Riverfront Times, June 7, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating

Editor in Chief Rosalind Early

EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Jessica Rogen

Digital Content Editor Jaime Lees

Editor at Large Daniel Hill

Staff Writers Ryan Krull, Monica Obradovic Dining Critic Cheryl Baehr Theater Critic Tina Farmer Music Critic Steve Leftridge

Contributors Max Bouvatte, Thomas K. Chimchards, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Reuben Hemmer, Andy Paulissen, Tony Rehagen, Mabel Suen, Graham Toker, Theo Welling Columnists Chris Andoe, Dan Savage

Photography Fellow Braden McMakin

Editorial Interns Scout Hudson, Nina Giraldo

ART & PRODUCTION

Art Director Evan Sult

Creative Director Haimanti Germain

Graphic Designer Aspen Smit

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING

Associate Publisher Colin Bell Account Manager Jennifer Samuel

Directors of Business Development Tony Burton, Rachel Hoppman

Marketing Director Kristen Moser

Event and Promotions Manager John Heinrich

BUSINESS

Regional Operations Director Emily Fear

CIRCULATION

Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

EUCLID MEDIA GROUP

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman

Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner

Executive Editor Sarah Fenske

VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein

Audience Development Manager Jenna Jones

VP of Marketing Cassandra Yardeni www.euclidmediagroup.com

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FRONT BURNER

MONDAY, MAY 29 It’s glorious weather — one of those perfect St. Louis summer days that somehow lines up beautifully with one of our rarely allocated days off For those who can’t just enjoy the blissful accident of timing and need to look on the dark side, well, remember all the people who died to give us this holiday. Also, may we offer your daily dose of Missouri? Thanks to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, libraries now have to have policies defining what’s “age-appropriate,” the Missouri Independent reports. The Missouri Library Association recommends that parents who want to shelter their kids keep those poor unfortunate souls on the parental library card. So much for timely access to Flowers in the Attic, kids! The Independent also notes that Ashcroft’s rules have changed: Those allowed to challenge library materials are no longer “any person” but rather “any parent or guardian” of a child living in the district. Even Ashcroft, apparently, wasn’t ready for a flood of complaints from out-of-state cranks. (See below for more on the libraries.)

Previously On LAST WEEK IN ST. LOUIS

TUESDAY, MAY 30 Gabriel Gore is sworn in as St. Louis Circuit Attorney. The former Dowd Bennett partner has his work cut out for him — even on this day of transition, there’s a fatal shooting at the Academy neighborhood’s St. Louis Kitchen. Beloved restaurant owner Faming Pan is killed in a robbery gone wrong, KMOV reports. RIP. Gore will, however, have some help to get things on track: Less than three months after retiring from the Circuit Attorney’s Office during its Gardner-led nadir, Chief Trial Assistant Marvin Teer is coming back.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 BJC is merging with Kansas City-based St. Luke’s — a step that BJC CEO Richard Liekweg says will leave the health care company

with an “even stronger financial foundation.” Because who among us hasn’t bemoaned the fact that BJC is just too small and too weak?

THURSDAY, JUNE 1 Hot 104.1 St. Louis says “bye!” to morning show host Brittish Williams after she pleaded guilty to fraud. A former cast member of Basketball Wives LA, Williams now faces up to 30 years in prison for fraud, which apparently included helping herself to those ohso-tempting COVID-19 relief funds. Man, are we feeling better about being too lazy to set up a shell company to go after those! Also, the nonprofit Missouri Family Health Council is giving two free doses of the morning-after pill to anyone who wants them, which sounds like something

FOUR QUESTIONS for Missouri Library Association President-Elect Kimberly Moeller

people who hate abortion could totally get behind — but of course totally won’t.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2 A Trump appointee declares Tennessee’s drag ban unconstitutional. More good news closer to home: Gabriel Gore — or, as we now like to call him, St. Gabe — hires a bunch of seasoned hands, including Mary Pat Carl, Steve Capizzi and Terry O’Toole

SATURDAY, JUNE 3 At least 288 people were killed and 700 injured in a horrific three-way rail crash in India. Back home, the Post-Dispatch reports that a St. Louis County woman is suing the Ambassador in north St. Louis County after being thrown from the stage during an NBA YoungBoy concert. Weirdly, the lawsuit never explains how she got on stage in the first place. Surely no shenanigans were involved.

SUNDAY, JUNE 4 It’s maybe a little bit muggy, but otherwise a beautiful day in St. Louis. And nothing happened. Nothing! Don’t you dare provide any evidence to the contrary.

What’s your opinion on Jay Ashcroft’s administrative rule?

Most of the requirements that are being brought up in this rule are things that libraries are already doing. Libraries have collection development policies, they have policies to challenge materials if someone disagrees with content that’s in a certain area.

It feels silly to have to say this, but libraries are not providing children with explicit materials. Beyond it being already illegal, which it should be, it’s completely against professional standards of ethics.

Why do you think Ashcroft and Republican politicians across the U.S. have so openly targeted libraries?

It’s hard to say what the exact intent of these rules might be. The vast majority of materials that are being challenged and what we’re seeing already removed from shelves are pertaining to race and LGBTQ identity. They are almost exclusively by underrepresented authors and about underrepresented populations.

Whether or not that was the intention, it’s the outcome.

Have you found people’s attitudes toward libraries have changed?

Absolutely. It’s very common [now] for someone to come in and start berating or harassing library staff as they’re doing their jobs.

A rule from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft that requires libraries post policies to address how the public can challenge “non-ageappropriate materials” took effect last Tuesday. Among many requirements, the rule demands libraries write and publish policies that allow any parent or guardian to determine what material their child can access and allow them to challenge the age-appropriateness of library material. Libraries found buying “child pornography” and materials that are “pornographic for minors” or “obscene” as defined by state law could risk losing state funding. Some libraries are planning to revoke children’s library cards to comply with the new rule, according to Kimberly Moeller, president-elect of the Missouri Library Association.

The RFT spoke with Moeller to discuss what Ashcroft’s administrative rule means for Missouri public libraries and readers. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

People will come in and have this misconception that there is explicit content, that libraries have an agenda to provide materials to kids that aren’t appropriate. Of course, that’s not true. Children’s librarians get into the profession because they love working with youth and inspiring a love of learning and reading.

What hope do you have for the future?

There was a really positive feel from the number of comments that came in when the secretary of state first proposed this rule. I wish those comments had been read and taken into consideration. Over 18,000 people in Missouri made their opinion known and submitted comments, and the vast majority were against this rule and in support of libraries.

Most Missourians do love their libraries and do find value in this community resource. For me, the hope is that there are many people willing to stand up and say libraries matter.

—Monica Obradovic

Kimberly Moeller will help libraries navigate a new rule in Missouri. | COURTESY PHOTO

Trash Watch

Location: Kiener Plaza

Date: Sunday, May 28, about 6:30 p.m.

The litter here includes: at least four City Wide beers, a 4 Hands pineapple hard seltzer, three Liquid Death carbonated waters, a crushed box of Diet Mountain Dew, a Hooters to-go cup, a couple Monaco cocktails in a can, a 4 Hands raspberry pink lemonade hard seltzer, a cup from Sonic

It might surprise you that: all those beverages were consumed by one person, in that order

Sonic and Hooters both in one night: seems like a bit much to us, too This person is now: finally able to get some sleep, as the Diet Mountain Dew has just worn off

15 SECONDS OF FAME

SELF-PROCLAIMED “MOST HATED MAN IN ST. LOUIS” OF THE WEEK: Tod Robberson

In truth, most of you probably have no idea who Tod Robberson is. Or was. Dude was from Dallas and spent just a few short years here before hightailing it off to Connecticut. But during the years he lived here, and then a few that he didn’t, Robberson edited the editorial page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which meant no small amount of harrumphing about things he knew absolutely nothing about (St. Louis, local politics, the accidental death of a county employee who had been close friends with the mayor, national politics, Democratic politics) and, every now and then, some really over-the-top bloviating about the one thing he sort of knew about (Very Important Journalism™, as practiced by white males in the glory days before the turn of the last century).

Despite his total irrelevance to the local discourse, this man of smudgy letters wrote a self-aggrandizing farewell column when he finally prepared to retire from the daily — again, two years after moving to Connecticut — in which he declared himself the “Most Hated Man in St. Louis.” How did he earn the title, this man no one much read? Well, the late shock jock Bob Romanik once blasted him on air (join the club) and, oh yes, former Aldermanic President Lewis Reed once stormed out of an interview. Magnanimous man that Robberson was, he nevertheless endorsed Reed for mayor and took every chance he got to snipe at Reed’s political opponents until Reed was sent to the Big House. But we digress.

In his farewell column, Robberson somehow managed to boast that he was shot by an American mercenary in Kabul, “kidnapped in Lebanon, captured by the military in El Salvador, fired upon in Iraq and accused by an Islamist cleric in Falluja of being a CIA spy after I spoke to him in Arabic.” After all that, surely Lewis Reed storming out of an interview was small potatoes, but then again, isn’t everything about St. Louis small to a talent so big, a journalism so grand, as Tod Robberson’s?

SOMETIMES IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Proud Boy Charged with Rape

The victim says she was too intoxicated to give consent

Written by RYAN KRULL

ASt. Louis man who has been a very public member of the Proud Boys appeared in court last week for a bond hearing as he faces rape charges in St. Louis city.

Lucas Rohlfing, 28, was previously vocal in his support of the Proud Boys, a far-right group whose leader was last month found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Rohlfing described the Proud Boys to the RFT in 2018 as “a pro-West organization ... We love America. We love Trump

Peeping Tom Plagues Moorlands Neighborhood

The peeper has been spotted more than a dozen times but has eluded arrest

Written by RYAN KRULL

For over a year and a half, the Moorlands neighborhood in Clayton has been dealing with a Peeping Tom who, despite being spotted at least a dozen times, has thus far eluded arrest.

Corporal Jenny Schwartz with the Clayton Police Department says that police first received a

mostly. When it comes to things like masculinity, just being men, we promote family values.” That same year, he was listed in the group’s constitution and bylaws as one of the eight members of its Elders Chapter.

Now Rohlfing and another assailant, Benton Park resident Nicholas McCormack, 34, are facing charges of rape or attempted rape and sodomy or attempted sodomy stemming from an incident that occurred in the Benton Park neighborhood last September.

call about the prowler in August 2021. Since then, the department has gotten 12 more calls, with all the incidents occurring in the Moorlands neighborhood.

The Peeping Tom tends to strike densely populated blocks with apartments, condos and multifamily units, Schwartz says. The most recent sighting of him was on May 10.

Victims and witnesses have been consistent in their descriptions of the man, describing him as a white male, 25- to 30-yearsold, roughly 5-feet-8-inches to 6-feet tall. He’s been described as being 160 to 180 pounds with an athletic build.

Schwartz says that whoever this Peeping Tom is, he “appears to be familiar with the area,” seeming to be aware of where there are security cameras and doing what he can to avoid them.

On many occasions, he’s been seen looking through windows of people when they’re home. His victims have all been women.

The prowler is also fairly agile and athletic, having been spotted

A police probable cause statement says that on September 26, the alleged victim contacted police and told them that on the day prior she had “consumed a large quantity of alcohol and narcotics rendering her incapable of consent” and that Rohlfing and McCormack “engaged her in sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse.”

The probable cause statement says that the alleged victim completed a sexual assault kit, and police took photographs of her in-

juries. She also identified Rohlfing and McCormack in a lineup.

McCormack was charged on April 14, followed by Rohlfing four days later. Both men were taken into custody and then released on bond.

At Rohlfing’s hearing last week, Judge Lynne Perkins allowed him to remain out on bond. Rohlfing’s attorney, Mark Hammer, appeared via a video call and said it was his understanding that the alleged victim in the case is out of state and not cooperating with prosecutors.

The case will be taken before a grand jury in early July and is set for a preliminary hearing July 11. Hammer said that he would be filing a motion to dismiss if the Circuit Attorney’s Office is not ready to proceed at that time.

After the hearing, Rohlfing referred questions about his case to Hammer, who did not return a call from the RFT

McCormack is also facing additional drug trafficking charges in a separate case. In February 2022 police allegedly found more than 11 grams of cocaine in five individually wrapped bags as well as a digital scale on his person. n

standing on residents’ window sills and having climbed up on their balconies.

“We’re putting all our resources toward finding this individual and stopping him,” says Schwartz, who is encouraging Moorlands

residents to call the police immediately if they spot the prowler. “The last thing we want is for things to escalate.”

To see the video, visit riverfronttimes.com and search Moorlands neighborhood.

Lucas Rohlfing, who has been a member of the Proud Boys, is accused of rape. | VIA SCREENGRAB

Rare video footage of the Moorlands neighborhood Peeping Tom in action. | VIA SCREENGRAB

Family Raises Funds to Escape Missouri’s Anti-Trans Laws

Jennifer Harris Dault raised more than $4,000 to help her family move to New York

Written by NINA GIRALDO

Following the recent slew of antitrans laws passing through the Missouri legislature, parents of trans children are beginning to seek refuge out of state. One such parent is Jennifer Harris Dault, the mother of an eight-yearold transgender child in St. Louis, who is raising funds so that her family can seek refuge in New York.

In a GoFundMe post, Harris Dault asked for funds to aid in moving expenses as she and her husband look for new jobs. The fundraiser surpassed its $4,000 goal by more than $800 on Friday.

The Harris Dault family’s move reflects a larger, nationwide migration of trans individuals who are relocating from their home states to areas in which they feel supported.

With 48 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that circulated in its last legislative session, Missouri

Get Free Emergency Contraception in the Mail

Missouri Family Health Council will distribute 5,500 kits

Written by CLARA BATES

This story originally appeared in the Missouri Independent.

Anyone with a Missouri address can now request emergency contraception pills be shipped to them by mail, for free, under a pilot program launched last week by a health care nonprofit.

Missouri Family Health Council Inc. launched the “Free EC” initiative using federal Title X funds for family planning programs. Missourians can request the pills through an online form on the nonprofit’s website or pick them up at designated in-person centers.

Also known as the morning-after pill, or by the brand name Plan B, the emergency contraception pill is an over-thecounter form of birth control that can be taken up to five days after unprotected

is second only to Texas in the number of proposed bills targeting trans individuals, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In the last couple months, Missouri lawmakers passed bills banning genderaffirming care for minors and barring transgender athletes from participating on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Harris Dault recalls the discussion when she and her husband explained to their daughter in simple terms what these bills meant for her. While her daughter does not fully understand the implications of the bills, she wants to play sports, and it has been “really hard” for her to not participate, Harris Dault said.

“These are really the first people that have had a problem with who she is,” Harris Dault says. “Her school has ac-

sex to avoid pregnancy.

The goal of the initiative, Executive Director Michelle Trupiano said, is to reduce geographic and financial barriers Missourians face in accessing emergency contraception pills.

“Really since the Dobbs ruling last summer,” Trupiano said in an interview with the Independent, “we realized that it was more important to combat misinformation and stigma about and to improve access to emergency contraception.”

Since last summer, abortion has been outlawed in Missouri except in cases of medical emergency.

Emergency contraception pills have remained legal, but confusion and misinformation around that fact in Missouri and nationally has mounted.

A poll conducted by the health policy research nonprofit KFF this year found that one-third of American adults said they are “unsure” if emergency contraception is legal in their state, though it is legal in all 50 states. Confusion about its legality is more pronounced in states where abortion is banned, the poll found.

The emergency contraception pill works similarly to birth control pills, generally to prevent ovulation, but most adults incorrectly believe it can end early pregnancy, KFF found.

“We definitely hope that as more people become aware of this [initiative], that

cepted her. We’ve accepted her. Everyone in her life loves her for who she is, and then these people that she hasn’t met are making rules saying that she can’t participate in ordinary kid stuff.”

In the U.S., trans and nonbinary youth experience high rates of depression, anxiety and suicide, according to a Trevor Project study from December. Gender-affirming care hugely reduces depression and suicide risk among these youths, according to a 2022 study published in JAMA

Following the GoFundMe post, Harris Dault has received many messages from people in states such as Texas and Florida who are also planning to move.

