CIGARETTES
*Website restricted to age 21+ smokers ©2018 SFNTC (2)
2
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
St. Louis Riverfront Times 04-18-18 M18NC170 Earth Day.indd 1
riverfronttimes.com 3/21/18 8:17 AM
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
3
2018 4Runner 4x4 TRD Pro V6 Incoming
$45,497
2018 Prius Prime Advanced
$34,037
2018 Tacoma TRD Pro 4x4 Dbl Cab Stock #31569
$47,035
"Rebuilding in the City for the City" EXP. 4/30/18 *WITH APPROVED CREDIT. EXCLUDES TAX, TITLE LICENSE + $199 ADMIN FEE.
4
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
5
THE LEDE
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING
“I hope more people move here. I think what people feel as a lack or a deficiency in the city is a lower critical mass. I think people feel the void when a place is unoccupied. It’s like when your best friends leave your school and there’s no one. When more people move into the city I think it will definitely get better.” —LaLage Katunga, photographed with her dog Connor in tower grove parK on apriL 12
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
5
6
TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE
13.
Dream Deferred
PHOTO BY BILL BARRETT
Almost ten years after he soared as a basketball standout, Tommie Liddell III has quietly returned to Saint Louis University
THOMAS CRONE
Cover photography by
THEO WELLING
NEWS
ARTS
DINING
CULTURE
5
22
31
44
The Lede
Calendar
Cafe
Homespun
Your friend or neighbor, captured on camera
Seven days worth of great stuff to see and do
Shake Shack was inspired by St. Louis. But is it worth the hype?
Andre Cataldo may seem like a freak, but it’s all by design
9
24
34
45
Film
Politics
Side Dish
Nightlife
If Eric Greitens is treating this like Hell Week, writes Kevin Korinek, we’re screwed
You Were Never Really Here shows an inventive, uncompromising filmmaker
Mikey Carrasco, the new chef at Copia, brought a taste of Texas to St. Louis
A new podcast probes the seamy side of the East Side, while Attitudes is now for sale
9
26
36
46
Police
The SLMPD let some sunshine in — and immediately regretted it
Stage
The Dresser, at St. Louis Actors’ Studio, makes for enormously compelling theater
First Look
Hayley Abshear visits St. Louis’ first potsticker-themed restaurant, Crispy Edge
36
Food News
Sweet EM’s is serving coffee, ice cream and more in Dogtown, while BEAST is expanding to the Grove
40
Bars
Hofbrauhaus says ‘wilkommen’ at long last in Belleville
6
Written by
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
Music
A new recording studio is now open in Midtown
47
Out Every Night
The best concerts in St. Louis every night of the week
49
This Just In
This week’s new concert announcements
FROM THE PET PEOPLE AT CANIDAE
®
GRAIN FREE Bring In This Ad And Receive $2
OFF 4 lb bag $3 OFF 12 lb bag $5 OFF 25 lb bag of Under The Sun Limited to 1 bag. Expires 6/1/18
P ET C ONNE CT IO N 314-773-7387 2214 S. VANDEVENTER ST. LOUIS, MO 63110 MON-FRI 10AM-6PM SAT-SUN 10AM-4PM
Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Sarah Fenske E D I T O R I A L Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Editorial Interns Hayley Abshear, Megan Anthony Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Sara Graham, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer, Lauren Milford, Thomas Crone, MaryAnn Johanson, Jenn DeRose, Mike Fitzgerald Proofreader Evie Hemphill
A R T Art Director Kelly Glueck Contributing Photographers Mabel Suen, Monica Mileur, Micah Usher, Theo Welling, Corey Woodruff, Tim Lane, Nick Schnelle P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Evan Sult
M U LT I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Sales Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Michael Gaines C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers E U C L I D M E D I A G RO U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein Creative Director Tom Carlson www.euclidmediagroup.com N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (Missouri residents add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (Missouri residents add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com
St. Louis’ premier Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Tasting Emporium
General information: 314-754-5966 Fax administrative: 314-754-5955 Fax editorial: 314-754-6416 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977
SUNDAY BURLESQUE BRUNCH
25+ varieties of Balsamic Vinegar 25+ varieties of 100% EVOO from 7 countries”
NEW! HEMP SEED PASTA NOW AVAILABLE!
Central West End 115 N Euclid (314) 367-6457 St. Charles 617 S Main St. (636) 724-8282
Shop online with us at www.diolvias.com
Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue. The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2015 by Riverfront Times, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.
TWO SEATINGS EVERY SUNDAY 10AM & 1PM STARTING MOTHER’S DAY 5 0 0 N . 1 4 T H ST. D OW N TOW N ST. LO U I S riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
7
8205 GRAVOIS ROAD • ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63123 • (314) 631-3130 MIDAMERICAARMS.COM • FACEBOOK.COM/MIDAMERICAARMS
RIFLES & SHOTGUNS SAFES & KNIVES
HAND GUNS
YOUR HOMETOWN FIREARMS RETAILER FOR OVER 15 YEARS! 2015
WINNER!
VOTED BEST GUN SHOP OF 2015
-2015 RIVERFRONT TIMES BEST OF ST. LOUIS
YOUR MUSIC HAS A HISTORY Tuesday, MAY 1
A Tribute to New Edition by Project X PLUS! ’80s Fashion Contest Tuesday, MAY 8
Javier Mendoza
SPRING 2018
PLUS! Soccer Activities with Club Atletico Tuesday, MAY 15
Fat Pocket PLUS! I Fell in Love in St. Louis: Wedding Vow Renewal Night Tuesday, MAY 22
Queens Blvd. PLUS! Best ’80s Hair Contest
6–8pm Forest Park • Museum’s North Lawn mohistory.org/twilight-tuesdays
8
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
Tuesday, MAY 29
A Tribute to Beyoncé by Taynka PLUS! Niki + Miche Fashion Truck
NEWS
9
SLMPD Let the Sunshine In. Oops Written by
SARAH FENSKE
F
or months, activist Phillip Weeks has been systematically gathering St. Louis police policies and procedures. His initial request under the state’s Sunshine law seeking a complete list of policies, manuals and special orders was denied as too burdensome. But by breaking it into smaller requests, he’s been able to get most of what he wanted. Weeks has begun posting the information online under the rubric of an organization he founded called Gram, an acronym for GRassroots Accountability Movement. On the morning of April 9, the RFT published a story about his efforts: “St. Louis Police Policies Are Going Up Online, Whether SLMPD Is Ready or Not.” Turns out, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is decidedly in the “not ready” camp. On the very day our story was published, Police Chief John Hayden sent a department-wide email making it clear he had “grave” concerns about the information’s publication. “Today, it was brought to my attention that the Police Section of the City Counselor’s Office improperly released un-redacted policies and procedures outlined in our Special Orders and Police Manual, as a result of a Sunshine Request. This information is now posted in an article in the Riverfront Times. As you know, some of this procedural information would include tactical responses to certain types of incidents; thus making this release of information an officer-safety concern,” Hayden wrote. The new chief added, ominously, “We are currently working with the Police Section of the City Counselor’s Office to determine what remedial legal action can be taken Continued on pg 10 with respect
Police Chief John Hayden called the department’s release of its policies “an officer-safety concern.” | DOYLE MURPHY
HELL WEEK? HE KNOWS ALL ABOUT THAT Written by
KEVIN KORINEK
Y
ou might think that the governor is in hell right now. But it wouldn’t be the first time. On April 11, when Eric Greitens called a press conference just one hour before the release of a committee report exploring reasons for his possible impeachment, some political observers assumed he must be preparing to tender his resignation as governor of Missouri. But Greitens would do no such thing. Even as the committee released an incredibly damning report charging that he’d hit and coerced a
vulnerable woman, Greitens did the opposite: He doubled down on his defense. During a carefully worded statement, Greitens’ eyes swung from left to right and then stared directly into the cameras as he reiterated that the report was full of lies and the result of a “political witch hunt.” He disparaged his alleged victim, claiming the report was “based on the testimony of someone who said under oath that they may be remembering this through a dream,” an assertion that’s misleading at best. And then he accused lawmakers on the committee of “smearing, lying and attacking people who want to change how things are done.” It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to any of us. As he likes to constantly remind people, Greitens is one thing above riverfronttimes.com
all else: a Navy SEAL. That means he prides himself on being able to endure things mere mortals cannot. Of course he’s not going to resign. He’s been conditioned not to quit. Come a loss of his political ambitions and utter humiliation, yet still he marches on. We may well be stuck with him until or unless someone literally drags him out of the governor’s office. The governor’s first book, The Heart and the Fist, is illustrative. In it, he details an early time in his military career, painting the portrait of a disciplined young man looking to be tested like an ancient Spartan as he sought to survive the worst week of his life — what the Navy lovingly refers to as Hell Week. Hell Week is the final test during Basic Underwater Demolition/Seal (BUD/S) training. Enlisted men train
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
Continued on pg 11
RIVERFRONT TIMES
9
SAINT LOUIS ORCHESTRA
Sonic Showcase
ROBERT HART BAKER Conductor
Friday, April 27, 8pm Skip Viragh Center for the Arts, Chaminade 425 S. Lindbergh Frontenac, MO 63131
Debussy:
Prelude to “The Afternoon of a Faun”
Weber:
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73 1st mvt. (Allegro) Evyn Levy, clarinet
Ravel:
A Boat on the Ocean, from “Miroirs”
Dvorak:
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 1st mvt. (Allegro) Anna Groesch, cello
Mahler:
Symphony No. 1 in D Major, “Titan” FOR TICKETS OR INFORMATION
(314) 421-3600
www.stlphilharmonic.org 10
RIVERFRONT TIMES
HELL WEEK Continued from pg 9 side by side in BUD/S for two weeks before engaging in Hell Week, which is exactly what it sounds like: bruising physical tests that push every fiber of your muscle to the limit, turning your mind to mush and shoving the very core of your being into a corner. Only if you pass are you granted operational training to become a Navy SEAL. It is no easy feat. Drill instructors encourage men to quit daily. All they have to do is ring a bell three times. Ding, ding, ding. Why hasn’t Eric Greitens resigned already, sparing his wife and family and even himself? Just read the book. SEAL training has prepared him for this; he likely views this week of shame and utter friendlessness as another Hell Week, still convinced he’s the hero in a story where everyone else considers him the arch-villain. He writes, Every man has a different story of hell week... But in a larger sense, every Hell week story is the same: A man enters a new world with the aim of becoming something greater than he once was. He is tested once, twice, three, four, five times, each test harder than the last. Then comes the most difficult test of his life. At the end of the week, he emerges a different man. He has met the hardest test of his life, and he has passed or he has failed. During Hell Week, Greitens trained his mind to endure the physical challenges and look ahead to meal time breaks to recuperate. Others might ring the bell; he presses on. I can quit later if I have to, but this, whatever this is that I have to do — hold this log over my head, or sit in the freezing surf, or run down the beach with the boat bouncing on my head — I can do this for at least ten more seconds, and that’s really all I have to do. After he completed Hell Week, he had lots of time to reflect on some of his fellow Navy servicemen who decided they couldn’t complete the training. He concluded that it all came down to controlling fear. “We heard the bell ring — ding ding ding — they chose another life.” The ding ding ding was for men who lacked his courage. They quit, I believe, because they allowed their fear to overwhelm them. As the sun went down, and the thoughts of what was to come grew stronger and stronger, they focused on all of the pain that they thought
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
Greitens has refused to quit, despite calls from both sides of the aisle. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI
“Some of the best men I’ve known in the world are SEALs, but there are also some jerks, abusive boyfriends and husbands, men who fail to care.” they might have to endure and how difficult it might be. They were standing on the beach, perfectly at ease, reasonably warm, but they thought that they might be very cold and very pained and they thought that they might not be able to make it. Their fear built and built and built. The mind looked for a release, and the men who quit found their release in the bell. Ding, ding ding. Ultimately, those insights gave him lower opinions of his fellow servicemen. There are a dozen types that fail. … the blowhards who have a thousand stories about what they are going to do, but a thin record of what they have actually done; they usually fail. The men who make excuses; they usually fail. The whiners, the “this is not fair” guys, the self-pitying criers; they usually fail. The talkers who have always looked good or sounded good, rather than actually been good — they usually fail. In short, all of the
men who focus on show fail. Wonder if he now sees himself as a whiner, a “this is not fair” guy crying “witch hunt”? Not a chance. Self-awareness has never been one of Greitens’ gifts. But perhaps the most prescient statement in this chapter is a final thought that demonstrates that even Greitens realizes that Hell Week might make a better soldier, but not a better person. You emerge with swollen hands and swollen feet and cuts and bangs and bruises. You emerge weak and beaten. But the week does not transform you. While Hell Week emphasizes teamwork and caring for your men, it does not necessarily produce good people. Some of the best men I’ve known in the world are SEALs, but there are also some jerks, abusive boyfriends and husbands, men who fail to care, fail to lead, men with a few more screws loose, who also make it through Hell Week. Hell Week tests the soul, it doesn’t clean it. It’s all there in his book — even the acknowledgment that endurance is not salvation. But we didn’t need to borrow his book from the library to gain that insight into his character. We could have read it in the transcript of his victim’s testimony to the House committee: And he slapped me across my face, just, like, hard, to where I was like, ‘What? Eric, what in the heck? You’re married. Why would – what do you mean?’ And he just said, ‘No.’ Like, that was – you’re mine. This is – what do you mean you slept with your husband? You are not supposed to be sleeping with him, you know? And I said, ‘I think you’re screwed up from being in the Navy.’ n
SUNSHINE Continued from pg 9 to this release.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the department-wide email on the evening of April 9 — and its story, bizarrely, is how Weeks (and the RFT) first learned that his project was drawing pushback. Also bizarrely, the daily appears to have made no effort to contact him; he first heard about the Post-Dispatch story, and the chief’s concerns, after the story had already gone live. Soon after that, KMOV came knocking on his door — and while he wasn’t necessarily thrilled to find a TV news reporter on his doorstep, he was relieved that at least it wasn’t the police. Learning you might be a part of “remedial legal action” in the pages of the city’s daily is a bit unnerving, to say the least. For Weeks, the whole thing has been bizarre. As a department spokesman confirmed to the RFT yesterday, no one is alleging Weeks did anything other than post materials he was given by the department — materials that, as he points out, did include some redactions. It’s not like they just handed him the keys to the police department’s inner workings. Says Spokeswoman Schron Jackson, “Mr. Weeks obtained the information through the correct process, the Sunshine Law process. However, he received un-redacted documents containing tactical procedures which is an officer safety concern.” But if that’s the case, Weeks wonders, why not just contact him? “Instead of the chief putting out a department-wide email saying this is a serious breach, it would have been much swifter to contact me,” he says. It’s not like they don’t know how to find him. In addition to the contact info he supplied on his various Sunshine requests, he notes, after getting the information, he met with various department officials for an hour and a half. He’s also been trying to make an appointment to see the chief himself. “If it’s that much of a concern, why not talk to me first?” he asks. “Why advertise the story about what I’m doing?” A member of the area’s activist community, Weeks has participated in protests — and been arrested for it. But he’s hardly the
“If it’s that much of a concern, why not talk to me first? Why advertise the story about what I’m doing?” image of a wild-eyed protester dreamed up by Fox News types. After he was hit by a hit-and-run driver at a protest in Ferguson in 2016, Weeks, then 52, painted himself as an ally of the movement moved by injustice. “I’m a normal person who just said, ‘This is not tolerable,’” he told us then. Now that the department has put his effort on blast, Weeks is taking a similarly low-key approach. He’s posted a response to the Post-Dispatch story on his website, but you have to go looking for it — and when you do, you won’t find fighting words, just an explanation of his position. “If the motivation and concern of the department was to have some of the published documents replaced with properly redacted documents, then the SLMPD could have requested a meeting with me as they have in the past to discuss my open records requests,” the statement says. “This would have allowed GRAM to consider their request and consult with other experts in law enforcement about the concerns of the SLMPD. Without knowing the specific details GRAM cannot make an informed decision or address the concerns of the department.” Weeks says he’d still be open to that conversation, even now. But he also makes it clear that he’s not about to just take down the materials he put up. He says he’d consult experts on whether any recommended further redactions are necessary; if they agree with the chief, he says, he might well too. But until then, he’s standing by his website — and likely seeing a bit of an uptick in traffic to it. “All these other departments around the country have published their policies online,” he says. “It was their responsibility to redact whatever they saw necn essary to redact.”
LEVIN’S
CLOTHING FROM NEW BORN TO 86" IN PANTS
Men’s Cargo Shorts to size 68 Dickies Shorts to size 60 Dickies Pants to Size 72 Men’s Polo Style Shirts to 8X Men’s Dress Slack Sets up to 8X Men’s Dress Shirts up to 8X Men’s Suits to Size 72 Long Sleeve Shirts to 8X Dickies Boots to Size 14 Sweat Pants to size 8X T-Shirts up to 10X
Saturday Alternate Jersey
MAJESTIC REPLICA JERSEYS AND T-SHIRTS SIZE 3X-6X
NEW Merchandise Arriving Daily!
ALTERATIONS AVAILABLE
HOURS: MON-FRI 9-5
SAT 9:30-3 SUN 11-3
1401 WASHINGTON • 314-436-0999
Tuesdays, MAY
1–29
6–8pm • Forest Park • Museum’s North Lawn mohistory.org/twilight-tuesdays
«
4 & 5, 2018 Y A M «
SAMPLE OVER 600 BEERS FROM 125+ CRAFT BREWERIES
Tickets Available @ stlmicrofest.org Live Music • Brewer Olympics • Demonstration Tent Food Vendors • VIP Tent • Homebrew Clubs BENEFITING LIFT FOR LIFE GYM HELPING CITY YOUTH FOR 30 YEARS
Tickets Available @ stlmicrofest.org riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
11
AN EVENING WITH
BILL NYE
THE SCIENCE GUY
Engineer, comedian, author, and inventor — inspiring audiences of all ages to engage with and improve our world.
CARL POPE
ENVIRONMENTALIST & AUTHOR Co-Author of Climate of Hope and Former Executive Director and Chairman of the Sierra Club
APRIL 23, 7 PM
CHAIFETZ ARENA
The Saint Louis Climate Summit is dedicated to working to fulfill Pope Francis’ call to unite in defense of our common home. Saint Louis University is proudly hosting the summit as part of its bicentennial anniversary celebration. Visit stlclimatesummit.org for more information.
TICKETS
$15 GENERAL ADMISSION $7.50 ALL AREA STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
thechaifetzarena.com 12
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
HOSTED BY SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY riverfronttimes.com
ALMOST TEN YEARS AFTER HE SOARED AS A BASKETBALL STANDOUT, TOMMIE LIDDELL III HAS QUIETLY RETURNED TO SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
Dream
BY THOMAS CRONE he end of one dream for Tommie Liddell III came a half-dozen years ago in the form of a sore leg, with pain that visited him in the unlikely location of a Chinese hotel room. After stints playing professional basketball in three countries on two continents, the 6’4” guard/ forward was now in a third, Asia, to take part in the Chinese pro draft. Home to one of the world’s better leagues, China regularly pulls in international players, especially Americans, to fill out its rosters. For Liddell, this was his latest attempt to find a pathway to the NBA. Instead came a groin injury that hurt a lot more than it should have, arriving at the worst possible moment and for no particular pre-existing reason. With tryouts ready to begin and the media-saturated draft to follow, Liddell wasn’t even able to walk properly, let alone hoop, and his career as a professional was, for all intents and purposes, done. The end came both suddenly and quietly. In China. Which is a long, long way from East St. Louis High School, where Liddell’s NBA dreams began to take shape in the early aughts. Now 32 and a near-decade removed from his time as a star for Saint Louis University’s Billikens, Liddell is philosophical about the situation. A low-key type from birth, Liddell says that the years in the game were rewarding, but that he’s come to terms with the end. “I don’t have any thoughts about playing basketball” at that level again, he says.
