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PRIDE NIGHT

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With the purchase of a special Theme Ticket, fans will receive a Cardinals t-shirt with a rainbow STL logo. A portion of each ticket sold will benefit Missouri Courage Scholarship, which is the first, and largest, state-wide LGBTQ scholarship organization in Missouri.

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1900 Arsenal St. St. Louis, MO 63118 | 314-343-0294

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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“ Sometimes as a community, we do react in violence because we’re mad, we’re angry.

But this is the proper way. People are talking, people are meeting; yesterday people were hugging flat-out strangers. So we don’t have picket lines and all that, but we’re shutting down the whole gas station. Nobody’s pumping gas, nobody’s in here buying food, slushies, cigarettes, none of that. We shuttin’ it down.”

–MariaMa Waheed, photographed With her dog Jagger at a July 25 protest at gas Mart after store eMployees Were caught on video kicking a hoMeless WoMan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE

12.

Children of the Darker Gods Damon Davis is a rising star in the arts world. But it’s in St. Louis that his work truly resonates Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

Cover art: ‘Blake the Great’ by

DAMON DAVIS

NEWS

ARTS

DINING

CULTURE

5

22

29

37

The Lede

Calendar

Your friend or neighbor, captured on camera

Seven days worth of great stuff to see and do

9

26

Law & Order

A security guard who faces criminal charges for macing protesters speaks out

10

Film

The latest chapter in the Mission: Impossible series benefits from Tom Cruise’s derring-do

Cafe

At new and nostalgic Del Pietro’s, Cheryl Baehr writes, mama knows best

31

Side Dish

Megan King-Popp has opened a play space for kids with food good enough for adults

33

Courts

Food News

They were rejected by a retirement community for being lesbians. Now they’re suing

St. Louis barbecue is tops in two states, while Gerard Craft has closed Porano Pasta

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The Open Highway Music Festival returns with an expanded lineup

38

Pasttimes

For the Teall family, pole-dancing is good, clean fun

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Out Every Night

The best concerts in St. Louis every night of the week

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This Just In

34

This week’s new concert announcements

Frisco Barroom is now open in Webster Groves

45

First Look

6

Homespun

Savage Love

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Sarah Fenske E D I T O R I A L Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Editorial Interns Alison Gold, Mario Miles-Turnage, Lexie Miller, Camille Respess, Ian Scott Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Sara Graham, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer, Lauren Milford, Thomas Crone, MaryAnn Johanson, Jenn DeRose, Mike Fitzgerald Proofreader Evie Hemphill Cartoonist Bob Stretch

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M U LT I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Sales Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell, Erica Kenney Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Michael Gaines, Jason Thompson Event Coordinator Grace Richard

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HELPING SCHLAFLY NAME: Jared Williamson ROLE: Lead Brewer at the Tap Room YEARS WITH SCHLAFLY: 7 RESIDES IN: Maplewood WHAT MAKES YOU PROUD TO BE ON THE SCHLAFLY TEAM? Our respect for classic beer styles, our drive for innovation and we throw some pretty cool festivals. © 2018 The Saint Louis Brewery LLC, Saint Louis, MO

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NEWS Guard Fired, Arrested After Macing Protesters Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

L

ast week, protesters brought business to a standstill at the Gas Mart just east of the Loop.

Demonstrators blocked the entrance to the gas station, voicing complaints about a July 24 incident in which two clerks were caught on video kicking a woman to the ground. Protesters said it wasn’t a one-off event, but represented a longstanding pattern of mistreatment from store employees toward their neighbors.

Gas Mart eventually released an apology, and clerks Jehad Motan, 32, and Ahmed Qandeel, 19, were arrested and charged with misdemeanors — but on the night of July 25, protesters returned.

That night, the demonstrators didn’t face a line of cops, but a 25-year-old security guard named Anthony Edwards. By the end of the night, Edwards would find himself in a similar position as the two clerks whose actions started the dispute: featured in a widely shared video, fired from his job and facing a misdemeanor charge for assault.

Anthony Edwards pepper-sprays protesters on July 25. | SCREENSHOT VIA REAL STL NEWS But he says he did nothing wrong — and that he had no choice but defend the store he was being paid to guard.

“I spent fourteen hours in jail for something I was trained to do, you know,” Edwards tells Riverfront Times. “It was something I thought was an immediate threat.”

That threat, he claims, is the reason he sprayed mace multiple times at the crowd of protesters, hitting several people. He admits that some of those people were not posing a threat, immediate or otherwise. But he says he was both trying to stop people from coming in and responding to objects being hurled at the store — and himself.

In a video clip uploaded by Real

Stl News, Edwards can be seen with his back against the gas station’s front door, holding it open as an officer and another man enter. On the video, someone’s hand can be seen grabbing the door, and possibly attempting to hold it open. Edwards turns and raises the blue canister in his right hand.

“I gave him one quick burst of OC spray directly in his face, and then pulled the door closed,” Edwards recalls. The hand holding the door belonged to a protester whom Edwards claims had previously tried to enter the store “to yell at the employees.”

But pepper spray is not a weapon of precision. The demonstrators — who up until that point had occupied the parking lot and

9

blocked the store’s entrance — shouted angrily at the security guard behind the glass. Through a bullhorn, one man yelled, “Did you really just mace the crowd?”

On the video, a uniformed St. Louis sheriff’s deputy and another man exit the store to calm the crowd. After about a minute, Edwards, still holding the can of pepper spray, gestures toward the officers, beckoning them back inside. As Edwards closes the door, a gallon jug apparently hurled at him bounces off the glass.

“I wanted to make sure that all the officers had enough support out there while I maintained the space at the door,” Edwards says now.

In the video, a woman then approaches holding a paper sign.

“I reopened up the door to see what she wanted,” Edwards continues, “and next thing you now here comes a gallon jug, filled with some form of liquid, and hits me upside my head.”

On the video, Edwards opens the door and gestures at the woman, mace spraying at her just as the jug comes flying in, striking Williams in the head. Williams turns and unleashes a second stream of pepper spray, this in a wide arc, scattering the crowd.

The spray, Edwards concedes, struck everyone in the area, “whether you were the person threw it or not.” He adds, “I’m pretty sure there were some innocent people that got sprayed.”

To Edwards, his actions were part of doing his job. After what were initially calm protests, he Continued on pg 10

STREAK’S CORNER • by Bob Stretch

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Lesbians Sue After Senior Center Rejection Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

A

married St. Louis couple has sued a south-county retirement home that rejected their application because they are lesbians.

Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, were all set to move into Friendship Village Sunset Hills in the summer of 2016.

They had toured, spoken repeatedly with staff and even paid a $2,000 deposit, according to the suit filed Wednesday in federal court.

But days before they were to finish up paperwork in July 2016, the residence director who had been working with the couple called with questions about the nature of their relationship, the suit says.

Walsh and Nance had been together since 1978, marrying in 2009 in Massachusetts. They say they never hid their relationship and were shocked when the employee, Carmen Fronczak, called back two days later to tell them their application was being rejected because they were gay.

“We’ve been together for nearly 40 years and have spent our lives in St. Louis,” Walsh said in a prepared statement.

“We want to grow older here by each other’s side. We should not be prevented from accessing the housing and care we need.”

SECURITY GUARD Continued from pg 9

says the store owner called him on July 25, “begging” him to return that night. According to Edwards, the owner claimed that the protesters were “holding them hostage” inside the store.

But after Edwards sprayed the crowd, things only got worse.

Someone called 911. Transported to a police substation, Edwards learned that investigators had seen video taken by protesters — and thought he was in the wrong.

“They charged me, locked me up, and I spent fourteen hours in jail before I was was released,” Edwards says.

In the mean time, the gas station’s front door was broken into.

A video shared by Fox-2 shows glass and merchandise scattered across the floor. Fox-2 also reported that money and other items were taken from the store.

Beyond that, while Edwards was being questioned, he says an app on his phone began sounding an

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Walsh and Nance had chosen Friendship Village carefully. They had friends who lived there, whom they had visited. They were especially drawn to the home’s model, which includes an on-site medical facility where they could receive health care as needed in old age without spending a lot more.

Initially, Friendship Village seemed eager to have them. Fronczak offered to waive thousands of dollars in fees if they signed early, according to the suit. The couple put their house in Shrewsbury on the market and hurried to get their paperwork in order. Walsh and Nance say they even canceled a planned vacation, eating the cost of the non-refundable plane tickets just to move on Friendship Village’s timeline.

The sudden rejection was a surprise, they say. Fronczak’s call was followed by a formal letter from Friendship Village, informing them of the decision.

“Your request to share a single unit does not fall within the categories permitted by the long-standing policy of Friendship Village Sunset Hills,” the letter said.

Included was a copy of the home’s “cohabitation” policy, which allows only certain people to share a unit: a parent with a child, siblings and heterosexual married couples.

“The term ‘marriage’ as used in this policy means the union of one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible,” the policy says.

The facility is run by FV Services, Inc., which also operates Friendship Village Chesterfield. On its website, the company says it is a “faith-based not-for-profit,” although the suit points out it is not affili-

ated with any church or specific religious order.

The policy violates the federal Fair Housing Act and similar Missouri housing laws, which prevent discrimination, the suit alleges.

The couple is being represented by a team of attorneys from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Washingtonbased civil rights law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax, the American Civil Liberties Union and St. Louis attorney Arlene Zarembka.

They argue Friendship Village is violating housing laws against gender-based discrimination. Advocates have fought for years to persuade the Missouri legislature to extend non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ people, but Walsh and Nance’s

attorneys claim the retirement home’s anti-gay policy essentially discriminates against the women because of their gender, which would be illegal under the law.

If either Walsh or Nance was a man, their application would have been approved, the suit says.

“Mary and Bev were denied housing for one reason and one reason only — because they were married to each other rather than to men,” National Center for Lesbian Rights attorney Julie Wilensky said in a written statement. “Their story demonstrates the kind of exclusion and discrimination still facing same-sex couples of all ages.”

Friendship Village did not respond to the RFTs requests for comment. n

alarm — indicating that his truck, which he’d left parked on Delmar, was being tampered with. By the time police investigated, he says, the vehicle was already “engulfed in flames.”

On Friday, Edwards retrieved his truck from a tow lot. The windshield had been smashed, and the interior appeared melted by the heat.

That wasn’t all. After his release from the downtown justice center, Edwards says he got a call from his employer. His employment had been terminated.

In the days since, Edwards says he’s received multiple threats over Facebook, and that people are “slandering my character.”

He’s angry that he’s been charged for doing what, in his mind, he was trained to do. He claims that he spoke to a sergeant before leaving the gas station, and that the cop explained that the protesters “are pretty upset with you” and that “we have to give them results.”

Those results, Edwards now claims, have left him without a job

or car. He notes that he is licensed and trained as a security officer, and that police officers with the same training have committed similar acts in the past — without the same repercussions.

“When the police were out there in riot gear, they had shields while the protesters were throwing water bottles and bricks at them.

They didn’t care about who they maced. They maced the whole crowd,” he says. “What’s the difference between that and me macing somebody that posed a threat to coming on the inside of the building? I mean, I don’t understand.”

People who got maced, however, have little empathy for Edwards. Sylvester Sanders was one of three reporters for Real Stl News covering the protest on July 24. All three were hit with mace.

Sanders says his eyes burned for days.

According to Sanders, Edwards arrived at gas station carrying the can of mace, shaking it as he walked. The reporter blames Edwards for escalating the situation.

Sanders also notes that after

Edwards left the scene, the main group of protesters moved across the street. It wasn’t until they heard a boom that Sanders and others rushed over to see the truck in flames.

“We really don’t know who set it on fire,” Sanders says.

Overall, Sanders adds, media coverage of the fire and damage to the store was unfairly framed as resulting from the demonstration — in reality, the reporter says, the main crowd of protesters nothing to do with it.

“I was there from 7 p.m. until midnight. The protesters did not break anything, they did not set anything on fire or anything of that nature,” says Sanders.

Edwards, he says, crossed a line.

And he believes the now-fired security guard has only himself to blame.

