Riverfront Times - January 18, 2017 by Riverfront Times

JANUARY 18–24, 2017 I VOLUME 41 I NUMBER 3

RIVERFRONTTIMES.COM I FREE

CHANGE

is coming.

Francis Slay is moving on.

WHO’S

NEXT?

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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“Everybody’s got cabin fever, and the ice scared everybody. But you know, it’s better now because the trees had ice on them this morning, and they don’t have ice on them now. We’re good until the next one — ha! Whenever that comes.” —Raven Wolf C. felton Jennings ii, photogRaphed at the loop iCe festival on JanuaRy 14, one day afteR fReezing Rain led to a state of emeRgenCy

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE

11.

Change Is Coming

Francis Slay is moving on. Who’s next?

Written by

RFT STAFF

Cover by

THOMAS HAWK

NEWS

CULTURE

DINING

NIGHTLIFE

The Lede

Calendar

Your friend or neighbor, captured on camera

Seven days worth of great stuff to see and do

An Old Fight for New Life

Film

Larry Rice is not ready to submit to the city’s eviction order just yet

MaryAnn Johanson is disappointed by Scorsese’s latest rumination on faith, Silence

For Sale: Dojo Pizza

A church linked to some serious controversy in Bevo Mill is now up for sale

Arts

Damon Davis, whose criticism ignited a protest at the Contemporary Art Museum, has a new film at Sundance

Take and Eat

Fatal Bus Accident prepares to take its very funny show on the road

Side Dish

Michael Friedman, executive chef at Retreat Gastropub, owes his career to McDonald’s — and friendship

List

Sara Graham compiles the ten best spots to buy gooey butter cake

Food News

Salt + Smoke and Half & Half are both doubling down on St. Louis

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This Just In

This week’s new concert announcements

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E D I T O R I A L Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Elizabeth Semko Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Sara Graham, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer, Mabel Suen, Lauren Milford, Thomas Crone, MaryAnn Johanson, Jenn DeRose

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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NEWS

New Life’s Larry Rice Vows to Fight Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

ev. Larry Rice’s homeless shelter isn’t going down without a fight. Ordered last week by the city to shut down on April 1, the founder of New Life Evangelistic Center vows nevertheless to stay open. “We’re going to continue to pursue all angles, because all this is going to come out in the courts,” Rice says. On Thursday, the city Board of Building Appeals rejected New Life’s bid to reverse a cease-anddesist order. Rice says he expected the decision and will now battle the city in state court, with an eye toward ultimately taking their case to federal court, arguing that running the shelter is a constitutionally protected exercise of religious freedom. Rice has run New Life for more than 40 years near the corner of Locust and Fourteenth streets. In May 2015, a 32-bed hotel permit he was granted in 1976 was revoked following complaints from neighbors about crime and chaos. But the shelter kept operating, welcoming a nightly flood of people that sometimes tops 200 guests. On November 9, just as an epidemic of synthetic marijuana or K2 overdoses hit encampments outside the New Life, the city issued a ceaseand-desist order that gave Rice 30 days to close his doors or secure a new permit. The controversy was part of a Riverfront Times cover story the same month. In rejecting his appeal of that order last Thursday, the board members agreed to delay the shutdown deadline until spring but offered no other concessions. They denied New Life’s request for more time to fix building code violations, such as a missing range hood for a stove, that were issued back in 2015.

After more than 40 years, the city of St. Louis is moving to boot Larry Rice’s homeless shelter out of downtown. | NICK SCHNELLE

Dojo Pizza Church for Sale

ooking to buy an old church with a sketchy past? The former Dojo Pizza property is for sale. Once the home of karate instructor Loren Copp and a shifting number of teenage girls, the 24,000-square-foot building at 4601 Morganford Road includes a vaulted sanctuary, gymnasium, commercial kitchen and a string of classrooms that were most recently used as bedrooms. The asking price is $199,000. Copp, who is now awaiting trial on federal child porn charges, was forced to vacate in October 2015 after St. Louis police and federal agents raided the place, which Copp used as his home, a karate studio and a pizzeria called Dojo Pizza. A city building inspector found more than three dozen code violations and condemned the property. Six months later, in April 2016, Copp was arrested after a search of hard drives seized from the church

Continued on pg 9

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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Inside the church-turned-pizzeria/karate studio. | MABEL SUEN turned up images of hardcore child pornography, authorities say. Some of the photos show the torso of a man, identified as Copp by an underage victim, according to prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. After the arrest, the city seized the building, saying Copp’s nonprofit Maji Ryu Christian Karate Association owed $13,940 in back taxes, according to the city assessor’s online re-

cords. The building and two adjoining parcels were then sold in August at a sheriff’s auction for a total of just $35,714, officials say. The old Dojo Pizza banners on the side of the church have long been torn away, and the property is now for sale again. A sign for Kramer Commercial Realty is fixed to the front. An online listing describes the

LARRY RICE Continued from pg 8 “The board decided that the sixteen months since the citations were issued was sufficient time to address the violations,” City Counselor Michael Garvin said in a statement describing the board’s decision. Absent intervention by a judge, that could spell the end of the region’s largest walk-in shelter. To secure a new occupancy permit, New Life would need to collect signatures from a majority of neighbors. That’s a tough task considering some of those same neighbors signed a petition to revoke the shelter’s permit in 2015. But Rice says they’ve made progress with some residents and Washington Street business owners. He’s proven resilient, resisting long-running efforts to shut him down. He was already focusing on the courts by the time the appeals board decision was announced. “In spite of recent News Reports, New Life Evangelistic Center is not shutting down April, 1st,” New Life posted Friday on Facebook. Rice previously sued the city in federal court in March 2015. The case, which made the religious freedom argument, was dismissed that fall. But he is optimistic. “We’re going to be working on injunctions,” he says. “We’ll actually be appealing to higher courts.” n property as “former church” and “community center.” (Kramer did not respond to requests for comment.) The building needs a few repairs, according to the ad. It is being sold “as is.” It’s worth noting the Dojo Pizza case doesn’t have any connection to #pizzagate, the fictional child sex trafficking conspiracy that led one true believer to fire a gun inside a Washington, D.C., pizzeria. Yet a number of conspiracy theorists linked the two in social media posts and even contacted the Riverfront Times while mining for ties to the St. Louis case. The #pizzagate furor has finally begun to die down. Even the misinformed gunman in Washington, D.C. now admits his “intel on this wasn’t 100 percent.” Copp, who once claimed he was the victim of a law enforcement conspiracy, is still locked up. His attorney has requested more time to analyze evidence in the case. —Doyle Murphy

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CHANGE IS COMING.

Francis Slay is moving on.

WHO’S

NEXT?

he race for St. Louis mayor often seems to sneak up on us a little bit, with the pivotal Democratic primary traditionally held just four months after the presidential election. And this year it seems sneakier than ever. Donald Trump’s November 8 upset simply sucked all the oxygen out of the room; it’s been hard to care about anything local, much less focus on a crowded, complicated local race. But with the critical vote looming on March 7, it’s high time we all started paying attention. To kick off election season, the RFT sought out the five candidates who’ve demonstrated they have a base of support beyond just themselves and their egos (sorry, Jimmie Matthews and Bill Haas). We requested in-person interviews to get to know who they are, why they’re running and what they hope to do at City Hall. Four said yes; you’ll also read a bit about the fifth in the stories that follow. After spending two weeks getting to know these five, we’re excited for this year’s race. Voters have a real choice in policy positions, priorities and governing styles, even as two strong female candidates make a case to be the city’s first female mayor. And no matter what happens, we’ll have our first mayor in sixteen years who isn’t named Francis Slay. Change is coming no matter what happens, and that’s reason enough to give this one our full attention. – Sarah Fenske Continued on pg 12

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

RIVERFRONT TIMES

THE NEXT MAYOR Continued from pg 11

Endorsed by the police union, Lyda Krewson says crime is her top concern. | DOYLE MURPHY

LY DA

KREWSON The best-funded candidate is a moderate in an immoderate age. Can she hold off her many rivals? DOYLE MURPHY

t. Louis — a city whose natives proudly divide themselves neighborhood by neighborhood, even high school by high school — is universally sick of crime. “When I’m out knocking on doors, and you get to talk to somebody, you say to them, ‘What’s on your mind? What do you want to make sure that the next mayor knows?’ A big majority of people want to talk about neighborhood safety,” Lyda Krewson says. “They say it in different ways. They talk about incidents that have gone on in the neighborhoods, or they talk

RIVERFRONT TIMES

about their worries and their concerns. And that is true whether I’m knocking on doors in Baden or whether I’m knocking on doors at Carondelet and the river.” That’s the starting point of Krewson’s campaign for mayor. An early entry into what has become a crowded race, the 64-yearold alderwoman from the Central West End has made fighting crime her top priority. “I think neighborhood safety is job one for the next mayor,” Krewson says. It is not a revolutionary platform, or even unique among a Democratic field with at least three, maybe four or even five legitimate contenders. But then Krewson is not a revolutionary. Her twenty-year political career has been defined by a centrist resume. She successfully pushed a long-overdue city smoking ban and found compromise on the hotly disputed minimum wage bill, proposing the $11 an hour plan that eventually gained passage (though it must still survive a court challenge). Her personal style is direct but civil

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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in the model of soon-to-be former Mayor Francis Slay. She is not a shouter and is maybe the candidate least likely to get sucked into a Twitter battle. (Social media in general is not her natural arena. On December 19, she tweeted “I have joined @instagram!”) But she has also shown herself to be steely when necessary — the most obvious example was her resilience from the murder of her husband in 1995. She was in the car with him and her son and daughter, ages two and five, when robbers shot Jeffrey Krewson in front of the family’s home. “That was rough,” she says now. “That’s all you can say about it.” She was elected two years later to her first term as alderman for the 28th Ward, a district that surrounds Forest Park on three sides. Her push into city politics had something to do with the murder of her husband, but it was not the straight line that some have drawn, she says. Krewson saw it as a natural progression from the neighborhood volunteer work she had done before the tragedy.

On the Democratic spectrum, she’s been unsurprisingly progressive on gun control, swung to the right when it comes to tax breaks for developers and falls somewhere in the middle on other liberal causes, such as raising the minimum wage. While opposing candidates have called for firing the police chief or shutting down the city jail known as the “Workhouse,” Krewson’s plan for cutting crime has at its spine more and better-paid cops. She has laid out a proposal that calls for $33 million in public safety spending. The bulk of the money — $25 million — would go toward hiring another 200 police officers, training them better, equipping them better and raising their salaries to compete with their counterparts in the county. The remaining $8 million would be split across a variety of other strategies, including $2 million for youth recreation programs and another $2 million to support drug courts or other alternatives to incarceration and prosecution. Krewson, chief financial officer

for the St. Louis-based design firm PGAV, says she thinks she can find much of the funding within the city’s budget, but will make up any gaps if need be. “I just don’t know what our city will look like if we don’t spend the money,” she says. The St. Louis Police Officers Association is backing Krewson, an endorsement ridiculed by some of her opponents. Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderman Antonio French point to the union’s controversial business manager, Jeff Roorda, who has equated the Black Lives Matter movement with a “war on police” and blamed President Barack Obama for the killing of Dallas police officers in July. “THIS BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS, MR. PRESIDENT” Roorda tweeted along with a gruesome image after the attack. “It is impossible to stand for change and sit with Jeff Roorda,” Jones wrote to the St. Louis American after the union’s endorsement. “#LydaKrewson stands with Jeff Roorda, who fights reform, calls protestors ‘terrorists’, and blamed President Obama after the Dallas tragedy,” French tweeted. Krewson bristles at the mention of Roorda during an interview with the Riverfront Times. “He didn’t endorse me — SLPOA endorsed me,” she says. “Jeff Roorda didn’t endorse me.” Krewson insists her support comes from the union’s nearly 1,200 members. She says she is not embarrassed to stand with the police officers, and that does not preclude her from supporting social justice reforms. “Personally, I think it’s completely possible and likely that you can support both police officers and Black Lives Matter,” she says. “Those two things are not incongruous.” For his part, Roorda says Krewson was a clear choice for the endorsement. The police union interviewed all the major candidates, except Jones, who declined the meeting. (French has claimed he was not seeking the union’s endorsement but had a constructive conversation with its leaders.) “Lyda has been a dependable pro-police vote,” he says. “She’s not some patsy. She makes us make our case, but she usually sees things our way on matters of law and order.” Police want a candidate to hear them out, and Krewson has been willing to do that, Roorda says. “That’s all we want out of a

mayor is someone that will sit down and listen to us and hear us, that may not be with us or embrace our position on everything, but will give us a fair hearing,” he says. Krewson announced her candidacy in June, following Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed into the race. The early entry has allowed her plenty of time to organize and raise money. She had the most money on hand — more than $403,600 — at the end of a quarterly finance report released in October. A half-dozen staffers manned her Lindell Boulevard campaign office during a recent visit. A new shipment of 1,000 yard signs was piled in a second office down below. Early filings show sizable donations from her design firm employer, real estate firms and hoteliers, including $15,000 from the management company for the Ballpark Village Hilton. Developers have long come to Krewson and aldermen in neighboring wards for tax breaks. It comes with the territory of representing well-heeled areas where developers want to build, but Krewson says she carefully reviews proposals and often rejects projects or negotiates incentive packages far below the original requests. Done right, tax abatement can improve a neighborhood and increase badly needed density by encouraging a project that might not otherwise get done, she says. Done wrong, taxpayers unnecessarily gift money that could go to schools or other city bills. Krewson concedes it can be a tricky balance. She recently supported a proposal for ten years of abatement — 50 percent for the first five years, 25 percent for the second — for a proposal to build five townhouses on Westminster Place, just north of Cathedral Basilica. Formerly used by a convent and later other nonprofits, the property has been tax-free for decades and the developer’s efforts will almost certainly result in sales to well-off buyers. Critics say it is a prime example of the city throwing money at property in a high-demand area that does not need taxpayer support. But Krewson sees it as a place to compromise: a few years of abatement for the greater good of getting the property back on the tax rolls. “There’s both numbers,” she says, “and there is an art to making a judgment.” Continued on pg 14