“Everyone is talking about, ‘At what point do we go?’” she says. “It’s a scary time in the trans community.”

Harris Dault described the response to the GoFundMe as “overwhelming,” noting the quantity of positive and negative feedback she received. Most notably, she feels “amazed” that most of the

donations came from strangers.

“That has been just shocking to see just how many people are supporting [us] when they don’t actually know our family,” Harris Dault says.

Simultaneously, Harris Dault has also received numerous messages accusing her of forcing her child to get surgery with the donations, she says.

“It’s always hard to get messages continuing to call you a child abuser and a groomer and a pedophile, all for following every major medical and psychological association in the United States’ best care practices,” Harris Dault says. “All we’ve done is follow the advice of our pediatrician. … [The criticism] is not new, but it always hurts.”

As an outspoken advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, Harris Dault hopes the public sees the humanity of trans individuals and families.

“We need people to see what our families really look like,” she says. “My eightyear-old is just a kid. She loves playing with her friends. She does all the typical kid things.”

While she recognizes that the critiques of strangers do not matter, Harris Dault also describes how the backlash her family receives is materializing into the very law forcing her family to move.

“We don’t want to leave,” she says. “This is our home, this is our community. We love St. Louis, and we feel perfectly safe in St. Louis. … If it wasn’t for the state legislature, we would be staying here, and this would continue to be our home.” n

The nonprofit created more than 5,500 kits, Trupiano said, each of which includes two doses of the emergency contraception pill, along with safer sex supplies like condoms and family planning information.

“While we partly did this as a response to the Dobbs decision, we also know that it’s not a solution to the abortion access crisis,” Trupiano said. “It’s just one way to try to ensure that as many people have access to preventive care as possible.”

Missourians can request one of the kits by submitting a form on the nonprofit’s website or going to one of the in-person distribution centers partnering with the nonprofit, which include health centers and private community partners such as domestic violence organizations.

Trupiano hopes that down the line, Missouri Family Health Council can “secure additional funding, continue this in a sustainable way,” she said, “because we know the need is great.”

it will combat the misinformation that maybe emergency contraception is illegal,” Trupiano said.

“And so that more people will feel more confidence that they understand the difference between emergency contraception and medication abortion, and that they are able to talk about it and feel confident in terms of the legality of all methods of birth control.”

The Missouri Family Health Council is the state’s sole grantee of federal family planning funding through Title X. The state has tried, in recent years, to oversee the funds themselves, raising advocates’ concerns the state would limit which providers could receive the federal planning dollars. But so far, that attempt to control the funds has been unsuccessful. n

Emergency contraception is still legal, even in Missouri. | FLICKR/ROBYN MARTY

Jennifer Harris Dault’s daughter is transgender. | COURTESY JENNIFER HARRIS DAULT

“ We need people to see what our families really look like. My eight-year-old is just a kid.”

So Punk Rock

The St. Louis Punk Rock Flea Market combines a music fest and local vendors to make magic downtown

Photos by THEO WELLING

Written by JAIME LEES

The St. Louis Punk Rock Flea Market popped up at Kiener Plaza (601 Market Street) over Memorial Day weekend, and it looks like a great time was had by all.

According to St. Louis Magazine, the first punk rock flea market was in 2018 after Record Space owner Don Brazel noticed similar events popping up in other cities. This market was not just a place to buy jewelry, home goods and vintage wares, it was also an outdoor concert that featured performances from Better Days, the Holy Hand Grenades, Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship and more. Brazel’s band, Bastard Squad, also plays the flea market every year. n

A CELEBRATION OF THE UNIQUE AND FASCINATING ASPECTS OF OUR HOME

Failure to LAUNCH

By Mike Fitzgerald

If you’ve fed coins into a St. Louis parking meter or paid one of the city’s increasingly expensive parking tickets since 2016, then you’ve put money into the system that pays for the College Kids Children’s Savings Account program.

Tishaura Jones set up College Kids while serving as city treasurer. It became one of Jones’ signature achievements, touted during her successful 2021 mayoral run.

The aim: to help the city’s public- and charter-school families, especially those from the poorest neighborhoods, save money for college and learn financial literacy.

More broadly, programs like College Kids are meant to motivate kids from moderate- and low-income backgrounds into developing a college-bound mindset. Like counterparts nationwide, College Kids is premised on research that shows children who begin saving for college, even in amounts of less than $500, are three times more likely to continue on to a post-secondary education than students who do not, and four times more likely to graduate.

Today College Kids has grown to more than 23,000 accounts.

“As an elected official, I believe every student should have access to resources to achieve their dream of a college education,”

Jones said at the program’s December 2015 unveiling. “College Kids provides an opportunity for students to get a jump start on college savings, and encourages parents and guardians to increase their financial capability through participation in financial education courses.”

Each year, the treasurer’s office automatically enrolls all the public- and charter-school kindergarten students in St. Louis city — 2,307 College Kids accounts were created in 2022 alone — providing them with savings accounts at Alltru Credit Union and “seeding” each with a $50 deposit.

The accounts are expected to grow year by year through cityfunded incentives and charitable and personal donations. Participants can receive up to $100 in matching deposits and up to $50 for financial education. Once the student graduates from a public or charter high school in the city,

the funds can be withdrawn for college or a trade school.

So far, the treasurer’s office has invested an average of almost $300,000 per year — a figure that includes seed deposits, incentives, staff salaries and donations — into the program. That adds up to about $2 million since College Kids began.

The treasurer’s office will likely spend at least another $1.5 million on the program before the first high school graduates touch any of the money, which won’t be until 2028 at the earliest.

But seven years since the program’s launch, College Kids has failed to attract much philanthropic investment, and all but a relatively few accounts have remained stuck at strikingly small balances.

Only 15 percent of accounts have grown past the $50 seed level. The average account is worth just $73. And with a large number of participants failing to opt in for additional incentives beyond the seed funds and a program design that will leave many others unable to reclaim city-donated funds at graduation, it’s worth questioning whether the city’s relatively modest investment will do anything to help anyone get to college — or if

it’s all just window dressing.

How to evaluate a program like College Kids?

It’s an experiment involving the economic behavior of thousands of families, many living in some of America’s poorest ZIP codes, many highly transient, many unfamiliar with the banking system.

By any measure, it is taking place in a school district facing severe challenges. St. Louis lost 44,000 school-age children between 2010 and 2020 —- a 24 percent drop —- while 20 percent of district students qualify as unhoused. Almost one in five students qualify for special education services, and more than one in three change schools mid-year.

So to assess College Kids, what outcomes do you seek? Do you use metrics like the number of kids who actually wind up going to college or a vocational school with the help of College Kids dollars?

If so, what number would define success?

Indeed, is it possible to use any measurable outcomes to assess a program like College Kids?

Mayor Jones devised College Kids, launched it and oversaw it for its first five years. She declined repeated requests for com-

College Kids has ambitious aims. Yet the program has shown limited growth — and the flaws baked into its design may doom it to irrelevance

ment for this story.

But during her days as city treasurer, Jones was much more forthcoming. In a February 2020 speech at TEDx Gateway Arch, Jones stated that College Kids was one of 64 college savings programs underway in 34 states, serving 500,000 children.

“Here’s the part that’s going to blow your minds,” Jones declared from the stage. “You ready? If this program had been started in 1979, it would have reduced the racial wealth gap between white and Black families by 82 percent.”

Jones smiled as some in the audience gasped.

“I want to help the next generation to stand up, and to move on up, and to need a lot less luck to do it,” Jones said. “Every generation needs help moving out from the shadow of the ones that came before. And that’s why as the treasurer of the city of St. Louis, I’m giving away your parking money!”

The audience burst into applause before Jones could finish speaking, then gave her a standing ovation.

In a recent interview, City Treasurer Adam Layne — who inherited the program from Jones when she ascended to the mayor’s office in the spring of 2021 — declines to define the pro-

gram’s success or failure in terms of a single metric.

Instead, Layne prefers to speak in terms of his long-term vision.

“And the long-term vision for the program is to make sure that these students have at least $500 saved by the time they graduate from high school,” he says.

Layne, 34, a former high school math teacher and former member of the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education, is upbeat and personable. He is fired up by an obvious passion to educate people about the importance of financial literacy and learning to navigate the personal banking system.

“We’re doing this to increase the likelihood that students have postsecondary success,” he says.

A little later, Layne adds, “So if I have a program that increases that likelihood for one student, that’s a great thing. And we know that if we can get students to $1,000, to $1,500 — one of our biggest accounts has $10,000 — by the seventh grade, I think we can get a couple thousand students to $500 by the time they are seniors in high school.”

Layne, though, declines to be

more specific about program goals, even after being pressed by a reporter.

“$500 by 12th grade,” says Layne.

“But how many kids do you want to see get to that?” the reporter asks.

“All of them,” Layne replies. “The goal is all. Every student in the program has at least $500 saved. That’s the goal.”

Records show that, seven years in, only 3 percent of accounts from the program’s inaugural year have saved at least $250. Getting even 10 percent, much less 100 percent, to $500 seems incredibly difficult.

Layne is bullish. “Got to shoot for the stars.”

In trying to evaluate College Kids, three numbers stand out:

15. That’s the percentage of 23,325 College Kids accounts that have grown beyond the initial $50 seed deposits, according to data provided under Missouri’s Sunshine Law.

12. That’s the percentage of all parents and guardians of eligible students who’ve submitted the consent forms needed to unlock

the program’s additional cash incentives.

1. That’s the percentage of accounts that have reached at least $500 — a total of 244 accounts out of 23,325.

The second number is especially significant because the incentives are one of the chief ways kids in the program, especially those from low-income families, can grow their accounts.

Those incentives have thus far been modest; unlike New York City’s program, a public-private partnership with its own nonprofit to garner tax-deductible contributions, St. Louis’ program hasn’t garnered large-scale charitable donations.

Students can get $30 annual deposits for perfect attendance and $50 for taking part in financial literacy classes. Parents and guardians must sign and submit consent forms allowing the treasurer’s office to access school attendance data and unlock the incentives. But so far, only 2.7 percent of parents and guardians of this year’s cohort of eligible kindergarten students — 64 out of 2,307 — have submitted consent forms, records show.

Unlike regular bank accounts, the College Kids accounts don’t

Continued on pg 16

Ashland Elementary, in the city’s Penrose neighborhood north of Delmar, educates exactly the population College Kids aims to help. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

COLLEGE KIDS

Continued from pg 15

pay interest to account holders. And unlike 529 college savings plans, they don’t grow with the bond or stock market. Absent parents or charities contributing funds, they grow solely via the city-funded incentives.

The fact that only 12 percent of all parents have submitted consent forms to activate the attendance deposits, and just 2.7 percent so far this year, is a sign the program is not working, says 8th Ward Alderwoman Cara Spencer.

The low participation rates also point to what Spencer, a vocal critic of Mayor Jones, sees as a built-in flaw: “There are no measurable goals,” she says. “There are no goals.”

Spencer says measurable goals are especially important when it comes to setting up a program with public funds.

Citing a long list of unmet needs facing the city — from crumbling streets to kids exposed to lead paint — Spencer says it’s imperative that city leaders be able to determine if College Kids is a success or failure, and therefore worth the cost.

“When we’re choosing to invest millions of dollars in something as important as our kids, we have to have measurable goals,” Spencer says. “We have to have outcomes we can trust, that we’re putting those dollars to good use. Because we are fighting for the spending of every single dollar in the city of St. Louis right now.”

Donna Baringer, who as an alderwoman represented the 16th Ward from 2003 to 2017, says she isn’t surprised by the low participation rates in the program.

Baringer agrees that low-income residents could benefit from financial literacy programs.

“But it should be done by the professionals at all our non-profit credit unions,” she says. “Because our treasurer’s office should not be a social service agency.”

Layne acknowledges the city faces many unmet needs and the money going to College Kids could be used in other ways.

“We could do a whole bunch of things with that money that we have,” he says. “But if we are not investing in people who are here, then what are we investing in?”

Layne underscores that College Kids was never meant to by itself pay for a student’s college education. He cites figures that show the average cost of a four-year private college education is around

$200,000.

“So the goal is not that students have $200,000 saved,” he says. “The goal is that we increase their likelihood” of going to college.

“So we’re trying to show our city cares about our families,” he continues. “And we do our part to increase the likelihood based on statistics that we know are true. So that is our goal: to increase that likelihood.”

Although the average account balance is $73, some accounts have grown impressively. Six accounts have exceeded $5,000. The largest account, at $16,096, was started by a student at charter school Lafayette Preparatory Academy, records show.

Layne defends the fact that interest on those accounts accrues to the city, saying College Kids accounts are not interest-bearing because they don’t require any fees.

“And most of our families don’t have $10,000, $50,000 in these accounts,” he says. “So the interest they’re missing out on is not a lot. And the incentives that they get far outweigh the interest one is forgoing.”

College Kids does earn interest for the treasurer’s office, regardless of what happens to the accounts — whether they are abandoned when a student quits the school district for good (students must graduate from a city public or charter school to access the funds) or simply never uses the money (students can’t cash out, even after graduation; the cash can only be transferred to college

or a vocational school).

Nearly $384,000 worth of incentive deposits are kept in a checking account at Midwest BankCentre. Monthly statements show the annual interest yield rising from 0.10 percent as recently as 2022 to 3.3 percent in 2023, with earned monthly interest between $886 and $1,122 so far this year, office records show.

Meanwhile, College Kids seed deposits are being invested in U.S. Treasury bonds at Principal Custody Solutions of Waco, Texas. The bonds, which have maturity dates that range between 2026 and 2032, have a combined cost value of about $1.06 million and a combined maturity value of $1.305 million, according to statements obtained under Missouri

Sunshine Law.

Layne says the interest helps pay for the incentives the program gives to current and future account holders.

“The [College Kids] account is not interest-bearing,” he explained at a May 22 meeting of the aldermanic Budget and Public Employees Committee. “The incentive account is interest-bearing. So that it can grow the incentive dollars that we offer to kids in the program.”

A2020 report by the Missouri State Auditor’s Office, which examined the College Kids program as part of a larger audit of the treasurer’s office, found that 78 percent of College Kids accounts were stuck at

Continued on pg 18

City Treasurer Adam Layne, who inherited College Kids from Mayor Jones, faced questions at a recent aldermanic meeting. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

Mayor Tishaura Jones launched College Kids in 2015, during her time as city treasurer. | RYAN KRULL

COLLEGE KIDS

Continued from pg 16

the $50 seed level.

Layne sees this as a “testament to how we designed the program. We know that we opened blanket accounts for all the students in St. Louis city. So that’s 23,000 accounts — like you said, students who are now banked, families who are now banked in the city of St. Louis.”

Layne is also unfazed that only 2.7 percent of kindergarten parents have signed consent forms to activate incentives this year.

Layne notes that a similar low rate of participation characterized the first group of kindergarten students enrolled in the program in 2015-2016. But the participation rate has over time — thanks to College Kids informational events, financial literacy classes and Layne’s own outreach to schools — climbed to 33 percent.

“It’s why we show up to events and talk to every single parent we can,” Layne says. “I have parents who come up to me all the time and say, ‘I didn’t even know about this program. Is it too late?’ And sometimes they feel hopeless in that. And I’m able to say, ‘No, it’s not too late. Your kid already has an account. We already put $50 in it. It’s open. You don’t have to worry about that. You can start on your college savings journey right now.’”

Yet based on interviews with parents at grade schools around the city, it’s clear that seven years into the College Kids program, many parents — busy with jobs, raising families and caring for older relatives — don’t even know their kids are enrolled in it.

As the school day draws to an end in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood, parents park next to the curb at Columbia Elementary School. Some wait inside their vehicles or walk up to Columbia’s front door, where a cheery woman releases kindergartners and first-graders in ones and twos.

Sattinie Anderson walks from school hand-in-hand with her son Demeir Carver, 7, a first-grader.