“It was a peaceful protest, until he came walking in,” Sanders maintains. “All he had to do was go in the store. No one was vandalizing anything. If he would have just gone in the store, he could have called it a day.” n

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Mary Walsh, left, and Bev Nance saw their application rejected. | COURTESY OF MARY WALSH

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CHILDREN

OF

THE

DARKER

GODS

BY CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

I

t’s Monday afternoon in early June and Damon Davis is plotting. He’s working in the white-walled space of the Luminary, the Cherokee Street gallery and event space where he’ll premiere his multi-media art show, Darker Gods in the Garden of the Low-Hanging Heavens, in a few days. Most of the gods in question are encased in frames that

Left: Damon Davis. | THEO WELLING Above: ‘The Transfiguration of the MegaDonna,’ part of Davis’ recent Darker Gods show. | BREA MCANALLY

DAMON DAVIS is a rising star in the arts world. But it’s in St. Louis that his work truly resonates

have yet to be hung, and there’s a question of how best to use the gallery’s 4,000 square feet — no small task for a single artist in a space that usually hosts curated, multi-artist shows.

As Davis walks around the perimeter, gallery co-owner Brea McAnally tends to the telephone and a printer that seems to be working overtime. The Darker Gods material has been in process for a few years, Davis says, but since this is a multi-media show — he corralled digital images, sculpture, text and a dance performance, as well as an accompanying full-length album — he’s not sure how best to tell the story.

“Now I’m just trying to figure out, think-

riverfronttimes.com

ing about how we can put the words into the space,” says Davis. “Brea just had a great idea about putting a poem right there, because this wall is so big. So now I’m just thinking about what’s the best way to represent what’s going on here — the words, the photos.”

By the Friday night opening reception, the art is hung, DJ Stan Chisholm is pulling deep soul from his record crates, and the gallery is full of well-wishers, friends and curious patrons. In keeping with the show’s religious overtones, Davis himself is dressed like a cleric, in black pants and a collarless white button-down. He’s gracious among fans and family, often posing Continued on pg 16

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After releasing music that dabbled in Afro-futurism, Davis calls the images in Darker Gods ‘Afro-Surrealism.’ | BREA MCANALLY

DAMON DAVIS Continued from pg 13

for photos in front of a space that, four days ago, was a blank canvas.

He and McAnally chose a quatrain from Davis’ self-made mythology to fill the previously empty wall: Tar, soot, soul Heat pressure coal Diamonds are her eyes Teeth made of gold While the verse relates to one of the gods in his pantheon, many young women at the opening are taking portraits and selfies in front of the wall. Something about the lines resonates; perhaps it is the transfiguration of something dark and earthen into a powerful, luminous being.

That idea is at the core of the Darker Gods experience and was the impetus for Davis’ most comprehensive undertaking to date.

The story, as presented at the Luminary, was told primarily through photographs, all of which were digitally altered in some way.

A brief video of a dance troupe enacts what Davis calls a “creation story” on a continual loop in the gallery’s alcove, while a room of physical media represents altars and artifacts.

The aim was to create an im-

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mersive experience, says James McAnally, who runs the Luminary with wife Brea. He noted that the scope of Davis’ vision required the entirety of the gallery space — something the Luminary has only accommodated once before.

“It was clear, as soon as we started talking with Damon about this project and how expansive it was, even at that stage, which was probably a year, year-and-a-half before the show happened, we just realized very quickly that he not only wanted to work on that scale but also needed to set the tone of his own environment,” says McAnally. “So it was important to give him the entire space and full resources and attention that goes with that.”

Davis, 33, grew up in East St. Louis but came to the Missouri side of the river to attend Saint Louis University, which he graduated in 2007 with a degree in communication tech. He has now lived and worked in south St. Louis for the better part of a decade. His hair is a halo of tight braids, and his eyes seem permanently half-lidded through his glasses, giving an air of both benign benevolence and extra-strength bullshit detection.

Local fans who know Davis primarily as a musician won’t be surprised at his sense of scale. As co-founder of the music collective FarFetched, Davis has grouped

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together a number of local acts that don’t fit neatly inside genres — acts like electro-shoegaze trio CaveofswordS, soul preacher Rev. Sekou and Davis’ own glitchy, cavernous hip-hop fantasias. Every year the label rolls out a compilation called Prologue. Along with its annual showcase and regular events, private parties and gallery takeovers, the album projects have elevated and integrated elements of the St. Louis music scene that were formerly balkanized.

And though Davis still records new music and has his hands in FarFetched’s continuing mission, his work has increasingly pushed into visual mediums. His art began to reflect the struggle of fellow African Americans in St. Louis and the language of protest and activism that arose after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson in 2014. His project All Hands On Deck used the rallying cry of the Ferguson protests — “hands up, don’t shoot” — as inspiration, pasting black-and-white pictures of outstretched hands over the plywood used to barricade area doors and windows broken during the ensuing chaos. One piece from that series is currently housed in the Smithsonian’s National Muse-

um of African American History and Culture in Washington.

But it was Whose Streets? that solidified Davis’ reputation far beyond St. Louis. Filmmaker Sabaah Folayan enlisted him as the co-director of her documentary, which focuses on the fallout from Brown’s shooting at the hands of a Ferguson officer and the way the activist community was galvanized by it. The film was both widely distributed and widely praised, making many best-of lists in 2017; PBS aired it nationwide on July 30. The experience took Davis and Folayan all over the country for screenings and discussions, which left Davis in a curious space: an artist, activist and storyteller tasked with retelling one of the darkest chapters in St. Louis history.

At this point, Davis calls himself a “post-disciplinary artist.” “I don’t really have a primary medium — whatever works best for the story I’m trying to get across,” says Davis. “Some stuff, you can get an idea across in three minutes. But some ideas you need two hours, you need a movie, and some ideas you can do in one photograph. It’s more about me figuring out what I want to say and

Images from the series All Hands on Deck, which is included in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture collection. | HEARTACHEANDPAINT.COM

The Darker Gods opening reception drew a line that stretched along the block. | BREA MCANALLY then thinking about how I want to present it to people.”

The scope of Darker Gods dwarfs all of his other projects.

Coming off the success of Whose Streets?, Davis had a lot of eyes on him, and rather than stick to a single mode, his show explodes in many directions. And while the show was only open at the Luminary for a month, Davis has plans to extend the world he’s created.

He calls the show “just the beginning” of the story.

A

ll myths have their origin stories, and Davis’ Darker Gods is no different. Touring with Whose Streets? was exhausting, both physically and emotionally — he says he can’t watch the film anymore, and

the experience of talking through those events, even in front of supposedly enlightened crowds, left him feeling hollowed out.

Davis says it fell to him “to be the ambassador and go to all of these places and listen to these motherfuckers talk and let them trickle out their little prejudices of ‘we stupid’ or ‘we country’ or whatever, in places where these liberals know how to say racism a lot more politely than people here.”

He continues, “I needed space because, even for all of the good things that happened to me, or in regard to the people that had seen my work and could appreciate it, a kid had to die in the street for people to even know that we existed, to know that St. Louis wasn’t some place that you just fly over, or where beer and the Cardinals

In addition to his gallery and film work, Davis has long been a musician, releasing music as a member of Scripts n’ Screwz and Blank Generation and co-founding the FarFetched collective. His most recent projects are a trio of albums called LOA, as well as a collection of soundscapes called The Holy Mountain. He refers to himself as a ‘post-disciplinary artist,’ utilizing ‘whatever works best for the story I’m trying to get across.’ | HEARTACHEANDPAINT.COM come from.”

In thinking about his next undertaking after the experience of Whose Streets?, Davis returned to an idea he began working on a few years ago. Having spent much of the last few years telling a story of black trauma from a bootson-the-ground point of view, he initially sought something much more mundane.

He says that, due to the nature of the film and his work in protests and activism, “people only want to talk to me about the worst shit that happens to black people.”

“It’s still a very safe place for black people to be under somebody’s boot and to be a fucking victim and to be a joyless sort of creature,” Davis says. “So for this project I wanted to really accentuate and speak to the power and

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the joy and less about pain all the time. Because that is not our entire lives.”

Davis believes that black people’s everyday lives — picking up your kids from school, falling in love, dealing with depression — get blotted out in popular culture.

“Being a human being doesn’t really get attributed to people of color, especially not on screen and in art,” he says.

But Davis is much more of a maximalist than a minimalist, so something about scaling down the black experience didn’t feel right.

He’d always loved mythology, so Davis decided to take this idea to the logical extreme.

“Why don’t we think about accentuating things to a superhuman level?” he asked. In his

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

Continued on pg 18

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17

DAMON DAVIS Continued from pg 17

telling, people of color aren’t perpetual victims of violence and white supremacy, and they’re not living some humdrum existence.

His Darker Gods are creators, seers, prophets and guardians.

The larger Darker Gods project is in some ways a continuation of Davis’ last musical project, a three-part release called LOA that pulled from elements of Christianity and voodoo practices. He called that project a work of AfroFuturism — a term that, for Davis, relates to a recasting of science fiction that aims to make space for people of color. But for Darker Gods, he prefers the term “AfroSurrealism.”

The term fits, especially when viewing the twenty-odd photographs that comprise the bulk of the Darker Gods show. Davis took photos of black people of all ages — some friends but most found by word of mouth, many of them first-time models — and digitally altered the images, sometimes to the point of obfuscation and erasure. Each alteration, he says, speaks to the power of each god but, on a more human scale, speaks to the many unseen facets of black experience.

A

s he sat with the models for each session, Davis plumbed his subjects for their stories. “What do you think people see when they see you?” he would ask. Over time, Davis’ mythology began to merge with the real-life stories of his subjects.

“I built a lot of these stories around what they were telling me,” Davis says.

As he walks around the Luminary during the week of his opening, Davis points out the melding of fact and fiction.

A naked woman, her head a digital blur and her midsection a transparent oval, hangs on the wall next to the venue’s stage.

“That model right here, with the hole in her chest, that’s what she was telling me,” Davis says. “The goddess I wrote about for her was just, like, the goddess of the unseen. Since they never got noticed, their strongest power was being able to see through you and see the truth in you.”

He points to an image of a young man’s torso, the space around his heart crudely removed. “This guy, he was telling me how he gets objectified because he’s queer, and he gets objectified by other men

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Davis co-directed the documentary Whose Streets? not long before beginning Darker Gods. “One is entrenched in the reality of what was going on, and one is completely negating that reality and creating a new one.” | COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA PICTURES that are usually white men,” Davis says. “Let’s think about what that means. I made him the god of tenderness and love.”

Stan Chisholm, who makes art and music under the name 18&Counting, has been a friend and collaborator of Davis’ for years. FarFetched has released his music, and Davis tapped him to DJ the opening reception. As a fellow

without its intimate connection to the personal experiences of his subjects and many of the people in his audience.

James McAnally notes that, even though Davis sought with this show to create a liminal space, its real power rests in how the art relates to the here and now.

And that has roots in Davis’ experience as an activist.

“Just ’cause there’s a black face in front of it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a statement about blackness: it’s a statement about humanity.” visual artist, Chisholm was most struck by the depth of the images.

What stands out, he says, is “just the richness of personality in the portraits. They could have been paintings. They could have been more abstracted. But they weren’t.” He adds, “That’s something that stood out to me was how important each individual seemed, because one would think you would want anonymous people or someone who wouldn’t read as much as a person.”

Davis’ mythology for the Darker Gods content is highly developed; he says he has a book-length piece written about this pantheon. But it wouldn’t resonate

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“The way he framed it was this idea of conceiving a new world as something that both in protest movements and coming out of it, specifically people of color in St. Louis have been pushing for a different world, and that has started here and he wanted to premiere this work here,” McAnally says a few weeks after the show’s opening. “The opening and since has been an extremely diverse audience, but specifically what it’s meant for a black audience has been really profound to witness, honestly.”

Davis says that he sees little difference between those personas.

“I think art is activism and vice

versa, and I don’t think they separate from each other,” says Davis.

“I don’t understand why people do art for the sake of art — it’s just empty, shallow shit if you’re not saying nothing with it. I don’t see the point of it.”

As he talks, though, he butts up against the limitations of the term.

“Maybe activism is the wrong word,” he says. “The word ‘activism’ means that you got a choice about things. It’s like a job and a choice, and when it comes to talking about human rights of people that look like me, I don’t really have a choice ’cause I’d get shot.”

Arguably, it is Davis’ role as activist and documentarian that has attracted local and national attention to his work. McAnally notes that the opening reception had more energy than a normally staid, sip-and-stare gallery opening.

“It was strange to see people coming and looking for his autograph, and just to say ‘thank you,’” McAnally says. “I mean, people brought Whose Streets? posters to the opening. Before we opened the show — this was a first — there were probably 40 people in line, like at a concert. And that does not happen at exhibitions and museum spaces. Nowhere, really, do you get that, in St. Louis.”