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING
T
Tommie Liddell III today.
Continued on pg 14
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
13
TOMMIE LIDDELL III Continued from pg 13
14
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Above: Liddell, center, stands with teammates on SLU’s Senior Day in 2009. Below: Liddell holds his daughter Taja, now ten.
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
ngres Thorpe can recall the names of hundreds of players whom he recruited over the years, though some carved a deeper hold than others into his memories. Now the associate head coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Thorpe has a well-padded résumé, with stints at several Midwestern Division I basketball programs. Serving under head coach Brad Soderberg, Thorpe was Liddell’s lead recruiter during his time at East St. Louis Senior High. In a lot of cases, it’s assistant coaches who develop deeper, longer-lasting relationships with their recruits. Thorpe’s obvious goodwill for Liddell comes through today. “I started knowing Tommie, really, between his sophomore and junior years at East St. Louis,” Thorpe recalls. “When we started recruiting him, we were really
A
PHOTO BY BILL BARRETT
You can’t help but notice that his athletic frame looks exactly the same as it did a decade ago. He still looks the part, but says he only started playing again in the last month, just to stay in shape. “Since I’ve been in shape before, I know what it’s like to be out of shape. Sometimes, I still try to find leagues to play in, but I’m not kidding myself that I can still play at that level,” he says. “I don’t feel 32, but I can’t move like I used to. I don’t go to the gym and dunk. I’m just slowly letting my body get back to a little of what is used to be. I’m kidding with the guys, ‘Gimme two more weeks, and find me an agent.’” That’s a joke, one born of daydreams that linger less frequently in the corners of his mind today. Life has gotten more serious since he last laced up the sneakers for pay. “Of course, you gotta find something you like to do,” he says. “If something doesn’t work out, find another plan. Set more goals. Then try to achieve them.” After pro stints in the Netherlands, Uruguay and Romania, Liddell was on a mission to make it in a world just as difficult to negotiate as sports: music. It remains his passion. Even as he’s worked both day and night shifts as a supervisor at a fabrication and enamels plant, he was booking time in local studios, working on demos, releasing singles and videos, and gigging in east-side nightclubs, as part of a hip-hop collective called Future Millionaires. When initially discussing a story almost two years back, Liddell mostly talked about that studio work. But he seemed distracted then — a few years into a job-job, all the studio time eating into his savings. Then 30, he hadn’t found his next step, or series of them. But now he has a new goal: Twenty hours short of an undergraduate degree in criminal justice, more than a decade after he dropped out of college, Tommie Liddell III is a student again. Music now jockeys for time in his brain with English 325, which he’s taking this spring at, yes, Saint Louis University. With a slight laugh, Liddell confirms that class as priority “number one.” He adds, “Of course.”
riverfronttimes.com
PHOTO BY BILL BARRETT
focusing in on him and trying to build a strong relationship.” Closing a sale requires patience on the part of both coach and player: an understanding of how the rest of a recruiting class is shaping up, a bit of luck and nonstop input from the players’ family, friends and coaches. Liddell, despite some academic concerns that were evident early on, was a big get for SLU. “Tommie was a local kid who would give our program some pop,” Thorpe says. “He had great recognition in the area, an affiliation with the St. Louis Eagles AAU program and a name that was getting tossed around in the media. It was a win-win to get a young man like Tommie.” But landing Liddell meant helping him find a bridge year between East St. Louis High and the Jesuit university. It was Thorpe who suggested Hargrave Military Academy
in Virginia, where he had contacts. “We explained everything to Tommie,” Thorpe recalls. “He knew what his commitment was going to be and what it would take to get into SLU. He agreed with it.” Janet Oberle, SLU’s senior associate director of athletics, explains, “Hargrave gave him the opportunity to improve some grades in his core classes but also gave him a chance to do ACT/SAT prep and take the test every time it was offered that year, which he did. He hadn’t been involved in any preparation for the tests when we got really involved, so Hargrave really made that impact more so than anything else. It also provided structure and enabled Tommie to live away from home for the first time, which I believe was difficult for him, but was a positive overall in helping him be ready to come to SLU.” Liddell played the 2004-05 season with Hargrave, living under conditions that were new to the former resident of East St. Louis’ Samuel Gompers Homes. As Liddell told St. Louis Magazine in a 2005 interview, “We had to be in our rooms, with our doors open, and a monitor would constantly walk up and down our halls to make sure we were doing work. Our daily routine was waking up before the sun was up — 6, 6:15. Then breakfast. Formation at 7:15. Classes about 7:30. Lunch at 12. After practice, study hall. At 9:30, lights off. If they caught you with a cell phone, they’d send it back home.” After a school year under that regimen, Liddell earned the test scores he needed, shunned further recruitment by other schools and headed home. Finally at SLU, he would form a dynamic, threeheaded guard alignment with Vashon’s Dwayne Polk and fellow freshman Kevin Lisch, a Belleville native from Althoff Catholic. The two East Side recruits came from wildly different backgrounds but gelled as players and people. Lisch remembers watching Liddell play in high school. “When we both committed to SLU, I remember having him over for a pickup game to get to know him better,” he emails from his longtime home in Australia. “Tommie was a very smooth player and made things look effortless at times. He was a big guard, so a tough matchup. He was mostly a quiet, soft-spoken person, which I really respected about him.
o����e����e���� ����u����+ ����
P����p� o����l����y
saltandsmokestl.com/order
April 18-22, 2018
YOUR MUSIC HAS A HISTORY
Tuesdays, MAY 1–29 6–8pm Forest Park • Museum’s North Lawn mohistory.org/twilight-tuesdays
Continued on pg 16
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
15
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING PHOTO BY THEO WELLING
Liddell recently revisited his old stomping grounds, HUD’s Samuel Gompers Homes in East St. Louis.
TOMMIE LIDDELL III Continued from pg 15 “We were both two very different players out on the court, but I think we both possessed an unselfishness and understanding of the game which really helped us to play off each other,” Lisch adds. “We had a great relationship on and off the court that was probably built upon a mutual respect for one another. Tommie was like a Swiss Army knife; he could be used in so many different positions both offensively and defensively. Once again, some of his greatest attributes were his unselfishness and high basketball IQ and feel for the game.” For two years, the pair played in Soderberg’s system, but the coach was dispatched after a near-breakthrough, yet ultimately uneven, twenty-win season in 2007. He was replaced by the late Rick Majerus, an eccentric genius who had been coaxed out of his own on/off retirement. Though inheriting a solid roster, Majerus’ immediate impulse was to dispatch several recruits and bit players, while changing up roles for the returning cast. It was a culture shock to say the least, with not only a change in playing style but an adjustment in basic human relations. Soderberg was a youngish family man, the son of a coach and generally conservative. Majerus was quirky by any comparison — vocal in his liberalism, single, his home a high-end hotel suite. De16
RIVERFRONT TIMES
tailing his unusual personal characteristics would extend this piece to twice its length, but the short version is that his demanding, tart, unfiltered feedback wore on his returning players. Some more than others. “I think initially it was a very difficult situation for all of us,” Lisch explains. “Brad had just done a wonderful job and we had won twenty games that year. Tommie and I probably had our best seasons in college that sophomore year, as well. Rick coming in definitely changed things up, and I think Tommie, especially, felt lost and confined. I feel like Tommie lost a bit of the joy for the game. Majerus had a difficult situation, as well. He was trying to make huge changes and strides forward within the basketball program, but we weren’t his ‘guys’ he recruited either.” He adds, “At the end of the day, I learned so much from Majerus. I maybe just didn’t see it all at the time.” If Lisch, a longtime pro in Australia’s top professional league, is diplomatic about that relationship, Liddell is a tad more direct. “Oh, no, we didn’t get along,” Liddell says of Majerus, without anger. “On the court, we didn’t get along. Off the court, he’d give you great advice; probably some of the best advice I’ve gotten. But on the court, the things he wanted me to do just didn’t suit my game. I made a lot of sacrifices during my junior and senior years, just to get along.
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
"ON THE COURT, WE DIDN ’'T GET ALONG. OFF THE COURT, HE' D GIVE YOU GREAT ADVICE, PROBABLY SOME OF THE BEST ADVICE I’VE GOTTEN.”
I think the thing about Majerus is you don’t expect people to be that honest. You’d get the truth from him. Well, it might not be the truth, but he’s going to say whatever he wants to say, whenever he wants to say it. “You don’t always come across someone like that,” Liddell continues. “We didn’t agree on a lot of things, but you could take some of it and apply it to your everyday life. The things he said to me I knew were genuine, right? He ain’t going to tell you lies. Sometimes you took it and said, ‘Eh, OK, it’s Rick.’” iddell’s trajectory, however, changed after that sophomore year. His court time would stay the same during his final two years, but his other stats declined. His scoring, his shooting percentage ... many of the key numbers pointed downward,
L
After growing up in East St. Louis, Liddell needed a bridge year at a military academy in Virginia to get the test scores for SLU. and Liddell is blunt today in saying that his re-upping for his last two years was a mistake. If he was going to risk gambling on his NBA potential, in retrospect, that was the moment. Scoring about fifteen points a game, with an average of seven rebounds and three assists while seldom coming out of games, his stock was never higher. The NBA, a league that banks on potential, knew of Liddell that year; SLU’s coaches were getting asked questions about his game and intentions. A big guard/small forward with an improving jump shot, an ability to flash to the hoop and a still-improving defensive game, Liddell faced a choice. “I should’ve left,” he says today. He explains. “I don’t like school. I can do it, I just don’t like school. ... But some people convinced me to stay. Coach (Jason) Grunkemeyer told me some teams had called and asked about me.” Instead, he wound up having surgery on his ankle —
and then Soderberg was fired. Soderberg says, “I think most guys understand that the percentage of players who play professionally, compared to the number that start out in college basketball, is very small. But many think, ‘I’m not the one that won’t make it, I’m one of the ones that will.’ I think in Tommie’s case, he had a legitimate idea that he was good enough to play for money, somewhere around the world. His skill set was phenomenal.” Still, the cost-benefit analysis is complicated. Should a talented player be patient, or seize the day? Sometimes neither will get you to the NBA, but you still can’t help but ponder the road less traveled. “Tommie,” says Thorpe, his former recruiter, “maybe had some interest after that sophomore year. But to his credit, he went back to school and did the right thing. People fail to realize that in Continued on pg 18
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
17
TOMMIE LIDDELL III Continued from pg 17
Lidell, far right, with this Future Millionaire crew: NDot, Jermaine Willis and Sanchez Curry.
today’s generation, it’s easy to leave. There are now 700-plus Division I basketball transfers every single year. It’s the easy thing to do. But even though Coach Majerus and he didn’t see eye to eye, Tommie stuck it out.” Still, he didn’t graduate. After Liddell played his last game as a Billiken in the spring of 2009, his academic life took a pause — one that lasted about nine years. hese days, Tommie Liddell III lives in a subdivision on the edge of Shiloh and Belleville, where multiple housing developments have cropped up; the styles match for a few blocks, then radically change at a single intersection. It’s an exurban neighborhood, cut out of farm fields and about a 30-minute drive from downtown St. Louis. As the crow flies, it’s not terribly far from the Gompers Homes of Liddell’s youth. But it’s also pretty removed from that world. Liddell has a one-story duplex here, with little on the walls and not much suggesting the personality of the man living inside. But if nothing else, he’s close to family here. Very much so. His mother, Diane Rhodes, lives fifteen minutes away in Belleville, while his father, Tommie Liddell, is just around the corner. Daughter Taja, ten, and son Demondre, eight, live nearby as well. Working at a plant in Belleville, currently on a supervisor’s day shift, his world could seem tightly bound by a few square miles of southwestern Illinois. “For me, this is where I’m at at this moment,” he says. “If an opportunity produced itself, then I would definitely explore moving, to St. Louis or out of town. I’d definitely think about it. My girl was asking me if I’d move and it’s something I’ve thought about. Because you figure everybody wants more opportunities. Maybe being here, you wouldn’t find as many opportunities as in moving to a certain area, like Atlanta, or something like that.”
mplied, indirectly, is that music would be the impetus for the call of Atlanta. Music has been a constant companion since his earlier days at SLU. As a freshman, Liddell recalls, “the team went to Hawaii. I didn’t really know anyone. In the sum-
I 18
RIVERFRONT TIMES
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING
T
PHOTO BY THEO WELLING
Liddell serves lunch to children at an Easter event. “He is at his best when he is engaging young people,” says SLU’s Oberle.
mertime, we played together, but I never really hung out. I was young and quiet and there were a whole lot of older people on the team, juniors and seniors. In Hawaii, I’d walk around with my headphones on all day. They thought I was weird, I think.” One of those older people, for-
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
ward Justin Johnson, eventually befriended Liddell. The two would spend time in Johnson’s room, playing around in what was becoming an amateur studio. The situation reoccured in Amsterdam a few years later, where Liddell would hang with a fellow expat player, name lost to the mists of time;
they’d fiddle around on ProTools in their apartment, two twentysomething Americans in one of the world’s most exciting cities, staying in to cut hip-hop tracks day and night. “When I wasn’t playing basketball, I was making music in Justin’s room,” Liddell recalls. “We were always recording. When I went overseas to play, I was still recording. I had an Apple Macbook and my roommate told me about GarageBand. That became all I used to do: basketball practice, or a game, then back to my room to prepare some music. When I came back from overseas, I let more people hear it. “Some of my friends were already doing music, so we got together and came up with a name, Future Millionaires,” he says. “It was a song I’d already made. We got that going and made it into an entertainment company.” As for what that mantle means, well, here’s an example: On the morning before Easter, an overcast Saturday, he and his fellow Millionaires went to a field near
ish, it was just quiet.” She adds, “He loves his family dearly — he always has. He feels a fierce connection, loyalty and belief in the community he grew up in; you felt that from early on meeting him. He is still and has always been good with kids — he is at his best when he is engaging young people. I enjoy seeing him with his own kids — a daughter and son — as his love for them is clear. I also hear him talk to them on the phone, ending the call with ‘I love you.’ Simple, but so very TL. He sees the good in people and finds good people.” hen players leave an institution, their relationship with its supporters can get complicated. In July 2013, a music video of Liddell’s, “For My People,” was cross-posted from YouTube to the local Billikens bulletin board, billikens.com. “I made it through 37 seconds of the video,” one respondent posted. Another: “It isn’t my music taste. I gave him a web hit and cheered him on as a season ticket holder for those 4 years. I think that is sufficient, thanks very much.” Another, even more pithy: “Nothing good to say ...” Liddell doesn’t mind any of that. He’s not making the music for those folks, anyway. And when he’s been around Billiken fans, they’ve been cool. At least to his face. “After all these years and people still remember me,” he says, now back on campus for various study sessions, although his first class, and the one currently underway, takes place online. “That people actually remember me from what seems like a long time ago, so I definitely appreciate them. You never know when you’ll run into a SLU fan, or season ticket holder.” When coaches leave an institution, the ripples in their wake can affect many lives. After being forced out at SLU, Soderberg had an extended run at crosstown Lindenwood, taking that program to fairly high highs as its head coach; now he’s an assistant coach at one of the nation’s top schools, Virginia. But with an “awkward” departure, he’s been apart from his former wards. Told that Liddell had good words about him, Soderberg says, “Quite frankly, I feel humbled. I just finished my 33rd year as a
W
the Gompers Homes and organized an Easter egg hunt and cookout for the kids there. (He lists as the group’s members a cast of lifelong buddies and cousins — he names them as Zo, NDot, Juju Willis and Chezzo Sanchez.) It’s the kind of thing that he feels comfortable doing and ties into his deep roots in East St. Louis proper. Oberle, the assistant athletic director, has long been Liddell’s most vocal booster at SLU. She maintains a long-running group text with Liddell and Thorpe, and says she’s not surprised to learn of the Easter egg hunt, nor the fact that Liddell has taken a few years to commit fully to telling his story to a reporter. There’s still a quiet edge to the man, no matter the topic. “Tommie at 18 and 32 are both quiet people, but Tommie’s 18-year-old-quiet was pretty sincere,” Oberle writes. “He didn’t offer much and wasn’t sure how to react to my, well, chatty-ask-questions kind of personality. I will say, though, he always had a calm, friendly way about him — his quiet wasn’t arrogant, it wasn’t standoff-
Continued on pg 20
April 21 .......................................................... The Lettuce Heads April 28................................................................... Diesel Island May 5 ............................................................................Cree RideR May 12 ............ Dave Hylla’s Good Times Band homespun polka May 19................................................Sweetie & The Toothaches
OU IN S
LARD
WEDNESDAY STEAK DAY!! 10OZ NY STRIP WITH 2 SIDES FOR $11 ALL DAY LONG $2.50 DOMESTIC PINTS DURING HAPPY HOUR (MON-FRI 3-7PM) FREE SHUTTLE TO AND FROM EVERY GAME OUTDOOR B AR LIVE ENTERTAINMENT FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS
HARPOSSTL.COM
SOULARD: 1017 RUSSELL BLVD. • 314-696-2969
riverfronttimes.com
CHESTERFIELD: 136 HILLTOWN VILLAGE CENTER • 636-537-1970
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
19
TOMMIE LIDDELL III Continued from pg 19
YOUR MUSIC HAS A HISTORY
Tuesdays, MAY
1–29
6–8pm • Forest Park • Museum’s North Lawn mohistory.org/twilight-tuesdays
April 18-22, 2018
20
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
collegiate coach, and I’m not always proud of the things I said in the heat of battle. I wish that I could gather all of my former players together and tell them how much that I love them and care for them. It means a lot to me that he thinks well of me. I’ll cherish that.” Among the specifics that Liddell recalls: being sat in a chair under the basket, his left-handed shot being retooled by this unorthodox positioning and tons of repetition. “My mechanics were all wrong,” Liddell says. “I had the IQ of the game, but learning how to play the game? From the first day, he sat down with me and we reconstructed my jump shot, sitting in the chair and shooting one-handed shots. That’s how my three-point percentage went up so much.” Soderberg laughs when told this. “I just was telling that story yesterday,” he exclaims. “We have a lefthanded shooter that needs work on his shot and we were talking about that exact drill.” For coaches, there’s always another left-handed shooter, a new, improved, younger version of the last one. Another Tommie, no matter the name. When on campus, those players are supported by academic staffers, with unofficial mentors there to help guide them through to degree completion. But when players leave an institution without a degree, there are often a few who remain invested, ready to help them finish their program. For Liddell, Oberle has been the key. She says she promised him upon his departure that he would get his degree from SLU. “I told him when he was ready, we would be here for him. And that I would personally make sure that he got the support he needed,” she recalls. “I told him I wouldn’t bother him or bug him (which I had done lots of while he was at SLU) but that I would trust he would know when to re-engage.” When Liddell reached out by email even after his departure, she remembers feeling so happy to hear from him — and certain it was a sign that the university “would eventually get him back to school.” Two previous attempts, however, came up short. “Both times I underestimated the difficulty of transportation — as TL was relying on public transport both times — and of jobs without regular schedules — also an issue both times,” she says. “Re-
alistically, I think both times were also a little early for him to be able to work through those barriers.” At one critical point, with Liddell being inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame, something seemed to click. By all accounts his acceptance speech was a winner, a heartfelt one that touched on all aspects of his life and suggested that school was very much back in his mind. And when former Mizzou standout Corey Tate joined the SLU coaching staff, Oberle again saw him attending basketball games. “I think he is also in a good place in life — able to look forward and see what else he might want for his future. Getting his degree can open up opportunities.” This spring, Liddell started that first class, American Literary Traditions: Literature of St. Louis, with the textbook Seeking St. Louis: Voices From a River City, 1670-2000. In many respects, Liddell’s story has all the elements that Hoop Dreams helped to make into tropes of sports storytelling for urban athletes: the street games growing up in a tough neighborhood and the lingering connection to that place. The schooling in a district that couldn’t always provide books for all the students in a classroom. The cultural challenges of moving into a collegiate setting. The coaching changes. The injuries derailing a pro career. The settling into challenging vocations and avocations. It’s all there in this Tommie Liddell story, all these touchstones, plus a coming chapter which could/ should/will involve that SLU degree. “I actually think that this came from my kids,” Liddell says, “so that they can look at me and say they want to go to college, get a degree. Obviously, everybody wants their kids to further their education and get a better job in the world. And I know when I work at my job, I work pretty hard. I think just getting the degree will help me; with a degree and maybe a better job, I’ll obviously have more time for family, instead of working graveyard shifts. But it takes a lot of work to finish. I just wish I would’ve realized it earlier and gotten it out of the way.” And when he does, Thorpe — now a half-lifetime away from watching a teenaged Liddell hooping in southwestern Illinois high school gyms — plans to be at the ceremony. “I made a promise to him,” Thorpe says of Liddell’s graduation. “The day you finish, no matter n where I am, I will be there.”