Anderson says she doesn’t know about College Kids. “I’ve got to check my email,” she says.

Thoughts of college weigh very much on the minds of both mother and son. “I want to be a scientist,” Demeir says. “A zoologist. I like ocean animals and wild animals.”

“He loves science,” Anderson says. “Weather, natural disasters.” “Free money?” Demeir asks of College Kids.

“That’s right,” she replies, glanc-

ing at her son proudly. “You want to go to Saint Louis University. It’ll help you go there.” She says she likes College Kids in theory: “No one knows about it. But if it’s something that helps you think about college, why not?”

At Buder Elementary School in Southampton, parents show the same lack of awareness.

Bethany Friedrich, who talked to a reporter in early May while waiting to pick up her two young sons, a first grader and preschooler, says she isn’t sure she’s heard of College Kids.

“It’s hard to take part in a program, especially if you don’t know about it,” Friedrich says. “We get emails about different college savings accounts.”

“I feel like a piece of paper came home at some point,” says Jeff Friedrich, her husband. “A lot of pieces of paper are coming home.”

Jeff Friedrich says he thinks there is a low participation rate at Buder because of language barriers; a large percentage of school parents are immigrants from Bosnia, Serbia and other non-Englishspeaking countries.

When told about the program’s overall low participation rate, Bethany Friedrich reacts with a look of complete unsurprise.

“It’s another one of those good ideas that’s hard to execute,” she says.

Bridget Kelly, the mother of a first grader at Buder, expresses support for College Kids.

Each month, Kelly says, she contributes $50 to daughter Laramie’s account.

“I like it because I think it shows creative thinking and community investment in kids,” says Kelly, a doctoral student of international urban history at Washington University.

Kelly, who has taught middle school and high school, describes her support of College Kids as consistent with her overall support of public schools.

“They’re important to me because I believe they are sites of democracy and have the potential for democratic life,” Kelly says. “People vote here. People send their kids here.”

From the outset, large groups of young people who live within St. Louis were intentionally omitted from the College Kids program.

That includes the thousands of students who attend private and parochial schools within the city, as well as students from the city who attend school in St. Louis County under the voluntary de-

segregation program that began in 1999 and is now in the process of winding down. In the seven years since College Kids began, more than 1,100 kindergarten students from the city have begun school in the county, records show.

And participation in College Kids is by no means guaranteed for students who attend the city’s many charter schools. While publicly funded, they have more flexibility than traditional public schools.

Premier Charter School, in Northampton, has declined to take part in the program.

Andy Vien, the school’s finance director, says that in the fall of 2020 he was contacted by the director of College Kids.

And “just as we started the discussion to understand the program and its requirements from the school’s end, pandemic priorities consumed all of our focus,” Vien writes. “As we rebound back from pandemic times we are certainly open to re-engaging about the program.”

Yet even if they do, it won’t help many Premier students. While the College Kids website says students can sign up through fifth grade, Layne says the treasurer’s office has a policy — called single-entry point — of only allowing students in kindergarten to open College Kids accounts. If students enroll in the St. Louis Public Schools after that, or their school signs on after they reach that grade, the program is closed to them.

Coordination between charter schools and the treasurer’s office can be problematic, especially as it pertains to turning in kindergarten enrollment rosters on time or correcting clerical mistakes that keep eligible students from receiving incentive deposits.

That’s been the story for Kathryn Bonney, whose two daughters and son over the years have collectively attended four different charter schools: St. Louis Language Immersion School, the Soulard School, Atlas Elementary and Kairos Academies.

A clerical mistake at the Soulard School kept Bonney’s younger daughter and her classmates from enrolling in College Kids in the fall of 2020, despite their apparent eligibility. The situation is the subject of a long-running email chain between Bonney and Layne — and still hasn’t been resolved three years later.

In a January 2023 email to Layne, Bonney noted that her second grade daughter had signed up for a Virtual Family Savings Night on Zoom.

“She however is not eligible for

the $20 because she does not have a CollegeKid [sic] account,” Bonney wrote.

In her email, Bonney pointed out that her daughter’s school, Atlas Elementary, had signed a memorandum of understanding with Layne’s office and had submitted an enrollment roster by May 2022.

“You indicated at the end of October that she did not have an account and you had not addressed the issue,” Bonney wrote. “Does she have a CollegeKid account at this time? Do any of the Atlas Elementary students have accounts? And if not, why?”

For his part, Layne disputed several aspects of Bonney’s account. He also said he is unwilling to make an exception to his office’s policy of only enrolling kindergartners in the program, even if the program’s website suggests students are welcome to join up through fifth grade.

“I informed Ms. Bonney of our single-entry point program policy and that we follow our policy,” he wrote in his email.

Over the past three years, Bonney has pushed to make sure her kids get enrolled in College Kids and receive the incentives she believes they are entitled to. She’s also made it her mission to ensure all eligible St. Louis students are enrolled in the program, especially those excluded through no fault of their parents.

“So if one kid can stay in school and actually get somewhere based on the idea they have money for college, then this program has served a purpose in my mind,” Bonney says. “My motivation has always been to get as many kids into this program as possible.”

Unfortunately for Bonney, she has nowhere to appeal Layne’s denial of her daughter’s enrollment. The Board of Aldermen approved the creation of a new Office of Financial Empowerment to oversee College Kids in July 2015. With a 28-0 vote, the aldermen left it up to Jones, and now her successor Layne, to run the program as they best saw fit. Unlike some similar programs elsewhere, St. Louis’ is run by the treasurer’s office and its staff, not a board of directors. The program’s nine-member advisory board is run by Christina Cavazos Bennett, the city’s assistant treasurer.

During discussions in 2014 and 2015 about College Kids, a few city officials expressed skepticism over its aims and likelihood of attaining its stated goals.

Then-Alderman Jeffrey Boyd stated in 2019 that opening the ac-

counts was “a good gesture” but he doubted if low-income families would ever add to their accounts if they’re struggling to pay for basics such as food and rent.

Last year Boyd quit the aldermanic board and pleaded guilty to federal bribery and fraud charges. In January he began serving a threeyear sentence in federal prison.

If programs like College Kids can be likened to a ladder to enable low-income families to climb out of chronic poverty, then Janai Holt and her three kids exemplify the sort of people this ladder was invented to help.

A College State of Mind

Programs like College Kids represent a new way to fight an old problem: multi-generational poverty

The St. Louis College Kids program is an example of a Child Development Account, or CDA, which are savings or investment accounts that begin as early as birth or kindergarten. Cityand state-sponsored CDAs are springing up rapidly across America, designed to change how young people from low-income families see themselves and their futures.

The hotbed for generating ideas about CDAs — as well as research to learn about their efficacy —- lies just a few MetroLink stops west of St. Louis City Hall, at the Center for Social Development at Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work.

Plenty of research shows that a large percentage of low-income students and students of color fail to move on to college despite the desire and ability to go. Too often they don’t make the transition because they don’t believe they belong in college or would succeed once they got there.

CDAs are designed to flip the script, as it were. And if they work as hoped, they could amount to the first truly game-changing strategy in a century of government efforts to address one of America’s most intractable problems: multi-generational poverty.

William “Willie” Elliott, a Brown School alumnus and one of the nation’s foremost researchers on CDAs and wealth inequality, acknowledges that the St. Louis College Kids’ participation rate of 15 percent is low compared to similar programs nationwide.

“But to me that means don’t get rid of it,” Elliott says. “Fix those things.”

The St. Louis College Kids program is

The 27-year-old desperately wants her kids to attend college.

Holt grew up in foster care, shuttling among families who valued her only for the monthly government checks she brought them, she says.

“I was never valued as a person,” she says. “Because I didn’t get the opportunity. I was a ward of the state. I was in foster care, and they didn’t give me the funds to go to college.”

On a breezy afternoon in late April, Holt is pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. The stroller contains the sleeping form of her daughter Royalty, 2. Walking be-

modeled on the K2C — Kindergarten to College — program run by the San Francisco City Treasurer’s Office. Founded in 2011 by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, K2C is the oldest program of its kind in the nation and oversees 52,000 accounts. It just saw its first class of kindergarteners graduate high school.

K2C has a participation rate of 35 percent. But Amanda Fried, the chief of policy and communications for the San Francisco Treasurer’s Office, says college savings accounts should not be judged by how much money is saved in them.

What matters most is if students engage with their accounts in some way, Fried says.

“It’s not necessarily the money they save in the account, what’s going to propel them to college or help them defray the cost of higher education,” she says. “It’s really about creating a college-going mindset.”

While a formal review of K2C by outside researchers won’t be done until next year, the program reports that the average participant entering at kindergarten had $1,422 in their account at graduation, thanks in part to generous incentives (a family that banks $5 in the account can get up to $150 in city funds, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.) San Francisco’s K2C program also enrolls participants whenver they enter the district — not only those who enroll in kindergarten — and includes field trips to banks, as well as trips for parents, to increase comfort with the banking system.

New York City’s Kids RISE might be even more ambitious, with $100 seeds for each child and philanthropic support for additional cash infusions, including $1,000 donations last December for every first grader in certain neighborhoods.

Last summer, California launched CalKIDS, designed to be the nation’s biggest children’s savings account program. CalKIDS automatically starts college savings accounts with initial deposits of up to $100 for every baby born in California.

side Holt are daughter Ja’Kailyah, 9, and son Ja’Keim, 8.

Holt has just picked up the older children from Ashland Elementary, a hulking century-old, redbrick edifice that looms over the surrounding Penrose neighborhood in north St. Louis.

Holt says she spent much of 2020, during the worst of the COVID pandemic, living out of an old Chevy Tracker sport utility vehicle, caring for two small children while pregnant with a third. Her two oldest kids were still enrolled in St. Louis Public Schools but took classes virtually, over tablets.

Then by late summer 2021, with

In the last decade, five other states — Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — also set up automatic college savings accounts with seed deposits for every child born or adopted in those states. Nevada sets up savings accounts for all kindergarten students in public schools.

Perhaps the most influential experiment underway, called SEED for Oklahoma — and overseen by Michael Sherraden, the co-founder of Washington University’s Center for Social Development — began in 2007, with 2,700 randomly selected newborns in Oklahoma. Parents of half the newborns were given $1,000 to invest in an Oklahoma 529 college savings account. Those kids are now finishing their freshman year of high school.

CDA programs collectively enrolled about 700,000 children in 2019, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Congressional watchdog agency.

The GAO report cites evidence that these programs have positive shortterm effects on families.

One study found that families enrolled for seven years saved four times more of their own money, on average, than families who were not enrolled — $261 compared to $59.

Enrollment and participation in CDA programs may also increase families’ educational expectations for their children.

“For example, a study found that parents with children enrolled in one CDA program were nearly twice as likely to expect their children to attend college,” the GAO report concluded.

Policymakers have for too long tried to solve the challenges of long-term family poverty by treating the symptoms, such as hunger, homelessness and poor health care, as problems to solve piecemeal, says Elliott in a recent phone interview from his office at the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of social work.

“It also means we never treat the root cause, which is really their ability

the help of a friend, she found an apartment and enrolled the two older kids at Ashland, a walk of eight blocks from their new home.

Her dream that her kids would one day graduate from college and build a better life for themselves, she says, kept her going during those months in the Tracker.

“If they get an opportunity for a trade or some type of college funding behind them, to become something, to get a foot inside, I’d be grateful,” Holt says. “I didn’t get an opportunity, and I’m struggling so bad.”

Her kids are likewise primed for

Continued on pg 20

to build assets,” Elliott says.

Elliott himself grew up poor in a neighborhood just south of Pittsburgh. His parents endured homelessness while his mother underwent treatment for cancer. Elliott gave up dreams of attending law school and earned money for college with a stint in the Army.

While earning a doctoral degree in social work at Wash U, Elliott filed for bankruptcy. He remained in school only because he received financial help from Sherraden, a mentor at the university’s Brown School.

One of the key things he’s learned, Elliott says, is that the way out of poverty lies along the path of asset accumulation.

“Building assets allows people to build their full potential,” he says. “Because it augments their ability to tackle the system.”

But universal CDAs represent a longterm gamble for the states and cities that invest in them.

The best programs require big investments in time and money, with the government entities sponsoring them tasked with tracking individual deposits, balances and disbursements over decades.

And the payoff is uncertain. Research into CDAs is still so new that none of the kids enrolled in the first wave of studies has graduated from high school yet.

Elliott believes the results could be big.

Rationally, for a kid growing up poor, it’s hard to make the case for long-term investments in their own futures — not in an unpredictable, disorderly world filled with sudden job loss, health emergencies, bad housing options and early deaths from gun violence, drug overdoses and poor healthcare.

CDAs give kids growing up in poverty something they can control.

“So what you’re trying to do is give these kids a sense of some control over their future,” he says. “That allows them to invest in their future.”

Mike Fitzgerald

COLLEGE KIDS

college.

“I want to be president,” Ja’Keim declares brightly. “Or be a construction worker.”

Ja’Kailyah is also eager to dive into a grown-up career one day.

“I want to be an art teacher,” she says, staring off into the sky. “Or maybe when I grow up I’ll be a chef. I want to cook shrimp and meats and all different things.”

Holt and her kids are exactly the family that College Kids is supposed to help. “And I’m exactly the family they never did,” she says.

Yet program records in the city treasurer’s office show that Ja’Kailyah and Ja’Keim have indeed been enrolled in College Kids for the past two years — unbeknownst to Holt.

“They didn’t tell us about the program at all,” Holt says. “Nobody mentioned anything about being automatically enrolled. They never said anything.”

They’re not getting attendance bonuses. “Neither child has turned in the consent forms or contacted the program manager,” Felice McClendon, a spokeswoman for Layne’s office, says by email. But they were automatically enrolled when they began kindergarten at Ashland.

This news comes as a surprise for Holt. And then the reality of College Kids sinks in.

It’s only $50 per child, for a total of $100.

Who can go to college on that? She might as well spend that money on lottery tickets.

So does she think the College Kids accounts will make much of

a difference for her kids’ futures?

“I really don’t,” Holt says. “Because the amounts are so little. College tuition is so many thousands of dollars.”

One month after being told about College Kids, Holt texted a reporter that she still couldn’t get through to the treasurer’s office to sign the consent forms.

“No one ever answered,” she wrote.

Built in 1911, and as seemingly sturdy as a Roman fortress, Ashland Elementary School is a monument to a far different school district and city, a different America than today.

At 3 p.m. on school days, Ashland’s double doors swing open. Waves of small boys and girls squeeze through the doorway, surging toward parents waiting on the sidewalk.

Some people might see Ashland as a powerful link to the past. Archival photos from the 1920s show its playground overflowing with white kids, many doubtlessly the sons and daughters of new immigrants from Italy, Germany and Ireland.

In those days it seemed as if both the St. Louis Public Schools and the city the district served were riding an unstoppable trajectory of growth. And both were, for decades.

Janai Holt, who picks up her second graders at Ashland every day, says she doesn’t think about that history. It’s buried too deep in the past, like a fading photo belonging to a family of strangers.

Instead, Ashland symbolizes all the impediments she faces as a single parent in St. Louis.

The lack of reliable bus service.

The unsafe neighborhoods. A shortage of caring teachers. The effects of a kindergarten year during the COVID lockdown, when inperson teaching was canceled and learning was conducted fitfully through a tablet.

“It’s a dropping pillar,” she says of the school district. “It’s falling. It’s falling hard and fast.”

The St. Louis Public Schools reached its peak enrollment more than 50 years after Ashland opened. In 1967, the district served more than 115,000 students.

But by the 1960s and 1970s, St. Louis was losing big factories and other major employers, accelerating the white flight that began a decade before. That was followed by middle-class Black flight, mostly into north St. Louis County. That trend continues. Nearly 27,000 Black residents moved out of St. Louis over the last decade, according to the 2020 census.

By 1998, district enrollment had fallen to 44,000 — a decline of 62 percent over three decades.

By 2022, enrollment was less than 17,000 — a 61 percent drop over 25 years, and a 14 percent drop compared to 3 years prior, before the COVID pandemic hit.