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

THE NEXT MAYOR Continued from pg 13 ANTONIO

FRENCH Famous after Ferguson, can the alderman translate a national profile into electoral success within the city? DANNY WICENTOWSKI

lderman Antonio French already has one task on the agenda for his first day as the mayor of St. Louis: Fire the city’s police chief, Sam Dotson. “Chief Dotson has to go,” says French. The enmity between the two men is nothing new. French won an aldermanic seat in 2009 representing the 21st Ward, and he and Dotson have clashed ever since over the relationship between the police department and hard-hit northern neighborhoods that play unwilling host to the majority of the city’s violent crime. Widening divisions in safety, crime and city resources pose a dire threat to all of St. Louis, French warns. And in a mayoral campaign likely to focus heavily on violent crime — last year’s 188 homicides tied 2015’s bloody record — French, 39, is hoping to position himself as a status-quo buster and problem solver. That means not only taking on Dotson, but hammering the sixteen-year reign of outgoing mayor Francis Slay. “The situation we have in St. Louis is that the mayor accepts no responsibility for crime and violence,” says French. “When it comes to crime in the city of St. Louis, the buck needs to stop with the mayor.” What would Mayor French do differently? For one thing, he says he would show up at crime scenes personally. In his 21st Ward, where murders and shootings are tragically commonplace, French says the presence of an elected official can help overcome the distrust between black residents and the officers assigned to serve them. That’s what St. Louis needs from a mayor, too, says French. “People need to understand that we have not had a mayor in sixteen years who has any relationship with the African American community, the largest population in St. Louis city.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

“The city has to stop putting the wants of the few over the needs of the many,” says Antonio French. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI That is a problem.” Born and raised in the city’s O’Fallon neighborhood, right there in the 21st ward, French attended the elite all-boys Christian Brother’s College High School and later graduated from Auburn University with a degree in political science. After returning to St. Louis in 2000, French cut his teeth running political campaigns and publishing a short-lived alternative newspaper, the Public Defender, which eventually transitioned into a must-read blog for the city’s political junkies. In his two terms as alderman, French’s star shone brightest on the streets of Ferguson. The po-

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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lice shooting of Michael Brown in August 2014 unleashed protests throughout the north county suburb, just a short drive down West Florissant Avenue from French’s home. On Twitter, French attracted tens of thousands of followers with descriptions of protests and his own efforts to preserve the peace. Through French, a worldwide audience got a front-row understanding of the unfolding social unrest. The alderman’s coverage regularly beat cable news shows to breaking developments on the ground. Yet his most high-profile moment, perhaps inevitably, led to a backlash. In some circles, French’s

activism was followed by a persistent line of suspicion: What was a St. Louis aldermen doing running around north county? Shouldn’t he be paying attention to his ward’s problems, not burnishing his national reputation? “What happened in Ferguson could have happened anywhere,” French retorts. He points out that in the weeks following Michael Brown’s death, several controversial police shootings drew protests in the St. Louis metro area. “Too many people are content to make that just a Ferguson situation,” French says. “This is a St. Louis situation. The question

shouldn’t be, ‘Why was Antonio French out there?’ The question should be, ‘Why weren’t you out there?’” French believes the city’s police department needs help. Employee vacancies should be filled, he says, and starting salaries should be increased to retain new officers before they bolt for departments in St. Louis County. But St. Louis also needs to mandate that its officers wear body cameras, he says, and its citizen review board (created through a French-backed board bill in 2015) should be able to do more than issue non-binding recommendations. In French’s view, St. Louis needs comprehensive plans that marshal citywide resources to confront citywide problems. That’s much different than simply reassigning cops downtown or to the Central West End in the wake of an incident that grabs headlines. French notes his efforts to batter Slay over the city’s lack of a big-picture plan, which included threatening to filibuster the Rams’ stadium financing bill until the mayor addressed his concerns. “You got to remember that it took us holding a billion-dollar project hostage before Slay even addressed the violent crime in our communities,” French says. The results of that effort, however, have been mixed. One year after Slay touted a “comprehensive plan” to flood fifteen St. Louis neighborhoods with focused police attention and civil resources, many key crime metrics are still up. Divisions are still deep. And development incentive packages and tax abatements continue to pour into already wealthy areas. “This city has to stop putting the wants of the few over the needs of the many,” French says. Under his watch, St. Louis would deny public funding for any new stadium proposals, and he would evaluate requests for stadium and infrastructure improvements from the Blues and Cardinals on a tightfisted, case-by-case basis. “Too many people in this city are leaving this city because of high rates of violence, high rates of crime, low-quality schools and a general feeling that the city does not care about their neighborhood,” he says. “That is further justified when they turn on the news and still there are no more officers being assigned to their neighborhood, still there is not an economic development plan for that neighborhood, but somehow the city is going to find $80 million

to help fund the dreams of some millionaires.” French has a steep challenge ahead if he wants to take the mayor’s office from the likes of Alderwoman Lyda Krewson and Treasurer Tishaura Jones. While another campaign finance report is due next week, French’s fundraising apparatus got off to a slow start, yielding just $13,000 from a crowd-funding campaign plus an additional $3,000 in more traditional donations. The alderman has also weathered bad press over an early-January story in the St. Louis Business Journal: The story — which French considers a politically motivated hit-piece — reported that the IRS revoked the charitable status of North Campus Partnership, a nonprofit French founded in 2012 to provide tutoring and after-school services to underserved students in the 21st Ward. Though a registered nonprofit with the state of Missouri, French’s organization failed to file the proper forms with the federal government for three consecutive years. (French now says North Campus is in the process of making good with the IRS.) Regardless of its outcome, the election will represent a turning point in French’s political career. Since his seat is up for election this year and he opted not to run for a third term in favor of the mayor’s job, he has no backup plan in case of defeat. A loss in the mayoral election would mean French loses his place at the table of political power in St. Louis. But French is weary of questions about his chances, and particularly tired of talking about whether he has a shot of winning in a field featuring four black candidates. He doesn’t give credence to concerns that “splitting the black vote” will effectively hand the office to Krewson. “I’m not saying that St. Louis must have an African-American mayor, but it’s important for the next mayor of the city St. Louis to have a relationship with the African-American community,” he says. “The Slay administration had a political mentality of doing just enough to win and not building any kind of collaboration. We need a policy shift. We are losing population and we are losing jobs. You have to look just beyond your own neighborhood and see that this city is not working for everyone, and we cannot continue down the same road.”

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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THE NEXT MAYOR Continued from pg 15

Tishaura Jones believes media attacks against her have “backfired.” | COURTESY OF THE JONES CAMPAIGN

T I S H AU R A

JONES After winning some prominent backers, the city’s treasurer hopes to transcend the city’s racial divide THOMAS CRONE

ishaura Jones’ mayoral campaign headquarters is based on Delmar Avenue, just east of the heart of the Central West End — and no, she says, it’s not silly

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to ask if the address was chosen with intention. The city’s treasurer acknowledges that the campaign’s location on Delmar, and only on Delmar, “was deliberate, yes.” The street, now inextricably linked to the infamous phrase “the Delmar Divide,” symbolizes the split between black and white St. Louis. It’s hardly a new prop in the mayoral contest — Jones’ competitor, Jeffrey Boyd, has a campaign sign just down the block, while a recent web video for Antonio French finds him confidently striding down a nearby stretch of the road — but for Jones, it’s more than a backdrop. It’s also strategy. Jones’ campaign, in both subtle and overt ways, has attacked the

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notion of black vs. white, north vs. south. Her campaign hashtag of #onestlouis suggests that the only path to victory spans both sides of Delmar. To that end, she intends to win votes not only from her north city base, but also from the young white progressives who’ve begun to shake up the city’s status quo. So far, the enthusiastic support she’s finding from many white, southcity Berniecrats suggests the plan is no fool’s errand. “In choosing #onestlouis, it says that despite everything we’ve been through — our racial tensions, the community and police’s relationship — we have to emerge as one community after that,” Jones says. “We have to move forward as one.

And in any way that we address any of these ills — education, crime — we have to do it as one.” To get to the leadership position that she seeks, though, she’ll have to run up against some time-tested notions of how racial politics play out. Four of the five major candidates for mayor are black, and the conventional wisdom holds that early poll-leader Lyda Krewson, the sole white option, is the beneficiary of a fractured field. Jones resists that narrative, saying, “The St. Louis electorate is not monolithic. In the most recent election, St. Louis showed it’s capable of choosing the best candidate in the field. Vernon Betts won for sheriff; he was among four black

candidates for the job. Kim Gardner won circuit attorney in a field that had two white and two black candidates. I think the electorate has shown they want the best candidate, regardless of background. I think we are changing. No, we are changing.” It’s not all starry-eyed progressivism. Jones has also secured the services of Mayor Francis Slay’s campaign manager, Richard Callow — a big “get” in a hotly contested race. (Callow, says Jones, serves “in an advisory role. Anne Schweitzer is our campaign manager.”) She adds, “Our agenda includes things that we’re advocating for and are things that I’ve cared about for a long time. If that agenda dovetails into things that Richard cares about,” that’s incidental. In addition to her polished persona, Jones, 44, brings a variety of strengths as a candidate. Her father was an alderman and later the city’s comptroller, which could convey some dynastic benefits (maybe — more on that in a minute). And as the city’s current treasurer, she’s won city-wide office twice, on a reform agenda, as well as serving four years representing the hardscrabble West End neighborhood in the Missouri House of Representatives. She believes that experience will allow her a greater understanding of Jefferson City politics than rivals who’ve served only at the city level. If she has an Achilles heel, it may be her father’s history: Virvus Jones left office with his reputation damaged after being accused of mishandling campaign funds. He was sentenced to a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to cheating on his income taxes. The father-daughter relationship has always been a discussion point, a note of interest to those who wonder how much influence the former comptroller has on her campaign and, potentially, administration. To be sure, they’re close, with the elder Jones frequently called on for campaign season child-care duty for Tishaura Jones’ nine-yearold son Aden — and also weighing in on his daughter’s behalf on Twitter. But when the Post-Dispatch recently alleged ethical concerns over Tishaura Jones’ hiring of a company that employs her father’s former associate, the treasurer went on the offensive, turning what was meant to be a hit piece into a call for second chances.

“I’m a very religious person, and one of my favorite passages is that ‘no weapon formed against you shall prosper,’” she says, quoting the Bible. “That was used by the media to taint my campaign. But no daughter is responsible for the sins of the father. I saw that it backfired. People were able to see through what the media was trying to do.” Perhaps that recent P-D piece, or a memorably awkward clash with Elliott Davis of “You Paid For It” fame over her city-paid car, has left Jones somewhat media-wary. For someone who can speak at length on most any topic in public settings, her responses in private are measured, on-topic, addressing the issues without straying from the central point of an answer. On a recent weekday afternoon, inside the storefront that Schweitzer and Jones keep at a Sunday-best level of detail and organization, Jones sits in a glass cubicle, writing thank you notes by long hand. It’s a practice that she says she’s always engaged in, dating to her statehouse days, if not earlier. “Writing thank you notes is very important,” she says. “It’s an old art. [Constituents] like that personal touch and appreciate it. Even if it’s something that could be preprinted, this is just something I like to do.” The only item that seems permanently affixed to the campaign office desk is a framed ... something. In time, after Jones finishes answering a reporter’s serious questions, Schweitzer encourages her to flip the frame, with the two laughing, if only for a moment, almost if ready to reveal a gag. Nothing like that is forthcoming. Instead, Jones turns the piece to reveal a simple drawing of a buffalo. She tells a story of how buffaloes move directly into storms when on the plains, into the wildness and unpredictability of nature. They’re aware, she suggests, that there’ll always be an end to the storm and better days to come on the opposite side. Schweitzer, picking up on the riff, says, “We are all buffalo here. Everybody is tirelessly working towards Tishaura’s victory in March, then the election in April. It’s a very diverse group, from all over the city, people of different backgrounds. Everybody here’s dedicated to the campaign and the cause.” And, seemingly, to the calm, quiet leader in charge.

