Riverfront Times, March 3, 2019 by Riverfront Times

RIVERFRONT TIMES

APRIL 3-9, 2019

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APRIL 3-9, 2019

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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“I hope the city grows more. I want more taller buildings and stuff like that.” ALEXIS SMITH, PHOTOGRAPHED WITH ALEX WUESTHOFF AT WACKED OUT WEINER IN THE LOOP ON MARCH 31

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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 Columnist Ray Hartmann Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Thomas Crone, Jenn DeRose, Mike Fitzgerald, Sara Graham, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Lauren Milford, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Ryan Gines, Chelsea Neuling, Benjamin Simon

COVER Escape from the Slaughterhouse

A R T Art Director Evan Sult Contributing Photographers Tim Lane, Monica Mileur, Zia Nizami, Andy Paulissen, Nick Schnelle, Mabel Suen, Micah Usher, Theo Welling, Jen West, Corey Woodruff

The St. Louis Six saw an opening and raced to freedom. A community came together to ensure they kept it

P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Sales Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell, Erica Kenney Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Michael Gaines, Drew Halliday, Jackie Mundy

Written by DANNY WICENTOWSKI Cover painting by

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

AMIE SIMMONS amie-simmons.com

E U C L I D M E D I A G R O 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

INSIDE The Lede Hartmann

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Feature Calendar Film

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Short Orders

Music & Culture

Ash of Purest White

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HARTMANN Voter Envy With neither Missouri nor Illinois in play in 2020, what’s a liberal to do? BY RAY HARTMANN

merica is little more than nineteen months away from arguably the most important presidential election in its history, but if you live in Missouri and Illinois, there’s an unpleasant truth you ought to understand: Your vote for president doesn’t matter in the 2020 general election. The overlooked reality of American politics is that there’s nothing national about our national election. Instead, it’s a compilation of 51 elections (50 states plus D.C.), and the cake seems baked in as

many as 35 of them, including Missouri and Illinois. In the 2016 president election, Donald Trump won Missouri by nineteen points and lost Illinois by sixteen. Translated, Missouri was one of the sixteen most Trumpish states in the union. Illinois was one of the nine most sensible. The situation hasn’t shifted: According to Morning Consult polling, Trump still has positive favorability ratings in Missouri (50-45) and negative ones in Illinois (58-38). The only scenario in which either Missouri votes against Trump or Illinois votes for him in 2020 is if the nation has an electoral jail-break, as in 1984, when Senator Walter Mondale carried only his own state of Minnesota and D.C. Or 1972, when Senator George McGovern carried only Massachusetts and D.C. against Trump facsimile Richard Nixon. In cases like that, no individual state matters. That doesn’t mean you should

tune out the election. Missouri and Illinois Democrats choose their presidential nominees at a key, early point in the process — March 10 and 17, respectively — and in Missouri’s case in particular, it’s likely that the candidate who emerges here from the crowded field ight pro e the best-suited to win the states that will prove decisive. But here’s what is overlooked by experts and everyday voters alike: Even in a year like 2016 when the nation was essentially divided down the middle between two candidates in the popular vote, that closeness belied the fact that more than two-thirds of the states produced landslide elections. Like Missouri and Illinois. In 2016, no fewer than 35 states were decided by double-digit margins — 22 for Trump and 13 for Hillary Clinton. They cannot be e pected to ip this ti e hose states give the Democrats a slight electoral-vote starting edge — 182-170 — in the race to the 270

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needed to win the presidency. The 2020 outcome rests on the re aining fifteen battleground states and their 186 electoral votes. Drilling down further, 75 of those electoral votes reside in just four states that Trump won by one percent or less: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida. If the Democrats can hold the 232 electoral votes won by Clinton in 2016, they take back the presidency by winning any three of those four states. Or by winning Florida and just one of the other three. Lacking that, Democrats might have a path to victory within the other eleven battleground states, but in any event, they must retain a narrow focus. I’m not sure Democrats get this. It often seems they’re trying to win California and New York by 40 points, rather than the 29- and 22-point margins of 2016. All the discussion is national. Almost all of it is framed in an ideological tug-of-war for the heart of

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HARTMANN

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the party conjuring up Will Rogers’ famous quote from nearly a century ago: “I am not a member of an organized party — I am a Democrat.” Memo to Democrats: This one ain’t about ideology. It’s about pre ailing in so e fic le ust elt and Sun Belt states that don’t look or think or behave anything like Massachusetts. The lesson of Obama — and also, in fairness, Trump — is that persona is more important than policy, and that ideology and political résumés matter far less to the American public than they did in previous generations. This is especially true in battleground states, the ones whose vote totals — not their progressivism — will determine the national outcome. It’s too early to predict who will emerge from the Democrats’ comically o ersi ed field of candidates The last time Democrats had such a free-for-all was twelve years ago. How many people, in March 2007, would have eschewed such party superstars as Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards or Governor Bill Richardson for a largely unknown black senator named Barack Obama? That said, it’s not too early to engage the debate, especially since it has already started. And therein lies a couple of Missouri angles that should make relevant to the process even as we’re electorally challenged. They spring from one Representative Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-New York), who has emerged as the most forceful and consequential leader of the Democratic Party at the ripe old age of 29. Even though OcasioCortez couldn’t live much further from Cape Girardeau, her interactions with Missouri should be instructive. Last summer, not long after shocking the world with her epic primary unseating of Representative Joe Crowley (D-New York), a presumably unbeatable liberal stalwart congressman of two decades, Ocasio-Cortez whirled into St. Louis to replicate her success by campaigning for a promising young progressive named Cori Bush. Bush’s bold primary challenge to Representative William Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis) — elected the same years as Crowley — seemed to echo the one OcasioCortez rode to fame. I was impressed, so much so that I predicted on TV that in this

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new world of social media, Bush would give Clay the challenge of his political life in a close election. I was correct, but only if one regards Clay’s ultimate 61-31 victory margin in the Democratic primary as “close.” n issouri’s first congressional district, Ocasio-Cortez’s astonishing charisma didn’t translate to victory for a similarly progressive candidate against a similarly entrenched establishment liberal icon. But it got the attention of Claire McCaskill, who garnered the title of “former senator” a few months after Clay held off Bush, largely because of Trump’s dominance in Missourah. McCaskill drew much attention for terming Ocasio-Cortez “a bright, shiny new object” in a post-election CNN interview. (Less controversially, she also noted that Republican senators privately said that Trump is “nuts.”) But she made an important point: “I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the Democratic Party, like a whole lot of white working-class voters, need to hear about how their work is going to be respected, and the dignity of their jobs, and how we can really stick to issues that we can actually accomplish something on,” McCaskill said. That’s true not just in Missouri, where the cake is baked, but also in Rust Belt states like Michigan, where a worthwhile plan like the Green New Deal can become toxic if Republicans successfully distort it as anti-automobile. It doesn’t necessarily follow that Democrats can only win with a centrist. It remains to be seen whether a progressive such Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), for whom I voted in 2016 — or anyone else in the field can make the connection to which McCaskill was referring. But as we learned in Missouri, there’s a big difference between being impressed by Ocasio-Cortez and being swayed by her political views, especially in the battleground states. To those who would discount that, or who value ideological purity over political reality, à la Ralph Nader in 2000, I’d argue that understanding more of the people who live in places like Missouri matters. Even if our votes don’t. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977 and recently returned to these pages as a columnist. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or follow him on Twitter at @rayhartmann.

NEWS They Gave Her Dog to a Convicted Abuser Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n Monday, after driving hundreds of miles from her new home in Arizona back to Missouri, Katie Martin reunited with her chocolate pit bull, Gracie, whom she had adopted as a rescue ore than fi e years ago. But Martin’s second dog, Frank, won’t be coming home to Arizona with her. Instead, she says, the Franklin County Humane Society rehomed her dog to a new owner who pled guilty in 2016 to multiple felonies for animal abuse. And that man and his wife refuse to give Frank back. Martin discovered the conviction while researching Frank’s new owners online. “I was sick to my stomach,” says Martin. “I don’t understand how the Humane Society adopts an animal to someone with that record.” The Franklin County Humane Society did not respond last week to multiple voice messages seeking comment. Martin says that she previously spoke with an employee who explained that the branch is small and lacks the resources to do background checks on prospective adopters and their households. If the Humane Society had checked court records on Brandon Lynch, however, they would have found that Jefferson County prosecutors charged him in 2015 with felonies for animal abuse and stealing animals, as well as to two additional felonies for domestic assault and unlawful use of a weapon. In 2016, Lynch pleaded guilty to the four charges. He was sentenced to probation instead of a four-year jail term and required to fulfill 100 hours of co unity

Katie Martin was reunited with Grace, but not Frankie. | COURTESY OF KATIE MARTIN service. In a probable cause statement written by a St. Francois County Sheriff’s deputy, Lynch’s exgirlfriend claimed that Lynch, then twenty, had dragged her in his truck and shot her new boyfriend’s dog. On December 7, 2014, the exgirlfriend said, Lynch visited her new boyfriend’s home and “stated he was going to kill the dog and walked to his vehicle,” a truck where the dog sat in the back seat. Attempting to save the dog, the victim said she wedged herself in the truck’s door as Lynch accelerated, dragging her about two bloc s before finally co ing to a stop — which gave the dog a chance to leap out. The report continues: “[The victim] stated that Lynch reached in the vehicle, grabbed a ‘38 special revolver, brown handle, black barrel,’ and shot at the dog.” According to the victim, Lynch fired two ore ti es he police report notes that one bullet entered the animal’s “shoulder/left back” and exited under its frontright leg. The dog was transported alive to an animal hospital, the report says. Martin tells RFT that she immediately alerted the Humane Society to Lynch’s history, but she’s received no response. “That was public record, I could oogle that and find that out, she says. “So, for the Humane

Brandon Lynch was charged in 2014 with domestic assault and animal abuse. | JEFFERSON COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE Society to say we don’t have the resources to do a background check, I call BS.” Martin says she never planned to leave her dogs in Missouri for so long. In December, she moved from Overland to take a job in Arizona, and she says that a friend agreed to take the two pets until Martin completed the move. In Martin’s telling, the friend then notified her that the dogs would be cared for by a third party, a “foster lady.” “I tried contacting my friend to ask her for the foster’s information, and she kept telling me, ‘I

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can’t just give you her number,’ that I’d have to wait until she talked to her,” Martin says. “I’d keep asking her, ‘Have you talked to her? I want to go get my dogs.’” Two weeks ago, Martin says, the friend confessed that the “foster lady” had actually surrendered the dogs to the Humane Society. However, even that doesn’t appear to be the case — in an email Martin provided to RFT, a shelter manager explains that the two dogs “had been found roaming around Wildwood Estates in Franklin County” west of St. Louis. “From what the Humane Society told me, I don’t think this foster lady even existed,” Martin says now. She still doesn’t know whether her former friend actually surrendered the animals or, worse, simply abandoned them to the streets. “This has been traumatizing,” Martin says. Frank, now renamed “Whalin,” was adopted to a married couple in February. Since last week, Martin and the new owners of Frank/ Whalin have exchanged heated private messages and debated in a subsequently deleted comment on a post to the Humane Society’s Facebook page. In a Facebook message to RFT last week, Brandon Lynch’s wife, Pam Marie Lynch, wrote that her family had legally adopted the dog. Martin, she says, is leading a harassment campaign against her family. “She knows there is nothing she can do to get him back. And it’s just pathetic that it has come to this,” Lynch wrote. She maintains that the dog is “happy [and] WELL taken care of.” “It’s unfortunate,” the message continued, “that she no longer has the dog. But that was, and is not my problem. Instead of her ATto a e us loo unfit to have this dog... Perhaps she should look at the fact that it is her fault as to why the dog is no longer in her possession in the first place legally own this dog. There is nothing she can do about it.” Pam Lynch did not respond to questions about her husband’s felony convictions. “Attorneys AND authorities are already fully aware of everything going on,” she wrote. Her message ended, “Please don’t contact me again.” n

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FAA Chief: ‘Say Nice Things’ on STL Airport Plan Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n 2017, more than two years before he was elevated to acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Dan Elwell emailed a JetBlue lobbyist with a request related to an upcoming Reuters story that would break the news of St. Louis entering the airport-privatization arena. On April 20, four days before the story broke, Elwell inquired of the lobbyist, Jeffrey Goodell, ny luc finding a et lue e ec we can throw to the lions, er, I mean, introduce to a nice reporter to say nice things about airport privatization?” The exchange was included in a trove of email correspondence published by ProPublica on Wednesday, the same day that Elwell, the current acting administrator of the FAA, appeared for an hours-long grilling by Congress over two recent crashes of the Boeing’s 737 Max. But though Elwell himself had spent more than a decade as a pilot before switching careers to lobby the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation on behalf of

Cutline goes here followed by Art Credit, in All Caps. | FLICKR/MATTHEW HURST

various airlines, his email showed a lack of knowledge about St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Responding to Elwell, Goodell — vice president of government and airport affairs for JetBlue Airways — wrote that he would be willing to talk to a reporter about the airline’s experience at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico, which is currently the only U.S. commercial service airport run by a private operator. “But,” Goodell added, “I won’t spea to specifically et lue doesn’t currently serve STL.)” So much for that. And in a later email exchange included in the records, Goodell told Elwell that he had been unable to connect with Reuters reporter David Shepardson, who on April 24 published a story headlined, “St. Louis wins U.S. approval to ex-

THE NEWS CYCLE

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Dan Elwell was first appointed by Trump to a deregulation team as a “specialgovernment employee.” plore airport privatization.” Instead, the sole quote in Shepardson’s story came from a statement attributed to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who said that St. Louis’ preliminary approval “demonstrates the [Trump] administration’s commitment to

le eraging inno ati e financing strategies to revitalize our nation’s aviation infrastructure.” In the months that followed, St. Louis’ airport-privatization push sparked objections from city officials and acti ists, who blasted the deal that then-St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay had made with libertarian philanthropist Rex Sinquefield to bac the hiring of pri atization consultants. Other city officials ha e pushed for a public vote on the matter, though so far those efforts have struggled to get off the ground. As for Elwell’s emails, they appear to reveal the degree to which Elwell coordinated with lobbyists even after he moved into government work. The ProPublica story asserts the emails provide “a detailed picture of the tight connections between the airline industry and the government.” That take is shared by Washington University law professor Kathleen Clark, who told ProPublica that the emails showed why “there’s a prohibition on private communications between new federal officials and old lobbying clients.” That prohibition didn’t apply to lwell, who was first appointed by Trump to a deregulation team as a “special-government employee,” a designation not subject to regular ethics rules, ProPublica reports. And now it seems that one of lwell’s first tas s was to help the media paint a rosy picture about a privatized St. Louis airport — a task that, on the local level, is now being carried out by lobbyists connected to inquefield, as well as the consultants the city has hired on his dime. No wonder some city residents fear that behind the city’s efforts are a swamp of greedy insiders — and it’s why some worry that the fi is already in n

