By Caryn Rose for The Village Voice: “On January 14, the Max’s Kansas City Project — a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation serving the arts and youth communities — will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the legendary nightclub from which it got its name with a benefit concert at the Cutting Room. The concert is paying tribute to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, and on the bill is a “Max’s All Star Band” featuring musicians who played with Reed over the years, such as Mike Rathke, Michael Suchorsky, and “Moose” Boles. Additionally, there’s a long list of notable names scheduled to make an appearance, many with direct ties to the Max’s legacy, including Jenni Muldaur, Garland Jeffreys, Lenny Kaye, Marshall Crenshaw, Bebe Buell, Donna Destri, and Anne Waldman, as well as “anticipated” special guests.
Fifty years ago, Mickey Ruskin, a lawyer-turned-restaurateur, opened Max’s Kansas City at 213 Park Avenue South. There was no “Max” — it was just a patchwork of nouns that sounded good together. But those three words quickly came to have a specific meaning in popular culture, one that implied the trend- setting, the outrageous, the fabulous.” Continued here.