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THE NEXT MAYOR Continued from pg 8 JEFFREY

BOY D

For the north city alderman, lessons learned in a tough ward and a quest for City Hall KEVIN KORINEK

n the morning of Saturday, January 7, people pack into the Best Place Event Center on Martin Luther King Drive to grab flyers and other promotional materials and listen to a training seminar on how to better canvass the city in support of their chosen candidate for mayor, Jeffrey Boyd. For the past fourteen years, Boyd, 53, has been the alderman representing one of the toughest neighborhoods in St. Louis, the 22nd Ward — an area that occupies a section of Martin Luther King Drive between Kienlen Avenue and Union Boulevard. He knows exactly how tough it is from first-hand experience: He and his family live there. A graduate of Northwest High School, Boyd grew up in the ward before beginning a career in the army as a supply sergeant and logistics instructor. In his childhood, the 22nd Ward was considered a shopping mecca. But when he returned to St. Louis to start a family, the neighborhood had deteriorated into a morass of crime and abandoned property. He was bewildered by the changes, but determined to make a difference. While ward residents appear to be on board with his mayoral run, he’s definitely a long shot. Amidst the crowded field, both Lewis Reed and Tishaura Jones have already won city-wide races, while the presumed frontrunner Lyda Krewson, the alderwoman representing the affluent Central West End, has $403,000 on hand, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission. Even Boyd’s fellow north-side alderman, Antonio French, has a national profile and 137,000 Twitter followers, due in large part to his activism during Ferguson. As for Boyd, his brief moment in the spotlight beyond the borders of his ward came in the summer of 2015 after his 23-year-old

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nephew Rashad Farmer was shot and killed in Boyd’s own district. In KMOV B-roll footage that went viral, Boyd let loose for three and a half minutes, making a desperate plea for people to put down their weapons and railing against young people killing each other in the streets and a disinterested city not doing enough to curb the devastation. “I was pretty frustrated with the whole Ferguson experience, the police shooting experiences, and then I started thinking, ‘Why me? Why did this happen to me? To my family?’” he recounts today. “So now it really hurts. ‘Cause you see it happening time and again and you feel so sorry for people who’ve lost their family members, but now it’s your turn. This ain’t right. It ain’t fair. I just had to speak the truth.” When he saw the clip online a week later for the first time, Boyd says he was surprised by his own outrage. But he was even more surprised at the response, as the video quickly amassed more than 2 million views. “I got calls from people all across the country — law enforcement, FBI agents, people who just wanted to offer condolences, local people who wanted to help — it was extremely overwhelming,” he says. And though the clip garnered thousands of positive comments, there was negative feedback as well. Some progressives felt Boyd’s comments unfairly blamed the youth who resort to violence rather than focusing on the poverty and lack of opportunity driving their recklessness. But Boyd isn’t here to run a popularity contest. “I’m tired of excuses. Dammit, let’s all come together and do something about it. We just talk about it, we talk around it for too long. You have to first seek to understand where people are coming from before you judge them.” What Boyd lacks in name recognition, he makes up for in community outreach. He asks that voters examine his extensive record in public service. “I love service, I love helping people, it’s part of my value system. I don’t have to live in this neighborhood, but if all the good people leave, where’s the hope for those left behind? I want people to feel hopeful about our community and that’s why I work so hard to make a difference.” He points to positive changes he’s brought to the ward, includ-

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Best-known for his passionate outcry after his nephew’s murder,

ing the renovation of Arlington Grove School into new apartments and modern streetlamps along MLK Drive. But Boyd says there’s still much work to be done. “I have a vision for this city to develop a community where everybody has an opportunity, where people can excel,” he says. “Imagine St. Louis five to ten years from now, where all the vacant lots and buildings we see today all have new housing and businesses. We need leadership that’s going to embrace rebranding our city. It’s time for us to stop reacting to developers’ plans and start making developers react to our plans. That is how a city grows.” In addition to increasing the size of the staff of the city planning department and making sure TIF incentives are being applied appropriately, Boyd also wants to upgrade police and emergency services. “We need to make sure

our police department reflects the diversity of our community, that we have better community engagement and start looking for progressive strategies that will help us heal as a city. Bridge that divide that we have,” he says. “We’re only as great as our weakest neighborhood. And we have to put all that together, in a way that reduces crime. Everyone has value and we have to make every young person out here feel like they have value and their opinion matters and give them hope. I want to be a mayor that inspires people.” That kind of blanket inspiration may come at a cost, as Boyd has earned a reputation for being a compromiser in a political climate that seems increasingly unwilling to bend on key issues. But where some see grey area, Boyd sees opportunity. “People have accused me of being too close to Mayor

Lewis Reed, far right, ran against Mayor Slay four years ago. | THEO WELLING

Lewis

Reed

Some hard questions — and a no comment SARAH FENSKE

w’s murder, Jeffrey Boyd is “tired of excuses.” | THEO WELLING

Slay, saying he’s a racist, and I’m like, ‘That man is the mayor. I need his help and I’m going to get it.’” Not even the new reality of a Republican-dominated state government seems to throw a shadow on his plans. “Public service is party neutral. If I’m mayor, my expectation is that I build a relationship with Governor Greitens. He’s a Navy Seal, a military guy — I think we share some common values and he’s someone I can talk with,” he says. In the mean time, Boyd is enthusiastic to attempt a run for city mayor and show St. Louis voters what he’s capable of. “My job as mayor is to convince people that the city has a vision of success that will make us better than we are today. And if we’re always looking forward to being better tomorrow than we are today, then we’ll be successful. We’ll rise and create a better city.”

ne month ago, State Senator Jamilah Nasheed levied a startling accusation against Lewis Reed, the president of the city’s Board of Aldermen and, at the time, a fellow candidate in this spring’s mayoral race. Nasheed told me that she’d sought a donation from Dave Steward, the founder of St. Louis-based World Wide Technology. In return, she was asked two questions by his lobbyist: Did she support gay marriage? And did she believe in a woman’s right to choose? Like Reed (and, indeed, anyone with a snowball’s chance of being elected St. Louis mayor) Nasheed is a Democrat. She told the lobbyist that she strongly supported both gay marriage and abortion rights. And with that, she said, the conversation ended. It was clear that no money would be coming. But, Nasheed pointed out, Dave Steward is one of Lewis Reed’s biggest donors. So far this election cycle, he’s given Reed $25,000. So how would Reed answer the questions posed by Steward’s lobbyist? Does he oppose abortion? What about gay marriage? Nasheed believes he must, or at minimum represented as such to the IT entrepreneur. And either way, it’s a big problem for a guy

seeking to be mayor of St. Louis. Says Nasheed, “Either Lewis Reed lied to him, or he does not represent the beliefs of the people he wants to lead in this city.” Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing which is the case, or what transpired in any interactions between Reed and the lobbyists repping Steward. The lobbyist Nasheed spoke to, Dave McCracken, referred my questions to another person at his firm, Richard McIntosh. McIntosh did not respond to requests for comment. And Reed did not respond to repeated requests for comment over a three-week period. We did not publish a story. Weeks later, I reached out to Reed’s camp again, this time with a different request. We were putting together a series of profiles on the major mayoral candidates for our print issue. When would he be available for an interview? No response. I tried again, repeatedly, even offering to talk on background first in case they feared an ambush. Neither he nor anyone with his campaign returned a single call or email. I can only presume it’s because they feared I would ask about Steward. Perhaps Steward supported Reed without the litmus test he gave to Nasheed. But his support, and Nasheed’s allegations, bear further discussion. Abortion is certain to be a hot button issue in St. Louis this year — the state’s only abortion clinic is located within city limits, and bills are pending that would restrict protests and enshrine in the city’s ordinances new protections for women who’ve had abortions.

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One of those bills would even make St. Louis a “sanctuary city” for reproductive rights, in the words of its sponsor. How does Lewis Reed feel about that? He won’t say. Among the political chattering class in St. Louis these days, there’s a sense that Reed, now 54, is a man in search of a constituency. After running — and winning — in three citywide elections, as well as his unsuccessful challenge to Mayor Slay back in 2013, he has relatively high name recognition. But his success may depend, in the words of one veteran political consultant, on turnout from “low-information” voters. Reed seems to be the first choice of few, if any, of the major constituencies active in city politics these days. That’s partly an accident of history. Reed won the aldermanic presidency in part because he was backed by Slay, but ended up on opposite sides when the mayor ran for an unprecedented fourth term — and Reed decided to run against him. During that race, Reed became a rallying point for Slay’s opposition, securing the support of both the city’s firefighters and many north city residents. But while the firefighters union has continued to support him financially, now north city residents have no less than three of their own representatives running. Why should they support a guy who lives in Compton Heights? Meanwhile, the man long thought to be Reed’s closest aldermanic ally, Antonio French, is himself running, and even some former allies on the board speak of Reed derisively. Will name recognition be enough as the race heats up? Reed seems to be banking on the idea that it will. He’s not ignoring the media (he participated in St. Louis Public Radio’s podcast profile series), but he seems to be studiously avoiding controversy even as other candidates plunge into it in the hopes of making headlines. But at some point, he has to face the public, and I hope at that point, someone asks him about his position on abortion and gay marriage — not to mention crime, the city’s penchant for throwing tax abatement at developers and other hot-button issues facing St. Louis. His donors can ask in private, but the voters weighing their choices in a crowded mayoral field deserve to know, too. n

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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CALENDAR

WEEK OF JANUARY 19-27

THURSDAY 01/19 Theatre Nuevo: Hell Is hell a place of eternal punishment for the wicked, or is it just other people? The question is complicated by issues of faith and geography — the hell of Dante’s Divine Comedy is a far different place than that of the Mayans. Theatre Nuevo has worked up a devised theatrical piece to explore humanity’s many iterations of hell, conveniently titled Hell. Using music, movement, personal gnostic revelation and copious research, the cast will present the long journey from damnation to redemption. Hell is performed at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday (January 19 to 29) at the Chapel (6238 Alexander Drive; artful.ly/theatre-nuevo). Tickets are $15 to $20.

FRIDAY 01/20 Constellations Noted musical philosopher Haddaway had a minor but contagious hit single with his ruminations on love and what it is, but playwright Nick Payne frames the many possibilities of human romantic relationships through a prism of theoretical physics and its conception of the multiverse. Marianne, a physicist, meets Roland, a more regular sort, at a party; there is an undeniable spark between them. In one universe, the two pursue the relationship after the party breaks up. In a parallel universe, they don’t. All of the possible permutations of their relationship (potential and real) lead somewhere, and all of these outcomes are contained within Constellations. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Constellations Tuesday through Sunday (January 20 to February 4) at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; www.repstl.org). Tickets are $43.59 to $67.50.

Big Muddy Dance Company shows you the Menagerie. | GERRY LOVE

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

Wake Up, Cameron Dobbs Some people — mainly his immediate family — would say Cameron Dobbs is not living his best life. Cameron is alone, timid and reluctant to stand up for himself, but at least he has his 30th birthday to look forward to. What he thinks will be a quiet dinner with his brother Owen and his sisterin-law Abby suddenly becomes both a blind date (courtesy of Abby) and another inquisition conducted by his mother (invited by Owen). But what if Natalie, his

blind date, turns out to be just the kick in the pants he needs to jump-start his life? What if she attempts to sneak him out of his own horrible party, and he’s too agreeable to say no? Stephen Pierick’s play Wake Up, Cameron Dobbs is a sharply-written comedy about taking control of your life, even if it means saying “no” to your own mother. Kirkwood Theatre Guild presents Wake Up, Cameron Dobbs at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (January 20 to 29) at the Robert G. Reim Theatre (111 South Geyer Road, Kirkwood; www.ktg-onstage.org). Tickets are $20. riverfronttimes.com

SATURDAY 01/21 Big Muddy Dance: Menagerie Now in its sixth year, the Big Muddy Dance Company is widening its perspective. The company tours beyond St. Louis now, and it has expanded its troupe by collaborating with Webster University’s dance department. Big Muddy’s new show Menagerie is the first to incorporate these young dancers. Thom Dancy has choreographed a new one-act

JANUARY 18-24,2017

Continued on pg 22

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CALENDAR Continued from pg 21 for the combined troupe inspired by the NPR program Radiolab, specifically Diane Weipert’s episode “The Living Room.” The spoken-word piece is about Weipert’s neighbors across the way. They never close their curtains, and so she can see right into their bedroom, drawn to their movements as they sleep, fight and make love. Brian Enos, Brandon Fink and Daniel Marshalsay also have works in the show. Menagerie starts at 8 p.m. at the Sun Theater (3625 Grandel Square; www.thebigmuddydanceco.org). Tickets are $22 to $25.

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Circus Harmony: Bravura The performers who comprise Circus Harmony may be young, but they’re seasoned. They work with Circus Flora every summer, they’ve combined forces with the St. Louis Symphony and they do regular shows at the City Museum. The company’s new show, Bravura, is a chance to showcase their skills in a more expansive spotlight. A king has his crown stolen by a trickster and must track down the varlet. In the course of his acrobatic journey he tries on all sorts of headgear before he can reclaim his crown. Bravura is staged at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (January 21 to 29) at the City Museum (750 North Sixteenth Street; www.circusharmony.org). Tickets are $20.

SUNDAY 01/12 Wolpertinger 2017 Urban Chestnut celebrates its sixth anniversary this year, so of course a party will be held. Wolpertinger 17 (named after a mythical Bavarian creature) is a celebration of both the brewery and the entire St. Louis craft beer community. There will be beer from more than 35 local breweries, live music by Larry Hallar, Alp Horns and the Saint Boogie Brass Band, and traditional German cuisine, as well as some other food options, too. The star of the show is Urban Chestnut’s Wolpertinger 2017, a seasonal dark beer that this year incorporates raspberries and was aged for two years in Scotch whiskey barrels. The party runs from 1 to

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The King searches for his crown at the circus. | COURTESY CIRCUS HARMONY 5 p.m. at Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall (4465 Manchester Road; www.urbanchestnut.com). Tickets are $40, and you must have a ticket to enter (no payment at the door).