BY NOAH JODICE

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Shawn Parcells has been ordered to stop performing autopsies in Kansas. | WABAUNSEE COUNTY JAIL

Autopsy Assistant in Hot Water Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

Kansas man who played a key role in the private death investigation of Michael Brown is now banned from performing autopsies in his home state. Shawn Parcells was slapped with a temporary restraining order following a request from the Kansas Attorney General, who alleges in a civil lawsuit that the 37-year-old posed as a licensed professional and deceived customers. Parcells was separately arrested late last month in a Wabaunsee County, Kansas, criminal case on three counts each of desecration of a body and theft. He offered private autopsy services under a variety of names, including National Forensic Autopsy and Toxicology Services, according to court documents. An assistant Kansas attorney general alleges that Parcells, who has described teaching himself his trade, was not qualified and hid that fact from consumers. A

judge agreed there was evidence to suggest Parcells had violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act and ordered him to stop conducting his business and shut down his website. Parcells landed in the spotlight after Brown’s family hired famed pathologist Michael Baden to perform an autopsy on the eighteenyear-old, who was fatally shot in 2014 by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson. Parcells assisted Baden and appeared on national television news in connection with the case. Their investigation concluded that Brown was likely bent over when the fatal shots were fired into the top of his head. “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer,” Baden explained. The attention given to Brown’s case led to new scrutiny of Parcells, whom numerous customers, doctors and government agencies consider to be a scammer. He was accused of performing work without the required supervision of doctors and botching autopsies while bilking grieving families. In Wabaunsee, which is outside of Topeka, Kansas, he is accused of charging the county for autopsies he never completed. The Kansas City Star first reported the temporary restraining order in the civil case. In a statement to the paper, Parcells’ attorney said they were still reviewing the order as well as the bond conditions of his criminal case. n

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Now proven by SLU: You’ll bang better if you blaze first. | SHUTTERSTOCK

Sex + Drugs Are Better Together Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

n annals of sex history, the use of drugs is hardly a novel concept — as a recently published study on sex and weed from Saint Louis University notes, the internet is “rife with claims of the beneficial effects of ari uana on several aspects of sexual function including libido, arousal, and orgasm.” For once, the internet appears to be right about something. The SLU study, published online last month by the journal Sexual Medicine, surveyed 373 patients at a single OB/GYN between March 2016 and February 2017. Not only did more than a third report using weed before sexual activity these were li ely college students, after all) — but those women were also more than twice as likely to report having better sex than those who had not gotten high before bangin’. s the scientific paper puts it “[W]omen who reported marijuana use before sexual activity had 2.13 higher odds of reporting satisfactory orgasm.” And it’s not just orgasms. The paper also notes, “Most women reported increases in sex drive, improvement in orgasm, decrease in pain, but no change in lubrication.” The study is just the latest work on the subject from its primary author, Dr. Becky Lynn, who works as a gynecologist at SLU’s

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Sexual Health Clinic and as an assistant professor at the university’s School of Medicine. In 2017, she co-authored two studies based a similar version of the survey. However, in those cases, the research was based on a far smaller sampling. This latest research, the study notes, represents “one of the largest series to date and has a wider range” than previous studies examining the relationship between marijuana and sex. till, finding correlation in a survey of a few hundred students is one thing. Figuring out what exactly causes all this sexy good fun is another. The study acknowledges that scientists are still in the dark as to the mechanism behind the better orgasms. “The question of how marijuana leads to these positive changes in sexual function is unknown,” the study admits. “It has been postulated that it leads to improvement in sexual function simply by lowering stress and anxiety. It may slow the temporal perception of time and prolong the feelings of pleasurable sensations. It may lower sexual inhibitions and increase confidence and a willingness to experiment.” The paper concludes by noting that the timing of the toke appears to be an important factor, although it adds that constructing an experiment to test that variable would be difficult unless patients were enrolled in a study that required certain ti ing a ery challenging study to get through the Institutional Review Board).” To that, we say, Come on, SLU. Are you really going to let Washington University and its Masters and Johnson hold the mantle as master sex researchers forever? Here’s your chance! Get some horny college students baked — for science! n

AT THE CITY MUSEUM

7-11 PM | WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2019 WWW.RFTIRONFORK.COM

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Proceeds Benefit

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ven a cow knows his own mortality. Two years ago, six steers knew enough to notice an unchained gate at a St. Louis slaughterhouse. It may have been the only chance the St. Louis Six ever had, and they seized it — dashing through the city streets for hours in a desperate bid for freedom.

Or perhaps a cow in a slaughterhouse knows only its terror. Maybe, as a slaughterhouse employee later claimed to police, it was just the crash of a thunderstorm that startled the cows into their stampede. On March 30, 2017, a city of fractious humans watched in awe as animals took to the streets. In a way, it was the St. Louis version of O.J. Simpson’s trip down the freeway in that white Bronco. A city was riveted by the slow-motion spectacle — and seemingly everybody was rooting for the cows. Their apparent leader, nicknamed Chico, was a big reason for that. Even after others were picked off, Chico avoided capture at every turn, juking and twisting his massive-yet-nimble body through gaps in corrals, even shaking off police SUVs smashing into his an in atte pted pit stop aneu ers Eventually, all six were captured, but St. Louis wasn’t willing to let these stars end their lives in the

slaughterhouse. A host of different groups and individuals rose up overnight in multiple bids to keep the escapees from becoming someone’s dinner. ow, al ost e actly two years later, fi e of the six cows who wanted to live are doing just that, less than an hour away from the slaughterhouse from which they escaped For the first ti e, ore than a dozen people involved in the rescue are telling the complete story of what happened that day, and in its aftermath, as well as what happened to Spirit, the cow who didn’t make it. Curiously, not one of the eyewitnesses to the escape interviewed for this story can recall the thunderstorm mentioned in the police report on the incident. They insist the day was clear. What they do recall from March 30, 2017, was not a thunderclap — only the sound of hooves pounding north-city cement. Continued on pg 16

The St. Louis Six included, from left to right, Houdini, Roo, Chico, Johnny Cash and Eddie. | COURTESY OF GENTLE BARN riverfronttimes.com

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Act 1: Escape Just after noon on March 30, 2017, six steers escaped the Star Packing Company, a slaughterhouse and butcher specializing in halal meats. They were the only beef stock in the pen, and they were to be killed. Fate had other plans. According to a report by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, an employee revealed the chain around the gate holding the steers within their pen “was not secure at the time.” The employee, the report continues, “stated he was standing outside the pen when a thunderstorm started. The storm spooked the steers and one of the steers kicked at the gate to the pen, causing the gate to open.” Police were quickly summoned. Buck Ford, owner of Buck’s Towing, three blocks from the slaughterhouse: I was working here on the lot and I looked outside the gate, and I saw these, might have been four or fi e cows had y truc parked over there, and they was trying to squeeze through between the truck and my car. They messed up the side of my truck. Jeffrey Smith, Buck’s employee: They totaled Buck’s truck on one side and kept on moving. ... Man,

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it was crazy! I mean, it was fucking bulls running through the city of St. Louis! How often would you see that? I saw this one guy, he came running out of his yard with a clothesline, and he was trying to round them up. David Carson, photographer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: We got a tip in the newsroom, it was [crime reporter] Christine Byers who got it from a contact that there were cows running around in north city o we were trying to figure out where that was taking place, because by the time we’d heard about the cows, the cows had traveled a fair amount of distance. .... The police have encrypted their scanners, but every now and then something drops across. So I heard a little nugget come across the scanner, and it said [to] look for the cows up by a White Castle up in north city. Smith: Me and a friend, we followed the cows all the way down to affitt and ande enter, and then they made a right. I followed them and they hit St. Louis Avenue, and they made a left at Grand. And then we followed them and they crossed Natural Bridge. The cows were so close to me, I patted a couple of them on the head, from out the truck

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window. ... They took a break in the park and looked around, like, “What should we do next?” I guess the leader of the pack said, “Let’s run for it again.” Carson: When I went over there, initially I thought I’d missed all the cows running through the streets and stuff. The police had a group of the cows pinned in, behind a chain-link fence. They had another one trapped in a backyard … people were standing around; a lot of people were smiling. It was a jovial thing, like, “Look at these cows out running around in the ’hood!”

yard,” and she said, “Yeah, there are, they’re trying to get in.” Well, they were, they came right to the front door before the police got there. They really frightened the people who were out there. Carson: They were trapped there. It’s a fairly large, half-acre, fencedin area. Castro: They were pretty mild; they were grazing on the grass. They really didn’t get excited until the company that had lost them brought a big trailer, and they backed it up into our property. They tried to corral them onto that trailer.

Within minutes, the group of steers put more than a mile between themselves and the slaughterhouse. But now the group split up. One trotted into a backyard, three wandered into a machine shop’s parking lot and the others infiltrated the gated compound of the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home.

Carson: The police had the mobile reserve, the tactical guys with so e ri es and stuff, ust in case it got out of hand. So the cows were running around, and you had a bunch of city folk trying to corral this cow. That’s not the St. Louis Police Department’s forte, corralling cows. ... So they backed their trailer there to try to get the cows, and they got two. And then there’s one cow, Chico, that did not want to go in the trailer.

Mother Gonzague Castro, then-superior of Little Sisters of the Poor: I got the call from the front desk, and she says to me, “There’s cows out the front yard.” And I say, “No, there can’t be cows in the front

Cornered by officers, Chico instead charged through the iron bars of the compound gate, crashing through as onlookers scrambled away. In the violence of his charge, Chico’s head caught on the under-

Act 2: “Free Chico!”

Chico refused to be cornered, bursting through an iron fence and evading police for hours. | COURTESY OF GENTLE BARN St. Louis city police lieutenants saw me and said, “Jump in,” so I jumped into a St. Louis city police car with them, and so we’re following. ... This cow was outsmarting them at every turn. They tried to block him off, and Chico would Castro: It was really surprising. He run around them. Chico went broke the steel, and the conacross multiple roads, crete was all busted out. Evat least three or erything was all damaged. “The way he blew through evaded four attempts to corral him. Carson: The way he blew that iron fence, I don’t through that iron fence, I Smith: He was a diedon’t think I would have think I would have been hard t’s about fi e been standing that close if o’clock in the evening; standing that close if I I knew he was going to do he was running down that. Fortunately he ran Tucker, sweating, slobknew he was going to do away from me. bering and slipping, but that.” he was out there. Sasha Monik, St. Louis Animal Rights Team: That imCarson: Eventually Chiage of Chico busting through the By now, TV news helicopters were co got tired out, and they got Chico gate, it went viral. It showed what broadcasting the chase to affiliated cornered into one area. The cops they can do, that these animals stations across the country. Thouwere walking in. People were are incredibly strong. But it also sands of people were tweeting and cheering for Chico. showed, you know, none of the streaming footage of the steers’ efKelly Manno, St. Louis radio DJ and policemen got trampled. We’re forts to evade capture. podcaster: I was in the carpool to not under threat of the animals. With help of additional fencing, the get my daughter from school, and They’re domesticated. They just officers and slaughterhouse worka Facebook live video popped up want to live, and they can’t. ers soon corralled five steers. Chion my phone of these cows runCastro: We all eat the meat — what co kept running. ning loose in north St. Louis. I’ve can you say? That comes from the Carson: So Chico is loose in the always been an animal lover, and cows. These cows were special in streets of St. Louis, and I start I knew the minute I saw them that the sense that they broke loose, running after Chico. One of the I needed to go down there. side of the metal bars that he’d just wrecked. Carson snapped a photo, freezing the moment as the steer’s two front hoofs lifted off the ground, one eye seeming to stare directly at the viewer.

the man forgot to shut the door, whatever happened, and they went running around. They were so happy to be free. Sometimes I think that cows never even know their freedom. These cows got to know their freedom.

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When I [arrived] there was only one cow left to be captured. I stayed out there for at least an hour, because this cow would not give up. At one point I went to the fence, and I was asking a police officer, here are you ta ing these cows?” He wouldn’t answer. ... I remember that no one would talk to me. Then I remembered that I had a dinosaur costume. I made a sign that said, “Don’t slaughter, send to rescue.” Carson: Then this woman in a TRex costume showed up! It was one of the crazier things I’ve seen in St. Louis. You’ve got hundreds of people, and this lady in a TRex costume — everyone from the neighborhood is around. That’s where I shot the video of the woman who said his name is “Chico Suave.” As police attempted to capture the last cow, Carson posted his video to Twitter. In the clip, Carson asks a woman in bright pink hair about the name of the cow behind the fence. “He’s Chico, Chico Suave,” she says, explaining, “He’s smooth, he earned his stripes.” Beyond the fence, the video shows Chico

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can’t save just one cow, we have to save all the cows.” Coston: There were so many people reaching out to the owner, and I actually think it was starting to get to him. But the second money comes into play, all bets are off. Brewer: Early on, the idea was we weren’t going to pay anything for the cows. We had $10,000 at this point to cover the necessary vet fees while we wait for a rescue. I figured it would be a wee , tops, to find a sanctuary to ta e the Manno: In the morning, I was able to get a hold of Omar [Hamdan]. We talked on the phone for a long time. I told him, “I don’t expect you to understand why I’m doing this, I don’t expect you to sympathize with the cow, I understand you run a business, you have a family. I just want to give you what you would have gotten for that cow, and I want to come and get it.” And he said, “Yes.” He agreed to it.

