RIverfront Times, May 22, 2024 by Big Lou Holdings

2 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

4 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com THE NIGHT SHIFT TOUR DUSTY SLAY fri, may 31 A LEGENDARY NIGHT WITH JOEY FATONE & AJ MCLEAN THU, JUNE 13 CAN’T BE SATISFIED TOUR LITTLE FEAT PLUS MARC BROUSSARD TUE, JUNE 25 FIRST TIME TOUR 2024 THE KID LAROI PLUS GLAIVE AND CHASE SHAKUR TUE, JULY 9 BILLY CURRINGTON PLUS TUCKER WETMORE FRI, JULY 12 MCELROYS: MY BROTHER, MY BROTHER AND ME SAT, JUNE 22 LYLE LOVETT AND HIS LARGE BAND THU, JUNE 27 2 NIGHTS WITH GOOSE TUE, JUNE 4 WED, JUNE 5 Owner and Chief Executive Officer Chris Keating Executive Editor Sarah Fenske EDITORIAL Managing Editor Jessica Rogen Editor at Large Daniel Hill Staff Writers Kallie Cox, Ryan Krull Photojournalist Zachary Linhares Dining Critic Alexa Beattie Theater Critic Tina Farmer Music Critic Steve Leftridge Contributors Aaron Childs, Max Bouvatte, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Cliff Froehlich, Eileen G’Sell, Reuben Hemmer, Braden McMakin, Tony Rehagen, Mabel Suen, Theo Welling Columnists Chris Andoe, Dan Savage ART & PRODUCTION Art Director Evan Sult Creative Director Haimanti Germain Graphic Designer Aspen Smit MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING Publisher Colin Bell Account Manager Jennifer Samuel Director of Business Development Rachel Hoppman CIRCULATION Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers BIG LOU HOLDINGS Executive Editor Sarah Fenske Vice President of Digital Services Stacy Volhein Digital Operations Coordinator Elizabeth Knapp Director of Operations Emily Fear Chief Financial Officer Guillermo Rodriguez Chief Executive Officer Chris Keating NATIONAL ADVERTISING VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 5257 Shaw Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (MO add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (MO add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group | Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times PO Box 430033, St. Louis, MO, 63143 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977 Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue. The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2023 by Big Lou Holdings, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, PO Box 430033, St. Louis, MO, 63143. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.

WEEKLY WTF?!

Honestly we should just call it a win that there are signs there at all. | ZACHARY LINHARES

SIGN WATCH

FRONT BURNER 5

FRONT BURNER

[QUOTE OF THE WEEK]

“

[QUOTE OF THE WEEK]

Apparently, the attorney general has a light workload if he can spend time on this nothing burger. But Missourians and residents of Kansas City pick up the tab for his windmill tilting.”

“ Apparently, the attorney general has a light workload if he can spend time on this nothing burger. But Missourians and residents of Kansas City pick up the tab for his windmill tilting.”

—PerryMonster on X, responding to our story about Attorney General Andrew Bailey going after Kansas City for “doxxing” that Chiefs kicker with mommy issues

Previously On LAST WEEK IN ST. LOUIS

SIGN WATCH

What: a couple of ordinary St. Louis street signs

When: 3:38 p.m. Thursday, May 16

What: a couple of ordinary St. Louis street signs

Where: the corner of ƒ¬å∂ µˆ´and π®å˜∂ ∫ø¨¬´√å®∂, Shaw

When: 3:38 p.m. Thursday, May 16

Where: the corner of ƒ¬å∂

Do those streets even intersect? Google Maps doesn’t seem to think so, but how else would we have gotten this photo?

Shaw

Why does it look like this? Seeing that this city’s stop signs are made of cardboard, we assume the lettering was done in crayon. How long will it take for these to get replaced? We’re betting months at the earliest, and even then it’ll take two tries — the first attempt will surely be spelled wrong.

Do those streets even intersect? Google Maps doesn’t seem to think so, but how else would we have gotten this photo?

15 SECONDS of FAME WEAK SAUCE OF THE WEEK VALENTINA GOMEZ

The insufferable, attention-starved Valentina Gomez, who is vying to be Missouri’s next secretary of state, posted a video last week of herself jogging through historic Soulard in a tactical-looking vest saying, “Don’t be weak and gay.”

The stunt sparked global headlines about Soulard being a (shudder) gayfriendly neighborhood. Explore St. Louis could spend tens of millions on a marketing campaign and not achieve such a feat. You just can’t buy this kind of press! You really owned us, hon.

So, to the villainous and vacuous Valentina, we propose we keep this symbiotic relationship going a bit longer. Next time, hit up Soulard Market on a Saturday morning. Picture it: Shoppers of every ethnicity and orientation, perusing fresh veggies with a Bloody Mary, while you strut through in a Rambo outfit talking smack. Come on down to our Soulard Pride celebration, or hell, we’ll even give you a float in our massive Mardi Gras parade. You could create the content your army of trolls loves to watch while they’re cooking meth or removing ticks while also benefiting local tourism. Your cheap 15 minutes of fame is almost up, so why not use it to the benefit of all Missourians?

MONDAY, MAY 13. Wash U commences, and after mass arrests, fencing and ID checks at the gate, it feels like the year can’t end soon enough. Chancellor Andrew Martin draws boos, and some poor driver outside the perimeter becomes the first person ever to be arrested in St. Louis for the crime of honking. In the city, the Board of Education unanimously passes a resolution opposing Alderwoman Shameem Clark-Hubbard’s bill seeking to hike the city’s already sky-high sales tax to give grants for early childhood education. Apparently only private programs would benefit due to a state law that blocks districts like the St. Louis Public Schools from getting even a fraction of the funds. Bill drafter WEPOWER says it’ll work to change state law, but we have to wonder: Why not do that before asking for the tax hike?

TUESDAY, MAY 14. It’s pouring rain and while cicadas are everywhere in the county, the city seems oddly bereft. Mayor Tishaura Jones gives us all a stern talking to at the State of the City address: “This year, and from now on, I’m asking you — the next time you hear someone talking trash about St. Louis, straighten your spine, look them in the eye and tell them … you don’t know what you’re talking about! St. Louis is my city, and she is in the middle of a renaissance!” Just don’t tell that to the cicadas. Stealing Jones’ thunder, Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker gives the commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas and tells women that they’ve had “the most diabolical lies told to you.” Apparently, based on the experience of his wife, Butker has decided that the “majority” of the women in attendance are “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” yet for some reason people are telling them they’ll need to get a job, not just play house with a multi-millionaire pro athlete. The nerve of those people!

nifer Coolidge is still in town, eating at Colleen’s in Clayton and shopping at the lowkey Treasure Aisle II antique mall. Stars, they’re just like us! Meanwhile, in Jefferson City, the oft-feckless Democrats hold the line with a record-setting 50-hour filibuster to block “ballot candy,” the weird term for the distracting crap added to ballot initiatives to confuse voters. In this case, Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) wants to make it harder for citizens to amend the state constitution by attaching language to stop non-citizens from voting, something they’re already expressly forbidden from doing. Oh, and she’s also attached language to block foreign interference in elections. It’s all so dumb, we’re actually glad to hear the Democrats yammering!

THURSDAY, MAY 16. More rain. Since when is May monsoon season?

FRIDAY, MAY 17. Rain stops Food Truck Friday, but City Social brings big crowds downtown — we love to see it! In Jeff City, the Senate adjourns and then the House, without passage of Coleman’s anti-initiative bill. That’s a huge win for Democrats and the abortion rights initiative slated for the ballot this fall. Many observers blame the oddly named Freedom Caucus, the group of authoritarian-minded goobers who can’t even get along with people in their own party.

SATURDAY, MAY 18. Homegrown Hollywood hunk Jon Hamm gives the commencement address at Saint Louis University, then heads to Napoli. He knows his target demographic, that’s for sure. North by northwest, the Major Case Squad is called out to handle a melee in Bridgeton, which reportedly involves up to 100 vehicles, gunfire and general mayhem

—Chris Andoe, RFT Society Columnist

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to two debates, though they’re making them super early and sidestepping the Presidential Debate Commission. They’ll undoubtedly still be must-see viewing, if only to analyze which old codger shows greater signs of dementia. Also, two days after her speech at Wash U, actress Jen-

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to two debates, though they’re making them super early and sidestepping the Presidential Debate Commission They’ll undoubtedly still be must-see viewing, if only to analyze which old codger shows greater signs of dementia. Also, two days after her speech at Wash U, actress Jen-

SUNDAY, MAY 19. Battlehawks quarterback Manny Wilkins Jr. makes his first start since college and clinches his team a spot in the UFL playoffs. Ka-kaw! It’s a big day downtown, including not just the Battlehawks at the Dome but the Cardinals at Busch Stadium and the Annie Malone Parade filling the streets. Alas, Boston beats the Redbirds 11-3. On the baseball front, at least, St. Louis’ renaissance will have to wait for next week. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 5

µˆ´and

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5 Previously On LAST WEEK IN ST. LOUIS

Valentina Gomez has a strange new campaign slogan. | SCREENSHOT Honestly we should just call it a win that there are signs there at all. | ZACHARY LINHARES Valentina Gomez has a strange new campaign slogan. | SCREENSHOT

6 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

New Life for an Old School

A church plans to put Jubilee Community Wellness Center in the long-closed Eliot School. They just need the feds to come through

BY LAUREN HARPOLD BY LAUREN HARPOLD

OOn the border of the Fairground and Hyde Park neighborhoods, a mammoth has lain dormant for 20 years. Since its closure in 2004, the three-story, 51,380-square-foot Eliot School has not seen much life — but for the occasional wind or graffitist.

n the border of the Fairground and Hyde Park neighborhoods, a mammoth has lain dormant for 20 years. Since its closure in 2004, the three-story, 51,380-square-foot Eliot School has not seen much life — but for the occasional wind or graffitist.

Opposite North Grand from the schoolhouse, Jubilee Community Church works tirelessly to bring community members back to life. They hope to do the same for the Eliot School, creating an anchor of hope for the neighborhood. In the largest private project north of Delmar in 75 years, Jubilee Community Development Corporation, a subset of Jubilee Community Church, has partnered with Trivers architecture firm to redevelop the Eliot School into the Jubilee Community Wellness Center. The center will provide recovery and support services to community members suffering from addiction, mental illness and homelessness.

