE

SIS T E R

F

SR

ECOR R S ’ E A NN

T E R: A W H RE S

N DS A

FIN

FF O C D

NG F I N I ED

E

O

EH

OF GA CY O ON

OR W R

R

HE T S

KIN

LE

LA C G

L

S

C TE E J E

OT V Y DB

S R E

S

LL I SM

E

IA N N

THE RETURN OF

SHOOTING STAR JANUARY 19

RODNEY CARRINGTON FEBRUARY 15 & 16

SHAMROCK FC

GIN BLOSSOMS

GENE WATSON FEBRUARY 23

JANUARY 25

SARA EVANS

FEBRUARY 2

CLINT BLACK MARCH 9

FEBRUARY 8

SINBAD MARCH 16

NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND MARCH 23

Join us in the Star Pavilion for our thrilling upcoming shows. Get your tickets at Ticketmaster.com or visit the Ameristar Gift Shop to receive $5 off the standard ticket price with your mychoice® card.

Must be 21 or older to gamble. Must be a mychoice member to receive mychoice discount. Must be at least 18 or accompanied by an adult to enter Star Pavilion. Must be at least 21 to enter Depot #9. Tickets available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the Gift Shop (service charges and handling fees may apply). No refunds/exchanges unless canceled or postponed. Offer not valid for persons on a Disassociated Patrons, Voluntary Exclusion or Self Exclusion List in Missouri, Indiana and Ohio or who have been otherwise excluded from Ameristar Kansas City, MO. Gambling problem? Call 1-888-BETSOFF. ©2018 Boyd Gaming Corporation®. All Rights Reserved.

2

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

3

CONTENTS

THE PITCH

Publisher Stephanie Carey Editor David Hudnall Digital Editor Kelcie McKenney Contributing Writers Tracy Abeln, Traci Angel, Liz Cook, Karen Dillon, April Fleming, Natalie Gallagher, Roxie Hammill, Libby Hanssen, Deborah Hirsch, Larry Kopitnik, Dan Lybarger, David Martin, Eric Melin, Aaron Rhodes, Barbara Shelly, Nick Spacek Little Village Creative Services Jordan Sellergren Contributing Photographers Zach Bauman, Chase Castor Graphic Designers Jennifer Larson, Katie McNeil, Danielle Moore, Gianfranco Ocampo, Kirsten Overby, Alex Peak, Vu Radley, Zachary Trover Director of Marketing & Promotions Jason Dockery Senior Multimedia Specialist Steven Suarez Multimedia Specialists Becky Losey Director of Operations Andrew Miller Multimedia Intern Lauren O’Bannon Design Intern Austin Crockett

CAREY MEDIA

Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Carey Chief Operating Officer Adam Carey

VOICE MEDIA GROUP

National Advertising 1-888-278-9866 vmgadvertising.com

DISTRIBUTION

The Pitch distributes 35,000 copies a month and is available free throughout Greater Kansas City, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 each, payable at The Pitch’s office in advance. The Pitch may be distributed only by The Pitch’s authorized independent contractors or authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of The Pitch, take more than one copy of each week’s issue. Mail subscriptions: $22.50 for six months or $45 per year, payable in advance. Application to mail at second-class postage rates is pending at Kansas City, MO 64108.

COPYRIGHT

The contents of The Pitch are Copyright 2018 by Carey Media. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written permission of the publisher.

The Pitch 1627 Main St., #600, Kansas City, MO 64108 For information or to share a story tip, email tips@thepitchkc.com For advertising: stephanie@thepitchkc.com or 816-218-6702 For classifieds: steven@thepitchkc.com or 816-218-6732

4

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

12 7 GET OUT

Your January Agenda Kick off the new year with these events.

BY DAVID HUDNALL

10 NEWS

Liberty for Some Attempts to overturn ethics reform and pro-union votes are part of a broader pattern of Missouri Republican ignoring the will of the people.

BY BARBARA SHELLY

12 CAFE

The Next Generation Swooning for Freshwater 2.0, a successful experiment in fine dining for working-class millennials.

BY LIZ COOK

16 FOOD

New Year, New Food The places we’re most excited to dine and drink in 2019.

BY APRIL FLEMING

20 EAT

ZACH BAUMAN

Eat This Now The Grilled Chicken at Poi-õ

BY APRIL FLEMING

21 DRINK

Drink This Now Plaid Habit from Boulevard Brewing Company

BY APRIL FLEMING

Letter from the Publisher This issue marks my one-year anniversary of leading The Pitch. When last January’s issue came together, I was lurking in the background as the team put out the final issue under the former owner. Then I became owner and publisher.

Going forward, I’m going to let the editorial team keep you updated in this space.

But I wanted to thank you, Kansas City, for embracing us during this first year of local ownership. It has simultaneously felt like one month and five years of time. I’m beyond proud of The Pitch team and what they’ve accomplished in a short twelve months. And we’re just getting started.

If you would like to receive a monthly email from me keeping you up to date on Pitch-y things, shoot me a note at stephanie@thepitchkc.com. As always, follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@queenofquirky), and please, never be a stranger.

I’m ending this note with a salutation I’ve been holding back all year.

Cheers Pitches, Stephanie @queenofquirky #OurPitch

COVER

“Slick Out There,” by Chase Castor

STACKING BANDS

TAG HEUER

OMEGA

ROLEX

VINTAGE WATCHES LARGE INVENTORY OF VINTAGE WATCHES

D I AM OND

STUD EARRINGS & NECKLACES

IN-HOUSE JEWELRY REPAIR

FINE CUSTOM WORK, STONE SETTING, RING SIZING & REPAIR, CHAIN REPAIR, & ANY AND ALL JEWELRY REPAIR. MANY REPAIRS DONE WHILE YOU WAIT.

I-35 & ARMOUR ROAD 1900 DIAMOND PARKWAY NORTH KANSAS CITY, MO 64116 MJEWELRY.COM

(816) 453-1111

AARON RHODES

CONTENTS

26 24 ARTS

28 Estilo Loco

26 MUSIC

32 FILM

Conducting Research Map out the first half of 2019 with this handy guide to classical music events.

BY LIBBY HANSSEN

Patron Saint Sister Anne’s records and coffee carries on the legacy of its namesake, former Recycled Sounds owner Anne Winter.

BY AARON RHODES

27 River Flows

It’s been a good year for Anna St. Louis and her meandering folk tunes.

BY AARON RHODES

The worldly, political, contagious hardcore of Mentira

BY AARON RHODES

Season of the List As the awards shows approach, pondering the best films of 2018.

BY ERIC MELIN

36 SAVAGE LOVE

Dump ‘em Out Are there times when it’s OK to delay an inevitable breakup?

BY DAN SAVAGE

38 EVENTS

January Calendar New year, new agenda.

6

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

GET OUT

January Endless Variety, Matchless Talent!

2018-19 Season on Sale Now

Hairball

Friday, January 11 Voodoo Lounge at Harrah’s Casino caesars.com

A sort of turbocharged cover band, Hairball brings snakes, fire, confetti, smoke machines, blood, and a variety of other hair-metal accoutrements to its stage shows, which worship at the altar of arena-rock giants — KISS, Crüe, Queen, Journey, and more.

long-running radio variety show. It’s now called Live from Here, but it still airs on Saturday evenings and is recorded live in St. Paul, Minnesota — except when the show is touring out of town, as it is this month, when it arrives at the Kauffman Center. Special guests: Ry Cooder and the Hamiltones.

7 p.m. l Friday l Jan. 18 Broadway Princess Party Don’t miss Broadway’s original Belle, Cinderella and Jasmine performing the “Princess” songs of stage and screen in a magical evening.

Cirque du Soleil

Live from Here with Chris Thile

Saturday, January 12, 2019 Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts kauffmancenter.org

Two years ago, Punch Brother (and “Genius Grant” recipient) Chris Thile inherited from Garrison Keillor A Prairie Home Companion, the

Wednesday, January 16 through Sunday, January 20 Sprint Center sprintcenter.com

The latest Cirque production, Crystal, is its first ever on ice, and features synchronized figure skating and extreme playground skating alongside the usual circus-centric trapezes and aerial feats. The touring phenomenon will perform seven shows (two on both Saturday and Sunday) during its stay in town.

Over 30 performances! Build a season package of five shows (or more) and save 10%.

jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter | 913-469-4445 NO ONLINE FEES | FREE PARKING | WINE & BEER AVAILABLE

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

7

CHARLESTON’S RESTAURANT

CORVINO SUPPER CLUB & TASTING ROOM

EXTRA VIRGIN

BLIND BOX BBQ

JANUARY 11- 20 Dine out, do good.

More than 170 of KC’s top restaurants have come together for Kansas City’s premier dining event. Enjoy 10 days of multicourse menus at an extraordinary value. Best of all, a portion of proceeds will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. KCRestaurantWeek.com • #KCRW2019 Founding Partners

Platinum Sponsors: Heartland Coca-Cola, Kim Crawford Wines, Meiomi Coastal California Wines, Ruffino Wines, Stella Artois Gold Sponsors: Country Club Plaza, Joyal Marketing, Kansas City Power & Light District, Mize Restaurant Group, Plexpod Westport Commons, Tito’s Handmade Vodka

GET OUT

January

GET YOUR MEDICAL MARIJUANA EXAM

MISSOURI MISSOURI MARIJUANA MARIJUANA DOCTORS DOCTORS

Corrosion of Conformity

Monday, January 21 The Riot Room theriotroom.com

Corrosion of Conformity has been a band longer than most millennials have been alive, but the Southern metal act is hardly any less ferocious than it was during the Reagan Administration. If anything, CoC seems to be getting more popular: its 2018 release, No Cross No Crown, was the first to crack the Billboard 200. Crowbar, Weedeater and Mothership open this show.

ing the British post-punk tunes they created lo all those 40 years ago. They’ll perform their debut, In The Flat Field, in its entirety, as well as other Bauhaus classics.

WWW.MMD.CLINIC WWW.MMD.CLINIC 204 Admiral Blvd, KCMO 1-888-MMD-INFO

Iliza Shlesinger

Friday, February 1 Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland arvestbanktheatre.com

40 Years of Bauhaus, with Peter Murphy and David J

Monday, January 28 The Truman thetrumankc.com

Peter Murphy, the “godfather of goth,” has paired up with his old Bauhaus bandmate David J for a tour celebrat-

The bawdy comedienne (and former Last Comic Standing winner) Iliza Shlesinger recently released her fourth Netflix special, Elder Millennial; inked a CBS sitcom deal; and published her first book, Girl Logic. (There’s a podcast, too.) She’s at the Midland for this one-night-only show.

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

9

NEWS

Liberty for Some THE ATTEMPTS TO OVERTURN ETHICS REFORM AND PRO-UNION VOTES ARE PART OF A MUCH LARGER PATTERN OF MISSOURI REPUBLICANS IGNORING THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

BY BARBARA SHELLY

Missouri voters who overwhelmingly rejected their state legislature’s anti-union “right to work” law in August should know that Eric Burlison is not impressed.

“Democracy is not freedom,” the soonto-be GOP state senator opined on Twitter, right after he filed legislation to reinstate the law that voters had just nullified by a twoto-one margin. “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch.”

Burlison, currently a state House member from Springfield, probably thought he was channeling Benjamin Franklin, to whom that quote is sometimes attributed.

The quote has a kicker, too: “Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

That Burlison sees himself as that wellarmed lamb — and his pursuit of a right-towork law as a defense of liberty — is no surprise. Republicans in the Missouri legislature have a way of making everything about

10

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

liberty. Carrying guns without permits?

Denying low-income people health care?

Gutting unions by relieving workers of the need to pay fees for services they receive?

Liberty and freedom, baby. No matter how bad or dumb or unhealthy or downright dangerous the policy might be.

There’s a rich tradition of Missouri GOP lawmakers using this elastic concept of liberty to repeatedly thumb their noses at the state’s voters. Four years after a majority of citizens said at the polls that they didn’t want to legalize concealed carry of handguns, the legislature in 2003 legalized concealed carry, citing an inalienable right to bear arms. The state now has one of the nation’s most lenient set of gun laws — and a high rate of gun homicides to show for it.