Jay Weiner, Gentle Barn co-founder, crouches next to Spirit at a vet clinic. Spirit wouldn’t live to see the Gentle Barn pasture. | COURTESY OF GENTLE BARN

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juking around two police officers cowering behind a tree. The crowd chants, “Free Chico! Free Chico!” Manno: The crowd was amazing; it was like a carnival. They had made signs, and they’d already named him by the time I got down there. Every time the cow would dodge a police officer and not be captured, the crowd would go wild. When he was caught, everybody booed. Carson: It was like this cheer, and a groan at the same time that the excitement was over. After Chico’s capture, Manno dashed the three blocks back to her minivan. (She had to unzip the dinosaur costume so she could drive.) She followed the trailer to the slaughterhouse, where an employee told her Chico would cost $1,800 to redeem. She told him she’d be back the next day with the money. Manno: And there was this moment at a stoplight when the light was red, and this brown cow, that ust had watched fight for his life, stuck the side of his nose out the back of the trailer. I swear to God he made eye contact with me. The look on his face was heart-

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breaking. ... It was like, “I tried, I outran the cops for hours, and I’m back here again. I lost.” For me, it was just seeing that will to live, and I just knew that I had to save this cow no matter where he was going.

Act 3: A Negotiation, Not a Rescue

he would donate them or not because he would be taking a loss. Adam Brewer: More meat eaters contacted me more than anyone. They were like, “Hey, I’m not a vegetarian, not a vegan, but I really want to see these cows survive.” Another message would be like, “I’m working on myself, I’m not a vegetarian, but I’m trying to be.”

Coston: It went from a rescue to a negotiation, and it sucks. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that the cows got rescued. That’s the beautiful part. We’re not all going to agree with what happened. They just could have been rescued, in my opinion, for free. Brewer: I’m a fan of Omar; I still talk to him to this day. Omar was probably my favorite person I met out of all of this, because he was real, he was real to himself. He viewed it the way I viewed it: two people wanting to find the common ground.

Manno: He’s a horrible person — he told me he would give me the cow; I secured a farm for him Manno: When I saw those aniThe St. Louis Six were back at the and transportation. Omar led me mals in distress, the last thing that slaughterhouse, but they were to believe that he was coming to crossed my mind was whether about to embark on a second, no meet me with this cow. We were I’d had a cheeseburger. I saw an less fraught journey. The night supposed to meet at of March 30, Manno six, and at 5:45 he was started a GoFundMe to saying he was almost “ Sunda y rolls around, and raise $1,800 to redeem there, and he never Chico — but she was far at this point there were so showed up. To this day from the only one moved to action. A second Gomany people devastated by I have no idea why. FundMe, started by ChesIt wasn’t just Manno left the possibility that they terfield native Adam frustrated by Hamdan. Brewer, was featured Coston and Farm Sancwouldn’t make it.” (and linked) within the tuary, a New York-based Post-Dispatch’s coverage rescue organization, of the escape. By Friday, Brewer saw Hamdan’s demand for payhad raised more than $10,000. animal suffering and I wanted to ment as a deal breaker and withhelp. I am an animal lover. The drew from negotiations. (Hamdan Manno had more than $2,000. Standing in their way was the fact that I’m not a vegetarian nev- did not respond to multiple reslaughterhouse’s owner, Omar er crossed my mind. quests for comment.) Hamdan. Monik: I donated to Adam’s Go- Coston: We stand by our ethics for Susie Coston, national shelter direc- FundMe and I somehow started a reason. We have so many estor, Farm Sanctuary: A number of talking to him. It went from some caped cows on our farm, and not sanctuaries talked to the owner people donating, then someone one of them was paid for. We neof the slaughter facility. He was else. The next day it really started gotiate them away. It’s not unique, going back and forth whether getting in motion. It was like, “We

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and that’s why many people were frustrated. Because in the middle of those negotiations someone stepped in with a big checkbook. ... Other animals are going to die on the backs of these animals, because you gave the owner the opportunity and the money to do that. Brewer: Once Farm Sanctuary bailed out, no one else was doing it. But I felt like I still had a bargaining chip to at least get to other rescues. I was talking to the slaughterhouse, and we had enough money to rent a [temporary foster home]. Monik: I was planning to do a protest vigil at the slaughterhouse. The cows weren’t released or paid for, they were back at the slaughterhouse, and they were going to be sent to their killing. We just really wanted to save them. Brewer: Omar stopped taking my calls. He was really overwhelmed with things. He was getting messages from people not understanding his culture, saying that it was an Arab thing, that it was a form of terrorism. At that point I was freaked out. I still had all this money.

The cows were barely a year old at the time of their escape — “little babies,” says Gentle Barn manager Michelle Robertson. | COURTESY OF GENTLE BARN

that we couldn’t let the cows die. Backes: Right away my mind immediately went to Gentle Barn and Jay and Ellie. It just started snowballing so quickly ... the next day he was on a ight

Manno: I reached out to Adam and said, “We’re trying to do the same thing; let’s work together.” We were stuck with all this money, and no cows. So I called the best animal-rescue resource I know — my sweet friend Kelly Backes.

The Gentle Barn was founded in 1999 by Ellie Laks. The Californiabased organization has a history of rescuing large animals, such as cows and horses, which it aims to rehabilitate and give sanctuary. But beyond her love of animals, Laks had special reason to pay attention to the St. Louis Six — she herself grew up here.

Kelly Backes and her husband, pro hockey player David Backes, are vegans and animal rescue supporters with deep local roots. Backes spent ten years playing for the St. Louis Blues, and in 2013 the couple founded the nonprofit Athletes for Animals. By the time of the slaughterhouse escape in 2017, David had been traded to Boston. Still, Kelly Backes quickly donated to Manno’s GoFundMe campaign.

Ellie Laks, founder, Gentle Barn: We were just watching it on the national news along with everybody else. It was so devastating to watch. I love animals so much and I tend to internalize what they might be feeling, and so just watching them run, watching their desperation, not knowing which direction to go, watching people try to catch them, watching the cars coming — it was very hard to watch.

Kelly Backes: Kelly [Manno] is absolutely out of her mind, and we lo e her he was the one who finally said, “You have to help, do something.” Manno: I probably cried on the telephone to her for an hour over these cows, trying to figure out what to do. She said she would work on it and call me back. Brewer: Sunday rolls around, and at this point there were so many people devastated by the possibility that they wouldn’t make it. There were so many eyes out on it

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The Gentle Barn raffled off naming rights to other members of the St. Louis Six, but Chico got his name organically: Bystanders chanted “Free Chico!” as he avoided police. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

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Jay Weiner, co-founder, Gentle Barn: Animals escape from slaughterhouses all the time. A trailer will tip over, or they’ve fallen off or escaped the slaughter trucks. It’s something we’ve dealt with in the history of the Gentle Barn. Whether they’re seen gallivanting

Cahokia, when they said they were rolling out. I basically raced them to the foster. When my friend told me that it was the slaughterhouse transporting them, I was a little shocked. But I was on such a high, like, “At least they’re in the truck, at least they’re getting out of the slaughterhouse at all.” I got there, and even at that point [I was still feeling good], until I saw that dude pull out a cattle prod and start hitting them through the side of the truck.

through the town, that’s not very typical. Backes: That evening Jay called me. And he was like, “What are you guys thinking?” I said, “Just do whatever you can and we’ll do whatever we can to help.” Brewer: I was excited about Gentle Barn, because they had the resources to take all six. ... I kept stressing it wasn’t just Chico, it wasn’t about a celebrity cow. It’s about the lives of these six cows representing the billion-plus other cows that senselessly die every year. Manno: Kelly [Backes] called me back, and she said, “I want you take the money and donate it to Gentle Barn.” I donated my money at like 10 p.m. that night; Adam did the same. ... It was such a weight off my shoulders, because I was digging myself in a hole. At that point, Omar was not being responsive, nor was he being realistic. So Jay and Ellie saved the cows.

Monik: There was a lot of controversy over it, but now that I look back on it, that’s just how they treat animals. They’re slaughterhouse workers; they treat them like property. They’re big animals, if they don’t want to move they won’t move. But I would never touch them with a pole.

The Gentle Barn’s farm in Dittmer also houses rescued turkeys, pigs and sheep. “I don’t think these cows are anything special,” says founder Ellie Laks. “I think all animals want to live, because we all do.” | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

Brewer: He had like a metal pipe, he was sticking it through the side of the truck, hitting them in the ribs and shit. My friend Sasha was ready to snap, and I walked up to Jay. He was like, “Meditate on it.” We were pissed.

Laks: Jay and I talked about it, and he packed and caught a red eye and got to St. Louis in the morning to stop their slaughter. Weiner: was definitely ery concerned that I wouldn’t get there in time. ... When I started talking directly to the slaughterhouse owner, he sounded pretty finished and done with dealing with the kind of pressure he had been receiving. e was concerned about the financial situation. They were very unwilling to release the animals without pay.

Monik: Me and Adam started videotaping, and [the slaughterhouse workers were] whacking the cows through the holes of the trailer, whack whack whack. In a video provided to RFT by Brewer, a slaughterhouse worker climbs on top of one of the trailer’s rear fenders and repeatedly jams a metal rod through the trailer’s openings, shouting and banging the instrument at the cows inside. Moments later, Monik and Brewer both claim they heard a loud boom as one of the cows, later named Spirit, fell.

Monik: I went to the slaughterhouse on Monday. When Jay arrived, he went straight in. We were standing out there, so anxious and tired, waiting, like, “Please tell us everything worked.”

Act 4: All Who Go Do Not Return Four days after the escape, Jay Weiner walked into the office of Omar Hamdan, where Weiner says he exchanged a $12,500 check for the lives of the St. Louis Six. (At $2,083 per steer, Gentle Barn paid nearly $300 more than Manno had agreed to pay for Chico.) The next problem was how to transport the herd — and to where? Weiner: I was coming from California into this situation. We didn’t have our own trailer. We had to depend on the actual slaughterhouse to help us transport them. It wasn’t some very well-cleaned, well-taken-care-of rescue vehicle that I would normally be used to.

Weiner: There’s a particular way that cows behave when they are fearful. They’ll back into the corner.

The cows were initially terrified of humans. Two years after their rescue, they readily accept scratches from visitors. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

It was a vehicle that was used for what it was used for. Monik: Jay came out and said, “We’re going to transport them in Wentzville,” and the slaughterhouse workers actually assisted with the transport. It was bittersweet.

The St. Louis Six were loaded onto the slaughterhouse trailer. Hamdan posted a video of the cows exiting the pen, writing, “They are free and sorry for all the problems they are in a better home and they in the hand of Gentle Barn.”

Weiner: I don’t know when Spirit was injured. Nobody knows that. We have some thoughts on some videos that we saw, and there’s a moment in the video that we posted when you see the animals coming out of the slaughterhouse, and walking to the door going to the trailer. You can see Spirit take a trip right there. Brewer: I saw the cow go down and then go up on three legs. Monik: hat cow was wal ing fine until he was whacked with a freakin’ stick. Weiner: It’s possible, but you can’t say 100 percent that we can prove [Spirit’s injury] happened there. There’s nobody that can corrobo-

Brewer: I was in East St. Louis, in

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Kelly Manno traveled to the scene, put on an inflatable T-Rex costume and held a sign rooting for the cows’ survival. | COURTESY OF KELLY MANNO

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rate anything before we actually took possession, but they were also hit by police cars, and just the fact of cows running on concrete. ... What we do know is that by the time we got to the second location, he’s already in trouble. Short on transport options, Weiner opted to rehire Star Packing to move the herd to a vet center run by the University of Missouri-Columbia. There, doctors identified and treated Spirit’s fractured ankle. But an infection took hold. Weiner: I spent a tremendous amount of time trying to save Spirit. He won my heart over. He was wonderful and chill and accepting, and he seemed OK with whatever was going on around him, to the point where I was able to touch him, be with him. We wanted to do anything we possibly could to help him. He just couldn’t make it. Spirit was euthanized on May 27.

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Act 5: Raising a Gentle Barn in Missouri Weiner didn’t arrive alone in St. Louis. He brought along a videographer, whose footage became a nine-minute documentary (in partnership with GoFundMe) on the slaughterhouse escape. In May, while the herd grazed on a foster farm, Gentle Barn launched a GoFundMe campaign to build a new home for what remained of the St. Louis Six. Gentle Barn raffled naming rights to raise additional funds. Eventually, Chico was joined by Roo, Houdini, Eddie and Johnny Cash. Michelle Robertson, manager, Gentle Barn Missouri: [Ellie and I] were starting a turkey road trip, driving one of our turkeys from California to Tennessee, because that’s what we do. We had the van packed, and Ellie tells me, “Jay just took a red eye to St. Louis because there were cows that escaped and they needed help.” Laks: We both thought that driving the cows to California would just be asking too much. We didn’t have room at our location

in Tennessee. At this point, I said, “I have to meet them to know what’s the best for them.” So Jay and ew out to issouri together, and I went to meet them for the first ti e

forgive. We need to give them a platform where they can share their story, so they can connect and heal with humans that know what it’s like to be that scared. That’s when I looked back at Jay [and] said, “We need to open a Gentle Barn for them.”

that they earned their freedom, as backwards as that is. Susie Coston, Farm Sanctuary: I’m glad that they’re doing well. I think, then, it was money well spent.