2 DAYS | 100+ PERFORMANCES
3PM TO 12AM
SATURDAY JUNE 16 SUNDAY JUNE 17 GUIDED BY VOICES • BROOKE CANDY • BLACK FAST CAVEOFSWORDS • ERIC DONTÉ • MATHIAS & THE PIRATES
18ANDCOUNTING&THEONLYENSEMBLE • LÉ PONDS • BATES CLOONEY NIKEE TURBO SHADY BUG LOBBY BOXER TONINA SAPUTO ILLPHONICS SYNA SO PRO DJ MAHF JR. 'S DAUGHTER HUHT BLOOM HONEYDEW KID SCIENTIST TOWN CARS PROSPECT SISTER WIZZARD ROVER APOLLO KEYS NEBULOSA GLUED DJ NUNE IS LAMAR HARRIS THE DOMINO EFFECT DAYTIME TELEVISION PONO AM MAD THE OPERA BELL BAND MOTHERBEAR DEE BIRD ALEX CUNNINGHAM SEASHINE THE FADE MAMMOTH PIANO SORRY, SCOUT THE DEFEATED COUNTY BROTHERS LAZAROFF SHITSTORM ZAK MARMALEFSKY AND SO MANY MORE!
RFTSHOWCASE.COM HAPPENING IN THE GROVE AT: ATOMIC COWBOY | BOOTLEG | FIRECRACKER PIZZA & BEER GEZELLIG | GRAMOPHONE | HANDLEBAR | LAYLA | PARLOR | READY ROOM
ONE-DAY & TWO-DAY FESTIVAL PASSES ON SALE NOW! riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
21
22
xx
CALENDAR
BY PAUL FRISWOLD
Cyprien Gaillard, French, born 1980; KOE, 2015; © Cyprien Gaillard. Courtesy of the artist, Sprüth Magers, and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels.
THURSDAY 04/19 Circus Flora
FRIDAY 04/20 The Scenic Route
It’s an unwritten rule that when you need a bellhop, you can’t find one. The bellhop at Circus Flora’s Hotel Balding has disappeared, and in The Case of the Missing Bellhop, the entire circus goes on the hunt for him, using desperate measures to find him. Acrobat Jeison Dominguez takes the high road, climbing the rotating Wheel of Destiny as it heads for the top of the big top, while Cuzin Grumpy’s trained pigs search low, as only learned pigs can. The St. Louis Arches, the Flying Wallendas and the Alanian Riders and their horses all join the search. Can anyone find the little fella? Circus Flora opens its new season in its new permanent home in Grand Center (3401 Washington Boulevard; www.circusflora. org) with shows Thursday through Sunday (April 19 to May 13). Tickets are $12 to $75.
Dancers are all about bodies in motion, so it makes sense that Consuming Kinetics Dance Company’s new show is all about travel and adventure. The Scenic Route features works by the company’s resident choreographers (Arica Brown, Sam Gaitsch and Ashreale McDowell), as well as choreography from special guests Ryadah Heiskell and Cecil Slaughter, among others. Consuming Kinetics Dance Company performs The Scenic Route at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (April 20 to 22) at the Marcelle Theater (3310 Samuel Shepard Drive; www.ckdc.org). Tickets are $25.
22
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Cyprien Gaillard Wild rose-ringed parakeets are
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
found in Africa and India — and also in Düsseldorf, Germany. The German variety arrived as pets and then either were released or escaped into the city. The birds have made a home for themselves on one of the city’s upscale streets, roosting happily in building façades. Artist Cyprien Gaillard followed the parakeets with a camera as they winged home at twilight. His short film KOE shows flocks of them as they fly past concrete and steel, thousands of miles away from their tropical ancestral lands. The silent film is a commentary on how humanity interferes with nature, and how animals must adapt to a rapidly urbanizing world. KOE is shown on a loop in gallery 301 at the Saint Louis Art Museum (1 Fine Arts Drive; www.slam.org) as part of the New Media Series. It remains on display Tuesday through Sunday (April 20 to July 15), and admission is free.
SATURDAY 04/21 Earth Day How are you feeling about the state of the planet: optimistic, or something worse? In either case, the St. Louis Earth Day Festival will brighten your outlook. This year’s event features dozens of exhibitors providing everything from arts and crafts to information about alternative fuels and green building practices. Many of this year’s food vendors are members of the Green Dining Alliance, and even the ones that aren’t have agreed to adhere to its standards while at the festival. There will be a ton of vegan and vegetarian options from Bombay Food Junkies, Confluence Kombucha and SqWires Restaurant & Annex, as well as treats for meat eaters from Salt + Smoke, Baileys’ Range and Bayou Seasoning and Catering. Two stages of live entertainment
WEEK OF APRIL 19-25 will keep you hopping throughout both days, with acts ranging from the live birds of the World Bird Sanctuary to the Brothers Lazaroff. The St. Louis Earth Day Festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (April 21 to 22) on the Muny grounds in Forest Park (www.stlouisearthday.org). Admission is free.
Chinese Culture Days What would spring in St. Louis be without the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Chinese Culture Days? The two-day celebration begins with a 70-foot-long dancing dragon leading a parade of revelers, followed by acrobats, dancers, displays of traditional art and more. There’s an outdoor food court serving cuisine from many of China’s diverse regions as well as cooking demos — it’s a packed weekend. This year’s Chinese Culture Days takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (April 21 and 22) at the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw Boulevard; www. mobot.org). Admission is $7 to $15.
MONDAY 04/23 WWE Raw We live in an age of constant spectacle (not a good thing), and yet the WWE has still been able to surprise fans this year. That’s mostly because of man-mountain Braun Strowman, who has destroyed wrestlers, lighting rigs, a production truck and the ring itself so far this year. His follow-up to that carnage was to team up with a kid from the crowd to win the RAW tag team championship at Wrestlemania 34. What’s next for the big man? Strowman is scheduled to appear at WWE Monday Night Raw at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Scottrade Center (1401 Clark Avenue; www.scotttradecenter.com), along with Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Sheamus and Finn Bálor. Tickets are $20 to $125.
SUNDAY 04/22 LagerFest
LagerFest celebrates a great beer and the industry that brews it. | JOE TAYLOR
T
he craft beer revolution at times appears to be a game of constant experimentation and one-upmanship. The IPAs have become hoppier even as the flavor profiles have reached the outer limits of good taste. (More fruit! Weirder fruit! Coffee and chiles, yes!) Whatever happened to the humble lager, which is the perfect post-lawn-mowing drink and the ultimate sports beverage? Urban Chestnut Brewing Company not only remembers the lager, the staff celebrates it. It’s the brewery’s love for the beer that built St. Louis that’s behind its first-ever LagerFest, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Ryan Rakel, ombudsman and event coordinator at UCBC’s Grove Brewery & Bierhall, explains the origin of the festival as a simple matter of taste. “It’s a style that we know and love, and we brew them well,” Rakel opines. (He’s right; try UCBC’s Zwickel and fall in love all over again.) “It’s the most mass-produced and popular beer, but not in craft breweries. It’s not easy to do, and it’s not easy to hide its flaws if it goes poorly.” But when the process succeeds, it’s magical. A perfect lager is crisp, refreshing and easy-drinking. The warmer the weather gets, the better a lager tastes — and that’s the motivating force behind
WEDNESDAY 04/25 Judgment at Nuremberg After World War II finally ended, the Allied powers began a series of investigations into non-combatant crimes committed by German citizens under the Nazi regime. Abby Mann’s drama Judgment at Nuremberg is a fictionalized account of one such tribunal, which saw a handful
the festival. UCBC challenged area and national breweries to whip up a historic lager of the past in order to get a wide variety of styles. The results should be impressive. “We should have 20 to 25 varieties on tap,” says Rakel, before rattling off a list of options. “We’re doing four, because we’re hosting — a 1910 lager, a honey lager and what we’re calling an India Pale Lager. There’s a Kulmbacher clone, a couple doppelbocks, a Baltic porter and a couple of ambers.” The honor for oldest variety goes to Stubborn German Brewing Company, of Waterloo, Illinois. The brewery had an ace-in-the-hole, Rakel says. “Stubborn German actually has the beer ledger with the 1866 recipe, which is cool. It will probably be more raw and malty, sweeter, more like an ale.” Still, Rakel says, there’s not much that separates the historical lager from the modern. of German judges and prosecutors tried for knowingly sentencing innocent people to death for crimes of “blood defilement” (that’s sex with Jewish people for you non-Nazis). How does a respected jurist sink to collaborating with evil? The tribunal wants to find out, but it may not like what it discovers. Midnight Company presents Judgment at Nuremberg at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 25 to 29) at the Missouri History Museum (Lindell Boulevard and DeBaliviere Avenue; www.moriverfronttimes.com
“In general the ingredients don’t change really,” Rakel says reassuringly. “The modern hops and hop hybrids are new, but the basics are the same. Technology has changed, and refrigeration is a huge development in lagers — no more cutting ice from a frozen river and throwing it in a cave.” Of course, there’s more to the day than beer and food. Lagerfest is meant to be an all-around celebration featuring brewery meetand-greets, a display of breweriania and historical presentations by beer writers. Rakel describes it as “an open-beer campus,” which is exactly what this town needs. LagerFest takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Urban Chestnut’s Grove Brewery & Bierhall (4665 Manchester Avenue; www.urbanchestnut.com). A commemorative glass and five samples cost $15. Additional samples can be purchased (two samples for $5). history.org). Tickets are $18 to $20. Planning an event, exhibiting your art or putting on a play? Let us know and we’ll include it in the calendar section or publish a listing on our website — for free! Send details via e-mail (calendar@riverfronttimes.com), fax (314-754-6416) or mail (308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103, attn: Calendar). Include the date, time, price, contact information and location (including ZIP code). Please submit information three weeks prior to the date of your event. No telephone submissions will be accepted. Find more events online at www.riverfronttimes.com.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
23
24
FILM
[REVIEW]
Hammer Time Lynne Ramsay offers an uncompromising look at a desperate man and his violence Written by
ROBERT HUNT You Were Never Really Here
Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Written by Lynne Ramsay. Based on the book by Jonathan Ames. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts and Ekaterina Samsonov. Opens Thursday, April 19, at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre.
N
eo-noir is a fashionable label right now, but few films qualify for it as fittingly as Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, a disturbing kaleidoscope of violence and psychological trauma. Just as the original noir films of the ‘40s and ‘50s gave post-World War II angst a striking and creative visual style, Ramsay dives deep into a dark world of paranoia and brutality in a startlingly original way. Next to her work, slick and self-satisfied films such as Baby Driver and Good Time seem like little more than sophomoric Tarantino-inspired fan fiction. Where those films present violence and corruption as a one-dimensional comic strip panel, Ramsay sees a hall of mirrors, a labyrinth with no certain exit. Based on a short novel by Jonathan Ames, You Were Never Really Here is set deeply in the mind of Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), a traumatized veteran who lives with his mother in New York City and works as a hit man. He’s cautious and deliberate, with a special interest in targeting those who exploit young girls. When he’s hired to rescue the daughter of a local politician from a brothel, things turn bad quickly; Joe has stepped into a nightmare, with a ball-peen hammer his only weapon. It sounds like familiar
24
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Joaquin Phoenix and Ekaterina Samsonov in You Were Never Really Here. | ALISON COHEN ROSA/AMAZON STUDIOS noir territory, but don’t be misled by this straightforward summary; Ramsay tells the story from Joe’s uneasy point of view, resulting in a fragmented narrative that may take multiple viewings to piece together. Despite directing one of the first great films of the 21st century (the underrated Morvern Callar), and having a modest art-house hit with We Need to Talk About Kevin, the Scottish-born Ramsay remains a cinematic outsider. It’s not hard to see why. She has a unique vision and isn’t interested in making audiences feel comfortable. She also has a gift for making the ordinary world look like something out of a science-fiction film, with the audience in the uneasy position of an alien visitor trying to make sense of it. You Were Never Really Here presents New York as a hallucination, a trip through Joe’s broken psyche. Ramsay is a director of great precision and efficiency. This is a violent film, yet some of the most effective and shocking moments get their force from what she cuts
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
away from. In one crucial scene, she recreates the rhythm of a video surveillance system, as Joe dispatches a string of guards, each attack missed by split seconds by the security cameras. She’s found a great collaborator in Phoenix, a pudgy, unglamorous hero. Is there any other current actor who could bundle himself tightly enough in his own neuroses to pull this off? He makes no effort to charm or impress the audience and his performance contains not a singe false moment; Phoenix seems truly lost in Joe’s pain. Also surprisingly effective is Jonny Greenwood’s suitably neurotic score, blending ambient electronica with dark, minimalist strings. Ramsay makes the risky choice of balancing this with an assortment of absolute barrel-scrapings of sentimental pop music, such as Engelbert Humperdinck’s “After the Lovin’” and the atrocious kitsch of Charlene’s 1982 hit “I’ve Never Been to Me.” It’s a little heavy-handed, but it gives the impression of Joe
picking up radio signals from a parallel world of bland normalcy. It is impossible to discuss Ramsay’s film without noting the strong influence of Taxi Driver, which still disturbs and confounds viewers after 40 years. (I’ve shown Scorsese’s film in classrooms many times and have routinely received essays desperately attempting to reinterpret the film as a conventional Travis vs. the Mob action movie, despite the irony of its final scene.) You can see the where Ramsay uses fragments of it: a confused protagonist trying to rescue a young girl, a vague shadow network of politicians and hoods, and of course, the startling and unpredictable violence. But You Were Never Really Here isn’t just a movie-lover’s homage, it’s Taxi Driver as Travis Bickle might obsessively tell it to himself, looking for justification in his rearview mirror. It’s a fantasia on the still-challenging 1976 film, a new and wholly original perspective from an inventive, uncompromising filmmaker. n
S M A L L P L AT E S LUNCH
DINNER
7 0 3 6 C L AY TO N AV E .
HEARTY SUPPERS HAPPY HOUR
ST. LOUIS, MO
L I BAT I O N S
WEEKEND BRUNCH
31 4 . 9 3 2 . 7 8 1 8
BOUNDARY-STL.COM
A basement basement gastro gastro pub pub with with an an Italian Italian accent accent and and playful playful attitude. attitude. A Small plate plate menu. menu. Italian-centric Italian-centric wine. wine. Unique Unique cocktails. cocktails. Small PM And an an incredible, incredible, Monday Monday -- Friday, Friday, 44 -- 66 PM And
HAPPY HOUR
7036 Clayton Clayton Avenue Avenue 7036
St. Louis, Louis, Missouri Missouri St. riverfronttimes.com
314.932.7820 314.932.7820
basso-st l.com l.com basso-st
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
25
26
THE ARTS
Art meets real life as Sir (John Contini, left) addresses his stage Fool (Richard Lewis, right) while his dresser Norman (David Wassilak, center) listens. | PATRICK HUBER [ S TA G E ]
An Actor Prepares A new production of The Dresser makes for enormously compelling theater about the theater Written by
PAUL FRISWOLD The Dresser Written by Ronald Harwood. Directed by Bobby Miller. Presented by St. Louis Actors’ Studio through April 29 at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www. stlas.org). Tickets are $30 to $35.
A
ny work of art that is about the making of the same form of art runs the risk of being self-celebratory and insular at best, and chasing its own tail at worst. How then to explain St.
26
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Louis Actors’ Studio’s current production of The Dresser, which last weekend drew a nearly full house to a Sunday matinee? Ronald Harwood’s 1980 drama is a tribute to touring companies, actors and the creation of theater, but it wasn’t an industry crowd in those seats. Harwood’s encomium to the theater world draws crowds because of the fraught relationship between Sir, an aging Shakespearean worn out by life on the road, and Norman, his loyal and dauntless dresser. Thanks to Bobby Miller’s sensitive, loving direction and a pair of rip-snorting performances by John Contini and David Wassilak, respectively, this starkly beautiful production is worth celebrating. Sir and Norman spark off one another like dueling swordsmen, feinting and striking as opportunity allows. This is a fight for life, not a battle to the death, although only one combatant knows it. Norman attempts to get Sir out on stage for another performance of King Lear, and nothing will stand in his way: Not Sir’s wife, nor the house manager, nor the German
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
air raid currently bombing the town around the theater, and not even Sir’s own belief that his will has broken. John Contini brings a haunting desperation to Sir, a man who has spent 40 years on the road bringing Shakespeare to the smallest towns in England. His life is a guttering candle, and even his frequent attempts to write his own autobiography are for naught. The pages end up on the floor, “my life crumbled up around me,” he says in horror. Norman attempts to fan that candle back into blazing life by cajoling Sir through his usual preshow routine of makeup and wig, addressing the cast and being reminded what his first line is. Norman is fussy, passive-aggressive and prone to reciting long anecdotes about various friends who were debilitated by loneliness or mental illness but were ultimately saved by pressing on through it. The more you watch Wassilak’s performance, the more you suspect that Norman has ceased caring about Sir and has become numb
to his many complaints, just as he is immune to the actor’s spiteful attacks. Wassilak walks a careful line; you’re never sure if he cares too little or too much. Their relationship has calcified into something strange; is it symbiotic or parasitic? Muddying the matter are the obvious parallels to the relationship between King Lear and his Fool. Sir is confused and raging against the world and punishing his extended family of cast and crew, just as Lear does his own daughters and court; the Fool tempers the sting of Lear’s words and deeds, but eventually gives up and disappears when Lear is too far gone to save. Thus far Norman has remained by his king’s side, but it doesn’t bode well for Norman. Even if you’ve seen either of the film adaptations of Harwood’s play, you may be surprised by the outcome here. Sir says, “I hate the cinema. I prefer living things,” and Wassilak and Sir prove the value of theater again and again. The Dresser is alive, magnificently so. Hail the baleful king and his knowing fool. n
Downtown 2000 Market Street St. Louis, MO 63103 (314) 421-1388
Sunset Hills 3828 S Lindbergh Blvd St. Louis, MO 63127 (314) 842-7678
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
27
YOUR SANDWICH PUB IN THE GROVE
20 BEERS ON TAP PLUS A ROTATING SELECTION OF BOTTLES & CANS POOL TABLE • GIANT PAC MAN • BOARD GAMES • DJS THURS-SUN @ 10:30PM
OPEN FOR LUNCH AT 11AM • SAMMIES TILL 2:30AM 4 2 4 3 M A N C H E S T E R AV E N U E • 3 1 4 - 5 3 1 - 5 7 0 0
THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS
IN
Day or night, there’s always something going on in The Grove: live bands, great food, beer tastings, shopping events, and so much more. Visit thegrovestl.com for a whole lot more of what makes this neighborhood great.