Looking back, the concealed carry prohibition was never going to stand. As state legislatures around that time caved,

THERE’S A RICH TRADITION OF MISSOURI GOP LAWMAKERS USING THE ELASTIC CONCEPT OF “LIBERTY” TO REPEATEDLY THUMB THEIR NOSES AT THE STATE’S VOTERS.

Eric Burlison leans in to shamelessness.

one by one, to fierce lobbying from gunmakers, Missouri was unlikely to be the lone holdout. But other reversals of voter decisions are less explainable.

NEWS

For example, back in the 1990s, citizens overwhelmingly voted for caps on campaign contributions in state races. The legislature removed the limits in 2008.

This opening of the floodgates to anyone with a flush checkbook was also disingenuously framed as a defense of liberty.

Republicans equate political spending with free speech, and have no problem allowing wealthy financiers to outshout people of more modest means.

In November 2016, a full 70 percent of Missouri voters once again authorized campaign contribution caps. The new law has been under attack by Republicans and special interests ever since, though so far has stood its ground.

One of the legislature’s most outrageous screw-the-voters acts was the puppy mill showdown of 2011. Frustrated by Missouri lawmakers’ refusal to regulate breeders — who, in some cases, confined dogs in filthy, brutal conditions — animal rights groups had successfully launched a ballot initiative the year before. Among other things, it required that animals have continuous access to water and cages be roomy enough for dogs to stand upright.

Citizens passed the measure. Ru-

ral lawmakers went berserk.

Wel l - me an i ng voters, it turned out, hadn’t understood that those cute puppies in pet shops don’t enter the world as pets.

They get their start as livestock, same as chickens and pigs. And livestock production is not to be messed with.

Jay Nixon, at the time the state’s Democratic governor, worked with Republicans on a “Missouri solution,” which basically unraveled the protections voters had called for. The Senate’s chief sponsor of the bill was one Mike Parson — now Missouri’s governor.

In 2016, the legislature put a precautionary measure on the ballot to prevent such future meddling. They called it — need you ask? — the freedom to farm amendment.

The rejection of the anti-union law isn’t

the only endangered voter-passed initiative from the November election. Republicans in the legislature have already nullified a public vote in Kansas City to raise the minimum wage here.

So even though almost two-thirds of Missouri voters supported an incremental statewide raise, GOP lawmakers will have few qualms knocking that down.

Which brings us to Clean Missouri, the reform initiative that voters favored by a two-to one margin, because they know the legislature is incapable of holding itself accountable. Ed Emery, a GOP senator, has filed legislation to roll back provisions in the bill that make government more transparent. And a political group, cynically named “Fair Missouri,” has formed to gut the part of the bill that creates a new, less partisan

system for redrawing legislative districts.

“It is really unfortunate that norms of democracy don’t always resonate in Jefferson City,” says Sean Soendker Nicholson, campaign manager for Clean Missouri. He adds that the team that worked to get Clean Missouri on the ballot and passed by voters will remain intact to defend the new law.

As Burlinson makes clear, Jefferson City’s self-appointed lambs of liberty disrespect democracy itself and the voters who try to preserve it. The only times Missouri voters get things right, it seems to Burlinson, are when they elect Republican lawmakers who will unravel their future votes on ballot issues.

Voters in Arizona had a similar problem with their legislature a while back.

They fixed it at the ballot box, with a constitutional amendment blocking the legislature from overturning voter-passed initiatives. Talk about doing something similar bounced around Missouri after the puppy mill travesty and could resurface this year if the legislature overplays its hand.

Meanwhile, it’s almost lunchtime.

What’ll it be, people? Pizza, Mexican, Thai?

Whatever it is, don’t trust Eric Burlison to pick up the order.

THANK YOU KANSAS CITY FOR VOTING US BEST VAPE SHOP 12267 W 87th St Pkwy Lenexa, KS 66215 913-541-1995 21+

6829 N Oak Tfwy Gladstone, MO 64118 816-214-5890 21+

7113 NW Barry Rd, 1302 Platte Falls Rd, Ste G 2424 NW Vivion Rd, N Kansas City, MO 64153 Platte City, MO 64079 Northmoor, MO 64150 816-237-6823 21+ 816-491-6341 18+ 816-914-8030 18+

VAPE

9598 E State Rte 350 A Raytown, MO 64133 913-541-1995 18+

SMOK MAJESTY 225W (MOD ONLY)

$3495 +tax MUST MENTION THE PITCH TO RECEIVE DISCOUNTS. Expires February 2nd.

4PK JUUL PODS (2 for +tax $20)

$1495

THE GRIND

THE GRIND - 100ML

$1995 +tax

WARNING: This product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical. thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

11

CAFE

Left: Beef neck gnocchi with creme fraiche and maitake mushrooms. Above: Braunschweiger beignets.

ZACH BAUMAN

The Next Generation SWOONING FOR FRESHWATER 2.0, A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT IN FINE DINING FOR WORKINGCLASS MILLENNIALS. BY LIZ COOK

I wish I could tell you what to order at Freshwater. If I could, I would guide you to the striped bass sashimi, a tender valentine to Midwestern fish with the delicacy and depth of a slice of cold French butter.

I would tell you to linger over a perfumed nameko mushroom and caramelized onion dip, to let its nostalgic flavors transport you to a wood-paneled basement where chain-smoking grandmothers play bridge and spoon chip dip from their wedding crockery. I’d certainly urge you toward a humble-sounding pumpkin and apple soup, a vegan dish that slyly conjures both the lip-coating stickiness of gelatin and the glossiness of a perfect runny egg.

Odds are, though, none of those dishes will be on the menu by the time you read this review. Chef-owner Calvin Davis has built a Midtown restaurant that feels, in some ways, critic-proof. The menu changes just about every day, depending on what’s available and in season. I ate at Freshwater three times in the span of one week and saw a spate of new dishes each visit. Finding a dish you love here is like a romantic encounter with a stranger on vacation — exciting, ephemeral, bittersweet.

Freshwater’s opening, in April 2017, was a little of all three. The restaurant quickly earned praise for its seasonal approach and inexpensive tasting menu. But two months after it opened, a drunk driver crashed into the restaurant and demolished the southern dining room. A more superstitious man

12

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

than Davis might have taken it as an omen.

A less superstitious man might have recognized the long road to recovery and taken his business elsewhere. The space was challenging even before the accident. Freshwater is part of a commercial island along a notoriously difficult business stretch of Southwest Trafficway. Street noise is prevalent; parking and foot traffic less so. It would have been easy to relocate.

Davis stayed put. This May, the restaurant reopened after almost a year of renovation and repair. The result is a stronger, more focused restaurant that I hope will be a neighborhood fixture.

Request a table in the kitchen when you make a reservation (and unless you’re dining on a Tuesday, I recommend you make a reservation). The lighting in there is brighter and warmer, the tangerine-painted walls are cheerier, and you’ll get a ringside seat to the action.

The personalities here are part of the draw. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a kitchen that felt so relaxed, even during the weekend dinner rush. No one here seems bitter or burnt out, which may have something to do with the average age of the backof-house staff. Davis is barely 29; his sous chef, Taylor Hindman, is 22. And while the menu is broad enough to appeal to diners of all ages, the price point and ambience beckon a younger crowd.

A ten-course tasting menu here costs $55 — an extra $25 adds wine pairings. The

Freshwater 3711 Southwest Trafficway (816) 820-0296 freshwaterkc.com

Hours: Tuesday–Thursday, 4 PM–10 PM Friday–Saturday, 4 PM–12 AM

Prices: Cocktails: $8 Small plates: $4–11 Large plates: $18–32

courses are small and elegant (you’ll leave full but not uncomfortable), and the wine pairings I sampled included five half-glasses of eclectic, largely Old World wines and a nightcap of raisin-y port.

Highlights from my tasting included a charcuterie board laden with bold Calabrese sausage, wafer-thin slices of smoked pork brisket, barleywine salumi, and pickled chard and beet stems. That board was followed by the exceptional striped bass sashimi, plated with an astringent slice of black radish and polka dots of sticky bourbon barrel soy sauce. A horseradish and bok choy purée stood in for wasabi, offering a subtler, more vegetal burn.

Courses proceeded sensibly, alternating between cold and hot, clean and rich. The sashimi was followed by a crawfish hushpuppy with a crisp, light exterior and a soft but structured crumb. The interior was striated with Napa slaw, which kept the ‘puppy moist but not gummy, and a moat of tangy red pepper aioli ticked off many of the same boxes as a Cajun remoulade.

With 24 hours notice, the restaurant will design a tasting menu to meet any dietary restrictions. When I saw Davis on a recent visit, I mentioned that a couple of my vegan friends were grateful to have an option for a nice night out. “It’s just hospitality,” he said, adding that no one should have to feel like their tastes or values were an inconvenience.

Freshwater might be the living antidote to that tired joke structure meant to denigrate anyone doing more than the moral minimum (How do you know if someone’s vegan? They’ll tell you). Everything on the menu here is seasonal and local and sustainably sourced, and no one is the least bit smug about it. The servers don’t seem interested in parading the pedigree of the duck or the provenance of the (locally foraged) mushrooms. If you want to know from which murky Midwestern lake your crisp-skinned

CAFE

piece of walleye emerged, you’ll have to ask.

The cocktails here have perhaps the longest shelf life. I didn’t love the “Party @ Margot’s,” a rum- and pear-forward cocktail that tasted harsh and oversweet. Better was the literally named “Sour Grapes.” Fermented grapes and citric acid were softened by a politely frothed egg white, yielding a tart but not puckery drink with a mild flavor despite the navy-strength gin.

But my favorite was “The Rockefeller,” a bourbon-based invention courtesy of bartender Marlon Kayhill (Marlon’s a hospitality pro; if he’s working, consider dining at the bar). A ghost-chili salt rim sounded like a novelty but shrewdly amplified the drink’s wintry warming spices while challenging its sweetness.

Reviewing Freshwater in the winter seems almost unsporting. The blonde wood

EVERYTHING ON THE MENU HERE IS SEASONAL AND LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLY SOURCED, AND NO ONE IS THE LEAST BIT SMUG ABOUT IT.

and minimalist floral decorations seem built to be bathed in gauzy summer light (in the winter, the main dining room can seem dim and sedate). And any restaurant that restricts itself to seasonal produce is necessarily working with a limited palette come January.

But Davis and Hindman don’t seem to have run out of ideas. On a recent visit, I cooed over deep pink rosettes of smoked steelhead trout coiled alongside a spoonful of roe and a smattering of chubby pickled shallots. A beet crème fraiche added visual interest to the plate, though I could have done without its discordant earthiness.

I was even more impressed by a plate of golden beignets stuffed with soft and savory Braunschweiger. Although the beignets arrived room temperature, they were perfectly conceived. Each sultry beignet was dressed

From full service to express drop-off and everything in between, you can rest assured that you will get the menu and service you need to make your celebration a success!

Above, from left: the charcuterie board, crawfish hushpuppies, and milk chocolate pàté.

ZACH BAUMAN

with abrasive shavings of pickled carrot and jalapeno and tacked to the plate with a creamy mustard sauce that added piquancy to the rich filling without overpowering it. The result was a surprisingly fresh and light-tasting beignet, a welcome contradiction in terms.

Perhaps because of the restaurant’s leantimes ingenuity, I wanted to love the “winter vegetable garden,” a showcase of everything left after the umpteenth frost. The plate was visually pleasing: knobby wedges of confit sunchoke, a silky smear of turnip puree, and an “alium dashi” made from the scraps.

But the delicata squash was unpleasantly

Brancato’s

CATERING

BrancatosCatering.com sales@BrancatosCatering.com 816.765.4707

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

13

dispensary

First in KC to Offer

Durban

HEMP CBD Flower BUD LOW THC Cannabis - below 0.3% THC IT’S REAL! And Lab Tested - ask us for full lab results on any product

juicy fruit

SALE

$5 on select grams 1/8 ounce $15 - Terminator, Ringo, Cherry 1 & 5 $20 - Durban $25 - Sherbert, Juicy Fruit 1/2 ounce $50 - Durban Please call for bulk and wholesale inquiries Full array of CBD and terpene products Largest selection in KC

ringo

2 locations inside the Vapor House River Market

uplifter

110 E Missouri Ave, Kansas City, MO 64106 816 977-8848

Raytown

9500 E 55th St, Raytown, MO 64133 816-506-4284

emeraldgardencbd.com Resident Nurse on Staff Seeking Investors for MMJ licensing.