The school district’s ongoing enrollment losses raise serious questions about how many students who begin kindergarten in St. Louis will actually be left in the district to access their accounts at graduation.

Under the program’s design, students may not get any of their citydonated money, including seed deposits and other incentives, unless they graduate from a St. Louis public or charter high school.

Move to Hazelwood? You’re out of luck. Transfer to a private

school? You surrender that money. (You can, however, withdraw any family-made deposits.)

You can start to see why so many parents aren’t focused on the incentives. Committing to being in St. Louis to withdraw it 13 years after kindergarten seems like a singularly bad bet, especially if you’re seriously planning to leave already.

Beyond that, the overall College Kids program continues to shrink.

In the 2015-2016 school year, the treasurer’s office enrolled 3,118 students into College Kids accounts, records show. The program peaked two years later, with 3,610 new accounts.

But then, tracking closely to declines in overall district enrollment, the number of new College Kids accounts has dropped to just 2,307 accounts in 2022, a decline of 38 percent over five years.

For her part, Holt’s kids are in St. Louis schools. For now.

She harbors big dreams for her life and for her kids — dreams of owning a house in a safe neighborhood and attending her kids’ high school and college graduations. And, yes, she dreams of moving out of the city as soon as she can afford it.

Holt talks guardedly about these dreams, though, as if saying them out loud could jinx them.

“When you’re struggling so much it’s hard to value the future,” she says, “because you don’t know what’s to come.” n

Mike Fitzgerald can be reached at msfitzgerald2006@gmail.com. For more on the River City Journalism Fund, which provided funding for this project and seeks to support local journalism in St. Louis, please see rcjf.org.

Continued from pg 19

Janai Holt, with two-year-old Royalty, hadn’t realized daughter Ja’Kailyah, 9, and son Ja’Keim, 8, were enrolled in College Kids — much less eligible for incentives. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

CALENDAR

BY RIVERFRONT TIMES STAFF

THURSDAY 06/08

Suck Fest

The Charles Busch-penned Vampire Lesbians of Sodom tells the hilarious tale of two staunch blood enthusiasts whose rivalry is as ancient as it is petty. The feud, in fact, starts in Biblical times, and stretches all the way until the silent film era of Hollywood. As the New York Times succinctly wrote in a 2008 review, the play has “costumes flashier than pinball machines, outrageous lines, awful puns, sinister innocence, harmless depravity.” As one of the longest-running shows in the history of Off Broadway, first premiering in 1984, it’s as tried and true as it is hilariously camp. You can catch the show at Stray Dog Theatre (2348 Tennessee Avenue, 314-865-1995) each week, Thursday through Sunday, through June 24. Tickets start at $30. Showtimes vary by day. More info at straydogtheatre.org.

A Painful History

In coordination with the Missouri Humanities Council, the Steelville Area Historical Society will play host this week to historical researchers William Ambrose and Chris Dunn to retrace the path the Trail of Tears took through Steelville, Missouri, about an hour and a half southwest of St. Louis. Beginning in 1837, more than 10,000 Cherokee women, men and children passed through Steelville in a forced displacement out west, ordered by the United States government under Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830. In the 800- to 1,000-mile journey, migrants faced starvation, exhaustion and disease. Four of every ten Cherokee died over the course of the trip. Rediscovering the Trail of Tears in Missouri answers questions surrounding the Cherokee route through Steelville and looks at the suffered experiences on the Trail of Tears that continue to negatively impact indigenous communities today. The event is free and open to the public, and takes place on Thursday, June 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Wildwood Springs Lodge (125 Grand Drive,

573-775-2400). Find more info at steelvillehistoricalsociety.com.

FRIDAY 06/09

Ride ’Em, Cowboy

St. Louis has no shortage of fun summer events, but some things you can only find if you yee-haul your ass at least 30 minutes out of the city. The Jefferson County Rodeo in Hillsboro, Missouri, is one that’s completely worth the drive. This “old-fashioned rodeo” includes music, concessions, vendors and, of course, the thrill of watching cowboys try their darnedest to not get thrown off the back of a bull. If that’s not your thing, don’t fret: There’s plenty more to do throughout the day, as the rodeo is just one small part of the Jefferson County Fair. Rodeo festivities start early and end late, running from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10, at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds (10349 MO-21

Bus, Hillsboro). Ticket costs vary by age, with entrance for anyone older than 16 set at $15. Cowboy hats and boots are encouraged but not required. More info at jeffersoncountyfair.net.

Dearly Beloved

In life, Prince didn’t like to celebrate his birthday — he was a Jehovah’s Witness, and they don’t play that. But now that His Royal Badness has gone on to the big purple cloud in the sky, we’re free to celebrate him and that magical date he arrived on this planet all we want. If you’re a fan of Prince Rogers Nelson of Minneapolis, u will want 2 get in 2 That Purple Stuff: A Prince DJ Tribute Party Held at Hot Java Bar (4193 Manchester Avenue, 636-888-5282) on the eve of Prince’s birthday (Friday, June 9), this party is gonna freak you all night. Entertainment will be provided by Rockwell Knuckles, Umami and James Biko (formerly known as DJ Needles),

and the music will range from Prince-affiliated tunes (songs from Vanity, Apollonia, Sheila E., the Time) to straight-up Prince mega jams such as “When Doves Cry,” “1999,” “Little Red Corvette” and more. The party kicks off at 8 p.m. and guests are encouraged to wear purple, of course. Tickets range from $7 to $20 and are available through Eventbrite.

Into the Groove

If you spent school lunches secretly dreaming of a High School Musical-esque breakout number, then ready your sack lunch for Karlovsky & Company Dance’s Dine on Dance event. Inviting audiences to chow down as dancers get down, the show serves the repertoire of contemporary dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, with sides of tap, aerial and improvisation for good measure. You can pull up a chair to Dine on Dance this Friday, June 9, at Strauss Park (3534 Washington Avenue, 314-

Pay tribute to Prince at That Purple Stuff at the Hot Java Bar on Friday. | ALBUM ARTWORK

445-7511) from noon to 1 p.m. and next week on Friday, June 16, at the Old Post Office Plaza (801 Locust Street), also from noon to 1 p.m. The show is free, family friendly and no registration is required. For more information, visit karlovskydance.org.

SATURDAY 06/10

Chow Down

St. Louis sure loves its outdoor

drinking and eating festivals, often centered on consumables that are delicious but a bit messy to eat from a paper plate while standing in a park (looking at you, barbecue). If you like the idea of an outdoor food fest but just feel like you haven’t found your version — the classy version — yet, then the Clayton Music & Wine Festival may be for you. Held in Carondelet Park (100 Block Carondelet Plaza, Clayton), the festival promises an “elegant” evening of wine,

music and entertainment. There will be sips from regional wineries such as Noboleis and the Wine and Cheese Place, and eats from restaurants including 801 Chophouse, the Ritz-Carlton and a variety of food trucks. The Usual Suspects, Retro Boogie and the Fabulous Motown Revue will provide entertainment. Admission is free but drinks and food are for purchase. The event runs from 5 to 10 p.m.

SUNDAY 06/11 Eco Neighbors

If you’re always peeping your neighbor’s yard to critique their landscaping and curb appeal, or if you’re interested in getting some eco-friendly ideas for your own yard, then the St. Louis Sustainable Backyard Tour is for you. (Pardon us if we fall more on the nosy side of the equation.) This event allows you to head into people’s backyards to learn about their eco-friendly practices. Dozens of yards are open and will showcase organic gardening, beekeeping, foodscaping and naturescaping, according to the tour’s website. The tour is entirely self-guided and free and will include more yards than you can possibly see in the

WEEK OF JUNE 8-14

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. timeframe. However, you can curate what types of yards you want to see — be they ones in your neighborhood or ones that focus on something you’re interested in doing yourself. Visit sustainablebackyard.org for more information and to register, which is required.

MONDAY 06/12

Wrap Around Joy

The Muny marks its triumphant return this week for a season that will see productions of seven shows — four of them Muny premieres. The storied amphitheater’s 105th season will bring multiple popular theater productions to the scenic environs of Forest Park, including Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story and Rent. The shows kick off with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. All about the life of chart-topping singer-songwriter Carole King and her complicated marriage, the show will feature King’s biggest hits, including “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman,” popularized by Aretha Franklin, as well as other classics such as “You’ve Got a Friend,” “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move.” This will be the first time Beautiful is performed at the Muny; catch it nightly at 8:15 p.m. from Monday, June 12 through Sunday, June 18. For more info visit muny.org.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical will make its Muny premiere this summer. | VIA TICKETMASTER

The Jefferson County Rodeo returns to Hillsboro, Missouri, this week. | VIA FLICKR / EMIL KEPKO

Stray Dog Theatre takes on the Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. | COURTESY PHOTO

SHORT ORDERS

‘We Know We Can Do It’

Padrinos owners Christina and Enrique Robles tackle the challenge of managing two restaurants since opening Sal y Limón

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Christina and Enrique Robles were supposed to wait three years before opening another restaurant. Maybe two, but definitely not a mere 15 months after opening their popular South Grand Tex-Mex spot, Padrinos, which welcomed its first guests in September of 2022.

However, their timeline accelerated when Enrique learned of a potential opportunity to partner up with a couple of friends on a project located in a south city restaurant space near Hodak’s. Ultimately, that fell through, but not before it sparked something in the Robleses.

“After we went through all of that, it kind of psyched us up and made us wonder, ‘Should we be thinking about it? Should we continue looking?’ And we ultimately decided that we thought we should,” Christina Robles says. “It’s still scary, but we figured we know what to expect because we’ve been down this road once already. Wherever we look will be different, but we know we can do it.”

That quest for an additional location has resulted in Sal y Limón (1221 Strassner Drive, Brentwood; 314-282-0022, salylimonstl.com), which opened in Brentwood this past December. Though the restaurant carries over most of the specialities the Robleses and their business partners, Rafa Rosas and Ciro Trapala, have become known for at Padrinos — overstuffed burritos, fajitas, chimichangas and enchiladas — they have given Sal y Limón its own distinct personality in the form of a more modern,

subdued interior and an impressive tequila selection that Robles hopes to expand and make the restaurant’s anchor.

Robles is especially excited about the bar at Sal y Limón, particularly in light of its former life as the happy-hour hot-spot Houli-

hans, which operated in the space until November of 2019. Though she wouldn’t necessarily consider herself a regular, Robles frequented the restaurant and remembers being impressed by its atmosphere and food. Mostly, though, she loved the way it felt like it

was a place people could come together to connect over snacks and drinks, and she’s hoping to recreate that vibe with Sal y Limón.

“I had in mind the idea of bringing people together after the dinner hour so they could have conversation around this huge bar, maybe with entertainment,” Robles says. “I really want this to be a place for people to sit, have some street tacos, enjoy a small late night menu, have conversations and meet up with people for happy hour. COVID may have changed the way that looks, but I think it’s going to come back.”

For now, the Robleses and their partners are pushing to make that happen. When you walk into the space, you feel the bones and sleekness of the old Houlihan’s, albeit with a Mexican inflection.

Lime green accent walls contrast with midnight blue paint and forest green leather banquettes. Black and white photographs of scenes from Mexico and some folk-style paintings adorn the walls, and the large u-shaped bar has been inlaid with vibrant painted tiles that are perhaps the biggest change from its predeces-

The fajitas de tres sabores are one of Sal y Limón’s offerings. | MABEL SUEN

Ciro Trapala, Rafa Rosas and Enrique Robles and Christina Robles at Padrino’s. | MABEL SUEN

sor. These touches add a brightness to the space, but it is much more subtle than the technicolor decor of Sal y Limón’s South Grand sister restaurant. A patio that can accommodate roughly 50 diners faces the Hanley Road side of the restaurant.

Sal y Limón’s menu is nearly identical to that of Padrinos; guests who have come to love the restaurant’s mouthwatering carnitas will be happy to see them make an appearance here in all of their caramelized, fork-tender glory. Street tacos are another highlight,

[SNEAK PEEK]

A Taste of Lagos

including the beautifully seasoned al pastor and chorizo versions. A ground beef chimichanga, smothered in rich queso, is another decadent crowd pleaser.

However Say y Limón has two notable additions to its offerings that stand apart from Padrinos. Here, guacamole is prepared tableside and is customizable with roma tomatoes, yellow onions, garlic, jalapeños and cilantro, which gives it more of an elevated feel. Another specialty at the Brentwood location is the carne asada, which pairs marinated skirt steak

Washington Avenue restaurant: Levels Nigerian Cuisine (1405 Washington Avenue, levelsstl.com)

with street corn, Mexican rice and refried beans.

Robles admits that running two restaurants has been a challenge, especially in the wake of a fire on May 31 that started from a faulty motor on a piece of equipment in Padrinos’ kitchen and caused smoke damage throughout the restaurant. Because the fire was quickly caught and then extinguished, she is hopeful that Padrinos can reopen in a few weeks. That, coupled with staffing issues and product shortages that have plagued the restaurant industry for the last few

years, can sometimes make it feel as if things are just more difficult than they should be. Still, she, her husband and their partners believe in their vision and are going to keep on moving forward, knowing that making their guests happy is worth it all in the end.

“Like I said in the beginning, this is going to be a hard road ahead but, eventually, it will pay off,” Robles says. n

Sal y Limón is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Levels Nigerian

Cuisine

hopes to bring St. Louis diners the flavors of West Africa

Written by CHERYL BAEHR

Since moving to St. Louis from Nigeria when he was a high schooler, Ono Ikanone has wanted to share the cuisine and culture of his homeland with his adopted city. Now, together with his wife, Justice Johnson, Ikanone has realized that dream with their forthcoming

“We’re very excited to share our food with St. Louis,” Ikanone says. “I have been cooking and sharing Nigerian culture and food since I was in college with whoever would listen or come over. I have always had a dream to have a Nigerian restaurant in downtown St. Louis, and I feel it is breaking down a lot of barriers.”

Though not slated to open until Saturday, July 1, Ikanone and Johnson gave a sneak peak of Levels to a small group of guests on June 2, which included a tour of the space and a sampling of the food and drinks they have been developing with their team for months. As Ikanone noted, it has been a long journey, beginning when he and Johnson purchased the building in October of 2022. The space, which was formerly home to Hiro

Asian Kitchen and, most recently, Kitchen 4 AM, had been vacant since the end of 2021 and was in such disrepair that the roof was leaking into the dining room.

The result of their efforts is a warm yet soaring space, which Ikanone has designed to be, in his words, “filled with Instagrammable moments.” This vibe begins the moment you walk through the front doors and are greeted with a green botanical wall emblazoned with the words “Experience Levels” on the left side of the entryway. Just past that area is the bar and lounge, where guests can drink and dine in wooden booths, also decorated with a botanical wall that provides an ideal photo backdrop. This area then leads to the main dining room, which is a mix of booths and tables. Its most notable design features are the many thatched chandeliers that hang from the lofted ceilings and a mural, put together

by Johnson, that features photographs of street scenes and different monuments throughout west Africa, in particular some of Ikanone’s favorite sites in both Lagos and Abuja.

This aesthetic carries into the upstairs loft, which includes its own bar and a reception space; Ikanone and Johnson hope to use this area for private events and receptions, and they also plan on turning it into a rotating gallery where they will display the work of local artists.

“Upstairs, the idea is to feature local artists in different installations every quarter,” Ikanone says. “We want to focus on Afro-centric and nature-centric art, and we will be able to sell it right off the wall. We’re calling the campaign ‘Let Your Art Live at Levels.’”

Levels will feature a full bar with a curated selection of beer, wine, spirits and

Continued on pg 28

Street tacos, like these tacos al pastor, are a highlight. | MABEL SUEN The restaurant serves frozen margaritas in an array of flavors. | ART CREDIT

LEVELS

Continued from pg 27

a small cocktail menu. Jeremy Devers, Levels’ bartender, worked with Ikanone and did his own research to create a selection of drinks that utilize Nigerian flavors. These include the Zobo, made with hibiscus flower, ginger, pineapple juice and vodka; as well as the Chapman on the Rocks, a refreshing concoction that features Fanta, Sprite, grenadine, lemon and lime juices and bitters.