2 24 8 R RI RVI IVE VERERF RRF FRORONONTNT TT IT TMI IMEMES ES S MF EJAAUBRPNRCREUHIAL2R104Y1-8-22-680,2-, 4M22, 0A0R12180C8 1H 8 r5ri,ivvre2ier0vrfe1frrr8oof nrntotrtnti itvmmteei ermsfs.er.coscon.omctmot imm e s . c o m
WEDNESDAY, APR 18 IAN MOORE
SURCO, GRASS FED MULE, BROTHER FRANCIS
THURSDAY, APR 19 TEF POE: THANK GOD 4 NAS TRIBUTE & VIDEO DEBUT
FRIDAY, APR 20 CENTER STAGE ARTIST SHOWCASE
PRIDE IDOL
NEW LINE THEATRE OFF LINE PRESENTS
$12, 7PM AT THE MONOCLE
8PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY 9PM AT JUST JOHN
ATTACK OF THE NIM, SYNA SO PRO, ISH, ZAK M, SPACESHIP $5, ALL AGES, 8PM AT THE READY ROOM
$10, 8PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY
$12, 7PM AT THE READY ROOM
SATURDAY, APR 21
LARISSA WHITE: LIVE AT GUNPOINT $15, 8PM AT THE MONOCLE
ROCK KO FOL
$35, ALL AGES, 8PM AT THE READY ROOM
APRIL BURGER OF THE MONTH
GLAZED & CONFUSED!
PASTURE RAISED BEEF BURGER, BOURBON BACON JAM, OVER MEDIUM EGG, HICKORY SMOKED BACON, HOUSE POTATO CHIPS AND STRAWBERRY JAM WITH A GLAZED DOUGHNUT BUN COURTESY OF VINCENT VAN DOUGHNUT.
4130 MANCHESTER AVE. IN THE GROVE FIRECRACKERPIZZA.COM
4 3 1 7 M A N C H E S T E R AV E I N T H E G R O V E 3 1 4 . 5 5 3 . 9 2 5 2 | L AY L A S T L . C O M
SUNDAY, APR 22 LAGERFEST 2018
$15, 11AM AT URBAN CHESTNUT EARTH DAY 2018
KELLER WILLIAMS THAN A LITTLE
WITH MORE
THAT RAT PRESENTS
LITTLE COWBOY, CULT SEASON, POLYSHADES $3, 8PM AT THE READY ROOM
FRIDAY, APR 27 ALVVAYS, FRANKIE ROSE
$25 OR FREE W/ STUDENT I.D., 8PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY
$15-18, ALL AGES, 7PM AT THE READY ROOM
TUESDAY, APR 24 COCKTAIL TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP
FILLMORE, JACOB DAVIS
6:30PM AT INTOXICOLOGY
JUNE 16 & 17
SHOWCASE STL
IN THE GROVE
$12, 8PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY
MONDAY, APR 30 CHICANO BATMAN, AMASA HINES $16-18, ALL AGES, 7PM AT THE READY ROOM
r i v er ir vf re or nf rt ot ni mt tei sm. ec os .mc o m A P JRUI NL E 1 82 0- - 22 64 ,, 22 00 11 88
R RI VI VE ER RF FR RO ON NT T T TI MI ME ES S 2 25 9
Authentic MexicAn Food, Beer, And MArgAritAs!
HEAD ON SHRIMP
“ ALL Deliriously Good Time” NEW SEAFOOD -CHERYL BAEHR IN EXPERIENCE ST. LOUIS!
RIVERFRONT TIMES RESTAURANT CRITIC
HAPPY HOUR
CLAMS & MUSSELS
what’s your catch? CRAB • LOBSTER • SHRIMP CRAWFISH • CLAMS MUSSELS • SAUSAGE
what’s your flavor?
BLUE CRAB
CAJUN • LEMON PEPPER GARLIC • THE WHOLE SHA-BANG!
2817 cherokee st. st. Louis, Mo 63118 314.762.0691 onco.coM www.tAqueriAeLBr
MONDAY-THURSDAY how spicy? 3-5PM PLAIN & SIMPLE • JUST A KICK
50%GETTIN’ OFF BEER IT’S HOT&INSODA HERE 50% OFFFEEL 1LB.MY SEAFOOD I CAN’T MOUTH (CL AM, SHRIMP, MUSSELS OR CRAWFISH)
SNOW CRAB LEGS
OR 50% OFF FRIED BASKET
OPEN WEEKDAYS AT 3PM, WEEKENDS AT NOON • 8080 OLIVE BLVD. • 314-801-8698 LUNCH & DINNER • OPEN WEEKDAYS AT 3PM • WEEKENDS AT NOON 8080 OLIVE BLVD. • 314-801-8698 • NOW SERVI NG BEER & WI NE
(SOFT SHELL CRAB, CATFISH OR SHRIMP)
La Vallesana CHEROKEE STREET’S ORIGINAL DESTINATION FOR TACOS & ICE CREAM TW O L ARG E PAT I O S • I ND O O R & PAT I O B AR HA P P Y HO U R 2- 6P M M O N- T HU RS 2801 CHEROKEE STREET • 314-776-4223
30
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
CAFE
31
In St. Louis, the chain’s classic “ShackBurger” is joined by the “Mound City Double,” a double cheeseburger topped with Provel, Niman Ranch bacon and “STL sauce.” | MABEL SUEN [REVIEW]
Made in St. Louis Inspired by the Gateway City, developed in Manhattan, does Shake Shack live up to the hype? Written by
CHERYL BAEHR Shake Shack
60 North Euclid Avenue, 314-627-5518; Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
D
anny Meyer loves St. Louis the way only an expat can love his hometown — a nostalgic longing that’s always smoldering beneath the sur-
face, ready to erupt when anyone gives him an opening. Ask what he loves about the city, and he doesn’t skip a beat. There’s Forest Park, the art museum and the zoo, of course. Busch Stadium, the Arch and the Old Courthouse are up there, too. However, what really gets him going is talking about the city’s food. Ted Drewes and Steak ’n Shake. Crown Candy Kitchen, Bissinger’s and toasted ravioli. Hearing him talk, you’d think he spent his upbringing eating his way through St. Louis — because he basically did. It’s what made him the acclaimed restaurateur he is today and informed Shake Shack, one of the most beloved jewels of his New York-based empire. Meyer is right. There is a lot to love about eating and drinking in St. Louis — to the point that it seemed a little obnoxious when the announcement that Meyer was opening a St. Louis outpost generated as much celebration as a
playoff win. Sure, our hometown boy was coming home, but do we really need a Manhattan restaurant group to show us how to serve burgers and frozen custard? It’s like the guy who does chalk paintings outside of the Uffizi telling Botticelli how to paint. For two years, the city buzzed with anticipation. On Shake Shack’s opening day, lines snaked around Euclid and down West Pine as eager diners stood in the cold for a taste of burgers and ice cream inspired by burgers and ice cream they could just as easily get down the street in a matter of minutes. The restaurant’s invite-only soft opening was the hottest ticket in town, attended by a virtual who’s who of St. Louis: the mayor, TV news personalities, top chefs and restaurateurs. There was even a Clydesdale on hand, for Christ’s sake. This skeptic had to ask: Is Shake Shack really that good? The short answer is yes. Shake Shack is, to riverfronttimes.com
no one’s surprise, a near-perfect fast-food experience. It begins the moment you walk through the door. Meyer may have borrowed heavily from St. Louis’ greasy spoons, but he didn’t copy their design aesthetic. There is nothing “shack” about the place; the room feels less mom-and-popdiner and more major-metropolishotspot. Done up in a mix of black paint and blonde wood, the highceilinged room feels sleek and modern. Big-screen televisions with the saturated colors of a showroom floor hang from the ceilings, but they aren’t the biggest source of entertainment. That goes to the guests standing in line, who are filled with a buzzing energy as they wait to order. On one visit, a group of college-aged guys were so giddy, one actually did a slight jump in the air when he exclaimed to his friends, and anyone within earshot, “Bro, I’m doing it. I’m going all in. Bro!”
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
Continued on pg 32
RIVERFRONT TIMES
31
NOW OPEN
SUNDAYS 10AM-8PM
SERVING BRUNCH 10AM-1PM
618-307-4830 www.clevelandhealth.com 106 N. Main | Edwardsville, IL
dining
read more at
RIVERFRONTTIMES.COM
32
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Shake Shack’s food may take its cue from old-school St. Louis-area diners, but its look is decidedly upscale. | MABEL SUEN
SHAKE SHACK Continued from pg 31 My suspicion is that he’d already eaten the signature “Shackburger” at least once, for what could explain such behavior better than the prospect of being reacquainted with its beauty? A double version features two griddled patties of ground beef that are so juicy, they may as well be equal parts meat and butter. Creamy American cheese binds the patties together with its luscious, almost sauce-like body. The molten cheese mixes with a generous squirt of “ShackSauce,” which tastes like a mix of mayo, ketchup, seasoned salt and a touch of mustard, forming a perfect, oozing concoction that forces you to eat the burger in its wrapper or risk making a huge mess. Lettuce and tomato break up the decadence with a burst of refreshment, with the whole glorious melange nestled onto a pillow-soft potato bun. If aliens were to visit Earth and you wanted to explain to them what a cheeseburger is, this is what you would serve them. You cannot improve upon this perfection, but you can certainly play around with it, which is what Shake Shack does with the “SmokeShack,” its version of a bacon cheeseburger.
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
Not ones to do things halfheartedly, Meyer and company use Niman Ranch bacon, a thick, sweet and smoky product widely considered the gold standard of American cured pork. The bacon infuses the entire sandwich with smoke, but a finely chopped cherry-pepper relish cuts through these deep flavors, offering a piquant brightness that lights up the palate. The same bacon plays a starring role in Shake Shack’s St. Louis-only specialty burger: the “Mound City Double.” Even those typically immune from the sweet, sweet siren song of Provel can appreciate how well it melts between the two greasy burger patties, oozing into every crevice of the meat, almost making the burger seem stuffed. Tangy “STL Sauce” and a potato bun are the only finishing touches needed — no lettuce, tomato or pickle. It’s just meat, cheese, bread and a love of St. Louis in this excellent sandwich. The “Chick ’n Shack” is the ideal fried-chicken sandwich: crispy breading with just a suggestion of black pepper, juicy meat, lettuce, tomato and buttermilk. Meyer and his team are not breaking the mold with this one — but they are showing why it was built in the first place.
And for its vegetarian option, Shake Shack does not phone it in. The “’Shroom Burger” is so wonderful I’d be tempted to forgo a beef burger every few visits. A juicy Portobello mushroom is stuffed with both muenster and cheddar cheeses, breaded and fried. The molten cheeses ooze out, mingling with the creamy “ShackSauce” to form a condiment that is nothing short of otherworldly. That a burger place puts this much thought into a meatless options speaks volumes of Meyer’s commitment to hospitality. Shake Shack’s fries are legendary, and for good reason. There’s nothing crazy about them — which is precisely what makes them so special. They’re just simple, crinkle-cut potatoes, fried uniformly to a pale, glistening gold. The exterior is almost potato-chip crisp, but the interior is creamy like a potato cloud. You can order them with a velvety cheese sauce, but my recommendation is to enjoy them in their pure form to get the full effect of their superb texture. I may have been tempted to dub the place Fry Shack after tasting these French-fried wonders, but that was before I sampled its actual namesake. Shake Shack’s “classic hand-spun” shakes were inspired
Lunch Special Monday – Friday from 11am - 4pm Any sandwich with choice of soup, salad, or fries for $10.00 331 N. Euclid Ave. in the Heart of the Central West End 314-875-0657 | www.tasteoflebanonstl.com
DID YOU KNOW:
The “Central West blEND” concrete combines custard and gooey butter cake. | MABEL SUEN by Ted Drewes, but the student may have become the master. A simple vanilla version has the perfumed bite of intense, real vanilla and is positively silken. I preferred its straightforwardness to the St. Louis-specific “Central West blend,” which paired the vanilla custard with Park Avenue Coffee’s gooey butter cake and salted caramel sauce. The sugar-laden concoction would be too much even for Willy Wonka, or, to quote my friend when I suggested we might develop Type 2 diabetes from eating it, “Try Type 10.” My favorite of the frozen custard offerings was the strawberry, which contained just enough fruit to allow the vanilla to stand front and center. It was less a strawberry concrete than a vanilla concrete with strawberries, which is exactly how I place the order every time I go to Ted Drewes. Thinking about Ted Drewes shook me out of my grease-andsugar reverie, bringing me back to my original question: Is Shake Shack truly that good? It is. At least when it comes to the food. As for the legendary Union Square Hospitality Group customer service, I expected more. This is not to say anyone was unfriendly, but considering Meyer literally wrote the book on hospitality and is considered the world’s expert on such matters, I assumed the restaurant’s service would transcend the transactional fast-food model. It didn’t. Places like, say, Mac’s Local Eats, where you are greeted, cooked
for and served by the eatery’s namesake do transcend that model by virtue of scale alone. This is why my one caveat about Shake Shack has nothing to do with the food — it’s terrific. It is not singular, however. Equally terrific are Mac’s burgers, Crown Candy’s malts and the fries at Frankly on Cherokee. If Shake Shack can peacefully co-exist with the little guys doing equally wonderful things without the benefit of an international brand behind them, then I’ll be the first in line — even as a determined local eater who prides herself in being immune to the hype. And I think that will happen. After all, we’re a big enough city to accomodate both the superstar and the little guy. Besides, Meyer is no Sam Walton; he’s as big of a hometown booster as they come, someone who wants to celebrate St. Louis food culture, not overtake it. And celebrate it, he does. When you dig into it, I think the real reason for all the excitement surrounding Shake Shack is less a matter of hype than civic pride. It’s a restaurant dedicated to what Meyer loves about St. Louis — what we love about St. Louis — for goodness’ sake. How can you contain your enthusiasm for n that?
1.3 MILLION PEOPLE READ
EACH MONTH
Shake Shack
Double “Shackburger” ������������������$7�99 Fries ���������������������������������������������� $2�79 Strawberry shake �������������������������� $5�99
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
33
34
SHORT ORDERS
[SIDE DISH]
He Brought a Taste of TX to STL Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
G
rowing up in Texas informed almost all of Mikey Carrasco’s thoughts on food: the briskets he would spend all day smoking with his grandfather and uncle, the garden his mom kept that included everything from chickens to rabbits, the drive-thru culture where he could get a whole charcoal chicken and sides from the comfort of his car. However, if one experience stands out to him the most, it’s the day trips he would take with his mom across the border from El Paso to Juarez, Mexico. “My mom knows a little bit of Spanish, and one of her favorite things to do was to go over and haggle over wool rugs, Mexican vanilla and all the things you can’t get here,” Carrasco recalls. “We’d go into restaurants and bars, to taco carts, into these big mercados where they had piñatas hanging and fresh produce. There’d be people sitting outside making tortillas, older women shaving cactuses and a whole pig chopped up somewhere for carnitas. As a young kid, all these smells and visuals were intriguing and really got me into food.” Carrasco tried to translate that passion for food into a job cooking — albeit a humble gig at the local Burger King. However, he had such a knack for customer service and working the computer system that they wouldn’t let him into the kitchen. That opportunity came instead at a sub shop in Austin, where he did the prep work and helped to fill orders. In his spare time, he’d come home and experiment in the kitchen, learning how to barbecue, cook beans and perfect the art of Spanish rice.