Sasha Monik: It’s sad. They’re a Robertson: I’ve spent a lot of time symbol, to me, of all the other with cows. I primarily volunanimals who are forgotten and teered with a herd of 35 in Cali- It took just over three weeks for killed. But it’s also hopeful, bitterfornia, so I’ve seen how family- the GoFundMe to raise $400,000 to sweet. I’m happy they survived, oriented they are, how everybody do just that. One month later, Laks but it’s ust fi e cows out of bilhas roles within the herd, how and Weiner settled on a property in lions every year. they kind of commuIt’s a reminder to nicate with each othkeep going. “I’ve seen how family-oriented er, where everybody Amie Simmons, St. kind of places them[cows] are, how everybody Louis artist and vegselves. an: I visited them; has roles within the herd, Weiner: They were all I don’t know if I still pretty freaked how they kind of communitouched one — I out. They had just just wanted to been through quite cate with each other.” observe. When I the ordeal. painted them, I was focusing on Laks: I walked to the fence. Houdini wanted to check Dittmer, an hour’s drive southwest the eyes and noses. I wanted them me out, but as soon as he made of St. Louis. On September 10, the to be more realistic. I wanted eva couple steps toward me, Chico St. Louis Six completed the final eryone to see them as a cow, but pushed him back with his head leg of their trip from the slaugh- everything else was a little bit aband neck. He made it very clear terhouse to freedom. They trotted stract. We usually think abstractly cautiously out of a trailer — a rent- about cows, about what we’re that he wasn’t to move. I was looking into Chico’s eyes, al, not one owned by the slaugh- consuming. and he was looking into mine, and terhouse — and into a fifteen-acre Laks: As soon as they arrived here I just had this moment where we pasture. at the Gentle Barn, we would connected soul to soul. I had this Adam Brewer: With Omar, I think, make sure there were people in feeling that they need to recover somewhere deep down in him, their pastures every single solifrom this. They need to learn to he was thankful. His stance was tary day. Really, the clincher was

when they were finally able to eat cookies out of our hands. That was them choosing to want to trust us. That’s when we knew full recovery and forgiveness was possible. Robertson: Chico is the leader; they all still respect him. But he doesn’t boss them around. Houdini is the most zen; he enjoys just relaxing. Roo is a cookie monster, and he is constantly watching, and, like, obsessed with the dogs. Johnny is quiet, reserved. He’s coming out of his shell. He’s been asking for butt scratches. Carson: I went to the one-year birthday party, and I got to pat Chico. I felt this connection, that I helped get his name out there. It was a funny experience, to be patting the head of this cow that I’d been chasing a year ago. Buck Ford: I’m not an animal, but I think they pretty aware of where they were going. They probably had an idea, like, “We in here,” that if they get the chance to get out, they get out. Carson: It’s a pretty good life. You know, to go from probably days away from a butcher’s knife to living the best life ever for a cow. They’re the luckiest cows that I know. n

WEEK 1: THURS., APRIL 4 WEEK 2: THURS., APRIL 11 WEEK 3: THURS., APRIL 18 FINALS: THURS., APRIL 25 START TIME 10 P.M. REGISTRATION BEGINS AT 9 P.M. 4112 Manchester Ave • St. Louis, MO 63110 314-371-1333 • www.justjohnclub.com PrideFest 2019 is Presented By riverfronttimes.com

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

THURSDAY 04/04 All Together Now Baseball again returns to St. Louis at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, April 4, when the Cardinals take on the visiting San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium (700 Clark Avenue; www. stlcardinals.com). Y98.1-FM, NOW 96.3-FN and 102.5 KEZK-FM host an Opening Day Rally starting at 10 a.m. in Kiener Plaza (601 Clark Avenue), with food, drinks, games, entertainment and free admission. This is a day when St. Louis comes together to celebrate its shared passion, whether you’re at the game, in one of the city’s many bars or surreptitiously watching online while “working.” Remaining tickets for the game are $50 to $250, and the Cards play the Padres again at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (April 6 and 7).

guiding a black group into the pop realm, where millions of dollars can be made with the right song, look and sound. As the Dreamettes work their way closer to stardom, they encounter jealousy, creative differences, love and betrayal. Stray Dog Theatre presents the sound sensation Dreamgirls at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (April 4 to 20) at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www.straydogtheatre.org). There are two additional shows at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, and at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Tickets are $25 to $30.

Wind-Up Wonder The Arthur Saint-Léon and Léo Delibes ballet Coppélia is inspired by two E.T.A. Hoffmann stories, so you know going in something magical and macabre is about to happen. Sweethearts Franz and Swanhilda plan to marry soon, but Swanhilda notices her betrothed seems infatuated

FRIDAY 04/05 Dream Big Inspired by the early careers of various Motown girl groups, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s Dreamgirls has become one of the most beloved musicals of the modern era. In it the Dreamettes, a young trio of singers from Chicago, attempts to jump-start their musical career by winning Amateur Night at the famous Apollo Theater in ew or nstead ffie, eena and orrel find a anager in Curtis, who dreams of

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Othello (Reginald Pierre) is a man plagued by two-faced friends. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS SHAKESPEARE with the mysterious girl who sits all day on the balcony of Dr. Coppéius’ house. Furious, Swanhilda breaks into the home with some of her friends, where they find numerous life-like mechanical dolls. On the balcony, they discover the doctor’s diabolical secret plan for the doll, and Swanhilda hatches a quick plan to save her beau, despite his wandering eye. The Saint Louis Ballet presents Coppélia at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 5 to 7) at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus (1 University Drive at Natural Bridge Road; www.stlouisballet.org). Tickets are $25 to $69.

Reginald Pierre stars as Othello, the noble Moorish soldier who valiantly defends his adopted city of Venice. One of Othello’s soldiers, Iago, has a deep and abiding loathing for his co anding officer, who is unaware of his enmity. While Othello goes about the business of defending Venice’s concerns from the Turks, Iago plots to destroy his hated foe through the use of cat’s paws and schemes. Caught up in a web of plots, Othello destroys the person he most loves. Othello is performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday (April 5 to 13), and tickets are $15 to $20.

Is that a Dagger?

SATURDAY 04/06 Get Wet with the Wizard

St. Louis Shakespeare is on the move again. The venerable company now mounts its shows in Tower Grove Baptist Church (4257 Magnolia Avenue; www.stlshakespeare.org), which is where you can see its season-ending performance of Shakespeare’s Othello. The powerful and charismatic

As you may have heard, Jason Momoa — DC’s Aquaman (sploosh) — will be in St. Louis for this year’s Wizard World St. Louis pop-culture convention. If you want to get a photo with him, act fast — several sessions have already sold out, and remaining slots are $125 to $150. But if you can’t or don’t get

Big Muddy Dance Co. presents Footnotes this weekend. | GERRY LOVE

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WEEK OF APRIL APRIL 4-10

a spot, don’t worry; there’s lots of other stuff to do and see and buy. A double handful of comic-book artists will be present to sign and talk about their work, including Arvell Jones, Phil Ortiz and Rich Burchett, as well as celebrities such as Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), Ernie Hudson (the fourth Ghostbuster) and Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan. There will be cosplay, pop-culture merch galore, comic books, seminars on everything from Doctor Who to cosplay foam sculpture. There will also be live entertainment hosted by Kato Kaelin (yes, really). Wizard World takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday (April 5 to 7) at the America’s Center Conventions Complex (701 Convention Plaza; www.wizardworld.com). Tickets are $39.99 to $54.99 for individual days, or $79 for a threeday pass. Numerous priority and VIP options are available.

Adam Driver stars in Terry Gilliam’s long awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. | DIEGO LOPEZ CALVIN/TORNASOL FILMS was responsible for passing down genetic information to the next generation, but no one knew the mechanism for this “secret of life.” English chemist Rosalind Franklin

student Raymond Gosling. When the scientific tea of Francis ric and James Watson examined some of Gosling’s photographs, they had an epiphany: DNA could be a double helix. What the duo didn’t know was that they weren’t looking at one of Gosling’s photos — it was Franklin’s work. How Rosalind Franklin was omitted from her own discovery is the subject of Anna Ziegler’s drama Photograph 51. It’s a story of interpersonal conicts, self doubt and the difficulties of being a wo an in a an’s field West End Player’s Guild presents Photograph 51 at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 4 to 14) at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.westendplayers.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.

SUNDAY 04/07 Live and Local Tateonna Thompson, Ebony Easter and Eleanor Humphrey star as the Dreamettes in Dreamgirls. | ©STRAY DOG THEATRE

Pics or It Didn’t Happen In the aftermath of World War II, the scientific co unity raced to solve the mystery of DNA. Scientists knew what it was and that it

was a leading x-ray crystallographer, using a method of diffracting x-rays through a crystal to get a picture of its structure. Her expertise was put to use at King’s College, where she was assigned to the DNA problem, and also directed to supervise the work of PhD

For its new performance Footnotes, the Big Muddy Dance Company chose to pair the music of St. Louis-based musicians with new choreography by Shannon Alvis, Samuel Asher Kunzman and Prince Lyons. The company will dance to the sounds of composer Noah Valenti, Steph Plant and the Leonas, Mile Davis and the live sounds of the Jazz St. Louis Student Musician Ensemble. Hopefully the all-local production becomes an annual event on Big Muddy’s calendar. Perfor-

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mances of Footnotes take place at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 6 and 7) at the Grandel (3610 Grandel Square; www.thebigmuddydanceco.org). Tickets are $25 to $35.

WEDNESDAY 04/10 Fantasy Is Reality Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote was known for years as the fil that couldn’t get made.” Funding trouble, a ash ood and actor isfortune plagued every attempt to commit the concept to celluloid since illia first concei ed it bac in 1989. After decades of trouble and a documentary about the nonexistent movie, it improbably premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Loosely adapted from Don Quixote, and inspired by its central conceit of a man who can’t tell reality from dreams anymore, the fil follows a troubled erican director (Adam Driver) who meets a Spanish cobbler (Jonathan Pryce) who think he’s Don Quixote. The duo undertake a quest that forces them both to recognize their mistakes and face the truth about life. Fathom Events presents the long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, at the Marcus Wehrenberg Ronnies Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; www.fathomevents.com). Tickets are $13.45. n

APRIL 3-9, 2019

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FILM

Liao Fan as Bin and Zhao Tao as Qiao in Ash Is Purest White. | COURTESY OF COHEN MEDIA GROUP

[REVIEW]

Keeping It Real Tao Zhao’s performance drives Jia Zhangke’s film about surviving in modern China Written by

ROBERT HUNT Ash Is Purest White Written and directed by Jia Zhangke. Starring Zhao Tao, Liao Fan and Diao Yinan. Opens Friday, April 5, at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre.

mbitious in scale and adventurous in execution, Zhangke Jia’s Ash Is Purest White is both an exercise in expanding familiar genres and a documentary-like study of change and growth in contemporary China. It’s a story with nearly epiclike proportions, yet never loses its intimate connection with its heroine Qiao (Zhao Tao), skillfully maintaining a balance between cool sociological observation and

a warm humanist perspective. he fil begins in 2001, with Qiao and her boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan) comfortably placed among the jianghu culture in the coalproducing town of Datong. For Bin and his associates, the gangster life is a laidback one, driven less by criminal activity than by idle games of mahjong and other hobbies. “I’m only interested in two things,” Bin’s boss tells him. “Animal documentaries and ballroom dancing.” That changes subtly when one of the small-time hoods brandishes an illegal gun during an argument. Violence is avoided, but the presence of the weapon lingers on through later scenes, as if waiting to meet its Chekhovian destiny. hat destiny is fulfilled when iao fires a gun to disrupt an attac on in and recei es a fi e year prison sentence. Released in 200 , she searches for in in a China that has changed both physically and economically. Small-time criminals have been replaced by office dwelling e ecuti es n aura of absurd artifice hangs o er everything, and Qiao, forced to live by her wits, takes to approaching strange men and claiming to be the concerned older sister of an abandoned lover. They buy her silence

Filmed over a period of eighteen years, the film uses abstract imagery, generic conventions and unexpected surreality to create a picture of an evolving China. without even bothering to check for names or details. Filmed over a period of eighteen years the final act shows iao bac in atong in 201 , and in a variety of formats, Ash Is Purest White uses abstract imagery, generic conventions and unexpected moments of surreality to create a picture of an evolving hina in the 21st century he landscape and the characters change and age, and the fil reg-

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isters the weight of time as they move through it. The new, modern world clashes with the residue of an older, superstitious one. iao and in u p o er a fire to remove bad luck; a real estate developer complains that his latest project is failing because it’s rumored to be haunted. The natural setting is routinely punctuated by fanciful allusions to popular culture — Chinese club-goers grooving to “Y.M.C.A.,” a funeral interrupted by a dance routine, an outdoor performance by a would-be Justin Bieber. Jia follows melodramatic conventions but reshapes them as if the story is being retold in a dream. It’s also melodrama with a cautious sense of reserve. Qiao, artfully portrayed by Zhao, is guarded with her emotions. She’s tossed about by tumultuous events, but her reactions are careful and considered. She’s a contemporary Lana Turner or Joan Crawford doing what she must to survive in an increasingly illogical world built not on human connections but on the odd and the accidental. Jia has created a haunting and even tragic portrait of transformation and endurance, but Zhao’s courageous performance makes it transcendentally real. n

APRIL 3-9, 2019

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Located inside the Cortex Innovation Hall in midtown St. Louis, The Chocolate Pig’s fun, unique location perfectly complements the interesting fare offered up by this well-regarded new entrant to the local dining scene. Open every day, The Chocolate Pig’s primary restaurant space offers salads, sandwiches, burgers, elevated comfort foods such as shrimp and grits and intriguing daily specials inside the attractive dining room and bar. The Market component, meanwhile is a “quick grab kitchen,” allowing those with limited time a chance to order a coffee and sandwich quickly, while offering an elevated set of expectations than the normal “grab & go” concept; it’s open from 7 am-5 pm daily and provides a great option for Cortex workers. Destination diners, though, are going to want to sit and savor the fare from The Chocolate Pig during lunch and dinner service, the restaurant serving moderately-priced entrees that are heavy on locally-sourced ingredients. Though the menu items featuring proteins (especially pork) are among the most-popular, a variety of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free items complement them. All items are offered up in one of the most-unique, thoughtfully-stimulating restaurant environments in town.

Spencer’s Grill is a historic diner in the heart of downtown Kirkwood. Bill Spencer opened the Grill on Route 66 back in 1947. Over 70 years later a lot has changed but the diner is still a timeless staple cherished by locals. These days Alex Campbell is the owner and the road goes by S. Kirkwood, but the old grill lives on. Known for its breakfast, Spencer’s cooks up crispy pancakes, from scratch biscuits and gravy, omelets, hash browns, and other traditional breakfast favorites. For the after breakfast crowds, Spencer’s offers a variety of lunch options including sandwiches as well as some of the best burgers in town. Jake Sciales (previously head chef at Farmhaus) runs the kitchen at Spencer’s and creates delicious off-menu specials daily. His culinary excellence makes even the most familiar dishes divine.The charming breakfast bar is welcoming and the service is friendly and fast. Mornings can be busy but the lines move quickly and breakfast comes out fast. Looking for a new breakfast spot? If you haven’t tried Spencer’s yet, you need to check it out. Spencer’s Grill is open 6AM until 2PM seven days a week.

