Weekend Possibilities | Chiefs Watch Parties, The Hey! Hey! Supper Club and Live Music Left and Right

As Kansas City’s live music and libation spots continue to find a way to welcome socially minded folks, football season is officially underway.

So with a lot of live music in the cards and a game to watch come Sunday, here’s a full guide to a weekend’s worth of good times to be had across town. Just be sure to wear a mask.

Friday, Sept. 18

4 p.m. Raise a glass to the changing season and start the weekend at KC Wine Co., 1378 S. Gardner Road in Olathe. The vineyard and winery has plans to offer spiked cider slushies while Miguel Antonio brings the tunes to fill the more than 40-acre space. Staying for dinner? Good. The Smoke N Seoul food truck will be on site, combining traditional Korean dishes with KC barbecue flavors.

5 – 10 p.m. How does a prix fixe four-course dinner, plus cocktails and intimate live music sound? Make reservations for The Hey! Hey! Supper Club at J. Rieger & Co. Distillery, 2700 Guinotte Ave. in Kansas City. September’s menu includes a pear salad, heirloom tomato capellini and blackberry pie, each served with cocktails paired to taste. Live music will come courtesy of The Cubanisms. Dinner is $55 per guest. Cocktail pairing is an additional $30.

7:30 – 10:30 p.m. Terra Luna, a four-night only multimedia installation from Quixotic, kicks off Friday night at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, 8909 W 179th St. Guests should expect an immersive journey through the gardens featuring live music, dance and aerial acrobatics. All attendees over the age of 3 must wear a mask at all times. The event is limited to 300 ticketed guests per 30 minute window. Tickets are $25 in advance online. A limited number of tickets may be available at the door for $30.

Saturday, Sept. 19

10 – 11 a.m. Prairie Oak Nature Center, 14701 Mission Road in Leawood, is offering a Family Guide to Green Energy. The program will use interactive models, demonstrations and experiments to explore and explain traditional energy sources and alternative energy. Attendees are required to register online. The fee is $8. Leawood residents get in for $5.

10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Hop out of bed and head to PH Coffee in the Historic Northeast’s Pendleton Heights neighborhood, 2200 Lexington Ave. in Kansas City, for a pop up collaboration between the quaint coffee spot and Howard’s Grocery Cafe and Catering. PH will bring the caffeinated goodies, while Howard’s will supply the farm-to-table breakfast sandwiches and savory homemade biscuits. Spread out at Pocket Park, catty-corner from PH, where there should be plenty of social distancing space.

4 – 10 p.m. Beers, boards and bites await at Pawn & Pint, just south of the River Market, 613 Walnut St. That’s where the KC Nerd and Introverts Club plans to meet for a night of board games and new friends — all you have to do is show up and ask where the group is sitting. Be sure to check online for the board game play space bar and kitchen concept’s list of hundreds of board and card games and full menu. Masks are required.

7:30 – 10:30 p.m. Attention live music lovers: Mike Kelly’s Westsider in Westport, 1515 Westport Road, has made room for open-air live music. The bar’s back parking lot will serve as a dance floor Saturday night when Grateful Dead tribute group KC Bones hits the stage. Be sure to wear a mask, tie-dye and your best dancing shoes.

Sunday, Sept. 20

3:25 p.m. Football is back and for the first time in 50 years Kansas City is rooting on its defending world champions. There should be plenty of spots to spend Sunday afternoon supporting the Chiefs against division rival Los Angeles Chargers. Here are few watch parties that are worth checking out: 

Gameday Watch Party in The Monogram Lounge J. Rieger & Co. Distillery really can do it all. Gamedays in the century-old building’s Monogram Lounge offer happy hour prices for the duration of the game, football on the big screen, plus the chance to win a bottle of J. Rieger spirits with every Chiefs passing touchdown. Thank Pat Mahomes later. Reservations are available.

BBQ, Beer & Football at 3Halves Brewing Co. Starting at 11 a.m., 3Halves Brewing Co. in Liberty, Missouri, 110 E. Kansas City St., will have $2 off 20-ounce pours of its Civic Duty and Desert Gold brews, plus BOGO half-off six- and four-packs if you have plans to watch the game elsewhere. Jousting Pigs BBQ’s kitchen is open until 4 p.m., so be sure to get that order in during the “tailgate”.

Chiefs Watch Party at Border Brewing Co. The option to bring your own food to Border Brewing Co. in the Crossroads, 406 E. 18th St., is just a bonus when it comes to the taproom Chiefs watch parties. Cheer on Mahomes and company, while picking from eight craft brews on tap, ranging from various IPAs to a tasty Strawberry Blonde.

4 – 7:30 p.m. Round out the weekend at The Gem Theater in the heart of the 18th & Vine District, 1616 E. 18th St. for American Jazz Museum’s Tribute Concert Series: Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Lauryn Hill. Featured local musicians including Kimberly Keyz, Connie J., JaySol, Love, Mae. C, and Tahirah will play back-to-back sets starting at 4 p.m., so plenty of tickets should be available. In addition to sweet sounds coming from onstage, there’ll be a collection of African Art from Africanna Art Gallery to peruse throughout the theater. Tickets are $20.