The cornerstone of the Levels experience is the food, which Ikanone and Johnson hope will be more than just delicious; they want it to be a transportive and immersive experience. The pair have been tirelessly working with their executive chef, Ruqaiya, to bring to St. Louis a taste of what it is like to dine in Nigeria with dishes like pepper soup, a lightly spiced and herbal concoction made with goat meat. Jollof rice, another traditional Nigerian offering, features seasoned rice simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with scotch bonnets, then accented with spinach, plantains and beef or chicken. The

three are also excited about their Owambe fried rice, which pairs thyme-scented long grain rice with stir fried vegetables, beef or chicken and spinach. Desserts include caramelized plantains, served with vanilla ice cream.

“My mom was always in her kitchen; I loved it and wanted to do the same thing,” Chef Ruqaiya says. “Whether it’s cooking rice or cleaning meat, I put love into every part of the process. We want to share our culture and cuisine with the community that has now become our home.”

This desire to share an important part of his heritage is precisely why Ikanone wanted to open Levels in the first place.

An engineer by trade, he left behind a successful career to finally take the leap and pursue his passion, which he hopes will add to Washington Avenue’s arts and culture landscape. He admits it has not always been an easy task. In addition to the usual hiccups that accompany building out and setting up a new restaurant, Ikanone and Justice faced a grueling liquor license application process, which required a six-months-long public relations campaign to secure the consent of their Washington Avenue neighbors. Sipping a Zobo while watching videos of popular west African musicians at Levels’ bar is sweet enough; knowing what the husband and wife had to go through

to provide this experience makes it even more delicious.

“Our vision and goal is to expose you to Nigeria,” Ikanone says. “We want to give you a brief taste of what it’s like to be at a nice restaurant in Nigeria. All the drinks and food are authentic. We want the smells and taste to transport you to the streets of Lagos.” n

Levels Nigerian Cuisine will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 until 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. until midnight. The restaurant will also serve Sunday brunch, beginning at 11 a.m. Service on Sundays will end at 6 p.m.

Wooden booths provide seating in both the lounge and dining areas. | CHERYL BAEHR

Ono Ikanone and Justice Johnson are the co-owners of Levels. | BRADEN MCMAKIN The Zobo is made with hibiscus flowers, ginger, pineapple juice and vodka. | CHERYL BAEHR

“ I have been cooking and sharing Nigerian culture and food since I was in college with whoever would listen or come over.”

Quality Mexican Eats

Los Arcos, now open in Lindenwood Park, is the long-held dream of siblings Maria and Miguel Ruiz

Written by SCOUT HUDSON

Everything at Los Arcos (3073 Watson Road, 314-256-1295) is in conversation. A portrait of Frida Kahlo glances through the window at papel picado waving guests inward. Ceramic lizards perch above white leather booths. Guitarrón plucks sound over the stereo while clinking glassware keeps time.

Above all is the sound of owner and family matriarch Maria Ruiz. She readies the kitchen, prepares the bar and tends to her grandchild as the two play trains at a nearby table.

“She does everything. We call her Wonder Woman,” says Ruiz’s daughter, Jesi Moore, while juicing limes.

Boardwalk Departs Post Dispute

A new business will be announced soon for the South Grand space that has been dormant for a year

Written by RYAN KRULL

The dispute between a longtime South Grand ice cream shop owner and a would-be South Grand ice cream shop owner has come to a close.

Dave McCreery, the owner of the building at South Grand Boulevard and Arsenal Street, has again taken possession of the space that for many years housed the Tower Grove Creamery, which McCreery ran with his wife, Beulah Ann.

Matt Ghio, an attorney for the McCreerys, says the McCreerys “look forward to introducing a new business to the neighborhood soon and are very grateful for the community support

Ruiz long dreamt of starting a restaurant with her brother Miguel Ruiz. After he launched a successful restaurant in Atlanta, the siblings decided to expand westward toward Ruiz, who was living in St. Louis. They found their second home through a newspaper ad — a brick building off Watson, the previous location of Brazie’s Ristorante.

Since finding the space eight months ago, Ruiz truly has done it

all — laid new flooring, repainted ceilings and installed an industrial walk-in freezer — but, of course, not without the help of her family. Since opening late March, the Los Arcos staff has grown to 12, or 14 if counting Ruiz’s grandchildren, who help clean the occasional table.

“We’re always laughing, having a good time,” Ruiz says. “They look at me like a friend instead of mom.” Family is at the heart of Los Arcos, and the staff’s shared

passion for quality Mexican eats is best tasted.

The menu is large, and the portions are big. It’s everything you’ve come to love at a momand-pop joint, and Los Arcos holds no bars — save the fully stocked one at the head of the restaurant. Guacamole is made to order, garnished with fresh cilantro and a spoon that fuels the temptation to eat it straight up.

Moore believes someone has ordered the Pineapple Fajitas every day that the restaurant has been open. The dish is as much of a treat for the taste buds as it is for the eyes. The stir of chicken, shrimp, cheese and vegetables is served in a halved pineapple upon a still-sizzling skillet.

Ruiz also recommends the TexMex Burrito. The three-meat burrito is smothered in red sauce, cheese and a salsa verde and has quickly become a Los Arcos staple. For the Ruiz family, the dishes at Los Arcos represent a dream come true. With a new opportunity to serve St. Louis, she feels grateful.

“I feel so happy, and I say, everyday, thank you to God,” Ruiz says, gesturing to her heart. n

Los Arcos is open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday noon to 9 p.m.

they have received.”

The McCreerys closed their shop last June after 12 years, believing that Boardwalk Waffles and Ice Cream owner Eric Moore would open a new location of his ice cream sandwich joint in the space in a matter of a few weeks.

Moore signed a lease and took possession of the property but never opened for business. Also, in a pattern repeated at multiple Boardwalk locations across town, Moore missed several month’s

worth of rent payments. McCreery told the RFT that when he tried to kick Moore out, Moore refused to leave.

The lawsuit McCreery filed against Moore, as well as the vacant space’s impact on the neighborhood as a whole, was chronicled in an RFT cover story last month.

An initial ruling in the lawsuit went against McCreery in March, and he and Ghio had asked for a new trial. But before that trial could take place, the two

sides reached an agreement, the specifics of which have not been made public.

“The McCreerys are pleased to let their South Grand neighbors know they are in possession of their ice cream shop,” Ghio says.

The Post-Dispatch reported last week that a similar dispute between Moore and a landlord in Soulard had been resolved, and that Moore had vacated the space that had been a Boardwalk location on Russell Boulevard. n

The guacamole is made fresh to order. | Scout Hudson

The storefront at South Grand Boulevard and Arsenal Street has been dark since last June. | BRADEN MCMAKIN

[FOOD NEWS]

Dressel’s Holds Soft Opening

The beloved Central West End gastropub returns after a threeyear hiatus due to the pandemic

Written by SCOUT HUDSON

Following a near three-year hiatus, Dressel’s is back, almost. The beloved Central West End gastropub held a soft opening over Memorial Day weekend and teased a full reopening on its Instagram two weeks ago.

“Dressel’s will reopen soon, friends,” Dressel’s Public House (419 North Eu-

[FOOD NEWS]

Lousies Closes

The restaurant wrote on Instagram that “the numbers just don’t add up”

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

It’s a bad week for loose-meat sandwiches: Lousies on the Loop (567a Melville Avenue, University City; 314696-2002) has announced that it is shutting its doors for good with a post on Instagram.

clid Avenue) wrote in that recent Instagram post.

The Central West End pub’s owner Ben Dressel announced the treasured restaurant’s closure amidst pandemic uncertainty in a June 6, 2020, Instagram post, later calling the closure “Covid hibernation syndrome.” However, the post came with a promise that Dressel’s wasn’t going dark forever.

Dressel wrote that he was going to use the time closed to do renovations and “transition into the next decade of business,” adding, “Dressel’s is a St. Louis landmark business and we intend to keep it that way.”

Donning a new quilted logo, Dressel’s has begun teasing its new look on social media. However, the updated menu suggests its signature dishes were spared from renovation — fear not, Dressel’s pretzels are still served with Welsh rarebit, and the famed porchetta “Louie” still has its home on the menu. n

The restaurant cited the difficulty of running a restaurant as the reason for the closure, saying that “the numbers just don’t add up.”

“Tough decisions have been made. We’ve enjoyed sharing our food with you and it breaks our hearts to have to close up shop,” the restaurant wrote.

Spouses Daniel and Kelle Boyer opened Louises last October and served Maid-Rite-style loose-meat sandwiches. Daniel told the RFT in March that he’d fallen in love with the unusual sandwich after going to the Mark Twain Dinette with his father as a child.

RFT Dining Critic Cheryl Baehr praised the restaurant’s fare in a review in March, saying that the loose-meat sandwich delivered “the pleasure of its slightly crispy, lacy meat edges in every bite.”

A sign at Dressel’s entrance invites the public in for its soft opening. | SCOUT HUDSON

Chill Listening

Donovan Crowder shares the story of St. Louis’ underground cannabis scene with his podcast

Too T3rpd

Written by ROSALIND EARLY

Donovan Crowder, 30, admits that smoking free weed was a motivation for starting his cannabis podcast.

“But then we [he and his co-host at the time] started actually getting local traction in the community, and I kind of started feeling as though we were a voice for the underground cannabis thing,” he says.

Crowder’s show, Too T3rpd, covers all things Missouri cannabis, including home growers, small cannabis businesses, infused dining experiences, caregivers and weed-related events such as the Mid-Mo Canna Expo. But the podcast also covers St. Louis arts and culture, with episodes about Paint Louis and PanNerdia.

Crowder’s focus on the underground cannabis scene came about after he went to a homegrowers event in 2018. “That’s how I started realizing you could actually do something with homegrown cannabis,” he says. “You didn’t necessarily have to be in the corporate industry.”

Too T3rpd is Crowder’s second podcast. His first, Triple Dub, lasted from 2019 to 2021. Donovan says he’s always wanted to be a podcaster and saw the potential to grow a media business out of what they were doing, but his cohosts at the time — Two Twins, a rapper and a manager — “didn’t see the seriousness of doing a podcast as much as I did.”

Crowder says that Two Twins wanted to help him break into the media industry more than they were interested in podcasting.

The first podcast was also fo-

cused on weed. (Crowder thinks for a good conversation you need weed, wine and water, hence the three Ws of Triple Dub.) Triple Dub also spoke in a “raw and unorthodox” way about race in the city, since Crowder and his co-hosts were from north St. Louis.

“The biggest thing I want to do is make uncomfortable conversations normalized,” Crowder says.

“It’s what I want to do with cannabis as well. For the longest [time] it’s been such a taboo thing, but I want to make it to where it’s mainstream. If you’re cool with somebody drinking beer, you should be cool with somebody smoking a joint.”

Triple Dub ended amicably and Crowder took some time to retool before starting Too T3rpd with Ryan Fargo, who has since left the show. Now Crowder’s cohost is Tyler Hawthorne, a.k.a. Some Socials T. The podcast name came during the first episode. “We were talking about terpenes, like the flavor profiles … and it was two of

us, and I was like, ‘We’re getting terped out — too terped on terpenes,’ and it just stuck,” Donovan explains.

Too T3rpd has made more than 100 episodes where they smoke, consume edibles, and talk to people about their personal journeys with cannabis and how they got into the industry. Despite his passion for cannabis, Crowder says he first started smoking just seven or eight years ago.

“I couldn’t smoke at CBC because we got drug tested,” Crowder says. He went to Christian Brothers College for high school. He discovered weed when he was at the University of Missouri and “got dabbed out” when he first tried it. He didn’t smoke for years afterward, but friends got him back into it.

Thanks to his podcast, Crowder now even grows his own weed.

“A lot of people were trying to get me to grow since I had the podcast, and I’ve had access to the best growers in the state,” Crowder

says. He was nervous to start, because he wasn’t sure he had enough knowledge. But he just did his first harvest in January.

“It turned out amazing,” Crowder says. And that was largely thanks to Mr. Livingsoil, a licensed caregiver and grower whose method produces regenerative soil and fully organic product. Crowder and Mr. Livingsoil worked on a video series together about the cultivation.

“I want to let everybody know that really home cultivation is the best,” Crowder says. “It’s no different than buying from the grocery store versus a farmers’ market.”

Crowder also finally got his med card thanks to guests on his podcast.

“I was nervous about the whole thing. A lot of people think that when you sign up, you get put on a list and all these other things,” Crowder says. “That’s one of the things I really wanted to do, was educate people on what the laws actually were and what was going on.”

Crowder also wants to branch out beyond cannabis to get more advertisers. “A lot of people still won’t deal with it because it’s not federally legal,” Crowder says. “So it’s really hard to find funding.”

Still, Crowder says that his podcast gets 1,000 listeners a week, and he recently quit his job to focus on the venture full time. He collaborates with other podcasts in the cannabis space such as Joint Highpothesis, who also does a St. Louis-based cannabis podcast, and eventually wants build up a full media empire called TT3 Productions.

“I love it,” Crowder says of working in media. “It’s my life. I came up doing manual labor. So none of this feels like work to me.” n

Donovan Crowder hosts a podcast that covers Missouri’s cannabis scene. | TYLER HAWTHORNE

“

If you’re cool with somebody drinking beer, you should be cool with somebody smoking a joint.”

Complaints Preceded Conflict

Students at Northwestern and Juilliard describe interactions with Jazz St. Louis’ now-CEO Victor Goines as hostile

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Not long after the RFT published an article detailing allegations from employees and volunteers about troubles at Jazz St. Louis under new president and CEO Victor Goines, former students of Goines reached out with a common response: sounds familiar.

They say the stories about Goines exploding in anger at Jazz St. Louis’ Young Friends Board — and other incidents that had some local staff members and volunteers alarmed — echoed their experiences.

His former Northwestern students say Goines alternated between being absent and micromanaging, often subjecting students to angry outbursts. A Juilliard graduate reports a hostile environment where another instructor would warn her away when Goines was in a foul mood.

Goines, 61, is an accomplished musician who has played with Wynton Marsalis since childhood. He served as artistic director of Juilliard Jazz, which he’d helped found, from 2000 to 2007, and as the director of jazz studies at Northwestern University from 2007 until last July.

In both cases, Goines’ former students report that his departure followed groups of students reporting concerns about his behavior to administrators.

“When you meet him, initially, he’s always very cordial, very nice, very personable, approachable, but the minute you get in

deep with him in terms of in a professional setting for a long term or an education setting with students, that’s when things turn really, really negative,” says Erica von Kleist, a Juilliard graduate who has played at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and is an instructor at the Manhattan School of Music.

When asked to comment on allegations about Goines’ tenure, Northwestern Director of Media Relations Hilary Hurd Anyaso said via email on May 3, “[W]e do not comment on personnel matters.” In April, Juilliard Director of Communications Allegra Thoresen directed the RFT to an article detailing Goines’ plans to focus on his music. Thoresen indicated Thursday that the school did not have further comment.

In response to a detailed list of questions, Jazz St. Louis Board Chair Bill Higley issued a statement in support of Goines, writing: “As part of the search process that led us to hire Victor, the Board sought input from colleagues who know him well, including during his time as a tenured professor at Northwestern. We received overwhelmingly positive reports demonstrating not just Victor’s qualifications but his commitment to our values of diversity and inclusion.”

The arts are rife with cliches of tough and sometimes harsh directors and teachers who turn out peerless musicians. Goines — and many of his supporters — seemed to place himself in that category.

“I would talk to some people about his behavior, and they would just be like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s just the way he does things.’ And certainly some of the older generation of players were like, ‘Yeah, but, you know, he gets results, and that’s the way that he’s decided to do things,” says Mikey Ahearn, a second-year graduate student at Northwestern. “He had this whole joke about, ‘This is why the boss has to be an asshole.’”

