Last night was one for the books. As the sun set on Kansas City, Missouri’s first 4/20 with legalized marijuana, a crowd sprawled out over acres of land at the future site of the Smokey River Entertainment District got to bask in a new glow. Wiz Khalifa headlined the inaugural 420Fest, performing for thousands with the distant glow of car headlights from 291 Highway lighting the backdrop. Smoke filled the air, with the delicious scent from the food truck bay wafting over the attendees. It was a certain type of bliss, and Wiz was the ultimate soundtrack.
Joey Pintozzi, president of the event sponsor Besa Hospitality Group, is particularly excited about what the event means for Missouri at this time. “This is going to be an amazing event, on a special day, marking the beginning of a new era for Missouri during a historic time in our state.”
420Fest hosted a cannabis village area for attendees over the age of 21. Rows and rows of vendors – both local and those who drove in from an array of different states – brought us their own unique cannabis experiences. A stage brought us speeches on equity from lawmakers, nonprofit leads, entrepreneurs, and those who were formerly incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes. We also got to glimpse Mike Tyson and Ric Flair, as well as glass artists, edible extraordinaires, and so much more. The event aimed to normalize and celebrate the cannabis lifestyle, with a portion of the proceeds going toward equity in the space.
On Thursday, March 16th, Colony House brought their Cannonballers Tour to The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri. Pop trio Little Image opened the event, bringing the energy up high enough that the crowd was jumping up and down in unison halfway through the set. For a mid-week show in the midwest (in the snow, mind you), that was enough to have me convinced that even the opener has some lasting power.
Colony House took the stage to a warmed-up crowd, many of whom seemed to genuinely know every word of their music. From the first chords of “Landlocked Surf Rock” through the honest lyricism in “Learning How to Love,” and through on into “Man on the Run,” the crowd was 100% engaged in the performance. (Not even the building blizzard seemed to bring them down.) Fan favorite “One of Those Days” felt a bit anthemic, as the crowd came together in vulnerability and a sense of togetherness.
The 22-song set list was to die for at best, and inspiring at worst. About midway through the event, they did an endearing rendition of Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” a song it seems the crowd – aside from just myself – will never quite tire of. Nostalgic surf rock favorite “You Know It” was the perfectly placed last performed track, allowing the band to assure us that they will be back again.
New York-based busking royalty Bandits on The Run graced the halls of the Westin at Crown Center during Folk Alliance 2023. Because they had (the smallest amount of) free time between interviews and scheduled sets associated with the festival, they took that opportunity to busk a bit inside. We got to snap some fun photos of them busking near the picturesque entryway, then after they had relocated to the stairwell and accumulated quite the crowd on multiple floors!
Folk Alliance weekend was, let’s just be honest, “Bandits On The Run Weekend”. We started with a cozy Friday performance at Effing Candle Co. on Main Street and then got to watch the trio perform 2 mini pop-up performances at Crown Center. (If you think we feel spoiled, we absolutely do!)
Between those two mini-performances, we actually got a few minutes to take fun portraits of your favorite genre-bending cuties. A few of our favorites below!
Storied indie trio Bandits On The Run was passing through Kansas City last weekend, with a flurry of notable performances scheduled for Folk Alliance. But that wasn’t all they had up their sleeves. On Friday, February 3rd, they brought their instruments to the effing candle co. storefront in Midtown for a night that cute crowd would not forget.
Though capacity was limited inside the storefront, the energy was palpable from outside on the chilly streets of the city. effing candle co. owner Byrdie Hanson donated proceeds of period products and monetary donations to a local women’s shelter, for which she put together goodie bags as well. The candle company’s commitment to humor is matched only by its commitments to both sustainability and civil rights.
In front of a rainbow-tinged front window, this folk group garnered smiles all around. Plus the Bandits made time to hang out with their fans afterward, identifying their favorite candle scents and enjoying time with new friends. It was a night of pure magic, where everyone was lifted up, and we were honored to be in attendance.
You People has been the talk of the town, as the cast has been on a larger-than-life press tour. Most late-night talk show hosts have been clinging to the idea of an Eddie Murphy revival. The stacked cast stands on its own even without the comedic talents of one of the most storied celebrities of our time. Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Arnold (David Duchovny) are the parents of Ezra Cohen (Jonah Hill), who has recently met and fallen in love with Amira (Lauren London), the daughter of Akbar (Eddie Murphy) and Fatima (Nia Long). The supporting cast includes Molly Gordon, Rhea Pearlman, Taco, and Sam Jay, among others.
The Humor in You People is Often Clunky and Uncomfortable
The plotline centers on the way people of different racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds look at each other. Everyone has preconceived notions of the way the world is and how it should be. While none of the characters are outright racist, microaggressions that they may never have intended can rear their ugly heads. And this movie created plenty of opportunities to observe this behavior.
Ezra finds himself experiencing a series of unfortunate events stirred on by inherent racism, as does his betrothed. Akbar always imagined his daughter marrying a black man, and his disapproval of Ezra is palpable from the moment they meet at Roscoe’s to discuss the idea of marriage.
The filmmakers chose to have Ezra want to impress them so badly that he missteps and comes off as insensitive as well. This begins with his choice of eatery and the fact that he is proposing the idea of marriage during his first meeting with the family.
While Ezra struggles to level with Akbar throughout the movie, Amira has similar issues with the Cohen family. Ezra’s sister takes a romantic liking to her and his father – who has an affinity for Xzibit and wants the world to know about it – chooses to serenade her with John Legend’s “Ordinary People” in an awkward first meeting moment. His mother? Well, she is on a whole other level, leaning into the “diversity” the family is engaging in a little too much.
Admittedly, the Plotline isn’t Entirely Believable
The plotline goes a little bit too far when Shelley and Akbar take it upon themselves to attend the bachelor and bachelorette parties for their in-laws. These scenes actually make the viewer think, “Why didn’t their significant others or children put a stop to this?” This is the piece of the movie that came off as too wild, too unhinged. The discomfort felt during these scenes could have easily been portrayed in other, more believable ways. Plenty of moms have made themselves seem off-the-rocker on the hunt for a bridal gown or at a bridal shower, for example.
But that might be the exact point the writers are trying to make. These ideals are antiquated. The atmosphere they create is uncomfortable. And sometimes you have to sit through the discomfort to truly understand the message of a movie. Race struggles are still at the forefront of the conversation in America, still. It can be difficult to find humor in it, and it is something we should all be working to fix. This commentary and this perspective are necessary because change doesn’t come unless we get uncomfortable.
Have you gotten a chance to check out You People yet? Maybe you can help me find a new discourse for it… and get it out of its lower-rated category on Rotten Tomatoes.