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Any realtor will tell you it starts with location: the 1800s brick row house across the street from the Anheuser-Busch brewery provides an elegant speakeasy-feel stage for Chef Stephan Ledbetter’s delicious creations. Scallops with grapefruit over risotto, pork gnudi with mushroom, butternut squash soup, an asparagus salad with burrata and prosciutto - the rotating seasonal menu promises a culinary delight worthy of a first date, a milestone anniversary, and anything in between. One of the better-curated wine lists in town alongside a selection of whiskeys and craft cocktails can begin or round out your evening. This quiet upstart to the Soulard dining scene even provides ample parking. Whether you’re looking for a glass of wine and apps to start the evening, an elevated dining experience, or just a late night cocktail -OAKED delivers. Make plans now and call for reservations before the word gets out.

Housed in a retro service station, J. Smugs GastroPit serves up barbecue that can fuel anyone’s fire. Married teams of Joe and Kerri Smugala and John and Linda Smugala have brought charred goodness to the Hill neighborhood, nestled among the traditional Italian restaurants, sandwich shops and bakeries. Part of St. Louis’ ongoing barbecue boom, the J. Smugs’ pit menu is compact but done right. Ribs are the main attraction, made with a spicy dry rub and smoked to perfection. Pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken are also in the pit holding up well on their own, but squeeze bottles of six tasty sauces of varying style are nearby for extra punch. Delicious standard sides and salads are available, but plan on ordering an appetizer or two J. Smugs gives this course a twist with street corn and pulled-pork poutine. Several desserts are available, including cannoli – a tasty nod to the neighborhood. Happy hour from 4 to 7pm on weekdays showcases half-dollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.

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The fast-fresh, made-to-order concept has been applied to everything from pizza to pasta in St. Louis, but the sushi burrito surprisingly had no Gateway City home until BLK MKT Eats opened near Saint Louis University last fall. It was worth the wait, though, because BLK MKT Eats combines bold flavors and convenience into a perfectly wrapped package that’s ideal for those in a rush. Cousins and co-owners Kati Fahrney and Ron Turigliatto offer a casual menu full of high-quality, all-natural NOT AVERAGE SPOT ingredients that fit everything you love about YOUR sushi and burritos right in your SUSHI hand. The Swedish Fish layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dill VANDEVENTER slaw, PersianDINE-IN, cucumbers andORavocado forMON-SAT a fresh 11AM-9PM flavor ex9 SOUTH TAKEOUT DELIVERY plosion. Another favorite, the OG Fire, features your choice of spicy tuna or salmon alongside tempura crunch, masago, shallots, jalapeño and piquant namesake sauce; Persian cucumbers and avocado soothe your tongue from the sauce’s kick. All burrito rolls come with sticky rice wrapped in nori or can be made into poké bowls, and all items can be modified for vegetarians.

There aren’t many businesses named after Adam Sandler movies, but at the Blue Duck, the food is as whimsical as its “Billy Madison” reference. Originally founded in Washington, Mo., owners Chris and Karmen Rayburn opened the Blue Duck’s Maplewood outpost in 2017, bringing with them a seasonal menu full of American comfort-food dishes that are elevated with a dash of panache. Start the meal with the savory fried pork belly, which is rubbed with coffee and served with a sweet bbq sauce and root vegetable slaw. For the main event, the Duck’s signature DLT sandwich substitutes succulent smoked duck breast instead of the traditional bacon, adding fried egg and honey chipotle mayo along with lettuce and tomato on toasted sourdough. Save room for dessert; the Blue Duck’s St. Louberry pie – strawberries and blueberries topped with a gooey buttercake-like surface – is a worthy tribute to the Gateway City.

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APRIL 3-9, 2019

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CAFE

[REVIEW]

Pie in the Sky Pie Guy Pizza is serving top-notch New York-style slices (and more) in the Grove Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Pie Guy Pizza 4189 Manchester Avenue, 314-899-0444. Tues.-Thurs. 4:30 p.m.-midnight; Fri. 4:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m.; Sat. noon-3:30 a.m. (Closed Sundays and Mondays.)

very order at Pie Guy Pizza comes with a trophy. It makes a fun substitute for a boring table ag or pager, allowing staffers to find you with your food once you’ve secured a table. Since diners have their pick of seating in either the small pizzeria or the adjacent tap house and bottle shop, locating hungry patrons would be a difficult undertaking without the visual cue. owe er, the o ent you bite into a slice of Pie Guy’s gob-smackingly superb pi a, you can’t help but wonder if the trophy is something ore erhaps it signifies that you’ e won the pi a lottery, a prize that comes with not just a trophy but also a crust that manages to be both crisp and soft at the sa e ti e, as if suspended between two states of texture. Maybe the trophy signifies ie uy’s place at the top of St. Louis’ pizza scene and the superlatives that come with making a masterpiece. lti ately, though, the sy bolis doesn’t matter. This pizza is all you need to feel like a winner. itch Frost, better nown as the ie uy, is the aster behind the works of pizza art coming out of the garage-door-fronted pizzeria in the heart of the Grove. A lifelong ho e coo , Frost fell in lo e with restaurants thanks to his uncle who worked in the industry and got hi his first ob, at onghorn tea house, when he was si teen Frost’s fate as St. Louis’ king of pie was sealed at his second job. Though he took on the part-time

Pie Guy’s menu focuses on pizza, but you can also get “Knotchos” or an excellent chopped salad. | MABEL SUEN gig at Dewey’s Pizza simply to a e so e oney, he learned how to throw dough and realized he had a real knack and passion for making pizza. That skill e entually led hi to i i eria, where he learned the ins and outs of running a kitchen and managing people, two i portant pieces of a puzzle that would prove invaluable in his trajectory. Frost was beginning to see a future for himself in the pizza business, but his path would become even more clear when a friend asked him to take over his longstanding gig teaching pizzamaking classes at the Kitchen Conservatory. Before Frost knew it, he was wor ing on his recipes and perfecting his craft, using his time at the teaching kitchen as a research and development opportunity while working in other restaurants around town. One of those restaurants, the U.R.B (Urban Chestnut’s Urban Research rewery , would pro ide

the final pu le piece here, under chef ndy Fair, Frost learned baker’s math and the chemistry behind making naturally fermented sourdough. It took his pizza game to a whole new level and ga e hi the confidence to open a place of his own. Frost was not the only one happy with his product. His friend randon a anagh, owner of the tap house and bottle shop Gezellig, too note of Frost’s delicious pizza and suggested he take over the adjacent space. With his recipe perfected, Frost u ped at the opportunity, opening ie uy i za last September. Pie Guy is slightly more than a pi a counter, but not uch he small restaurant has an industrial feel, with white painted bric walls, a ce ent oor and a garage door that serves as its storefront. Guests order at the counter and are encouraged to watch as their pizza is hand-tossed to order. Frost and his team can throw

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quite high han fully, the space has lofty ceilings to accommodate their range. Though Pie Guy and Gezellig are separate entities, they share more than just the walkway that connects the two businesses. After placing an order at the pizzeria’s counter, guests are encouraged to grab a seat at the communal hightop table that sits in the center of the room or at one of the many tables or barstools within Gezellig. The arrangement allows you to pair your slice with something from the tap house’s impressive beer selection hen again, you could simply pour a cup of KoolAid from Pie Guy’s large Igloostyle cooler ither way, you win rin able fruit a ored nostalgia aside, the real pri e at ie uy is, of course, the pi a Frost’s painstaking research has paid off in an outstanding New York-style pizza with a wonderfully crispy crust. It’s not that the entire thing

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PIE GUY PIZZA Continued from pg 33

is crunchy; the pizza has a pleasant chew and softness owe er, it’s undergirded by a thin layer of crispness that yields to soft dough, similar to a perfectly griddled piece of Texas toast. Frost credits a few things for this ethereal te ture he first is the aputo our, i ported fro Italy and both of the highest quality and pesticide free, which Frost e phasi es in uenced his decision. The second is his technique. Without giving away his trade secrets, Frost e plains that his ratio of our, oil and water a es his crust special. His dough is wetter than ost, which a es it uffier and bubblier, while the oil, when heated, crisps it up and gi es it crunch. ie uy’s crust is so good, you could eat it plain and still be happy owe er, it ser es as a lo ely canvas for Frost’s other quality ingredients, including his to ato sauce, which is ade fro i ported Italian tomatoes. In the spirit of eapolitan style pies, this sauce is a si ple i of to atoes, salt, oil and fresh basil that ser es as a bright accent for toppings like fennel-kissed sausage from Such and uch Far s, garlic y pepperoni so fatty it’s equal parts white and red, or eshy astel etrano olives that add a gentle brininess to any pie they grace with their buttery presence. Frost eeps things si ple, offering pizza by the slice that’s either cheese, sausage, pepperoni, eggie or vegan. For the veggie version, he pairs to ato sauce with

Pies are hand-tossed before your eyes. | MABEL SUEN spinach, red onions and articho e hearts thoughtfully pulled apart into individual petals. Dollops of fresh ricotta enhance the richness of the molten mozzarella and pecorino cheese that cover the pie. Pie Guy typically offers a specialty pizza of the day. On one of y isits, Frost paired the astelvetrano olives simply with red onions and articho es, showing a penchant for combining these complementary ingredients with enough restraint to not overdo it. n addition to the slices, whole

pizzas are available to customize with everything from pineapple to Ozark Forest mushrooms to Such and Such Farms bacon. The restaurant also offers tangy marinara, garlic butter or ranch dressing for dipping. Outside of the pi a offerings, the enu is s all, consisting only of a few salads and appetizers. “Pizza Knotchos” are an Italianstyle nod to the bar-food staple. Using bite-sized knots of dough as a base, Frost piles on pi a sauce, elted o arella, fresh ricotta, a generous dollop of basil pesto

and a mouthwatering giardinierastyle tapenade. It’s a playful — and delicious — twist on the classic appetizer. His “STL Chop” salad also impresses t has the a ors of a standard St. Louis-style sweet Italian inaigrette salad, but they’re ele ated with little ge lettuce, garlic knot breadcrumbs and the same piquant tapenade as the “knotchos.” Like Pie Guy’s pizza crust, the salad’s asterful play of textures makes it a standout. Frost and his staff are clearly ha ing a blast with ie uy, creating a party atmosphere past midnight and well into the morning. he restaurant fills the neighborhood’s (and city’s) void of quality late-night dining options by staying open until 3:30 a.m. for bythe-slice service on Friday and aturday nights Originally, Frost en isioned a pi a window, ser ing walk-up customers on the sidewalk. Then came the wintry weather, and he felt bad a ing people stand out in the cold. He decided to open up the garage doors and in ite e eryone inside, turning the space into a pizzafueled after-party for Grove bar-hoppers. t that point in the night, Frost and his team stop giving out trophies here’s no need after 1 a , everything is by-the-slice only and pretty easy to anage esides, no one needs a piece of paraphernalia at that hour to know they’re winners. That they’re eating at Pie Guy is proof enough.

Pie Guy Pizza Slice of pepperoni pizza ............................. $5 “Pizza Knotchos” ...................................... $12 Whole cheese pizza (18 inch) .................. $17

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

Peno’s Pepe Kehm Is All About Soul Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

epe Kehm likes to say that he has the restaurant business in his DNA, a trait he traces back to his great-grandmother who immigrated to St. Louis from the Italian region of Calabria in the early 1900s. All ten of her children ended up in either entertainment or the restaurant business, so Kehm believes he was destined for such a life. However, it was the time he spent with his mom that really sealed his fate. “My fondest memories are of being able to cook with my mom,” Kehm recalls. “I was the youngest, so I was always with her. My sisters would set the table and do the dishes, but I was the one always cooking with her. We were making my grandmother’s recipes that weren’t written down — simple Calabrian food.” Though the chef and owner of Peno Soul Food (7600 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton; 314-899-9699) showed an early knack for cooking, his parents were not so keen on him making a career in the grueling restaurant business. It didn’t keep Kehm from working at restaurants while he was growing up, but it made him think twice about them as a career, especially since his other passion, sports, captured most of his attention. Kehm was a standout athlete who showed pro ise on the field However, after sustaining an injury while playing soccer in college, Kehm was forced to face the reality that he needed to find a new path. The restaurant business, it seemed, offered him the best alternative. “It was like The Godfather movie — it kept sucking me back in,” Kehm laughs. Kehm’s big break came when he was waiting at an upscale hotel restaurant called Pepi’s Res-

Prolific restaurateur Pepe Kehm is at home at Peno Soul Food, where he cooks the food of Calabria. | JEN WEST taurant & Bar in Vail, Colorado. Through one of his co-workers, he met a chef from Brittany and begged his way into cooking for him at his restaurant in the north of France. It was an eye-opener for Kehm, who soaked up everything he could learn about cooking and kitchen life both in Brittany and at another restaurant in Paris. Kehm returned to the U.S. a more seasoned cook, this time landing in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he got the opportunity to learn about traditional Tuscanstyle cuisine from an accomplished Italian chef. Now armed with a background in both French and Italian cooking, he left Scottsdale to do some consulting in Chicago, but he admits that personal struggles made it a tough time in his life. “I’ve always been able to see opportunities where I can be useful, but then the chemicals got in the way,” Kehm explains. “I had to get straight, sane and sober to be able to focus on life. This business can suck you under so

quickly — I’ve seen it happen to a lot of people. Luckily, I was able to get my head together and get to a place where I could be here without being loaded.” With a clear head, Kehm returned to St. Louis focused on opening his own businesses. First came Corky’s, a mid-level steakhouse in Dogtown, followed by Spaghetteria Mama Mia and then Felix’s. Though all three restaurants were located in the same neighborhood, running three places at the same time was a difficult underta ing that did not last long. Eventually, Kehm sold Corky’s and Felix’s and lost his lease for Spaghetteria Mama Mia. Though he re-opened the latter in the Grove, it would be short-lived. A determined restaurateur, Kehm opened a restaurant called Arrows on Main Street in St. Charles with the purpose of building it up to sell it. With that success under his belt, he began working with a longtime friend at Michael’s Bar & Grill while he

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sketched out his next move. e’d figure it out as soon as he came upon the vacant storefront that formerly housed the fast-casual pizzeria Pizzino (and before that, Z Pizza) in Clayton’s Wydown neighborhood. Kehm had always been attracted to that part of town because of its neighborhood feel and saw a chance to finally bring to life the restaurant he was meant to open: a soulful homage to the Calabrian cuisine of his roots. That restaurant, Peno, opened in 201 , redefining talian cuisine to a city used to red sauce and Provel. As Kehm explains, Calabria is one of the poorest regions in Italy, a reality that results in its reliance on off-cuts of meat and simple techniques. (Its proximity to the coasts also makes seafood a popular ingredient.) He calls this style of cooking “Italian Soul Food,” meaning simple ingredients and nonashy techniques n reality, however, the restaurant’s heart and soul is the food he cooked with his

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Authentic MexicAn Food, Beer, And MArgAritAs!