Contact Gerry at EmeraldGardenCBD@gmail.com

sherbert

terminator

Notice to government agencies:

What is contained here might look like marijuana, but it is actually legal industrial hemp flower grown in compliance with the Agricultural Act of 2014, 7 U.S.C. §5940 (2014 Farm Bill).

Federal law, in particular, 7 U.S.C. §5940(b)(1), entitled “Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research,” encourages growing, cultivating, and marketing industrial hemp products pursuant to these pilot programs, and by the rights and protections thereby established.

According to 7 U.S.C. §5940, the term “industrial hemp” means the plant Cannabis sativa L, and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9 THC) concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis. Only the Delta-9 THC level is relevant, not THC-A. As shown by the enclosed Certificate of Analysis, this hemp flower has a Delta-9 THC level on a dry weight basis will below the 0.3% maximum level and, therefore, this flower is hemp, not marijuana, and is perfectly legal to possess. This right applies in any state pursuant to the Full Faith and Credit Clause, Article VI, Section 1 of the Constitution, the Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution, and the Equal Protection Clause, Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

CAFE

WELCOME HOME

TO THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION crunchy, and the components never quite gelled into something greater than their sum. Other missteps were equally mild. The texture of a flavorful pork rillette skewed chalky instead of creamy, and the promised gouda was too subtle to be detectable.

Although Freshwater doesn’t have a pastry chef, Davis and Hindman still manage to turn out inventive desserts. These, too, change regularly, although you can expect variations on a theme. On one visit, I sampled a silky milk chocolate mousse swirled with sticky bourbon caramel; by my next visit, those ingredients had been transformed into a firm slice of “milk chocolate paté.”

The most satisfying dessert I tried was Davis’s knafeh, a nest of thick, noodle-y pastry that married the candied nuttiness of baklava with the texture of a county fair funnel cake. A sidecar dollop of ricotta and duck egg yolk ice cream had an almost bubblegum-like fruitiness, stunning enough that I could forgive the ice cream’s slight graininess.

Freshwater may be my favorite (re) opening of the year, but I’ll make a “your mileage may vary” disclaimer: the dining room is clean and cozy, but it ain’t luxe. I can imagine some fine dining veterans being deterred by the spindly — if I’m feeling cranky, uncomfortable — wooden chairs and bar stools. Ditto the chocolate-brown dropped ceiling tiles that evoke a 1970s travel agency, or the gusts of cold wind that billow around window-adjacent tables whenever someone walks through the front door (fortunately, this is an infrequent intrusion; most diners enter the restaurant from the rear parking lot).

I can also imagine some well-heeled expense accounters with permanently affixed cardigans complaining about the informal staff, with their visible tattoos and piercings and their ironic George Michael playlists and their failure to announce each course in the reverent tones of a golf announcer. Service here is always warm, but it isn’t obsequious. For me, that’s a feature. For others, it may be a bug.

I don’t generally like making a fuss about people’s ages, but it’s hard not to see both the restaurant’s informality and focus on sustainability as hallmarks of a younger generation of chefs. With Freshwater, Davis has found a way to unite two adjectives that seem irreconcilable: exciting and accessible.

On my way out of the restaurant (through the front door, to the scowls of a nearby table), a friend proclaimed it “the working man’s fine dining.” I’d narrow that (and gender-neutralize it) to “the working millennial’s.” Hey, we may not be able to retire until we’re cyborg octogenarians choking down the ash of a fossil-fuel scorched earth. But until then, at least we can afford a good meal.

Discover a church that speaks to your life, challenges your mind and inspires you to make a difference in the world.

New January Sermon Series JANUARY 6 – FEBRUARY 3

One church with four locations.

Join us for worship this weekend. cor.org

Leawood

IT’S HARD NOT TO SEE BOTH THE RESTAURANT’S INFORMALITY AND FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY AS HALLMARKS OF A YOUNGER GENERATION OF CHEFS.

13720 Roe Ave. Leawood, KS 66224 Saturday & Sunday Evenings 5 pm Sunday Mornings 7:30, 9:15, 11 am

West

24000 W. Valley Parkway Olathe, KS 66061 Sundays 8, 9:30 & 11 am, 5pm

Pitch_1/4FootballSeries_Dec18.indd 1

Downtown

Blue Springs

1601 Grand Blvd.

Kansas City, MO 64108

601 NE Jefferson St. Blue Springs, MO 64014

Saturdays 5:10 pm; Sundays at 9 & 10:45 am, 5 pm

Sundays 9:30 & 11 am

12/18/18 11:42 AM

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

15

FOOD

New Year, New Food THE PLACES WE’RE MOST EXCITED TO DINE AND DRINK IN 2019. BY APRIL FLEMING

Pictured, gluten free macnugget bowl Strips Olathe serving the Best Lunch in KC as voted by The Pitch readers in 2018!

Kansas City produced a bumper crop of new and ambitious restaurants in 2018, and the forecast calls for a bountiful harvest in 2019.

Below, a preview of where we plan to drain our bank accounts in the coming year.

Farina

1901 Baltimore, KCMO

gro w n by han d

made by han d

816.2 21 .75 59 | blu ebi rdbi s tro. c om 17 00 Su mmi t Street

16

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

Likely the most anticipated opening of 2019 comes from James Beard Award winner Michael Smith. Farina, located at the corner of 19th and Baltimore, is the manifestation of Smith’s years-long transition toward Italian cuisine, inspired by his travel throughout the region. Smith wants Farina to feel less intimidating — no white tablecloths or heavy drapery — than his original eponymous restaurant, which currently operates next door. (That restaurant will become an event space when Farina opens.) Farina will be warm and contemporary in design and in service, Smith tells us.

As for the menu: pasta is the star, with no fewer than 10 different fresh, handmade varieties of the dish available every day.

Among them will be what Smith describes as the “four kings of Rome” — cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, and bolognese — as well as more modern, creative presentations.

Farina will also feature a prominent raw bar in its front window facing 19th Street; oysters, raw fish and crudos, and selections from Japan will be available.

“We’ll treat these fish like sushi, but with Mediterranean flavors — olive oil, citrus, even caviar,” Smith says.

Fox & Pearl

2143 Summit Street, KCMO Vaughn Good and Kristine Hull closed their Lawrence restaurant Hank Charcuterie last spring, and in the fall they debuted their new concept, Fox & Pearl, on the Westside, at 815 W. 17th Street (the old Novel space). That’s a temporary space, though. They’ve been building out their permanent home a few blocks away, and it will be much bigger than the careful-with-your-elbow-there confines of their current location. “With Hank, I did it mostly on my own, and figured it out as I went,” Good says. “[With the new space], we have clear vision of what we need and want this restaurant to be, and a team who’s passionate about the project helping it all come together.”

At 2143 Summit, they’ll have a woodfired hearth in the kitchen, a curing chamber for Good’s celebrated charcuterie, and

Get ready for Farina.

even a large outdoor space for guests. Good says he can’t wait to start cooking over open fire — a natural progression of his rustic, unpretentious, ingredients-first style.

Sayachi Sushi and Oyster Bar 6322 Brookside Plaza, KCMO

Since opening his flagship Veracruzan seafood restaurant, Jarocho Pescados y Mariscos, in 2014, chef Carlos Falcon has been hailed as one of — if not the — best seafood chefs in the city. Though Falcon is Mexican and known for Mexican regional cuisine, he’s no stranger to the flavors of Japan: his wife and partner, Sayaka Gushi Falcon, is originally from the country, and the couple often travels there to visit family.

Omakase tasting menus have also become a fixture at Jarocho, offering customers 12-15 expertly prepared chef ’s-choice bites in one sitting.

This spring, Falcon plans to expand his local footprint with the opening of Sayachi Sushi and Oyster Bar, fittingly in the former Brookside home of Domo Sushi. Falcon will be bringing in an executive chef to execute the concept, which is to utilize his seafood

feb 9 th • 11:30am vip, 12Pm ga • THE MADRID THEATRE

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW! VISIT THEPITCHKC.COM/tickets FOR MORE INFO A PORTION OF PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT

SPONSORED BY:

7 2 1 2 Y R A U JAN 1/2 PRICE SAND WIC HES ALL WEEK LONG AT EAC H OF THE FOLLOW ING LOCATIONS:

EL FOGÓN

Carnitas Torta

Mexican bread with beans, carnitas, cheese, pico de gallo, avocado, lettuce, and mayo.

4037 Mill St, Kansas City, MO elfogonkc.com | 816-982-9945

GRILL RED DOOR

SMITT Y’S

SONGBIRD

CAFE

Pimento Turkey Melt

Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwich

Turkey Pesto Panini

6324 Brookside Plaza, Kansas City, MO reddoorgrill.com | 816-621-3424

8811 State Line Rd, Kansas City, MO eatatthegarage.com | 816-731-1455

1529 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO songbirdcafekc.com | 816-492-5234

Shaved turkey, RD Pimento cheese, jalapeños, and bacon on oven-toasted sourdough bread.

Avocado, grilled chicken, fire roasted corn, black beans, pico, and lime juice served on grilled Texas toast with lettuce and tomato.

House-made pesto, roasted turkey breast, brie, organic greens, tomato, and onion, with mayo, pink himalayan salt, and ground pepper, served on Farm to Market whole grain, sourdough, or marbled rye bread.

THEPITCHKC.COM/SANDWICHWEEK

D TAVERN

AFTERWOR

CAFFETTERÍA

The Porkberry

Pear, Cranberry, & Rosemary Grilled Cheese

Cured and braised pork belly with housemade savory strawberry compote, local sugar pea shoots, and creamy Havarti cheese on grilled naan.

Open-faced grilled rosemary-olive oil ciabatta, fontina, gorgonzola, slices pears, cranberry apple chutney, arugula, and rosemary with wild greens and champagne honey vinaigrette.

Served with house made potato chips.

1834 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO afterwordkc.com | 816-569-3001

25 On The Mall, Prairie Village, KS caffetteriamoderncafe.com | 913-744-3100

DER CAFE

HOMESTEA

LEW’S

OPER’S C HARLIE HO

Impossible Meat-Noaf Sandwich

Plant-based meatloaf served on Farm to Market Texas toast with red pepper harissa aioli, lettuce, tomato and muenster cheese.

Can be modified to be Vegan.

12 W 63rd St, Kansas City, MO charliehoopers.com | 816-361-8841

MO BREW

Meatloaf Melt

Pork Tenderlew

Bippity Boopy

100 E 7 St #100, Kansas City, MO thehomesteadercafe.com | 816-474-8333

7539 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, MO lewsgrillandbar.com | 816-444-8080

1403 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO mobrewkc.com | 816-492-6183

Chef Jeremy’s amazing meatloaf topped with grilled onions and melted swiss cheese, sandwiched between two slices of potato bread.

Just add a side of mashed potatoes for the perfect meal.

ONION THE BRASS

Giant, hand-breaded tenderloin fried golden brown topped with lettuce, tomato, and onion on a brioche bun and served with housemade horseradish sauce.

THE LEVEE

Choice of bread, turkey, salami, pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, oil/vin, mayo, and mustard.

THE WELL

New Yorker

Cubano

The Mahomes

5501 W 135th St Overland Park, KS thebrassonion.com | 913-851-5940

16 43rd St, Kansas City, MO thelevee.net | 816-561-5565

7421 Broadway St, Kansas City, MO waldowell.com | 816-361-1700

Grilled New York strip, gruyere, gorgonzola, roasted garlic aioli, applewood smoked bacon, and arugula on a toasted “New Yorker” onion roll.

Poppyseed Hoagie, Smoked Pulled Pork, Smoked Ham, Bacon, Pickled Onion & Gruyere, and Jalapeño Mustard.

A Tower of fried mac and cheese, grilled ribeye, swiss cheese, house made jumbo tater tot, onion rings, and finished with Sriracha ketchup on a fresh ciabatta roll and topped with cheese curds.

#OURPITCH | #KCSANDWICHWEEK

FOOD

Hull and Good are approaching the final Fox & Pearl destination.