MONDAY 01/23 One Last Job Ireland has had more than its fair share of woe over the past century. The 1916 Irish Revolution would become a drawn-out civil war, exacerbated by numerous factions with different ideas of what a free and independent Ireland should look like. Local playwright Patrick Conroy pays tribute to the centennial of the Irish Revolution with his new play, One Last Job. A young English soldier in Ireland meets an older IRA operative who has recently taken a step back from the armed struggle. But just because the older man is out of the game doesn’t mean the players see him as off-limits — and being seen with an English soldier is a good way to get permanently retired. Cocktails and Curtain Calls presents One Last Job at 5 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (January 23 to February 5), and again at 8 p.m Tuesday and Wednesday, February 7 and 8. All shows take place at McGurk’s Irish Pub (1200 Russell Boulevard; www.eventbrite. com).Tickets are $20 to $25.

WEDNESDAY 01/25 Burns’ Night America has many holidays, but nary a one in honor of a poet (Martin Luther King, Jr. is perhaps as close as we get on that point). Scotland, however, reserves January 25 to celebrate Robert Burns. He wrote of best-laid plans gone awry, of great wars and of our equality as people, regardless of our differences. Special dinners around the nation tonight honor his memory. Here in St. Louis, Burns’ Night takes place at the Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street; www.schlafly.com). Tom Schlafly will read a poem of his own composition to mark the occasion at 6 p.m., right after pipers escort kegs of Scotch Ale to the bar. Duddy Breeks plays live music in the Club Room starting at 7 p.m., and the menu will offer a host of filling Scottish delights. Admission is free. Planning an event, exhibiting your art or putting on a play? Let us know and we’ll include it in the Night & Day section or publish a listing in the online calendar — for free! Send details via e-mail (calendar@ riverfronttimes.com), fax (314-754-6416) or mail (6358 Delmar Boulevard, Suite 200, St. Louis, MO 63130, attn: Calendar). Include the date, time, price, contact information and location (including ZIP code). Please submit information three weeks prior to the date of your event. No telephone submissions will be accepted. Find more events online at www.riverfronttimes.com.

FILM

[REVIEW]

Mute Witness Scorsese’s long-gestating Silence has nothing much to say about faith Written by

MARYANN JOHANSON Silence

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese from the novel by Shūsaku Endō. Starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson and Issei Ogata. Now screening at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

ilence is a longtime passion project for Martin Scorsese: He has been struggling to bring Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 novel to the screen for almost 30 years. I suppose we could see a reflection of the movie’s story itself, such as it is, in that. When Portuguese Jesuits Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garrpe (Adam Driver) arrive in Japan in 1639, they find the faithful driven into hiding and ruling warlords trying to crush all vestiges of Christianity, which had been introduced in the sixteenth century. With our historical hindsight we can see this oppression as a justifiable fear of their own culture being smothered by a Jesus wielded by colonial-minded Europeans. Rodrigues and Garrpe have come on an expedition to find and redeem their mentor, missionary Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who has disappeared into the country and is rumored to have renounced his faith and taken up living as a Japanese. But they soon get sucked into tending to the neglected Japanese Christians and negotiating often violent philosophical standoffs with the local powers that be, most notably Inquisitor Inoue Masashige (Issei Ogata). Eventually, the two priests are separated, and Rodrigues is left alone, clinging to his faith in God in a society extremely hostile to such belief, and he gets utter silence in return when he speaks to God. Now, there are certainly all sorts

Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) prays with Mokichi (Shin’ya Tsukamoto). | KERRY BROWN © PARAMOUNT PICTURES of earthly ramifications of the adherence to religion (any religion), such as how it shores up political power. Silence is not about that. There are also all sorts of interesting stories to be told about how religion perpetuates itself; the notion that doubting a meme only fuels the prestige of holding onto that meme is a brilliant way for an idea to propagate amidst skepticism! Silence is not about that, either. There are horror stories to be found in religious belief, in how otherwise intelligent people will suffer and die for a fantasy. We can’t exactly say that Silence does not see this, because there is an awful lot of torture of Christians occurring onscreen here: Scorsese is brutally frank about the horrifically violent deaths Japanese Christians were put to by the warlords if they would not renounce Jesus Christ. (The Catholic Inquisition did not have a monopoly on sadistic cruelty.) But Silence is about that only tangentially: Many mostly anonymous Japanese people are slowly tortured and killed here in the cause of — in the context of the film — a white man’s spiritual journey, for Rodrigues is forced to

witness their agony, a consequence of his refusal to renounce Jesus. And Silence is only about Rodrigues clinging to faith — not how he manages that. Not even why. Just that he does. It would be nice to clue in the rest of us about how so many people are able to pull off such a feat, but Silence presupposes that the viewer shares the same devotion, which, in increasingly secular Western society, is a poor assumption to make. (I don’t think that’s true of Scorsese’s other religious film, The Last Temptation of Christ, which I love.) The film acknowledges that it is for Englishspeaking audiences; no one is speaking Portuguese or Japanese here (and the accents waver all over the place; Garfield sounds Irish more often than not). So why can’t Silence cope with the fact that not many people are this devout? Even many people who consider themselves religious would, I suspect, be unable to maintain their faith in such extreme circumstances. But the more Rodrigues’ faith is pressed — and at almost three hours in length, Silence does quite riverfronttimes.com

a bit of pressing — the more implausible it feels. We never really understand him as a character. If anything, we start to wonder if Rodrigues really isn’t a very nice person after all: How much arrogance does it require to presume that God is allowing the torture of innocent people merely so that your faith can be tested? Scorsese lets iconography and allusion stand in for character. Rodrigues starts to look more like an idealized Jesus as his persecution goes on; here are some pieces of silver for the Japanese Christian who sold out the Jesuits to the warlords. The director portrays the Inquisitor as verging on comic — he’s almost a bucktoothed caricature of Asians out of shameful early Hollywood — as if, perhaps, to suggest that he’s no true threat to a devout Christian. There isn’t actually much of a journey in Rodrigues’ journey. He’s not even intriguingly stubborn, merely stolidly unchanging. Silence may be meant as a tribute to a living faith, but it’s little more than a slog through unimaginative single n mindedness.

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THE ARTS

Visual artist Damon Davis’ first film Whose Streets?, co-directed by Sabaah Folayan, is now playing Sundance. | LUCAS ALVARADO FARRAR/SUNDANCE INSTITUTE [ D O C U M E N TA RY ]

Streets of Justice Damon Davis’s documentary Whose Streets?, which shows another side of Ferguson, notches a coveted Sundance screening Written by

ALLISON BABKA

or some people, 2014 was the spark that lit the fuse for a new civil rights movement. Throughout the country, the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and other black men and women at the hands of

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white police officers drove discussions about racial bias and discriminatory injustices. Many citizens — often white — wondered, “How could this happen?” But for Ferguson residents and African-Americans in general, this was nothing new; they’d witnessed and endured systemic racism in their communities for decades. The difference in 2014 was that it was time to fight back. St. Louis artist and filmmaker Damon Davis captures those early days of the Black Lives Matter movement in his new 103-minute film Whose Streets?, which competes this week at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Billed by the New York Times as one of the festival’s four “films to know,” the documentary offers exclusive footage and community commentary after Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in August 2014. Davis, who

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followed protesters and activists for two years while working on the project, says that while plenty of news cameras captured the action, they showed an incomplete picture. “We’re trying to get the idea across that there are missing pieces to this. You only got to see the parts that work for an agenda,” Davis says. “That’s why it was so easy for people to say, ‘Well, why are they so angry?’ It’s because you didn’t see this other part.” Hundreds of protesters took to the streets to protest Brown’s death and demand justice for the systemic, discriminatory practices that had been shadowing the St. Louis area for decades, Davis says. At times, Ferguson resembled a war zone as police and National Guard members eventually used tear gas, rubber bullets and other military tactics on protesters. “From where I stood, we were the ones victimized,” Davis says.

“We didn’t have military-grade weaponry. It was normal people against the Army — and all of this just for asking questions.” Those citizens are the ones Davis and co-director Sabaah Folayan feature in Whose Streets?, showing through interviews and onthe-ground footage how sustained racial tensions and brutal force affected people of color at a pivotal time in modern history. “The idea is that people lived this; it’s not a narrative,” Davis says. “We show you the humanity of black people, the humanity of these people. We show you them in a full spectrum of emotion. “That’s something that black people never get,” Davis continues. “We always get ‘angry looters,’ ‘rioters,’ ‘drug dealers,’ or we’re ‘super-human athletes,’ or something like that. But you never get to see the in-between. Just seeing black people, black bodies, at rest in a normal setting is something

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The film depicts the aftermath of Ferguson. | LUCAS ALVARADO FARRAR/SUNDANCE INSTITUTE that is very important to me and to my directing partner.” Davis views Ferguson as the latest front in an ongoing civil rights battle in the United States, but acknowledges the movement dramatically raised the stakes. “Nothing was this adamant with people taking the streets in protest en masse and fighting for our communities like this,” Davis says. “I think we honor that in this film, and we show that this sparked a lot of other stuff going on throughout the country and throughout the world. It’s a time capsule, to a certain degree.” Davis, who was raised in East St. Louis, has exhibited his paintings and sculpture in galleries and museums across the country, including in New York City and San Diego. In St. Louis, he’s also known for his multi-disciplinary series on Afrofuturism — an ongoing sci-fi commentary about current and future “alternative blackness.” Davis continues that exploration through his recent solo work LOA and as the founder of the FarFetched Collective, which finds local musicians collaborating across race, gender and genre lines on some of the city’s most civic-minded tunes. And last fall, Davis led a boycott against a racially charged exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum-St. Louis, driving the museum to erect walls around the offending works and host community conversation about race and art. All the while, Davis’ star has been rising. Just this month, global conference TED named Davis as one of its TED2017 Fellows, and in November the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis awarded him a $20,000 fellowship.

“I’ve had lots of ideas for a long time that I can finally actually put into practice because of that grant,” Davis says, noting that he plans to use the funds for another film as well as a top-secret “big idea” involving visual art and installation. But as wonderful as those honors are, the Sundance selection certainly looms large, especially since the high-profile honor came for a project that wasn’t initially on Davis’ horizon. As a creator and activist, Davis was well-known in Ferguson — one reason that acquaintances connected him with Whose Streets? co-director Folayan. Davis’ adamance that a St. Louisan help tell the town’s story led to their cinematic collaboration. “I think it’s some of the best stuff I’ve ever been a part of as a creative, to be honest,” Davis says. “Sundance has been an avid supporter of this project from the beginning. We’re just honored that they accepted it, so we’ll see once it’s released what the public thinks about it.” Davis sees creatives as key to discussions taking place across the globe. “[Artists] are necessary — especially right now — because we’re at a pivotal point, not just in American history, but in humanity,” he says. “The decisions we make in this generation and maybe the next one are going to say whether the human race continues. We’re talking about actual change and getting past the differences that we have, whether it be racism, sexism or homophobia. If we don’t get past these things now, there won’t be a race on the planet left.” n

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CAFE

Eat Sandwiches’ selections include a meatloaf sandwich, a French dip and a jerk chicken sandwich. | MABEL SUEN [REVIEW]

Take and Eat A terrific new south city spot, Eat Sandwiches, commands hungry diners to do just that Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Eat Sandwiches

3148 Morganford Road; 314-797-8188. Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (Closed Mondays.)

t started as a lament among friends: Why is it so hard to find a decent French dip in town? You can get just about anything in south city — falafel, pho, hot dogs, lumpia —but a proper roast beef sandwich, served au jus? That’s more elusive. French dips weren’t the only thing on the minds of business

partners Fred Hessel, Jeff McGraw and Byron Smith when they got together for beers following a softball game in Tower Grove Park last June. As the three friends got to talking, they realized that south city, and particularly the Morganford business district, was lacking more than just roast beef. It needed a spot for high quality sandwiches — a place where neighbors could grab a gourmet ham and cheese and a couple of beers and head across the way to enjoy a picnic in the park. They knew just how to fill this gap. Hessel owned a vacant Morganford storefront and was looking for a tenant; Smith, a chef whose resume includes Kitchen K, the Science Center and L’Ecole Culinaire, needed a new gig. They enlisted the help of their friend Thomas Crone (a partner in the Tick Tock Tavern and, full disclosure, a regular RFT contributor who has since left the Eat Sandwiches partnership), and got to work converting Hessel’s building into

the fast-casual sandwich emporium of their dreams, Eat Sandwiches. It took several months, but the foursome labored tirelessly, renovating the original Local Harvest Grocery location into the sleek, modern space it is today. Eat Sandwiches is a bright and inviting mix of stark white and grey paint and warm exposed brick. A repurposed church pew runs the entire length of the side wall and provides banquette seating for the restaurant’s handful of tables. Paintings depicting various St. Louis buildings and locales hang on the walls, as does a wire, threedimensional herb garden that spells out “Eat.” The restaurant’s coziest feature is its tiny, succulent-filled, Morganford-facing window seat nook, where guests can nosh and gaze out upon passers-by. Smith, oftentimes a one-man show, cranks out Eat Sandwiches’ wares from the restaurant’s open prep area. The menu is small, with just about ten sandwiches offered on a daily basis, but what riverfronttimes.com

it lacks in breadth it makes up for in thoughtful details. Consider the meatloaf sandwich, which, Smith explains, is his answer to the difficult-to-eat meatball sub. “I love meatball sandwiches, but the meat always goes flying out the back,” he regularly tells first-time patrons. His solution was to take a classic Italian herb-flecked pork and beef meatball mixture, fashion it into miniature, rectangular shaped loaves, and place it flat atop crusty, Vitale’s Italian bread. Juicy, ovenroasted tomatoes stand in for tomato sauce, another detail that ratchets down the sloppiness factor. Molten mozzarella cheese finishes this hearty sandwich, which would be safe to enjoy even if outfitted in a white linen suit. Though it’s not advertised, Eat Sandwiches almost always offers a haute version of a turkey melt. The tender, house-smoked bird is sliced into thick hunks and layered with hefty cuts of perfectly cooked bacon. Spice Continued on pg 30