2817 cherokee st. st. Louis, Mo 63118 314.762.0691 onco.coM r B L e iA r e u q A .t w w w 36

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PEPE KEHM

Continued from pg 35

mother — and what generations of his family cooked before them — making it his most personal restaurant to date. his place is a re ection of e and my mom, to tell you the truth,” Kehm explains. “This is a personal thing. There are a few dishes from other people, but most of what we do is the traditional stuff we did together — and it’s still true to what they do in Calabria. It’s not made up. It’s real.” Kehm took a break from the kitchen to share his thoughts on the St. Louis restaurant scene, the one ingredient you’ll ne er find in his kitchen and why he would still choose his mom’s food over just about anything. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? That I am compassionate and caring. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Some form of meditation. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I’d be Spaghettipepe and wield the power of good carbs. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? National media attention. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? Less press nepotism. Who is your St. Louis food crush? The wings from Michael’s Bar & Grill. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? Mike Risk of the Clover and the Bee. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? Agrodolce — sweet and sour. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? usic or fil Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. ottled tru e oil What is your after-work hangout? At home with my animals. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? San Pellegrino grapefruit and nutty bars. What would be your last meal on earth? Any dish my mom cooks. n

Melanie Meyer (the Tiny Chef) and Chris Ward (of Party Bear Pizza) are bringing their food to the Silver Ballroom. | COREY WOODRUFF

[FOOD NEWS]

Food Concept Comes to Pinball Bar Written by

SARAH FENSKE

hris Ward loves pizza. Melanie Meyer loves cooking. And they both love pinball. So what could be better than a venture that combines all three? The couple recently announced that they’ll be launching food service at beloved Bevo Mill pinball bar the Silver Ballroom (4701 Morganford Road, 314-832-9223). Their business, a food window embedded within the bar, will run under the name Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef and offer everything from frozen pizza to-go to Meyer’s orean in ected bowls, tacos and other street-food offerings. Meyer (dubbed “the Tiny Chef” by former boss Ben Welch) has experience at a number of restaurants in town, including LuLu’s Local Eatery and the Restaurant at the Cheshire. She’ll take the

lead in the kitchen. Ward, a KDHX DJ and former journalist, is keeping his day job in marketing and will be chie y responsibility for the pizza end of the operation. As Ward explains it, he’s long dreamt of launching a pizza concept. He began working at his parents’ Illinois restaurant, Pizza Unlimited, at thirteen, and later did stints at Monte Bello Pizza in Lemay and Felix Pizza Pub in Dogtown. But it wasn’t until he acquired a party bear that he got serious about building a pizza empire of his own. The bear (that’s the furry fellow in the photo above) was being sold on Craigslist. Ward’s friend Kris stumbled onto the ad, and Ward was endlessly amused (“It said, ‘Party Bear for sale,’ just assuming that everyone needed a party bear,” he says). Ward originally set up a GoFundMe to buy the bear as a joke, but when it raised more money than he’d even asked for, he ended up buying the bear and using the cash to throw a party. Mascot in place, Party Bear Pizza took off from there. Even so, it took extensive testing to determine he had a viable concept for St. Louis, Ward admits, due to one uncomfortable truth. “I don’t like Provel,” he says. “I just don’t like it. I believe Provel is murder.” Would St. Louis diners go for a pizza without the processed cheese-like product? Turns

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“I don’t like Provel. I just don’t like it. I believe Provel is murder.” out, the answer was yes. “I believe in these now,” he says. “I got enough outside feedback that I can say, ‘OK, these are pretty damn good.’” n He never had any doubts about Meyer’s abilities. “I know pizza; she knows all things,” he says. Born in South Korea before being adopted by a Missouri family, the accomplished chef loved the idea of serving bowls of bibimbap and other Korean offerings. A couple in life as well as business, Ward and Meyer saw a need for more good Asian food on the south side. “We really want to cater to the Bevo neighborhood and the Ballroom crowd,” Ward says, adding that both are regulars there. “Those are our friends and family.” The couple offered limited food service at the bar’s ninth anniversary last weekend and will launch the full menu with regular hours at some point this month. n

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Classic dishes at Cocina Latina include lomo saltado. | CHELSEA NEULING

[FIRST LOOK]

CWE Gets a Taste of Peru Written by

CHELSEA NEULING

ocina Latina (508 N Euclid Avenue, 314-696-2294) opened in late February in the former location of Silk Road Chinese, right next to Evangeline’s. The Latin restaurant specializes in Peruvian, Cuban and Colombian cuisine. Owner Maritza Rios was born in Peru and moved to New York at seventeen. She moved to the St. Louis area eighteen years ago and opened her first restaurant in Jefferson County, a place called El Paisano. But after a bad car accident left her in the hospital for an extended period of time, she sold the place. (Another location is still open under new ownership in south city.) But it was a different hospital stay that led to Rios’ new restaurant. In 2005, Rios’ father underwent major surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. She visited him frequently, and after spending so much time in the surrounding neighborhood, the Central West End started to remind her of the East Coast. “Everyone is always out and about, walking their dogs or pushing strollers,” says Rios. It was then she realized how much she wanted to open a restaurant in the place that felt like home. Luckily for her, the Central West End has proven not just walkable, but welcoming. Rios says she’s been surprised by how friendly and supportive everyone

has been to her in this new chapter of her life. She has received welcome cards and even flower arrangements from her neighbors. And the restaurant has proven to be such a hit that, so far, it sells out of most things every night. Rios is excited to bring a taste of Latin America to the community. The menu features items ranging from $10 to $16. Diners can indulge in appetizers such as ceviche and tamal de pollo, a Peruvianstyle chicken tamale. Or they can choose from main courses such as the lomo saltado, polla a la brasa, or fajitas with your choice of chicken, steak, shrimp or vegetarian. Desserts include a classic flan and pionono, a soft sponge cake filled with dulce de leche. There’s also a full bar, with a variety of specialty drinks, including both margaritas and Peru’s signature cocktail, the pisco sour. The restaurant is bright and colorful with natural light, white tablecloths and beautiful art. Local artist Jose Gomez (a native of Honduras) not only created the masterpieces on the walls but also upholstered the booths throughout the restaurant. In opening a restaurant again, Rios is relying on the skills she learned during years in the industry. When she wanted to quit a very difficult restaurant job back in New York, one of her co-workers told her that if she could get through that job, and learn all that she could, she could work anywhere in the world. “I still think of him to this day,” says Rios. “Back then, I never thought I would open my own restaurant. Life puts us on a path for a reason.” Cocina Latina is open from 11 a.m to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday. n

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CULTURE

[HOMESPUN]

Worth the Wait Instrumental post-rock quartet MotherFather’s debut album proves itself worthy of its long gestation Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

he cobbler’s children often have no shoes, as the adage goes. For the local instrumental quartet MotherFather, that proverb helps explain why its debut album took seven years to be released despite the fact that the group has almost unfettered access to a top ight recording studio. Bassist Brian Scheffer and guitarist Nelson Jones are co-owners of Firebrand Studio, where they record and engineer albums for a bevy of local and national bands including Skin Tags, Little Big Bangs and Smile Empty Soul. But owning a studio is as much a business as it is an artistic endeavor, so MotherFather’s members had to wait while the studio’s daily operations (and the demands of adulthood) took over. “That was part of the insane timeline for this record. We started it a long time ago,” says Scheffer, who is not a founding member of the band but took over bass duties a few years ago and assisted with recording throughout. “Those guys started playing in 2011 and we started laying the groundwork for the album in 2012. Nelson lived in L.A. for a while and everyone in the band but me has had multiple children, so we were hanging it up for a while.” Recently, however, the clouds parted and the quartet had time to finish the albu , which was released in February. The selftitled debut is a pristine-sounding document of the band’s post-rock inclinations, where Jones’ and Eli Hindman’s guitars duel in melodic

Brian Scheffer, on bass, says MotherFather’s constant access to his studio was both a blessing and a curse. | COREY WOODRUFF and textural counterpoint through songs that can recall math-rock intricacies as easily as the swelling grandeur of Explosions in the Sky. Behind the guitars, Scheffer and drummer Tim Hardy lock in to corral the shifting tides of the songs. Scheffer cites bands like Mogwai and Russian Circles as a commonality among the members, and as a recording engineer he personally holds Steve Albini’s work, both as a producer and member of Shellac, in high esteem. Post-rock, for as dodgy as the term can be, is still the easiest way to describe the landscape-like compositions MotherFather creates. “It’s probably the best, most apt description,” Scheffer says of postrock. “I think because it is kind of a niche thing, embracing that has helped us find our way into so e things we wouldn’t have otherwise.” Like most genres, post-rock is a slippery one to nail down, but MotherFather’s mix of traditional rock & roll instrumentation and tonality gets fine tuned in this setting, especially with the absence of vocals. Dynamic shifts can feel seismic while structural move-

ments are often glacial; everything feels heightened, dosed with drama and in search of some cosmic payoff. “There’s a lot more construction that has to go into something like this,” Scheffer says. “A lot of the songs are pretty simple when you break it down; literally, one song on the record is the same chord progression fro start to finish, but it’s all the little nuance that we try to work on a lot. You end up playing it fi e different ways, or accenting something a different way with different dynamics.” Sometimes that repetition is the point, Scheffer says. “The song ‘Kingdom’ on the record, that intro is very repetitive, but it’s sort of a payoff for the build of the heavy part,” he notes. “We intentionally want to lull people into a point where they look at their watch and say, ‘When are we gonna get to the next part?’ It’s kind of the bait and switch.” On a song like “Creep,” which closes out the record, the band spends nearly ten minutes on a circular chord progression, one that isn’t particularly inventive or boundary-breaking in its voic-

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ing or construction. But over time the cumulative effect of the song’s slow crescendo — dotted with the requisite rock moves of distortion and increasingly urried dru fills and less typical accents, li e a keening harmonica — takes on the form of a mantra. “We are a pretty loud band, and I think sonics is important in a band like this too,” Scheffer says. “That’s something that we strive for; making sure that we’re dialed in and finding the sounds that we like.” Of course, finding that right sound is a luxury you have when you own a studio and have access to closets full of gear. But as MotherFather prepares to play more local shows (including sets on Saturday, April 13, at Foam and Sunday, April 14, at the Firebird), Scheffer is glad to have the record out in the world after a long gestation. t’s hard to be finished, he says sually a pro ect is finished when you run out of time or money. That contributes to the insane timeline: When we’re in here with no deadline and no pressure to finish anything, it’s easier to want to keep tinkering away.” n

APRIL 3-9, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[PROFILE]

Blood Draw Lauren Gornik’s brilliant and brutal illustrations have made her a go-to artist in the metal community Written by

DANIEL HILL

am Margera has never looked more terrifying. His eyes wild, the Jackass star is depicted with a mane and hulking paws, the bigcat component of a three-headed monster. His parents make up the creature’s other two heads — Phil Margera horned and scaly, with wife April sporting horns of her own and a furry beard under her chin. Naturally, the piece is titled “Bam Chimera.” Phil is a dragon head, Bam is a lion and April is a goat, and they’re all chasing down Bam’s disgraced uncle, Don Vito, clad in a polo shirt and shorts, running in fear. Best of all, it is printed on a skateboard deck — the most appropriate medium imaginable. The piece is the work of local artist Lauren Gornik, one of 50 decks on display at the SuperDuper Radical Totally Awesome Skate Deck Show March 30 at 4 Hands Brewing Company. Gornik was joined by 49 other local artists including Peat Wollaeger, Shannon Knox, Piper Williamson, Jon Strode, Stan Chisholm and Ashley Hohman for the event, which was spearheaded by Bryan Walsh and Killer Napkins artist Jason Spencer. The Jackass theme is a new one for Gornik, whose pen-and-ink illustrations have made her a go-to for album and T-shirt art in the metal community in recent years. “I wanted to do something tongue-in-cheek, even though originally they were probably expecting me to do something that’s a little more metal,” says Gornik, 26. “But I kind of wanted to do a throwback to Bam Margera, do something goofy like that. I was coming up with all these puns and I had all these goofy ideas. nd then finally landed on a Chimera.” It’s not exactly not metal — it is a horrifying monster, after all.