APRIL FLEMING

ably ready to get Pigwich and the butcher shop under the same roof in a more accessible part of town. They’ve settled on a prominent new location in the City Market: the former home of Winslow’s BBQ. Look for expanded offerings and a more streamlined service model, both on the butcher side and at Pigwich, which will have a larger menu in the new space — new sandwiches, fries, desserts, and even wine and beer alongside the current menu of classics.

Urban Cafe

5500 Troost, KCMO

connections to bring in fresh, unique catch for a small menu of sashimi, nigiri, and even custom maki rolls. An oyster bar, too — those omakase dinners will be a regular component of the new restaurant.

Local Pig/Pigwich

20 East 5th Street, KCMO Since 2012, chef Alex Pope and partner Matt Kafka’s Local Pig butcher shop, and

its sandwich-shop-in-a-storage-container extension, Pigwich, has been isolated on its own meat-loving island in the East Bottoms. Many customers (me) liked it this way, but Pope and Kafka are understand-

5091 Johnson Dr., Mission, KS 66202

913-362-7770

3395 Main St.,

In January 2017, chef Justin Clark’s Urban Cafe opened at 41st and Troost to broad acclaim — such broad acclaim that he quickly outgrew the space. While buildout is being completed just down the street at 5500 Troost, Clark is operating out of his Urban Cafe food truck, serving healthy vegan chickpea tacos and salads in addition to his signature pork belly sandwich with Asian slaw and sambal oelek aioli. Clark’s new location will allow him to serve more custom-

3801 S. 291 HWY 705 SE Melody Ln.

Kansas City, MO 64111 Lee’s Summit, MO 64086 Lee’s Summit, MO 64063

816-561-7176

816-537-9851

816-524-5515

Buy 6 donuts get one specialty i tem

FREE Breakfast  Brunch  Lunch  Cocktails 4059 BROADWAY / (816) 931-4401 / THECORNERKC.COM

20

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

FOOD

ers and expand his menu, offering a wider variety of healthy dishes with locally sourced ingredients in an area where it’s hard to find non-fried foods.

Ragazza

4301 Main Street, KCMO Laura Norris’ Ragazza, on Westport Road, is a local fave for its classic Italian family recipes (including the city’s best eggplant parm), excellent service, and cozy location.

But at just 1,000 square feet (including the kitchen), the Westport Ragazza was awfully tight. So we’re eager to dine at the new home of Ragazza, at 43rd and Main, in the former home of the Nature’ Own grocery store, where a full renovation is ongoing.

Once the doors open, expect those same tuck-you-in recipes, winning service, and a little more room to breathe.

Strawberry Hill Brewing Company 601 Central Avenue, KCK

Homebrewers Derek Kemp, Larry and Ben Murray, Phil Kuzila, and Joe Collins have been making beer for years, but it wasn’t until a warm reception at the KC Nano-

brew festival that they considered an actual brick-and-mortar location. The group is currently building out a brewery in an enviable spot in KCK, at 6th and Central, just steps from Slap’s BBQ and Splitlog Coffee.

Plan to sip on a rich stout (the Long Road Ahead), a hoppy IPA (the Wyandotte), a tart Berliner Weisse, a bramber, and a hefeweizen by early 2019.

Percheron (inside the Crossroads Hotel) 2101 Central Street, KCMO

Though the new Crossroads Hotel boasts a solid modern Italian restaurant (Lazia) and perhaps the city’s best hotel bar (XO), its biggest draw is yet to come: Percheron, the hotel’s huge rooftop bar, complete with nearly 360-degree views of the Crossroads and downtown. (The name is a reference to the horses associated with the Pabst Blue Ribbon company; the building was previously home to a Pabst bottling and distributing location). Chef Remy Ayesh, who is executive chef for all the projects in the Crossroads Hotel, is developing a menu of small plates and charcuterie that should pair well with Percheron’s menu of Italian spritzes and aperitif-style cocktails. Fur-

thering the Italian theme, customers can play Bocce while overlooking the skyline.

It’s set to open this spring.

The rooftop perch at Percheron.

APRIL FLEMING

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

21

EAT

Eat ThisNow THE GRILLED CHICKEN AT POI-Õ

Chef Carlos Mortera — he of the wonderful Mexican-Korean sandwich spot The Bite, in the City Market — has opened a new restaurant on the Westside, with his father, Carlos Mortera, Sr. Poi-õ (1000 W. 25th Street) sells whole and half chickens grilled over wood fire, along with adobo-glazed ribs and a range of sides: kimchi fried rice, wood-fired carrots, and creamy elotes. While the ribs are pretty damn good, the chicken is at the heart of this small menu, and it’s exceptional — well worth driving across town for (and if you’re lucky enough to be in the neighborhood, picking up as often as possible).

The birds are tender, juicy, and perfectly seasoned, and served with warm tortillas, spicy pickled carrots, and a tangy cilantro chimichurri. And at $8.50 for a half chicken or $16 for a whole bird, this place is an absolute steal. --April Fleming

22

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

APRIL FLEMING

DRINK

Drink ThisNow

PLAID HABIT FROM BOULEVARD BREWING COMPANY We find we require something a little stronger to get us through these long, dark winter months. Boulevard’s new limited release, Plaid Habit, understands. It has a hearty 13.9% ABV (and you can taste it — very boozy!), but this Imperial Brown Ale is also smooth and sweet, having aged gracefully for 18 months in just-emptied, 10-year Canadian rye whisky barrels. The first thing you’ll taste is that rye, but it quickly gives way to subtle vanilla, maple, and caramel notes, though without the headache-inducing syrupy sweetness common to similar beers. Because of that booziness, Plaid Habit’s a sipper. So, take your time. It’ll warm you from the inside out. --April Fleming

APRIL FLEMING

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

23

ARTS

JEFF, NORM & DAVE TBA TBA REX PRYOR SONG CIRCLE 2PM THURS 1/10 BARCLAY BROTHERS WED 1/9 JEFF, NORM & DAVE FRI 1/11 RAINNA COBB, BEN BROCK, CJ GRECCO SAT 1/12 ROCK PAPER SCISSORS 5PM BALKAN BROTHERS W TRACER HEIGHTS 9PM WED 1/16 JEFF, NORM & DAVE THUR 1/17 TBA FRI 1/18 MARTY WALL’S RAMBLERS SAT 1/19 WOMEN ON THE RISE - LADIES MIC 3PM WED 1/23 JEFF, NORM & DAVE THURS 1/24 TBA FRI 1/25 TBA SAT 1/26 FRED WICKHAM AND THE HADACOL CARAVAN WED 1/30 JEFF, NORM & DAVE THURS 1/31 NACE BROTHERS ACOUSTIC TRIO FRI 2/1 BOB & UNA WALKENHORST SAT 2/2 NATE BROTHERS BAND

LIVE MUSIC

WED 1/2 THURS 1/3 FRI 1/4 SAT 1/5

1515 WESTPORT RD. 816-931-9417

FRIDAY FRIEND NIGHT

FRIENDS AND FAMILY NIGHT. GRAB THE GANG AND COME BOWLING! FAMILY VALUE PACKS • • • •

2 hours of bowling Shoe rental (5 people) 1 pitcher of pop 1 large nachos

$52.99 • • • •

2 hours of bowling Shoe rental (5 people) 1 pitcher domestic beer 1 large nachos

$56.25

1020 S Weaver, Olathe KS, 66061 913.782.0279 | missionbowl.com

24

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

Conducting Research MAP OUT THE FIRST HALF OF 2019 WITH THIS HANDY GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS. BY LIBBY HANSSEN

Every so often — and often late at night — when I’m writing about a performance, words fail me, and I helplessly explain to my imagined reader: “Dude, you just had to be there.”

It wouldn’t necessarily make my writing easier if more of you were actually there — I’d still have to write the damn piece — but in that general spirit, I’ve compiled below a list of classical shows you really should get yourself to in the first half of 2019. It was hard to boil down. But here’s one … or two … sometimes three … shows per month I highly recommend, from sternum-rattling compositions from two hundred years ago to post-genre spinechillers from the here and now.

but undeniably banging “Carmina Burana”), from Friday, March 29, through Sunday, March 31, at Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. That same weekend (March 30), the Lyric Opera of Kansas City presents “Penelope,” a sort of Odyssey-from-the-female-perspective song cycle.

APRIL For a sumptuous take on historically informed performance, Friends of Chamber Music brings Atalante back to Kansas City. The show explores John Milton’s brush with the Illuminati in Venice in the 17th century. Friday, April 5, at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Founded by Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth, the all-women tenThing is a blast of brass power.

Sunday, April 7, Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

JANUARY With his ever-growing international reputation and busy touring schedule, Behzod Abduraimov rarely plays recitMAY als in town, despite his status Park University artist-in-residence Behzod Abduraimov’s star is rising.

For the third straight year, as artist-in-residence at Park University’s International Center for Music. crotonal music. In what is quite possibly a May’s First Friday in the Crossroads will be So this is a special one. Saturday, January 19, once-in-a-lifetime event, the University of visited by some uncommon entertainment at the 1900 Building.

Missouri-Kansas City’s Conservatory of courtesy of the Kansas City Chamber MuThough it is over 100 years old, Igor Music and Dance hosts a weeklong resi- sic Festival, hosted by newEar ContempoStravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” is a dazzler dency featuring his instruments, specially rary Chamber Ensemble. Friday, May 3, at — it lies on the flashier, more modern end trained performers, concerts, demonstra- the Bauer.

Bringing to near completion the enof the canon for good reason. It’s being per- tions, and scholarship. February 13-22, mulformed as part of Kansas City Symphony’s tiple locations. tire Gustav Mahler symphonic cycle, maestro Michael Stern leads the orchestra in retrospective program, alongside work from Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, its absurd and Rachmaninoff, Nielsen, and Griffes. Friday, MARCH January 25, through Sunday, January 27, at The freaking San Francisco Symphony is indelible majesty like a prolonged sunset — Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for stopping in Kansas City, courtesy of the but more kick-ass. Friday, May 17, through the Performing Arts.

Harriman-Jewell Series, as part of music Sunday, May 19, Helzberg Hall at the Kauffdirector Michael Tilson Thomas’ final US man Center for the Performing Arts.

FEBRUARY “Resist,” from Musica Vocale, takes on tour with the orchestra. And they’re going to We have two chances this month to hear rock Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. I live for this. issues of art in politics, immigration, and opthe music of Kurt Weill, born 1900. First is Thursday, March 21, at Helzberg Hall at the pression. Sunday, May 19, location TBA. via Brad Cox in Owen/Cox Dance Group’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

JUNE “What Keeps Mankind Alive” (featuring Commemorating the 50th anniversavocalist Krystal Warren), Friday, February ry of the Stonewall Riots, Heartland Men’s Kansas City Symphony decodes Edward 1, through Sunday, February 3, at Musical Chorus explores the history and significance Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” and Anna Theatre Heritage. Then, on Wednesday, Feb- of the LGBT rights movement with its sig- Clyne’s “Masquerade” as part of its Clasruary 9, at the Michael & Ginger Frost Pro- nature heartfelt style in Stonewell 50. Satur- sics Uncorked series, Thursday, June 13 at duction Arts Building, the Lyric Opera’s Ex- day, March 23, and Sunday, March 24, Folly Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for ploration Series hosts a cabaret-style “Mack Theater. the Performing Arts. KCS ends its season a the Knife is the Man I Love.”

March also brings a double whammy week later with Mussorgsky’s ever-popular Harry Partch — aka the “Hobo Com- from composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Friday, June 21, poser,” born 1901 — built his own instru- Her work will be performed by Kansas City through Sunday, June 23, also at Helzberg ments to fulfill his creative vision of mi- Symphony (along with the often-parodied Hall.

Full Page JANUARY Pitch Ad - 9.75 X 11.5.qxp_Layout 1 12/18/18 2:58 PM Page 1

The CBD Industry’s Leader is Manufactured Right Here in KC!