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EAT SANDWICHES Continued from pg 29 from the chipotle aioli mingles with the smoky meat to create a deep warm flavor that’s freshened by sliced tomatoes and crisp lettuce. If the turkey sandwich is elevated, the ham and cheese is beatified. Layers upon layers of smoked Miller ham are smothered in creamy Ludwig Farmstead Sangamon cheese from local Fox River Dairy, while pungent Dijon mustard and rye bread evoke the sauerkraut-caraway punch of a Reuben. The layers of flavor in such a humble sandwich are stunning. Delicate, teriyaki-marinated tofu on crusty French bread calls to mind pate on a Vietnamese bahn mi. Crisp Napa cabbage slaw, macerated in vinegar and red chili, serves as Eat Sandwiches’ answer to kimchi. Fiery, sweet and garlicky, this meatless offering could convert even the most die-hard carnivore to the veggie side. I was not as thrilled by the tuna sandwich. Large flakes of tuna steak are mixed with hardboiled eggs and mayonnaise, but the consistency is not saucy enough to be a tuna salad. Granted, it’s not advertised as such;

Chef-owner Byron Smith works his magic in the kitchen. | MABEL SUEN perhaps my desire for a heavier dressing or brighter accoutrements came from habit, or a desire to cover up the tuna’s fishy taste. Eat Sandwiches’ signature dish, a French dip simply called “the Dip,” fared much better. House-roasted ribeye is shaved paper-thin, then firmly packed onto crusty bread, with the accompanying au jus sopping into every crevice like a sponge. Raw red onions, Prairie Breeze cheddar cheese and horseradish mayonnaise give punch to

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this idealized form of the classic. However, it’s still not the best that Eat Sandwiches has to offer — that honor goes to the pork sandwich. If you did a blind tasting of this mouthwatering, citrus-braised meat, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a dish of mild, Indian-style vindaloo. The meat is more succulent than the best pulled pork and is wrapped in the warmth of cumin-forward spices. The meat sops up the seasonings and citrus-infused cooking jus, while fresh cilantro and pickled

onions cut through the spice and rendered fat. This sandwich is a masterpiece. Eat Sandwiches offers homemade creamy dill potato salad and Mediterranean pasta salad as sides, as well as the usual bagged chips you’d expect from a casual takeout spot. They’ll be happy if you add one to your order, but they are banking on package beer sales to be the real draw. Currently, the self-service refrigerator is stocked with a good selection of local brews to grab and go, though the plan is to sell logoed coolers so that patrons can pack up their beers and sandwiches and walk to Tower Grove Park. It’s a great idea, and Eat Sandwiches as a whole seems divinely inspired: the kind of low-key shop that fills a niche south city didn’t even realize it was missing. With that glorious pork sandwich fresh in my mind, I find it hard to believe it took so long for someone to figure out exactly what we were craving. I thank my lucky stars that the folks behind Eat Sandwiches finally did. n Eat Sandwiches

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

A Chef Who Owes It All to Mickey D’s Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

ichael Friedman of Retreat Gastropub (6 N. Sarah Street; 314-261-4497) knows it sounds funny, but he credits his time flipping burgers at McDonald’s with making him the chef he is today. “Really, my first culinary education came from my time at McDonald’s — that, and bussing tables at Applebee’s,” he admits. “Of all places, they taught me about speed and cleanliness. They have to be streamlined to replicate what they do a million times every day. Cleaning as you go and all that stuff, I took that with me so that when I started my ‘first’ cooking jobs, I didn’t’ have to start at the bottom of the totem pole.” Friedman’s childhood was infused with food references — from spending time with his mom in the kitchen as she made her signature lasagna to watching cooking shows on television — and he credits these experiences for igniting his passion for cooking. But he never thought he’d make a long-term career out of it. After high school, Friedman studied political science and history at Mizzou, though he didn’t really have a career in mind. “I just couldn’t see myself teaching in a school environment full-time,” he explains. “I enjoy teaching people anything I know when I’m cooking or pontificating over a few beers. I just couldn’t see myself teaching in that sort of restrictive environment.” As he mulled over his options, he worked at a McDonald’s in Columbia. At first, the job was just a way to get beer money, but the more he worked, the more he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was on to something. “I loved the idea of

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Michael Friedman is executive chef at Retreat Gastropub. | J ELIZABETH PHOTOGRAPHY making something for people,” he explains. “Whether it is as utilitarian as a cheeseburger or as fancy as it can be, food is something that comes from one person’s heart to another’s. It gets into the soul of a person.” Friedman decided he would pursue cooking as a profession, but he wasn’t sure what route to take. He could go to culinary school and incur a tremendous amount of debt, or he could learn on his own. “I just hunkered down full-force,” Friedman says. “I knew I would be semi-disadvantaged by not going to culinary school and having that technical background, but I learned as much as I could anywhere I could.” Friedman counts Kirkwood’s now-shuttered Blue Water Grill as his first “real” cooking job. He

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moved up the ranks and trained under the legendary Lisa Slay and also sought out advice from co-workers, who were more than willing to share their knowledge with the proper encouragement. “If you get someone a beer, they’ll tell you their life stories and how to sear a steak,” he laughs. While working at Lucas Park Grill, Friedman developed a friendship with one of the servers, Travis Howard. The pair bonded over food and Friedman’s willingness to share his knowledge with those around him. “Travis says the one thing that stands out to him is that, when there was a new server, or if we had a new dish, I really tried to explain it to people and let them get their heads — and their mouths — around it,” he says. The pair kept in touch even as

they went their separate ways. When Howard approached Friedman with his vision for Retreat, they began chatting more regularly, and eventually, their chats led to a consulting gig, which led to Friedman being tapped as executive chef. “I’ve had a really good perspective seeing this project from when it was completely raw to where it is now,” reflects Friedman. “My goal in conceptualizing the food for Retreat has always been about putting out something super honest and delicious. I like the to-do of Michelin-starred restaurants, but not the hubbub. It’s like the content is amazing, but the vehicle isn’t necessarily approachable. I want to walk that line between high-end and approachable, really good food — the sort of food that is comfortable for everyone. Friedman took a break from Retreat’s kitchen to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food and beverage scene, Tenacious D, and the importance of authenticity in cooking. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? That I’ve been in this game for a while. This industry is in my blood. From getting a job permit at fifteen to bus tables at Applebee’s, flipping burgers at a fast-food joint, to cooking the most delicate seafood — I owe everything I have to the service industry. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Making the bed. That’s not to say I physically make the bed every day, but a made bed signifies the start to a new day, or the end of one. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I always liked the lyric from “Wonderboy” by Tenacious D: “How about the power to...move you?” That is pretty powerful. If that’s not available, invisibility so I can rob banks. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? Maybe not specifically over the last year, but the slow trend to making things in-house. Sure, every operation can’t make their own bread, but you can make the mayo that Continued on pg 34

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THE 10 BEST SPOTS FOR GOOEY BUTTER CAKE Written by

SARA GRAHAM

ans of gooey butter cake know that the delicious concoction originated right here in St. Louis. South St. Louis, to be exact, when the area was flush with German immigrants. It was first made in the 1930s as a mistake by a new baker at a German bakery who mixed up batter proportions for coffee cake, and it became an instant hit. Locally, that is. The Gateway City’s favorite dessert never quite caught on outside of St. Louis, and that’s fine by us. It’s just another one of our quirky square-shaped local delicacies, and we’re happy to recognize its greatness even if the rest of the world doesn’t get it. The traditional recipe simply calls for cake flour, butter, sugar, eggs and a dusting of powdered sugar, though some bakeries have taken some fun liberties with it. Pick some up and introduce a newcomer to this St. Louis specialty, or just remind yourself why we fell in love with it in the first place. 1. Park Avenue Coffee Multiple locations including 1919 Park Avenue, Lafayette Square Park Avenue Coffee specializes in authentic gooey butter cake, made from scratch “with love.” The first flavor of-

fered is still available today — “Mom’s Traditional.” All four locations of the locally owned coffee shop now offer twelve flavors daily, including triple chocolate and white chocolate raspberry. Special orders can be placed online for one of 73 (!) flavors. 2. Little O’s Old Time Soda Fountain 125 North Main Street, St. Charles The Ozenkoski family is said to have been taught its technique by one of the original gooey butter cake bakers. The recipe has since been passed down over the years with only minor tweaks. The old-timey shop offers an original gooey butter cake, as well as flavors such as peanut butter chocolate chip, strawberry cheesecake, brownie and even a gooey butter milkshake. 3. Lubeley’s Bakery 7815 Watson Road, Shrewsbury This old-fashioned, family-owned bakery and deli has been in business since 1937. Gooey butter cake can be found here amidst a heavenly assortment of German pastries, cookies and cakes. Aside from the original flavor, they also offer chocolate chip, cinnamon, “Cardinal Sin” (cherry and chocolate chip), pumpkin and “Royal Gooey Butter,” which is made with cream cheese for Mardi Gras. 4. McArthur’s Bakery Multiple locations, including 3055 Lemay Ferry Road, Mehlville McArthur’s Bakery gooey butter cake was recently named by CNN as one of the richest desserts in the United States. The recipe was developed by Donald McArthur in 1956 at the origContinued on pg 34

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cocktails craft beer lunch dinner brunch 6 n sarah street cwe stl

Little O’s can trace its recipe to the original. | COURTESY OF LITTLE O’S OLD TIME SODA FOUNTAIN

GOOEY BUTTER CAKE Continued from pg xx ON CHEROKEE STREET 10AM-10PM DAILY 2812 CHEROKEE STREET (314) 240-5990 C H A PA R R I TO S S T L . C O M

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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inal McArthur’s Bakery location on Arco Avenue. The bakery also makes gooey butter wedding cakes. 5. Missouri Baking Company 2027 Edwards Street, the Hill Missouri Baking Company operates on the assumption that butter and sugar are the best combination — making gooey butter cake a “must” on the menu. The recipe is a bit different from the traditional, however. Theirs is an actual cake made with almond paste and a sweet dough, which is more solid and less gooey. The flavors change with the season; right now, cherry, chocolate chip and eggnog are featured. Valentine’s Day brings red velvet, summer offers triple berry with strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, and fall’s featured flavor is brown sugar pecan. 6. Hartford Coffee Company 3974 Hartford Street, Tower Grove South Gooey butter cake is a relatively new offering at Hartford Coffee Company. After adding the dessert their grandmothers often made, the owners saw it quickly become a surprise favorite at the shop and added it to the daily menu. Regularly offered flavors include original, blueberry and chocolate chip; new flavors appear seasonally and by request. 7. The Mud House 2101 Cherokee Street, Cherokee District The gooey butter cake recipe used at the Mud House has mysterious origins: It came from a former employee’s mother from Nebraska. It stands

out from the pack in that it uses a short dough that rests overnight, which is then pressed into a pan and topped with cream cheese, powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, which balances the sweetness of the filling. It’s baked for a long time to caramelize the sugars in the crust and on the top, but the gooey remains gooey. Every once in a while, blueberry lime or strawberry lemon flavors are featured. 8. Yolklore 8958 Watson Road, Crestwood The new fast-casual breakfast-andlunch spot in Crestwood, Yolklore, offers a variation of gooey butter cake with three balanced layers of cake, “goo” and crispiness. The bottom layer is more of a crust than a cake and the “goo” develops a crispy layer on top after it’s baked. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” says chef-owner Mary Bogacki. 9. Element 1419 Carroll Street, Lafayette Square “Desserts are like the last chapter of a book when dining,” explains pastry chef Tyler Davis. “I like flavors to be distinct, not too sweet, memorable and exciting.” The gooey butter cake at Element is just that, with flavors such as passion fruit with pomegranate and peanut butter and caramelized white chocolate. 10. Boundary 7036 Clayton Avenue, Hi-Pointe The beautifully plated gooey butter cake at Boundary, which chef Rex Hale reworked from his mother’s recipe, is offered on special at the restaurant in the Cheshire Hotel. Flavors have included original, chocolate, pumpkin and lemon. n

MICHAEL FRIEDMAN Continued from pg 32

Salt + Smoke will now be adding a second location in the former Mathew’s Kitchen space on Southampton. | JENNIFER SILVERBERG [FOOD NEWS]

New Locations for Local Faves Written by

ELIZABETH SEMKO

f you’re a fan of barbecue, brunch or both (and who isn’t?), prepare for some of the best news you’ve heard all week: Salt + Smoke and Half & Half are both expanding. Salt + Smoke (6525 Delmar Blvd., University City; 314-7270200), the Texas-style barbecue spot that opened in the Loop in 2014, is planning a second location in the Southampton neighborhood. According to St. Louis Magazine, owner Tom Schmidt began scouting out another space as soon as the original proved successful. He originally looked in west county, only to settle on the space at 5625 Hampton Avenue that previously held Mathew’s Kitchen (co-owner and chef Mathew Unger closed that restaurant in June 2016). The new location will span 5,000 feet and two floors, allowing more space for private parties and also the chance to expand the menu. Schmidt also has given partial ownership of both locations to pitmaster Haley Riley, whom Schmidt credits with much of Salt + Smoke’s success.