34
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Mikey Carrasco, the new executive chef at Copia, has roots in the Lone Star State. | MONICA MILEUR “I’d cook rice three times a week in every different way I could think of to see which way was the best,” says Carrasco. “I was always trying to make it better.” The opportunity to perfect his Mexican cooking in a professional setting would come much further north of the border. His friend Christian Ethridge moved to St. Louis from Texas and needed to find cooks to help fill the ranks at the Baileys Restaurants commissary. Though Carrasco had never done that sort of cooking professionally, Ethridge knew his work ethic and offered him the gig. Carrasco moved to St. Louis sight unseen and began working at the commissary with responsibilities ranging from butchery to braising and smoking the meat to all types of prep work. The experience helped him hone his chops enough that when he and Ethridge decided to branch out on their own, they had the skills and confidence to do so. Their effort, Taco Circus, represented the simple food they’d grown up on in Texas and made a name for the pair in town. Inexpensive, high quality and good, the restau-
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
rant became a success, one of the top places in the city to get Tex-Mex and breakfast tacos. Carrasco later left Taco Circus to join the Wheelhouse in Clayton, in search of both a change and a way to expand his cooking skills. When that restaurant shuttered, he landed at a few other concepts around town, including the Flying Saucer, Broadway Oyster Bar, Las Palmas and Grace Meat + Three. Carrasco has just been tapped to be the executive chef at Copia downtown, an opportunity that will have him not only running the kitchen at its original location but will also see him helping guide its expansion into Clayton. At his most upscale kitchen to date, Carrasco is thrilled for the chance to stretch himself and grow as a chef. He’s especially excited about digging into the restaurant’s seafood offerings, even though he’ll have a hard time topping the catfish dinners he enjoyed back home. “My friend’s grandma had a catfish place in Austin, and when I was a kid, he and I would go there on weekends and do chores for her,” Carrasco recalls. “She’d cook us these whole catfishes that to this day, I
think about. I can’t walk by a catfish place and not eat it.” Carrasco took a break from the kitchen to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food-and-beverage scene, the importance of music and why lasers make everything better. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? I am very abstract yet methodical. I move from one thought to another impetuously. Also I’m very bad at showing my work on paper. A lot of times I fail to speak about what I’m up to when I’m lost in my thoughts. My algebra teachers hated it. I had the right answers and never showed my work. I hate talking about how to fix things; I’m more of a hands-on person. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Art and music. I’m a visual-thinking person. My plans always start off as a screenplay in my head. The juxtaposition of everyday people and items is beautiful art to me. When I’m done at a restaurant I pop my ear buds in as I walk out the back door. Cue Iggy Pop “Passenger” as I
commute on the 70 Grand bus and mingle with the folks in the city. Old and young. Life is art and I live the life of an artist. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? It would be super cool if I could always know exactly what day of the week it was. Oh, and lasers. I wish I had lasers. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? Seeing the immigrant- and female-owned restaurants get their spot in the sun. The fact that Lona Luo of Lona’s Lil Eats was nominated for a James Beard award is so cool! Celebrating diversity is such a beautiful thing and important for growth in the dining scene. Shout-outs to Natasha Bahrami and her mother Hamishe from Cafe Natasha, Kelli McMullen (general manager and sommelier at DeMun Oyster Bar) and Angela Ortmann (STL Winegirl) for their efforts this year in bringing this forward. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? Whole chicken al carbon (cooked with charcoal) spots with drivethrus. Whole chickens, sides of roasted corn, rice, beans, corn tortillas, smoked sweet onions, super spicy salsa and Mexican sodas. This is probably one of my favorite things on the planet. Who is your St. Louis food crush? The farmers responsible for cultivating the ingredients we are so blessed to use. Mike from Root N Holler pig farm. David from Bohlen Farms. Brett Hilling from Foodroof. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? It’s really hard to pick one. Dakota Kolb (Quincy Street Bistro) is a rising-star chef. He cooks with his heart and has nothing but great intention. He’s an all-around great person and knows his way around a kitchen. He’s one of the sharpest knifes in the block. Sous chef Daniel Poss of Grace Meat + Three. He is from Nashville just making his way in the dining scene here. He has taught me a lot since I have been there and really enjoy his style of cooking. Also, Steve Suarez at Las Palmas in Maplewood. He and his mother own the restaurant. Steve is always pushing forward in his cooking. I can feel the
energy and flavor he imparts into his food. When you go there, ask about the specials and don’t be afraid to try something different. You won’t be underwhelmed. Right now that’s my top three. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? Citrus fruit. It accentuates other flavors, and naturally preserves and brightens food. There are so many health advantages to eating citrus as well. I’m a jovial person, and citrus flavors remind me of me. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? I would probably be booking bands and planning festivals. I have a background in that stuff and I love doing it. Running a festival is a lot like being a chef. Everything has to be in its place when it’s time for the showdown. It takes great foresight, budgeting and planning. You must stay calm, communicate concisely and assertively. Pay attention to details, be quick on your feet and always have a plan B. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. Spices that have been on the shelf too long. They need to be fresh. When they get old and dry out too much they lose their flavor and just taste like wood chips. Also I do not like pre-mixed spice blends. It’s almost impossible to finesse a dish just right using pre-made blends. You have to think about everything on the plate as well as in the glass when spicing your dishes. What is your after-work hangout? Ballpark Village! Duh. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with Doritos. And I am much more likely to crush a gas station hot dog than a mediocre $12 sandwich. Shout-out to the hot dogs at Sam’s. My grandma Matilda Carrasco was a Mexican American and cooked my favorite Mexican food of all time, but her favorite food was bratwurst. She taught us all so much about history and culture and knew what she loved. I believe memories are the best flavor you could ever serve. I’m in this for the memories — old and new. What would be your last meal on earth? Oysters. Cave-aged cheddar. Toast. Ripe avocados. Fresh fruit. Sour beer. n
ALL KILLER. NO FILLER. HAND-CRAFTED SMOKED MEATS AND BREWS
Photography by JENNIFER SILVERBERG
Photography by JENNIFER SILVERBERG
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
35
[OPENINGS]
SWEET TREATS FOR DOGTOWN
E
Among the creative potsticker options are ones inspired by Vietnamese srping rolls. | HAYLEY ABSHEAR [FIRST LOOK]
A Go-To Spot for Potstickers in TGS Written by
HAYLEY ABSHEAR
D
avid Dresner started craving potstickers all the time. He figured that opening a restaurant that served the stuffed dumplings would allow him to have them any time he wanted — and so he went for it. The result? Crispy Edge (4168 Juniata Street, 314-310-3343), Dresner’s new restaurant, which opened two weeks ago in Tower Grove South and offers a potsticker-focused menu. “It’s my DNA,” Dresner says. “If I say I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it.” Dresner had already started Sleeve a Message, which makes custom coffee sleeves, so he knew how to open a business. He applied his talents to conceptualiz-
36
RIVERFRONT TIMES
ing a restaurant that would make his beloved foodstuff in unique versions — salty or sweet, for any meal of the day or even just dessert. Crispy Edge has a stylish vibe, with brick walls painted black and accents from plants. It offers not only vegan, vegetarian and globally styled potstickers but also some side dishes and a drink menu including coffee, tea, wine and beer. The coffee options come from local Blueprint Coffee. The owner of Blueprint was Dresner’s camp counselor growing up, so their relationship resulted in an unlikely collaboration — coffee and potstickers. “That was our vision, to match things,” says Jesse Stuart, who handles operations management for the restaurant. “Everything we are excited about like the beers, wine and cocktails we created is drawn from inspiration from the food.” Stuart traveled all around the world on his honeymoon and came back with all kinds of inspiration for the restaurant. He bounces ideas off executive chef Tori Foster, who has a master’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Saint Louis University. “David has so many potstickers that he’s already been working on that we kind of worked together to revamp some of them,” Foster
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
says. “We took some of those concepts and just worked on them to create more elaborate dishes. But a lot of them are my babies.” Unlike normal potstickers, which can be soggy and are often filled with meat, Crispy Edge potstickers are different. The restaurant offers breakfast potstickers to go along with its coffee menu, as well as an all-day menu, which includes potstickers like the vegan chorizo-date: turmeric dough, spicy chorizo-and-date filling, lemon pepper cream and pea shoots. Crispy Edge’s grand opening April 6 was a hit. More than 500 people came in throughout the day, and the restaurant even ended up running out of the day’s most popular side dish — roasted cauliflower with coconut curry, cilantro and lime. “It was stressful and busy and crazy, but that’s the only way I would have it,” Foster says. “It was so exciting to just come out here after a crazy and stressful service and see people out there smiling and happy. That’s everything.” Crispy Edge will be open Fridays from 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will also host a wine pairing April 19, where attendees can try new things on the menu as well. Tickets for the pairing can be purchased online. n
arlier this month, on April 7, sisters Erika Darrough and Megan Cobb opened the doors to the business they’ve long dreamt of — Sweet EM’s Coffee and Ice Cream (6330 Clayton Avenue). They’re now serving coffee, ice cream and baked goods out of a storefront in the heart of Dogtown. The sisters have deep roots in the neighborhood. Not only did they grow up in Dogtown, but their family owns Seamus McDaniel’s — the bar whose parking lot butts up to their shop. They intend to coordinate with their family to provide early-morning parking. (As Cobb notes, the bar doesn’t open ’til 11 a.m., and they expect to be busiest in the hours before that — why not avail themselves of those spots?) And that’s not the only Dogtown business they’re working with. Their menu also includes cookies, pies and even quiches from nearby Sugaree Baking Company. Originally, they acknowledge, their plan was to launch with just coffee and ice cream. Adding other food offerings “was supposed to be our phase two,” Darrough says. “But it made such a natural fit to partner up with Sugaree.” And once they added desserts, a savory quiche option made sense as well. And so customers will be able to get shakes or malts or ice cream floats, ice cream sandwiches or banana splits. You can get your ice cream “EM’s Way” (two scoops and two toppings) or simply in a waffle cone. If you want your ice cream caffeinated, you can get an affogato. And, of course, there are any number of coffee drinks. The shop is small, but there are tables for lingering and counter seating along the window as well as one part of the order counter. It’s already filled with personal touches that reference both their family and their neighborhood — two big things for the sisters. The flowers on one shelf are from Cobb’s wedding; the paintings were done by students at St. James the Greater, where they both went to school. The pillows, which have a dog motif, were sewn by their aunt. “We’re going to add to the tchotchkes as we go,” Cobb says. “We want Sweet EM’s to embody the neighborhood and the places that were here before us.” Sweet EM’s has hours from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday through Thursday from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. They intend to keep longer hours in the summer. —Sarah Fenske
FRESH & AUTHENTIC BRAZILIAN CUISINE
5TH AN N UAL
D AN
COC
KTAIL MENU SERVED.
OF F
ICE CHAIR RACES AT
M, 6P M
- $50 0. CA
PR I
E DA
IR NT
SH &
E
ZE S
ALL YOU CAN EAT
$25
WWW.BRASILIASTL.COM • 314-932-1034 3212 SOUTH GRAND BLVD
,
21
APRIL
PER PERSON
LUNCH BUFFET 11AM-2PM D I N N E R M E N U, A N D S U N DAY B R U N C H 11A M-2:30P M
1 PM
3P
ILY DINNER, B AR ,
S I H F W A R C& CAJUN DANCE FESBTIOVALIL
LIVE MUSIC N 2:3 OON - 2PM: BOOGIEFOOT E 0PM - 5PM: MISS JUBNILGEERS 5 : 30 I D G & THE HUM PM SWIN 7PM - 9:30PM: BLUES CITY DYS - 11 P DAD (CAJU M: ZYDECO CRAW OOM) N DANCE IN SIDE THE NEW MAHLER BALLR
FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 314.367.3644 EVANGELINESSTL.COM
riverfronttimes.com
512 NORTH EUCLID AVE.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
37
FORTY RESTAURANTS. FOUR FAMOUS
NICHOLAS MILLER 23 City Blocks Catering
DAVID SANDUSKY Beast Craft BBQ
38
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
S CHEFS. ONE NIGHT OF EXCITEMENT! IT’S THE BIGGEST FOOD NIGHT OF THE YEAR — AND ONE HELL OF A PARTY. INDULGE IN DECADENT FOOD, HAND-CRAFTED COCKTAILS, AND ALL THE HEART-POUNDING DRAMA OF OUR SIGNATURE CULINARY THROWDOWN.
FEATURING: BEAST CRAFT BBQ BLOOD & SAND THE BLUE DUCK CAFE PIAZZA CAPITALIST PIG THE CHOCOLATE PIG
Emceed by CURT COPELAND Music by DANCE FLOOR RIOT | 18ANDCOUNTING | DJ KIMMY NU
CRAFTED EDIBLES & ESSENTIALS ELEMENT
AT THE CITY MUSEUM
EVANGELINE’S
7-11 PM | WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018 WWW.RFTIRONFORK.COM
GRACE MEAT + THREE
GIOIA’S DELI HAVELI LAYLA LONA’S LIL EATS MIDTOWN SUSHI & RAMEN
NOWELL GATA
MISSION TACO JOINT
Guerrilla Street Food
NARWHAL’S NIXTA SALUME BEDDU
JESSIE GILROY
SANDRINA’S
Pangea
SISTER CITIES CAJUN TASTE OF LEBANON THE VINE
THANKS TO:
Help support the St. Louis Area Foodbank by purchasing a raffle ticket and you could win the Ultimate Iron Fork Gift Basket
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
39
Traditional German cuisine is on offer at Hofbrauhaus, as well as beer made with a special strain of yeast from Munich. | SPENCER PERKINOFF [BARS]
Hofbrauhaus Says ‘Wilkommen’ Written by
ELLEN PRINZI
A
short drive to Belleville will transport you to Bavaria by way of a massive fortress (literally). Hofbrauhaus (123 St. Eugene Drive, Belleville, Illinois; 618-800-2337), the 30,000-square-foot German beer hall and restaurant that opened two weeks ago, looks like a mirage, sitting alone in what’s meant to be a 33-acre commercial development. As Paulo Pacheco, VP of Oak Tree Management Services, explains, “This is phase one of four; the next phases will include a hotel, several more restaurants and a convention center.” The colossal brewhouse will serve as the cornerstone, which answers the question “Why Belleville?” for
40
RIVERFRONT TIMES
a restaurant of this magnitude. “There is a large German population over here, so there is also a huge opportunity,” Pacheco says. “We all head to St. Louis for food and entertainment, and this is the start of something special on this side of the river.” St. Louisans might not realize the concept is actually part of a small franchise started in the early 2000s, with initial openings in Cincinnati and Las Vegas. The Belleville location is the eighth in the Hofbrauhaus family, but don’t let that turn you off. Despite being a chain, every location is unique. Belleville’s interior design is totally custom, with arched blue and white ceilings modeled after the original Bavarian location, which opened in 1589. The massive space holds a brewhouse, a 450-seat main dining hall, a patio that seats an additional 225 people, and a private room for banquets and parties called the Ludwig Room, which houses up to 250. That all brings the total occupancy to just about 1,000 diners. At the back of the main dining hall is a small stage that hosts a rotation of German and Austrian bands flown in monthly by the restaurant, giving you the true Bavarian drinking experience.
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
The restaurant’s slogan holds that at Hofbrauhaus, it’s always Oktoberfest. If you’re into German drinking traditions, whether it’s standing on your bench seat with a liter of beer and yelling “prost!” or learning a new German dance move, they’re here to teach. Same goes for the kiddos — this place is totally family friendly. The food menu is comprised of traditional German dishes, ranging from housemade pretzels to schnitzel with spätzle, plus more sausages than you can count. The cuisine is all authentic to Bavaria, made with strict guidelines and recipes from the old country. Don’t skimp on desserts either; the traditional Black Forest cake and apple strudel are the perfect end to a long day of drinking, eating and drinking. Speaking of, let’s get to the drinking, since that’s what you’re here for anyway. Hofbrauhaus has five beers available at any given time, with three being staples: lager, hefe weizen and dunkel, plus two seasonal brews. The hefe weizen is the “can’t miss” brew, and is like nothing you’ve had in the U.S. Hofbrauhaus imports a yeast strain from Munich that’s exclusive to the restaurant. As head brewmaster Ben Patrick
Zollenkopf (yes, he’s also imported from Munich, in case you were still doubting the authenticity of this place) explains, “It’s a special beer, and you will find a hint of banana in the aftertaste.” And before you can ask the question “which beer is closest to Bud Light,” I’ll save you the trouble: Go for the lager. It’s light, smooth and won’t have you missing the local brew. No preview of this institution would be complete without mentioning its “take a shot, get a swat” deal. Anyone who buys a shot can opt to have a waitress spank them with a board on the backside (seriously). Actual waitstaff training goes into this tradition, so pucker up for some fireball and prepare for a spanking from one of the waitresses dressed as Heidi. Find your best friend who doesn’t drink and load up the car for the trek out to Belleville — it’s worth it. I mean, who hasn’t always wanted to visit an actual castle full of beer? Ellen Prinzi is our bar-andnightlife writer; she likes strong drinks and has strong opinions. You can catch more of her writing via Olio City, a city guide app she started last year.
9 South Vandeventer Ave. Saint Louis, MO 63130 • 314-391-5100 • blkmkteats.com
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
41
NOW OPEN!
DINE IN, CARRY OUT AND DELIVERY BEAST Butcher and Block will be located at 4156 Manchester, next to Atomic Cowboy. | JEMA ARCHITECTS NOW H IR IN G
E X P E R IE
NCED S ERVER
[FOOD NEWS]
S, APPL Y
IN P E R S ON
“Thanks for voting us Best Greek Restaurant 2017”
BUY ONE ENTREE, RECEIVE 50% OFF THE SECOND Exp. 5/31/18
Now accepting reservations for Mother’s Day Free Dessert for all moms!
