Everyone has a Troost story.
For me, it was getting put in my place by a feisty, middle-aged,
black comedian at an open-mic night at G's Jamaican Cuisine a few years
back.
For those who answered an informal
Facebook
poll, stories included hookers, hobos, pigs' feet, a good mechanic,
misadventures in and around Mike's Tavern, a police standoff, good
times at the Telephonebooth Gallery, more hookers ...
Jan Fichman,
who owns the 34-year-old music and gifts emporium 7th Heaven, has a
Troost story that's practically his whole life — and then some.
He remembers youthful days at his dad's used-car lot, Modern Motors,
which opened at 5656 Troost and relocated twice, each time to a new
address farther south on the storied avenue.
He lives in
Leawood
now, but Fichman says, "When I die, I'll be buried on Troost at the
cemetery right by New York Bakery. I will spend almost eternity on
Troost."
Though many locals think of the street as the city's black-white
dividing line, it's home sweet home to Fichman and his 24-year-old son,
Adam.
In late May, the younger Fichman called to tell me about his idea to
hold a block party outside his dad's store on July 4. It would feature
food, live music, lots of local character and would be called Taste of
Troost, after the much bigger Taste of Chicago festival up north.
July 4 was only seven weeks away when Adam called me to get
recommendations for bands to book. That's no time at all to plan a
festival. But I had faith in Adam and his crew.
Last year, Adam and his partners at the successful media and design firm Lifted Logic (
"Troost Tube," January 29)
put on a smaller version of TOT. At that fest, the Lifted guys grilled
some meat and set up a PA system for some live rap. This year, they've
rented a stage and a sound engineer (
Zachary Aaron from
Shots Fired), gotten commitments from vendors and sponsors (one of which is
The Pitch),
paid for radio ads, printed fliers, hired security and — best of all —
booked a lineup of more than 20 acts. All in about seven weeks.
In keeping with tradition, most of the performances are from rappers, peaking with a set by the one and only
Rich the Factor at 7:35. Also lined up are locals
Ron Ron,
Skiem Hiem,
Cash Image,
Block Life,
Young Devi and Bay Area icon
Killa Tay (who's flying out just for the fest).
The non-rap acts include the Good Foot (soul), SeedLove and Jahration (reggae), Making Movies (Latin), Max Groove (jazz) and newcomers Kick Kick (pop rock).
For a free festival thrown together in less than two months, the
entertainment bill is a dream — diverse, hungry, not overexposed, few
weak spots. And it's free.
"No one is giving us one penny," Adam says. "Everything's coming out of our pocket or has been donated."
Between advertising and renting equipment, they'll have spent upward of $10,000 on this free party.
"We wanna be nice," Adam says. "We do well. I don't think anybody's
worried about the business. ... This is our version of community
charity, I guess."
"Say we do this two or three years, and some of the artists go on to get national exposure," adds
Rob Scott, one of Adam's partners at Lifted. "It'd be nice if we could say we supported them from the beginning."
Though the guys at Lifted have built a more eclectic lineup this
year, their roots remain in local rap. (Jan tells me that 7th Heaven
plans to add more local music of all genres to its shelves soon.)
"Kansas City has a lot of rap artists, and they're the ones who go underappreciated," Adam says of the festival. "
Westport doesn't want them, Power & Light doesn't want them — we want them, and the rest of the city does, too."
Even though the music's free, bring cash to spend because you'll want to eat.
Papa Lew's, Mad Jack's, Waldo Pizza,
Bonheur Raw Foods,
Grit 'N Gravy and G's Jamaican will dish up grub. (There won't be any
alcohol for sale on the grounds, though, which is probably for the
best.) If it gets hot, you can duck inside 7th Heaven, where the A/C
will be on.
Of course, it's not the threat of hot weather that has some people
concerned when I start talking up TOT. On a few occasions within the
past few weeks, when I've divulged my Fourth of July plans, people have
made jokes about, well, getting shot. Because it's Troost, right?
Whatever.
Jan Fichman is no stranger to such talk. "That's just a little bit
of ignorance," he says. (Jan is white and Jewish, by the way.) "I would
be willing to bet there's a hell of a lot more crime at
Oak Park, the Plaza, the P&L District than what goes on at 77th and Troost."
Nobody, he says, has to worry about being on Troost.
In fact, this July 4, your main concern should be getting to the party.