Chef Mike Randolph at work at Half & Half. | KEVIN KORINEK “No way we could have gotten to where we were without him,” Schmidt told St. Louis Magazine. With that news also comes the addition of a second location for breakfast, lunch and brunch spot Half & Half (8133 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-725-0719). The new location, 220 W. Lockwood Avenue in Webster Groves, previously held a First Watch. “We have wanted to expand for a while, but it needed to feel right,” says Liz Randolph, who owns Half & Half, Randolfi’s (6665 Delmar Blvd.) and Publico (6679 Delmar Blvd.) with her husband Mike. “It’s important to us that we continue to be a part of a community. Webster Groves seems like a great fit, and we are really excited to take this next step.” The Webster Groves location will serve the “from scratch” food that

customers have come to know and love at the Clayton original, including veggie hash (two sunnyside-up eggs, Brussels sprouts, spinach, onion and potatoes), “Clara Cakes” (plain pancakes with raspberry, mascarpone and granola), houseground burgers, salads, sandwiches and more. The restaurant will also partner with Blueprint Coffee for its dedicated coffee program, while the chef team at the Webster Groves location will offer brunch specials separate from the Clayton location. Space Architecture + Design will bring Half & Half Webster Groves’ interior to life with a large coffee bar and plenty of rustic decor (think white bar wood, antique mirrors and mason jars). The restaurant is slated to open in late spring or early summer following the design changes. – Elizabeth Semko riverfronttimes.com

goes into the aioli. It’s all about a compromise to make your most authentic, honest product. That’s really what we are looking for — authenticity. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? Its happening in large markets, but places like Eataly — large concepts that feel like a market with several restaurants and quick bites. I’m not doing it justice talking about it; it’s everything. Who is your St. Louis food crush? Mary Ostafi of Urban Harvest and the Food Roof Farm. Her passion and drive are contagious. She and her whole team are like family to us at Retreat. I mean, there’s a living, breathing oasis on top of a random building in the heart of downtown. What more could you ask for? Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? One of my old chefs, Rachel Moeller, who is the current co-owner of Milque Toast. She’s just one of the most hard-working, creative people I know. Come to think of it, Milque Toast is kinda like an oasis in the city too. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? Cumin. It’s earthy and has got a little funk. It’s that ingredient that you can taste but can’t put your finger on it. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? I don’t know. Working with my hands creating something, teaching somebody something. I have a couple of rental properties, so I’d probably push harder on that front. Name an ingredient never allowed in your kitchen? A microwave. What is your after-work hangout? Well, I have a poker club that I regular, and the Scottish Arms is right next door. But, I mostly like to hang out with my fiancée and our puppy. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? I find myself eating meat, cheese and crackers, just standing there in the kitchen after a long day and not knowing what to cook. That’s the old standard. What would be your last meal on earth? I’d love to say my mom’s “famous fried chicken,” but only if she is cooking it for me. Otherwise it would be an Indian buffet, because I will eat so much I might as well be dead. n

JANUARY 18-24,2017

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Â®

FRI. AT 10AM 12/28 THUR.WEDNESDAY 2/16 ON SALE

WED. 6/7

THUR. 3/16

ON SALE FRI. AT 10AM

NEW DATE

SAT. 3/25

ON SALE FRI. AT 10AM

THURSDAY 1/19

FRIDAY 1/20

FRIDAY 1/27

WEDNESDAY 2/1

FRIDAY 2/3

TUESDAY 2/7

SUNDAY 2/12

WEDNESDAY 2/15

UPCOMING SHOWS 2/24 & 2/25 CELEBRATION DAY

3/31 KRIS KRISTOFFERSON

3/1 ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES

4/1 DARK STAR ORCHESTRA

3/4 BIG GIGANTIC

4/7 SIMPLE PLAN

3/5 CIRCA SURVIVE

4/19 JAY & SILENT BOB

3/8 HAYES GRIER & THE BOYS

4/23 THE FLAMING LIPS

3/15 EXCISION

4/27 MASTODON W/EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

3/17 BLUE OCTOBER

4/28 EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY

3/18 SON VOLT

5/1 ANTHRAX & KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

3/23 SOUTHERN SOUL ASSEMBLY

5/3 TREY ANASTASIO BAND

3/17 BRING ME THE HORIZON

5/6 THE MAVERICKS

visit us online for complete show information facebook.com/ThePageantSTL

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thepageant.com // 6161 delmar blvd. / St. Louis, MO 63112 // 314.726.6161

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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NIGHTLIFE

[COMEDY]

You Can’t Look Away Fatal Bus Accident prepares to take its surreal and bitingly hilarious show on the road Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n a dimly lit living room in Maplewood, the four stand-up comics responsible for St. Louis’ strangest live comedy show tap away on laptops and discuss whether a sketch could be improved by adding a turtle penis. “We can’t do it,” begins Stryker Spurlock, perhaps the most self-critical member of the group, “but I want to end the scene with Abigail the Tortoise tripping over his own dick. Like turtles do.” Jeremy Hellwig and Jon Venegoni make a sound that’s a combination of groaning and laughter. From the far end of a sofa, Amy Milton joins the others in the cackling. But she’s not ready to scrap the turtle dick. “But what if we could?” she says. “It could flop out, and it could be like a sack, a spandex green thing that’s weighted at the end.” “Guys,” says Venegoni in a mock-serious tone. “I’m going to very disappointed and dismayed that there’s nudity in the show. I can be like, ‘Time travel, and now with nudity?’ This show is going down the trash hole.” Fatal Bus Accident, the group’s “live comedy talk show,” does much more than pull audiences into trash holes of adolescent absurdity. Since its inception less than two years ago, the show has managed to carve out a niche as a genre-busting production that treats its premise as a loose foundation for comedic experiments. The audiences haven’t been big; typically, the show draws just about twenty faces in the crowd on any given night. But the skill of its performers have made Fatal

Stryker Spurlock (second from left) considers whether knives are edible during Fatal Bus Accident’s November 30 show at Heavy Anchor. | JESSICA DONAHOE Bus Accident a comedian’s comedy night. All four performers are mainstays of the local stand-up circuit. Spurlock hosts the monthly Contraceptive Comedy show at Shameless Grounds, and Hellwig co-hosts Sorry, Please Continue with Kenny Kinds, both established nights with a history of success, their hosts among the most respected comedians in town. The other two are no slouches either: Vengoni won the RFT’s Standup Throwdown in 2013, while Milton made the cut as one of the “75 Reasons to Love St. Louis” in the RFT’s 2016 Best Of St. Louis issue. She is credited by the others as the most polished editor, possessing a keen sense of structure. While each has a successful career individually, their collaboration with each other goes back — way back. In fact, as a fresh-faced fifteen-year-old, Spurlock popped his comedy cherry at an openmic night Venegoni was hosting at Fitz’s. Years later, in 2014, after several failed attempts at submitting sketch ideas to established groups, the four comedians began noo-

dling with the idea of starting a podcast or producing short films together. Instead, they decided to do a talk show. “We really fucked ourselves,” jokes Spurlock. “We can’t do regular sketches. It always has to be us interacting like a TV show.” Since its first show in October 2015, the team has worked to refine their respective characters to better fit the unfilmable, surrealistic television program: Hellwig’s character, a casual time-traveler, acts as host alongside Milton. Venegoni, the show’s bandleader, lays down beats with a drum machine app, a synthesizer and a loop pedal. Spurlock takes on the various roles of guests, ranging from a 300-year-old tortoise living in the White House to an enthusiastic-butinexperienced knife-eater named Trunt Whaley who tries to whip the audience into a frenzy of chants to “eat that knife!” For all its bizarre twists, the show is carefully scripted and rehearsed. At this early January writing session in Hellwig’s Maplewood apartment, the comics are trying to polish material for a January riverfronttimes.com

25 show at at Heavy Anchor. After that, they’ll take the act to the Improv Shop on February 1 for a collection of the best bits from the previous nine shows. And after that, the road awaits. The group will embark on its first-ever Midwest tour, planned for spring. Which, of course, can’t help but seem potentially hazardous in light of the group’s unusual name, Fatal Bus Accident. Spurlock explains that the name was partly inspired by Hellwig’s method for beating writer’s block — don’t know where to take the story? Hit a character with a bus! It’s also partly owing to a tragic 1984 Montana bus crash that involved Spurlock’s father’s high school wrestling team. The crash ended his father’s athletic career, but it also laid the groundwork for Spurlock’s conception: After the crash, his father joined the Air Force, moved to Scott Air Force Base and met a waitress in Collinsville. She, naturally, became Spurlock’s mother. The universe is a strange place. And thankfully, Fatal Bus Accident is here to steer us right into that n strangeness.

JANUARY 18-24,2017

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THE HAUNT 5000 Alaska Ave

The Punknecks with JAN 21st Jesse and the Hogg Brothers

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HOMESPUN

8BMM #BMM

Saturday, .BSDI 7-11 pm

LÉPONDS Heat

lepondsmusic.bandcamp.com

n the first truly cold weekend in December, Lisa Houdei cultivated her own warmth on the eastern edge of Cherokee’s antique district. In a room behind Dead Wax Records, Houdei threw a release show for Heat, her seven-song album released under the name LéPonds. There, in front of wooden racks crammed with overstock LPs, Houdei and a handful of backing musicians performed a set of gentle, woozy songs that married folk roots with electronic set-dressing— the kind of music created by a $150 guitar and a $2,000 synthesizer. While Houdei is just starting to promote this project, the release show was hotly tipped enough to sell out its initial performance. A second set, also wellattended, was necessary. “We wanted somewhere small and a little different,” says Houdei a month after the release show. “I was afraid that maybe I couldn’t fill a room or whatever.” It was an intimate setting with an ad-hoc P.A. system being manned by engineer Tim Gebauer, who recorded and performed on the album at his Electropolis Studio. Together, Houdei and Gebauer have taken these spare, sometimes shapeless songs and outfitted them with a mix of acoustic and electronic instruments that keep focus on Houdei’s placid vocals. “Tim brought in stuff that I never thought about, and I brought in stuff that he never thought about — that was my first time producing with someone else and it was the best time ever,” says Houdei. “Two songs, ‘Please’ and ‘Fervor’ — those songs I wrote on an acoustic guitar, but we totally decided to nix the guitars and he played synth on them, and that made it this whole other thing.” Indeed, “Please,” the album’s opening track, largely ignores acoustic guitar and opens with the gentle wheeze of a pump organ. It builds with soft synth arpeggios and a delicately fingerpicked guitar pattern; the arrangement sets a mood that can feel both weightless and kinetic. Houdei, 26, grew up in Defiance, Missouri, and later moved with her family to St. Charles County; after briefly attending the University of Missouri-St. Louis, she has lived in St. Louis city. It was about that same time that she picked up a guitar and started writing songs. “My dad made me get a guitar because he was in a band when he was younger — he was a jazz bassist,” says Houdei. “He said, ‘You have to learn an instrument.’ I got the guitar when I was thirteen. When I was nineteen I wrote my first song, and from there I started writing a little bit more and more.” Houdei has been writing, making home recordings and performing (both as LéPonds and under her own

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name) for a few years, though Heat is her first official release. These seven songs came in quick succession, she says, which may help explain the sustained mood that is established, where songs seem to float into one another and commingle in the same strummy breeze. “I have so many songs,” continues Houdei. “It started out as singer-songwriter, little simple stuff, and then I started going toward a folk or twangy country sound. It was super cool, but it was not the sound I wanted. Whenever I started experimenting with my sound I would record it myself, and I would do my guitar and then electronic stuff with it. So I wanted to go back to that because it’s more organic to me.” That “electronic stuff” comes through some gentle synth washes and the occasional percussive thump, though on the track “Fervor” (one of the few guitar-free moments on the disc), Gebauer’s synth work creates undulating waves that leaves Houdei’s voice largely unmoored. But perhaps the most distinct tone on the album – a zippy, pixelated riff that opens the song “Shove” – came from some playful late-night experimenting in the studio. “One night I was a little drunk and playing a kazoo, and I was playing what I would want a guitar solo to be on ‘Shove,’” says Houdei. “So we Auto-Tuned it and put a beat behind it; we were dying laughing.” While she threw together a backing band for the release show, Houdei is playing solo for now. And after years of under-the-radar gigs, she is now ready for LéPonds to play in and out of town. “I’m finally confident on stage now,” says Houdei. “Since that [release] show I just want to play more, since I am more comfortable now. I want to get it out of St. Louis a bit and see if somebody thinks it’s cool or not. I already started writing new songs, and I want to keep going.” –Christian Schaeffer riverfronttimes.com

JANUARY 18-24,2017

RIVERFRONT TIMES

CARLY AQUILINO | JAN 19-21 mtv’s “girl code”

WORLD FAMOUS COMEDIANS

BEN FOLDS

OPEN MIC THE NEXT BIG THING STARTS HERE! TUESDAYS 8PM

FEBRUARY 18-19

Top Billboard and indie rock sensation Ben Folds is back by popular demand after a sold-out performance in 2014 performing fan-favorites and orchestral arrangements with the STL Symphony. Hear this one-ofa-kind performance as “…Folds uses the STL Symphony to access his music’s subtleties and nuances” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) on the Powell Hall stage.