For McAnally, Davis’ position as a St. Louis artist telling, in part, St. Louis stories makes him a vital figure in the local arts community, especially as his star continues to Continued on pg 21

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DAMON DAVIS Continued from pg 18

rise on a national level.

“He’s certainly arrived at a place that is rare for any artist, just in the sense that he’s been a TED fellow and a MacArthur fellow and, like, Whose Streets? was definitely getting Oscar buzz,” says McAnally. “You take for granted that this person you’ve interacted with for a long time is getting flown to speak at MIT and Harvard and his art is in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History. Those things are really profound accomplishment for anyone.”

Since much of his recent work has centered on perceptions of blackness, Davis considers if any of his art — music, photography, film — will be inextricably linked to his race.

“If I’m just being myself, that shit is gonna come out anyway because of the way I was raised and the culture I was raised in, how I view myself and how others view me,” Davis says.

But, in an echo of what Darker Gods ultimately aims for, Davis says he’s much more interested in talking about elements of the human experience. “I do think that I’m talking about love and anger and those things are universal things. Just ’cause there’s a black face in front of it that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a statement about blackness: it’s a statement about humanity.”

“I’m one person; black people are not a monolith,” Davis continues. “I’ve got a very unique upbringing and situation, and we’re always charged to be a speaking body for, what, 12 million people I ain’t never met? There’s no way for that. But I can tell you my little piece of what I’m thinking about.”

For now, at least, Davis is more comfortable telling stories and creating alternate universes. He does so, he says, in hopes of “creating the world that I want to be instead of showing the world the way it is.”

“I think fiction is where I wanna be,” he continues. “I can still get the same messages across. I can talk about the same political stuff, the same human nature shit.”

“The funny thing is, people will believe the lies before they believe the truth. They’ll believe that shit before they believe a goddamn documentary.”

A

gratitude. After he thanks everyone for coming and the staff at the Luminary for making it all happen, he addresses one segment of the crowd in particular.

“I hope the black folks in the room see themselves,” Davis says, “and I hope they see God.” Those words were powerful for McAnally, who notes that Davis felt “bolstered” by the support in the room. “He made a very intentional decision to show this work in St. Louis. He’s at a point in his career where he could have premiered this in New York or LA or San Francisco or wherever, and for him, it was really impor-

tant that it happened here,” says McAnally.

For Chisholm, the simple sense of representation stood out to him in Davis’ words. “I took it as I hope you see your presence in the room. Often it feels disbalanced when you’re a black artist making music. Sometimes you are the minority in the room.

That doesn’t always come up as an important mention, but to have that put out front as ‘I hope you see yourself here,’ there was just something about that that felt good. And it usually doesn’t.

It’s usually awkward.”

For Davis, much of the show

sprung from the idea of “creating your own acknowledgement, creating your own ideas about things and creating your own universe for safety and comfort, because you’re not allowed to have that usually,” he says. “And if you’re waiting on people that have historically taken that away from you to give you that, you’re gonna be waiting forever.”

“When we can get past that, it’s gonna be a glorious day,” he continues. “The stuff I’m making now won’t be necessary anymore. We won’t have to say, ‘Black people don’t get to be human beings, so I’m making them into gods.’” n

t his opening reception, Davis ascends the stage and takes the microphone for a few brief words of

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AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

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22

CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

FRIDAY 08/03 Eraserhead David Lynch’s first feature film, Eraserhead, has puzzled audiences and given them the heebiejeebies since 1977. Its abrasive soundtrack, repellent visuals and dream-like pacing defy easy categorization. Jack Nance plays Henry Spencer, an alienated man wandering through an industrial world. He communicates with a strange being called “the Man in the Planet,” receives visitations from a lady in the radiator and has a severely mutated child with his girlfriend, Mary X. When Mary leaves him, matters become even more nightmarish. The Tivoli’s Reel Late film series screens the disturbing film at 11:55 p.m. Friday and Saturday (August 3 and 4) at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre (6350 Delmar Boulevard, University City; www.landmarktheatres. com). Tickets are $8.

The Robber Bridegroom The Natchez Trace was a notoriously dangerous proto-highway in early American history. Stretching through the forests between Tennessee and Mississippi, the Trace was the perfect place for highwaymen to waylay travelers and traders. One of the best-known highwaymen was the Bandit of the Woods, who’s out hunting for Clement Musgrove, the richest planter in Natchez. Instead the bandit encounters the beautiful Rosamund, Clement’s only daughter. And it’s a good thing he does; the far more unsavory bandit Little Harp is out looking for women to accost, even as Rosamund’s stepmother has spitefully hired the village idiot, Goat, to find and kill her as well. Is it any wonder Rosamund falls for the dashing Bandit of the Woods? The Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman musical The Robber Bridegroom is a Southern fairy tale based on the novel of the same name by Eudora Welty. Stray Dog Theatre closes its fifteenth season with the bluegrass-tinged musical. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday

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Celery pancakes from Confluence Kombucha, a St. Louis Veg Fest vendor. | MABEL SUEN

through Saturday (August 2 to 18) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www.straydogtheatre.org). There are additional shows at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 12, and 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 15. Tickets are $25 to $30.

SATURDAY 08/04 St. Louis Veg Fest St. Louis has a host of food festivals that celebrate barbecue and grilled meats, but for the first time ever, it’s playing host to a fully vegan festival for the cruelty-free set. St. Louis Veg Fest takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, August 4, at the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park (www.start4animals.org/vegfest18), and it will be packed with vegan vendors.

Indian Sunshine Cuisine, Frida’s, Confluence Kombucha and many more will sell food and beverages, STL Veg Girl will conduct cooking demos at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., and a slew of guest speakers will discuss topics ranging from “How to Eat Vegan on $4 a Day” to “Eating Vegan for Maximal Strength.”

Admission is free, but bring cash with you — not all vendors will have card readers.

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

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Aparna Nancherla Aparna Nancherla has been called a “comic you should know,” one of the “most innovative comics working today” and one of the “ten funniest women in New York.” That’s a lot of pressure for someone who considers herself “Netflix’s best employee” because she works from home and is never not watching. Nancherla per-

Aparna Nancherla fights hunger with comedy on Saturday. | PRESS PHOTO

forms at the Pageant (6161 Delmar Boulevard; www.thepageant. com) at 8 p.m. Saturday, August 4, as a benefit for the St. Louis Area Foodbank called “Hunger is No Joke.” Local comedians Angela Smith and Kenny Kinds open the show. Tickets are $30.

Meet Me in St. Louis The Muny’s celebratory centennial season comes to a fitting end with the only show it could: Meet Me in St. Louis. Set in 1904 during the World’s Fair, it follows the lives of the Smith family in a year of great personal change. A son prepares to leave for college, daughters Esther and Rose tentatively enter into the world of romance and the greatest possible tragedy that can happen to a St. Louis family looms in the distance: a possible move to New York City. Only the glorious sound of a trolley’s bell can save them now. The Muny in Forest Park (www.muny.org) brings down the curtain on its first 100 years with the Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane and Hugh Wheeler stage adaptation of the Judy Garland film at 8:15 p.m.

Saturday through Sunday (August 4 to 12). Tickets are $15 to $100.

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SUNDAY 08/05 The Big Lebowski The Coen Brothers’ follow-up to the Academy Award-winning Fargo made very little impact when it appeared in theaters. Somehow, late-’90s America wasn’t ready for a shaggy-dog story about a hippie who shares a last name with a rich guy, the theft of a rug and the joys of bowling. Twenty years later, The Big Lebowski is rightfully regarded as a classic. It just took us a while to catch up to what bowling aficionado “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges) was laying down. The only debate now revolves around the most quotable character in the film: Is it John Goodman’s lovesick soldier-of-misfortune Walter Sobchak, Jeff Bridges’ zen bowler, Julianne Moore’s affected artist Maude or Sam Elliott’s easygoing Stranger? (A lone vote goes out to Jon Polito’s star-struck private detective, Da Fino, for his love of a “brother shamus.”) Turner Classic Movies brings The Big Lebowski back to the big screen with a couple of new special features that explore the film’s nooks and crannies. It’s shown locally at 2 p.m.

Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday (August 5 and 8) at Marcus Weh-

(314) 833.3283 www.corknslice.com

renberg Ronnies Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.fathomevents.com). Tickets are $12.50.

WEDNESDAY 08/08 Faust A coalition of five St. Louis theater companies join forces to present a celebration of the Faust legend this summer and autumn. The Faustival opens with ERA’s experimental rock-opera Faust: go down with all the re$t, which is inspired by Goethe’s rendition of the story. Faust is God’s favorite human, but the Devil bets that he can draw him into sin. And so the Devil appears to Faust as a poodle and corrupts him with the promise of absolute power.

ERA, with the help of local band Kid Scientist, presents its “capitalist tragedy” Faust: go down with all the re$t at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (August 8, 10 and 11), and then again at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (August 15 to 18) at Foam (3359 South Jefferson Avenue; www.eratheatre.org). Tickets are $10 and a two-drink minimum is recommended to get in the proper mindset. n

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THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS

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Day or night, there’s always something going on in The Grove: live bands, great food, beer tastings, shopping events, and so much more. Visit thegrovestl.com for a whole lot more of what makes this neighborhood great.

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7PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

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JOSH ROYAL & FRIENDS, MORGAN TAYLOR, DAKOTA PAGAN, YZTHASINGER $10-20, 7PM AT THE READY ROOM

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FILM

[FILM]

Cunning Stunts The new Mission: Impossible relies on Tom Cruise’s derring-do to ground an incredible tale of double-cross and espionage Written by

ROBERT HUNT Mission: Impossible–Fallout Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson and Simon Pegg. Now screening at multiple theaters.

B

ack in the 1970s, each James Bond film began with a spectacular stunt sequence, the hero skiing down a mountain pursued by assassins or taking a free-fall plunge from a moving airplane. Viewers didn’t believe that they were really watching Roger Moore flying through the sky or careening off a snow-capped cliff, but they knew that someone had actually done those things in front of the camera, and that was no small achievement.

Today when filmmakers routinely rely on computer-generated effects not just to create exploding buildings and flying superheroes but to remove creases from the faces of middle-aged actresses, we’re missing that commitment to reality, that sense of human achievement and endurance when a stuntman (or woman) leaps, crashes or flies across the screen. It’s a uniquely cinematic pleasure that goes all the way back to that day in 1896 when the Lumière brothers offered audiences a look at a train pulling into the La Ciotat station: a connection to the real.

Old-fashioned stunt work has become a hallmark of the Mission: Impossible series, which has seen Tom Cruise as hero Ethan Hunt (no relation) dangling from aircraft, scaling cliffs and scampering over rooftops, apparently without the benefit of wires, nets

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Tom Cruise runs, jumps, climbs, slides, drops and dangles his way through another thrilling installment of Mission: Impossible. | ©2018 PARAMOUNT PICTURES or body doubles. Not since Jackie Chan’s great string of death-defying stunts in the ‘80s and ‘90s has a film actor been so willing to subject himself to physical extremes.

There’s a notable difference, however, between the M:I films and the work of earlier cinematic risk-takers like Chan or Buster Keaton. Where Chan and Keaton played comic victims living in an uncertain and unstable environment, Hunt/Cruise is a professional. For them, the physical world was an obstacle; Cruise simply leaps over it.

Mission: Impossible–Fallout is Cruise’s sixth appearance as Ethan Hunt in a cycle of films that have evolved from the high-tech (MSDOS version) espionage of the initial 1996 entry to a globe-trotting challenger to the Bond series.

Loosely based on the television series that premiered in 1966, from which it retains only the familiar self-destructing assignment notifications in each opening scene and the frequent use — taken to comic extremes in the films — of masks and disguises, the M: I movies are well-crafted Hollywood machines, with plot twists so confusing that they make the famously convo-

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

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luted murder plot in The Big Sleep look about as puzzling as Goodnight Moon.

Hunt and his IMF team (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, miscellaneous others) are looking for a random international bad person or thing (this time around it’s a batch of stolen plutonium), which then puts them in search of Plot Point 2, which means they have to defeat and/or join forces with Plot Point 3, leading to Plot Points 4, 5 or 6 as needed. The characters — both good and bad — thrive in an atmosphere of permanent double-cross, in which it becomes impossible to sort out which person was working for what intelligence agency or villainous sub-contractor and exactly who plotted what against whom. If this sounds like a criticism, it’s not. Some spy movies like to lay all their cards out neatly; the M:I series prefers to do card tricks.

Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (who also made 2015’s M:I–Rogue Nation) understands the formula: Shake things up, don’t slow them down. The end of the Cold War gave action movies a new villain — generic terrorism — and a free pass on ideology. Po-

litical sides don’t matter when allegiances change every fifteen minutes. There’s only the team, and you’re either on it or off it. Everything else is simply a global McGuffin, an excuse for 150 minutes or so of chase scenes and mayhem in exotic locations (this time around, it’s Paris, London and Kashmir).

If there absolutely must be some kind of exposition or soul-searching, McQuarrie stages it during a gun-drawn stand-off or while a character is defusing a bomb.

What holds the film together, perhaps surprisingly, is Cruise, the center of all of the frenzied activity. Cruise has aged into the role of Hunt, and there’s hardly a trace of the winking, I-can-get-awaywith-anything young hotshot of Top Gun or Risky Business. Hunt is a cipher, always focused on the mission at hand because he has no life outside it. Cruise expresses the character by sharing his willingness to dangle in mid-air or hurl himself through a window.

The Mission: Impossible films are glorious nonsense, but Cruise’s commitment to the stunt work gives them a necessary point of gravity, a slice of reality amid all the chaos. n

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2951 Dougherty Ferry Rd (636) 529-1898 daliessmokehouse.com

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[CAFE]

Mama Knows Best At the new and nostalgic Del Pietro’s, a St. Louis restaurant family shows what made its name legend Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Del Pietro’s 1050 South Big Bend Boulevard, Richmond Heights; 314-224-5225; Mon.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m. (Closed Sundays.)

M

ary Rose Del Pietro works the dining room at the Richmond Heights restaurant that bears her last name like a queen holding court, breezing past table after table, sometimes with just a wink and a smile, other times with a casual, “How are you enjoying the ravioli?” If she gives you that question, keep in mind that she is not asking for a response. The raven-haired matriarch has been doing this for decades, and there is nothing you could tell her that she doesn’t already know.

Maybe she would have needed your feedback back in 1976, the year she and husband Michael Del Pietro Sr. opened the original Del Pietro’s on Hampton Avenue.

Then again, maybe not: They seem to have figured everything out just fine on their own, reigning over one of the city’s dining mainstays for more than three decades by serving up unapologetically American-style Italian comfort dishes like veal parmigiana, chicken piccata and sweet Italiandressed salads.

For most of that time, their son Michael Jr. was there, working alongside his mother and father as soon as he was old enough to polish bar glasses without breaking them. Restaurant work was mandatory in his family, but he fell in love with it in spite of his father’s insistence that he put the family business before any extracurricular activities. He found

Start with Del Pietro’s signature salad, then try the toasted ravioli, “Pollo Piccata,” “Spaghetti alla Angela” and, of course, cannoli. | MABEL SUEN the work challenging but fun and decided to go into the business in his own right, enrolling in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas hotel and restaurant management program just after high school.

After the sudden passing of his father in the late 1980s, Del Pietro Jr. left school at nineteen and returned to St. Louis to help his mother run the family business.

Once he was comfortable that she was on her feet, he went back to school, this time at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, to finish what he had started.

Though the family’s old-school Italian dishes were in his blood, Del Pietro Jr. had something more modern in mind when he moved back to St. Louis after culinary school in 1994. Content that his mom’s place was doing well, he opened Portabella in Clayton that year to make his own name in the business. Eight years later, he launched a mini-empire, eventu-

ally opening the late Luciano’s, Sugo’s Spaghetteria, Babbo’s Spaghetteria, Via Vino and Tavolo V. Throughout that expansion, the original Del Pietro’s remained open for more than a decade. After Mary Rose decided to retire, in 2011, the family finally closed its doors.

Although he had his hands full with his other restaurants, Del Pietro Jr. felt the pull to keep his family’s legacy alive. Last year, after Riverbend pulled out of the old Harvest space on Big Bend Boulevard, he knew he’d found the ideal location and got to work transforming the space into a brand-new Del Pietro’s.

Patrons of the iconic Harvest (may its bread pudding remain eternally in our hearts) previously dealt with the shock of seeing their beloved restaurant transformed when the Cajun concept Riverbend took over the space in 2014. While that remodel was

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mostly cosmetic, the Del Pietro’s renovation is basically a full-gut rehab that entailed removing the elevated platform in the dining room, moving the bar to the front of the restaurant and knocking down a half-wall in the main eating area. The result is a sleek, open space, outfitted with neutral tones, exposed brick and white tablecloths. Oval-shaped lanterns hang from the ceiling, and thick, taupe-colored curtains break up the wall space while rustic floral arrangements give a spa-like vibe.

But though this Del Pietro’s may look totally new, it’s not completely reimagined. Even while the chefs have crafted new menu items, Del Pietro Jr. also pays homage to the old ones, making the restaurant at once a way forward and a revival.

Those classic dishes are what Del Pietro Jr. grew up eating in his grandmother’s kitchen — and what diners ate at the original

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ALL KILLER. NO FILLER. HAND-CRAFTED SMOKED MEATS AND BREWS

Photography by JENNIFER SILVERBERG

Photography by JENNIFER SILVERBERG

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DEL PIETRO’S

Continued from pg 29

location on Hampton. Eggplant Parmesan, for instance, oozes with creamy buffalo mozzarella cheese and bright tomato sauce so fresh it tastes only minutes removed from the vine. The eggplant’s meaty flesh, dusted with the perfect amount of salt, soaks up the cheese and sauce concoction, proving that quintessential comfort needs no update.

Fritto misto is equally perfect in its classic form. Squid and shrimp are dusted in flour and breadcrumbs, then dunked in the fryer.

A little salt, pepper and some vibrant lemon aioli is all it needs to shine.

Meatballs the size of mandarin oranges are, likewise, expertly executed: tender, flecked with breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley, then shaped into spheres without being overworked. The result is a meatball that holds its form when served but falls apart with ease when prodded. The delectable house tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese cover the top of the dish, balancing each meaty bite with tartness and funk.

Many restaurants claim to serve the city’s best toasted ravioli, but Del Pietro’s makes a serious play for the crown. The handmade dough, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and stuffed with a blend of beef and veal, crisps up after a few minutes in hot oil. Unlike the chewy frozen versions you find at sports bars, these are flaky and light as air. Perfect as the original version is, Del Pietro’s changes up its t-rav selection from day to day; on another occasion the pasta was filled with mascarpone cheese and chicken — a decadent concoction that evokes the gooey comfort of buffalo chicken dip. Both options were perfection of the form.

Del Pietro’s house salad is no more exotic than what you’d see at any of the other old-school Italian restaurants around town, but its flawless execution makes it a thing of beauty. Its lettuce is iceberg cold, its red onions shaved thin, and its red-wine vinaigrette a mouthwatering balance of sweet and tang that serves as a refreshing intermezzo between the hearty appetizers and the even heartier dishes that are to come.

Crunchy, cold and zesty — there is a reason every St. Louis Italian spot worth its cannoli puts a version of this salad on its menu.

The heartier dishes include “Spaghetti alla Angela,” a cheesybaked concoction of meatballs, noodles and tomato sauce that

calls to mind the warm comfort of red-and-white checkered tablecloths and wicker-covered Chianti bottles. Though not cheesy, the Bolognese is just as rich. Beef, veal, cream and just a touch of tomato smother the long, housemade noodles to the point that the dish may as well be a stew. Not that you’d want any less of this decadent meat sauce. Even after three of us put away a heaping bowl of it, we still scooped up every last morsel with the pieces of crusty bread that remained from our bread service.

Like the house salad, there is nothing revolutionary about the Del Pietro’s chicken piccata — which is exactly why you order it. Lemon, butter and capers enliven tender, flour-dusted chicken breasts the way your favorite little black dress hugs your curves.

It’s timeless.

Two off-the-menu specials were equally dazzling. A massive hunk of medium-rare tenderloin was covered in creamy mushroom sauce and served atop pasta. The juices from the beef mingled with the mushrooms, forming a rich, beefy glaze that clung to the noodles. However, my favorite dish at Del Pietro’s was also the simplest: a grilled, skin-on piece of branzino accompanied by lemonscented farro. There was no sauce to cover up any flaws, no cheesy richness to hit me over the head — just simple, fresh fish, its succulent flesh kissed with grill char and a whisper of citrus. Of all the offerings I tasted, this one showed off the kitchen’s skill most clearly.

Del Pietro’s smartly partners with the adjacent Hank’s Cheesecakes for a few of its desserts, though you’d be a fool to leave an Italian institution like this one without trying a cannoli. Crisp, mascarpone-filled and covered in caramel sauce, they’re a reminder that, no matter how thrilling the city’s modern dining scene may be, there is always room for the classics.

Just ask Mary Rose Del Pietro.

In her half-century of working the room she’s seen it all, yet never bent to the pressure of turning her restaurant into anything other than what it was meant to be — an approachable, at times elegant, bastion of St. Louis-style Italian comfort. Even in its new digs, with a hint of Del Pietro Jr.’s contemporary polish, that still shines through — and demonstrates why it will never go out of style.

Del Pietro’s Toasted ravioli ............................................ $8 “Spaghetti alla Angela”............................ $13 “Pollo Piccata” ........................................ $16

SHORT ORDERS

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Megan King-Popp created Urban Fort as a place to play and then added a place to eat. | MONICA MILEUR

[SIDE DISH]

A Play Space with Food Good Enough for Adults Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

U

rban Fort (1854 Russell Boulevard, 314-376-4235) has a rock-climbing wall, play kitchens, a slide, dress-up areas and toys galore — yet owner Megan King-Popp insists she opened it more for adults than children.

“This is a kids’ place, but our real purpose is to give parents a break, so it’s actually for adults,” KingPopp explains. “Our goal is to create a comfy, relaxing atmosphere

for parents, and the only way to do that is to have a place for kids to be fully engaged and safe.”

King-Popp knows a thing or two about needing a break. A teacherturned-nanny and in-home daycare provider, one desperate day with a group of kids provided the inspiration for Urban Fort. She had just finished buckling in four little ones with a plan to take them to Forest Park when it started to pour rain. She drove around aimlessly, trying to find something to do in St. Louis with four children under the age of three — and came up with absolutely nothing.

As soon as she got home, she began doing research and discovered concepts known as “play cafes” springing up in other cities. She was intrigued, and when she found herself on vacation in Seattle not long after that, she got her chance to visit one. She was instantly in love.

“We love our kids, but we need a break,” King-Popp says. “The generation of parents before us was all about activity after activity and a focus on making kids smarter and getting them into every-

thing and starting them in school earlier. That was the sole focus of life, but I think we are starting to reach the point where we now realize that self-care is important and needs to be a priority.”

For King-Popp, self-care doesn’t only involve downtime, but also food and beverages to nourish the spirit. She and business partner Monica Croke made a point of crafting a thoughtful menu of food for adults, as well as great coffee, to give caregivers a dignified dining-with-kids option — something they both see as grossly lacking in the current food climate.

“I get that kids are picky, but we aren’t, and we want to enjoy good food,” says King-Popp. “I just don’t understand it. If you think of restaurants that cater to adults without kids, they know they love good stuff. If you have kids, they dumb it down as if we lose our identity.

We still like craft beer and good coffee.”

To that end, King-Popp’s background in the restaurant industry has been a huge benefit. After working her first job at Old Navy, she left retail for Mr. Goodcents

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and then Chili’s, where she realized how much she loved the pace and dynamic environment of the restaurant industry. She worked in the food business for several years before going into teaching.

The latter career path did not necessarily excite her.

“It took me eight years to do undergrad, and I eventually just settled on education,” King-Popp explains. “Looking back, I think that’s why I never really had a huge passion for it.”

King-Popp left the classroom and was nannying part time while her husband was in law school.

Bored to tears, she was intrigued when a friend gave her a canning kit and a recipe book. She soon realized she had a knack for making her own jams, which she began selling at local farmers’ markets under the name the Spiced Peach. She dreamt of opening a small cafe, akin to the London Tea Room, but with a focus on jams and preserves instead of tea.

Once the idea of Urban Fort came to her, she decided to put jam-making on hold to focus on

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MEGAN KING-POPP Continued from pg 31

creating a play cafe. However, King-Popp has not left the kitchen behind; with Croke, she now runs Urban Fort’s food service. Though not originally part of their vision, the edible offerings took on a life of their own once they decided to offer exceptional coffee — Blueprint, to be precise. After looking into bringing in food from elsewhere, they ultimately decided to make it themselves to ensure freshness and quality.