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Gatecreeper and Savage Master are just two of the acts that have tapped Lauren Gornik for art. | COURTESY OF LAUREN GORNIK ut it is definitely a departure from the usual darkness and brutality of Gornik’s work with bands across the country. In a piece for the New Yorkbased blackened death metal band Ordeals, for example, a fallen angel depicted as a skeleton with wings descends on a crying nun who is clutching a rosary. She’s surrounded by six other skeletons, all clad in habits. It seems clear that things are about to go very south for the sister, and a group of four additional skeletons mark the dark occasion with trumpets. Or there’s the piece for the Columbia, Missouri-based act Acid Leather, in which a group of women clad in leather jackets and fishnets surround a an in an alley. One of the ladies is strangling the unfortunate gentleman with a chain while the others — armed with knives, bats and broken bottles — look on, quite pleased. What’s most striking about Gornik’s work is her attention to detail. Each line is painstakingly deliberate, and her laborintensive pen-and-ink style has brought her work with bands from St. Louis and beyond, including locals Thorhammer, Lightning Wolf, Separer, Hell Night, Tyranny Enthroned, Gestalt and Tropical Storm!, as well as national acts including Savage aster, e rofilth, atecreeper and Deceased. She even did a

APRIL 3-9, 2019

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Lauren Gornik. | JC VOGT cover illustration for RFT’s 2015 feature on St. Louis’ local metal scene. Gornik initially got interested in metal in Chicago, where she grew up and performed as a musician herself. “I’ve always been really heavily involved in metal. I used to play music years ago,” Gornik explains. “I kind of left that by the

wayside to focus on doing more artwork and focusing on my career. But I just knew so many people in the metal community up in Chicago, and over time I started meeting more people all throughout the country through fests, or I book shows sometimes. I just get to know so many people, they all see my artwork and word of mouth pretty much spread.” Gornik knew since graduating high school that she wanted to make a career out of her illustrations. During her time at Northern Illinois University she picked up constant freelance work to make connections and hone her craft. She initially was considering a career in scientific illustration, but a relationship brought her to St. Louis, where she quickly landed a job as an illustrator for R&R Enterprises, a racing apparel company based in Valley Park. “I never had an interest in racing before that,” she admits,” but now I’m kind of enthralled with all of it. There’s a lot of characters.” The relationship that brought her to town ultimately didn’t pan out, but with a good job and a steady stream of illustration work from the thriving local metal community, Gornik has come to think of the River City as home. “I like St. Louis,” she says. “I thought about moving back to Chicago a couple times, but I’ve become really acclimated to things down here, and I like it. So who knows? I think I might stay.” n

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[PREVIEW]

All Trades Omnipresent St. Louis drummer Grover Stewart tries his hand at vocals on new project with Andrew Stephen Written by

THOMAS CRONE

ndrew Stephen, 32, sits inside of Eightfold Studios, a tidy, everything-in-its-place facility located inside the converted attic of his Dogtown home. For the past several years, it is here that the keyboardist has produced, recorded and written alongside a host of St. Louis musicians. One such artist, Grover Stewart, 39, is warming up on the house drum kit in a neighboring room, preparing to lay down tracks for the pair’s second collaboration, a song co-written by Justin Barksdale called “I Can’t Wait for Your Love.” This Sunday afternoon session will also include a round of vocal takes by Stewart — a relatively new development for a man who has made his bones as a drummer around town, one capable of playing every style of music. He’s spent time gigging with a range of groups including Hip Grease, the Service, Brothers Lazaroff, Superhero Killer and multiple projects with Mo Egeston and Lamar Harris. The fact that he plays in so many groups on a regular basis, in fact, is a large part of why he and Stephen have been moving at a relaxed pace on the songs that Stewart had initially en isioned as his first solo album. Instead of putting them out in a batch, the pair are following Stephen’s recent path of releasing one song at a time, with an accompanying video, every so often. It’s an approach that tephen says fits into a recent trend he’s noticed: People are releasing smaller snippets of music. “You’re seeing it in something li e et i , tephen says, which has more of the subscription model. It provides you ongoing content to entertainment artists that you like. Why can’t music do something of the same thing?” With his own work, dubbed Sample Kulture, Stephen has been releasing collab- and coverheavy material every two or three

Andrew Stephen, Grover Stewart and Lamar Harris recorded at Stephen’s Eightfold Studios. | VIA THE ARTIST months, each time presented under the umbrella of an album series. “It’s a great opportunity to master the craft of continuous content,” he says. “It’ll keep people engaged and give us a continuous relationship” to an audience. Earlier this year, in fact, RFT’s Christian Schaeffer took note of Stephen’s take on the yacht-rock favorite “Summer Breeze,” recorded to feature the vocals of his personal and frequent musical partner Chrissy Renick. It’s that song that helped cement the emerging relationship with Stewart. The latter, who’d been looking for a songwriting/production partner for several years, had already been tipped to Stephen’s work by his frequent rhythm section partner, Theodore “Teddy” Brookins, who insisted that the pair would be a perfect fit Once that personal recommendation was matched to Stewart’s love of the “Summer Breeze” project, interest was more than piqued. “I stalked him,” Stewart laughs. “We actually played one gig together, with the Brothers Lazaroff. We were going through a transition in keyboard players and Nate Carpenter was deciding if he’d stay or go. Andrew came in and I thought, ‘Yeah, he can throw down.’ But I play so many freakin’ gigs that I don’t even really remember that one. To make a long story short, I’d been searching for this, yearning for this connection.” Stewart already had material, he says, and had been looking for a producer for a long time. hen ’d find so ebody, so e-

thing would always fall through,” he explains. “It’s always about time and season. And it just wasn’t ready yet. When I asked Teddy if he knew anyone who’d done house production, he said, ‘Dude, you need to talk to Andrew.’ Seeing ‘Summer Breeze,’ I had a conniption fit his is exactly what I’d wanted to do.” The project, as noted, wouldn’t only feature Stewart as a drummer. His vocals are going to be prominent on the material, and he says things have been going well on that front. The pair recently co pleted their first song together, called “I’ve Grown.” Aside from the two songwriters, the only person to have contributed to the cut was horn player Lamar Harris, who added trombone and ugelhorn When they cued up the basic tracks for Harris and noted that it was Stewart singing, Harris’ reaction was a mix of surprise and pleasure. “The reaction to my vocals has been really healthy so far,” Stewart says. “The process has been absolutely phenomenal; it was meant to happen. Every session has allowed me to grow and mature and allow me to look at these different places in myself. ‘Are you ready to sing this eah you are ’ ou find individuals that help you strengthen your skills. I think I have a decent voice, but can I push it? He’ll let me know that I can push, can reach for that note. All that’s really helping my creativity.” “I get a lot of people through here who say, ‘Oh, I’m a closet singer, let’s make a record,’” Stephen adds. “Some of them make

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you grin, some not so much. That’s when you’re busting out the Autotune, beknownst or unbeknownst to them. But if Grover wanted to, he could have a singing career. It’s as if, had he spent all of his time on voice instead of the drums, he’d definitely be nown as a ocalist. He’s been around music his whole life and has a great voice for this type of music.” Which, as Stewart describes it, is “good, old-fashioned dance music.” With an ability to run wild in the studio, Stephen says that “I’ve Grown” features somewhere around 90 tracks. “There’s a lot of ear candy there,” he notes. The song has been mastered with Brad Sarno, and the next step is a video release with Stephen behind the lens. Both audio and video forms are set to be released within April. In the meantime, Stewart’s still going to be working a day job as an HR manager while seeking to finish up his college degree in the same discipline. And, as always, he’ll be found around town behind the kit, performing with a slew of local acts. And every so often, on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, he’ll tuck away inside of Eightfold, bringing another aspect of himself to life. “I’m following in this guy’s footsteps,” he says, slapping Stephen’s shoulder t first, the e cite ent was about doing an album, but seeing what he’s been doing has allowed me to get excited about releasing this house music, with audio and video, one idea at a time. I’m getting well educated in the process; he’s got a lot of knowledge, man. It’s been a very humbling experience.” n

APRIL 3-9, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Mitski. | BAO NGO

Mitski 8 p.m. Sunday, April 7. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard. $20 to $22. 314-726-6161. Mitski starts her latest album, Be the Cowboy, with the stirring, swelling “Geyser,” the title itself giving away the overflow of emotion and devotion in her lyrics. But the opening track is as much about control as it is about opulence — Mitski Miyawaki surrounds her voice with orchestral flourishes but her

THURSDAY 4

ALEX CUNNINGHAM: w/ Rob Noyes, Jon Collin, Lake Mary Ensemble 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. AMERICAN ARSON: w/ The Reckless Moment, Darling Skye, The Shaved Cat Project, Pirates Inc 7 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. BON IVER: 8 p.m., $35.50-$95. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. HARD HITTING HEROES: 7:30 p.m., $8-$10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. JACK GRELLE & RYAN KOENIG: 7 p.m., $15. Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave, St. Louis. LAURA JANE GRACE: w/ Mercy Union, Control Top 7 p.m., $22-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. PETER BRADLEY ADAMS: 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. TRACER: 7:30 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550.

FRIDAY 5

ANNIE & THE FUR TRAPPERS: 9 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. ASHES AND IRON: w/ Wet Tropics, Flourescent 7:30 p.m., $7-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. BLAC RABBIT & GASLIGHT STUDIO ARTISTS: 8

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APRIL 3-9, 2019

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performance never flinches. The rest of the album settles more comfortably into a mish-mash of bright pop styles — the piano-pomp of “Me and My Husband” and electro burbles of “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?” — but Mitksi never cedes the spotlight from the entrancing effect of her vocals. Som-nambulism: Jay Som, the ethereal dream-pop project of Melina Mae Duterte, opens the show. —Christian Schaeffer

p.m., $10-$13. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. BONEY GOAT BAND: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. BRENT COWLES: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. THE CATAPULTS: 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. DEADTONGUES: 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE GROOVELINER: 8 p.m., $15. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. HIKES: w/ Jr. Clooney, Pono AM, 18andCounting & TheOnlyEnsemble, Ryan Wasoba’s 19 Second Songs 8 p.m., $7-$10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. JESSE GANNON: 9:30 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. MAKARI: w/ Malibu, My Remedy, The Centaurettes, Goaltender 7 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. OKILLY DOKILLY: w/ Playboy Manbaby 7 p.m., $14-$15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. RHETT & LINK: 8 p.m., $32-$72. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. THE SCANDALEROS: 8 p.m., $5. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. THREE MERRY WIDOWS: 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

Continued on pg 47

SATURDAY 6

ACOUSTIK ELEMENT: 11 a.m., free. Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, 314-577-9400. ALL ROOSTERED UP: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. BIG BAMOU: 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. BRONZE RADIO RETURN: 8 p.m., $13-$15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. BUD SUMMERS: 7:30 p.m., $12-$15. Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway, Alton, 618-462-5222. BUDDY MONDOCK: 8 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. COATHANGERS: 8 p.m., $12-$14. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. DAN RUBRIGHT & FRIENDS: 11 a.m., $12. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. FATALLY YOURS: A TRIBUTE TO ALKALINE TRIO: w/ Anxious Mo-Fo (Minutemen/Firehose Tribute), Brasky (The Lawrence Arms Tribute) 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. GHOST TOWN REMEDY: w/ Shots Fired, The Studs, Half Gallen, Doctor Offbrand 7:30 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. IRINA KULIKOVA: 8 p.m., $24-$28. Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd, Richmond Heights, 314-991-0955. JOE METZKA BAND: 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. LATE NIGHT GROOVES: 10 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. LO-FI CHEROKEE AFTER PARTY: w/ Nick Gusman, Sister Wizzard, Mother Stutter, Janet Evra, Soufside Jerei, Sorry, Scout 9 p.m., $7. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. MOM JEANS: 8 p.m., $15-$17. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. ONE WAY TRAFFIC: 9 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. RANDY RAINBOW: 8 p.m., $39.75. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. SHIVER: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. THREE PEDROS: 8 p.m., $5. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. TOBY FOYEH AND ORCHESTRA AFRICA: 8 p.m., $20. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. WILD BELLE: 8 p.m., $15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

SUNDAY 7

AARON GRIFFEN BAND: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. ACOUSTIK ELEMENT: 11 a.m., free. Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway, Alton, 618-462-5222. ANITA JACKSON: 11:30 a.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. DELTA SLEEP: w/ Gleemer, Bogues 7 p.m., TBA. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. KEN BAKER: 2 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. KIM MASSIE: 8 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. MAGGIE ROGERS: 8 p.m., $29.50-$32.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. MITSKI: 8 p.m., $20-$22. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ROBERT EARL KEEN: 8 p.m., $30-$45. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. WEBSTER UNIVERSITY PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE OK: 7 p.m., $5. Webster University Community Music School, 535 Garden Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-5939. WYNONNA & THE BIG NOISE: 7:30 p.m., $28-$65. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777. YOUNG ANIMALS: w/ Young Animals, Bernie & the Wolf, Lightrider, Sunsulking 8 p.m., $5. Foam,

3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

MONDAY 8

BOY HARSHER: w/ Special Interest 8 p.m., $10$13. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. KEITH BOWMAN QUARTET: 7 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $5. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. TATSUYA NAKATANI + ASSIF TSAHAR: w/ Fcuk Lungs, NNN Cook + JoAnn McNeil 8 p.m., $7-$10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. UADA: w/ Wormwitch 8 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TUESDAY 9

ANDREA GIBSON: 8 p.m., $18-$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. BIG MIKE & BLUES CITY ALL STARS: 7 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. CRAIG BROWN BAND: w/ Brainpal, The Donald Woodyard Inc. 7 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. MANDOLIN ORANGE: 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. SAVING ABEL: w/ Armenta, Mental Fixation, Karma Dealer 7 p.m., $18. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. STEVEN WOOLEY: 9 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. WE THREE: 7 p.m., $25-$50. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

WEDNESDAY 10

GHOST LIGHT: 8 p.m., $12-$14. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. HED PE: 7 p.m., $17. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. NOSFERAT II: w/ Shitstorm, Maximum Effort 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SUSTO: 8 p.m., $18.50-$20. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. VOODOO PLAYERS TRIBUTE TO ABBEY RD.: 9:45 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THIS JUST IN AARON GRIFFEN BAND: Sun., April 7, 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. AL HOLLIDAY & THE EAST SIDE RHYTHM BAND: Sat., May 11, 8 p.m., $12-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. AMOS LEE: W/ Madison Cunningham, Thu., Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m., $59.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ANDREW BELLE: Sun., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., $17. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. BIG MIKE: Sun., April 14, 3 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. BOOMBOX: Wed., May 1, 9 p.m., $15-$18. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG: Fri., April 12, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. BRANDI CARLILE: Sun., Aug. 11, 7:30 p.m., $45$88. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-534-1111. BRIAN SETZERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ROCKABILLY RIOT: Tue., Aug. 20, 7:30 p.m., $27.50. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777. BUD SUMMERS: Sat., April 6, 7:30 p.m., $12-$15. Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway, Alton, 618-462-5222. THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS: Thu., May 23, 8 p.m., $15-$18. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. CARLY RAE JEPSEN: Sat., July 6, 8 p.m., $36$38.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. CINCO AFTER PARTY: W/ Glued, Jr. Clooney,

Continued on pg 49

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Okilly Dokilly. | VIA ADRENALINE PR