Higley has a similar idea, writing in a statement that Goines has a “more direct leadership style” that will “necessitate a period of adjustment.”

But did Goines’ behavior get results? Five of his former students say no, and Northwestern teacher evaluations shared with the RFT

seem to back them up.

The problems with the Northwestern jazz program began with Goines’ absences. His students report he spent a significant amount of time away on tour, which caused logistical problems — even as he insisted on having all decision-making power.

“He was away for most of rehearsals,” a former student says. “He would try to micromanage the logistics of everything via email or phone, and it just wasn’t really working.”

Von Kleist says that pattern dates back to Juilliard. “Not only was he not overseeing the functionality of the program because he was there intermittently, when he was there, if there was any confusion or anything wasn’t going right, he would be angry at the students,” she says. “He’d be angry at us, and he would let us know how awful we were.”

Goines would sometimes fall asleep in rehearsal after returning from touring, which could lead to tension. One student says Goines had “outbursts” from time to time, especially when “overworked and sleep deprived,” but that “as long as he felt like he was on the moral high ground, then it was OK.”

“I’ve had lessons where he’s falling asleep because he is tired from touring,” a different student says. “Then I’ve had lessons where I just never had a shot of it being a good

lesson because he was pissed off going into it.”

Northwestern teaching evaluations shared with the RFT show similar sentiments. “[P]rof Goines is rarely present - when he is, he’s in a flurry trying to fix and adjust things, only to disappear again as quickly as he came,” one wrote after the spring 2022 semester. Another wrote that Goines “was absent the majority of the quarter and would sometimes doze off or leave unexplainedly [sic] when he was present.”

Goines’ Northwestern students also take issue with the jazz program he designed. They say the curriculum was not differentiated enough from the classical music program and did not include a jazz theory sequence. (Northwestern did not respond to an email asking for comment on those complaints.)

Students were also frustrated by the hurry-up-and-wait push-pull caused by his absences.

“We didn’t know what we were playing until like two weeks before the show,” one student says. “We’d have three rehearsals a week that, at that time, were not managed well because Goines was absent. And we were just sitting there kind of twiddling our

Continued on pg 36

Jazz St. Louis named Victor Goines president and CEO last year. | CEDRIC ELLSWORTH

“ He would bully us; he was incredibly emotionally abusive to a lot of us ... He’d get into shouting matches with us for no apparent reason other than to just assert some kind of dominance.”

VICTOR GOINES

Continued from pg 35

thumbs playing different songs until eventually we had like crunch time, and all of a sudden he decided our setlist and then he got angry at us for not knowing the music.”

The teacher evaluations, which are public to everyone at Northwestern, reflect these statements. Students from the winter 2021 semester said, “This quarter was — in general — a failure.” “NUJO made jazz not fun for me.” “[T] ough environment in rehearsals.”

From spring 2021: “poor directorial management,” “Consistently disorganized. We are treated by Mr. Goines like children and are frequently made examples of and talked down to in a demeaning and unhelpful manner.” “Woefully underwhelmed by jazz orchestra.” “Everything that went wrong with the winter quarter has happened again.”

The trend continued in spring 2022, though there are fewer overall: “Oh man, what to say that hasn’t already been said. I think we should take a second look at how we are handling this class’s instruction. Structure is lacking.”

What’s the difference between talk that’s tough and that is abusive?

Von Kleist says that Goines was “punitive in his demeanor” toward students at Juilliard, that he’d open rehearsals by saying things like, “You are the most disrespectful students I’ve ever had.” She continues, “He would say things like, ‘You were the most ungrateful, immature people, young people I’ve ever worked with.’” Even so, she says he was angry but calm, and she only witnessed him raising his voice a few times.

It was different at Northwestern. The students there say Goines semi-regularly yelled at them in rehearsal or over the phone and that he’d make threats in the heat of the moment.

“He would bully us; he was incredibly emotionally abusive to a lot of us and would throw a tantrum when he’d been away on tour for three, four months and then came back and couldn’t micromanage everything,” Ahearn says. “He’d get into shouting matches with us for no apparent reason other than to just assert some kind of dominance.”

An undergraduate said Goines would use the Socratic method with his students and then get

frustrated if they didn’t furnish the correct answer, describing how Goines’ temper would flare and he’d raise his voice. “It would just kind of be sudden and unexpected.”

The student describes an incident in rehearsal, saying Goines liked to close the door and have what he called a “come to Jesus” moment. Once, when displeased with a recent concert performance, Goines told the students that they weren’t motivated and not practicing enough. The student made a suggestion about submitting videos of practice and Goines said that was too strict and boxed in, going so far as to compare it to slavery.

“I was like, ‘Whoa,’” the jazz student recalls, saying that they replied that Goines’ statement was an over-exaggeration and a fallacy. “Then [Goines] said, ‘You don’t have to contribute to the conversation.’”

During the discussion, the student says Goines raised his voice and laughed in the student’s face. “It was demeaning,” the jazz student says. “... He got extremely defensive, like, ‘What are you saying? I’m part of the problem?’”

A third student describes how Goines went up to a student in rehearsal and started “aggressively clapping in his face,” and told the room, “If you guys don’t play well, ‘I’ll be Whiplash’” — referencing the 2014 movie about an abusive music instructor.

“It’s just an absurd comment to make for anybody to model any of their teaching off of that movie,” the student says, noting that Goines was never physical with them.

Goines’ temper, Ahearn says, often came up when someone questioned him. “He would start off speaking kind of naturally. And then you’d suggest an alternative or maybe question a bit further. And he’d go nuts.”

Von Kleist says that Goines’ temper was so known that her private instructor, the late Joe Temperley, would warn her if Goines was in a bad mood. “He would call me and say, ‘Hey, you might want to avoid Victor because he’s just on a rampage,’” she says.

Ahearn, who is non-binary and had used a move from London to Chicago to study jazz and “live a little more authentically,” says initially Goines was supportive and OK with them wearing dresses during performances. Yet, “the more I spoke to him about it,” the more Goines seemed to misgender Ahearn.

When Ahearn brought up these

issues with Goines, Goines asked if Ahearn had considered it might be difficult for others.

“And had I considered that maybe, you know, I don’t have to wake up every morning and pick up a gun and fight in Ukraine?’” Ahearn recalls. “I said, ‘Well, I do have to risk my life because every time I walk out the door, I might not come back. The only choice I’m making here is whether to live authentically or not.”

Several students who spoke with the RFT about Goines had either considered dropping out of the program or actually had.

“I think the environment was such that people found it easier to quit and not say anything rather than face any potential repercussion,” Ahearn says.

Two of the undergrad students who spoke with the RFT left the jazz program. One dropped the major but picked it up again after hearing Goines was gone.

“I thought about coming back,” a third student says. “This is something quite sad — or was quite sad to me and now I’m OK with — I think my interest in pursuing music professionally is gone. I don’t know if I can fully say that Goines took it out of me.”

Von Kleist says that she cried in the bathroom after rehearsal almost daily and that she couldn’t listen to a jazz record for five years after graduating. “They were so soured for me, they gave me such a pit in my stomach because I associated school with them,” she says. “... He really nearly killed my love of this music.”

About a year after she graduated in 2004, Von Kleist says she declined to take part in a group of jazz students who’d gone to make a formal complaint about Goines to then-President Joseph W. Polisi because she was “so traumatized that I can’t even be in that building.” But she is sure the meeting happened.

Reached by phone last Tuesday, Polisi said that he couldn’t recall the incident and that he can’t comment on it.

Ahearn says that it was difficult to say anything about Goines because he is a famous, well-connected musician and because he’d alternate between generosity and verbal abuse.

“No one would believe us,” Ahearn says. “Like we’d go out maybe after a concert, and he would treat all his friends to this wonderful meal, and they would

think he was so friendly. And so wonderful.”

Then, in another moment, he’d lose his temper at the students.

“[Goines] threatened people with not not having a future in the program because of not knowing one simple thing, or you’d get phone calls about how you were really fucking up and then a phone call later, asking you how your life was going and him telling you to just treat him as another guy when he just kind of ruined your entire selfesteem,” Ahearn says.

Ahearn never reported Goines’ behavior to Northwestern. But the other three students say that they did and that a group of other students did as well.

“[The assistant dean’s] response was always, ‘Yeah, we’ve heard this before,’” one student says. 

How Goines came to leave Northwestern and how he ended up at Jazz St. Louis is not clear.

In an interview with the RFT last August, Goines said that he’d retired from Northwestern because “it’s a good time to hand the football off to somebody else.” At that time, Goines said he was aware of the opening at Jazz St. Louis but that he didn’t apply for it immediately.

“However, in the past month or two, some information was coming to me that made me reconsider and look at it through a different lens,” Goines told the RFT.

Ahearn says that he and others didn’t hear about Goines’ departure at the end of the semester. Instead, in a letter dated August 25, Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery announced that Goines had left and that an interim director had been appointed.

“I am writing to share the news that Professor Victor Goines has resigned, effective July 31, from his positions as a member of the faculty in the Bienen School of Music and as Director of the Jazz Studies Program. We are grateful to Professor Goines for his contributions during his 14-year tenure in the Bienen School of Music,” Montgomery wrote.

Then the Northwestern students saw that Goines had landed at Jazz St. Louis — and, as weeks turned to months, read that some jazz supporters here were having similar experiences.

“It was interesting seeing the parallels,” one Northwestern student notes, later saying, “I just wanted to make aware that this is a pattern about Mr. Goines.” n

In Balance

St. Louis’ Lizzie Weber returns with a new album, Fidalgo, this month

Written by STEVE LEFTRIDGE

We are sipping chardonnay and strolling through the Missouri Botanical Garden on a warm Saturday. Of the two of us, one is sweating, and it isn’t Lizzie Weber, even though she is the only one in jeans. Her healthy homeostasis is in tune with her calm demeanor, exemplified by her measured, precise speaking style and soft and well-crafted sentences, which happen to reflect the lush, dreamy landscapes of her music.

St. Louisans first heard that sound on Weber’s 2014 self-titled debut, which marked the arrival of a unique local songwriter of sonic delicacy and emotional power. Equally deft on piano and guitar, Lizzie Weber established her as a singer of autobiographical sketches that provide universal touchstones wrapped in ethereal modern folk. Now, she returns with an elegant new album, Fidalgo, out June 9.

Songwriting was not always Weber’s artistic passion. Raised in Richmond Heights, Elizabeth Weber Schrank was a theater kid at Nerinx Hall in the early ’00s. “I’m a Marker,” she says, referring to Nerinx’s mascot as we pass by the forsythias. “I loved it. I attribute my being an artist to going to Nerinx and the teachers there.” She lights up when discussing specific musicals in which she had starring roles: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jesus Christ Superstar (Chaminade), Fiddler on the Roof (Saint Louis University High).

Despite feeling at home in front of audiences, Weber describes herself as “a loner in some ways” who was traumatized by bullying early on. “I was a really sensitive kid,” she says. “The bullying had left me feeling anxious, and I had a hard time connecting to people, and theater — that form of selfexpression — was a healing experience for me.”

Weber’s love of the stage took her to Marquette University on a theater scholarship, but after two years, she dropped out, bolted

for L.A. and started auditioning for television pilots. Before long, though, she started shifting gears.

“I was turned off by the acting world,” she says. “I wasn’t getting [acting] work, so that’s when I started figuring out my identity as a songwriter.”

While working the front desk at a yoga studio, Weber started playing her dreamy acoustic-guitar-based songs during the relaxing savasana poses at the ends of classes, after which blissed-out yogis started reaching out to her.

Weber found the pivot to songwriter a natural fit. “I love the collaborative aspect of theater, and with music-making, it’s really the same thing,” she says as we cross into a sweep of lilacs. “Even if I’m the primary songwriter, I do it for the collaborative experiences, where you can take your ego out of the picture and let your collaborators bring in an objective emotion to a piece of music.”

Once back in St. Louis, Weber recorded her debut album. It was also around this time that she, as a performer, dropped her

surname Schrank in favor of her middle name Weber. “It’s German for ‘to weave,’” she explains. “I just like the poetic aspect of that.” Soon, though, another life change uprooted her again.

In 2016, she moved with her

boyfriend (now husband) Brian to Anacortes, Washington — a small community on Fidalgo Island, which gives Weber’s new album its name. Brian, a Navy pilot at the time, was stationed at nearby NAS Naval base. “I was sad about leaving St. Louis because I had left my band and community that had supported me as an artist,” she says while we look at the nation’s largest basswood tree. “But I was excited by the music industry in Seattle, so I was driving 90 minutes to Seattle multiple times a week for little to no money, trying to replace the community I felt I had lost when I left St. Louis.”

Her efforts eventually paid off with two key connections. First, she met guitarist Ben Meyer of the Seattle band the Sky Colony, who helped craft the sound in Weber’s new project. “That’s when I really started to get serious about putting together songs for a new album,” she says. With Meyer, she would record eight songs, and while other songs would follow over the next four years as a

Lizzie Weber’s new album, Fidalgo, is named after Fidalgo Island in Washington, where she and her husband lived. | TIM GEBAUER/ELECTROPOLIS

“ It’s like listening to that deepest part of myself saying I am trying to get through to you. And if I can get through to myself, maybe I can get through to other people too.”

LIZZIE WEBER

Continued from pg 37

series of singles and EPs, “those eight songs felt like they went together based on the stories they told,” she says. Those stories will finally be made available to the public as Fidalgo.

The other connection was with Markéta Irglová, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who gained fame as half of the Swell Season and co-star of the film Once alongside Glen Hansard. Mutual admirers, Weber and Irglová started working together and formed a close friendship, and when Weber traveled to Irglová’s home in Iceland to record two of Weber’s songs in 2018, “River” and “Free Floating,” it was a dream come true. “She’s a heroine of mine,” she says. “I attribute her music to part of why I went down this path as a songwriter.”

Weber often takes philosophical turns as she talks, tapping into her beliefs about the universe and manifesting results, including the forces that brought her together with Irglová. “At the end of the day, people have kindness in them,” she says. “And if you just put yourself out there and be the kindness that you hope will be reciprocated, that’s when good things will come.”

Weber’s musings extend not just to the good times. She creates music as a form of therapy for trauma, as well, a topic she goes into when asked about her tendency to write slow, languid music, often in minor keys. “My writing stems from a place of subconsciousness,” she says amid the dead-nettles. “It’s therapeutic in terms of dealing with depression and anxiety from a young age. When I finish a song, it’s like, OK, there’s some closure on that. My songs are largely autobiographical for that reason.”

She believes some of the songs on Fidalgo have even proven to be prophetic, noting the suffering brought on by the pandemic or personal tragedies in her own life. After moving back to St. Louis in 2020, the pandemic put release plans for Fidalgo on hold, and then things got even more complicated. “I found out that I had COVID and then the next day I learned that I was pregnant,” she says. “I lost the baby at seven weeks on January 1st.”

Several months later, her father underwent emergency openheart surgery, and it looked as though another devastating loss was imminent. “I asked myself all

year why I lost the baby,” she says. “And then on December 31, they told us my dad was going to live. Death and rebirth. I truly looked at that as the universe in balance.”

Death on New Year’s Day and life on New Year’s Eve is a powerful story that Weber believes can be found in the lyrics to Fidalgo as she revisits them. “It’s like listening to that deepest part of myself saying I am trying to get through to you,” she says. “And if I can get through to myself, maybe I can get through to other people too. Or other people will hear that there’s been love and suffering and heartbreak and perseverance, all these things we are faced with every day, and we just keep going. That’s what this record is.”

The good news is that her dad is still here to listen to the new album and watch the new videos, like the one she shot for the sultry single “Be Your Love,” which her dad jokingly labeled as “risqué.” The video features a disrobed Weber luxuriating in blue light mixed with images of her frolicking in Lafayette Park. “That’s part of art-making,” she explains next to the begonias. “It’s a song about love, lust, sacrifice, getting through the ups and downs together. I wanted it to have a beautiful visual component.”