“If we listened to every siren that would go by here during the day, I guarantee you’d hear 75 to 100,” Jubilee Administrative Pastor Andy Krumsieg reveals of North Grand. Krumsieg and his family have lived in north city since the 1990s. Both he and Dr. Bryan Moore, senior pastor at Jubilee, have witnessed addiction, mental illness and homelessness plague community members over the past 30 years. They ring an alarm bell for the fentanyl epidemic, which is particularly rampant up and down North Grand, and want to use the Eliot School as a space for community care.

Moore says the idea sprung from a dire necessity for treatment beds, saying there’s only 16 in the St. Louis area. “We just knew we had to do something.”

Currently, Jubilee operates a six-tonine-month rehabilitation program they call “Home.” Through a partnership with Assisted Recovery Centers of America, a behavioral health organization also known as ARCA that offers “a full continuum of integrated medical and behavioral treatment services to adult patients with substance use and other behavioral disorders,” the ministry has been able to provide more than 1,000 people with treatment. Home welcomes anyone in the community who has a substance

abuse problem to come through its doors — whether simply to ask questions or to access long-term care. (Jubilee’s recovery housing is for men, but they are connected to women’s housing, which they are able to refer women to.) Once people have recovered, Jubilee asks them to become stakeholders in the community, so that they may touch others facing addiction in the community and bring them into care. Moore calls it a “revolving circuit of healers.”

The structure of Home unites people on common ground. Addiction lasts a

lifetime, requiring a support system willing and able to share strength through possible relapses. Jubilee fosters a growing network of people seeking care, who then support each other during and after healing.

“It’s called sober living. Not sober existing. In sober living, you need a community. You need a thing called ‘collective,’” Moore emphasizes. “They gather together because they need each other’s strength, not just strength. They need somebody who is understanding, common ground about the struggle.”

He continues with a reminder: “Life is still happening all the time. One of the things about addiction is after you get the body under control, whatever made you an addict is still inside your brain, all of the trauma is still there, all of the drama is still there. So where you were able to get out of your mind, you can’t anymore because this is sober. The problem is everything is sobering. Everything.”

The pastors mention 2:35 in the morning, when intrusive thoughts attack. Home gives those in recovery the skills to manage all of the things that will come against them after sobering up through continuous education and continuous care.

Krumsieg adds that the goal is to foster not independence or dependence, but interdependence. When the recovery program first began, they lost eight out of ten men who came through the door. Now, after years of gained knowledge, which Moore points out has been acquired at the better price of someone’s life, they keep eight out of ten. He says they take them from just surviving, to thriving, to reconnecting with their families and now, a brotherhood.

The only thing holding them back?

Overcrowding.

Just over two years ago, Moore wrote a letter to the St. Louis Public School board, inquiring about the Eliot School. Dr. Kelvin Adams, then SLPS superintendent, personally attended a meeting to

The only thing holding them back? Overcrowding.

Just over two years ago, Moore wrote a letter to the St. Louis Public School board, inquiring about the Eliot School. Dr. Kelvin Adams, then SLPS superintendent, personally attended a meeting to

Continued on pg 8

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 7

NEWS 7

The long-shuttered school’s rebirth as a community wellness center would be the largest private project north of Delmar in 75 years. | ZACHARY LINHARES Designed by William B. Ittner, Eliot School was considered innovative in its day. | ZACHARY LINHARES

NEWS 7

Continued on pg 8

see firsthand the ministry’s vision. Moore says Adams was “a big help in the whole process,” adding, “the board came through for us.” In July 2022, Jubilee closed on the school’s purchase.

The pastors knew they needed help from the best to tackle the monumental project. In a leap of faith, they contacted Trivers architecture firm, known for their stupendous pedigree of projects across the city. Moore remembers the day an “angel,” in the form of Joel Fuoss, principal at Trivers, came walking through the door.

Since the partnership’s inception, the Trivers team has sat down with both patients and community members to truly understand their needs in an expansion.

“We like to be part of catalytic projects and mission-driven work,” Fuoss says. “It’s just a part of the DNA of who we are and what we want to do. We’ve always felt that St. Louis has so much to offer. And whatever little bit we can do to help further that along is something that we feel is a part of what our firm does.”

Trivers has completed hundreds of large-scale projects, ranging from the museum at the Gateway Arch to the restoration of Tower Grove Park pavilions. Fuoss believes the Jubilee Community Wellness Center fulfills their mission “perhaps more so than any other project that we’ve been a part of.”

He speaks to the project’s clear vision, concrete model and momentum. It simply needs room to grow.

A project of this size requires a sizable amount of funding: more than $23 million. The team has turned to the Community Development Association to secure some of the funding for the project. In compliance with regulations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, CDA administers federal funds for city development and economic justice projects. Jubilee hopes to supplement city funds with historic and new market tax credits, as well as a capital fundraising campaign. The city has allocated $2.7 million so far, but Jubilee has applied for additional city funds, hoping to secure $5 to $7 million total.

Obtaining the money hasn’t been easy. Says Krumsieg, “The labyrinth of protocol and regulations that need to happen are virtually impossible.” After more than a year of jumping through hoops to account for each requirement and request from the CDA, ready with plans and necessary investors, the project’s financial status lies in a stalemate of back-andforth emails.

Moore expresses his frustration. “Limbo. That’s where we are. They come with a request, we fulfill that request. And then another request comes, and then another. Each time we thought we’ve reached the point where, ‘OK, this is final, we’ve done everything except for told them how many times we flush the toilet, we’ve done everything,’ all of a sudden, here comes something else.”

Fuoss agrees. “I think that’s probably

the most frustrating, is that you hear a lot of talk about revitalization on the north side ... and here you have a project that’s ready to go. You’ve got everybody who’s willing to jump in, a team that’s ready and architectural heritage that’s being revitalized. What other boxes need to be checked?”

The CDA did not provide a statement in response to the RFT’s request for comment.

Trivers, Jubilee, their real estate firm and their lawyers cannot understand why they have not been able to secure the additional funds from the CDA.

Dr. Moore stresses, “the cost of it is literally people’s lives. … Every time that you delay us, we’re losing lives here. Literally, losing lives.”

He mentions people that walk through their doors seeking help. They receive help from the ARCA clinic inside the church, but due to limited space, the church has had to send people back to the street.

“It has been heartbreaking to, seemingly so, keep moving the goalpost on us, while our motive is literally saving lives.”

In the meantime and in good faith,

Monroe rebuts. “It’s gonna be alright,” she assures him. “Cause God says we’ll be alright. Everybody needs a little help every now and then.”

Two doors down, Diane, who’s lived across the street from the Eliot School for more than 20 years, says she hadn’t heard about the upcoming plans, but it would be a great thing. “So many around here are on drugs, and so many need to heal.” She carries Narcan with her — a decision she made after she found a man who had overdosed in her alley. She does her best to help where she can, washing clothes, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and providing baths for a few people who have knocked on her door. But she looks forward to a place that can provide showers, a place to change clothes and long-term treatment for people in need.

Trivers has begun work, filing for historic tax credits and finalizing blueprints.

The architectural heritage and history of the Eliot School cannot be overstated.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the schoolhouse marked the first school design by renowned St. Louis architect William B. Ittner. Ittner would go on to design more than 430 school buildings in Missouri. Aside from peeling paint, weathering and a colony of dust bunnies, the 1898 building boasts an incredibly sound structure, airy rooms with high ceilings and a facade of gorgeous paneled windows.

Across the street, neighbors Anita Monroe and Tim Ray relax on Ray’s front porch. Monroe, from Mississippi, moved to St. Louis as a child. She lived in the Pruitt–Igoe housing projects until the pipes froze, and from there moved around the north side, eventually landing in Fairground.

The two friends agree the wellness center is a good idea. Ray, however, feels skeptical about the location and safety, saying, “It would have been nice if Jubilee would have come by and asked the community about it.”

The completed development aims to address the fentanyl epidemic via multiple avenues. In house will be a crisis clinic with out-patient and counseling services, as well as a dramatic increase from 16 to at least 75 beds in the new facility. ARCA support will expand into the new building, including an independently run on-site pharmacy and lab. Parts of the schoolhouse will transform into community and welcome spaces, as well as a commercial kitchen. There will also be space for training and fellowship.

Dr. Leslie Moore, executive assistant to the senior pastor, sheds light on yet another impact of the project. “As a woman, I am always thinking about safety.” She points out that having resources to help a person get back on their feet in one gargantuan and beautiful building will help anchor the neighborhood. “When you are safe and secure, then you can become a community.”

Fuoss echoes her point. “My vision for this is that that building is that first light that starts to radiate out.” He refers to its ability to transform both the people and buildings in the area. “I think a project of this consequence, and this special component that it is, has that power … because you have this group of people here that are committed and invested.” n

8 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

ELIOT SCHOOL

pg 7

Continued from

Anita Monroe lives just a few doors down from the former Eliot School. | ZACHARY LINHARES Eliot School opened in 1898 and closed more than a century later, in 2004. | ZACHARY LINHARES Diane says the new wellness center will be a “great thing.” | ZACHARY LINHARES

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 9

Just Her Luck

Jane Smiley’s new novel, Lucky, was inspired by her charmed childhood in Webster Groves — and her imaginings of the road not taken

BY JESSICA ROGEN

10 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

Like any good St. Louisan, Jane Smiley has an opinion on the high school question.

“If you ask somebody in St. Louis, ‘Where did you go to high school’ — because each school is so unique, you do get a sense of what their life was like and where they live,” says the John Burroughs graduate. “Where are you from? What do you like? And, you know, the answer is always interesting.”

That’s pretty much what Jodie Rattler, the main character of Smiley’s latest novel, Lucky, thinks.

“School, in St. Louis, is a big question, especially high school,” Rattler muses toward the start of the story. “… My theory about this is not that the person who asks wants to judge you for your socioeconomic position, rather that he or she wants to imagine your neighborhood, since there are so many, and they are all different.”

This parallel thought pattern is even less of a coincidence than the author/ subject relationship implies. Lucky, which Alfred A. Knopf published last month, is nominally the story of Jodie, a folk musician gone fairly big who hails from our fair town. But the book is more than just its plot: It’s an ode to St. Louis and an exploration of the life Jane Smiley might have lived — if only a few things were different.

The trail to Lucky started in 2019, when Smiley returned here for her 50th high school reunion and agreed to a local interview. The radio host asked why she’d never set a novel in St. Louis.