42
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
BEAST Readies for the Grove Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
B
ig news for barbecue lovers and the legions of BEAST Craft BBQ (20 S. Belt West, Belleville, Illinois; 618-257-9000) fans who’ve lamented the trip east for a taste of its killer food: The acclaimed Belleville smokehouse will open a second location, this time in the Show Me State — and it’s pitmaster David Sandusky’s most ambitious project yet. The new restaurant, BEAST Butcher & Block, is slated to open late this summer at 4156 Manchester Avenue in the Grove. As Sandusky explains, the new location will have the soul of the original BEAST, but will take that as a jumping-off point for a much grander concept. “This is not going to be a carbon copy,” says Sandusky. “Meggan [his wife and business partner] and I will be taking a few of the core elements from BEAST — there will be the pork steak, the Brussels sprouts, the Compart Farms pork and Wagyu beef — but we are going to add a few things and do things slightly differently.” “Slightly differently” scarcely conveys the full nature and scope of the Sanduskys’ plans for BEAST Butcher
& Block. The 6,000-square-foot space will house multiple elements under one roof: a 100-seat fast-casual smokehouse, similar in format to the original BEAST; a 25-seat patio; a retail, whole-animal butcher shop with an accompanying outdoor courtyard lounge and firepits; and a hybrid chef’s table-research and development space called the Skullery. “It’s very ambitious,” Sandusky admits. “We’re really limited with what we can do in Belleville. We have a huge fan base in Missouri and they hate driving to Illinois. Plus, we are limited in what we are able to accomplish in terms of national recognition in Belleville.” The Sanduskys are working with local firms JEMA and Blackline on the design and buildout of the space and with Narrative Furniture on custom-made tables and chairs for the restaurant. In addition to serving as a chef’s table and R&D area, the Skullery will serve as the branding for a line of sauces and rubs Sandusky is developing for retail. The Sanduskys also envision it as a collaboration space for anything from beer dinners with local breweries to a venue for showcasing the area’s culinary talent. Expect collaborative dinners with other local chefs, special events and even a radio show and podcast broadcast from the Skullery. “People ask if St. Louis needs another barbecue restaurant, and the answer is ‘no,’” says Sandusky. “But does it need another great barbecue restaurant? The answer is ‘yes.’ St. Louis is putting itself on the maps as one of the premier barbecue cities in the country, and we want to be a visible part of that.” n
It’s WAY better than a photo booth! info@FishEyeFun.com FishEyeFun.com 314-621-8638 riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
43
44
37
CULTURE
[HOMESPUN]
His EverChanging Moods André Cataldo may seem like a bit of a control freak, but it’s all by design Written by
CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER
O
n a sunny Monday afternoon in early April, André Cataldo is working his way through a foamy cup of chai tea at Hartford Coffee in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. Chai tends to be quite a bit lower in caffeine than a standard cup of coffee, and that’s probably OK for Cataldo, who already carries a bit of manic energy with him. Given that in 24 hours’ time his band Dear Genre will open for Ron Gallo at the Ready Room, his energy has been transmuted into a healthy dose of nerves. “For a thing like this, it’s always a little bit intimidating — just a bit — because you’re coming into a setting with higher expectations than a local bill,” Cataldo says of the gig. “So this is a very cool opportunity and a scary opportunity at the same time. When I get nervous or scared or anxious that we may be needing to give ourselves a little push, we try to do it with energy.” Dear Genre plays what can broadly but comfortably be called indie rock, with songs that can range from nervy to laconic, but with a steady grip on an errant (but still melodic) tunefulness. But as he plans for the Gallo opening set, Cataldo’s hope is to keep the audience’s pulse rate high. “At higher-caliber shows, where we’re dressed to impress, I try to keep the tempo above 90 bpm,” he says. Cataldo looks like an amalgam of any three members of the
44
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Though he typically performs with a live band, André Cataldo’s records as Dear Genre are all him. | JESSI MCKEE Strokes circa 2002 — wiry and compact, like a spring ready to pop, with a halo of tight, dark curly hair. His arms are laced with tattoos — a Fender Telecaster, the solar system and an outline of his native country of Brazil (Cataldo was adopted as an infant and raised in west St. Louis County). He has been the driving force behind Dear Genre for eight years — its sole songwriter, only constant member and, across five studio albums, a one-man band who handles all instrumentation himself. “It’s 100 percent me,” Cataldo says of the sounds on the band’s forthcoming record, Henna Party, due in May. “I think I’ve recorded with other musicians on one record, and I didn’t like that much. I don’t really play nice. “If you look at artists in general, they’re all kind of peculiar and do things a specific way, and if it’s not quite right it’s totally wrong. I think I’ve had to learn to be particular to get what I want in the final product,” he continues. If he’s fussy, it’s only to a point. Cataldo doesn’t tend to overthink his process or, especially,
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
his product — the name Henna Party comes from a song title on the new album and has no special significance beyond that, he says. So he looked for outside help in sequencing the album to walk the line between coherence and variety. “I wish I could articulate better how I come to that,” Cataldo says of the album’s magpie tendencies and the difficulty in settling on a track order. “I had a good buddy of mine named Andrew Ryan — he helped me organize this one. I sent it to him and trusted him with it, and he was like, ‘What would you think about doing it like this? It would make sense sonically and scientifically.’” Even in the recording process, Cataldo prefers to keep a bit of chaos in the air. By embracing a “first take/best take” mentality, he imparts breezy confidence on the tracks. “I actually don’t go back and re-record vocals, which is a really terrible practice, but I think there’s something raw and sincere about the way it comes out the first time ever,” he says. “There’s a certain sound — you can tell
you’re still exploring the song and learning intricacies of it and are not quite sure how it sounds. I kind of like the way the insecurity projects itself into the song. It’s kind of delicate, a little bit; it can fall apart at any moment.” A day after the Ron Gallo show, Cataldo emails to give an update. He performed with his live current lineup, and things went well. “The new live members are just getting to the point now where they’re feeling comfortable enough to really starting adding bits and pieces of their personalities into the songs that we’re playing,” Cataldo writes. And though Dear Genre lives and dies on its headmaster’s whims, it remains important to Cataldo that his band exists both in the studio and on the stage. “One of my favorite parts of this band is hearing how the songs shift and vary as a result of the revolving door of members coming in and out,” he writes. “I think most people see that and assume that means I’m just a big-headed ass that’s hard to work with, but I’m certain that an ever-changing cast is very much intentional.” n
[STRIPPERS]
New Podcast Tackles the East Side Written by
THOMAS CRONE
I
t was nearly a decade ago, back in 2009, when Dale Wiley became a card-carrying member of the Penthouse Club’s pricey membership ranks, allowing him exclusive access to all corners of what was then the swankiest strip bar in Sauget, Illinois. Intending to crash the scene for a possible story, though not knowing what that story might be, the attorney-slash-writer was initially unsure what might emerge from his visits. But that confusion didn’t last long — on the third visit he found his epiphany. In the sequestered, members-only room, another patron entered, seemingly three sheets to the wind, placing his hand on Wiley’s shoulder and asking, “Do you believe you can fall in love with a stripper after just one day?” Wiley responded, “Falling in love with a stripper will make a bad situation so much worse,” a comment that their bartender said “ought to be printed in neon and placed right above the door.” And so it began. Dropping references to classic bits of literature and film, Wiley says that this moment put everything into motion for a developing project that’s recently gone live as a podcast. Simply called The East Side, Wiley’s decade-in-the-making story cycle is intended for more than a podcast — some text-based short stories have also arrived on the project’s webpage. But the idea won’t be fully complete, Wiley says, until it becomes a televised project, which he says will be assisted by veteran TV producers and directors Louis Milito and Phil Conserva. The latter was the first to sign on, and he began to change Wiley’s view of possible storytelling platforms — Wiley had begun the project thinking
it would be a novel. “That’s where we’d come up with the season-two storyline: a Rashomon-type of thing, with multiple stories told from different points of view,” Wiley says. “There’s no place around where that is more germane that the east side, where no one’s version of the truth is close to correct. There’s a great story that I could tell there, with a lot of interesting twists and turns. And that story’s now being told as the podcast, while the writing for season one is way more visual, and would be much harder to do with just a podcast.” On that podcast, two fictional dancers named Nikki (who writes under a pseudonym for a certain paper named the Riverfront Times), played by Gigi Hutchison, and Montana, played by El Armstrong, are frequently heard. There are also narration drop-ins by Wiley himself and occasional bits of interstitial music. Set at the Pinnacle Club — a clear stand-in for the Penthouse that Wiley knew as a member from 2009 to 2011 — the story is set in what’s generally considered the highest end of its particular culture, though Wiley semi-laughs when saying he learned his way around the seedier spots, too. “It’s just inevitable that when you’re over there, before very long you’ll at least see the other sides as well,” he suggests. “For many of the women, it’s easy to go from the low to the high, or the high to the low. While I have way more knowledge of the higher-end places, it’s really not hard in Washington Park to go from one side of the street to the other and be on the far end of the spectrum.” There’s definitely a bit of modern noir in the way Wiley sets up his project. On the homepage, for example, is this bit of pulp-ready text: The name itself is catchall for all the little towns just across the river from St. Louis, Sauget, Brooklyn, Washington Park, which, as places go, munch off a greasy diet of sin and fear, lined with a potent combination of dark bars stained with the grimy residue of what’s left of men’s souls, of strip clubs, massage parlors, casinos, pony palaces, sex shops and dance clubs. It’s 24-hour bars and X-ed out teenagers, all among tall, phallic mills and factories, coughing, sputtering, stinking places, choking out anything not drunk or high or horny enough to
Author and attorney Dale Wiley used his experience as a regular at the Penthouse Club from 2009 to 2011 to inform his podcast series. | VIA DAVE WILEY notice. It starts just across the Mississippi, a fingernail into Illinois, where towns are nothing more than land and square footage calculations for those big mills, pockets lined for everyone involved. While he says that his completed stories will be centered on individuals — not just the dancers but the servers, DJs, club directors and members of their adjunct communities — those little villages absolutely flavor the narrative. “To me,” Wiley says, “all of this starts with a concept that’s long-lived over there, that essentially these towns are afterthoughts. They’re small communities without people. Like Sauget, which has like 200 residents, but a tax base considerably higher than that. People can make a nice living working in government positions on the east side, but the neighborhoods? You drive through parts of Washington Park and it’s like being in a live-action episode of Night of the Living Dead or The Wire, or whatever show you’d like to name. I really think there’s a story to tell on all levels.” But aren’t there some tales — even the tamer encounters in the relatively posh confines of the Penthouse’s suites — that don’t bear repeating, ever? Wiley teases that some of those will come out, just not yet. “There are definitely elements that we’re waiting for the right time to bring riverfronttimes.com
to light, so to speak,” he suggests. “Frankly, most of my time was spent with really good people, really interesting people. Clearly, one of the best courses of action is to run something by the bartenders and the people with the nice-paying jobs over there. “And, to me, that’s one of the real inequalities of it all,” he continues. “I remember having this moment, sitting there with somebody and thinking that in five years, you’re going to remember the other members — the DJs and the bartenders — but the girls are just interchangeable. They’re just a commodity. And so many are interesting and smart. Those figure out ways to dissociate themselves long enough to do their job; they do a surgical strike and then they’re out for the rest of their lives.” Wiley’s kept the ghost for them, in a sense, wanting to tell their stories long after many have bounced out of The Life, while he’s himself hoping to strike gold along the way with a more contemporary, Midwestern version of, say, HBO’s The Deuce. Summarizes the creator, “It’s black, it’s white, it’s rich, it’s poor, it’s government and it’s industrial. All these elements are in this. In 2018, it’s the perfect American story, the beauty and the waste, all of it existing in this one, singular place of a few square miles. That’s why it’s such an important story.” See www.theeastside.tv for more NSFW background.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
45
[BARS]
[RECORDING]
ATTITUDES IS FOR SALE
State of Mind Opens in Midtown
T
Written by
JASON JONES
T
here’s a new name in St. Louis’ recording-studio game. State of Mind Entertainment (3150 Locust Street Suite 100, 314-300-8106), a new studio located in Midtown, opened for business in October under the direction of owner Justin Peer. With a tight-knit crew of ambitious inhouse artists and engineers, as well as a roster of musicians already counting themselves as clients, State of Mind is well on its way to becoming a known commodity in the St. Louis music community and beyond. A chance meeting between Peer, 28, and St. Louis-based hip-hop artist Bigg Juke on the campus of SIUE led to the musical partnership that inspired Peer to open the studio. Peer, a rapper himself under the name “JP,” and Bigg Juke began trading verses several years ago. After working with Bigg Juke and honing his verbal abilities, Peer sought to further expand his skill set and enrolled in Vatterott College’s Ex’Treme Institute in 2014, where he studied audio engineering, music production and business management. While there, Peer met Aaron Anderson (“Big A”) and Lee Roy Parks IV (“naturalLee”), who have since become core team members at the studio. Anderson works the boards, serving as the sound engineer, while Parks handles artist promotion and performs as an artist in his own right. After assembling the team, the guys spent two years designing and completing the studio. Peer speaks fondly of those exciting yet stressful opening days. “After two long years of renovating the building, when the first client came in to record and left ecstatic about the outcome, that’s when I knew we had something,” he says. “That’s when we knew we could do it.” But the work was only beginning, as they had to shift quickly into cli-
46
RIVERFRONT TIMES
Justin Peer and Lee Roy Parks IV, a.k.a. JP and naturalLee, in the booth at the studio. | DANIEL HILL ent-acquisition mode in order to bring some more talent through the doors. In the months that have followed, the team has worked to cultivate a vibe that is conducive to making music and attracting artists. At the center of the mission is Anderson, who works hands on with most of the artists who record at State of Mind. “I enjoy working at the studio — the vibe is great and everybody is focused on one main goal: That is to succeed,” he says. “If everybody stays focused we have no choice but to succeed.” So far the hard work is paying off, as a growing list of local and national acts have already come through to record, including A1 and TK, Achilleus Gold, Cash 4oes, Cash Johnson, Doughyboy, Drama, Kiing Jupiter, Orack Pac and Prophit Smith. “Recording at State of Mind was like recording with family,” Louisiana-based Cash Johnson says. “JP and Big A made sure the session had a good vibe and kept the energy up. I recorded a few different tracks featuring Simmi of GMG and the product was A1.” In addition to the in-house crew, Keith Page (“KP”), one of St. Louis’ most prominent audio engineers, conducts frequent recording sessions at State of Mind. KP has earned his top-shelf reputation by developing a signature sound and working with an impressive list of high-profile rap artists, including 3 Problems, Bezz Believe, Blac Youngsta, Boosie Badazz, Buddy, Chingy, JR, Nelly and R. Grizzly. For Peer and Co., getting the stu-
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
dio up and running was only part of the equation. Having secured a growing stream of clients, they’ve begun work on what will be the initial releases for the record label division of State of Mind Entertainment. Compilations featuring the in-house artists, some singles and Bigg Juke’s mixtape are slated to drop this spring. While Peer continues to make beats, write lyrics and record music of his own, he now finds himself in the position of signing and promoting other artists, giving him hands-on access to the music, from vision to creation to final product. The team at State of Mind shows no signs of slowing down, as they continue adapting new skills to take on more projects. According to Peer, they’ve already been able to branch out and take on new opportunities, such as producing sound for Mother Modeling’s Tribute Fashion Fest, working on several live events with STL Culture and scoring the soundtrack for a short film produced by Mercury Labs. They also have their sights set on jumping into the apparel game and plans for entering into music video production. Asked about the ultimate goal for State of Mind Entertainment, Peer is succinct. “I want a successful record label where we’re really housing in-house artists and hopefully win some awards,” he says. “Really, just make good music for good people.” “Grammys, man. Grammys,” Parks adds. “That’s the goal.” n
hirty years ago, Jann Brigulio opened Attitudes (4100 Manchester Avenue, 314-802-8603), which would become the Grove’s longest running LGBTQ bar and a nightlife icon even as the neighborhood around it saw huge changes. But after retiring to California three years ago, Brigulio is ready to pass on the reins of ownership. It won’t be the first time she’s tried to give up control. In 2015 Brigulio decided to lease the bar, allowing Dan Stoner to run it. A year in, Stoner decided his experiment in bar management was over and announced he would be closing the bar. After learning of its imminent closing, Brigulio temporarily moved back to St. Louis to keep Attitudes open. Now she’s making a new push to find a new owner. A recent ad on Craigslist set the price at $1,099,000. Brigulio says she didn’t seek out further publicity because she didn’t want to worry her customers. In the bar business, a “for sale” sign can signify the end. That, she insists, is not the case for Attitudes; business is booming. Her reason for selling is that “we just want to retire.” Both Brigulio and her business partner are approaching their 70s. Since Attitudes first came to the scene, the Grove has undergone a major transformation — first becoming a hub for LGBTQ nightlife, and now, in recent years, suffering a series of gaybar closures even as venues focused on beer, music and even comedy have taken their place. Real estate prices have soared, and several apartment complexes are being built along Manchester. Brigulio says she supports the progress taking place and insists the expanding culture of the neighborhood isn’t “fudging out” any regulars. “It’s going to bring in business. It’s a positive, not a negative,” she says. The positive side effects are evident in Attitudes’ purchase price. According to the Vital Voice, the bar was listed at $825,000 in 2014, before Brigulio decided to lease it out instead. But as the Grove continues to change, those who came to consider Attitudes their go-to place for a Saturday night out don’t have to worry. Brigulio promises she is waiting for the right person. Attitudes, she says, is “doing just great.” —Megan Anthony
47
OUT EVERY NIGHT
[CRITIC’S PICK]
duke’s THE SOULARD SPORTS BAR
Bit Brigade 8 p.m. Friday, April 20.
One of the most exciting parts about watching a performance by Athens, Georgia’s Bit Brigade is that there is an actual possibility that you might watch one of its members die onstage. Not in the truest sense — that’d be awfully morbid, you weirdo — but via the video game avatar the band’s resident “gamer” Noah McCarthy is projecting on the back wall behind the band. At each Bit Brigade show, McCarthy does expert speed-runs of classic Nintendo games such as Zelda, Ninja Gaiden,
Mega Man and Contra while a crack band of musicians expertly recreate those games’ soundtracks. McCarthy himself is impressive — spoiler, he’ll likely live to fight another day — but he is easily matched by the oft-hyper-technical musical wizardry going on around him. One would be hard pressed to find a more appropriate way to celebrate 4/20 than attending this show. Birds of a Feather: St. Louis’ Thor Axe is a perfect match to open, with its own brand of instrumental prowess and an impressive light show. Don’t get too high in the parking lot and miss ’em. –Daniel Hill
THURSDAY 19
BIT BRIGADE: w/ Thor Axe 8 p.m., $10. Off
BICYCLE DAY: w/ Yheti, kLL sMTH, Digital Ethos,
Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-
Eazybaked Funktion 1 8 p.m., $25. 2720 Chero-
6989.
kee Performing Arts Center, 2720 Cherokee St,
BO-LAR-OH!: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill,
St. Louis, 314-276-2700.
3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.
BIG GEORGE JR. NGK BAND: 8 p.m., free. Ham-
DAILEY & VINCENT: 8 p.m., $30-$40. The Sheldon,
merstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-
3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900.
5565.
DAVID DEE & THE HOT TRACKS: 8 p.m., $3.
BROTHER JEFFERSON DUO: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz,
Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-
Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-
773-5565.
436-5222.
ECO: 8 p.m., $5-$15. The 560 Music Center, 560
JEREMIAH JOHNSON ACOUSTIC DUO: 4 p.m., free.
Trinity Ave., University City, 314-421-3600.
Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-
JAKE MILLER: 7 p.m., $20-$35. Fubar, 3108
773-5565.
Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.
LINDI ORTEGA: w/ Hugh Masterson 8 p.m., $15.
JAMES ARMSTRONG BLUES BAND: 10 p.m., $10.
Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-
BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.
588-0505.
Louis, 314-436-5222.
TEF POE: THANK GOD 4 NAS TRIBUTE & VIDEO
KEY GRIP: w/ Bear Cub, 3 of 5 9 p.m., $7. The
DEBUT: w/ DJ James Biko, Fresco Kane, Indiana
Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis,
Rome, Q-Hall, Nick Menn 8 p.m., free. The
314-352-5226.
Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-
LEROY PIERSON: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues &
775-0775.
Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-
TOMMY HALLORAN DUO: 9:30 p.m., $10. Thaxton
5222.
Speakeasy, 1009 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-241-
PTAH WILLIAMS ACOUSTIC TRIO: 5 p.m., free.
3279.
The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside
TORREY CASEY & SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: 10 p.m.,
Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550.
$5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,
ROLLO TOMASI: w/ Ox Braker 8 p.m., $5-$8. The
St. Louis, 314-436-5222.
Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.
TURNOVER: w/ Camp Cope, Summer Salt 8 p.m.,
SMOOTH HOUND SMITH: w/ Forlorn Strangers 8
$20-$23. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-
p.m., $12. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St.
289-9050.
Louis, 314-588-0505.
TYLER BRYANT AND THE SHAKEDOWN: 8 p.m.,
STL FUNK REVUE: w/ The Grooveliner, Hazard to
$15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis,
Ya Booty 8 p.m., $15. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar
314-498-6989.
Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.
Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-4986989.
FRIDAY 20
VOTED ST. LOUIS’
2017 BEST OF ST. LOUIS Readers Poll
BEST BAR & BEST SPORTS BAR
Cardinals Baseball $14 Buckets Great Food Free Shuttle
We’ve Got Every Game
Playoffs Saturday Night Boxing
SURCO: w/ Grass Fed Mule, Brother Francis 8 p.m., $10-$13. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester
420-PALOOZA: w/ Junior, High 55, Preachstl,
Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.
Eastside Eazy, Bad Business, City Boi, DJ Tab 6
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS ONE O’CLOCK LAB
p.m., free. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St.
BAND: 8 p.m., $35. Blanche M Touhill Perform-
Louis, 314-726-6161.
Like & follow us on Facebook for everything going on at Duke’s @dukesinsoulard
Continued on pg 48
2001 MENARD (AT ALLEN) IN THE HEART OF SOULARD riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
47
6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. [WEEKEND]
SORRY, SCOUT: w/ The Aught Naughts, Jacob Vi 8 p.m., $7. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St.
BEST BETS
Louis, 314-498-6989. SUMMONING THE LICH: w/ Signals From Saturn,
Five sure-fire shows to close out the week
Polterguts, Cavil 5 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Lo-
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
ROCK TRIBUTE: 8 p.m., $15-$80. Old Rock House,
True Friends w/ Key Grip, Syna So Pro, Bear Cub
THUNDERHEAD: THE RUSH EXPERIENCE: 8 p.m.,
cust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE TRAVELING SALVATION SHOW: NEIL DIAMOND 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. $12-$15. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.
9 p.m. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Avenue. $7. 314-352-5226.
Without catching True Friends live, it’s hard to comprehend just how drummer/singer Nate Larson pulls off his heady pop endeavor. Through a kind of musical smoke and mirrors, he lays into the drum set with tight syncopation while managing all the elements of a dance song. In this way, Larson offers the density of a full band as a one-man act — a tall order for anyone with less than eight arms. Last year’s Disco Lyfe is a taut four-song blueprint that works well as proof of concept. There’s a party vibe that permeates just about every second, offering a relentless brand of positivity and upbeat energy.
SATURDAY, APRIL 21 Euclid Records Record Store Day Bash 10 a.m. Euclid Records, 19 North Gore Avenue, Webster Groves. Free. 314-9618978.
Sure, Record Store Day has long-ago gone fully mainstream, but Euclid Records’ bash is surely worth your time, as it offers a day-long primer on St. Louis music with fifteen local bands including the Fade, Brothers Lazaroff, Path of Might, Grace Basement and Bruiser Queen tightly booked between noon and 8 p.m. Think of this as an eight-hour workday for local music lovers, except actually arriving on time (for once) nets you RSD exclusives such as the vinyl reissue of Chuck Berry’s Greatest Hits or the Studio One Dub Plate Special box set. Those staying for the long haul can soak in local brew from Logboat, 4 Hands and Urban Chestnut while staying sated with food courtesy of Sugarfire and Hi-Pointe Drive-In.