CBD American Shaman

™

CBD American Shaman is the highest quality, full spectrum cannibidiol on the market:

• State of the art Nanotechnology increases absorption and delivery time of CBD to your blood stream • Nanotechnology ensures our products are incredibly efficient and cost effective • Both our legal and lobbying efforts have assured legal access to CBD in Kansas and Missouri • Two Doctors on Staff — Third party lab tested • Grown and processed/extracted in the USA americanshamanfranchise.com/locations.php MISSOURI Blue Springs 1412 MO-7-Suite G Blue Springs, MO 64014 (816) 295-1921

Gladstone

Independence-A

Independence-B

Kansas City

8038 North Oak Trafficway Kansas City, MO 64118 816-381-6333

19321 E. US 40 Highway Independence, MO 64055 816-491-2452

9025 E. US Hwy 40 Independence, MO 64055 816-210-4053

1415d W. 39th Street Kansas City, MO 64111 816-541-3144

Lee’s Summit

Liberty

Parkville

Kansas City-103rd

1638 SE. Blue Parkway Lee’s Summit, MO 64063 (816) 434-5059

1005 Middlebrooke Drive Liberty, MO 64068 (913) 249-7794

6302 N. Chatham Ave. Kansas City, MO 64151 (816) 702-1042

1036 W. 103rd Street Kansas City, MO 64114 (855) 526-6223

KANSAS Bonner Springs 608 Tulip Drive-Suite G Bonner Springs, KS 66012 (913) 568-1713

Leavenworth 728 Shawnee Street Leavenworth, KS 66048 913-250-5277

Gardner

Johnson Drive-A

Johnson Drive-B

611 E. Main Street Gardner, KS 66030 (913) 271-3120

5810 Johnson Drive Mission, KS 66202 (913) 766-9906

5727 Johnson Drive Mission, KS 66202 (913) 766-9906

Lawrence 1530 W. 6th Street-Suite C Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 424-7500

Olathe

Overland Park-75th

Overland Park-87th

Overland Park-151st

13624 S Blackbob Road Olathe, KS 66062 (913) 324-1520

6933 W. 75th Street Overland Park, KS 66204 (913) 217-7476

10069 W. 87th Street Overland Park, KS 66212 (913) 217-7123

7703 W. 151st Street Overland Park, KS 66223 (913) 647-3999

Paola

Shawnee

Monticello (Shawnee)

118 W. Peoria Paola, KS 66071 (913) 271-3120

13213 Shawnee Mission Parkway Shawnee, KS 66216 (913) 766-0430

22354 W. 66th Street Shawnee, KS 66226 (913) 745-5034

Our Products Include: • Body Lotion • Canine Tincture • Capsules • Clearomizers • Concentrate • Edibles

• Equine Elixir • Equine Ointment • Face Cream • Feline Tincture • Lip Revitalizer • Tincture

• Topical Serum • Under-Eye Serum • Vaporizer (Rechargeable) & USB Charger • VG Cloud Tincture • Water Soluble

Buy 2 Water Soluble or VG Cloud These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. For use by adults 18 + • Keep out of reach of children. Should not be used by pregnant or breast feeding women.

Tincture Products (300mg/30mL) and

GET ONE FREE OFFER EXPIRES JANUARY 31, 2019

*Our Hemp Oil products contain high amounts of Cannabidiol (CBD), are all-natural and extracted organically with CO2, Gluten free, organic, non GMO Hemp, and have no heavy metals or insecticides. They’re Terpene rich, and batch tested. thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

25

MUSIC

Patron Saint SISTER ANNE’S RECORDS AND COFFEE CARRIES ON THE LEGACY OF ITS NAMESAKE, FORMER RECYCLED SOUNDS OWNER ANNE WINTER. BY AARON RHODES

Starting around the age of 15, Jim Oshel began volunteering at events put on by Recycled Sounds, the Midtown record shop that operated at the corner of Westport Road and Main Street from 1988 to 2006. He applied for a job with frequency, writing the required essay to the shop’s owners, Anne Winter and Kurt Von Schlemmer, about why he wanted to work there. Oshel proudly recalls the day that Winter — a sort of mother figure to the entire Kansas City music scene during those years — finally offered him the gig.

“I go up to the counter, I have some Latin jazz, some punk rock, some funk and

soul, a country record,” Oshel says. “I had something from eight different corners of the store. [Winter says,] ‘You listen to all this stuff? C’mon, kid.’”

Frank Alvarez came to Recycled Sounds via a different path. He ran his own record store, Abba Zappa, three blocks away, and was friends with Winter. One day, she walked into Alvarez’s shop and offered to buy him out — to bring him and his inventory to Recycled Sounds. Alvarez had been slowly souring on the idea of running his own store, so he accepted the offer.

“At that point, I was about 10 years in

Winter nter!

Schmi Spend your calories thoughtfully with a touch of Foo's!

26

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

(Open daily for foolishness.)

High priests Alvarez (left) and Oshel.

AARON RHODES

the game already, and I thought, ‘I know everything,’” Alvarez says. “I went to work for her [Winter] and learned so much more.”

Despite her proclivities for the punk and garage rock she played on her “Orphan Annie” KKFI radio show, Alvarez remembers the wide variety of music that could be found in her store. “There was someone there that specialized in every kind of music,” he says.

“There was the hip-hop person, the punk rock person, there was a person that knew classic rock. Every base was covered.”

Not long ago, Alvarez and Oshel opened Sister Anne’s, a record store and coffee shop inspired — in both name and philosophy —

by Winter, who died in 2009.

“I want to do what Anne taught us to do,” Alvarez says. “She taught us to just be good people, help people find the music

they’re looking for, provide a space in Kansas City where they can find out about music, come in and talk about music, and just do what we can for the whole scene.”

This new venture, which is planted two blocks west of Troost, on 31st Street, has been baking for some time — Oshel and Alvarez talked about starting a record store together back when they were roommates and working together at Recycled Sounds.

When the shop closed, in 2006, Alvarez went to work at Vinyl Renaissance, Oshel to Broadway Cafe. More than a decade later, Mark Galloway, the owner of Windhorse Tattoo, moved into new digs on 31st Street.

Galloway had worked with Oshel at Mercy Seat Tattoo previously, and alerted him to some extra space in the building. Oshel and Alvarez decided it was finally time to open their own place — and to fill it to the brim with quality records and tasty roasts.

“I started drinking coffee when I was five and never stopped,” Oshel says. He calls the new shop’s coffee and music offerings a “perfect synergy.”

At Sister Anne’s, the duo is already hard at work nourishing the city’s music scene. Its distance from the bustling retail destinations of the Crossroads and Westport — it’s two blocks west of Troost — sets it apart from much of the competition. And the shop is hosting shows as well: an opening-night party featuring sets from Hipshot Killer and Emmaline Twist, a tape release show for Devil’s Den. The shop’s spacious back room is a welcome addition to the city’s roster of all-ages venues, which has been fluctuating this past year.

Most of all, though, Sister Anne’s is Winterlike — warm, friendly, knowledgeable.

Walk in, and Oshel will probably be manning the coffee counter. If business is slow, Alvarez will be whipping around on his skateboard outside. “This is the only thing I’ve done since 1985,” Alvarez says. “I get up and come to a record store. That’s what I do.”

Sister Anne’s is located at 901 E. 31st St., Kansas City, MO.

MUSIC

River Flows

CREDIT

IT’S BEEN A GOOD YEAR FOR ANNA ST. LOUIS AND HER MEANDERING FOLK TUNES.

BY AARON RHODES

When she moved to Los Angeles from Kansas City five years ago, Anna St. Louis wasn’t some starry-eyed striver with dreams of becoming a famous musician.

She hadn’t even considered the possibility of making music as a profession. She just wanted a change, and she had some family out there.

“I wasn’t tapped into a scene or community, so I had to find new people and new music,” St. Louis says.

She had played in several punk and punk-adjacent KC bands, though. You can find decade-old footage on YouTube of St. Louis singing in the bratty act Crap Corps, and she appears on tracks from the rudeand-crude local band Hairy Belafonte.

And around 2010, St. Louis started playing in sludgy psych acts like Torben and Bloodbirds. But then she was gone, off to L.A. A few years into life on the West Coast, St. Louis posted a few demos online.

“I was kinda just experimenting with sharing it with people,” she says. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is so fun.’ It was something I was getting lost in.”

St. Louis gradually got a little more serious about the music. She came back to the Midwest and recorded some songs at a studio in Iowa, with the help of her former Bloodbirds bandmates, Mike and Brooke Tuley. She planned to release the songs herself. But then she shared the recordings with an old friend: Kevin Morby.

The two had been friends since high school and played on some of the same KC punk bills back in the day. When she passed along her music, Morby was in the process of creating his own label, Mare Records, which is an imprint of Wood-

PHOENIX NATURAL WELLNESS, LLC full line of

American Shaman CBD Products NOW OPEN!

sist, the prolific indie label founded by Morby’s former bandmates in Woods.

(Woodsist also released Morby’s first two solo albums.) Morby loved the tracks. First Songs, as the collection came to be called, ended up being St. Louis’ debut and Mare’s second release.

First Songs showcased St. Louis’ knack for writing enchanting, minimalist folk and stirring country-blues tunes — these are songs that gently echo around your head for hours after listening. They made an easy fan out of Kyle Thomas, better known as the Sub Pop garage-rock titan behind King Tuff. He met St. Louis at an L.A. bar playing darts.

“I thought she had a very great energy,” says Thomas, “and then I found out she had grown up with Kevin, and it made a lot of sense to me.”

Before long, Morby and Thomas went to work co-producing St. Louis’ debut fulllength, If Only There Was A River, which was released this fall.

“When she brought the songs to me, all of them were just on acoustic guitar,” says Thomas. “Her songs were great because they were kinda just a blank canvas to work on. That’s really where I have fun in the studio, giving each song its own personality.” “[Kyle] had lots of comments and suggestions, and we talked a lot about how we write,” St. Louis says. “He gave so much to the whole recording process.”

Thomas says the fact that St. Louis didn’t start writing songs until her late twenties means she’s not hung up on rigid ideas of songwriting, which allows for surprising quirks and arrangements to find their way into the music. He recalls a moment in the recording of “Hello,” in

Tinctures Water Soluble Pet Health Vape Products Edibles Soaps Topicals

2 LOCATIONS

9627 W. 87TH STREET 7932 W. 151ST STREET OVERLAND PARK, KS OVERLAND PARK, KS 913-730-8520 913-257-5717 www.phoenixnaturalwellness.com

CHANTAL ANDERSON

which St. Louis made an unorthodox shift in time signatures, throwing him and drummer Justin Sullivan for a loop.

“It’s just something you don’t hear people do when they’re more stuck in their ways,” Thomas says. “I think she still has fresh ideas that only happen in the early part of a songwriter’s career.”

Since the release of the album, St. Louis’ profile has been steadily rising.

Pitchfork gave If Only There Was A River a glowing review and called St. Louis “one of the year’s most promising new singer-songwriters” (which somehow still only equated to a score of 7.5). And St. Louis did a set of East Coast-Midwest tour dates opening for (and playing bass with) Waxahatchee. St. Louis says she, Sullivan (who performed on the tour in his band, Night

Shop, and drummed for Waxahatchee), and Katie Crutchfield (who leads Waxahatchee) got to be a tight-knit unit on the three week trek.

“It was more of, like, a group effort,” says St. Louis. “I felt like we were all really invested in everybody’s sets and their experiences.”

The final stop of that tour came in Lawrence — a show on the final day of summer, at the White Schoolhouse, on the outskirts of town. A fire crackled out back as St. Louis performed from a wooden deck to a small sea of friends and fans sitting in the grass. The sun had disappeared from the sky about an hour before her set, leaving revelers with an unobstructed view of one of the brighter stars this area has produced in a long while.

Medical Marijuana Advertising Friendly Contact Stephanie for more information Stephanie@thepitchkc.com 816-218-6702 thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

27

MUSIC

Estilo Loco THE WORLDLY, POLITICAL, CONTAGIOUS HARDCORE OF MENTIRA. BY AARON RHODES

Ricardo Flores arrived in Kansas City a few years ago for a job with the Mexican consulate, which is located down in the Crossroads. He came from Orlando, and before that Mexico City, and before that Chiapas, one of Mexico’s southernmost states, where he was born and raised.

Flores is 30 and came of age in the early days of the internet, where his first glimpse of punk culture came via a friend who had downloaded Ramones clips and skate videos soundtracked by ska bands.

As a teen, and into his twenties, he formed punk bands, which weren’t particularly common in the sparse rock scenes in places like Puebla and Chiapas. Most of the bands, Flores says, sounded like Oasis or the Doors. And the shows tended to be sketchy.