“I thought, ‘Boy, why haven’t I done that?’” Smiley remembers. “And so then I thought, ‘Well, maybe I should think about it.’ And I decided since I love music, and St. Louis is a great music town, that I would maybe do an alternative biography of myself if I had been a musician, and of course I would say where

she went to [high] school. So that’s what got me started. And the more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it.”

The Life Jane Smiley Didn’t Live

Jane Smiley has always felt really lucky.

First, there was her background: She grew up with a “very easygoing and fun family.” Growing up in Webster Groves, she enjoyed wandering through the adjacent neighborhoods and exploring how spaces that were so close together could have such different vibes.

Then there was her career, which kicked into gear when she was 42 with the publication of A Thousand Acres, a retelling of King Lear set on a farm in Iowa. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1992. It became a movie and, two years ago, an opera. Since then, she’s been steadily publishing and now has more than 25 books to her name.

“I was lucky in the way that my career got started,” Smiley says. “It was lucky in a way that it continued. I was lucky to win the Pulitzer. And I really enjoyed that. I said, ‘OK, I want to write about someone who’s lucky, but I don’t want it to be me. Because I want to contemplate the idea of luck, and see how maybe it works for somebody else.’”

Both the book, and Jodie’s good luck, start at Cahokia Downs in 1955. Jodie’s Uncle Drew, a father stand-in, takes her to the racetrack and has her select the numbers on a bet that turns his last $6 into $5,986. She gets $86 of the winnings in a roll of $2 bills.

Smiley, a horse lover throughout her life, used to love looking at the horses at the racetrack before she understood how “corrupt it is at work.” (She also remi-

into music. She eventually gets into songwriting, penning tunes as a sophomore at Penn State that launch her career.

One of Jodie’s songs should instantly resonate for St. Louis readers.

“The third one was about an accident I heard had happened in St. Louis,” Jodie recalls in the book, “a car going off the bridge over the River des Peres, which may have once been a river but was now a sewer. My challenge was to make sense of the story while sticking in a bunch of odd St. Louis street names — Skinker, of course, DeBaliviere, Bompart, Chouteau, Vandeventer. The chorus was about Big Bend. The song made me cry, but I never sang it to anyone but myself.”

nisces about pony rides at the corner of Brentwood and Manchester across from St. Mary Magdalen Church and riding her horse at Otis Brown Stables.)

Unlike Smiley, Jodie is not a horse person. And at first, Jodie feels somewhat disconnected from her luck — it’s something other people tell her that she possesses. She’s lucky to live where she does. She’s lucky that her mom doesn’t make her clear her plate, that her uncle has a big house, that she gets into John Burroughs. Later, she begins to carry those bills around as a talisman.

“[I] made a vow never to spend that roll of two-dollar bills — that was where the luck lived,” Jodie thinks after a narrow miss with a tornado.

It’s John Burroughs that changes Jodie’s life, just as it did Smiley’s. But instead of falling in love with books in high school and becoming a writer, Jodie falls

Throughout the book are Jodie’s lyrics, alongside the events that inspire them. Writing them was a new experience for Smiley, who found herself picking up a banjo gifted by an ex and strumming the few songs she’d managed to learn, as well as revisiting the popular music of the novel’s time — the Beatles (George is Smiley’s favorite), Janis Joplin and the Traveling Wilburys, along with Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Peter, Paul and Mary — basically “all the folk singers.”

“I really love music, and I do wish I’d managed to practice, which I was always a failure at,” Smiley says. “... I liked that they made up their own lyrics, and they made their own music, and I was impressed by that.”

Both Smiley and Jodie grew up in households replete with record players and music. It’s one of their great commonalities.

A great difference between the two? That would be sex. At one point, Jodie compares her body count, which she calls the “Jodie Club,” with a lover — 25 (rounded up, Jodie notes) to his 150.

“That was a lot of fun,” says Smiley. “She Continued on pg 4

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 11

Lucky tells the story of Jodie Rattler, a folk singer who gets her start in St. Louis. | COURTESY ALFRED A. KNOPF Opposite page: Webster Groves native Jane Smiley rocketed to literary stardom after winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for A Thousand Acres and now has more than 25 books to her name. | DEREK SHAPTON

12 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com MAY

6–8pm • Forest Park Museum’s North Lawn mohistory.org/ twilight-thursdays

2, 9, 16, 23

learns a lot from having those affairs, and she enjoys it. She’s careful. And I like the fact that she never gets married, and she doesn’t really have any regrets about that.”

(Smiley has been married four times.) “In some sense, her musical career has made her want to explore those kinds of issues of love and connection and sex and the way guys are.”

You can tell Smiley had a good time writing this. After Jodie loses her virginity, she thinks, “The erection had turned into a rather cute thing that flopped to one side.”

“Oh, it was fun,” Smiley confirms. “Sometimes I would say, ‘OK, what can I have Jodie do next? What’s something completely different than what I did when I was her age?’ And then I’d have to think about that and try and come up with something that was actually interesting. I knew that she couldn’t do all the things that I had done, and she had to be kind of a different person than I was. And so I made her a little more independent, and a little more determined.”

Lucky follows Jodie from childhood to into her late 60s. At several points in the novel, she crosses paths with a Burroughs classmate, identified only as the “gawky girl.” Jodie takes note of her former classmate, but she’s not recognized.

Toward the end, Jodie walks into Left Bank Books and sees the gawky girl’s name on the cover of a novel.

“Out of curiosity, I read a few things about the gawky girl. Apparently she really had been to Greenland, and the Pulitzer novel was based on King Lear, which I thought was weird, but I did remember that when we read King Lear in senior English, I hadn’t liked it,” Jodie thinks. “... I remembered walking past her in the front hall of the school, maybe a ways down from the front door. She was standing there smiling, her glasses sliding down her nose, and one of the guys in our class, one of the outgoing ones, not one of the math nerds that abounded, stopped and looked at her, and said, ‘You know, I would date you if you weren’t so tall.’”

Sound familiar? Does it help to know Smiley is 6’2”?

The doppelgangers meet face to face after their 50th Burroughs’ reunion at the Fox and Hounds bar at the Cheshire. To go into what happens next — it’s too

much of a spoiler.

“In every book, there’s always a surprise,” Smiley says.

Jodie Rattler’s St. Louis

Lucky is a smorgasbord of familiar names and places for St. Louis readers, and picking them out will be a big part of the joy of the book for locals.

“I love many things about St. Louis — not exactly the humidity, but lots of other things,” Smiley says. “One of the things I love is how weird the street names are. So I had to put her in that house on Skinker, and I had to refer to a few other places that are kind of weird. I couldn’t fit them all in.

“But I love the way that those street names and St. Louis are a real mix, and some of them are true French street names. Some of them are true English street names. Like Gravwah or Grav-whoy” — here she deploys

first the French and then the St. Louis version of “Gravois” — “whatever you want to call it, and Clark. It’s just really interesting to look around there and sense all of the different cultures that lived there and went through there.”

Jodie grows up in a house on Skinker near Big Bend. It’s “a pale golden color, with the tile roof and the little balcony,” Smiley writes. Jodie walks through Forest Park and eats at Schneithorst’s. Her mother works at the Muny; she shops at Famous Barr. Her grandfather prefers the “golf course near our house on Skinker,” which must be the Forest Park course. Jodie goes to Cardinals games, the Saint Louis Zoo and Grant’s Farm. She visits and thinks about St. Louis’ parks such as Tilles and Babler. Even the county jail in Clayton gets a mention.

Of course, Chuck Berry shows up several times, first mentioned for getting “in trouble for doing something that I wouldn’t understand.” Later, as Jodie drives by his home, she drops some shade on the county along the way: “Aunt Louise knew where Phyllis Schlafly’s house

was, so I drove past there — another reason not to choose Ladue,” she writes.

Jodie and the man who invented rock & roll later meet face-to-face briefly at a festival near San Jose, California. “My favorite parts were getting to walk up to Chuck Berry and say, ‘I’m from St. Louis, too. Skinker!’ and having him reply, ‘Cards, baby!’ and know that no one nearby knew what in the world we were talking about,” Jodie recalls.

Lucky feels like a bit of a membersonly club, and here the club is St. Louis. There is barely a page that is without some kind of reference — to the point where one might wonder if non-locals can even keep up. (Though they should rest assured: It’s a good read.)

“I write more or less to do what I want to do, and so I wrote about the things that interested me,” Smiley says. And more than 50 years after she graduated high school and left Webster Groves for Iowa and (briefly) Iceland and California, where she lives today, St. Louis, clearly, qualifies. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 13

JANE

Continued from pg 3

SMILEY

Both Jane Smiley and Jodie Rattler attended John Burroughs School. One fell for books and writing; the other, music and songwriting. | ZACHARY LINHARES

Just 150 for a body count? That’s nothing! Ask around -- I may be a gentleman in the streets, but the ladies know I’m also a real humpster in the dumpster!

Jodie recalls, “The gawky girl had stuck her head into a basketball basket, taken hold of the rim, and her caption was ‘They always have the tall girls guard the basket.’” | JANE SMILEY’S YEARBOOK PAGE Jodie Rattler loves St. Louis street names like Skinker and incorporates them into her songs. | ZACHARY LINHARES

14 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

CALENDAR

BY RIVERFRONT TIMES STAFF BY RIVERFRONT TIMES STAFF

THURSDAY 05/23

Into the Ordinary

As a wise man once said of an Evian water bottle, “There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see.” Alright, actually that was Jordan Peterson, maybe not so much a “wise man” as he is a pill-addled pseudo-intellectual fashion criminal, but it’s a nice sentiment nevertheless. And it’s a sentiment that applies to the Saint Louis Art Museum’s (1 Fine Arts Drive) Currents 123: Tamara Johnson exhibit, which features the hypernaturalistic sculpture works of Dallas-based artist Tamara Johnson. The exhibit showcases the artist’s depictions of ordinary household objects, ranging from colanders to garden hoses to an array of buffet treats made of materials including copper, concrete and resin, which are then sheathed in silver leaf, coated with enamel and brushed with diamond dust. The exhibit also includes a video essay “that utilizes the visual language of 1960s video and performance art, horror movie special effects and experimental soundscapes to explore spaces where familiar objects meet, permeate and merge with unseen systems of the body,” according to promotional materials. Johnson’s work is presented as part of SLAM’s Currents series, which aims to showcase emerging and mid-career artists, and it will be on display until Sunday, September 22. Admission is free, and the exhibit can be viewed during the museum’s normal hours of operation. For more information, visit slam.org/exhibitions/ currents-123-tamara-johnson.