TIM ALBERT & THE BOOGIEMEN: 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314773-5565. TOM HALL: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. TOWER OF POWER TRIBUTE: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.
SUNDAY 22 THE BONBON PLOT: 11 a.m., free. The Dark
[CRITIC’S PICK]
Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550.
Calexico. | VIA THE BILLIONS CORPORATION
Blueberry Hill Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Boulevard. $25. 314-727-2277.
From its earliest experimental and stubbornly lo-fi recordings to its massive and increasingly electrified excursions, Calexico has always thumbed its nose for rhythms and atmosphere at the whole absurd concept of cultural appropriation in music. Who are Joey Burns and John Convertino to carry the torch for cubmias and polkas and huapangos de mariachi? Well who are they not to do so, especially when the synthesis of surf-rock, indie-fuzz and
OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 47
$20. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.
Calexico 8 p.m. Sunday, April 22.
BOW TIES & BLUES BENEFIT CONCERT: 4 p.m.,
BUBBA SPARXXX: w/ Common Jones, O’Brien So
all manner of Latino genres reaches an apotheosis, as it does on this year’s brilliant album The Thread That Keeps Us? For this band, among the most adventurous in American music, the thread that keeps us is the music that we feel in our bones and blood, identity politics be damned. Appropriate This: Rockford, Illinois, native Ryley Walker is no stranger to stealing – to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, it’s what true artists do. British folk, country blues, psyched-out jams – there’s no telling how Walker will approach his opening set. –Roy Kasten
Mo, 86 Family, P.R.E.A.C.H., Mike Milli, Frost Money 6 p.m., $15-$18. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. CALEXICO: 9 p.m., $25. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. FROM BACH TO BERNSTEIN: w/ Marlissa Hudson 3 p.m., $20. Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd, Richmond Heights, 314-991-0955. H.E.R.: 8 p.m., $45-$65. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. KELLER WILLIAMS: w/ More Than a Little 8 p.m., $25. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. LAYNE: w/ Selfish Things 7 p.m., $12-$14. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. LET’S NOT: w/ Shark Dad 7 p.m., $8-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.
3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre,
LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz,
St. Louis, 314-776-9550.
Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-
MARQUISE KNOX BLUES BAND: 10:30 p.m., $5.
436-5222.
ing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural
BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.
SONS OF APOLLO: w/ Felix Martin 8 p.m., $27.50-
Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949.
Louis, 314-436-5222.
$30. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis,
WAKER: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blueberry Hill - The
MATT “THE RATTLESNAKE” LESCH: 8 p.m., $5.
314-726-6161.
Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City,
Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Or-
314-727-4444.
chard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061.
MONDAY 23
MO E TRIO: w/ Paige Alyssa 10 p.m., free. The
KYLE CRAFT: 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509
Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Gran-
Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.
BIG EASY: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill,
del Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550.
MC CHRIS: w/ Bitforce 7 p.m., $17-$20. Fubar,
3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.
NIPSEY HUSSLE: w/ Keri Hilson 9 p.m., $65-$100.
3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.
CHARLOTTE CARDIN: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blueber-
Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd, North St.
SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $7. Broadway
Kudzu w/ Sea Priestess, deth_bb, Wombglow
ry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd.,
Louis County, 314-869-9090.
Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-
University City, 314-727-4444.
RANDOM RAB: w/ Govinda, Kaminanda, Templo
8811.
GORDON GOODWIN’S BIG PHAT BAND: 8 p.m., $35.
9 p.m., $20. 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts
THIRD SIGHT “SPECIAL EDITION”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s
8 p.m. Flood Plain, 3151 Cherokee Street. $5. No phone.
Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1
Center, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis, 314-276-
Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,
University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Norman-
2700.
314-436-5222.
Synth-pop bands seem to travel in pairs. Maybe there’s something about the lack
dy, 314-516-4949.
ROCK KO FOL: 8 p.m., $40. The Ready Room,
HEARTLAND MUSIC: 3 p.m., free. Hammer-
4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.
TUESDAY 24
stone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.
SEAN CANAN’S VOODOO PLAYERS TRIBUTE TO
BACH AND JAZZ: w/ Steve Schenkel, Kim Port-
JESSE GANNON: 6 p.m., free. The Dark Room,
FLEETWOOD MAC: 9 p.m., $15-$20. Delmar Hall,
noy, Erin Bode 6 p.m., $35. Ferring Jazz Bistro,
Continued on pg 49
48
RIVERFRONT TIMES
SATURDAY 21
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
3536 Washington Ave, St. Louis, 314-571-6000. BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 9 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. CAMILA CABELLO: 8 p.m., $37.50-$50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-7266161. THE EQUINOX CHAMBER PLAYERS: 7 p.m., $20. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. JERK!: w/ The Kuhlies 8 p.m., $8-$10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. KITCHEN DWELLERS: 8 p.m., $10-$12. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. POSTCARDS: w/ Boys Home, Rose Gold, The Cinema Story, Oversleeping, The Yesterdays 6 p.m., $5. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314289-9050. RAW EARTH: 7 p.m., free. Nadine’s Gin Joint, 1931 S. 12th St., St. Louis, 314-436-3045. STACKED LIKE PANCAKES: 8 p.m., $12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. WILLIE WATSON: 8 p.m., $18-$20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.
WEDNESDAY 25 BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 9 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. CAPTAIN JANE: w/ Silvi Silvi, The Saturday Brothers, Sister Wizzard 8 p.m., $5. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314833-3929. THE DECEMBERISTS: 8 p.m., $38.50-$96.50. Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. JACK WHITE: 8 p.m., $53-$79.50. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000. SONGBIRD CAFE: 7:30 p.m., $44-$50. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-5602778. SORRY PLEASE CONTINUE: 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-3525226. TOMMY HALLORAN: 5 p.m., free. Herbie’s, 8100 Maryland Ave, Clayton, 314-769-9595.
THIS JUST IN ALLEN STONE: W/ Nick Waterhouse, Tue., Dec. 4, 8 p.m., $25-$30. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ASHANTI: Sat., June 23, 8 p.m., $35-$55. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314726-6161. THE BACON BROTHERS: Tue., June 19, 8 p.m., $35-$40. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE BOBBY DAZZLERS LAST SHOW: W/ Thee Fine Lines, Sat., May 19, 8 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-4986989. CKY: W/ Slaves, Royal Thunder, Awaken I Am, Sun., Aug. 5, 6 p.m., $22-$95. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. COOPER-MOORE: W/ Joshua Abrams, Hamid Drake, Sat., May 26, 8 p.m., $10-$20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-4986989.
Continued on pg 51
THIS WEEKEND Continued from pg 48 of dissenting voices mucking up the overall vision or the limitation of what two people can conceivably do at once, but electronic acts tend to be duos. True to form, Seth Goodwin and Mark Gillenwaters shape a cyberpunk set of hooky songs as Kudzu, a deep-sea creature landlocked in the middle of Missouri. Both gloom and doom are present, but the sound tends to be more buoyant and bright despite its dark undertones. The show takes place inside Flood Plain, a fairly small art gallery seated in the old Fort Gondo space on Cherokee Street.
SOULARD’S HOTTEST
SUNDAY, APRIL 22 Mardou w/ Crime of Passing, Futurejunk 8 p.m. Foam Coffee and Beer, 3359 South Jefferson Avenue. $5. 314-772-2100.
Mardou sounds plucked from a distant time — before post-punk succumbed to the glossy sheen of new wave — and dropped in downtown Cincinnati. It’s as if the band is singing at you from the other end of a winding tunnel, with the sound obscured by curving concrete walls. The songs have considerable heft, weighed down by the thick gnar of noisy riffs. Tourmates Crime of Passing are equally a band out of another time, offering up a colder, more robotic brand of pop-sensible punk. Rather than two sides of the same coin, think of these bands as two different colors on the same spectrum.
Datenight w/ Frankie Valet, Hushgush 8 p.m. CBGB, 3163 South Grand Boulevard. $5. 314-773-9743.
DANCE PARTY
FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT DJ DAN-C
Comin Atcha’ 100MPH marks the latest full-length for Nashville’s Date Night who, bless their rotten jangly hearts, live the gimmick. The trio, led by songwriter Grayton Green, are certified road warriors who have taken to constant touring in the last year. That kind of rigorous road life has only sharpened the band’s chops, letting its members deliver pitch-perfect garage rock full of heat-seaking riffs. The group’s releases come by way of Drop Medium, a New York-based label that specializes in nowave, thrashy punk and left-of-center pop. –Joseph Hess
COLLEGE NIGHT - THURSDAY
Each week we bring you our picks for the best concerts of the weekend. To submit your show for consideration, visit riverfronttimes. com/stlouis/Events/AddEvent. All events subject to change; check with the venue for the most up-to-date information.
2001 MENARD (AT ALLEN) IN THE HEART OF SOULARD LIKE & FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: @dukesinsoulard
9 PM - CLOSE
$2 Tall Boy (16 oz) Cans Neon Beer Pong DJ Ryan - 9 PM to Close
riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
49
50
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
Make Good Times Your Weekend Destination
[CRITIC’S PICK]
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE MUSIC - 9 PM
DUAL FREQUENCY FEAT. RICK SCHROEDER
FRIDAY NIGHT DANCE PARTY - 9 PM The Decemberists. | VIA RED LIGHT MANAGEMENT
The Decemberists 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 25. The Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market Street. $38.50 to $96.50. 314-499-7600.
The Decemberists’ ascent from folksy-yet-performative outliers to bankable indie-rock elders wasn’t a huge surprise; Colin Meloy has always excelled at creating engrossing worlds within catchy pop songs, and even his most extreme forays into genre have snapped back to a tuneful, melodic core. Such is the case with this
OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 49
DJ KELLY DANCE MUSIC & KARAOKE
year’s I’ll Be Your Girl, which sets aside the resonant twelve-string guitars of past albums for buzzy synths and some light glam — if you’ve ever wondered what Gary Glitter would sound like if he came from the Pacific Northwest, “We All Die Young” is the track for you. Love-All: Tennis, the pop-centric group led by the husband-and-wife pair of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, will open the show. –Christian Schaeffer
726-6161. A MUSICAL JOURNEY FOR HUMANITY: Sun., April 29, 5 p.m., $35. Blanche M Touhill Performing
COWBOY MOUTH: Fri., Aug. 24, 8 p.m., $20-$35.
Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge
Sat., Aug. 25, 8 p.m., $20-$35. Old Rock House,
Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949.
1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.
POSTCARDS: W/ Boys Home, Rose Gold, The
D.O.A., MDC: Mon., June 11, 8 p.m., $16-$20.
Cinema Story, Oversleeping, The Yesterdays,
Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.
Tue., April 24, 6 p.m., $5. Fubar, 3108 Locust
DONELL JONES: W/ Corey Allen, Music Unlimit-
St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.
ed, Sun., May 13, 5 p.m., $22.50-$45. Ballpark
R.I.P.: W/ Lightning Wolf, Iron Sun, Wed., June
Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481.
27, 7 p.m., $12-$14. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St.
FOSTER THE PEOPLE: Sun., June 3, 8 p.m.,
Louis, 314-289-9050.
$29.50-$32.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar
RJD2: W/ DJ Mahf, DJ Alexis Tucci, Fri., July
Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.
20, 7 p.m., $20-$25. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion,
JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT: Mon., Sept.
4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-
10, 8 p.m., $36.50-$57. Peabody Opera House,
0775.
1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.
THE SEA AND CAKE: Wed., June 20, 8 p.m., $15.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT: Tue., June 5, 8 p.m., $20-$23.
Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis,
Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis,
314-588-0505.
314-588-0505.
TEF POE: THANK GOD 4 NAS TRIBUTE & VIDEO DE-
K. MICHELLE: Tue., July 3, 7 p.m., $25-$50.
BUT: W/ DJ James Biko, Fresco Kane, Indiana
Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis,
Rome, Q-Hall, Nick Menn, Thu., April 19, 8
314-345-9481.
p.m., free. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave.,
MEPHISKAPHELES: Wed., July 18, 8 p.m., $12-
St. Louis, 314-775-0775.
$14. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504
THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL 20TH
Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.
ANNIVERSARY TOUR: Fri., Oct. 5, 7 p.m., $49.50-
MOBLEY: Thu., July 5, 8 p.m., $5. The Ready
$199.99. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave.,
Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-
St. Louis, 314-977-5000.
833-3929.
WOLF PARADE: Sat., Aug. 25, 8 p.m., $25-$30.
MONICA: Sun., May 13, 7 p.m., $40-$65. The
Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-
Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-
498-6989.
BIKES WELCOME ALL-WEATHER PATIO-PAVILION AMAZING FOOD VIDEO SLOTS-POKER MUSIC - HDTVs - GAMES 15 Minutes from Downtown over Poplar St. Bridge > south on Route 3 10 Minutes from South County over JB Bridge > 255 N to Dupo Exit
200 N. MAIN, DUPO, IL @GOODTIMES.PATIO.BAR riverfronttimes.com
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
51
Friday April 20 10PM
Jake’s Leg
Saturday April 21 10PM
Tropidelic with Special Guests Guerrilla Theory
funky, high energy reggae and hip hop Sunday April 22 4pm free show!
Roadkill Orchestra Wednesday April 25 9pm
Urban Chestnut Presents
The Voodoo Players’ Tribute To Credence Clearwater Revival Saturday April 28 10pm
Old Shoe
americana roots rock from chicago
Rockstar Painting
$99 Per Room! *Faux Painting Artist* Exteriors Also! 314-835-7758
Now Hiring! $15-$28 per hour
c wâÇ{ ãÄÖ} WääÄäãwÖãä f wÄÖãÄÖ} WääÄäãwÖãä f âÜÑÜ ] ÄâÉäE] åêä Send Resumes to ServiceXpressLLC@gmail.com
GET NOTICED!!!! We Think Outside the Box For your next custom campaign
314-688-9104
52
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
ALWAYS A PARTY!! TIL 4AM SUN-THU TIL 6AM FRI-SAT HAVING A BACHELOR PARTY? NEED MORE PASSES? TEXT PROMO TO 618-744-5259
riverfronttimes.com
SAVAGE LOVE DOWN THERE BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: Background: I, a 21-year-old male, enjoy receptive fisting. I’ve also had constipation problems all my life. Question: I saw my doctor recently, and he tried to link my enjoyment of anal sex to my constipation. (Granted, I didn’t tell him EVERYTHING I do down there.) My understanding was that there was no causal relationship, assuming no serious injuries occur. Is there something I don’t know? Was my doctor just trying to be helpful? Fearing Inner Sanctum Tarnished “There are many myths about anal sex, but this is the first time I’ve heard this one,” said Dr. Peter Shalit, a physician in Seattle and a member of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. It’s also the first time I’ve heard anyone associate fisting with constipation — typically when fisting is mentioned in the same sentence as constipation, FIST, it’s as a cure. But it’s a myth that fisting cures constipation, of course, along with anal sex being inherently dangerous. “Fisting is a safe activity, provided that both the top and bottom are sober at the time,” said Dr. Shalit. “It does not cause damage or constipation or any other type of bowel problem. The same applies to other anal sexual activities including anal receptive intercourse (getting fucked) and use of toys (dildos, vibrators, etc.) for anal stimulation — again assuming this is voluntary on the part of the bottom and that both partners are not under the influence of mind-altering drugs during sexual activity.” (For safety’s sake, of course, buttfuckers should use condoms and gay and bi men should get on PrEP.) While many people engage in anal play while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and most emerge unscathed, uninfected and un-constipated, FIST, getting fucked up before fisting is not a butt-sex best practice. A fucked-up top can
quickly become an out-of-control top, and a fucked-up bottom can be numb to feelings of discomfort that mean “slow down,” “stop and add more lube,” or “stop altogether.” Despite the fact that millions of people safely engage in anal play, many people believe that anal play does irreparable harm to the anus — or the soul — and that sadly includes many doctors. “There is a misconception that these activities can cause damage by stretching or tearing the tissue, when actually the anus is very elastic and much of the ‘permission to enter’ actually involves intentional relaxation of the muscles by the bottom” and not force applied by the top, Dr. Shalit affirmed. (The top applies gentle pressure, the bottom breathes, relaxes and opens up.) “If a person suffers from constipation, that should be addressed as its own problem and not blamed on any type of anal sexual activity,” said Dr. Shalit. “In addition: For obvious reasons, it’s not fun to bottom if you’re constipated, so it would be good to have this problem evaluated and treated by a nonjudgmental healthcare provider who understands that anal penetration — by fist, penis or dildo — does not cause constipation.” Finally, FIST, your doctor was misinformed, which is not helpful. If you don’t feel comfortable telling your doctor EVERYTHING you’re doing “down there,” you can find a new doctor — one you can breathe, relax and open up to (in a different way) — under “find a provider” at GLMA.org. Hey, Dan: I’m a 35-year-old straight male, engaged to my girlfriend of eight years. While we have a good sex life, she often won’t let me finger or lick her. When she does, she enjoys it and easily climaxes while receiving oral sex. But her higher brain functions get in the way, as she has internalized our culture’s body shaming. She has likened me “sticking my nose down there” to “sticking my head in the toilet.” Whenever I sexytalk about licking her, she reacts with a mood killing “eww.” But
she says she would enjoy it if she could let me. I can’t make heads or tails of it! When we have sex, she cuts foreplay short and gets straight to penetration. Since her pussy is not yet fully aroused and wet, we use lube and I climax long before she does. She feels pleasure and moans, but she really does not value her own orgasm. But I do, and I miss seeing her climax! I wish I could help her overcome her body issues — but when I “use my words,” she feels pressured and can’t relax. I am at a loss. Please help! Loves Inhibited Carnal Killjoy You could go with a grand, romantic and slightly demented gesture, LICK: clean the toilet and then stick your head in it to make a point about cleanliness making all the difference — and since the vagina is a self-cleaning organ and your girlfriend showers (so her labia, clit, taint, and butt are clean), you should be able to stick your nose down there. Or you could use your words — but don’t use them when you’re about to have sex, LICK. Do it at a neutral time (a time when you can’t have sex), so she doesn’t feel like you’re attempting to initiate by raising the subject. First, ask her if she enjoyed oral when she allowed you to go down on her. (Remember, the fact that she climaxed isn’t proof that she enjoyed it. Her orgasm is a physiological response; her pleasure is a combo of psychological responses and physiological responses.) If oral is pleasurable for her when she can allow you to go down on her, figure out what was different about those times. Had she just stepped out of the shower? Was she a little tipsy or high? Did you go down there without asking, which didn’t give her higher brain functions/inhibitions a chance to kick in? (Please note: Not asking isn’t an option for new partners or new moves.) If you can figure out what worked and why — freshly showered, mildly buzzed, no questions asked — you won’t have to stick your head in the toilet to prove a point.
riverfronttimes.com
53
Hey, Dan: My boyfriend and I just got back from Berlin, and we had a great time — until the last night. There was a dark room in the basement of this gay bar, and my boyfriend wanted to check it out and I did not. We are monogamous for now — I’m open to opening things up down the road — and I didn’t see the point of going down there. I told him that drunk in a gay bar at 3 a.m. wasn’t the right time to open up our relationship, and he angrily insisted he wasn’t trying to do that. But if we’re monogamous and want to stay monogamous, why go into a dark room at all? Dude Into Monogamy If it was your boyfriend’s intent to reopen negotiations about monogamy while horny men circled you in a dark room, DIM, that wouldn’t be OK. But it is possible for monogamous couples to enter sexually charged environments like dark rooms, sex parties or swingers clubs and emerge with their monogamous commitments intact. It’s advisable even — or at least I’ve advised monogamous couples who want to keep things hot to visit those kinds of spaces. Go in for the erotic charge, soak it up, and plow that energy into each other. You might have to bat a few hands away, but once the other guys realized you two weren’t there for anyone else, they would have turned their attentions toward someone else. Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter ITMFA.org Want to reach someone at the RFT? If you’re looking to provide info about an event, please contact calendar@ riverfronttimes.com. If you’re passing on a news tip or information relating to food, please email sarah.fenske@riverfronttimes.com. If you’ve got the scoop on nightlife, comedy or music, please email daniel.hill@riverfronttimes.com. Love us? Hate us? You can email sarah. fenske@riverfronttimes.com about that too. Due to the volume of email we receive, we may not respond -- but rest assured we are reading every one.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
53
HALF HOUR FREE
MEN 4 MEN
Adult Entertainment 930 Adult Services
Personalize Your Massage
LLLLL Contact Jenny for a
Body Exfoliation & Grooming For Men!