Now instead of jams, King-Popp is making fancy grilled cheeses, caprese melts, salads and stuffed croissants, with plans to add beer, wine and even dinner service. But parents shouldn’t worry; there will always be Goldfish on the menu — even if King-Popp would personally prefer to wash them down with whiskey.

King-Popp took a break from Urban Fort to share her thoughts on the St. Louis food-and-beverage scene, why her co-workers say she is a lot like salt, and the importance of a stiff drink while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Hot dog!

What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did?

I make jam. Damn good jam, too. I sold it at a few different markets before opening Urban Fort. My brand name was the Spiced Peach. I planned on opening a jam-and-scone shop with the same name before Urban Fort’s vision was established. I think I made the right choice.

What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you?

I require coffee first thing in the morning — otherwise you simply don’t want to be near me. Hugs from my sweet kiddo, Gideon, are also required. He gives the best hugs.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

My superhero power would be Wonderwoman-ish. Simply the power of bad-assery!

What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year?

Being a city girl, I have really enjoyed watching the restaurant scene grow and expand. It seems that everyone is supporting each other and collaborating to make St. Louis city an amazing place to live.

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The recent Grace City Wide Fair is just one awesome example of everyone coming together to create community and involvement.

What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see?

I desperately wish that there was an Indian restaurant or two on South Grand. It shocks me that there isn’t one.

Who is your St. Louis food crush?

Currently, my family and I cannot get enough of Lona’s Lil Eats — so much so that we bought a house just a few blocks away!

Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene?

I think Travis Howard and Tim Wiggins of Retreat Gastropub are making some really incredible food and drinks. They are adding such a fun vibe to the Central West End. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality?

My Urban Fort crew says that I would be “salt — absolutely necessary, but too much will kill you.”

I’m not sure if that’s a compliment, but I thought it was pretty dead-on.

If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing?

I’ve worked in restaurants for fifteen-plus years. I tried to leave and be a teacher, but the fun of meeting new people and the excitement of the pace of restaurants were always calling to me.

Been there, tried that ... would rather not do it again. I love working in the industry.

Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant.

Beets will never be allowed at Urban Fort. I know they’re all the rage, but I have tried them in every capacity, and they simply taste like dirt. Nothing you do to them will ever change my mind.

What is your after-work hangout?

My house. I love being home, in my PJs, snuggling on the couch with my kid and fella, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (with whiskey in hand).

What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure?

Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey.

I’m not sure that’s really a guilty pleasure, but man is it good! Basil Hayden is my current favorite.

And a bowl full of cereal before bed is a family favorite.

What would be your last meal on earth?

Pizza Head, Lona’s or some amazing Indian food. My mood would have to decide that one. n

Food & Wine named the barbecue at Big Baby Q and Smokehouse No. 1 in Missouri. | MABEL SUEN

[FOOD NEWS]

STL BBQ Is Tops in Two States Written by

SARAH FENSKE

T

he best barbecue in Missouri?

We’ve got that here in St. Louis.

The best barbecue in Illinois?

We’ve got that too.

The metro area just won double kudos from Food & Wine, which compiled a list of the best barbecue in every state and twice crowned a St. Louis-area restaurant a winner.

For Missouri, Big Baby Q and Smokehouse (11658 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights; 314-801-8888) reigned supreme. And for Illinois, the No. 1 spot went to Belleville’s beloved BEAST Craft BBQ (20 S Belt W, Belleville, Illinois; 618257-9000).

In other words, whether you drive east or west out of downtown St. Louis, you’ll hit one of the nation’s very best barbecue spots in 30 minutes or less. How many other cities can say that?

(We’ll answer our own question here: None.)

Of BEAST, Food & Wine notes, “How good is Beast Craft BBQ, here’s how good — enough to get people to drive the half hour or more from St. Louis, a town not currently short on barbecue, to say the least. In fact, there are those that will tell you that David Sandusky’s American wagyu-style brisket, not to mention his regular brisket (prime), and his highquality pork, represents some of the best barbecue you can get in St. Louis right now. Period.” Hey, we said it here first (lit-

erally: The headline of our 2015 review asks, “Is St. Louis Best Barbecue Actually in Belleville?”).

Not be outdone, here’s what Food & Wine says about Big Baby Q: “Ben Welch, in tandem with his artist dad, smokes a great St. Louis-style rib, along with some of the better brisket in town. Only in existence since 2016, this is one in a healthy crop of popular new spots that have livened up the regional barbecue scene.

Welch already has his sights set on new projects, recently testing the waters for another restaurant idea with a series of pop-ups — all the more reason to be here now.”

The piece gives plenty of other St. Louis eateries a big shout-out, listing can’t-miss specialties that include, in the words of the authors, snoot at Smoki O’s, “smoked prime rib at the Wood Shack, smoked salami sandwiches at Adam’s Smokehouse, turkey tips at the Gobble House in Creve Coeur, Memphis ribs at Pappy’s, burnt ends and rib tips at Dixon’s Smoke Company, and pretty much anything at Salt + Smoke. And no, nobody’s forgetting about Kansas City, where you should cancel all your other plans, go directly to L.C.’s Bar-B-Q, and order the burnt ends.”

(Doesn’t it sound like the authors themselves kind of forgot about Kansas City? Or at least now consider it an afterthought in light of St. Louis’ bounty?)

Still, as much as we’re basking in the double honors, we can’t help but look ahead to whenever Food & Wine next does this kind of list — because in the coming months, BEAST is opening a second location, this one in Missouri (five minutes from downtown, not 30).

And so next time, Illinois’ best barbecue just might take on Missouri’s best barbecue for the battle of St. Louis. How exciting will that be — for municipal bragging rights and for our bellies? n

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[FIRST LOOK]

Now Open in Webster: Frisco Barroom Written by

LEXIE MILLER

F

risco Barroom (8110 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves; 314-455-1090) is the newest addition to Webster Groves, serving up fresh Americana fare in a unique space.

Owner John Barr worked in the restaurant and bar business as a young man but took a fifteen-year hiatus before opening Frisco.

Frisco is not your typical neighborhood bar: The kitchen bakes its own breads, smokes its own meats and boasts many vegetarian and pescatarian dishes.

“I was a vegetarian for years, so I understand the struggle,” Barr says.

Some of the most popular dishes have been the smoked whitefish dip, an appetizer of smoked whitefish, cream cheese and herbs. Diners have also been drawn to the variety of meat and cheese boards, Barr says. A hit sandwich is the turkey brie chutney, which adds arugula to the aforementioned ingredients and utilizes smoked tur-

[FOOD NEWS]

Instead of Rebrand, Porano Closes Written by

SARAH FENSKE

O

ne week after an attempt at rebranding, Gerard Craft’s fast-casual Porano Pasta (634 Washington Avenue) announced it would close its doors for good on July 31.

The counter-service spot in the MX Building downtown had previously said just the week before that it would become Porano by Pastaria, modifying its menu and format to take a cue from Craft’s wildly successful eatery in Clayton. But in an email to customers on July 23, Craft

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Frisco Barroom’s “Hunter’s Board” features venison sausage, duck rillettes and smoked trout. | LEXIE MILLER key breast.

For vegetarians, unique options include mushroom gravy poutine served over French fries, “Crispy Cauliflower” with buffalo sauce and a vegetarian pasty stuffed with rutabaga, potato, onion and mushrooms.

On the drink side of things, the “Shaken Mint Lemonade” spiked with vodka and the gin-based “Civil Alchemy Aviation” have been big summer hits. The extensive cocktail list aims for originality. Barr touts “The Soo,” made

with bourbon, maple syrup, root beer and lime, as something he hasn’t seen anywhere else.

Frisco is located in a gorgeous old building that Barr says provided inspiration for the restaurant.

There are several different areas, which include the bar room, the dining hall and an upstairs area with casual seating. There is also a beer garden and a rooftop patio.

Since opening in July, Frisco is still expanding and changing a lot, Barr says. They plan to add more to the menu, expand seating from

the current 160, create a happy hour and begin a lunch menu.

(Phew!) The timing on all that is still being determined, Barr says.

“We’re working on making everything the best it can be,” he says. He adds that most of the menu is not set in stone, either; they want their dishes to be delicious, light and healthy, Barr says.

Frisco Barroom’s hours are currently 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight. It’s closed on Mondays. n

said he was instead closing Porano altogether — and reverting to the restaurant’s original menu for its final week of service.

The decision represents dashed hopes for Craft, who had just won a James Beard Award at the time of Porano’s opening. He had big goals for what was on its face a low-key, counter-service eatery. With Porano, he hoped not only to ride the fast-casual wave but to transform it with fresh ingredients and ecofriendly accoutrements.

To that end, Porano combined sleek design with assembly-line preparation, locally sourced food with a busy lunch crowd. You could get a negroni slushy, but most of the people who ate there opted for bowls piled with build-your-own pasta.

To the critics, it was a success. The RFT’s Cheryl Baehr called it “the fast-casual restaurant we’ve been waiting for,” adding, “Porano is a testing ground for Craft’s vision of the future of fast food, which is ironic considering the restau-

rant’s slow food inspiration.”

Still, it lasted just two and a half years, and in Craft’s parting email, he referenced “lost” business from conventiongoers. “We love downtown and hope they can find a way to bring back all of the amazing convention business we lost this year,” he wrote.

Robust Wine Bar, which was located just across the street, also recently closed. But other downtown restaurants seem to be going strong. Pi Pizzeria has found big success with its MX Building location — to the point that owner Chris Sommers has announced plans to open a second restaurant, the Mexicanthemed Gringo, nearby. Kiin Thai, a sister restaurant to the Loop’s popular Fork & Stix, also recently opened on site.

Here’s part of the email Craft sent to customers last week: It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that July 31st will be Porano’s last day of service.

Our ultimate goal was to provide a service and product that was compelling, quick, affordable, and delicious, but despite our best efforts, including a last attempt at revitalization, we recognize that it is time to move on, and focus our energies toward our other 5 amazing restaurants.

I can’t stress enough how grateful we are for your past patronage and support so as a final goodbye, a proper send-off, and a thank you we will be bringing back the original menu beginning Tuesday the 26th until we close. .... Another time, another place, who knows — we never say never.

Craft won the Best Chef: Midwest award from the James Beard Foundation for Niche, which he soon after transformed into Sardella. His other restaurants include Brasserie, Taste Bar and Pastaria. He plans to open Cinder House at the Four Seasons Hotel later this summer. n

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MUSIC AND CULTURE

37

[HOMESPUN]

Open for Business The Open Highway Music Festival returns with an expanded lineup Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

W

hen John Henry and Steve Pohlman cooked up the Open Highway Music Festival seven years ago, the pair intended to bring light to a niche of country music called “red dirt.” Like their forebears Willie and Waylon, red-dirt practitioners mix classic country signifiers with roots-rock verve.

Henry says that the style of music was, at the time, popular around its epicenters of Oklahoma and Texas, but many of those acts weren’t coming through St. Louis.

But while the genre grew in popularity — look to the success of bands like the Turnpike Troubadours for proof — Open Highway found itself readjusting its initial mission over time, broadening the type of acts booked to play the festival, which spans four days at Off Broadway.

“Over seven years we’ve expanded to include all genres, and not that particular one,” Henry says of the festival’s red-dirt roots.

“One of the things we’ve focused on is putting artists that might seem too big for the venue and letting fans see them in an intimate setting. Another focus we’ve had is getting these bands on the way up as they transition into a major act.”

To wit, a few of this year’s headliners are more likely to be booked at 800-seat venues rather than those like Off Broadway, which holds 400.

The marquee acts include alt-country pioneers Old 97’s and Son Volt alongside piano-thumpers J. Roddy Walston and the Business and Missouri natives Ha Ha Tonka, with a bevy of locals (including Bruiser Queen, Karen Choi and Town Cars) playing supporting slots.

Along with an increased variety of acts playing Open Highway, the

J. Roddy Walston and the Business is just one of the acts playing Open Highway this year. | RYAN ANDERSON festival itself has had to weather a changing marketplace for live music, one that increasingly prizes multi-day concert experiences. That has happened nationally with behemoth events such as Coachella and Bonnaroo, and it has affected the local market as well — and not just with LouFest’s continued growth.

“I feel like, in all honesty, when Steve and I started the festival, it was before this festival boom that happened,” says Henry. “I guess we had a lack of awareness that festivals were gonna become a thing where everyone has one.”

Throughout the years, Henry and Pohlman have adapted the initial design of Open Highway to cater to both crowds and festivallevel expectations. In 2016, locals Pokey LaFarge, Jack Grelle and Bug Chaser closed out the weekend with a street party on Lemp Avenue. But when Henry sought to repeat the feat, the stormy August weather didn’t exactly cooperate.