The Sentimental Fool

Local fans of blue-eyed soul and classic ’90s sitcoms have much to celebrate this week, as comedian Paul Reiser will be touching down in St. Louis for a live on-stage interview with Ferguson native Michael McDonald, the legendary singer best known for his work with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. If you’re wondering why the Mad About You star is in the mix, that’s understandable, but it’s because the two have long been friends and Reiser even helped McDonald pen his new memoir, What a Fool Believes, which came out on Tuesday. Expect lots of laughs from Reiser and plenty of fascinating stories stemming from McDonald’s long career in the music biz. The event goes down at the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard) on Thursday, May 23. Doors open at 6 p.m., with Reiser and McDonald taking the stage at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $50 and come with a copy of the book. Details at thepageant.com.

Coming in Hot

FRIDAY 05/24

Frankly, St. Louis would be disappointed if beloved Hill sandwich shop Gioia’s Deli (multiple locations including 1934 Macklind Avenue) celebrated another year of greatness with anything other than its notable hot salami. And naturally, the deli doesn’t disappoint. That’s a long way of saying that this Thursday, May 23, Gioia’s 106th Birthday Celebration will see the James Beard Award winner “rolling back the years and the prices.” That means all locations will be offering walk-in customers $6 six-inch hot salami sandwiches (two per customer, so don’t get grabby). The shop will also be gifting the first 106 customers at the original Hill location a pair of Gioia’s socks, which is a little more of a curveball. But really, who wouldn’t want a pair of Gioia’s socks? Founded in 1918, Gioia’s is now run by Alex Donley, whose family has been safeguarding the St. Louis institution since purchasing it from the Gioia family in 1980. (Fun fact: Donley told the RFT in 2022 that his first bite of solid food was that famous hot salami.) Why not celebrate that successful stewardship with a sammy of your own? Gioia’s is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check out its menu (as if you need to) at gioiasdeli.com.

group of stylish people all dancing together silently, everyone listening to their favorite jams via their own mobile music device. At the time, it seemed so cool and yet so improbable. Yet here we are two decades later actually doing it. That’s right, this week you can dance to the beat of your own earbuds at the St. Louis Official Silent Party. The event, hosted by Carter Productions, brings three live DJs playing hip-hop, R&B and twerk music together for an exceptionally quiet duel for your attention. This is how it works: You’ll get a pair of special wireless headphones upon arrival and, on them, you can select your DJ of choice via a red, blue or green button. Plus, you can turn down the volume to make a connection with one of your fellow partygoers or take them off for a moment of quiet (sans the eerie squeaking of shoes, of course). The dance party kicks off at 9:30 p.m. at Greenwood Restaurant & Bar (1000 Sutter Avenue, University City), and tickets range from $12 for a single entry to $200 for a 10-person entry that includes tables and two hookahs. Tickets and more details are available at eventbrite.com/e/st-louis-official-silent-party-tickets-885025815037.

Spend, Spend, Spend

It’s All Greek

FRIDAY 05/24

It’s All Greek

If you’ll forgive us for introducing a little Latin into an item about a Greek festival, it’s a truism that “de gustibus non disputandum est” — basically, you can’t argue with opinions of taste. And yet if we ever met someone who didn’t enjoy Greek food, we’d have no choice but to have their head examined. It’s that good. The St. Louis County Greek Fest offers a great opportunity to try classic dishes like dolmades and pastistio just like they used to make them in the Old Country. It’s not all eating, either; time your visit right and you can watch Greek folk dancers or get a tour of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (1755 Des Peres Road, Town & Country), which hosts the festival each Memorial Day weekend and provides an important hub of Greek culture in St. Louis. Greek Fest kicks off Friday, May 24, and runs through 4 p.m. on Monday, May 27. Details and a schedule at stlgreekfest.com. Note that the festival is cash-free, so tell Yiayia to bring her credit card.

SATURDAY

05/25

SATURDAY 05/25

Silence Is Golden

Remember those early iPod ads? A

Good food, killer music, weird art — St. Louis’ Punk Rock Flea Market is back with a bang for its fifth year and all the anti-authoritarian degenerates with the spiky hair and studded jackets are celebrating. With vendors like Teeth Town, Itchy?, Grave Markings and more, the yearly bazaar provides the perfect opportunity to shop for the Exene Cervenka or Sid Vicious in your life, or just to ward off the possibility of having a sad beige home. Soundtracking your shopping experience will be a bevy of St. Louis’ finest punk and punk-adjacent acts, including Bastard Squad, Modern Angst, Man With Rope, Blight Future, Stay Sane and more, and food options on site will include the Crow’s Nest, Terror Tacos, Pizza Head and a few others. The event will take place Saturday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Tower Grove Park (4257 Northeast Drive). After the market the official afterparty goes down at Ritz Park (3147 South Grand Boulevard) from 7 to 10 p.m., with performances by Fight Back Mountain, Boss Battle, Leighton Jo Quinn & the Selfish Lovers, and Way to Go Kid. And if that’s not enough excitement for you, stop by the after-afterparty at Galleria 6 Cinemas (30 St. Louis Galleria Street, Richmond Heights) for a special screening of the 2015 A24 punks-versus-Nazis thriller Green Room at 10 p.m. Admission to the flea market and the afterparty is free, and tickets for Green Room are just $5. For more information, head to stlprfm.com. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 15

MAY

WEEK OF

23-29

is sure to bring plenty of colorful

for a full day of

and

Saturday’s Punk Rock Flea

Market

characters to Tower Grove Park

music

shopping.

THEO WELLING

WEEK

MAY 23-29 15

Saturday’s Punk Rock Flea Market is sure to bring plenty of colorful characters to Tower Grove Park for a full day of music and shopping. | THEO WELLING

16 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

Go Zone

Cate Zone’s expansion into Chesterfield is an invitation to sample the delights of Dongbei — one that’s accessible even to Chinese food newbies

Cate Zone has been prudent. The restaurant specializing in northeast Chinese cuisine has opened a second location in Chesterfield where the Asian population is the second largest ethnic group, accounting for 13.1 percent of residents in the 2010 Census. It joins a strip where the breadth of international cuisine makes you feel quite pleased to be in this “melting pot.” Seoul Taco is here, so is Chimi’s Fresh Mex. Talayna’s Pizza and Pasta occupies a spot, and so does Saint Louis Bread Co.

Cate Zone is owned by Daniel Ma, his wife Nancy Zhu and Quincy Lin, who come from the northeast area of China, which borders Mongolia, Russia and the Korean peninsula. It’s chillier there. Consequently, the regional Dongbei cuisine is heartier, a little more substantial. The menus are slightly different in each location. Find hot pot on Olive Boulevard, but housemade dumplings in Chesterfield. In both, you’ll be happy to find Cate Zone’s refined twist on sweet and sour pork, and Hot Crisp Fish, which may be the dish it is best known for. The other good news is that a second location is bound to lessen wait times and alleviate the swell of diners in the snug University City space.

But while I’m confident ordering a taco or — if I’ve completely lost my wits — a bread

bowl filled with mac and cheese, I’m a little nervy about Chinese food and asking for much beyond a fortune cookie. So, for the purpose of this review and not sounding like a nitwit, I called in the troops: Iain, my Scottish friend, who also happens to be the managing editor of Sauce, who also happens to have lived in China for an extended period of time, came with me to Cate Zone.

I may need Iain when it comes to Chinese restaurant menus, but I’m good at assessing decor, and Cate Zone is a cool cat — more along the lines of a smooth hotel dining room than a strip mall eatery in the ’burbs. It’s dark and minimalist: walls paneled with coffeecolored slats and agreeably comfy chairs that are upholstered in something leathery and umber-colored. Yeah, it feels pretty luxe. Even though you parked at Talayna’s, you’re feeling kinda smug to be here and not there.

And I was in safe hands with Iain at the table. He comes from Edinburgh but spent 14 years working in Beijing. Though it also felt a little wacky: London me sitting with Edinburgh him in a Chinese restaurant in Chesterfield, Missouri. To add to that disconnect, when our server came along, Iain started speaking Mandarin(!). It almost did my head in.

I’d expected the menu at Cate Zone to be

the visual equivalent of a Zhonghua Cihai, but fortunately it was more like Miffy at the Circus — big glossy pictures and large-printed simple words. To boot, there are chili emojis, little red warning signs, which are comforting, because when Cate Zone comes up in conversation, everyone seems to talk about heat. Or at least, I do; I’ve been talking about heat ever since the first Cate Zone opened on Olive Boulevard in 2017 and I got my socks knocked off by Szechuan Boiling Fish. Although that dish wasn’t just hot; it wasn’t as simple as that. More on this later.

We didn’t have an appetizer. We jumped over dumplings and fried mini buns, and Orleans Seasoning Fried Wings (is there no escape?), and got straight into some seriously hearty platters. I want to say Iain sold me immediately on the pork intestine with brown sauce, but he didn’t even try. And (shame on me) I didn’t bring it up. He asked, rather, if I might like the Triple Vegetables in Brown Sauce — the Chinese equivalent, he said, of something homey and British. So even though the words “brown sauce” and “British” in the same paragraph give me an acute attack of the willies, I said, “Why not?” I was expecting something gloppy and clinging, uniformly brown and unpleasantly glistening. I was way off: The sauce was deeply, cozily flavored, each bite a different stop on

CATE ZONE CHINESE CUISINE 24 Four Seasons Shopping Center, Chesterfield; 314392-9624. Open Tues. through Sun 11 a.m.8:30 p.m. Closed Mon.

Cate Zone’s highlights include (clockwise from top left): Szechuan boiling fish, Triple Vegetables in Brown Sauce, Cumin Beef with Cilantro, and Noodle with Brown Sauce.

BY ALEXA BEATTIE

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 17

PHOTOS BY MABEL SUEN

the crisp-to-soft continuum: On one end, snappy red and green peppers; on the other, silky-soft eggplant reminiscent of warm childhood suppers. The potatoes — cut in long, fat wedges and amply coated in caramelly “gravy” — sat somewhere in the middle, bolstering my eternal love of the dependable, flexible spud.