314-534-1700 stlsymphony.org

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DAN SODER SIRIUSXM’S “THE BONFIRE” FEB 9-11

TUESDAY q FEBRUARY 14TH q SHOWTIME 7:30PM

JIMMY PARDO

LUENELL

DREW LYNCH

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OUT EVERY NIGHT

THURSDAY 19

BLAIRE HANKS: 8 p.m., $18-$20. The Firebird,

S.L.U.M. FEST AWARDS: 8 p.m., $10-$13. Delmar

LOTTIEE DENISE: 6 p.m., $10. Cicero’s, 6691 Del-

BILLY BARNETT BAND: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues

2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-

mar Blvd., University City, 314-862-0009.

& Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-

BOB “BUMBLE BEE” KAMOSKE: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s

6161.

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8:30 p.m., $10. BB’s

5222.

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

THE TOOTH: w/ Crux, Chalked Up 8 p.m., 8pm.

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

BOOMBOX: 8 p.m., $15-$18. Old Rock House,

314-436-5222.

Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St.

314-436-5222.

1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

BUMP & HUSTLE 54: w/ DJ Mahf, DJ MAKossa,

Louis, 314-772-2100.

OTHER PEOPLE: 4 p.m., free. Vintage Vinyl, 6610

BROTHERS OSBORNE: 8 p.m., $20-$25. The

Nappy DJ Needles 9 p.m., $5. Blank Space, 2847

TYLER KINCHEN & THE RIGHT PIECES: 10 p.m.,

Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-721-4096.

Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-

Cherokee St., St. Louis.

$10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,

SOUL REUNION: 10:30 p.m., $7. Beale on Broad-

6161.

HEROES X VILLAINS: 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Ready

St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

way, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

DELTA SOL REVIVAL: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues

Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-

WINTER WARM-UP: w/ OneDay, Oatm, Sooner

TALKING DREADS: 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill -

& Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-

833-3929.

Than Later, Dark Below, Seeing Seve 7 p.m.,

The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University

5222.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON: 10:30 p.m., $7. Beale on

free. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East

City, 314-727-4444.

KIM MASSIE: 10:30 p.m., $10. Beale on Broad-

Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-

St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

TASTE OF NASHVILLE: WRITERS ROUND: 8 p.m.,

way, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

7880.

LUKE WINSLOW KING: w/ Rum Drum Ramblers

THE LUMINEERS: w/ Andrew Bird, Margaret

SUNDAY 22

8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St.

Glaspy 7 p.m., $29.50-$59.50. Chaifetz Arena, 1

ART GARFUNKEL: 8 p.m., $55-$75. The Sheldon,

Louis, 314-773-3363.

S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000.

3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

MONDAY 23

MINOR MOON: w/ I Could Sleep in the Clouds,

OPHIUCHUS: w/ Wormreich, bastard, VII,

HILLARY FITZ: 2 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster

ANDREW JOHN: 6 p.m., $5. Stone Spiral, 2500

Le’Ponds 9 p.m., $5. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359

Wrecklamation, Railhazer, Worship the Grave

Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314-335-7388.

Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis,

JUSTIN HOSKINS & THE MOVIE: 5 p.m., $10. BB’s

SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $5. Broadway

T-REIL: 9 p.m., $10. Cicero’s, 6691 Delmar Blvd.,

314-289-9050.

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

University City, 314-862-0009.

POOR DIRTY ASTRONAUTS: 8 p.m., free. The Old

314-436-5222.

621-8811.

TRAVELING SOUND MACHINE: w/ Mariner, Zagk

Bakery Beer Company, 400 Landmarks Blvd.,

KEY GRIP: 10 p.m., free. Atomic Cowboy, 4140

THAMES: 8 p.m., $5. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359

Gibbons 9 p.m., free. Schlafly Tap Room, 2100

Alton.

Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

$5. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337.

FRIDAY 20

THIRD SIGHT BAND: 8 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-

[CRITIC’S PICK]

5222.

AKEDA: w/ Ricky Rambo, FreeKev, Y. Samuel 8 p.m., free. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson

TUESDAY 24

Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

ADVANCE BASE: w/ Lisa/Liza 8 p.m., $7. Foam

CALLOWAY CIRCUS: w/ Decedy, Strikes Back, The

Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis,

VIII 7 p.m., $8-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St.,

314-772-2100.

St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

ETHAN LEINWAND & MAT WILSON: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s

CHRIS SCOTT: w/ Matt Jordan, Joshua Stanley

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

8 p.m., $10-$12. Cicero’s, 6691 Delmar Blvd.,

314-436-5222.

University City, 314-862-0009.

JAMAICA LIVE TUESDAYS: w/ Ital K, Mr. Roots, DJ

THE DUST COVERS: 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway,

Witz, $5/$10. Elmo’s Love Lounge, 7828 Olive

3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

Blvd, University City, 314-282-5561.

KIM MASSIE TRIBUTE AMERICAN GOSPEL: 7 & 9

JOE PASTOR LEGACY JAZZ BAND: 9:30 p.m., $5.

p.m., $15. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway,

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

Louis, 314-436-5222.

LEROY JODIE PIERSON: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz,

KIM MASSIE: 10:30 p.m., $10. Beale on Broad-

Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

way, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

436-5222.

Luke Winslow-King. | MARTINA MONOPOLI

MARQUISE KNOX: 10:30 p.m., $7. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-6217880. STRUGGLE JENNINGS: w/ Steve O’Brien, Kommon Groundz, Soldier B, Filthee Benjaminz, Crook Costello, Xact, Chris Matthews, Infamiz 8 p.m., $10. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. VICKY MICHAELS & EDICKS WAY BLUES BAND: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. WHISKEY MYERS: 8 p.m., $13-$16. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND: w/ The Railsplitters 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SATURDAY 21 THE AMY BLACK BAND: 7 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

MONSTER TRUCK: 7 p.m., $15-$18. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

Luke Winslow-King 8 p.m. Thursday, January 19. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-7733363.

A native of Cadillac, Michigan, Luke Winslow-King is hardly the first northerner to fall in love with the music and rhythm of New Orleans and adopt it as his hometown. And while he earned his stripes in some of the city’s local haunts — busking on Frenchman Street, recording at Preservation Hall — his style of slide-guitar blues isn’t immediately indebted to the Crescent

City. On last year’s I’m Glad Trouble Don’t Last Always, Winslow-King channels the many tributaries of Delta blues while using his husky voice and versatile guitar playing to paint a more mid-tempo, ruminative version of the juke-joint boogie he’s been slinging for a few years. And a Bottle of Rum: Our very own guitar slingers, the Rum Drum Ramblers, will open the show; with any justice, Winslow-King and Mat Wilson will square off for a few songs. — Christian Schaeffer

WEDNESDAY 25 BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BOB “BUMBLE BEE” KAMOSKE: 8 p.m. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-6217880. THE EAST SIDERS REVIEW: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314436-5222. KNOCKOUT KID: w/ Bad Case Of Big Mouth, Friday Night Lites 7 p.m., $12-$15. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. SONGBIRD CAFE: 7:30 p.m., $17-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-5602778.

Continued on pg 42

riverfronttimes.com

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OUT EVERY NIGHT ued from pg 40

[CRITIC’S PICK]

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND: 7 p.m., $17-$62. Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-241-1888. THE WIRE PILOTS: 7 p.m., $10. World Chess Hall of Fame, 4652 Maryland Ave, St. Louis, 314-3679243.

THIS JUST IN ANGEL PRESENTS SOUL SEARCHING: Mon., Jan. 30, 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com. AURAS: W/ We The Victim, Wed., April 26, 6:30 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314289-9050, fubarstl.com. BENEFIT FOR TIM MCFARLAND: W/ Lyluth, Sat., Feb. 18, 6 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050, fubarstl.com. BETH BOMBARA RECORD RELEASE: W/ Jack Grelle, Sister Wizzard, Sat., Feb. 25, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com. BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: Wed., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-4365222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

Suitcase Junket. | ANDREW RINKHY

BILLY BARNETT BAND: Thu., Jan. 26, 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

Suitcase Junket

BLIND WILLIE & THE BROADWAY COLLECTIVE:

8 p.m. Tuesday, January 24.

Spinning Dying Star, the 2016 fulllength from Suitcase Junket, a newcomer would never guess it was the work of one-man-band Matt Lorenz. Rosin-starved fiddles scratch and swirl, percussion clatters everywhere, opentuned guitars howl, horns wheeze, Tuvan-style throat singing drones and harmonies float about with devil-maycare grace. But when you see Lorenz

on stage, there’s no mistaking his raw, deft and wholly self-sovereign skills. His love of junk and found sounds isn’t a joke, and it isn’t racket for the sake of hipster racket. It’s a wildly rich, spontaneous sound, and Lorenz has the songs to match the sonic fervor. Dumpster Diving You Can Dance To: Cutlery, a busted bottleneck, a tangle of mic stands and cables, an actual suitcase and an actual cymbal, and lots of pots and pans — if Rube Goldberg were a band he’d be Suitcase Junket. — Roy Kasten

22, 7 p.m., $29.50-$125. Hollywood Casino

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS: Thu., March 16, 8 p.m.,

JUDAH & THE LION: Fri., March 24, 8 p.m., $20-

Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Mary-

$20-$25. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St.

$22.50. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St.

land Heights, 314-298-9944, livenation.com/

Louis, 314-726-6161, thepageant.com.

Louis, 314-726-6161, delmarhall.com.

Verizon-Wireless-Amphitheater-St-Louis-tick-

HA HA TONKA: Fri., May 19, 8 p.m., $15. Off

JUSTIN HOSKINS & THE MOVIE: Sun., Jan. 22,

ets-Maryland-Heights/venue/49672.

Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-

5 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S.

THE EAST SIDERS REVIEW: Wed., Jan. 25, 10 p.m.,

3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazz-

$5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,

HEY VIOLET: Tue., March 14, 7 p.m., $15-$17.50.

bluessoups.com.

St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.

Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-

KALEO: Wed., June 7, 8 p.m., $30-$35. The

com.

726-6161, delmarhall.com.

Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-

ETHAN LEINWAND & MAT WILSON: Tue., Jan.

IDINA MENZEL: Tue., Aug. 15, 7:30 p.m., $45-

6161, thepageant.com.

24, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S.

$150. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St.

KATE FRANCIS: Sun., Jan. 29, 2 p.m., free.

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazz-

Louis, 314-534-1111, fabulousfox.com.

Howard’s in Soulard, 2732 S 13th St, St. Louis,

bluessoups.com.

JOE BOZZI BAND: Sat., Jan. 28, 6 p.m., free.

314-349-2850.

EVE TO ADAM: W/ Maximus, Karma Dealer,

Howard’s in Soulard, 2732 S 13th St, St. Louis,

KEVIN GORDON: Wed., Feb. 8, 8 p.m., $10. Off

Wed., March 8, 7 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust

314-349-2850.

Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-

St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050, fubarstl.com.

JOE METZKA BAND: Thu., Jan. 26, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s

3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

FLEA BITTEN DAWGS: Fri., Jan. 27, 6 p.m., free.

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

LILY AND MADELEINE: W/ the Leonas, Sun., Feb.

Howard’s in Soulard, 2732 S 13th St, St. Louis,

314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

19, 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave.,

314-349-2850.

JOE PASTOR LEGACY JAZZ BAND: Tue., Jan. 24,

St. Louis, 314-773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

FY5 (FINNDERS AND YOUNGBERG): Fri., April 7,

9:30 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S.

LITTLE RIVER BAND: Fri., May 5, 8 p.m., $47.50-

8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St.

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazz-

$57.50. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River

Louis, 314-773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

bluessoups.com.

Tue., Jan. 31, 9:30 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-4365222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com. BOB “BUMBLE BEE” KAMOSKE: Sat., Jan. 21, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com. BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG: Fri., Jan. 27, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups. com. CHERRY GLAZERR: W/ Ian Sweet, Lala Lala, Sun., April 2, 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp. All ages: $10. 314-7733363.

DEF LEPPARD: W/ Poison, Tesla, Thu., June

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

riverfronttimes.com

Continued on pg 44

Bowling the way it is now – FUN!

A St. Louis Landmark

Popcorn Shrimp Nachos

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Chris Scott, Matt Jordan, Joshua Stanley Country 7:30pm - $10adv/$12 Door *BAR STAGE - Kelly Tsaltas- Singer/Songwriter 6:30pm - FREE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21ST

Night in the Clouds 2 featuring Fly Method Hip Hop -7pm-$10 *BAR STAGE - Geeks Who Drink Pub Trivia - 8:30pm - FREE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22ND

Open Mic Night hosted by Mark Z Karaoke/Variety - 8pm - FREE *VENUE - Lottiee Denise LIVE - R&B - 6pm - $10

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JANUARY 18-24, 2017

riverfronttimes.com

THIS JUST IN ued from pg 43 [CRITIC’S PICK]

S.L.U.M. Fest Awards

St. Louis Underground Music Festival, or S.L.U.M. Fest, brings its annual awards show to Delmar Hall this year to celebrate all things St. Louis hip-hop. Each year the organizers of the fest — a multi-day affair held most recently at 2720 Cherokee, in June — hold this second event to recognize the work of the past year’s standout local artists,

following a nomination process for categories such as “Producer of the Year,” “Artist of the Year” and even “Freshmen Class.” Think of it like the Grammys for local hip-hop, only not lame like the Grammys are. Stacked: Least lame of all is the list of performers on this year’s lineup (many of them nominees for awards as well): Mvstermind, Chris Grindz, Eastside Eazy, Bates, Doughboy, D.O.A., Re-Ack, Heir to the Throne, Looprat, MBz and Nato Caliph will all perform. — Daniel Hill

City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777,

SKEET RODGERS & INNER CITY BLUES BAND: Fri.,

rivercity.com.