Last year’s Saturday set found local acts Sleepy Kitty and Essential Knots playing to light crowds under drizzly skies, which continued for Chicago garage-rock quintet Twin Peaks and glam-rock outfit Foxygen. Henry and Pohlman called an audible and retreated

back inside Off Broadway for the Sunday night show, which Henry prized for its intimacy.

“When we moved Son Volt and Nikki Lane indoors, that ended up being a great experience in its own way,” Henry says. And the kicker?

“The severe weather we were supposed to have never happened.”

Henry views the setbacks as part of the growing pains of a festival that has continued to redefine itself every few years. “As things get bigger, there’s obviously more risk with these types of things,” Henry says. “Turning it into an outdoor event is something I would like to continue to do, but with the current festival climate, that makes it difficult to do due to rising costs.

There are radius clauses or a band is routing a tour in the fall.”

For 2018’s edition, Henry notes that Son Volt’s return to the Off Broadway stage is the first time the festival has repeated a booking. Jay Farrar’s long-running group, along with the Old 97’s, stands tall among the alt-country movement’s forebears.

St. Louis does not lack for a summertime roots-rock festival — Twangfest is well into doubledigits, and the more local-focused Americana Festival just capped its second year. Henry says that the

riverfronttimes.com

chance to book two long-time fan favorites was just too good to pass up.

“I tend to care less about the genre and more about, is it something that is very high quality and something people will enjoy seeing,” he says. “It just so happened that this year we got a couple of those bands that were in that mold.”

But as the bookers behind Open Highway look down the road, they hope to keep the festival vibrant and focused on memorable experiences for music fans. Henry also hopes that, in its own way, the festival serves as a beacon of culture and creativity in St. Louis.

“This business in general can be stressful, but it’s something I’ve really loved and am trying to get better with it,” Henry says. “It’s important in the city of St. Louis — I’m a firm believer in action and trying to do things that are good. I care about doing something positive where people can come and feel positive about the city.”

The Open Highway Festival runs from Thursday, August 2 through Sunday, August 5 at Off Broadway (3509 Lemp Avenue; 314-7733363). For full listings, visit www. openhighwaymusicfestival.com.

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

RIVERFRONT TIMES

37

[ FA M I LY T I M E ]

South-City Clan Finds Poles Good, Clean Fun Written by

DANIEL HILL

T

he family that pole-dances together, stays together.

At least that’s the line of thinking for married couple Lindsey Teall and Jake Night, who have taught their young daughters, five-year-old Laura and three-year-old Roslyn, how to properly hang and spin on a vertical metal rod, pearl-clutching reactionaries and reciters of classic Chris Rock bits be damned.

In recent weeks the young family has seen a deluge of press for its unorthodox approach to family bonding, with coverage from outlets including Daily Mail, Yahoo Lifestyle, the Sun and NBC. With that attention has come a significant amount of hate mail from critics, who say that young people should not be going anywhere near a pole.

Just try telling that to young Roslyn though.

During a recent interview in the family’s south-city home, the little girl is all smiles at the arrival of a reporter, eager to show off some tricks. She runs to the pole the family has mounted in one of their front rooms, beaming and shouting “watch this!” as her parents look on. Her older sister Laura joins in on the fun as well, and without prompting the two are soon taking turns spinning in circles around the chrome pole.

“It seems like a lot of families aren’t spending time with their children,” Teall, 33, says of the unusual piece of décor. “This allows us to spend time with our kids in a way they’re having fun. And it doesn’t cost anything.”

Teall has been pole-dancing for eleven years. She currently works part time as an exotic dancer on the Eastside. Night, 37, is himself a former exotic dancer and currently a security supervisor for a local company. He and Teall met at a club in DeSoto in 2010.

You might think that the pair’s love of pole-dancing was born in

38

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Daughter Laura, five, is “already doing advanced moves that adults can’t do,” says Lindsey Teall. | COURTESY OF THE FAMILY that club, but that would be miss- talented. They’re already doing pole that is inherently sexual. It’s ing part of the story. Teall is actu- advanced moves that adults can’t actually a physically demanding ally a classically trained dancer do. They’re doing moves that the skill that takes a lot of practice and with a degree from a school in Ger- most advanced pole-dancer that I patience to perfect. Essentially it’s acrobatics, but done vertically. many, where her military parents know in the community is doing.

The similarities do not go un“The Olympic body last year recwere stationed for a period. Night is a former gymnastics instructor ognized pole-dancing as a sport,” noticed by former gymnastics inwho was once hired at one of the Teall continues. “So it will even- structor Night. “[Gymnastics] did run into biggest gymnastics schools the same problems and the in Boston. For them, polesame stigmas we’re running dancing is a natural exteninto now,” he says. “You have sion of those pursuits. little girls that are under “When I first started dothe age of eighteen, some of ing it it was for exercise, and them under twelve, in tight for learning the art and the leotards, doing splits, jumpsport,” Teall explains. “Then ing up and down. And then I just also liked working at they would have the horizonthe club. But we’ve always tal poles where they would go considered it a sport.” up and would do splits, and it “When we first started had that same stigma. Then it there wasn’t a whole lot of hit the Olympics, and nobody places you could go,” Night said anything. And nobody adds. “There weren’t a lot of seems to remember that that studios; there weren’t a lot happened.” of places you could just go to Still, try telling that to the exercise. And the one place unwashed masses of online you could practice was in a commenters. The couple say club.” they’ve seen a massive amount As their interest in poleof hate mail and death threats dancing grew, they found since finding themselves in a like-minded community with adherents across the Roslyn and Laura practice with their mom on the pole the spotlight. Even Sharon Osworld. In countries like installed in their south-city home. | COURTESY OF THE FAMILY bourne, hardly the model of parental conservatism, blastGermany, where Teall had ed them on her daytime show her own dance studio for a while, they say pole-dancing tually be in the Olympics. Might The Talk.

“We’ve had death threats, we’ve doesn’t have the stigma attached be next year, might be ten years had people say they’re going to from now. We don’t know.” to it in the U.S. That recognition highlights come and take our kids or call “In Germany it’s accepted,” she says. “In Russia — if you go online something important to note CPS,” Teall says.

“When I tell people it’s been and you look up ‘pole kids,’ it’ll about pole-dancing: There is nothshow up places in Russia and East- ing, in and of itself, about a hu- thousands upon thousands, that’s ern Europe, and they are insanely man being spinning around on a Continued on pg 39

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

riverfronttimes.com

Duke’s Sports Bar Where the Games Begin

Jake Night displays his prowess on the family’s backyard pole.| COURTESY OF THE FAMILY

POLE-DANCING FAMILY Continued from pg 38

kind of an understatement,” Night adds.

And yet, as the young ones run about the room without a care, laughing and smiling and eagerly hopping on the pole for a spin, it becomes more and more difficult to see what all the fuss is about.

It’s not like either of the girls have any idea what a strip club is, their parents point out. And playgrounds in parks and at schools have had poles built into their features for decades. It’s obviously fun. What’s the big deal?

Teall hopes that, with more awareness, the stigma against pole-dancing can be broken. She is writing and self-publishing a book called From Pointe To Pole, A Dancer’s Journey, detailing her transition from classically trained dancer to stripping and pole-dancing for fun and for money, and then going from that to becoming a competitive pole-dancer and teacher.

She currently offers private poledancing lessons in her living room, and she hopes to one day open her own studio dedicated to the pursuit. As pole dancing has become more accepted, moving from seedy strip clubs to larger stages, she has even performed with beloved local Pink Floyd cover band El Monstero on multiple occasions.

“I think that the stereotype is remaining because people are not speaking out about it,” she says.

“So in order to get it to evolve to where children can do it, we think that we need to speak out.

“You can separate the sexuality and the sensuality from the sport,” she adds. “It’s possible. People just need to get their minds out of the gutter.” n

Duke’s Photos by Big Stu Media

duke’s VOTED ST. LOUIS’ FAVORITE BAR & BEST SPORTS BAR AT THE CORNER OF MENARD & ALLEN IN THE HEART OF HISTORIC SOULARD

Wednesday August 1 9:30PM Urban Chestnut Presents

The Voodoo Players Tribute To Acoustic Garcia Thursday August 2 9PM

#PUTUPYOURDUKES SATURDAY

Flow Tribe

Back Crackin’ Funk from New Orleans Friday August 3

10PM

Jakes Leg

Saturday August 4

9PM

Funky Butt Brass Band’s 10th Anniversary Show with Special Guests and a Special Time Wednesday August 8 9:30PM Urban Chestnut Presents

The Voodoo Players Tribute To Jerry Garcia Thursday August 9

El Dub

8PM

With Special Guests Alligator Wine to Close Out Jerry Week

FIND OUT ALL THAT’S GOING ON @DUKESINSOULARD

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AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

RIVERFRONT TIMES

39

40

OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Kim Richey. | VIA SILVERLEAF BOOKING

KIM RICHEY

followed. Her voice is as crystalline and

8 p.m. Friday, August 3. Blueberry Hill Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Boulevard, University City. $20 to $25. 314-727-2277.

searing as fresh-blown glass; her songs

There but for the grace of artists like

This year’s Edgeland is perfectly execut-

Kim Richey goes Nashville. It wouldn’t

ed and stunningly revealing. No wonder

be Music City were it not for the dream-

edgy rockers like Chuck Prophet and

ers and misfits and madly talented sing-

Robyn Hitchcock signed up to work with

ers and songwriters who might have

her. She’s that good.

once made it there, whatever the fuck

Procrastinators Unite! Richey’s got

“it” is. A transplant from Ohio, Richey

more than twenty years of exemplary

was part of a vanguard of rocking,

songs to sing, so get tickets for this one

rootsy musicians who helped to rein-

early. Capacity is limited, and you don’t

vigorate the Nashville scene in the ’90s

want to miss a single tune.

should be as well known as those of peers like John Hiatt and Shawn Colvin.

–Roy Kasten

and presage the alt-country wave that

THIS JUST IN ADVENT VESPERS: Sun., Dec. 2, 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

AMERICAN SPIRITUAL ENSEMBLE: Fri., Feb. 1, 8 p.m., $19-$42. Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, 4431 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 314-373-8200.

THE APPLESEED CAST: W/ Flow Clinic, Lightrider, Sun., Oct. 21, 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

BLACK VIOLIN: Fri., Oct. 5, 8 p.m., $22.50-$64.50.

Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949.

THE BLACKLIST REGULARS: W/ Shock the Junkie, Thu., Aug. 23, 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

BLUE MOON BLUES: Sat., Aug. 4, 3 p.m., free.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

BRIAN OWENS DUO: Sun., Feb. 17, 4 p.m., free.

Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

CRYSTAL LADY: W/ Tiger Rider, Fri., Dec. 14, 8

40

RIVERFRONT TIMES

p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

DARLING WEST: Sun., Aug. 26, 8 p.m., $10-$12.

The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-935-7003.

DAUGHTRY: Wed., Dec. 5, 7 p.m., $59.50-$69.50.

River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777.

DAVE STONE TRIO: Thu., Aug. 9, 6 p.m., free.

Thu., Sept. 6, 6 p.m., free. Element, 1419 Carroll St., St. Louis, 314-241-1674.

DAVID DEE & THE HOT TRACKS: Fri., Aug. 17, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

DINO MERLIN: Sat., Sept. 29, 9 p.m., $67. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

DRAG DOLL HOUSE: Thu., Aug. 9, 9 p.m., $5. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

EUGENE & COMPANY: Sat., Aug. 11, 9 p.m., $3.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

FAMILY BUSINESS TOUR COMPETITION: Sat., Aug. 18, 9 p.m., $15. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

GENE JACKSON POWER PLAY BAND: Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St.

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

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Louis, 314-773-5565.

GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY CHOIR: Sun., March 10, 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

GUTTERLIFE: W/ Gold Step, Tue., Sept. 4, 7 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

HAIRBALL STL 2018: Sun., Sept. 16, 7 p.m., $45$70. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

HANDS LIKE HOUSES: W/ Emarosa, Devour the Day, Sat., Nov. 17, 6 p.m., $20. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

HEARTLAND MUSIC: Sat., Aug. 18, 3 p.m., free.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

HIGHDIVE: W/ An Unfortunate Trend, The Volunteers, New Day Pops, Mon., Aug. 13, 7 p.m., $10.