Then Iain said the Noodle with Brown Sauce would be a fine thing to order. “Too much of a good thing?” I wondered. But on the page, it looked like a bowl of my father’s spaghetti Bolognese, which he made with about 15 different meats and a whole bottle of red wine. “I’m in,” I said, forgetting it was Tuesday morning, and I had sensible things to do later. Iain said it was best to stir everything together, because around the side were little piles of julienned vegetables. So while he did that, I carried on sneaking potatoes. It turns out the brown sauce in this dish is an entirely different beast. And calling itself “brown sauce” seems a bit like Cinderella thinking she looks frumpy in her dress. “Whoa, don’t sell yourself short, Cinders!” Because this sauce — made with ground beef — is also made with fermented soy beans, which means it’s at once soothingly familiar, at once deliciously strange. While hoisin (also made with soy beans) came to mind, this sauce’s deep, rich earthiness elevated it far above the more commonplace bottled condiment.

I love cumin and cilantro most in all the world, so I saluted Iain’s choice of Cumin

Cate Zone’s new Chesterfield outpost has the good looks of a sleek hotel dining room.

Cate Zone’s Noodle with Brown Sauce features fermented soy beans.

Beef with Cilantro. This tender, salty meat scruffed with stalks and leaves of cilantro is a throwback, he said, to Muslim and Mongolian influences. Long ago and far away, but right up my street.

“Been there, done that,” I said to Iain when he suggested ordering the boiling fish again. Although part of me was a little interested in refreshing my flavor banks, because — in all the time since I ate it so many years ago — I’ve never been able to conjure that wildly esoteric taste, let alone describe it, or (oof) even say I liked it that much. Iain said peanut milk is a good antidote for fiery food. But there was only soy, and a few other drinks like hot tea, sodas and a couple of beers. We decided to order the Hot Crisp Fish instead. It arrived — a craggy, searingly hot, golden heap of battered fish scattered with dangerous-looking peppers and, in amongst them, some duplicitous

little peppercorns. I took a bite. There it was, that Szechuan Boiling Fish flavor all over again. “Wow,” I said, putting my chopsticks down.

Szechuan “flower” peppercorns are to pepper as Pop Rocks are to Cow Tails. They’re not in the same zip code. I know I shouldn’t say they made the Boiling Fish or the Crisp Hot Fish soapy, but I think I’m going to, if only to get across the hotly numbing otherness of this spice which, like Pop Rocks, has more to do with experience — at least for a Westerner — than just flavor.

But here’s the thing: Strange can become familiar can become delicious in very short order. In the time it took me and Iain to finish that platter (which, BTW, was no time at all), strange became familiar became thrilling. Which is good, because next week, we’re going back for those intestines. n

18 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

ORDER THIS Hot Crisp Fish..............$19.99 Noodle with Brown Sauce ...........................................$12.99 Cumin Beef with Cilantro ...........................................$19.99

SAUCED

A ‘Neighborhood Gem’

Well Met Cafe, now open in Shaw, is the latest effort from the team behind Polite Society and

the Bellwether

BY ALEXA BEATTIE

The team behind Polite Society and the Bellwether have opened a new cafe just north of Tower Grove Park at 4100 Shenandoah Avenue. Brian Schmitz and Jonathan Schoen, along with beverage director Travis Hebrank (co-owners of Be Polite Hospitality), have picked a good spot to deliver another warm and comfortable gathering space — their signature brand — to a wider audience. Well Met Cafe, which opened May 1, occupies a former gallery space where Shenandoah and Thurman avenues meet. Consequently, the cafe is pleasant and bright — a nice place to find oneself for breakfast, lunch, cocktails and dinner. Or all four.

Almost more striking than the snowy banquettes, the number of succulents and the light that floods in is the menu

board. It really isn’t a board at all, but four big television screens turned upwise. It’s hard to fathom how to get a sequential list of things to eat across four different TVs. But Well Met Cafe has managed it — with one snag: It has four different remotes, and they’ve already

lost one. That tech challenge aside, the menu looks delicious. Paninis are the main squeezes here: dreamy combos like bacon, brie and apricot jam (the Sara Conner) or turkey, fig aioli and gorgonzola (the Axel Foley). But fresh salads are available, as well.

Manager Grayson Smith says the names of menu items are loosely linked by “pop culture.” Since the Claire Huxtable (a panini with turkey bacon, provolone, marinated tomato and avocado) shares space with one called Marcus Aurelius (a Caesar salad), we see why he says “loose.”

As for the beverage program, Smith says it’s still in the early stages, but the cafe likely will lean away from Californian wines toward a more varied selection coming from vineyards in France and Greece, among other regions. When it comes to cocktails, the menu will be “well thought out.”

“This is going to be a neighborhood gem,” Smith says.

As a rainy spring turns to summer, it’s good to know that Well Met Cafe will happily pack a “Meal Basket” to go for anyone heading to the park. Customers may also furnish their own from the cooler where picnic materials like street corn and pasta and potato salads are ready and waiting. Supplement those with some juicy-looking baked goods on the counter, and you’ve got yourself a dejeuner sur l’herbe

Well Met Cafe amounts to a 700-square-foot space which seats 20 people, with another 12 on the deck (close to completion) out front. It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 19 SAUCED

Well Met Cafe, now open in the Shaw neighborhood, will pack a “Meal Basket” to go for anyone heading to Tower Grove Park. | MICHELLE VOLANSKY The Rick Sanchez breakfast sandwich is one of the cafe’s trademark sammies. | MICHELLE VOLANSKY

20 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

Hop to It

No Ordinary Rabbit will open in Nixta’s former home this summer

BY ALEXA BEATTIE

No Ordinary Rabbit, a restaurant and wine and cocktail bar, is set to open at 1621 Tower Grove Avenue in Botanical Heights by September 1 in the former home of Ben Poremba’s Nixta, a distinct and whimsical “tiled” building a few paces from Union Loafers Cafe & Bread Bakery.

Steve Gontram, owner of 5 Star Burgers in Clayton, is partnering with 5 Star general manager David Zitko, who will be a co-owner of this new venture. It’s a good partnership as, in addition to his management skills, Zitko happens to have a dextrous wrist with a cocktail shaker. “Steve seems to think I’m a whiz, but I’m not so sure I am,” says Zitko, who then goes on to describe what sounded like whizzardry to us. “It’s fun to put things in front of people that challenge their preferences,” he says, and cited as evidence a delightfully motley drink called, yes, No Ordinary Rabbit, which marries a mesquited single malt with green chartreuse, marshmallow syrup and a chocolate liqueur. While this fancy bev was previously a seasonal offering at 5 Star (and is the origin of the new restaurant’s name), it will body-double to Botanical Heights as soon as it possibly can. Another drink formerly available at 5

‘Feeling the Love’

Honey’s serves fare ‘straight out of Grandma’s kitchen’ in north city

BY ALEXA BEATTIE

When Honey’s first launched in north city in 2016, it was a home-based bakery business. But in 2022, on Valentine’s Day, the bakery moved into a storefront at 5051 Riverview Boulevard in Walnut Park. Since then, it has evolved further: Now, it’s a takeout restaurant open for pre-orders only, and as a result has expanded both its offerings and its reach. With customers hankering for Honey’s “taste of home,” a grand opening is slated for June, when it will launch a more extensive menu and welcome orders from walk-in customers, as well as online. Already, Angelise Capraro, who owns the restaurant with her fiancé, James Latimore, says she is seeing an uptick in business and is definitely “feeling the love.” This could be because of the food “straight out of Grandma’s kitchen” — which is Honey’s raison d’être — or it could be Capraro’s business model which happens, for now, to employ either loved ones or very close friends. For instance: Her mom is in

Star uses gochujang, and Zitko seemed to suggest he may — in the new location — get a little frisky with spicy Mediterranean things like bamba. (Whizzardry, indeed.)

As for wine, Zitko and Gontram are favoring a smallish program that will swing pretty evenly between reds and whites, and won’t focus on any particular region. They plan, as well, to include kegged wine on tap. “I like the idea. You can keep it fresher for longer. And I want to play around with wine in cocktails,” Zitko says.

Although Gontram is an accomplished chef, he will not be running this kitchen. A head chef has yet to be secured, and the menu has still to be fully conceived.

Gontram says he hopes dishes will be designed and ready for testing by the beginning of August. “Chef-driven, shareable Mediterranean plates, thoughtfully and artfully prepared,” Zitko says.

The new digs, between Union Loafers and Running Niche running store, were left vacant when late last year restaurateur Ben Poremba closed his modern Mexican eatery, which is soon relocating to the Delmar Maker District. The question on our lips is: What will Gontram and Zitko do with this exterior, mock-tiled in Nixta’s signature coral and ocean blue? “Easy. It’s not paint; it’s wrap. We’ll just pull it off,” Zitko says.

Interior designer Michelle Krauss, who

charge of administration, her best friend takes care of Honey’s online presence. Facility maintenance is under the care of a

close family friend, and her cousin Trevelle Robinson, who used to work at Mother’s Fish in Clayton, is the chef.

had a key hand in 5 Star, as well as Gontram’s former restaurants — Harvest, Tejas and two other 5 Star Burger locations — is working with this main spec: casual elegance. For now, they’re all leaning yellows and greens. “We want to provide a place that’s comfy and fun. Quality service, excellent food and drink, and some nice surprises,” Zitko says.

The 2,200-square-foot space will seat 60 to 70 people inside (including the bar), with 20 more on the patio out front. The restaurant will likely open at 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The full menu will be available until 10 p.m., with a more limited selection served until midnight. n

Here are the kinds of homestyle culinary “comforts” Robinson is cooking up: smash burgers and fried fish dinners, hot chicken sandwiches with sweet garlic pickles, jerk Alfredo, shrimp and grits, and homemade cinnamon rolls. Capraro’s personal favorites are that Alfredo, and also the grits. “Everything we make is full-flavored and tastes of nostalgia,” she says, adding that her pancakes make the cut as well. “I’m top 2, not 2 on those,” she says. Honey’s makes its hot sauce and “everything” dipping sauce in house.

Meanwhile, Capraro is still baking; still filling those orders and sending them out. Just last week, in fact, she made a wedding cake — a three-tiered beauty of three different cakes: Oreo with white chocolate mousse, classic red velvet and a play on strawberry shortcake. More usual, though, are classic, smaller gâteaux and a wide selection of baked pastries.