“It was all kids from a very low-income background in really rough neighborhoods that always lacked the minimum services expected in a somewhat developed city,” says Flores. “There was a lot of

substance abuse, alcoholism, and violent macho attitude related to soccer gangs.

Still, those are the most raw shows I’ve ever been to.”

By the time he graduated high school, Flores found himself interested in law — partially, he believes, due to the cynical and inquisitive worldviews his punk-rock upbringing encouraged. He studied in both Puebla and England, and since graduating law school he has chosen to focus on helping others, rather than embracing the more lucrative opportunities lawyering can provide.

Hence his work with the consulate, where he counseled Mexican immigrants on their rights, helped them find financial assistance, and communicated with immigrants and their relatives to facilitate transportation between countries when a family member was sick or dying. When I first spoke with Flores, a year ago, he said that, apart from a rising fear inside the Mexican community he interacts with,

little had changed in terms of policy since the inauguration of Donald Trump.

But things are different now. ICE detentions nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017.

Removals rose as well. Flores resigned from the consulate earlier this year due to what he calls the constant “red tape” that comes with the work.

“I also started to have friction with my supervisors, which led to me making some unpopular decisions regarding some cases that made them very unhappy,” Flores says.

“Therefore, they didn’t want to renew my yearly contract — something I knew would happen at the time.”

He goes on: “Consular work, especially regarding Mexico and the United States, is a very amazing but exhausting thing.

You get overworked, underpaid, and never thanked, but still, the stories you get to become part of and the ability you have to help even in a very small way — it’s something that no one can take from you and makes it worth it.”

After getting married earlier this year, Flores waited for his permanent residence card for several months longer than it had taken others in the area in years past. The amount of interviews required to be granted permanent residence — and, following

that, citizenship — will also likely increase in the coming years. Through his work these days, at Cross-Lines Community Outreach, Flores says he has met immigrants from Central American countries that have had their temporary protected status (TPS) work permits revoked under Trump.

“Regulations have gotten harder,” Flores says, “but I feel like they’ve always been hard. I remember hearing old horror stories from immigrants. To me, it was always awful, it was always terrible, but people didn’t care as much back then because, maybe, Obama was a nicer face to look at, and he wouldn’t talk about things that Trump does. But there has been a change.”

Cross-Lines helps in providing basic relief to immigrants and others living in poverty. But without the work permit he’s waiting on, any full-time position where Flores can use his knowledge of the law and help to the fullest extent — not to mention gain some tangible peace of mind — remains outside his grasp.

The personally dispiriting process of immigration and the increasingly outrageous decisions of the current administration are enough to drive even the most sane of us up a wall. Thankfully, Flores

Concerts are held in Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

(816) 471-0400 / kcsymphony.org

FUN, FEEL-GOOD MUSIC FOR THE NEW YEAR!

Maria Ioudenitch

Classical Concert

Kansas City Symphony presents

Pops Concert

Friday & Saturday, January 11-12 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, January 13 at 2 p.m.

Thursday, January 17 at 7 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, January 18-19 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, January 20 at 7 p.m.

RUSSIAN ROMANTICS: TCHAIKOVSKY and GLAZUNOV Andrey Boreyko, guest conductor Maria Ioudenitch, violin

(Underwritten by the Almy Legacy Fund)

STRAVINSKY Chant funèbre GLAZUNOV Violin Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY Suite No. 3 Three Russian composing giants. Passionate and freewheeling masterworks. Tickets from $25.

28

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

CLASSICS UNCORKED: GRAMMY® GREATS

Jason Seber, David T. Beals III Associate Conductor

We’ve handpicked some of the best Grammy® Award-winning music for a showcase in the world-class acoustics of Helzberg Hall. You’ll hear excerpts from the film “Up” by Michael Giacchino, an arrangement of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” and much more. After the concert, enjoy a complimentary glass of wine or champagne.

Most tickets $25. Sponsored by

AN EVENING with LYLE LOVETT and the KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY Jason Seber, David T. Beals III Associate Conductor

Lyle Lovett fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, blues and gospel. Lovett’s eclectic performance style guarantees a captivating experience in his first-ever Helzberg Hall performance with his Small Band and your Kansas City Symphony. Tickets from $40.

Sponsors include Harvest Productions and Associated Audiologists.

Mentira at DIY house Second Base, 2017.

AARON RHODES

has a sturdy outlet. He and three friends play in one of the most punishing Kansas City punk bands in recent memory.

•

•

•

One of the few things Flores knew about Kansas City prior to moving here was that Beta Boys, a punk act now based in Olympia, Washington, was once a KC band. Not long after arriving, he met Dakota Shipp, a former member of the group, who introduced him around the KC punk community.

“I’ve been playing in punk bands for 10 years [and] I was really not trying to start another hardcore band,” says Anthony Manganaro, a staple of the KC punk community. “But then I met Ricardo and saw he had the drive to get over here and create his own path in life. [I wanted to] hear what he had to say. I was like, ‘Yup, I’ll start another hardcore band with this guy.’”

Mentira formed in 2016 — Shipp and Josh Holloway rounded out the quartet — after quickly bonding over a love of modern Spanish punk bands. By the end of that year, a bruising, six-song demo was complete. It’s

something like global hardcore, weaving the Spanish psychedelia of acts like Una Béstia Incontrolable and Destino Final into the aggressive drive of British d-beat and Japanese hardcore.

But the use of Latin rhythms and grooves is what really distinguishes Mentira from its peers. At countless dank Midtown basements and cramped DIY venues, the cumbia and reggaeton drum patterns played by the band have peeled away even the most committed wallflowers and thrusted them into the mosh pit.

The songs shift tempo on a dime and operate at dizzying speed. Mentira generates an almost primal desire to move around.

“If you’re not making people dance, you’re fucking up!” Manganaro says, paraphrasing the influential funk drummer Bernard Purdie.

This distinctive style of punk — “estilo loco” the band members have called it — is beginning to receive attention from the national DIY community. Thrilling Living, the independent punk label of former Maximum Rocknroll coordinator Grace Ambrose, just released Mentira’s new 7-inch, Toda Tu Vida Es Una Mentira. The songs were recorded in Manganaro and Shipp’s apartment above Rico’s Tacos Lupe (after taco hours) on Southwest Boulevard. Mentira also recently completed its first tour of the West Coast, an outing

made more difficult due to the fact that Flores can’t fly, given his current immigration status.

These frustrations make it into the songs. Flores’ lyrics embrace punk’s eternally popular themes — inequality, injustice, pain in general — but do so from a perspective that rarely reaches Midwestern ears. For example, the new EP’s final song, “La Trengua,” was inspired by the stories of Chiapas author Rosario Castellanos, who wrote about the clash of Western and indigenous cultures — and the ensuing tragedy and suffering — in southern Mexico. On the title track, Flores sings about the self-imposed ignorance many people engage in for the sake of their own joy.

“Naturally we look for distractions — I do that as well — because you want to live your life happily,” Flores says, in regard to the existence of things like police brutality, poverty, animal exploitation — take your pick. “But it’s hard, once you see the truth.”

There isn’t really a happy ending to this story. Maybe there’s a lesson, though: we can fight to make the world a more livable place for oppressed people, and we might as well dance to Mentira like our lives depend on it.

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

29

FILM

Season of the List AS THE AWARDS SHOWS APPROACH, PONDERING THE BEST FILMS OF 2018. BY ERIC MELIN

From scripting to casting to production and editing, movies take a long time to produce.

So it makes sense that 2018 was the first year we’ve seen films really reacting to the growing sense of global anger and alienation that set it sometime around the second week of November 2016.

Many of the year’s best films had a sense of mounting dread and dealt directly with themes of otherness, while others chose the route of immersion — mind-melding audiences with their lead characters and forcing them to walk a mile in their shoes. In a year that we needed empathy, we got a lot of it — in mainstream movies and independent sleeper hits.

Put simply, the best films of 2018 were transportive. Choosing just ten of them to represent 2018 felt impossible, so I cheated a bit here at the beginning, grouping together two of the most delightfully dark, subversive, and all-or-nothing comedies in years. Enjoy.

10. Sorry to Bother You and The Favourite In writer-director Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, Oakland-based telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) climbs the corporate ladder in an absurdist near-future where stressed-out citizens sign lifetime work contracts in a legal slavery-for-profit scheme. It’s disgusting, but having everything paid for is “worry-free.” There’s a prevailing air of futility, so when “Cash” — who literally lives in a garage — sees a way out, he goes for it, even if it means selling his soul.

The prisoners of The Favourite are three royal women (Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone) locked in a power struggle in a gaudy 18th Century mansion. This deliciously vulgar film, from director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster), is miles away from the standard costume drama. It shoots Queen Anne, Sarah, and Abigail with fisheye lenses, which is appropriate, given that they behave like animals at the zoo. Screw realism — The Favourite embraces anachronism and absurdity to highlight the rampant sexism and ridiculousness of the insulated world in which these women reside. But where Riley goes into full-on, hilariously abnormal territory by the end, Lanthimos pulls back just a hair to reveal the tragic sadness beneath all the desperate game-playing.

30

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

9. Shoplifters The setup for this thorny drama from celebrated Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda sounds like it could be a preachy, miserable experience, but it’s anything but. A poverty-stricken family in Tokyo lives on the fringe of society and does what it can to survive, and their loyalty is tested when outside forces interfere. We’ve all seen variations on the “family is what you make it” theme, but Shoplifters challenges the way we perceive familiar story arcs and forces its audience to take a more nuanced view of things. A closeup view of the way the Shibatas operate reveals their compassion for each other, but the film doesn’t settle for easy classifications.

Beware: This one may shake you.

8. Private Life It’s been 11 years since writer-director Tamara Jenkins’ last movie — the expertly nuanced family drama The Savages, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney — and it was worth the wait. Private Life arrives in similarly sharpened fashion, detailing the trials and tribulations of a middle-aged NYC couple (Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti) trying to conceive. Ground down from IVF fails, medical ignominies, and false starts with surrogates, their desperation leads them to make a decision with all kinds of awkward implications. Jenkins understands from experience the intricacies of how relationships are tested in this way, and Hahn and Giamatti give voice to their contradictions while retaining their relatability. Newcomer Kayli Carter gives one of the best performances of the year in a supporting role.

7. Black Panther Marvel’s Black Panther is full of breathtaking visuals, from the richly designed Afro-futuristic backdrops and costumes of the fictional kingdom of Wakanda to the sweeping shots of a landscape unencumbered by intrusion from the rest of the universe. But this comic-book adaptation from writer-director Ryan Coogler does more than just give voice to an under-represented filmgoing demographic — it re-writes the history of slavery.

The Wakandans have lived in isolation and are smarter, more beautiful, and more powerful than the rest of Earth’s population. The bad guy who threatens their peaceful way of life (Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger, the real star of the movie) is an African-American, full of resentment and honed into a deadly weapon by the U.S. government. And although Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) knows the decision will destroy their way of life forever, he accepts his civilization’s moral responsibility and shares Wakandan secrets at the U.N. to better the world. Did I say Sorry to Bother You and The Favourite were subversive? Fuck that: Coogler sold this allegorical morality play and celebration of black culture as a superhero film.

6. Cold War Eighty-four minutes is all it takes for writer-director Pawel Pawliowski to turn the traditional idea of a lush European romance on its head with Cold War. Forgoing a wides-

creen color palette for stark black-and-white cinematography and a 4:3 aspect ratio, the Polish auteur behind 2015 Oscar winner Ida has crafted a deeply felt tribute to his own parents’ unlikely love story. Set in 1950s Poland, Cold War introduces an up-andcoming music director (Tomasz Kot) and a talented but rough young singer (Joanna Kulig). Their volatile courtship morphs in surprising ways — even with other partners — over a decade across the Iron Curtain, but the inordinate pull they exact on each other through it all cannot be denied.

5. First Reformed Paul Schrader is perhaps best known as the screenwriter of Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, but he also wrote the book on transcendental cinema, a style that values stillness, minimalism, and reverence for the viewing experience. With First Reformed (like Cold War, also shot in 4:3) he follows those tenets for the first time in his directing career, to devastating effect. Ethan Hawke plays a grieving priest who confronts the specter of climate change with a religious seriousness.