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

HOODIE ALLEN: W/ Gianni & Kyle, Sat., Oct. 20, 7 p.m., $29.50. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

HORN, ALPHORN, AND ORGAN: Sun., Jan. 20, 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

HUNTER: Thu., Aug. 30, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

HUSH LITE: Sat., Aug. 11, 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

JAKE CURTIS BLUES: Thu., Aug. 30, 8 p.m., free.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

JASON BOLAND AND THE STRAGGLERS: W/ Mike and the Moonpies, Thu., Nov. 8, 8 p.m., $17$30. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON ACOUSTIC TRIO: Thu., Aug. 2, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON BAND: Thu., Aug. 9, 8 p.m., $5. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

KASBO: Tue., Nov. 20, 8 p.m., $15-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

KATHY GRIFFIN: Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., $35-$95.

Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949.

KEITH ROBINSON ALL STARS: Sat., Aug. 18, 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

KINGDOM BROTHERS: Fri., Aug. 31, 8 p.m., $3.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

THE LABOR DAY COMEDY JAM: W/ DC Young Fly, Karlous Miller, Haha Davis, Sun., Sept. 2, 8 p.m., $50-$65. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

LONNIE HOLLEY: Sat., Dec. 1, 8 p.m., $10-$20.

Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

LUCKY OLD SONS: Fri., Aug. 10, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

MICHAEL IAN BLACK: Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., $25.

The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

MONTANA OF 300: Fri., Sept. 7, 7 p.m., $20.

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

MOON HOOCH: Sun., Sept. 30, 9 p.m., $15-$17.

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

NATE LOWERY: Thu., Aug. 16, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

NICK CANNON’S “WILD ‘N OUT LIVE”: Fri., Nov. 2, 6 p.m., $30-$175. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

NORTH BY OLD NORTH: Fri., Aug. 3, 5 p.m., free.

North 14th Street Mall, 1401 Saint Louis Ave., St. Louis.

O.A.R.: Fri., Nov. 16, 8 p.m., $40.50-$55.50.

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

OKKYUNG LEE DUO: W/ Bill Orcutt, Chris Corsano Duo, Sat., Sept. 22, 8 p.m., $10-$20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

PAUL BONN & THE BLUESMEN: Thu., Aug. 2, 8

p.m., free. Sat., Aug. 4, 9 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PAUL NIEHAUS: Thu., Aug. 9, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PERSEID STRING QUARTET: Sun., Oct. 7, 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

PHOSPHORESCENT: W/ Liz Cooper and The Stampede, Tue., Nov. 27, 8 p.m., $22-$25. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

PICKIN’ MISFITS: Sat., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., free. Stone Spiral, 2500 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314-3357388. Thu., Aug. 30, 9 p.m., $5. Venice Café, 1903 Pestalozzi St., St. Louis, 314-772-5994.

PICTURESQUE: Sat., Sept. 1, 6 p.m., $12-$15.

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

PIG: W/ Saence, Thanatos Eternal, Giant Monsters on the Horizon., Sat., Sept. 15, 8 p.m., $15-$17. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

REIGNWOLF: Fri., Oct. 5, 8 p.m., $17. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: Thu., Aug. 23, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: Fri., Aug. 24, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

SAM MORROW: Tue., Sept. 25, 8 p.m., $10.

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

SAMMY BRUE: W/ Pearl Charles, Cara Louise Band, Tue., Aug. 14, 8 p.m., $10-$13. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

SAN HOLO: W/ Chet Porter, Taska Black, BeauDamian, Fri., Dec. 7, 8 p.m., $22-$28. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SLIDERS: Thu., Aug. 16, 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

SO THIS IS SUFFERING: Sat., Sept. 1, 7 p.m., $10$13. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

SONGBIRD CAFE: Wed., Aug. 22, 7 p.m., $15-$20.

The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778.

SUPER WHATEVR: W/ Beach Goons, Sat., Sept. 8, 7 p.m., $10-$12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

SY SMITH: Wed., Aug. 29, 8 p.m., $20. .Zack, 3224 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

TOM HALL: Thu., Aug. 23, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

TONY LUCCA: Wed., Nov. 7, 8 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

A TRIBUTE TO KEM AND CHRISETTE MICHELE: Sat., Aug. 25, 7 p.m., $20. Voce, 212 S. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, 314-435-3956.

VINYL THEATRE: Thu., Sept. 20, 8 p.m., $12-$15.

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

YOUNG ARTISTS OF THE BACH SOCIETY OF SAINT LOUIS: Sun., April 28, 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366.

THIS WEEK

THE 2ND ANNUAL FREEDOM PROJECT: W/ Freddy D’Angelo, Fly Method, Shannon Meadow, Renna, Don’t Care, Phonzz, Wed., Aug. 8, 8 p.m., $10. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

ALKALINE TRIO: W/ togetherPangea, Mon., Aug. 6, 7 p.m., $24-$29. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

APARNA NANCHERLA: Sat., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $30.

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

BENEFIT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ST. LOUIS: W/ Bobby Stevens, Dan Johanning, Andy Binder, Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

BLUE DIXIE: Sat., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $19.88-$25.

[CRITIC’S PICK]

STL’s Hottest DJ Dance Party!

THURS - FRIDAY - SATURDAY Pusha T. | FABIEN MONTIQUE

PUSHA T

sclerosis. The beef wasn’t squashed un-

8 p.m. Friday, August 3. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard. $34.50 to $37.50.

314-726-6161.

til Kanye West and CEO of Rap-A-Lot Re-

When Pusha T dropped “The Story of Adi-

of their respective mentors. If anything,

don” in late May, the aftershocks were

though, the high-profile feud worked in

sizable enough to be felt throughout the

everyone’s favor: Pusha T’s latest album,

rap world. A diss track directed at Drake,

Daytona, received widespread acclaim

one of the biggest stars of modern hip-

from critics, while Drake’s Scorpion — on

hop, the song was largely seen as a dra-

which he confirms the rumors about hav-

matic escalation of the long-running feud

ing fathered a son — went platinum the

between the two. In it, King Push leveled

day it was released.

claims that Drake had fathered an illegit-

Very Good Indeed: Fellow G.O.O.D. Mu-

imate child with a porn star, took shots

sic rapper Valee, based out of Chicago,

at Drake’s parents and even made fun of

will open the show.

his longtime producer for having multiple

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

BLUE MOON BLUES: Sat., Aug. 4, 3 p.m., free.

Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

BOMBA ESTEREO: Mon., Aug. 6, 8 p.m., $25-$30.

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

THE BONBON PLOT: W/ The Main Street Remnants, Sat., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $10. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-935-7003.

CHARLIE PUTH: W/ Hailee Steinfeld, Mon., Aug. 6, 6 p.m., TBA. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

CJ KNOCKS OUT CANCER: A BENEFIT SHOWCASE: W/ Opposites Attack, Trio of Parks, Ramona Deflowered, Fri., Aug. 3, 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

CKY: W/ Slaves, Royal Thunder, Awaken I Am, Sun., Aug. 5, 6 p.m., $22-$95. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

DAVID BROMBERG: Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $30.

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

DEAFHEAVEN: W/ Drab Majesty, Uniform, Fri.,

cords J. Prince stepped in, at which point each rapper backed off on the advice

–Daniel Hill

Aug. 3, 9 p.m., $18-$20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

DIG THE WELL SHOWCASE: W/ New Heart, Lowered A.D., Decline, Devil’s Den, Contrast, Forced Impact, Transgression, Pryss, Terminal nation, Death Card, Wits End, True Self, Better Days, Polterguts, Give Up, Time & Pressure, Sat., Aug. 4, 2 p.m., $15-$20. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

ERIC PREWITT BAND: Fri., Aug. 3, 7 p.m., free.

Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH: W/ Breaking Benjamin, Nothing More, Bad Wolves, Tue., Aug. 7, 7 p.m., $29.50-$99.50. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

GENE JACKSON POWER PLAY BAND: Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

GREYHOUNDS: W/ Al Holliday and The East Side Rhythm Band, Mathias & The Pirates, Sat., Aug. 4, 6 p.m., $12-$15. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

HA HA TONKA: W/ Bruiser Queen, Town Cars,

Continued on pg 42

Duke’s Photos by Big Stu Media

Always Fun and Games on the Patio

AT THE CORNER OF MENARD & ALLEN IN THE HEART OF HISTORIC SOULARD FIND OUT ALL THAT’S GOING ON @DUKESINSOULARD

riverfronttimes.com

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

RIVERFRONT TIMES

41

LISTINGS

Continued from pg 41 Sat., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

IMAGINE: A CITY SOIREE: Fri., Aug. 3, 7 p.m., $50.

Moulin at Vin de Set, 2017 Chouteau Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-4949.

J. RODDY WALSTON & THE BUSINESS: W/ *repeat repeat, The Wilderness, Sun., Aug. 5, 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

JAMEY JOHNSON: W/ Sunny Sweeney & Ward Davis, Thu., Aug. 2, 7 p.m., $37-$40. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

JASON GARMS: Thu., Aug. 2, 7 p.m., free. Element, 1419 Carroll St., St. Louis, 314-241-1674.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON ACOUSTIC TRIO: Thu., Aug. 2, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

JOE: Sun., Aug. 5, 7 p.m., $30-$50. Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd, North St. Louis County, 314-869-9090.

JON SPENCER: Tue., Aug. 7, 8 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

JOSH ROYAL & FRIENDS: Sat., Aug. 4, 7 p.m., $10$20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

KIM RICHEY: Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $20-$25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

LAZER LLOYD: Sat., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $15-$20.

Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

LIGHTRIDER: W/ Pono AM, Flow Clinic, Daytime Television, Fri., Aug. 3, 7 p.m., $5-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

LOGIC: Fri., Aug. 3, 6 p.m., $25-$69.50. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA: W/ (Sandy) Alex G, Kevin Devine, Tue., Aug. 7, 8 p.m., $22.49-$35.

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

MARK REYNOLDS MEMORIAL SHOW: W/ Free Dirt, Thank You Jesus, Saw Is Family, Sat., Aug. 4, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois

[WEEKEND]

BEST BETS

Five sure-fire shows to close out the week

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3 T-rextasy w/ Blacker Face, Amalghemy, Camp Counselor 8 p.m. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Avenue. $8 to $10. 314-772-2100.

T-rextasy makes twee pop drenched in wet pop rocks — it’s a sickly sweet sound that bubbles up and covers the leather-jacketed masses with glee.

Bright vibes shine through the songs, but the band’s messaging, dedication to intersectionality, and ability to take political action through music make it an absolute force. Raised in the center of the NYC music scene — its debut was at the renowned, now-shuttered Silent Barn — T-Rextasy offers a show with dancing, audience participation and performance art crammed into a succinct set of rock & roll songs.

Chicago’s Blacker Face puts an exclamation mark on the show with activist Afropunk that comes armed with razor-sharp riffs and scattershot drumming.

42

RIVERFRONT TIMES

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

riverfronttimes.com

Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

NORTH BY OLD NORTH: Fri., Aug. 3, 5 p.m., free.

North 14th Street Mall, 1401 Saint Louis Ave., St. Louis.

ODDS LANE: Sat., Aug. 4, 2 p.m., free. Molly’s in Soulard, 816 Geyer Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-6200.

OLD 97’S: Thu., Aug. 2, 8 p.m., $30-$40. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

PAUL BONN & THE BLUESMEN: Thu., Aug. 2, 8 p.m., free. Sat., Aug. 4, 9 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PUSHA T: W/ Sheck Wes, Valee, Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $34.50-$37.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

RAYLAND BAXTER: Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $15.

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

SAM SMITH: Tue., Aug. 7, 8 p.m. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000.

SLEEPING WITH SIRENS: W/ The Rocket Summer, Kulick, Tue., Aug. 7, 7 p.m., $22-$25. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

SON VOLT: W/ The Dust Covers, Karen Choi, Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $35-$40. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

SONIC MISCHIEF: Sat., Aug. 4, 9 p.m., free.

Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.

SUSTO: Wed., Aug. 8, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

T-REXTASY: W/ Blackerface, Amalghemy, Camp Counselor, Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $8-$10. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

THE TROPHY MULES: Sat., Aug. 4, 7 p.m., free.

Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

VOODOO GRATEFUL DEAD: Fri., Aug. 3, 6 p.m., free. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

WHISKEY & THUNDER: W/ Kill the Creature, Sat., Aug. 4, 9:30 p.m., free. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis.

YELAWOLF: W/ Waylon & Willie, Wed., Aug. 8, 8 p.m., $25. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

Deafheaven w/ Drab Majesty, Uniform 9 p.m. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $18 to $20. 314-833-3929.