Capraro says the neighborhood seems pleased to have Honey’s in the mix; especially so, considering that food options in that neck of the woods can be limited. “People don’t want Fish & Chicken all the time.” And even though her prices, for a lower-income neighborhood, are a little higher, people seem willing to pay them. Honey’s is mostly takeout for now, though there are a couple of tables inside. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 21

food news

No Ordinary Rabbit will move into the space vacated by Ben Poremba’s Nixta. | MABEL SUEN Honey’s hot honey chicken sandwich is one of the homestyle dishes that Chef Trevelle Robinson is cooking up. | COURTESY IMAGE

22 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

REEFERFRONT TIMES

Rescheduling Cannabis

As the Biden administration contemplates changing how marijuana is classified, much is still unknown

BY JACOB FISCHLER

As the Biden administration contemplates changing how marijuana is classified, much is still unknown

BY JACOB FISCHLER

UU.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level — but that doesn’t mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug.

.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level — but that doesn’t mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug.

Moving marijuana from the government’s list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President Joe Biden’s administration, wants to ease restrictions on a drug that’s been legal in an increasing number of states for more than a decade.

dangerous drugs.”

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach. But it didn’t solve the many thorny issues that have resulted from a split between what is legal in dozens of states and what the federal government allows.

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach.

But it didn’t solve the many thorny issues that have resulted from a split between what is legal in dozens of states and what the federal government allows.

It’s unclear exactly what the rescheduling will mean. The Justice Department has not made public the text of Garland’s proposal — a DOJ spokesman declined States Newsroom’s request last week for a copy and state regulators say it has not been shared with them.

Even if the proposal were public, it would be expected to go through changes over months of rulemaking.

Here are some questions covering what is known at this early stage about what rescheduling would and would not do.

Is weed legal now?

No.

Is weed legal now? No.

Even in states that have legalized recreational use, the federal government would likely still consider the state system as illegal under federal law.

Other Schedule III drugs, including Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are tightly regulated and available only by prescription at pharmacies.

State-legal medicinal marijuana dispensaries do not fit that description and recreational-use dispensaries are even further from what the Food and Drug Administration requires of Schedule III drugs.

“This does not make marijuana state operations legal,” Shawn Hauser, a partner at Denver-based marijuana law firm Vicente LLP, said on a May 3 webinar. “They are not selling FDA-approved drugs, and they are not licensed or meet the control requirements for Schedule III. So cannabis and state-legal dispensaries will remain in violation of federal law.”

How are states preparing?

dangerous drugs.”

How are states preparing?

Until they have more details, state regulators cannot do much, Amanda Borup, the senior policy analyst for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, said in an interview.

“We really have to wait and see what they release,” she said, referring to the DEA’s rulemaking.

Most businesses can deduct their costs from their income and pay taxes on their net income. Marijuana businesses cannot take that deduction, known as 280E, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

What is the difference between Schedule I and Schedule III?

Among the most significant is the recognition that the drug may have some medicinal value.

What is the difference between Schedule I and Schedule III?

Among the most significant is the recognition that the drug may have some medicinal value.

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, the Drug Enforcement Administration has five levels of drug classifications.

Schedule I is the most restricted level, comprising the drugs most ripe for abuse that have no medicinal value. Other drugs on the list include heroin and LSD.

Because the definition of Schedule I substances includes no medicinal use, it is illegal to even study substances on the list.

Schedule III is the strictest level that acknowledges some medicinal value, making some hopeful that research on the drug could be improved.

“Moving cannabis to Schedule III would be a big step for recognition of the medical uses of cannabis, what voters here recognized by a wide margin in 1998,” the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board said in a May 1 statement. “And it would say very clearly that the federal government no longer considers cannabis among the most

“We really have to wait and see what they release,” she said, referring to the DEA’s rulemaking.

Other states are considering what the impacts might be.

The statement from Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board said rescheduling would “hopefully” ease restrictions on cannabis research, while it is “possible” the move would allow state-legal businesses to take advantage of tax deductions available to other industries.

Other states are considering what the impacts might be.

Why does research matter?

Marijuana advocates have had trouble providing evidence of any marijuana benefits because research has been restricted, which in turn made it more difficult to show that the restrictions should be lifted.

It could also help establish industry guidelines for ancillary issues. For example, the restrictions on research contribute to a lack of data on what pesticides are safe for use in marijuana cultivation.

How does this affect policy on taxes, banking and criminal justice?

On its own, rescheduling likely won’t address several complaints marijuana industry members and advocates have about federal prohibition.

How does this affect policy on taxes, banking and criminal justice?

On its own, rescheduling likely won’t address several complaints marijuana industry members and advocates have about federal prohibition.

Some are hopeful, though, that the signal from the Biden administration will spur momentum toward other changes.

Schedule I status also makes access to the U.S. banking system difficult.

Others complain that making marijuana legal in some states has not been fair to the communities of color that saw the most active enforcement.

Schedule I status also makes access to the U.S. banking system difficult.

Others complain that making marijuana legal in some states has not been fair to the communities of color that saw the most active enforcement.

Rescheduling would not fix those issues on its own, but advocates are hopeful it is a sign of momentum toward full legalization.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced a bill last week to de-schedule the drug altogether. The measure includes expanding the 280E tax break and several provisions meant to address social justice.

Could Trump reverse this if he wins in November?

Probably, though there’s no indication that’s on his agenda.

It’s unclear what the status of the rescheduling will be when the next Inauguration Day arrives on January 20. If former President Donald Trump wins back the presidency and the rescheduling is still pending, he could direct the DEA and DOJ to scrap the change. Trump has not commented on the issue. n

This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent

This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 23 [POLICY]

A Robust Cannabis employee showcases the company’s Black Hole Sun strain at their warehouse in Cuba, Missouri. | REBECCA RIVAS/MISSOURI INDEPENDENT

23 [POLICY]

A Robust Cannabis employee showcases the company’s Black Hole Sun strain at their warehouse in Cuba, Missouri. | REBECCA RIVAS/MISSOURI INDEPENDENT

24 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

MUSIC 25

No Band Is an Island

St. Louis-based Surtsey’s new Nothing Doing shows four musicians at their creative peak

BY STEVE LEFTRIDGE BY STEVE LEFTRIDGE

JJoe Bassa, lead singer of the altcountry band Surtsey, named the group after an island off the coast of Iceland, where Bassa was born. Surtsey — the place — is an uninhabited volcanic island with a unique ecosystem due to a lack of human impact. Surtsey — the band — exists within its own unique musical ecosystem, but it’s one created by vital human interaction.

oe Bassa, lead singer of the altcountry band Surtsey, named the group after an island off the coast of Iceland, where Bassa was born. Surtsey — the place — is an uninhabited volcanic island with a unique ecosystem due to a lack of human impact. Surtsey — the band — exists within its own unique musical ecosystem, but it’s one created by vital human interaction.

Surtsey also happens to be one of St. Louis’ best bands, whose new EP, Nothing Doing, is filled with harmony-rich songs, sumptuous melodies, crying steel guitar, poetic lyricism and Bassa’s captivating tenor vocals. The record’s mix of indie rock and Americana calls to mind bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket with the emo-revival sensibility of Pinegrove, but Surtsey delivers a dreamy songfulness that is all its own.

Bassa was born in 1988 to American military parents, both stationed at Iceland’s Keflavík air station. Bassa’s hair, a tousled mullet that manages to be both party-in-the-back and party-in-thefront, is colored Icelandic blond, but that’s just his dye choice du jour.

I meet Bassa at a craft brewery in the Grove neighborhood even though he is taking a break from booze, a hiatus he imagines is only temporary. He strolls in wearing a red flannel shirt open over a Gillian Welch T-shirt along with yellow work boots, which makes him look part country rocker, part fun-loving drywaller. His rural charm is authentic: After leaving Iceland at age six, Bassa was raised in his mother’s native Bootheel, graduating from Perryville High School in 2007. But just barely.

“I was really bad with attendance in high school,” Basso says. “I worked at a record store, and my boss would call in for me a lot. I was totally checked out.” It was at this time that Basso swapped out playing baseball for playing music, as his grandpa gave him an old Gibson guitar that had, according to Basso, such “terrible action” that “it hurt to play.” As a fan, he listened all night to Dashboard Confessional, the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Townes Van Zandt and Nickel Creek, a combination of influences that helps explain the Surtsey

sound he would begin to develop a few years later.

After high school, Basso moved to St. Louis and enrolled at St. Louis Community College Meramec, but that didn’t take either. Making music with some of his old Perryville buddies — drummer Aaron Essner and bassist Drew Koeppel — was still his priority, even though he had to drive from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau to practice. Around 2010, the trio became Surtsey, and soon after, the 19- and 20-year-olds hit the road, playing gigs around the country wherever they could get them and sleeping on the couches of whoever would let them.

sound he would begin to develop a few years later.

“I would email like 500 places a day, and hopefully three would say yes,” Basso recalls of booking gigs. “And we’d take the best offer out of those. We never lost money. We’d get there and I guess we’d be looking so bad that people would at least feed us.” Basso looks back fondly on the hardscrabble life of young rockers on the road — driving thousands of miles, smoking tons of pot, handing out their CDs in local malls, playing music every night in dive bars they were too young to legally enter, landing a tour of Hot Topic in-store gigs and partying late into the night in strangers’ homes. Did Basso ever fall in love while out on the road? “Oh, probably.” Did things ever get weird after shows? “Oh, yeah, man. All the time. I mean, people are weird in general, and you’re coming into someone’s home usually after a bunch of alcohol.”

After a couple of summers of touring, Basso returned to St. Louis and formed a Surtsey spinoff band called Jailbox with Essner and guitarist/producer Andy Tanz. Again featuring Basso’s willowy vocals, Jailbox is a more atmospheric, experimental form of indie rock embroidered with swirling layers of instrumentals and psychedelic elements, as heard on 2010’s terrific One for Each of Us

Outside of music, Basso has had a few side steps, including a stint in Los Angeles, where he moved in with his sister, actress Bridgette Bassa, and worked as a bar trivia host in the mid-2010s, while Koeppel studied bass at Musicians Institute. Basso admits that he “had no plan” during this phase, describing himself as “not very responsible.” This assessment is consistent with a personality that Basso acknowledges can be highly self-critical. “I’m super sensitive when it comes to stuff. I always have been my whole life,” he says. “I’m working on that.” What has been unwavering throughout is Basso’s intuition for creating and expressing himself through music, particularly as a songwriter. “I am aiming for universal experiences, just existing and adjusting to curveballs in life because it happens to everyone,” he says. At one point, he pulls out his phone and opens his Notes app, revealing a milelong list of ideas for lyrics, phrases and song titles to someday complement the melodic hooks he has a gift for writing.