As he counsels a young couple, the power of their convictions are transferred to him, and by turn, the audience. First Reformed channels Hawke’s experience and plants us in his headspace, leaving us to ponder the cause of his increasingly worrisome behavior. When Schrader — spoiler alert — then breaks the transcendental rules, we are deeply invested, and the result is devastating. Or thrilling. Or both.

4. You Were Never Really Here As experiential as First Reformed but in a more expressionistic way, You Were Never Really Here, from writer-director Lynne Ramsay, embeds us with Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), a suicidal veteran suffering from severe depression and PTSD. Somewhere outside of the terrifying confines of his mind, the

FILM

semi-familiar plot of a hitman crime drama appears to be forming. Filtering those details through his damaged psyche, however, isn’t easy. Ramsay embeds us so thoroughly with Joe that his violent version of morality and justice begins to make sense to us, especially when he discovers government agents participating in a sex trafficking cover-up for a politician. Jonny Greenwood’s throbbing score is one of the best of the year, magnifying Joe’s raw desperation and alienation from pretty much all of society. That he surprisingly finds a kindred soul by film’s end, I suppose, is a small light at the end of the tunnel.

3. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

The earnest empathy of Mr. Rogers in this expertly conceived biopic documentary from Morgan Neville (You’ll Miss Me When I’m Dead, 20 Feet From Stardom) provides a much-needed antidote to the steady stream of cruel rhetoric that comes from the White House daily. Rogers’ slow, measured speaking tonality has long made adults wonder if there’s something “off ” about the children’s TV host. But it’s actually true that his life was as simple as it appeared to be. He was fully dedicated to idea that there’s no greater need than healthy childhood development and that TV was the way to reach those kids.

Neville explores the depth and sincerity of Rogers’ beliefs, and throws into perspective all the ways that he focused on concepts like equality and kindness with his audience. These days, the man in the red sweater seems downright revolutionary.

2. BlacKkKlansman In that same vein, the most seething indictment of modern American culture that came out last year is set in the 1970s and based on a story that’s almost too wild to be true. Black Colorado Springs police officer Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan over the phone, becoming a card-carrying member, while his white Jewish partner (Adam Driver) met the racist conspirators in person. University

of Kansas film professor Kevin Wilmott and director Spike Lee re-wrote the screenplay given to them by producer Jordan Peele, and it’s a masterclass in exposing stupidity and hypocrisy. Lee lets the absurdity of the story be its own joke, so BlacKkKlansman becomes ridiculously funny and heartbreaking in almost equal measure. The lines to today’s resurgence of white nationalism may be drawn too clearly for some, but fuck ‘em. We all need to hear it.

1. Roma Shot by director Alfonso Cuarón in black and white, using digital cameras that capture 65mm-level clarity and detail, Roma is about as immersive an experience one can have this side of virtual reality. Cuarón makes the personal universal, translating his own childhood memories of growing up in 1970s Mexico City into a vivid cinematic journey.

By telling the story from the point of view of a live-in housekeeper — an indigenous woman named Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) — he highlights the ways in which people compartmentalize certain aspects of life, and the complicated ways we relate to others. Cleo is essential to making the family work, but she stands just outside of it. In dramatizing the intimacy she shares with them, Cuarón also the makes clear the distance between them. Even though its extended takes and all-enveloping sound design are meticulously designed, Roma is a rapturous example of how movies can capture and illuminate life, seemingly unadorned.

SCARED OF SANTA WINNER

Not so merry Congratulations to the winner of our 2018 Scared of Santa Photo Contest! Thank you to all who shared pictures that had us laughing our way through the holidays.

THE BUSIEST IN KC IS LOOKING FOR THE BEST IN KC

NOW HIRING SKILLED JEWELERS WATCHMAKERS SALES PROFESSIONALS WE’VE GROWN AND SO HAS OUR BUSINESS. SEEKING SKILLED INDIVIDUALS TO JOIN OUR TEAM. EXCELLENT PAY & BENEFITS. STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES & EQUIPMENT. WORK WITH OTHER SKILLED JEWELERS AND WATCHMAKERS.

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

31

SAVAGE LOVE

Dump ‘em Out ARE THERE TIMES WHEN IT’S OK TO DELAY AN INEVITABLE BREAKUP? BY DAN SAVAGE

Dear Dan: I’m a thirtysomething straight woman married for 16 years. Eighteen months ago, I met a man and there was an immediate attraction. For the first 15 months of our relationship, I was his primary sexual and intimate partner, as both sex and intimacy were lacking in his marriage. (My husband knew of the relationship from the start and is accepting for the most part.) After my lover’s wife found out about me, she suddenly became very responsive to my lover’s sexual and emotional needs. My lover has told his wife that he will not let me go. He has also told me that he is not willing to let his wife go. She isn’t happy about being in a triad relationship, but she allows him to continue seeing me with limitations. I am no longer his primary sex partner, and I have been relegated to the back seat. He claims to love us both, yet his wife and I both struggle knowing the other exists. Recently while out shopping, my lover asked me to help him pick out a Christmas gift for his wife. I got upset because I am in love with him, and I have made him my priority (over my husband), but I am not his priority. I love this man, and we feel we are soulmates. My lover has said that if we fall apart, he will have to find a new secondary partner because his wife can never give him the soulful fulfillment he needs. Should I continue in this relationship?

––Soul Mate Avoids Choice Knowingly Dear SMACK: You complain about being relegated to the back seat, but it’s your husband whose existence only comes up in parenthetical asides. You also describe this relationship as a triad when there are four people involved (you, your lover, your lover’s wife, and your husband), which technically makes this a quad. And from the sound of things, only one member of this messy quad seems happy — your lover, the guy who refuses to make you a “priority” over his wife.

And while you’ve convinced yourself that your lover feels as strongly for you as you do for him — “we feel we are soulmates” — it kindasorta sounds to me like you may be projecting, SMACK. Because in addition to asking you to pick out Christmas gifts for his wife, your lover and alleged soul mate regards you as expendable and replaceable.

And he’s told you as much: He intends to “find a new secondary partner” if you two part because his wife doesn’t “give him the soulful fulfillment he needs.” That’s not how people talk about their soulmates, and it’s certainly not something a guy says to someone he regards as his soulmate. Soulmates are typically told they’re special and irreplaceable, but your guy sees you as one of many potential seconds out there, and therefore utterly replaceable.

Here’s what you ought to do: You ar-

32

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

en’t interested in being your lover’s secondary partner (nor are you much interested in being your husband’s wife), so you’ll have to call your lover’s bluff. And the only card you have to play — and it’s a weak hand (all hands with just one card are) — is to dump your lover unless he leaves his wife for you.

Success rests on the outside chance your lover was bluffing when he said he’d replace you, but I suppose it’s possible he regards you as the irreplaceable one and only said those hurtful things to make you think he wouldn’t choose you when you are the one he would’ve chosen all along. If it turns out that this was the case, SMACK, you’ll wind up with your soul mate…who happens to be kindasorta cruel and manipulative.

Calling your lover’s bluff — ending a relationship that, in its current form, brings you no joy — is your only hope of having this guy to yourself. But the likelier outcome is that you’ll be left alone (with, um, your husband).

Dear Dan: My boyfriend and I met at a bondage party a year ago. He’s not into bondage (he tagged along with a kinky friend). We hit it off in the chill-out room and started seeing each other. He told me it was okay for me to keep going to bondage parties and seeing some guys I play with one-on-one. Then right after we moved in together, he said he doesn’t want me playing with anyone else because we are in love. Which means I can’t get tied up at all anymore because he has zero interest in bondage.

He can’t see why I’m upset, and I’m not sure what to do.

––Boy In New Drama Dear BIND: So now that you’re in love, and now that you’ve signed a lease, and now that you’re trapped, now — NOW — your vanilla boyfriend yanks back the accommodation that convinced you to date him in the first place? There’s only one thing you can do: DTMFA. Dear Dan: I am 30 and male, and I have been with my girlfriend for five years. For a slew of reasons (we have almost no interests/hobbies in common, our personalities are completely different, we aren’t sexually compatible), I have decided to end it. She’s a good, smart, well-educated person for whom I wish only the best. I’m thinking of breaking up with her sometime this week or halfway through next year. I know you believe someone should tell a partner about these sorts of feelings ASAP to avoid robbing them of time they could have spent fixing the situation or moving on. Something inside me tells me that my case is different. My girlfriend is a graduate student in a non-tech/STEM field (read: hard to find jobs) and has a decent

amount of school debt. We also have a dog. We live in a city where the rents are high and it’s harder to find a place that will allow dogs. (She will definitely be taking the dog.) The thing is, she would almost certainly want to move out immediately if we broke up. I’m worried that if she tried to absorb the financial hit of a breakup, it might torpedo her education and life plans. I am at a loss for what to do. She’s leaving in a week to visit her family for a month — should I dump her before then so she can lean on them? Should I wait until she graduates but dodge questions about where I’m willing to move if she gets a job offer somewhere else?

––Deciding Ultimately Means Pain Dear DUMP: As a general rule, one should never drag out an inevitable breakup. We should break up with people promptly to spare our exes the humiliation of thinking back over the last few months or (God forbid!) the last few years and recalling every painfully ambiguous or deceitfully upbeat conversation about Our Shared Future. Another good reason to break up with someone promptly: A person (not the person) your ex could spend the rest of their life with might cross their path two months from now — and if they’re still with you then or still reeling from a very recent breakup, they won’t say yes (old-fashioned) or swipe right (newfangled).

But there are exceptions to every rule, DUMP, and I think your case qualifies. And as with many exceptions to many rules, your exception honors the spirit of the rule itself.

Both reasons I cite for breaking up with someone promptly — to spare your soonto-be ex’s feelings, to get out of the way of your soon-to-be ex’s future — are about being considerate of your soon-to-be ex. And that’s just what you’re doing: You want to end this relationship now, but you’re going to wait six months because you don’t want to derail your soon-to-be-ex girlfriend’s education or career prospects. So out of consideration for her, DUMP, you should coast for a bit longer.

Question for Dan? E-mail him at mail@savagelove.net. On Twitter at @fakedansavage.

not your average bridal event SAVE THE DATE!

JANUARY 27 UPTOWN THEATER DON'T MISS SPECIAL PERFORMANCES BY 2018 BEST OF KC'S BEST MUSICIAN

CALVIN ARSENIA Early bird tickets available at thepitchkc.com/tickets

Call 816-218-6702 to get your business exposure at this one-of-a-kind bridal event!

EVENTS • Voted KC’s Best Gentleman’s Club • Oldest Adult Club in Missouri • 70 Girls • VIP Lounge • Great Place to Watch Sporting Events • Full Service Kitchen • Cover Friday & Saturday ONLY! • Premium Bottle Service

January Events For more events, visit local.thepitchkc.com

30 seconds East of the Power & Light District 2800 East 12th St., Kansas City, MO 64127 816.231.9696 • KcShadyLady.com

JAN. 3

JAN. 11-13

American Aquarium, The Granada

Russian Romantics: Tchaikovsky and Glazunov, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Press Play, The Riot Room Fruition, Knuckleheads Saloon

JAN. 3-6 Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire in concert, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

JAN. 5

Armani’s Play House Known For Our Entertainment, Got a Event Give Us A Shout.

Ben Johnson, Knuckleheads Saloon

JAN. 11

JAN. 12 Chris Thile, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Frank Werth, VooDoo Lounge Goodfellas, Alamo Drafthouse Jackson Taylor & The Sinners, Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club

JAN. 13 Gone With The Wind, Alamo Drafthouse

JAN. 15-20 The Sound of Music, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

JAN. 16-20 Showgirls • Private Parties • Events • Perfection Globalcartel816@gmail.com – Now Hiring

Cirque Du Soleil: Crystal, Sprint Center

816-301-6075

JAN. 18

Girls!Girls!Girls!

Dueling Pianos, VooDoo Lounge Playmates and soul mates...

The Yellowjackets, Folly Theater Cory Wong (Of Vulfpeck), RecordBar Chris Knight Band, Knuckleheads Saloon

30 minute Free trial 18+ 816-841-1577 // 913-279-9202 34

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

Kansas City:

816-841-1521

18+ MegaMates.com

JAN. 18-19 The Band That Fell To Earth, RecordBar

EVENTS

JAN. 18

JAN. 21-27

Toadface, Uptown Theater

A Return of Shooting Star, Ameristar

The Pitch’s Specialty Sandwich Week Participating restaurants include: Afterword Tavern, The Brass Onion, Caffetteria, Charlie Hooper’s, El Fogon, The Homesteader Cafe, The Levee, Lew’s Grill and Bar, Mo Brew, Red Door Grill, Smitty’s Garage, Songbird Cafe, and The Well.