Okilly Dokilly 7 p.m. Friday, April 5. Fubar, 3108 Locust Street. $14 to $15. 314-289-9050. Described by vocalist Head Ned as “not as fast as Bartcore and a little cleaner then Krusty punk” (referencing hardcore and crust-punk, respectively), Arizona “Nedal” act Okilly Dokilly basks in its status as a gimmick band. And with the March release of Howdilly Twodilly, the band’s second full-length, the Flandersinspired group has only doubled down. Shred Ned, Zed Ned, Dread Ned and Bed Ned power through metal-tinged punk

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 47 Boreal Hills, Sat., May 4, 10:06 p.m., $3. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. CONSTANT STRANGER: W/ Bo and the Locomotive, Le’Ponds, Thu., May 2, 8 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. THE CONVALESCENCE: Mon., May 27, 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. CRAIG BROWN BAND: W/ Brainpal, The Donald Woodyard Inc., Tue., April 9, 7 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. CUCO: Sat., June 29, 8 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. DANCE FLOOR RIOT 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY: Sat., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. DIESEL ISLAND: Sun., April 28, 1 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. DIRTY MONEY: Sat., April 13, 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. DREADNOUGHT: Sat., July 6, 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. ERIC PREWITT: Sat., April 27, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. ERIKA WENNERSTROM: Thu., June 27, 8 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. ERIN BODE: Fri., May 17, 8:30 p.m., $20-$25. Sat., May 18, 7 p.m., $20-$25. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-935-7003. FAMOUS LAST WORDS: W/ Dayshell, Awake at Last, At My Mercy, Tue., May 28, 6:30 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE FUNS: Mon., July 8, 9 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. GOGOL BORDELLO: Sat., June 8, 8 p.m., $30$32.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

songs while Head Ned drops deep-cut Simpsons references (purple drapes, Cidertown, negative Nellies in Sector 2), delivering lyrics in a guttural growl. It’s dumb, sure, but it’s the best kind of dumb: the kind to which its adherents have commited fully and completely. Let the Hooks Do Their Work: If you can listen to the chorus of the album’s first single, “Reneducation,” without nodding your head to its infectious beat, you’re probably due for a nice glass of warm milk, a little nap and a total frontal lobotomy. —Daniel Hill HAYLEY AND THE CRUSHERS: W/ the Kuhlies, Sewer Urchin, Tue., April 30, 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. HOWE GELB: Sun., June 16, 8 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. HUMAN MONSTER: Tue., April 23, 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. INDOOR CREATURE: W/ Frankie Valet, Star Belly, Big Step, Mon., April 29, 9 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. IRINA KULIKOVA: Sat., April 6, 8 p.m., $24-$28. Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd, Richmond Heights, 314-991-0955. JIMMY & THE CHETS: Sat., April 20, 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. JOE METZKA BAND: Sat., April 6, 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. JUSTIN RA: W/ the Lizard Tones, Sat., May 18, 9 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. KATIE TOUPIN: Sun., June 9, 8 p.m., $12-$14. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. KEN BAKER: Sun., April 7, 2 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. KIM MASSIE: Sun., April 7, 8 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. LISA JONES: Sun., April 28, 3 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314241-7867. THE LIZARDTONES: W/ the Slow Boys, the Ragstripes, Sun., April 28, 8 p.m., $5. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. LO-FI CHEROKEE AFTER PARTY: W/ Nick Gusman, Sister Wizzard, Mother Stutter, Janet Evra, Soufside Jerei, Sorry, Scout, Sat., April 6, 9 p.m., $7. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. MADAHOOCHI: Fri., June 14, 8 p.m., $15-$20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Mandolin Orange. | KENDALL BAILEY

“Loss has no end,” sings Andrew Marlin on the luminous opening track of Mandolin Orange’s newly released sixth album Tides of a Teardrop. “It binds to our connection.” Like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings before them, Marlin and partner-in-harmony Emily Frantz make deceptively simple acoustic music, rooted in guitars, fiddles and mandolins, but look out for the gently rhythmic drums, eerie organs and flickering electric guitars. The

soundscapes are part of their stories. Loss is inseparable from consolation, you can’t have one without the other, and the release the songs of Mandolin Orange find in melodies and memories is as bracing and satisfying as contemporary folk music gets. North Country Blues: Musically, Duluth, Minnesota, will forever be associated with one Robert Zimmerman, but make some room for Charlie Parr, a folk-blues guitarist in the lineage of John Fahey and Dave Van Ronk, and a riveting solo performer. He opens this night; don’t miss him. —Roy Kasten

THE MATCHING SHOE: Fri., May 17, 8 p.m., $10. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314588-0505. MATHIAS & THE PIRATES: W/ Sharon Hazel Township, Luscious Filling, Fri., April 19, 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. MXMS: Tue., April 16, 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. NOSFERAT II: W/ Shitstorm, Maximum Effort, Wed., April 10, 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. OCEANO: W/ Oceano, Angelmaker, Prison, Cambion, Wed., May 29, 6:30 p.m., $16-$19. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. OLD SALT MUSIC: Fri., April 26, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. OVERSLEPT: W/ The Reckless Moment, I Am Dancer, Self Similarity, Thu., April 18, 7 p.m., $8-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. PAUL BYROM: Tue., May 7, 7:30 p.m., $35-$50. Gaslight Theater, 358 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis. PINK NEIGHBOR: W/ Nap Time, Ashley Byrne, Wed., April 17, 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. POWER PLAY: Fri., April 12, 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. REPTALIENS: W/ Holy Posers, Fri., May 17, 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. SCRAMBLED: Fri., April 19, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. SENSUAL SUNDAZE: Sun., April 28, 3 p.m., $10. State Street Market, 208 State St., Alton,

618-462-8800. SHAMBA BOM: Sat., April 20, 8 p.m., $5. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. SOULARD BLUES BAND: Mon., April 8, 9 p.m., $5. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE: Thu., May 23, 9 p.m., $10-$13. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. THE SPRING MUSIC FESTIVAL: W/ Jaheim, Monica, Tank, Avant, Donell Jones, Sat., May 11, 8 p.m., $59-$99. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000. STEVEN WOOLEY: Tue., April 9, 9 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. THE STUDIO SHOWCASE: Sat., June 8, 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION: Wed., May 22, 7 p.m., $18. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE O’JAYS: W/ Stephanie Mills, Sat., June 15, 8 p.m., $46-$129.50. The Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314-534-1111. THE TROPHY MULES: Sat., April 13, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. UNDER THE SEA GLOW PARTY: Sat., April 27, 9 p.m., $13. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-621-6900. VOODOO PLAYERS TRIBUTE TO ABBEY RD.: Wed., April 10, 9:45 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. WE ARE THE ASTEROID: W/ the Conformists, Kilverez, Mon., May 20, 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE WIRMS: W/ Musclegoose, Skin Tags, Big Whoop, Sat., May 11, 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. n

Mandolin Orange 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 9. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard. $21 to $26. 314-726-6161.

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APRIL 3-9, 2019

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SAVAGE LOVE PARTS AND PARTING BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m an adult man, and I have developed a trans attraction after following a particular Tumblr blog. That blog is now gone, sadly, since all adult content has been purged from Tumblr. It wasn’t just porn; it consisted of all the things I really enjoy — images of oil paintings and antique furniture, scenic landscapes, wild animals, and then pictures/gifs of trans women. Some women appeared to have had top surgery while others didn’t. But all of the women featured on this blog had penises. I had never considered a relationship with a trans woman before, but after browsing the blog for a year, I can honestly say I’d do it in a heartbeat. I would actually like to date a non-op trans woman. I know that many trans women don’t like having their male parts touched or acknowledged, but I didn’t know that a trans woman can only have a functioning penis if she isn’t taking female hormones, and I hadn’t considered the effect that might have on somebody’s gender dysphoria. How can I meet a trans woman who is hopefully comfortable with her male parts and seeking a relationship? I live in a conservative Bible Belt state — Utah — and I am woefully uneducated on this subject. Girl’s Heart, Man’s Parts “My penis and balls aren’t ‘man’s parts,’” said Bailey Jay, the threetime AVN Award–winning transsexual porn star. “They’re mine. I own them. Not some random man.” In fairness, GHMP, you acknowledge being woefully uneducated on trans issues, something your letter demonstrated again and again. But let’s start here: A trans woman doesn’t have boy parts. She has girl parts — unique girl parts, as girl parts go, but girl parts just the same. “I’m on hormones and my cock works great,” said Jay. “Every trans woman is going to be different and have different experiences, and that’s the best first bit of advice I can give GHMP. We can smell it a mile away when we are all being lumped in together as a

concept. Treat any trans woman you’re romantically interested in as an individual.” s for places to find trans individuals who might be up for dating cis men, well, you might want to sit down, GHMP, as this is pretty shocking. “I’ve heard OkCupid is inclusive, and I have friends on there whose profiles e en help people navigate discussing their bodies in a respectful way,” said Jay. “And finding a trans wo an to date who hasn’t undergone bottom surgery is pretty easy. The surgery is expensive and even scary to some. It’s not terribly common that a trans woman has had that particular surgery.” But just because a trans woman hasn’t had bottom surgery doesn’t mean she doesn’t want bottom surgery, so you shouldn’t assume a trans woman with a penis plans to always keep her penis. “The real question is what her relationship is with her current genitals,” said Jay. “Maybe she’s very dysphoric about them. Maybe she doesn’t even want you to see them or touch them. Even if her body is your preference, there’s a chance it isn’t hers. I personally love my penis and even like talking about it. But bringing up genitals right away can make you seem insensitive or like you’re dehumanizing your date.” Jay recommends looking for trans women on mainstream dating apps and then following their lead. “Now, genitals and curt sexual dialogue are kind of my jam,” said ay, so wouldn’t e en inch or blush. But this can be a very charged subject for people.” oo to the profiles of trans women you’re interested in for cues about their approach to personal subjects. One woman might put it all out there and welcome questions about her experiences as a trans woman; another woman might be open about being trans but prefer not to focus on it. “Still, never use genital questions as an icebreaker,” said Jay. “You’ll know when your evening with someone is going well enough that there’s a certain amount of trust,” and at that point, you may be able to bring it up. “And please make sure to talk about both of your bodies,” added Jay. “This isn’t all about if her

Even if her body is your preference, there’s a chance it isn’t hers. body is right for you. Make sure your body meets her standards and preferences, too. I always joke that cis men should have to disclose as well. Any expectation you find yourself putting on her, split the responsibility.” ou can find ailey ay at her for-adults-only website TS-BaileyJay.com. Hey, Dan: I’m a 36-year-old trans man in Portland, Oregon, and I’ve never been to a gay bar/venue while presenting male. I’ve only been once or twice years ago when straight friends went to watch drag shows and used the gays as entertainment. (Yeah, my old life was CIS HET as all fuck.) I have two questions: (1) I’ve heard a lot of stories about “gold star” gays who shame trans men and blacklist us. Any truth to that? Am I welcome in a gay space? (2) As someone who’s never dated/hooked up within the gay male culture, any newbie tips? As for what I’m looking for, it’s really just about feeling validated and comfortable being in a men’s space. Sure, I’m horny as hell and would love nights full of hot anal sex, LOL, but I’m cool just starting with finding my swagger. I have no idea how my personality will develop around other guys. I have a puppy side, a pain-slut side, and a sadistic-top side — and I’m super-curious about exploring all my sides! The Deep End 1. You are welcome in gay spaces — of course — but there are assholes in gay spaces just as there are assholes in every other kind of space. There may be fewer assholes as a percentage in gay spaces (untested hypothesis!), TDE, but that doesn’t make gay assholery any less aggravating. And, yes, there are gay men out there who don’t want to sleep with trans men. But there are gay men out there who don’t want to sleep with tall men, short men, masculine men, femme men, big men, small

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men, vanilla men, kinky men, and — yes — even cis men. Focusing on the guys who don’t want to fuck you — whether they’ve never slept with a woman (gold star) or just slept with a woman (homoe ible is a waste of ti e and energy. Focus on the guys who do want to fuck you. And they’re out there. 2. All things in moderation (including moderation), don’t fuck around with meth (or with guys who do), get on PrEP (to protect yourself from HIV), use condoms (to protect yourself from everything else), tip your bartenders, ask before you touch, and don’t make the bars your whole life. nd finally, , seeing as you’re kinky, you might want to explore mixed kink clubs and spaces, online and off, in addition to gay bars. You’ll encounter your fair share of assholes in kink spaces, of course, but kinksters — particularly kinksters in your hipper urban locales — are often more open to trans folks than vanilla types. (Tyler McCormick, a trans man, won the International Mr. Leather competition way, way back in 2010.) Hey, Dan: I’ve fallen into a social group of gay men who are kind of homophobic. They talk about bottoming and gayness as if they’re embarrassing things. It’s like they’re aspiring to be gay people who are really heterosexuals but just accidentally have gay sex. The other challenge is that I find them attractive. These Really Anti-Social Homos Putting up with assholes just because they’re hot — yeah, you’re not doing yourself any favors there, TRASH, and you’re not doing those assholes any favors, either. Sooner or later, they’re going to age out of hot — and if they haven’t learned the importance of not being assholes by that point, they’re going to be lonely old assholes. Losing friends due to your assholery is an important learning experience for many. Don’t cheat these guys of it. Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter ITMFA.org

APRIL 3-9, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

APRIL 3-9, 2019

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OPERA THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS SEASONAL FRONT OF HOUSE STAFF Opera Theatre of St. Louis, one of the leading American opera festivals, is hiring ushers, greeters, parking lot attendants, and garden hosts. Competitive hourly rates. For more information please visit https://jobs.opera-stl.info/front-of-house

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APRIL 3-9, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS SPONSORED CONTENT

OLD HERALD

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Recently opened and rapidly growing, Old Herald Brewery and Distillery in Collinsville lights a fire with their house ardent spirits! While competing in the 19th San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Old Herald received a bronze medal for their agave and a silver medal for their rum. Starting the line off with rum as the first spirit fermented and distilled from scratch on site, an agave recipe shortly added to the menu. Their bourbon, single grain and malt whiskey programs are on the way but will take a couple years to mature. f you’re in the mood for something new and fresh, ld Herald also features a uni ue Citrus Forward Gin. loody ary fans love the new Horseradish Vodka to add an extra kick to their drink.

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