Arts & Culture

Stories and videos about music, dance, visual and performing arts and film in the Kansas City metro.

Sympathetic Vibrations | A Well-Oiled Machine

The music business has stood on rather volatile ground for the past two decades. Piracy — and a momentous shift in the way people consume music — shook the foundations of what had become something of a predictable business model. The major labels are still reeling from the blows, largely spending the last 15 years…

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Face paint is okay, but what's with the shoulder pads, dude? (Photo: Pat Sullivan | AP)

The Eight Most Annoying Things Fans Do 

We all know the Royals have some of the most passionate and knowledgeable fans in baseball. But even the best can go overboard. “Fan,” after all, is short for “fanatic,” and the level of crazy rises as a team gets deeper into the postseason. We all start acting like lunatics. Myself included. Nevertheless, it’s best…

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Royals take second-straight AL pennant, and head to World Series

(Associated Press) The Kansas City Royals are headed to the World Series. The Fall Classic begins Tuesday in Kansas City, pitting the Royals against the New York Mets. The Mets won their last World Series crown in 1986, one year after the Royals claimed their lone title. The Royals wrapped up their second straight American League pennant last night by outlasting the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in Game 6…

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Ira Glass, host and producer for NPR's “This American Life,” brings the show to the Kauffman Center for “Reinventing Radio: An Evening With Ira Glass,” on Saturday. (Credit: Stuart Mullenberg)

The Weekender

Let’s hope the Royals clinch the pennant in Game 6. The team would avoid the stress and peril of a Game 7, plus get an extra day of rest. Frankly, fans could use the break, too. We’d get an extra night to enjoy all the fabulous, non-baseball-centric stuff to do around town. Here’s a few…

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J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain

Kansas City is flowing blue… again

Editor’s Note: This story, which originally published October 3rd, 2014, has been updated. Daniel Boothe contributed to the story. Six of Kansas City, Missouri’s, fountains, as well as several privately-owned fountains and fountains owned by surrounding cities are dyed bright blue to celebrate the Royals making it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. It…

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A little version of some big art: The ‘Mini Vinnie Bini’

Since 1895, Italy has been the only host of one of the art world’s biggest events: the Venice Biennale. But this year – thanks to the artist collaborative Blanket Undercover – a little bit of the Biennale is coming to Kansas City. The Mini Vinnie Bini, open through Jan. 1, 2016, is a small-scale reproduction of…

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NASCAR at Kansas Speedway

The Weekender

Let’s get this out of the way quickly. Game 1 of the ALCS is Friday night. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. Game 3 is Monday night. There’s your weekend. If you absolutely insist on doing something between all the nail-biting baseball, however, we – forgive the horrible pun – have all your bases covered. STRUMMING When you get a chance to…

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Sympathetic Vibrations | Album Review

Chvrches’ “Every Open Eye” Sophomore efforts from commercially successful indie bands tend to be bountiful fodder for music critics. Faced with typically unexpected success, young bands writing follow-up albums often cripple themselves with an all-to-common identity crisis: Keep with the formula that got us on the radio and will please the fan base that we…

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Musings on Baseball, Luck and Quantum Physics: Making the Case for Magic Socks

Ask any sports fan about superstitions. We’ll likely give you an earful. We love to wear our lucky socks, hats and jerseys. We sit in a favorite chair for the game or only listen to the radio. We fidget, knock wood, rub totems and visualize. Bud Light had a fun, popular series of commercials a…

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The 1908 painting, Water Lilies, by French Impressionist Claude Monet, will be auctioned by Sotheby's for the William I. Koch collection. (Credit: Sotheby's via AP)

Picasso, Monet from William Koch collection to be auctioned

NEW YORK (AP) — An erotic painting of a cabaret singer by Pablo Picasso with a second picture on the reverse side could bring over $60 million at auction. Picasso’s “The Night Club Singer” from his Blue Period was created in 1901. A bawdy picture of his dealer, Pere Manach, is on the back. Sotheby’s…

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