Another standout track is “Blood Meridian,” inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, one of Weber’s favorite books and one that reflects the mix of beauty and sadness often at the heart of her songs. The track also plays to Weber’s strengths as a songwriter who can conjure cinematic sonics. “[The song] is what I could imagine the world of the novel sounding like,” she says.

Fans will be able to hear these opulent songs live on June 8 when Weber plays an album-release show at the Dark Room at Grand Center with opening support from Joanna Serenko. More tour dates are on the way this year, and Weber recently announced big news: She will be the opening act for the Swell Season’s concerts in Denver and Salt Lake City in August, part of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s tour for the 15th anniversary of Once.

It’s another milestone in Weber’s upward trajectory, successes she wants to share with others.

“The power of love and spirituality and hope is everything we have,” she says. “My hope is that people who are in need of their own hope will see some of themselves in these songs and will persevere.” n

Flying High

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a dazzlingly worthy sequel to Sony’s 2018 triumph

Written by ANDREW WYATT

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Anyone can wear the mask.” Such was the rallying cry of 2018’s spectacular SpiderMan: Into the Spider-Verse, which alighted in an increasingly drab and soulless subgenre like a miraculous bolt of crackling energy. Sony Animation’s Oscarwinning, multi-dimensional romp wasn’t just a great Spidey flick, but one of the greatest superhero films of all time and a singular, dazzling feat of animation. Or maybe not so singular: The sequel Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse aims to one-up its predecessor in almost every way imaginable, from its audacious, frenetic style to the sheer quantity and diversity of Spider-People it throws at the viewer.

Initially, we’re back to just one web-slinger: Brooklyn teenager and part-time neighborhood Spider-Man Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has grown a little in the 18 months since the events of the last film, but he’s feeling the hole left by the departure of his multi-versal Spidey comrades, who scuttled off to their home realities. Okay, he’s mostly missing charming bad girl Gwen Stacy, a.k.a. SpiderWoman (Hailee Steinfeld). He’s also struggling to find some worklife balance in his harried crimefighting routine, even as his parents (Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez) attempt to navigate their son’s moody, secretive emergence into adulthood.

An unexpected crisis arises with the appearance of the Spot (Jason

Schwartzman), a third-string villain who blames Spider-Man for his space-warping portal powers, which he sees as more of a curse. While the Spot initially comes off as a bumbling wannabe, his desperate shenanigans begin to make a glitchy mess of the multiverse. This draws the attention of a sprawling interdimensional super-team of Spideys, led by the terse, hard-edged Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), who hails from the distant future. It turns out that Gwen has already been recruited by this team, and she’s not only been patching up the cosmic leaks left over from the previous film, but also tracking the Spot’s increasingly perilous moves. Miles, for his part, is just a little hurt about being excluded from this secret Spider club.

Things get complicated very quickly, as they are wont to do in interdimensional comic-book stories. Suffice to say that Across the Spider-Verse has the courage of its convictions: It takes its predecessor’s wild sci-fi conceits to their reductio ad absurdum endpoint and turns its all-inclusive ethos inside out. Anyone could wear the mask, but there’s always just one Spidey for each version of Earth, which means that the SpiderMan super-group is both infinite and ultra-exclusive. Miles’ dizzying plunge into the multiverse’s limitless potential turns into a hard-knock lesson in the allegedly ironclad constraints placed on those possibilities. He has always imagined himself as a bit of a rebel, and the disillusionment sets in

quickly once Miguel starts talking about all the cosmic rules that must be enforced. (Rick and Morty fans already know that nothing good happens when a few thousand versions of the same person become a self-appointed inter-dimensional authority.)

Like its predecessor, Across the Spider-Verse is jaw-droppingly dense with jokes, allusions and assorted Spider-Man deep cuts. Yet just like Into the Spider-Verse, the new film does not require viewers to possess an encyclopedic knowledge of each character’s comic history in order to savor its more immediate pleasures. The formal radicalism of the 2018 feature is here cranked up to psychedelic levels as new co-directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers marshal a breathtaking array of animation styles and techniques. Perhaps most impressively, Sony’s animators push the film toward a greater degree of visual abstraction in many sequences, trusting that viewers will follow along. It’s the closest that contemporary mainstream animation has come to capturing the sensibility of indie filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt’s World of Tomorrow trilogy. (Note: This is high praise.)

That Across the Spider-Verse proves to be an ecstatic experience on a purely sensory level is both thoroughly unsurprising and deeply gratifying. In an era when studio animation giants like Disney, Pixar and Illumination have refined their house styles to the point of ossification, the 2018 film felt like

a vitalizing thunderbolt. Across was practically obliged to up the ante, creatively speaking, and it unquestionably delivers (and then some). Relatedly, the new feature also expands and complicates the thematic scope of the original, while still managing to keep the story focused primarily on Miles’ evolving understanding of himself and his superheroic identity. That said, this outing sees Gwen receive more screen time, a mentor in the form of a motorcycle-riding Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) and motivations that are unconnected to her situationship with Miles. (Bechdel Test passed, baby!)

It’s not an easy feat to keep an audience invested in relatable characters even as it pummels that same audience with mind-melting visuals and nonstop sci-fi outlandishness. This is a movie that includes such goofiness as Lego Spider-Man, Cowboy Spider-Man and Spider-Tyrannosaurus, yet never loses the essential thematic thread of Miles’ anxieties about isolation and rejection. This is emblematic of the fundamental magic trick of the Spider-Verse films: They manage to proffer both sincerity and silliness, often in the same scene, while making the wildest, doubleblack-diamond stylistic feats look as easy and graceful as a webswing around the block. For viewers who have become exhausted with the artistry- and personalityfree content that often passes for superhero movies (not to mention studio animation) these days, Across the Spider-Verse arrives just in the nick of time. n

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers. Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham. Starring Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac. Opened June 2 in area theaters.

A visual development image featuring Pavitr Prabhakar, a.k.a. Spider-Man India, Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales fighting the Spot. | AYMERIC KEVIN. © CTMG INC.

A Pile of Laughs

With Clash of the Titans, Cherokee Street Theater Company spins mythology into a fun night

Written by TINA FARMER

Clash of the Titans

Adapted and directed by Suki Peters. Pre sented by Cherokee Street Theatre Company at the Westport Plaza through June 17. Showtimes vary, and tickets are $10 to $15.

Summer is generally a time when people loosen up a little and look for fun, and Cherokee Street The ater Company gleefully leans into that mood with a campy, laugh-packed take on Clash of the Titans. Most specifically, the parody-driven company turns its fo cus on an interpretation of the 1980s movie version of the story, complete with its own “mechanical” owl.

Perseus, the half-human, half-god son of Zeus, wants to save his beloved Andromeda from being sacrificed to appease Thetis, a nereid. To do so, he must defeat three foes: Calibos, Medusa and the Kraken. The gods observe all from their perch on Mount Olympus, occasionally intervening in the quest with obstacles and assistance. The company’s quick-paced interpretation delivers the story while amping up the fun with tongue-in-cheek ’80s pop culture references (the musical moments are particularly funny) and over-the-top campy comedy. Inventive puppetry, pratfalls and exaggerated characterizations add to the good time.

As Perseus, Ryan Lawson-Maeske showcases his exceptional physical comedy skills along with the cheesiest wig, blankest stare and toothiest smile in St. Louis. His reactions come across as both clueless and completely in character in ways that poke fun at the movie version. Ronald Dean Strawbridge’s Zeus is imperious, vain and proud of his son. Ever the philandering god, he struggles to remember wife Hera’s name, which gets great reactions from Fox Smith. She’s, frankly, over her husband, though she has fun meddling at times. Smith’s Medusa is gleefully wicked, though she, like Zeus, is prone to fits of vanity.

Payton Gillam is easy breezy as Aphrodite and Andromeda; Patience Davis is fiery and scheming as Thetis and a spot-on Dame Maggie Smith, while Nancy Nigh is protective of her beloved owl and a bit

FLEET

haughty and suspicious as Athena and Cassiopeia. Smith, Davis and Nigh also delight as the blind witches in a brief, hilarious scene with Lawson-Maeske. Joseph Garner effectively steals almost every scene he is in as Perseus’ mother, the grotesque Calibos and Bubo, the mechanical owl. Garner excels at portraying inanimate objects in a way that adds to the humor and fun. Rob McLemore, Stan Davis and Chuck Brinkley round out the ensemble in a variety of laugh-inducing moments. Suki Peters adapted and directed the witty show, which moves along briskly. Props master Stan Davis helps convey the story and video by Dan Foster, a period-appropriate sound design by Ted Drury and Morgan Maul Smith, lighting by Joel Wilper and costumes by Kayla Lindsay add the final comic touches to a thoroughly engaging story.

Leaping from Greek mythology to the silver screen to the stage, the company delivers the story with gusto and aplomb. It even developed a fun drinking game to accompany the show. If you are looking for a fun date night or family show that won’t break the bank and delivers mythology, campy nostalgia and abundant laughs, Clash of the Titans offers pitchperfect parody. n

Clash of the Titans delivers mythology, campy nostalgia and laughs. | ANASTASIYA VASYUTA

OUT EVERY NIGHT

Each week, we bring you our picks for the best concerts of the next seven days! To submit your show for consideration, visit https://bit.ly/3bgnwXZ. All events are subject to change, especially in the age of COVID-19, so do check with the venue for the most up-to-date information before you head out for the night. Happy showgoing!

THURSDAY 8

BUTCH MOORE: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

EMILY WALLACE AND ADAM MANESS: 7:30 p.m.,

$15. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

JAKE CURTIS BLUES: 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

NATE LOWERY: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

TWANGFEST 25 NIGHT 2: w/ James McMurtry, Robbie Fulks, Graham Curry & the Missouri Fury 8 p.m., $35. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

YARD EAGLE: 8 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis.

FRIDAY 9

BILLY STRINGS: 8 p.m., $42.50-$77.50. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000.

BOXCAR: 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

BRUISER QUEEN: w/ the Stars Go Out, Local Drags 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

FLYING HOUSE: 7:30 p.m., $15. Blueberry HillThe Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

JEREMIAH JOHNSON BAND: 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 3143765313.

KNEZ JAKOVAC QUARTET: 7:30 p.m., $20. Gaslight Theater, 358 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis.

LOUIS TOMLINSON: 7 p.m., $39.50-$99.50. Centene Community Ice Center, 750 Casino Center Dr, Maryland Heights.

LUCKY OLD SONS: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

ST LOUIS STANDS WITH TRANS BENEFIT SHOW: w/

The UFO’s, The Rose Court, Regina Miller, Amy Elizabeth Quinn, Blood Oath, Half Gallen & the Milk Jugs, Young Animals 7 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

SWEETIE & THE TOOTHACHES: 7:30 p.m., free.

The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

TREE ONE FOUR: w/ Crucial Rootz 10 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE TWANGADOURS: 7:30 p.m., $15. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

TWANGFEST 25 NIGHT 3: w/ Nadine, Amy LaVere & Will Sexton, BAJA 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

TYLER CHILDERS: w/ Marcus King 7 p.m., $40.50-$100.50. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

WHO RUN IT: 8 p.m., $10. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

YOUNG BUCK: 8 p.m., $25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SATURDAY 10

5 STAR ROSCOE: 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 3143765313.

ALLIGATOR WINE: 10 p.m., $11. Broadway Oyster

Twangfest 25

8 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, through Saturday, June 10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $25 to $160. 314-498-6989.

One of St. Louis’ most storied and beloved music festivals is officially a quartercentury old. Twangfest, St. Louis’ annual homage to all things alt-country, Americana, soul, blues and rock & roll, turns 25 this week, with a lineup that’s as of-themoment and in-the-now as it is true to its origins. Kicking off on Wednesday, June 7, with performances by the Freedom Affair and Black Joe Lewis, the fest will fill Off Broadway each night through Saturday, June 10. Thursday’s show features local favorites Graham Curry & the Missouri Fury as well as Robbie Fulks and James McCurtry; Friday will see the likes of BAJA, Amy LaVere & Will Sexton, and headliner Nadine hit the stage; and Saturday closes everything out with Town Cars, the Para-

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

BELOVED BENEFIT: w/ Mo Egeston All-Stars, AhSa-Ti Nu, DOUG, Jay-Marie is Holy 7 p.m., $20. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

BOXCAR: w/ Adam Gaffney, Tommy Goodroad, Car Microwave 8 p.m., $10. San Loo, 3211

Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314-696-2888.

BYWATER CALL: 8 p.m., $22. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

CEMETERY GATEZ: w/ Conquest 7:30 p.m., $15. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

COLLAB STL: w/ DJ Crimdollacray, Josh Levi, 18 & Counting, Jessee Crane, Dannie Fuller, Meredith Hopping 7 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

EUGENE & COMPANY: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. THE GASLIGHT SQUARES: 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

noid Style and the Waco Brothers. It’s a special thing to be able to keep a fest this ambitious going for as long as its organizers have, and especially to keep it grounded in its roots so thoroughly, but when you experience the community and joy of a Twangfest show you have to admit it’s no surprise.

Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

THE ARCH ENSEMBLE: 4 p.m., $15. The Arch Ensemble, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745.

BIG WRECK: 8 p.m., $25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

THE DEAL: noon, free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

ERIC LYSAGHT: 9 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

ERIK BROOKS: 8 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

ETHAN JONES & FRIENDS: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

NICKEL CREEK: 7 p.m., $39.50-$69.50. The Factory, 17105 N Outer 40 Rd, Chesterfield, 314-423-8500.

RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 3 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

TINK & FRIENDS: 7:30 p.m. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

ZERO FUNCTION: w/ Pucker Up, Socket, Burning Question 7 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

MONDAY 12

KEEPIN’ IT REAL: 6 p.m., free. Heman Park, 1028 Midland Blvd, University City.

MONDAY NIGHT REVIEW: w/ Tim, Danny and Randy 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PLANNING FOR BURIAL: w/ Janet, Heavy Pauses, Dour 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

TUESDAY 13

ANDREW DAHLE: 9 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

COLT BALL: 4:30 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

ETHAN LEINWAND: 7 p.m., free. Yaqui’s on Cherokee, 2728 Cherokee St, St. Louis, 314-400-7712.

NAKED MIKE: 7 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

ONDARA: w/ Kiely Connell 8 p.m., $30. City Winery St. Louis, 3730 Foundry Way, Suite 158, St. Louis, 314-678-5060.

QUINN XCII: 7:30 p.m., $29.50-$49.50. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244.

—Daniel Hill

Revolution Blues: The Waco Brothers’ inclusion, in particular, represents a bit of a full-circle situation for Twangfest, as the band performed at the very first iteration of the event back in 1997. According to a recent Post-Dispatch interview with Roy Kasten, one of the organizers (and a former RFT contributor), that early set was certainly a wild one: “There was stage diving. There was tequila. There were punkrock covers of George Jones and Johnny Cash. Back at the hotel, there were card and dice games till dawn. What happens at Twangfest stays at Twangfest — but it lives forever.”

HUNTER PEEBLES BAND: 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

NEIL BYRNE: 7:30 p.m., $45-$100. The Gaslight Theater, 360 N. Boyle Avenue, St Louis. ROCKIN RASCALS: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

TCHAMI: 10 p.m., $20-$500. RYSE Nightclub, One Ameristar Blvd, St. Charles.

THRICE: 8 p.m., $44. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TRACE ADKINS: 7 p.m., $50. Cedar Lake Cellars, 11008 Schreckengast Road, Wright City, 636-745-9500.

TWANGFEST 25 NIGHT 4: w/ Waco Brothers, The Paranoid Style, Town Cars 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

YISSY GARCIA: 8 p.m., $20. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis.

SUNDAY 11

ADULT FUR: w/ Christopher Douthitt, Florent Ghys 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp

SPIKE PIT: w/ Lizard Breath, Satan’s God 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

UNIVERSITY CITY SUMMER BAND: 7 p.m., free. Heman Park, 1028 Midland Blvd, University City.

WEDNESDAY 14

DIKEMBE: w/ Glazed, Family Medicine, Young Animals 7:30 p.m., $12-$15. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE FLAMING LIPS: 8:30 p.m., $34.50-$65. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244.