Now 35 — never married, no kids — Basso sounds more excited than ever about where Surtsey is musically, which he attributes in large part to the chemistry within the band. “You hear a song in such a special way when you’re trying to capture it,” he says. “And when you find somebody who gets it just right, it comes through the friendship because there is vulnerability and trust. We are all really fans of each other.”

Lyrically, a listen to Surtsey and Jailbox songs reveals a writer who threads the needle between literal-level narratives and more elusive language. “I try to have that hit the surface, but I want to provoke deeper thoughts and double meanings, and maybe you’re not exactly certain what it means,” he explains. Now 35 — never married, no kids — Basso sounds more excited than ever about where Surtsey is musically, which he attributes in large part to the chemistry within the band. “You hear a song in such a special way when you’re trying to capture it,” he says. “And when you find somebody who gets it just right, it comes through the friendship because there is vulnerability and trust. We are all really fans of each other.”

That chemistry now includes fourth member Zach Naeger on pedal steel, adding a twang and a lilt to Surtsey that have helped make the new EP the band’s strongest set of songs yet. Nothing Doing was released on April 8 — Eclipse Day, a connection Basso says gives the record something of a mystic start. And with a slate of shows coming up this year and the quartet playing and writing better than ever, Surtsey, like the volcanic island the band is named after, seems poised for an explosive breakout. n

Surtsey plays Venice Cafe (1903 Pestalozzi Street) with Yard Eagle on June 21. See thevenicecafe.com for details.

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 25

[INDIE ROCK]

MUSIC

Surtsey released its latest album on the day of the Great American Eclipse. | CHRIS BAUER [INDIE ROCK] Surtsey released its latest album on the day of the Great American Eclipse. | CHRIS BAUER

STAGE

[PREVIEW]

Positively Operatic

Opera Theatre of St. Louis is gearing up for a big 2024

BY SARAH FENSKE

For Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the past few years were tough. The pandemic upended the viewing habits of many of its biggest fans, who stopped attending live theater as COVID-19 ravaged the nation — and even when life returned to normal for most Americans, they didn’t come back.

That’s what makes Anh Le, the opera company’s director of marketing and PR, downright stoked as she looks at the ticket sales for the festival season that kicks off this weekend.

“We are trending way ahead of the last two years,” she says. “It’s the closest to pre-COVID numbers we’ve been since the pandemic.”

What accounts for the bump? Le explains that the devoted opera-goers who dropped out during the pandemic and weren’t ready for outdoor opera in 2021 or masks/vaccine cards in 2022 still haven’t returned. Where Opera Theatre of St. Louis has succeeded, however, is by bringing in new fans — in many cases, younger fans — and getting them hooked. “More of our audience every year is new to us,” she notes.

Part of what seems to be bumping the numbers in 2024 is the show selection. This year includes two fan favorites — The Barber of Seville and La Boheme, the former one of the most beloved comedies of all time, the latter the Puccini classic that directly inspired Rent. What’s not to love?

But Le wants you to know that the season is rounded out by two operas that she swears will knock your socks off. The first is Julius Caesar, which has a score by Handel and puts the focus squarely on Cleopatra. “It’s really her story of how she rises to power and how she uses all of the tools and all of the feminine wiles at her disposal to ensure that that happens,” Le notes. “So it is both political drama and very sexy love story.”

The second is Galileo Galilei, with music by Philip Glass, which first premiered in 2002. And you won’t have

to be a Glass-head (is that a thing?) to appreciate the charms of this show. It’s not just that it’s a brisk 90 minutes, with no intermission. It’s also the fashion.

“I am not lying when I tell you I’ve been here for almost 10 years, and I’ve seen a lot of costume renderings come through our doors, but these ones made my jaw hit the floor,” Le says. “Even if you don’t know anything about contemporary music, or Galileo or science, come see these costumes, because they are going to be kickass. They’re going to be so insane.”

Incidentally, before the pandemic, Opera Theatre of St. Louis regularly saw 20 percent of its audience consist of opera superfans, who flew to Santa Fe or Des Moines along with St. Louis to see the best new productions each year. The pandemic reduced their numbers, too, and now out-of-towners only make up about 10 percent of the company’s audiences, Le says.

It makes the job of marketing these shows harder — superfans had been a predictable category — but in some ways, it’s woven Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ fates even more tightly to its namesake city.

“We’re really at the early starting point of trying to think about our season’s programming as, ‘How does this serve St. Louis? Why would a St. Louis resident be interested in seeing this work? And are we making it accessible for people who live here?’” Le says. “So we still want to bring all the national attention, we still want the national critics to come, we still want the outof-town guests to come. But really, we haven’t done our job if we’re not serving our community.” n

Opera Theatre of St. Louis kicks off its 2024 festival season on May 25. Tickets, picnic orders and more at opera-stl.org.

26 RIVERFRONT TIMES MAY 22-28, 2024 riverfronttimes.com

The fashion in Galileo Galilei is fierce. Just check out this blue frock. | COURTESY IMAGE

OUT & ABOUT 27

[MUST SEE]

TThis week St. Louis will see demand for stage dives skyrocket as Terror frontman Scott Vogel insistently demands “maximum output” from fans who must “step up to get your rep up” during the venerable no-frills hardcore act’s furious and pummeling Wednesday night set at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room. Elsewhere, St. Louis’ answer to NPR’s Tiny Desk series, the Brian McClelland-led Live at the Boom Room project, celebrates the premiere of its fifth season on Saturday night at Off Broadway, with St. Louis favorites Clownvis, Lizzie Weber, Mattie Schell and many more lending their talents to the festivities. Meanwhile, new wave pioneers Nick Feldman and Jack Hues invite fans to Wang Chung tonight (OK Thursday night, technically) at City Winery, St. Louis folk-pop act Boxcar celebrates the release of its latest record on Friday at Off Broadway, and New Orleans multihyphenate D.Sablu brings his punk-as-fuck DIY fury to CBGB on Saturday. All of that and the Isle of Wight’s queen of slacker pop (that would be Lauran Hibberd) in our picks for this week’s best shows!

his week St. Louis will see demand for stage dives skyrocket as Terror frontman Scott Vogel insistently demands “maximum output” from fans who must “step up to get your rep up” during the venerable no-frills hardcore act’s furious and pummeling Wednesday night set at Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room. Elsewhere, St. Louis’ answer to NPR’s Tiny Desk series, the Brian McClelland-led Live at the Boom Room project, celebrates the premiere of its fifth season on Saturday night at Off Broadway, with St. Louis favorites Clownvis, Lizzie Weber, Mattie Schell and many more lending their talents to the festivities. Meanwhile, new wave pioneers Nick Feldman and Jack Hues invite fans to Wang Chung tonight (OK Thursday night, technically) at City Winery, St. Louis folk-pop act Boxcar celebrates the release of its latest record on Friday at Off Broadway, and New Orleans multihyphenate D.Sablu brings his punk-as-fuck DIY fury to CBGB on Saturday. All of that and the Isle of Wight’s queen of slacker pop (that would be Lauran Hibberd) in our picks for this week’s best shows!

THURSDAY 23

CLAY: 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

GORED EMBRACE: w/ Selenoplexia, Sawed Off, Vow 7 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

Schell, Amber Skies 7 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

PETER COLLINS: 7:30 p.m., $35. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

Schell, Amber Skies 7 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

PETER COLLINS: 7:30 p.m., $35. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

GORED EMBRACE: w/ Selenoplexia, Sawed Off, Vow 7 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

ST. LOUIS PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET V: 11 a.m., free. Tower Grove Park, 3619 Southeast Dr Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, 0000000000.

MICHAELE POSTELL: 8 p.m., $20. Jack’s Joint, 4652 Shaw Ave., St. Louis, (314) 773-6600.

TAYLOR HUNNICUTT: w/ Tim Lloyd of Western States 8 p.m., $15. The Golden Record, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis.

MICHAELE POSTELL: 8 p.m., $20. Jack’s Joint, 4652 Shaw Ave., St. Louis, (314) 773-6600.

TAYLOR HUNNICUTT: w/ Tim Lloyd of Western States 8 p.m., $15. The Golden Record, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis.

WANG CHUNG: 7:30 p.m., $45-$75. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

FRIDAY 24

WANG CHUNG: 7:30 p.m., $45-$75. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

FRIDAY 24

BOXCAR ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: w/ Car Microwave, Langen Elise 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314498-6989.

BRESKVICA: 7:30 p.m., $60. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

BOXCAR ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: w/ Car Microwave, Langen Elise 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314498-6989.

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND INSIDE

BRESKVICA: 7:30 p.m., $60. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND INSIDE

STRAIGHT: 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-5339900.

DYING FETUS: w/ 200 Stab Wounds, Kruelty, Psycho-Frame 8 p.m., $25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SATURDAY 25

DYING FETUS: w/ 200 Stab Wounds, Kruelty, Psycho-Frame 8 p.m., $25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SATURDAY 25

BETHANY LANE: w/ Elephant Foot 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

BETHANY LANE: w/ Elephant Foot 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. CITY BLOCK PARTY: w/ Juliet Ivy, Hazmat, Lexodus 4 p.m., free. City Park, 112 S. Kansas, Edwardsville.

D. SABLU: w/ 18andCounting, Reeba 8 p.m., $10. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis.

CITY BLOCK PARTY: w/ Juliet Ivy, Hazmat, Lexodus 4 p.m., free. City Park, 112 S. Kansas, Edwardsville.

D. SABLU: w/ 18andCounting, Reeba 8 p.m., $10. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis.

LIVE FROM THE BOOM ROOM SEASON 5

LIVE FROM THE BOOM ROOM SEASON 5 PREMIERE PARTY: w/ Clownvis, Lizzie Weber, Hunter Peebles, Nite Frvr, Daemon, Mattie

PREMIERE PARTY: w/ Clownvis, Lizzie Weber, Hunter Peebles, Nite Frvr, Daemon, Mattie

SUNDAY 26

ST. LOUIS PUNK ROCK FLEA MARKET V: 11 a.m., free. Tower Grove Park, 3619 Southeast Dr Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, 0000000000.

SUNDAY 26

SPINAL FETISH: w/ Extinctionism, Coagulating, Morgue Stench 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-3282309.

TUESDAY 28

SPINAL FETISH: w/ Extinctionism, Coagulating, Morgue Stench 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-3282309.

TUESDAY 28

COP FUNERAL: w/ Painted Faces, Shinra Knives, Clone Stamp, Trauma Harness, Sloopy McCoy 8:30 p.m., $10. Platypus, 4501 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-359-2293.