In a perfect world, Deafheaven would get its due respect for building a unique take on black metal. Few bands are as diverse and divisive as this Bay Area outfit, which moves from temporal soundscapes to triumphant shredding, offering an enormous range with entry points for discerning metalheads and indie-chic diehards alike. That kind of crossover could seem insincere for those obsessed with genre purity and all the rules that come with it, but fans have long ago come to terms with the band’s determination to do whatever it damn well pleases. In the case of this show, that includes bringing the prog-heads in Uniform and the dreary post-punkers in Drab Majesty along for the ride.

Lightrider w/ Pono AM, Flow Clinic, Daytime Television 7 p.m. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street. $5 to $10.

314-535-0353.

While Lightrider is quick to set the vibe with a lush collision of post-rock and indie sounds, its songs are slowmoving masses that cover some serious ground. With gradual climbs and a patient pace, the band builds up a

[CRITIC’S PICK]

DJ DANCE PARTY FRIDAY NIGHT Bomba Estereo. | VIA M3 MUSIC

BOMBA ESTEREO

dance-friendly beats and snaky guitar

8 p.m. Monday, August 6. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard. $25. 314-726-6161.

lines that provide a bouncy backing for

Romantics will tell you that the interna-

by the title of the group’s latest release,

tional language is love, but anyone who

Live in Dublin, Bomba Estereo’s sound

knows the joy of feeling a bass drum

translates all around the world.

deep in their chest can tell you that a

It’s Them: You may not be fluent,

good groove is more likely to bring cul-

but you probably remember enough

tures together. At least that’s a factor

high school Spanish to translate the

in Bomba Estereo’s success: The Co-

group’s biggest hit to date, “Soy Yo”

lombian group mixes elements of its

(“It’s Me”).

singer/rapper Li Saumet. As suggested

–Christian Schaeffer

native cumbia with a heavy helping of

sonorous wave that eventually crashes — and it all goes down before wearing out any kind of welcome. This show marks the release of Lightrider’s new EP alongside like-minded bands in St. Louis’ own Pono AM and Daytime Television. Of special note is Flow Clinic, an ambient outfit that features members of the recently revived Not Waving But Drowning.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 Dig the Well: Midwest Hardcore Showcase 2 p.m. Fubar, 3108 Locust Street. $15 to $20. 314-289-9050.

The group of promoters behind STL HC — Saint Louis Hardcore — work as a pillar underneath the city, propping up heavy-hitting bands from near and far with a diverse mix of local support.

While this is called a “showcase,” make no mistake: Dig the Well is every bit a festival, with acts that range from the activism-infused heavy hardcore of Louisville’s Transgression to

LIVE MUSIC SATURDAY AFTERNOON SATURDAY NIGHT & SUNDAY-FUNDAY

the straight-edge punk of Milwaukee’s Forced Impact. Sure, it’s an endurance test for those who go from 2 p.m. to closing time, but a solid show will be on offer at all hours of the day. Just bring earplugs.

STL Zinefest ’18 6 p.m. RKDE, 2847 Cherokee Street. Free. 314-669-9240.

With small-press expos and local producers on the rise in St. Louis, offkilter alternatives to the mainstream were bound to pop up. A joint production by Mr. Ben, Chad Eivins and a collection of local artists, STL Zinefest offers up vendors whose works are subversive and experimental. 18andCounting leads the musical lineup, which features Cincinnati native Robert Inhuman of Realicide, who will be taking on a DJ role rather than his typical frontman duties. “Zine” may be in the name, but expect comics, paintings, experimental prints and a whole slew of other eclectic goods as well.

–Joseph Hess

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SAVAGE LOVE DIFFERENCES

BY DAN SAVAGE

past my intense feelings of aversion to the weirdness. How can I not let our differences completely destroy the relationship?

Hopelessly Odd Man Out

Hey, Dan: I’m gay and have been dating a guy for ten months. He’s great overall, and I would say for the most part we both want it to work out. But I am having a problem with his friends and other lifestyle choices. All of his friends are straight, and almost all of them are women.

All of my friends have always been gay men, like me, so I find this strange. I don’t have any problem with women, but I don’t hang out with any women, and neither do most of my friends. He makes dinner plans for us with his straight friends almost every week, and I grin and bear it. They’re always old co-workers, so the whole conversation is them talking about old times or straighty talk about their children. It’s incredibly boring.

He’s met my friends, and he likes some of them but dislikes others.

It’s obvious that he is not comfortable relating to gay men, generally speaking. He does not seem knowledgeable about gay history or culture. For example, he strongly dislikes drag queens and never goes to gay bars.

There is one woman in particular he makes dinner for every Friday night. It’s a standing date that he’s only occasionally been flexible about changing to accommodate plans for the two of us. Now he’s planning a week-long vacation with her. When he first mentioned this trip, he asked if I would want to spend a week camping. I said no, because I don’t like camping.

He immediately went forward with planning it with her. I’m pretty sure the two of them had already hatched this plan, and I don’t think he ever really wanted me to go.

I think it’s WEIRD to want to go camping for an entire week with some old lady. He does other weird things, too, like belonging to a strange new-age church, which is definitely at odds with my strongly held anti-religious views. He has asked me to attend; I went once, and it made me EXTREMELY uncomfortable. The fact that I didn’t like it just turned into a seemingly unsolvable problem between us.

He says I’m not being “supportive.”

I need some advice on how to get

Differences don’t have to destroy a relationship. Differences can actually enhance and help sustain a relationship. But for differences to have that effect, HOMO, both partners have to appreciate each other for their differences. You don’t sound appreciative — you sound contemptuous. And that’s a problem.

According to Dr. John Gottman of the Gottman Institute (a research institution dedicated to studying and strengthening marriages and other interpersonal relationships) — who says he can accurately predict divorce in 90 percent of cases — contempt is the leading predictor of divorce. “When contempt begins to overwhelm your relationship, you tend to forget entirely your partner’s positive qualities,” he writes in Why Marriages Succeed or Fail. Contempt, Gottman argues, destroys whatever bonds hold a couple together.

You’ve been together only ten months, HOMO, and you’re not married, but it sounds like contempt has already overwhelmed your relationship. It’s not just that you dislike his friends, you’re contemptuous of them; it’s not just that you don’t share his spiritual beliefs, you’re contemptuous of them; it’s not just that his gayness is expressed in a different-than-yoursbut-still-perfectly-valid way, you’re contemptuous of him as a gay man.

Because he doesn’t watch Drag Race or hang out in gay bars. Because he’s got a lot of female friends.

Because he’s happy to sit and talk with his friends about their kids.

(There’s nothing “straighty” about kid conversations. Gay parents take part in those conversations, too. And while we’re in this parenthesis: I can’t understand why anyone would waste their time actively disliking drag queens. But gay men are only required to like dick, not drag.)

This relationship might work if you were capable of appreciating the areas where you two overlap — your shared interests (including your shared interest in each other) — and content to let him go off and enjoy his friends, his new-age church and his standing

Friday night dinner date. A growing body of research shows that divergent interests + some time away from each other + mutual respect = long-term relationship success. You’re missing the “mutual respect” part — and where this formula is concerned, HOMO, two out of three ain’t enough.

Here’s how it might look if you could appreciate your differences: You’d do the things you enjoy doing together — like, say, each other — but on Friday nights, he makes dinner for his bestie and you hit the gay bars with your gay friends and catch a drag show. You would go on vacations together, but once in a while he’d go on vacation with one of his “straighty” friends, and once in a while you’d go on vacation with your gay friends. On Sundays, he’d go to woo-woo church and you’d sleep in or binge-watch Pose. You’d be happy to let him be him, and he’d be happy to let you be you—and together the two of you would add up to an interesting, harmonious, compelling “we.”

But I honestly don’t think you have it in you.

P.S. I have lots of straight friends, and I’m a parent, and sometimes I talk with other parents about our children, and I rarely go to gay bars, and I haven’t gotten around to watching Pose yet, or the most recent season of Drag Race, for that matter. It’s devastating to learn, after all these years and all those dicks, that I’m terrible at being gay.

P.P.S. If a straight person told you, “I don’t have any problem with gay men, but I don’t hang out with any gay men, and neither do most of my friends,” you’d think they had a problem with gay men, right?

Hey, Dan: I’ve been in an on-again, off-again relationship for the past four years. My girlfriend has an assortment of mental-health issues — anxiety, depersonalization episodes, depression, paranoia, among others — that make it very stressful and tiring to be with her.

Despite my best attempts at getting her to seek help, she refuses to take the plunge. Whether it’s a result of her illness or not, she refuses to believe that I actually want to be with her. I do care deeply about her, and the good days are wonderful. But nearly every time we go on a date or have sex, it ends in tears, and I have to endlessly reassure her that

riverfronttimes.com

45

Divergent interests + some time away from each other + mutual respect = longterm relationship success.

I do really want to be with her. I’m exhausted by having to defend my feelings for her multiple times per week and I don’t know what to do.

He’s Exhausted And Lost There’s only one thing you can do, HEAL: Put this relationship on hold — take it back to off-again status — and make getting back together contingent upon her seeking help for her mental-health issues. You’ve made it clear, again and again, that you want to be with her. By finally seeking help — by actually taking the plunge — she can make it clear that she wants to be with you.

Hey, Dan: I have a very sexy German boyfriend, and he is not circumcised. His otherwise beautiful dick is a problem. It smells — sometimes a little, sometimes it really stinks. After he showers, the smell is still there. He says he uses only water. Is there a better way to wash an uncircumcised penis? Can he use some kind of soap?

Girl Asks Gay4 Grooming Intervention Near Genitals Yes, GAGGING, there is a better way: He needs to wash that thing with motherfucking SOAP. If the soap he’s got is irritating the head of his penis or the inside of his foreskin, he needs to try other soaps until he finds one that cleans his dick without causing irritation. And you should make allowing that otherwise beautiful German dick anywhere near you contingent upon him learning how to clean it properly. There’s no excuse for stank-ass dick.

Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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Happy Hour Specials HAPPY HUMMING

FOUR STRINGS HITS RIGHT NOTE

SPONSORED CONTENT

grand opening

AUGUST 4”TH! 1730 South 8th Street | Soulard

“The Other Office” Group HAPPY HOUR Program @ Big Daddy’s on the Landing GROUP HAPPY HOUR SIGN YOUR WHOLE OFFICE OR GROUP UP TODAY & GET: • One hour free happy hour buffet -

SIGN YOURYouWHOLE can even pickOFFICE the food! OR GROUP• Discounted UP TODAY & GET: $3 you-call-it beers & cocktails & $5 premium & specialty drinks.

• Large or small groups welcome into program -

One Hour Free Happy Hour Buffet from 20 to 400 people.

Discounted Beers & Cocktails • Book once a month, Monday-Friday. free - takes two minutes to sign up.

Book Once aHassle Month, Monday-Friday • Book online today @ lacledes-landing.bigdaddystl.com From•20 to 400 People Entertainment requests (DJ, karaoke, trivia, live music)

Happy hour anywhere is a welcome relief for 9-to-5 workers, but at FOUR STRINGS, it can really make your heart sing.

That’s because exceptional live music is the perfect partner for postwork booze. Four Strings owners Jason Fossella and Joe Zydiak are making music a cornerstone in Soulard’s newest bar, giving customers an extra way to drown their sorrows after the daily grind. Though the bar has officially been open for only a few weeks, Four Strings already has welcomed harmonious duo Roll Tides, jazz guitarist Aaron Mansfield-Stratman and modern jazz players Brian Horneyer Trio, with an extensive lineup of even more local performers on the way. Find live music at Four Strings every Friday and Saturday and — eventually — on weeknights.

And don’t worry about missing out on important happy-hour dishing with your friends. Fossella and Zydiak are adamant

about welcoming low-volume, acoustic musicians that enhance conversation instead of overpowering it. With violin sculptures on the walls and “The Golden Girls” on the TV, Four Strings has the perfect chill atmosphere for catching up with pals or enjoying a casual date.

The liquid relief won’t hurt your pocketbook, either. Four Strings says it has the cheapest happy hour in Soulard, with $2 domestics and $2 wells, with prices good every weekday until 7 p.m.

Four Strings also is ramping up its food menu, with a similarly inexpensive Sunday brunch making mouths water, thanks to chef Nick Ebeling’s biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs and tater tots.

Four Strings has been open since July but will celebrate its grand opening during an event 6-11 p.m. Saturday, August 4. Drink and food specials and live music will be on tap.

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AUGUST 1 - 7, 2018

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