Jan. 27, 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups,

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: Sun., Jan. 22, 8:30 p.m.,

700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222,

$10. Sun., Jan. 29, 9 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues

bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

& Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-

SOULARD BLUES BAND: Sat., Jan. 28, 10 p.m., $5.

5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

MAC SABBATH: W/ Metalachi, OKILLY DOKILLY,

Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

Tue., March 14, 8 p.m., $20. The Firebird, 2706

STONEY LARUE: Thu., Feb. 2, 8 p.m., $16. Off

Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353, firebirdstl.

Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-

com.

3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

MARBIN JAZZ ROCK: Sun., Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m.,

SWEETIE & THE TOOTHACHES: Tue., Jan. 31,

$10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,

7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S.

St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazz-

com.

bluessoups.com.

MINUS THE BEAR: W/ Beach Slang, Bayonne,

THIRD SIGHT BAND: Mon., Jan. 23, 8 p.m., $5.

Fri., April 7, 8 p.m., $22.50-$25. Delmar Hall,

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161,

Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

delmarhall.com.

TOM HALL: Sat., Jan. 28, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz,

NICK HAKIM: Fri., March 10, 8 p.m., $12. Blue-

Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

berry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd.,

436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

University City, 314-727-4444, blueberryhill.com.

TOM HALL & DAN BLISS: Sun., Jan. 29, 4 p.m., $10.

ONLY SOUND: W/ Slush Wave, Vya, Ramona

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

Deflowered, Fri., Jan. 27, 8 p.m., $8. The

Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazzbluessoups.com.

Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353,

TYLER KINCHEN & THE RIGHT PIECES: Sat., Jan.

firebirdstl.com.

21, 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S.

OPTIMUS REX: W/ The Stars Go Out, Second To

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222, bbsjazz-

All, Ben Diesel, Sat., Feb. 11, 7 p.m., $8-$10.

bluessoups.com.

Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050,

THE VICTOR WOOTEN TRIO: Tue., March 28, 8

fubarstl.com.

p.m., $30. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St.

QUAERE VERUM: W/ Dischordia, Outcome of Be-

Louis, 314-588-0505, oldrockhouse.com.

THIS W

trayal, Fri., March 10, 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108

WEBBIE: Fri., Feb. 24, 10 p.m., $20-$35. The

AKEDA: W

Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050, fubarstl.com.

Marquee Restaurant & Lounge, 1911 Locust St,

Fri., Jan. 2

REAL FRIENDS: W/ Tiny Moving Parts, Have

St. Louis, 314-436-8889, themarqueestl.com.

3359 Jeffe

Mercy, Broadside, Nothing, Nowhere, Tue.,

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE: W/ Erin McKeown,

foamvenu

May 2, 6:15 p.m., $22.50-$25. Delmar Hall,

Wed., April 19, 8 p.m., $28. The Sheldon, 3648

6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161,

Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900,

delmarhall.com.

thesheldon.org.

RIVER KITTENS: W/ Handmade Moments, Mon.,

WILLIAM CLARK GREEN: Thu., Feb. 16, 8 p.m.,

Feb. 20, 9 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp

$10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis,

Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

314-773-3363, offbroadwaystl.com.

ROBIN TROWER: Sun., April 30, 8 p.m., $40-$60.

ZAC BROWN BAND: Sun., Aug. 27, 7 p.m., TBA.

River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino

Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth

Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777, rivercity.com.

City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944,

SANTANA: Wed., July 12, 7:30 p.m., $69-$150.

livenation.com/Verizon-Wireless-Amphithe-

The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis,

ater-St-Louis-tickets-Maryland-Heights/ven-

314-534-1111, fabulousfox.com.

ue/49672.

8 p.m. Saturday, January 2. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard, University City. $10 to $13. 314-726-6161.

SAVAGE LOVE RISKY BUSINESS BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: About a year ago, I was pretending to read my boyfriend’s mind and jokingly said, “You want to put it in my ear.” Since then, I have seen references to ear sex (aural sex?) everywhere! So while I am honestly not trying to yuck someone’s yum, I do have two questions. First, is this really a thing? And second, how does it work? I mean, I like it when my boyfriend kisses my ears, but I don’t think I’d get that hot from him putting his penis there. It just seems loud. Can you enlighten me? An Understanding Requested About Listeners Ear sex is a thing. But we need to distinguish between auralism, AURAL, and an ear fetish. People into auralism are sexually aroused by sounds — it could be a voice or music or sex noises. An ear fetish, on the other hand, is a kind of partialism, i.e., a sexual interest in one part of the body (often parts not typically found in pants). Most ear fetish stuff is about tugging, rubbing or licking someone’s ear and not about fucking someone in the ear or coming in someone’s ear canal. Dicks don’t fit in ear canals, and blasting semen into someone’s ear could cause a nasty ear

infection. So both are risky practices best avoided — but, hey, if PIE (penis in ear) sex is actually a thing, I invite any hardcore ear kinksters out there reading this to write in and explain exactly how that works. Hey, Dan: I have a particular fetish that I’ve never fully disclosed to anybody. My ultimate fantasy is to be stripped of my assets by a woman and then (most importantly) made homeless. I like dressing up dirty — face, clothing, and all — and even going so far as to look through garbage cans. My question is this: Is it moral to live out this fantasy, considering the plight of homeless people? Desiring Interesting Role-Play That’s Yucky I’m not gonna lecture you about how homelessness is a tragedy for individuals and a national crisis that the administration of Orange Julius Caesar is unlikely to prioritize. Just like AURAL, DIRTY, I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum. But this is definitely a fantasy — morally speaking — that can’t be fully realized. You’re turned on by the thought of a cruel woman taking absolutely everything from you and leaving you homeless? Great. Find a woman who’s into findom (financial domination) and give her some or most of your money and play dress up on the weekends and sleep in her back-

yard. But don’t give her everything and actually wind up homeless, DIRTY, because then you’ll wind up competing for scarce shelter beds and other resources with men, women and children who didn’t choose to become homeless because it made their dicks hard. There’s nothing moral about making their plight worse than it already is. Hey, Dan: The idea of committing suicide turns me on sexually. I recognize how crazy that is, and I want to emphasize that I’m not suicidal. I’m not depressed, I love living and despite this sexual impulse, I don’t want to kill myself. I’m turned on by the fantasy of hanging myself, but that’s not really how I want my life to end. (To be clear: Other methods of committing suicide also turn me on.) My question is this: Given that I don’t want these fantasy scenarios to ever become reality, should I indulge the fantasy through healthy, safe play with a responsible partner or should I try to repress it and shut it down? I’m worried that if I indulge the fantasies through safe scenarios, I might reach a point where the safety precautions interfere with the thrill. On the other hand, I know that trying to repress sexual desires is a hopeless endeavor. Horny And Nervous Guy’s Endangering Deeds I’m going to take you at your word:

riverfronttimes.com

You love being alive and don’t actually want to kill yourself any more than a sane person into Master/slave role-play actually wants to own a human being or be enslaved. But while I agree that repressing sexual desires is a hopeless endeavor, HANGED, “can’t be repressed” isn’t the only factor we have to take into consideration as we contemplate acting on our sexual fantasies. There are two other important considerations (at least!): Can the act be performed consensually? Can the act be enjoyed with minimal risk of permanent harm? Your kink can definitely be performed consensually, and there are ways to minimize the risks of harm — and I’m not talking about only sticking your head in an Easy-Bake Oven. I’m talking about finding a responsible/indulgent/macabre partner who’s willing to indulge/ assist/monitor. Yours is a kink that can be explored only during supervised play, otherwise you run the risk of fucking up and accidentally hanging yourself. You can never do this solo. So if you don’t have a responsible and unflappable partner, HANGED, you’ll have to stick to your right hand and your imagination. Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

JANUARY 18-24, 2017

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110 Computer/Technical

Sr Sftwr Tst Engg, Quality Engg Tst Srvcs @ MasterCard (O’Fallon, MO) F/T.

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120 Drivers/Delivery/Courier

DRIVERS NEEDED H H H ASAP H H H

Requires Class E, B or A License. S Endorsement Helpful. Must be 25 yrs or older. Will Train.

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185 Miscellaneous

LICENSED PIERCER NEEDED!

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530 Misc. Services WANTS TO purchase minerals and other oil & gas interests. Send details to P.O. Box 13557, Denver, Co 80201

400 Buy-Sell-Trade 475 Want/Trade

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SOUTH-CITY $515 314-707-9975 Jamieson & Nottingham: 1 BR, all electric, hdwd flrs, C/A

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314-397-2388

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$495-$595 314-443-4478 8700 Crocus: Near 170 & St.Charles Rock Rd Special! 1BR.$495 & 2BR.$595.

ST. CHARLES COUNTY 314-579-1201 or 636-939-3808 1 & 2 BR apts for rent. www.eatonproperties.com. Sec. 8 welcome

300 Rentals

UNIVERSITY-CITY $795 314-727-1444 2BR, new kitch, bath & carpet, C/A & heat. No pets

385 Room for Rent SOUTH-CITY $130/wk+$130-security 314-277-8117 Room for rent. Everything furnished. Internet Access.

WESTPORT/LINDBERGH/PAGE $535-$585 314-995-1912 1 MO FREE!-1BR ($535) & 2BR ($585) SPECIALS! Clean, safe, quiet. Patio, laundry, great landlord! Nice Area near Hwys 64, 270, 170, 70 or Clayton.

SOUTH-CITY $160/wk+$160-security 314-277-8117 3 rooms, private bath, AC, all carpet. 314-707-6889

315 Condos/Townhomes/Duplexes for Rent CLAYTON-CONDO $1000 Evelyn-636-541-1403 8111 Roxburgh-2 bdrm, 1 bath, garage, hrdwd flrs, washer dryer, walking distance to Downtown Clayton, Galleria, The Boulevard (Maggianos-PF Changs), Shaw Park & MetroLink.

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314-966-1003

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RICHMOND-HEIGHTS $525-$575-SPECIAL 314-995-1912 1 MONTH FREE! 1BR, all elec off Big Bend. Near Metrolink, Hwys 40 & 44, Clayton. SOULARD $750 314-724-8842 Spacious 2nd flr 2BR, old world cha m, hdwd flrs, ya d, frplcs, off st prk, no C/A, nonsmoking bldg, storage.

nprent@aol.com SOUTH-CITY $400 314-707-9975 4321 Morganford: 1 BR, all electric, hdwd flrs, C/A SOUTH-CITY $495 314-707-9975 Grand & Bates: 1 BRs, hardwood flrs, all electric, C/A SOUTH-CITY $515 314-707-9975 Jamieson & Nottingham: 1 BR, all electric, hdwd flrs, C/A SOUTH-CITY $525 314-707-9975 2742 Osage: Large 1 BR, all electric, hdwd flrs, C/A Washer/Dryer hook ups in the unit.

RICHMOND-HEIGHTS $525-$575-SPECIAL 314-995-1912 1 MONTH FREE! 1BR, all elec off Big Bend. Near Metrolink, Hwys 40 & 44, Clayton.

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nprent@aol.com SOUTH CITY $400-$850 314-771-4222 Many different units www.stlrr.com 1-3 BR, no credit no problem SOUTH ST. LOUIS CITY 314-579-1201 or 636-939-3808 1, 2 & 3 BR apts for rent. www.eatonproperties.com. Sec. 8 welcome

SOUTH-CITY $630 314-277-0204 3400 South Spring-1st Floor North-2BR, new eat in kitchen & dining room. Blinds, appl, C/A, all electric. 3333 Lawn-Studio Apt. $410 Available Now!

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ST. CHARLES COUNTY 314-579-1201 or 636-939-3808 1 & 2 BR apts for rent. www.eatonproperties.com. Sec. 8 welcome UNIVERSITY-CITY $795 314-727-1444 2BR, new kitch, bath & carpet, C/A & heat. No pets WESTPORT/LINDBERGH/PAGE $535-$585 314-995-1912 1 MO FREE!-1BR ($535) & 2BR ($585) SPECIALS! Clean, safe, quiet. Patio, laundry, great landlord! Nice Area near Hwys 64, 270, 170, 70 or Clayton. $510

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Unless otherwise limited, prices are good through Tuesday following publication date. Installed price offers are for product purchased from Audio Express installed in factory-ready locations. Custom work at added cost. Kits, antennas and cables additional. Added charges for shop supplies and environmental disposal where mandated. Illustrations similar. Video pictures may be simulated. Not responsible for typographic errors. Savings off MSRP or our original sales price, may include install savings. Intermediate markdowns may have been taken. Details, conditions and restrictions of manufacturer promotional offers at respective websites. Price match applies to new, non-promotional items from authorized sellers; excludes “shopping cart” or other hidden specials. © 2017, Audio Express.

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