FILTH: w/ Second Death, Inferious, Snake Father, Polterguts 6:30 p.m., $18-$20. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

FREDO BANG: w/ Kuttem Reese, Fl Ousa, Yolo Ru, Brimboy TB, How D Black Do Dat 7:30 p.m., $25-$59.50. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

LAURAN HIBBERD: w/ Hazmat 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

WEDNESDAY 29

LAURAN HIBBERD: w/ Hazmat 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

WEDNESDAY 29

MARCUS KING: w/ JJ Wilde 8 p.m., $46. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314726-6161.

SPITE: w/ Bodysnatcher, Thrown, Knosis 7 p.m., $25-$49.50. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TERROR: w/ ComRad, Abrade 8 p.m., $25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

THERESA PAYNE: 7:30 p.m., $35. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060. n

riverfronttimes.com MAY 22-28, 2024 RIVERFRONT TIMES 27

Terror. | LADER

[MUST SEE]

Terror. | LADER

Mommy Issues

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m an intelligent, open-minded mom of a 13-year-old boy. Recently, I’ve found out that my son entered into an online Dom/sub relationship where he asked his “Mistress” to give him degrading tasks like drinking his own semen. Of course, his “Mistress” asked him to “prove his loyalty” by providing her with money in the form of gift cards. This is how I found out about this relationship. My Amazon account was suddenly filled with gift card purchases for this person signed from “Your Slave.” I immediately contacted this “Mistress” and advised her that she was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an eighth grader. This kid hasn’t even had his first kiss, Dan, let alone a physical relationship with anyone. I don’t want to shame his kinks, but I’m also very concerned that this is far too advanced for a kid his age to even understand. Over the years, he’s had a fixation with women’s feet and giant women stomping on small figures (all of this in anime/manga). Again, I really want him to grow up with healthy attitudes toward sex — but this is parenting at a whole new level. Is it possible for me to dial back this very adult behavior? I’m overwhelmed already, and puberty has just begun!

Mostly Understanding Mom

Oh, momma. You are in for an exhausting five years.

You’re gonna need to remain vigilant — monitoring your son’s online activities — while running interference. You can’t reprogram your son’s erotic imagination, MUM, nor should you waste your time trying. You can’t prevent him from getting online, but you can put filters on his devices, regularly check his browser history, and regularly remind him you’re checking his browser history — not to shame him, but to keep him safe from predators, scammers, and the kind of malicious sextortionists who’ve driven young people — particularly young boys — to suicide. The fact that your son likes following orders makes him particularly vulnerable to people tricking boys into sending them intimate pics and then blackmailing them with threats of sending their pics and videos to classmates and family members.

In addition to telling your son you’re monitoring his online activities to keep him safe, you should tell him that you understand that he thinks he’s ready. But anyone who would give him the time of day right now — much less dominate him — is by definition a terrible person who can’t be trusted with what he wants to share with someone. (And anyone who demands money and/or gift cards is highly suspect.)

Let him know there are good people out there who enjoy all the same things he does but the good ones — the people he’ll be able to trust — won’t go near him until he’s an adult. So, for now he’ll just have to content himself with fantasizing about his kinks and masturbating to his part’s content.

And if you can get him safely through high school …

Your son can be a kinky adult and have a healthy attitude toward sex. The chief concern

expressed to me when parents learn that their kid is kinky — when parents find the latex gloves or the diapers or the handcuffs — is their kid will never find love. Pre-internet, being kinky definitely complicated a person’s search for love; the kinky person had to meet people the normal way, e.g., at work, in bars, through friends, etc., and eventually disclose their kink. This often resulted in the kinky person getting dumped and having to start over. Nowadays, kinky adults have the option of getting on kink dating and hookup sites and searching for partners who share their kinks.

P.S. I’m sure MUM would love to hear from some readers who were once kinky at-risk youth and who are now healthy and functional kinky adults. What did your parents — if they found out you were kinky — say or do? What was helpful? What was harmful? Jump into the comments and share some advice with MUM.

Is it possible to be in mourning for a fantasy that will never be fulfilled? I’m a 44-year-old cis het man, and since hitting puberty I’ve fantasized about sleeping with an older woman — like, a much older woman. The fantasy was always about the mature older woman and, well, that younger and more virile version of me at 18. But it never happened. I got married right out of college, got divorced young and quickly married again. Now that I am solidly middle aged and in a monogamous (and very happy) relationship, not only has the prospect of realizing this kink most likely ended, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to even fantasize about it anymore. I’m just too old to have this sort of situation be a realistic scenario. I’m not finding an older woman to sleep with anytime soon, and I’m not magically turning back into a twenty-something anytime soon. Knowing that I’ve aged out of my ultimate fantasy without ever acting on it makes it almost sad to think about. I’m not asking you that dumb and obvious question (“Is this normal?”), as I’ve reading you long enough to know the answer to that. I guess what I’m asking is for advice on how I can deal with the sadness I’m feeling about this. Often Life Disappoints

Seeing as you’re mourning a fantasy that will never be fulfilled — you’re never gonna be a young stud seduced and/or seduced by a mature older woman — the answer to your first question (“Is it possible to be in mourning for a fantasy that will never be fulfilled?”) is obviously yes, OLD, as demonstrated by your own feelings of grief. As for what to do about the sadness you’re feeling, well, you did something very useful with your sadness today by writing to me. While it may be too late for you to do something about your fantasy, your letter will hopefully inspire others — young and old alike — to act on their fantasies before it’s too late, e.g., before they’re too married and/or too monogamous and/or too old.

And here’s a fantasy-fulfillment pro tip for them: creating opportunities >>> seizing opportunities.

And you’re not actually too old to realize this fantasy, OLD! While you can’t play the young and virile stud for a 50-year-old woman — you need that age gap to gape — you can play the

SAVAGE LOVE 29

younger and still virile stud for a woman in her mid-sixties. To do it the right way, i.e., to do it without being a cheating piece of shit, OLD, you’re gonna need your wife’s permission. If your wife is one of those people — one of those insecure, irrational people — who expects all of her partner’s sexual thoughts and fantasies to revolve around her, then she’s unlikely to react positively to your request for a hall pass. But if your wife doesn’t expect all of your sexual fantasies to revolve around her … if your wife doesn’t have a problem with you looking at porn … if she doesn’t get angry when she notices you noticing the host barista … getting a little tipsy and/or high together and having a conversation about your sexual fantasies and hers — AND HERS AND HERS AND HERS — might you that hall pass.

P.P.S. Go into that conversation prepared not just to ask for a hall pass, OLD, but to offer one.

P.S. And if your wife’s been fantasizing about fucking some young stud … Yahtzee!

Here are the background details: My son was once a 16-year-old junior in high school and very introverted kid. He never expressed any interest in girls or boys, but one day he comes home with a dress he bought at Goodwill. I asked him then if it had anything to do with his sexuality and he said it didn’t, although he would later come out to us as bisexual. It’s now 10 years later, and on my now 26-year-old son sometimes wears a skirt to his job as a legal assistant. I am not against him wearing a skirt if that’s what he wants, but I worry about his safety. He lives in Chicago and takes public transportation. Do I need to be concerned, or should I just let him do as he wants? He’s an adult now, and he’s a smart and wonderful person. I want him to do what is right for him, but I worry about the rest of the world.

Loving Parent In Chicagoland

I wanna live in a world where people can wear whatever they want without having to worry what other people might say or do. We don’t live in that world, LPIC, but your son — by being himself and wearing whatever he wants — is helping to create that world. There’s a risk, of course, that your son might attract some negative attention when he leaves his apartment in a skirt. But your son is a grown- ass man, LPIC, and I’m confident he’s calculated — and can control for — whatever risk he’s running.

P.S. Chicago, my hometown, is one of those big and diverse and consequently tolerant cities, where the sight of a dude in a skirt on the Brown Line is unlikely to cause a riot. And I rode public transportation in Chicago when I was in my teens and twenties in crazy fucking outfits and lived to tell the tale. Your son should be fine.

P.P.S. Every kid in Chicagoland — regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression — should be so lucky as to have a mom like you.

I’m a married straight woman. A friend was visiting recently with her husband. Things were rocky between them for some time, and yet they seemed to be doing very well. They were very attentive to each other and even a little loveydovey. I privately asked her what made the dif-

ference, and she told me that by her husband’s request they started having an ANR (Adult Nursing Relationship) over a year ago. She was initially hesitant about the idea as well as the commitment, yet as time went by, she noticed the benefits to their relationship. A short, nonscientific online research confirmed her assessment. This has me wondering if I can apply the same approach to my somewhat dwindling marriage. I’m not sure the every-three-hour routine can work for us and have me producing milk again. Even if it could, my husband was reluctant to touch my breasts while I was breastfeeding our two children, now adults. Yet the idea of doing it “dry” while maintaining an eye contact and “lending a hand” in case the need arises is enough to excite me. My husband was always the initiator in our bedroom situations, and I wonder how I can introduce the idea without him feeling “demoted” or infantilized. Your thoughts and the thoughts of others are welcome.

American Nursing Resources

To be perfectly honest, ANR: your letter sounds like it was written by a man.

Lots of kinky straight men wanna live in a world where instead of having to beg their wives to peg them or cuck them or nurse them, their wives hear about pegging or cucking or adult nursing relationships — even once — and suddenly can’t wait to peg or cuck or nurse them. They don’t live in that world, but writing fake letters to advice columnists makes it a little easier for kinky straight men to pretend they do … and to masturbate about it.

For the record: There are kinky women out there — I get letters every day from women who, unprompted/unbegged, wanna peg their husbands — but it’s rare for women in long-term, vanilla, heterosexual marriages to suddenly acquire a very specific and very niche kink. But on the off chance you’re for real, ANR, here’s what you say to your husband: “Martha and George have been doing this kinky thing — and it’s a real kink with websites and books and subreddits of its own — and it sounds like fun, and I wanna give it a try.”

Even if your husband isn’t interested in being nursed, ANR, don’t lose sight of what it was that improved your friend’s marriage: It wasn’t what they were doing with each other — ANR, the kink, doesn’t have magical marriage-improving properties — but that they were doing for each other. They were communicating, they were taking risks, and they were having an adventure. It was the listening and playing that revived their relationship, not the popping of a tit into a mouth. It could’ve been pegging, cuckolding, nursing — it could’ve been anything — so don’t despair if your husband isn’t into this particular thing, ANR. Suggest something else.

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