Eric Johnson plays Ah Via Musicom, Madrid Theatre

JAN. 23

Love8, Uptown Theater

Disturbed, Sprint Center

Sam Bush, Knuckleheads Saloon

JAN. 19

Jesse Cook, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland

JAN. 24

TIC

K

S T E

Visit thepitchkc.com/tickets to find the hottest events in KC.

Luxury Bump With DJ Marcobiotics & Special Guests, The Riot Room Mike Stud, The Granada Swan Lake by the Russian National Ballet, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

JAN. 25 El Monstero, Uptown Theater Gin Blossoms, Ameristar Tech N9ne, VooDoo Lounge Trampled By Turtles, The Truman

JAN. 20

Hippo Campus, The Truman

JAN. 26 Casey Donahew, The Granada Lyle Lovett, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts To Kill A Mockingbird, Alamo Drafthouse

Madison Ward And The Mama Bear, The Truman

th • THE• THE feb feb 9 th • 911:30am MADRID THEATRE MADRID THEATRE

Do you need a ticket platform for an upcoming event?

Email us at stephanie@thepitchkc.com thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

35

EVENTS

JAN. 27

JAN. 29

UnBridaled, Uptown Theater

Meet Dr. King, Folly Theater

JAN. 28

Still Woozy, with Dreamer Boy, RecordBar

Gnash, RecordBar 40 Years of Bauhaus with Peter Murphy and David J, The Truman

E COM

Bayside (acoustic), The Granada

M

U

EB

T RA

JAN. 31

TY

CEL

NI

WA L D O W E E K

20

19

B

U

8

TH

FE

R

AR

Y 22ND

-

2

WALDO WEEK SHO P, D IN E , PATRONI Z E WALDO BUSI NESSES AND GE T 2 5% OF F O F SE LE C T MERCHANDI SE AND SERVI CES AT PA RT I C I PAT I NG ME R C HANTS DURI NG THI S ONE TI ME A YEAR E V E NT. #WaldoWeekKC

36

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

waldokc.org

Save the date!

Taco Week mA

4 R. 18 -2

FOLLOW THE EVENT PAGE ON FACEBOOK FOR UP TO DATE INFO!

MARKETPLACE

WEATHER PERMITTING

LOCAL 2000

1000

EMPLOYMENT

REAL ESTATE/RENTALS

BACCALA’ STRIP CLUB NOW HIRING DANCERS

VALENTINE NEIGHBORHOOD $400-$850 Rent 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments & 3 Bedroom HOMES. Colliers International. EHO

816-753-5576

Contact Frank 7pm-3am Mon-Sat

CALL TODAY!

816-231-3150

3000

KS-KCKS | $515-$615 913-299-9748 HEAT & WATER PAID...

NO GAS BILL! KCK 25 acre setting. 63rd & Ann 5 minutes west of I-635 & I-70.

One bedroom $505. Two bedroom $620. No Pets Please. You CAN NOT BEAT this value! Don’t miss out on this limited time offer!

4000

BUY, SELL, TRADE

WANTS TO purchase minerals and other oil & gas interest. Send details to P.O. Box 13557, Denver, CO 80201

KITCHEN CABINET AUCTION

SERVICES

Peakauction.com

LEGAL Scared? Anxious? Confused?

HELP IS HERE DWI, Solicitation, Traffic, Internet Crimes, Hit & Run, Power & Light Violations, Domestic Assault Criminal Defense Attorney David M. Lurie 816-221-5900 www.The-Law.com

Call NOW! MUCH NICER THAN THE PRICE!

910

AUCTION DATE: 1/30/19

7000

MUSIC/MUSIC ROW Piano, Voice, and Guitar lessons

Available from professional musician and instructor. Instructor teaches in a fun and meaningful context from ages 4 to the young at heart. Sessions are 1⁄2 hour and 1 hour. Students who sign up before January 31st will receive $5 off For more info Please call/text Kathleen 913-206-2151 or Email: klmamuric@yahoo.com

Classifieds

steven@thepitchkc.com 816-218-6732 THEPITCHKC.COM

FREE SA MPLES

LEGALS

Largest seLection of cBD ProDucts in Kansas city!

LEGAL City of Fountain School allows participation in its activities, services, events and programs by persons of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation or gender.

ATTORNEY SINCE 1976 KS/MO Injuries, KS Divorce, All Family, Juvenile & More.

FREE CONSULTATION Greg Bangs 913-345-4100

Hemp Oil Tincture, Topical, Edibles, Lotion, Lip Balm and E-Juice

400 E 18th Street, KCMO, 64108 • 816-474-7400 Thecbdstores.com

Gifts & Decor

NOW HIRING HOUSEKEEPERS | HOUSEPERSONS SERVERS | BUSSERS

Swords & More

Best Kratom Prices in Kc! Loyalty program for Kratom cBD products • Smoking accessories • Metaphysical Essential Oils • Swords • Knives, Figurines

mOn-Sat 10am-8pm

913.782.4244

Employment Opportunities Link to

APPLY: www.arborlodging.com/careers FOLLOW US AT LIKE US AT

Sun 12pm-6pm

@PHILLIPS_JOBS

123 S. mur-Len, OLathe, KS 66062

HOTEL PHILLIPS

The following vehicles will be sold at public auction on Wednesday, January 30th, 2019 unless claimed by owner and all tow and storage charges are paid in full.

For information, please contact Insurance Auto Auction at 913-422-9303.

YR MAKE/MODEL

VIN#

YR MAKE/MODEL

VIN#

2017 Ram 1500

1C6RR7LT6HS650471

2016 Dodge Grand Caravan

2C4RDGBG3GR136105

2010 Dodge Charger

2B3CA32VXAH170710

2001 Nissan Altima

1N4DL01D31C238148

2000 Pontiac Bonneville

1G2HY54K5Y4280124

2002 Nissan Altima

1N4AL11D42C213690

2002 Dodge Ram 1500

1D7HU187025566298

2003 Chevrolet Avalanche

3GNEK13T23G198986

2000 Honda Accord

1HGCG5675YA094281

2007 Ford Edge

2FMDK49C77BA21951

2006 Chevrolet Silverado

2GCEK13T061130689

2008 Kia Spectra

KNAFE121485520494

2000 Oldsmobile Bravada

1GHDT13W3Y2212061

2000 Ford Explorer

1FTYR14V2YPB00978

2017 Honda Civic

SHHFK7H55HU229704

1998 Jeep Wrangler/TJ

1J4FY49S0WP744982

2014 Dodge Avenger

1C3CDZAB5EN224711

2013 Hyundai Sonata

5NPEB4AC0DH656353

2013 Chevrolet Malibu

1G11H5SA0DF273208

2004 Nissan Xterra

5N1ED28T04C603941

2016 Hyundai Elantra

KMHDH4AE1GU564959

2007 Toyota Prius

JTDKB20U677087101

2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer

1GNDT13S072177326

2009 Nissan Cube

JN8AZ28R89T120153

2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser

3C8FY78G84T322261

2003 Nissan Altima

1N4AL11DX3C290047

2006 Suzuki GSX-R600

JS1GN7DA562100422

2014 Toyota Camry

4T1BF1FK7EU371920

2009 Dodge Charger

2B3KA33V19H584708

4RACS1015DC037097

2017 Chevrolet Traverse

2013 Interstate West Corporation Utility Trailer

1GNKVGKD9HJ113381

1FMCU03Z98KB05773

2004 Isuzu Ascender

2008 Ford Escape

4NUDT13S242104824

2013 Nissan Sentra

3N1AB7AP2DL703551

2010 Hyundai Elantra

KMHDU4AD4AU867163

2FTRF07W33CB03216

2017 Ford Focus

2003 Ford F150

1FADP3H25HL308351

4T4BE46K99R102768

2016 Hyundai Accent

2009 Toyota Camry

KMHCT5AE7GU242195

2012 Suzuki GSX1300

JS1GX72A6C2101507

2007 Dodge Caliber

1B3HB48BX7D562955

2013 Toyota Camry

4T1BF1FK8DU294649

2010 Dodge Caravan

2D4RN5D12AR434259

3GNEK13T82G140461

2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse

2002 Chevrolet Avalanche

4A3AC44G03E180921

5 miles from Montauk State Park and Current River.

Many of these vehicles run and drive. If you are looking for cheap transportation, don’t miss this auction/sale. We welcome all buyers. Terms of auction: All sales are “as is” “where is”. No guarantees or warranties. Paper work to obtain new title will be $75.00 Per vehicle. No guarantee that paperwork will produce title. Bidding will be number only. Terms are cash or certified check. Vehicles must be paid for in full at end of auction. No exceptions.

All sales are final. No returns.

NEWto see& what RESALE ALL AREAS | ALL PRICES Want your Short Sales-Foreclosures-Condos Townhomes-Single Family Homes.

CALL NOW 38

home is worth?

Sharon Sigman, rE/maX STaTELinE 913-488-8300 or 913-338-8444 www.FormLS.com

THE PITCH | JANUARY 2019 | thepitchkc.com

Spacious one-bedroom cabin, sleeps four. $ /night

85

25 one-time cleaning fee

$

901-233-4496

INSURANCE AUTO AUCTION 2663 SOUTH 88TH ST. KCKS, 66111 | 913-422-9303

WH E R E NE I G H BORS A RE B E ST F R I E ND S Eastland Court 816 -363-9684

Senior Apartments Rents Starting at $1,020/mo.

BRAND NEW, 1&2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS FOR THE ACTIVE ADULT (55+)

NOW LEASING!

Free Heat, Electric, Cable, Water & Garbage Small Pets Welcome!

Close to Shopping, Restaurants, and Places of Interest

In-Suite Washer and Dryer

Emergency Call Systems

Central Air Conditioning

Beauty Salon & Large Community Room

Patios/Balconies

Fitness Center

Smoke-Free Living Elevator/Secure Entry

19301 East Eastland Center Court | Independence, MO 64055 eastlandcourt@clovergroupinc.com

Scared? Anxious? Confused?

HELP IS HERE! DWI, Solicitation, Traffic, Internet Crimes, Hit & Run, Power & Light Violations, Domestic Assault

Now Hiring For Numerous Departments

● $30 parking per month ● Generous travel discounts ● Vacation & PTO pay ● Holiday pay

● Discounted bus passes ● 1 free meal per shift ● Medical ● Vision ● Dental

Criminal Defense Attorney

David M. Lurie

816-221-5900 www.The-Law.com

Apply in person at 1329 Baltimore Ave, Kansas City, MO 64105 Questions? Call HR at 816-303-1629

1/2 month off special 1 bed. | 1314 SQ. FT. $1375

Attorney Since 1976

913.345.4100

Greg Bangs

for a FREE consultation

DOCTORS Medical Marijuana Questions?

CBD Plus 7422 Wornall Rd For Info call:(816) 701-6358

816-741-5040 | 2109broadwaylofts.com

Call

MARIJUANA Join us with our friends at:

available Jan. 5th 2 bed. 2 bath | 1477 SQ. FT. $1515

KS/MO Injuries, KS Divorce, All Family, Juvenile & More

MISSOURI

Saturday January 12th, 3-5 PM THEPITC HKC.COM

GET YOUR EXAM

204 Admiral Blvd KCMO www.mmd.clinic

1-844-DOCTALK

thepitchkc.com | JANUARY 2019 | THE PITCH

39

WALK OFF THE EARTH MAY 17

HAIRBALL

A BOMBASTIC CELEBRATION OF ARENA ROCK

JANUARY 11

TECH N9NE JANUARY 19

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Tickets available at VooDooKC.com or Ticketmaster.com/voodookc or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Located minutes from Downtown Kansas City. Unlimited Free Parking.

Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-888-BETSOFF. Subject to change or cancellation. Phone and online orders are subject to service fees. Must be 21 years or older to gamble, obtain a Total Rewards® card or enter VooDoo®. ©2018, Caesars License Company, LLC.