FULL BODY THERAPEUTIC
Real Singles, Real Fun...
314-932-2564
More Numbers: 1-800-926-6000 Livelinks.com 18+
960 Phone Entertainment
CHOOSE FROM: Busty Blondes, Ebony Hotties, Hot Coeds or
4 Full Body Massage
Older Ladies
4 Soft Sensual Touch
866-515-FOXY (3699)
4 Tantric
MASSAGE St. Charles, MO
4 Incalls & Outcalls
Location. Call for appt 314-683-0894
314-236-7060 m4mmassagexxx.com
SEXY
314-354-4164
Call FREE! 314-932-2568 or 800-811-1633 18+ vibeline.com
314-480-5505
www.nightexchange. com
FREE SEX SLGBT HOT LOCAL SINGLES 1-800-LET-CHAT (538-2428) Check it out BROWSE FREE! Then just 20 cents p/m 18+
SEXY LOCAL SINGLES 800-538-CHAT (2428)
GENTLEMEN! relax after a long stressful day with soft and sensual touches that make you desire me more and more . full nuru massage • prostate massage
don ’ t miss out , call me now !
CALLING HOT HORNY ST. LOUISANS! Join the conversation! Connect live with sexy local ladies! Try it FREE! 18+
SAYS IT ALL!
ttt Hot Black Chat!! sss
Only $10 per Call
NASTY TALK is waiting for YOU.
All American Blonde Bombshell GABBY
Playmates and soul mates
$10 BEST PHONE SEX
Feel The Vibe...
sasha
Body2Body Slide Massage • 314-250-5379
FREE 24/7 SEX HOT, BEEFY BI STUDS 800-GAY-MEET (429-6338)
FUN! T FLIRTY! T LOCAL WOMEN!
T
Call FREE! 314-932-2564 or 800-210-1010 18+ livelinks.com
IIIIII
CALL GORGEOUS SINGLES ON THE NIGHT EXCHANGE! Live Local Chat. Try us FREE! 18+
www.nightexchange. com IIIIII
K MEET HOT LOCAL SINGLES!
FREE!! KKKKK Straight 314-739-7777 Gay & Bi 314-209-0300 Use FREE Code 3275, 18+
1-314-209-0300
LOOKING TO MEET TONIGHT? So are the sexy singles waiting for you on the line!! It doesn’t get HOTTER than this!!! Try it FREE!! 18+ 314-480-5505 www.nightexchange. com
314-480-5505
Browse & Reply
St. Louis:
LAVALIFE VOICE
Talk to 1000s of EXCITING SINGLES in St. Louis! 1st Time Buyers Special Only $20 for 80 min! CALL TODAY! 314.450.7920 Must be 18+
VVVV PLAY MATES & SOUL MATES FREE!! VVVVVVV
Straight 314-739-7777 Gay & Bi 314-209-0300 18+ MegaMates. com
18+ MegaMates.com
Real hot chat now
30 MINUTES FREE TRIAL 314-932-2568
Playmates and soul mates...
St. Louis:
18+
1-314-739-7777
Free trial for men,
Who are you always free for ladies. after dark? 1-314-932-2561
18+ MegaMates.com
54
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
Vibeline.com
riverfronttimes.com
100 Employment Keetons Double Play Restaurant & Sports Bar
Now Hiring!! Experienced servers, bartenders and cooks. Email resume to Keetonsdouble play@att.net
Immediate Hotel Openings Housekeepers Event Staff/Servers Overnight Cleaners
SWEDISH MASSAGE FOR MEN DAILY SPECIAL! 60 Minutes Only $50! By Appt Only
314-643-7309 (NO TEXTS) 11115 New Halls Ferry Road Suite 200 Florissant, MO 63033
Online Booking
314-863-7400
NEW RELEASE VIDEO
NOW HIRING! FT + Benefits E-mail Resume to:
max.nrv10842 @yahoo.com
STRONG HANDS To Soothe & Relax Jeffrey
314-865-4695 Open 9am-9pm THERAPEUTIC
HANDS Will Leave You Happy & Healthy
Asportsdeep tissuemassage.com
314-852-0234
$9.00 – $11.29 Email or call for interview stlouis@ lgcassociates.com
300 Rentals
800 Health & Wellness
A NEW INTUITIVE MASSAGE
Escape The Stresses of Life with a Relaxing
ORIENTAL MASSAGE & REFLEXOLOGY You’ll Come Away Feeling Refreshed & Rejuvenated!
Call Natalie
314-972-9998
ULTIMATE MASSAGE BY SUMMER Relaxing One Hour Full Body Massage Swedish Deep Tissue Daily 10am-5pm
South County 314-620-6386
National Board Certified LMT 2003026388
Discounts Available
Sr Eng, Software Engineering @ Mastercard (O'Fallon, MO) F/T Interact w/ biz users to create end-to-end spcfctns for content & collab sltions. Translate client reqs into techncl designs & archtctre; design & implmnt customer enggmnt strategies to supprt multi-site, multi-channel, multi-lingual delivery envrnmnts. Reqs a Mster's dgree, or frgn equiv, in Cmptr Engg, Elctrnc Engg, Cmptr Scnc, Cmptr Apps or rltd, & 2 yrs of exp in the job offrd, as Sftwr Eng, IT Cnsltnt or rltd. Altrntvly, emp will accpt a Bachelor's deg, or frgn equiv, & 5 yrs of prgrssvly rspnsbl exp. Mst have 2 yrs of exp w/: Content mngmnt (Adobe Exp Mngr, Sharepoint); wrkng w/ Global teams; gathrng user reqs; implmntng Enterprise Collab Pltfrms; Implmntng Entrprise Portal. Must have 1 year w/: Enterprise Search; Performance Tuning; Google/Adobe Analytics; Angular JS; Agile/SCRUM methdlgy; Java/J2EE. Emp will accpt any suita combo of edu, training, or exp.
Mail resume to Pushkala Lakshmipathy @ Mastercard, 2200 Mastercard Blvd, O'Fallon, MO 63368. Ref MC9-20178.
$585/$625
Great location near Hwy 170, 64, 70 & 270. 10 minutes to Clayton.
314-995-1912
CLEAN, SAFE QUIET!
ONE MONTH FREE!
314-995-1912
CLEAN, SAFE QUIET!
ONE MONTH FREE!
SOUTH CITY
$500
Grand & Bates. 1 BR, hardwood floors, all electric, C/A.
Call Cheryl
314-707-9975
Or
314-258-2860 Appointments Mon thru Sun (walk-ins welcome) 320 Brook’s Drive 63042 LMT 200101083
Contact Jenny For A
FULL BODY THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE Call For Appt 314-683-0894
SOUTH CITY
$515
Get Ready For Summer!
MEN 4 MEN AD HERE
BODY EXFOLIATION & GROOMING FOR MEN! • FULL BODY MASSAGE • SOFT SENSUAL TOUCH • TANNING • INCALLS • OUT CALLS TO YOUR HOTEL/MOTEL, HOME & OFFICE
314-236-7060
m4mmassagexxx.com
SOUTH CITY
$550
Ray & Meramec 2 BR, hardwood floors, all electric, C/A.
314-707-9975 UNIVERSITY CITY
$795
2 BR apt, new kitchen, bath & carpet. C/A & heat. No Pets.
314-727-1444 WESTPORT/ LINDBERGH/PAGE $595/$635 Nice area near Hwy 170, 64, 70 & 270 & Clayton Patio, laundry, great landlord!
314-995-1912
ONE MONTH FREE!
Jamieson & Nottingham 1 BR, hardwood floors, gas & electric, C/A.
314-707-9975
877-388-8235
500 Services
600 Music MUSICIANS AVAILABLE Do you Need: A Musician? A Band? String Quartet? Call The Musicians Association of St. Louis Mon-Fri 10-4:30
PERSONALIZE YOUR MASSAGE
314-771-4222 www.stirr.com
NORTH COUNTY/PRE-SALE HOME Starter home for sale by owner rep! 1.5 story home w/updates, 1.5 bath. BSM, Invest Prop near UMSL
314-781-6612
MEN 4 MEN
$400/$850
1 - 3 BR apts. Many different units. NO CREDIT, NO PROBLEM!
CLEAN, SAFE QUIET!
314-895-1616
NEW O’ Fallon Location
Mail resume to Pushkala Lakshmipathy @ Mastercard, 2200 Mastercard Blvd, O'Fallon, MO 63368. Ref MC10-2018.
OVERLAND/ST. ANN
Health Therapy Massage Relax Rejuvenate & Refresh
SOUTH CITY
314-921-9191
RICHMOND HEIGHTS/MAPLEWOOD $555/$645 Near MetroLink, Hwy 40, 44 & Clayton.
Leader, Enterprise Architect @ Mastercard (O'Fallon, MO) F/T Dvlp & promote enterprise archtctre, desgnd to support & enable biz strategies. Partcpte in creation of future state biz/tech archtctre through biz algnmnt & IT strtgies. Reqs a Mster's dgree, or frgn equiv, in Cmptr Snc, Engg (any), Info Systms or rltd, & 2 yrs of exp in the job offrd, as Sftwr Dvlpr, Eng, or rltd. Altrntvly, emp will accpt a Bachelor's deg, or frgn equiv, & 5 yrs of prgrssvly rspnsbl exp. Mst have 2 yrs of exp w/: design & delivery of tech sltions; lvrging a variety of frameworks & tech solutions to dvlp & promote archtctre; strtgc alignmnt of IT w/ the biz; defnng procsses for IT gvrnnce; idtfying, anlyzing, & propsing IT invstmnt opps; identfyng, anlyzing, & mitigatng tech risks. Reqs 1 year of exp in Enterprise Architecture. Emp will accpt any suita combo of edu, training, or exp.
$295/$375
4008 Garfield-1 BR apt $295 deposit 5073 Ruskin-1 BR apt $375 deposit ~Credit Check Required~
Ls # 2006003746
314-799-2314 Artformassage.org
NORTH CITY
Do you have a band?
WANTS TO PURCHASE MINERALS and other oil & gas interests.
We have bookings
PO Box 13557, Denver, CO 80201
MUSICIANS
Call For Information
314-781-6612 Mon-Fri 10-4:30
Pega Architect @ Mastercard (O'Fallon, MO) F/T Gather & analyze tchncl reqs. Design & dvlp PRPC Framework to bld admin apps. Reqs a Master's deg, or frgn equiv, in Cmptr Scnce, Engg (any), Info Systms, or rltd, & 2 yrs of exp in the job offrd, or as Pega Cnsltnt, Systms Anlyst, Prgrmmr, Sftwr Engg or rltd. Altrntvly emp will accpt a Bachelor's degree, or frgn equiv, & 5 yrs of prgrssvly resp exp. Exp mst include 2 yrs w/ each: PEGA PRPC V 6.3; Oracle 11g; DB2; GSM for trackng PROD changes & ticket mngmnt; JAVA; HTML; AJAX; Pega V5.X, V6.X; Websphere; Oracle; Core Java; Java Script. Must possess Pega Senior System Architect Professional Certification. Emp will accept any suita combo of edu, training, or exp. Mail resume to Parul Kakkar @ Mastercard, 2200 Mastercard Blvd, O'Fallon, MO. 63368. Ref MC2-2018.
Product Leader, Product Development and Innovation @ Mastercard (O'Fallon, MO) F/T Supprt Mastercard Send, Channels,& Customers to effctvly idntify needs, recmmnd soltions, define reqs, & dvlp/dlvr the right prdcts to solve mrkt probs. Work closely w/ cross fnctnl team to lead prdct dvlpmnt effrts, idntfy synergies, propose efficnt sltns & resolve issues. Reqs a Master's deg, or frgn equiv, in Cmptr Scnce, Engg (any), Systm Mngmnt, or rltd & 2 yrs of exp in job offrd, or as a Prjct Mngr, Sftwre Eng, or rltd. Altrntvly, emp will accpt a Bachelor's deg, or frgn equiv & 5 yrs of prgrssvly resp exp. Exp must include 2 yrs w/: Oracle; API; Agile mthdlgy for prdct dvlpmnt; Excel; Word; App Lifecycle Mngmnt; Globl paymnt indstry inclding money transfer & remittances; dvlpmnt of integrtd prdct solution spnning multiple prdct ctgries; writing biz & fnctnl reqs to cmmnicte biz needs & tech probs. Emp will accpt any suita combo of edu, training, or exp.
Mail resume to Christie Hinrichs @ Mastercard, 2000 Purchase St, Purchase, NY 10577. Ref MC11-2018.
riverfronttimes.com
Send Details To:
START IMMEDIATELY! Travel USA! Represent Go Klein Multi-Purpose Cleaner, $500-$1500/Wkly, 18+, Valid State ID, Paid Expenses 1-313-492-9075
FILE BANKRUPTCY NOW! Call Angela Jansen 314-645-5900 bankruptcyshopstl.com The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertising.
Sr Analyst, Software Testing & QA @ Mastercard International Inc (O'Fallon, MO) F/T Analyze biz & functnl reqs of apps to define scope of tsting. Perfrm automtd & manual QA testng. Reqs a Bachelor's dgree, or frgn equiv, in Cmptr Scnce/Engg or rltd, & 3 yrs of exp in the job offrd, as Prgrmmr Anlyst, Test Ld, Sftwr Eng, or rltd QA position. In lieu of Bchlor's, emp will accpt 3 yrs of study towards a Bachelor's deg, or frgn equiv, plus 2 yrs of rltd exp. Exp must include: Testing Web Services/APIs; Unix & SQL; utilizing SoapUI Pro for web service tsting; Agile envirnmnt prjcts; writing test cases & exectn of test cases; Tsting cryptgrphy for encryptn and decryptn; tsting MQs; writng DML commnds for data set up actvts on SQL; tsting outbnd processr for various outbnd calls; tracing various logs for debuggng issues. Emp will accpt any suita combo of edu, training, or exp.
Mail resume to Kim Layton @ Mastercard, 2200 Mastercard Blvd, O'Fallon, MO 63368. Ref MC8-2018.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2018
RIVERFRONT TIMES
55
If You Witness An Overdose DON’T RUN, CALL 911
b VOTED BEST CHINESE! ~2017 RFT Best of St. Louis Poll~
WONTON KING
Missouri’s “Good Samaritan” law protects people who call 911 from arrest & prosecution for possession of drugs or paraphernalia.
The Changing Pointe
Dine-In~Carry-out 8116 Olive Blvd~University City 314-567-9997~wontonkingstl.com
SATISFACTION IS OUR BUSINESS!
b
TTTTTTTTTTT
Shop Patricia’s
DATING MADE EASY! LOCAL SINGLES!
TTTTTTTTTTT
South City 3552 Gravois at Grand Mid County 10210 Page Ave (3 mi East of Westport) St. Peters 1034 Venture Dr (70 & Cave Springs-Outer Rd)
FREE PROMO CODE 9512 314-739-7777 Telemates
patriciasgiftshop.com
DO YOU SUFFER FROM ERECTILE DISFUNCTION?
ttttttt Made You Look!
Hope for a bright future
FFF Or Just Not Quite Like It Used To Be? I Offer A NEW Technology For Treatment!
Get the Attention of our Readers Call 314-754-5966 for More Info
FFF For more info call
VOTED FAVORITE INDIAN RESTAURANT!
314-236-7060 EVANGELINE’S
-2017 RFT Best of St. Louis Readers Poll
lllllllll
9720 Page Ave ~ (314) 423-7300 havelistl.com
Bistro & Music House
Sunday Swing Jazz Brunch! Features performances from local Swing Jazz artists, such as, Miss Jubilee and Dr. Bob’s “Be Nice or Leave” Bloody Mary Bar.
SL Riverfront Tim
evangelinesstl.com
File Bankruptcy Now! Call Angela Jansen ~314-645-5900~ Bankruptcyshopstl.com
Let’s Light It Up!
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertising.
Ultimate Massage by
LED Headlight Upgrade Or Interior Glow!
Summer!
SWEDISH & DEEP TISSUE FULL BODY MASSAGE MONDAY-FRIDAY 10AM-5PM SOME WEEKENDS
South County/ Lemay Area
314-620-6386 # 2006003746
Headlights to fit all makes, interior kits to match any mood. Starting from just …
99
$
99
60 MINUTES ONLY $50 BY APPOINTMENT ONLY ASPORTSDEEPTISSUEMASSAGE.COM CALL 314-643-7309 (NO TEXTS) 11115 NEW HALLS FERRY ROAD SUITE 200 FLORISSANT, MO 63033
Underglow! 168 inches of RGB with controller.
199
$
99
No Credit? No Problem!
We Have Payment Plans For Everyone! Get the system you want now, pay for it later with our easy financing and NO CREDIT NEEDED plans. Ask about these today! Approval required. Not all applicants will qualify for all plans. Plans from various providers may be offered, with varying interest rates, conditions and restrictions,. Customers are advised to read all information pertaining to the offer they select.
SOUTH: 5616 S. Lindbergh • (314) 842-1242 WEST: 14633 Manchester • (636) 527-26811 HAZELWOOD: 233 Village Square Center • (314) 731-1212 Mon. - Sat. 9 AM - 7 PM; Sunday Noon - 5 PM Unless otherwise limited, prices are good through Tuesday following publication date. Installed price offers are for product purchased from Audio Express installed in factory-ready locations. Custom work at added cost. Kits, antennas and cables additional. Added charges for shop supplies and environmental disposal where mandated. Illustrations similar. Video pictures may be simulated. Not responsible for typographic errors. Savings off MSRP or our original sales price, may include install savings. Intermediate markdowns may have been taken. Details, conditions and restrictions of manufacturer promotional offers at respective websites. Price match applies to new, non-promotional items from authorized sellers; excludes “shopping cart” or other hidden specials. © 2019, Audio Express.
56
RIVERFRONT TIMES
APRIL 18- 24, 2018
riverfronttimes.com
DAILY SPECIAL!
IS HIRING SENIOR MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE IMMEDIATE OPENING FOR
proven, talented, and engaging bad ass outside sales pros! Our highly successful sales team members sell a variety of print and digital multimedia advertising solutions and event sponsorship as a part of a full-scope marketing platform to a diverse group of clients enabling them to achieve their marketing goals.
base salary + uncapped commission benefits + paid vacations
EMAIL RESUME TO
JOBS@RIVERFRONTTIMES.COM
TO APPLY