JOHN MCVEY BAND: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

MARGARET & FRIENDS: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

RIVAL SONS: 7 p.m., $34.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

VOODOO DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: 9 p.m., $14. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

The Waco Brothers. | VIA BANDCAMP

[CRITIC’S PICK]

St. Louis Stands with Trans Benefit Show

7 p.m. Friday, June 9. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Avenue. $10. 314-352-5226.

For those paying attention, the United States seems to be an increasingly scary place with each week that passes. As the right increasingly embraces culture warfare as the only thing it has to offer its adherents, its attacks on the fabric of society grow ever bolder, with some truly frightening ideas held by the fringe finding a pipeline into mainstream American thought through a conscienceless group of grifters and demagogues whose currency is outrage. Their latest target is literally Target, and also Bud Light and, improbably, Chick-Fil-A, all on the basis that each has gone unacceptably “woke,” which is just to say “tolerant of lifestyles that aren’t white, Christian and straight. And while we don’t feel particularly compelled to shed too many tears for massive corporations over these chuds’ backlash to their rainbow capitalism (especially when their cowardly CEOs opt to

21, 7 p.m., free. Just John’s Club, 4112 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-371-1333.

ABANDONCY: W/ Internet Dating, Angry Blackmen, Yuppy, Lobby Boxer, Thu., June 15, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

AS WE SPEAK: W/ Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, Rakesh Chaurasia, Fri., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., $45-$55. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

BABYJAKE: Thu., Oct. 26, 8 p.m., $22. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

BATS: W/ Ashley Byrne, Algae Dust, Thu., June 15, 8 p.m., $9.50. Central Stage, 3524 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

THE BLACK OPRY REVUE: Sun., Oct. 8, 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

cave to the pressure rather than stand for what’s right), it’s truly appalling to see the effect this latest fixation is having on the most marginalized among us. That’s why it’s so heartening to see ordinary people having each other’s backs, as is the case with the St. Louis Stands with Trans benefit show at the Heavy Anchor this week. A charitable affair for which all proceeds will go to the Metro Trans Umbrella Group, the show will feature seven St. Louis acts of various genres banding together to fight back against intolerance. It’s just the light we need in a world that appears darker by the day, and the perfect antidote to the hopelessness that can sometimes pervade.

CHAT PILE: Sun., Oct. 1, 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND INSIDE STRAIGHT: Fri., May 24, 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

CRAB FESTIVAL: W/ Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Fri., June 16, 9 p.m., $15. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

CROCE PLAYS CROCE: Sun., Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m., $59.50-$99.50. The Factory, 17105 N Outer 40 Rd, Chesterfield, 314-423-8500.

DREW LANCE: Sun., June 18, 9 p.m., free. Wed., June 21, 4:30 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE DUSTCOVERS: Fri., July 14, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

ELIADES OCHOA: Sat., March 9, 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

FUTURE AND FRIENDS: Sat., July 15, 7 p.m., $55$240. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

THE GASLIGHT SQUARES: Sat., July 8, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

GENE JACKSON’S POWER PLAY BAND: Fri., June 16, 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

GLASS MATTRESS EP RELEASE: W/ Blond Guru, Soft Crisis, Sat., June 17, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE HIRELINGS: Sat., July 1, 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

JANELLE MONÁE: Wed., Sept. 13, 8 p.m., $48.50$88.50. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

THE JAYHAWKS: Fri., April 19, 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

JOE CLARK: Sat., July 8, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

JOE METZKA: Fri., Aug. 4, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 3143765313.

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

OUMOU SANGARÉ: Sat., April 13, 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

PAUL BONN AND THE BLUESMEN: Thu., June 15, 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PAUL NEIHAUS: Thu., June 15, 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

PEDRITO MARTINEZ: Sat., Oct. 14, 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

PIERCE CRASK: Thu., June 15, 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE PLEIADES: Fri., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

PROUD LARRY: Fri., July 7, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 3143765313.

RACHEL DESCHAINE: Sat., Aug. 5, 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

RIVERBEND BLUEGRASS: Fri., July 28, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

ROYAL BLOOD: Fri., Sept. 22, 8 p.m., $35. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

SALTY GINGER BAND: Sat., July 22, 5 p.m., $10.

The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

SAM BUSH BAND: Fri., Feb. 9, 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

THE SCANDALEROS: Thu., June 15, 8 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis.

SIERRA HULL: Thu., March 21, 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

SLAPSHOT STL: Sat., July 29, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

SUMMER SOLSTICE BEER FEST: Fri., June 16, 6 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867.

SUNFLOWER SOUTH: Fri., July 28, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

—Daniel Hill

Beg Pardon: In our righteous outrage against the outrageous, we almost forgot to provide any details about the lineup, which is an excellent one that includes the UFOs, the Rose Court, Regina Miller, Amy Elizabeth Quinn, Blood Oath, Half Gallen & the Milk Jugs, and Young Animals. That’s definitely worth the $10 suggested donation for admission — so much so that you’d be perfectly justified in plunking down more.

BLACK VEIL BRIDES: Sun., Oct. 1, 7 p.m., $45$55. The Factory, 17105 N Outer 40 Rd, Chesterfield, 314-423-8500.

BLUE MOON BLUES BAND: W/Kent Ehrhardt, Sat., June 17, 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028

S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO: Wed., Nov. 15, 8 p.m., $40-$50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

BROTHER FRANCIS AND THE SOULTONES: Fri., June 30, 7 p.m., free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521.

THE BUTTERY BISCUIT BAND: Thu., June 15, 9 p.m., $9. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

CAPTAIN BULKHEAD AND THE PORTHOLES: Fri., July 21, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

JON BONHAM & FRIENDS: Sat., July 1, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

KEVIN BUCKLEY: Sat., July 29, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

LAS CAFETERAS: HASTA LA MUERTE: Wed., Nov. 8, 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

THE LAST DANCE - A TOM PETTY TRIBUTE: Fri., July 14, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 314-376-5313.

LAST GNOME STANDING: Sat., July 15, 5 p.m., $10. The Attic Music Bar, 4247 South Kingshighway Blvd., 2nd Floor, St. Louis, 3143765313.

LÉPONDS: W/ Jr. Clooney, Fri., June 16, 8 p.m., $10. Central Stage, 3524 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, 314-533-0367.

MISS JUBILEE: Fri., July 21, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. 314-773-5565.

MOON VALLEY: Sat., July 22, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

MR. WENDELL: Tue., June 20, 5 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

NEIL SALSICH AND FRIENDS: Fri., July 7, 7:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND: Thu., Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m., $55.50-$80.50. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington

SWEETIE AND THE TOOTHACHES NIGHT 1: Tue., April 16, 10 a.m., $23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

SWEETIE AND THE TOOTHACHES NIGHT 2: Wed., April 17, 10 a.m., $23. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.

THREE DAYS GRACE AND CHEVELLE: Wed., Sept. 20, 7 p.m., $39.50-$59.50. St. Louis Music Park, 750 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-451-2244.

TROPHY MULES: Fri., June 16, 8 p.m., free. Pop’s Blue Moon, 5249 Pattison Ave., St. Louis, 314-776-4200.

UNCLE ALBERT: Sat., June 17, 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

VOODOO ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND: Wed., July 19, 9 p.m., $14. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

VOODOO TINA TURNER: Wed., July 12, 9 p.m., $14. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

WEREWOLF JONES: W/ TABY, Condiments, Mon., June 19, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE WHIP APPEAL: W/ Sloopy McCoy, Dill Spears, Cole Bridges, Dank Fizzer, Wed., June 21, 8 p.m., $5. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis.

WITH GLEE: W/ Blush, Buck Fever, Buy Her Candy, Fri., June 16, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

WURST FEST: Sat., July 15, noon, free. Das Bevo Biergarten, 4749 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-224-5521. n

Young Animals. | VIA BANDCAMP

SAVAGE LOVE

Out With It

BY DAN SAVAGE

Hey Dan: I’m a solo polyamorous heteroromantic pansexual cisgendered man. My serious romantic relationships have all been with cis women, but most of my sex partners are men. Since I bottom when I am with men, most people think I must be closeted or suffer from “internalized homophobia.” This has caused tension with the women I date, ranging anywhere from women not wanting to be with me because they think I am “living a lie” to a recent situation where I was repeatedly “outed” by a bi female poly partner who told people (friends, random gay men) that I was “into guys” and “bi.”

I asked her many times to stop, explaining that while those labels may be accurate when I’m in a kink club or my doctor’s office, it is up to me to decide when to use them and with whom. And because I am hetero-romantic, I do not identify as pan or bi outside of those specific places. I think “LGBTQ” labels identify who one loves, whereas to me it is simply a description as the types of sex I enjoy. I had to end things with this woman over this, and when I explained why, she never admitted to doing anything wrong. While a part of me wants to just not tell women I date about my other partners, I know I can’t since my having sex with men who also have sex with men has health implications for my female partners. How do I convince women that disclosing my sexual preferences without my consent is wrong? How can men like me maintain our sexual privacy while responsibly disclosing relevant information to sex partners?

Pissed About Non-Necessary Erotic Disclosures

The first sentence of your letter is the most LGBTQ shit I’ve ever read in my life.

I mean, anyone who needs seven words with roots in Latin, Greek and Tumblr — clocking in at 20 syllables — to describe his sexual identity and romantic orientation is a lot of things, PANNED, but straight (single syllable!) isn’t one of them. Which is not to say the people you privately come out to as pan — the women you date — have a right to tell friends and/ or random gay men that you’re into guys (which you are) or that you’re bi (which you aren’t, although lay people often use “bi” and “pan” interchangeably). If the fact that you get fucked by men is something you wanna keep private … as private as you can keep something you’re doing in public sex environments (kink clubs) … your pre-

ferred sex partners (male) and preferred romantic partners (female) should respect your wishes and keep that shit private.

Sadly, PANNED, figuring out who can be trusted with something a partner has a right to know but that we would prefer kept private isn’t easy or obvious. All too often, we only learn someone can’t be trusted after they’ve violated our trust. On the flipside, demanding absolute secrecy about an important part of a relationship — telling our partners they can’t confide in friends they feel they can trust (and might later learn they can’t) — isn’t reasonable or fair. Your right to privacy isn’t absolute, PANNED; your right to privacy has to be balanced against the needs of the women you date to seek advice, perspective, and bullshit detection from their (hopefully) trustworthy friends.

Zooming back in on your sexual identity and romantic orientation … maybe I’m not being fair. You didn’t claim to be straight, PANNED, you only claimed not to identify as pan or bi outside of kink clubs and doctors’ offices.

Still, denying that you’re queer because you don’t fall in love with men — you’re not like the other girls — is a weird flex for someone who identifies as pansexual, PANNED, and it’s difficult to see what besides internalized homophobia and/or biphobia would motivate such a flexy denial. If you don’t want people who aren’t currently dicking you down and/or taking a rectal swab to think you’re queer, well, that’s your business. Just as some kinky people prefer to be perceived as vanilla, and some non-monogamous people prefer to be perceived as monogamous, some bi/pan people prefer to be perceived as straight. People are assumed to be straight, vanilla, and monogamous unless they speak up, and if you’re comfortable with those assumptions — if you’re comfortable benefiting from those assumptions — no one can force you to identify as LGBTQ when you aren’t getting your ass fucked or swabbed.

But kinky people can’t claim they’re actually vanilla because they only get whipped on Mondays, and people who are non-monogamous can’t claim they’re actually monogamous because they only fuck other people on MDMA — and you can’t claim to be something other than LGBTQ on a technicality like, “I only do queer shit with people I could never love.” You can’t embrace the LGBTQ label when it’s convenient (taking loads in kink clubs) and deny being LGBTQ when it’s not (on dates with women).

Actually, you can do that — that is, in fact, exactly what you have been doing. But you shouldn’t do that, PANNED, not right now, and not anymore. These are perilous times for LGBTQ people, as anyone who’s been paying attention to the

news knows. Anti-gay, anti-trans and antidrag laws are being passed all over the country, books are being banned, Pride events are being met with increasingly menacing protests. LGBTQ people are under siege, PANNED, and the people attacking queer people aren’t going to spare the hetero-romantic queers.

So while I’m sure everyone loves seeing your queer ass in the kink clubs, PANNED, we’re going to need your queer ass on the barricades, too.

Hey Dan: My boyfriend and I have struggled to connecting sexually more or less since the beginning of our long-distance relationship more than a year and a half ago. First the issue seemed to be condoms, which he couldn’t stand, but now that I’ve gotten an IUD his desire for sex has completely plummeted, and I spend my nights reading through r/deadbedrooms subreddit posts. He says “this usually happens” to him after about a year, but he wants to stay together and work through it. But in all honestly, he seems unbothered by the lack of sex. I started snooping — I am aware that is super problematic and something I need to work on and learned he had recently watched porn featuring exclusively Asian women and then found out he has been contacting random Chinese women via a social platform and asking to meet IRL so he could “learn more about Chinese language, culture, and food.” This just seems so off. I’m not anti-porn, and I understand we all have types, but I’m weirded out by the possible fetishization and lack of transparency on his end. Big red flag?

Perplexed And Sadly Sexless

That red flag is so big you can’t see the other red flags behind it. You’ve wasted a year and a half on this guy, and you shouldn’t waste another minute on him. If it took a little snooping for you to figure that out — if it took snooping for you to see that your boyfriend has been lying to you from the start and that he was prepared to tell you (and other women) bigger and worse lies — you don’t have to waste any time feeling bad about the snooping. DTMFA.

Hey Dan: I’m a cis woman that loves to go to sex clubs to try new things. The last event I went to, someone put his penis and balls inside of my pussy, which was such a great experience. But now I am thinking this was a mistake on my end because although he wore a condom on his penis, there isn’t a “ball condom,” at least so far as I know. I want to try this again, but I also want to do it in a low-risk way. Is this considered a risky sexual practice? I know that balls normally are uncovered, but normally there isn’t nearly so much

contact as having them inside of me. Somewhat Apprehensive Concerning Kink’s Estimated Danger

A stranger’s balls slapping against your vulva (or your taint, or your asshole, or your chin) while he fucks you while wearing a condom on his dick vs. a stranger’s balls inserted into you pussy while he’s fucking you while wearing a condom on his dick … doesn’t make an enormous difference where the risks of STI transmission are concerned. Viruses such as HPV, herpes or mpox can be transmitted via skin-to-skin contact regardless of whether his balls are inside your vagina or being pressed up against your vulva. (Your risk of contracting mpox during straight sex is very, very low — but if the men at the sex clubs you frequent also have sex with each other, they should get the two-dose mpox vaccine, and so should you.)

The location of infection can make an STI harder to spot, harder to treat and more painful to endure. If the dude shoving his dick and balls into you has a small wart or sore from syphilis, herpes, or mpox tucked away under his balls, you may not realize that it’s there. A genital wart inside your vaginal canal may go unnoticed at first, thereby delaying treatment, SACKED, whereas you or one of your other partners are likelier to spot one on your labia right away. (If you aren’t already vaccinated against HPV, the virus that causes genital warts, get vaccinated for that, too!)

In the final accounting, SACKED, letting someone put his balls inside you elevates your risk of contracting STIs that are passed through skin-to-skin contact — but these are STIs you’re already at risk of contracting during casual sex even when using condoms and, depending on how often you frequent sex clubs, STIs you have probably been exposed to before. The added risk here, again, is the potential location of an outbreak. Ultimately, only you can decide if the reward/thrill of having someone’s balls deep inside you is worth the additional risk. If so, go for it. If not, don’t.

P.S. While none of my gentleman callers has ever shoved his balls into me, I would imagine it would be a lot easier for a condom to unintentionally slip off if someone somehow managed to get his/ her/their dick and balls all the way inside so, maybe consider using a female/insertable condom next time.

P.P.S. Recognizing that we all make mistakes, the right time to think about the safety of our other partners is before someone shoves his balls in us, not after.

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