Riverfront Times, July 3, 2019

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JULY 3–9, 2017 I VOLUME 43 I NUMBER 25

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THE LEDE

Hanna Luechtefeld: “It was a year ago that we all reconnected, and it was like, ‘Whoa!

We’re all queer now!’”

John Edwards: “We’re all like, ‘Surprise! Haha!’ So, we bonded again. ... It was beautiful, because we hadn’t communicated in years. When I met them, they came over to my house for lunch, and it was like nothing had changed. We were still kids, just hanging out having fun.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

HANNA LUECHTEFELD, LEFT, AND JOHN EDWARDS, CENTER, PHOTOGRAPHED WITH ALICE CHARATONIK, AT THE TOWER GROVE PRIDE FESTIVAL ON JUNE 29 riverfronttimes.com

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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 Katie Counts, Joshua Phelps, James Pollard

COVER

Bootheel Burning In 2015, the national news media descended on Parma, Missouri, with stories about racial tension. This spring, the voters ousted the town’s first black mayor. Then both her house and City Hall burned to the ground Cover design by

TOM CARLSON DOYLE MURPHY

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 Sales Manager Jordan Everding Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell, Erica Kenney Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Chris Guilbault, Drew Halliday, Jackie Mundy

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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News Feature Calendar

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Film

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Cafe

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Short Orders

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Culture

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Lacy Clay plays kingmaker

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Yesterday

Elmwood

P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Haimanti Germain

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

based on a photo by

4th of July listings | Candide | etc.

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

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Out Every Night

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HARTMANN Our Man in D.C.?

A newly energized Lacy Clay makes waves — and plays kingmaker in the presidential primary

BY RAY HARTMANN

W

hen it comes to Democratic Party politics, do not underestimate Congressman William Lacy Clay.

Last Tuesday, Clay announced his support for the presidential bid of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA). In so doing, Clay become just the fourth member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Harris. Five members had expressed support for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Two days later, Harris proceed-

ed to wipe the floor with iden at the Democratic presidential debate, a beatdown that left some wondering if Biden was really only 76 years old. It’s far too early to draw conclusions about the 2020 primary election, but it’s safe to say that Harris catapulted into the top tier of the crowded Democratic field, at iden’s e pense.

In endorsing Harris, Clay had stepped out early and forcefully for an uncertain candidate, much as he did twelve years for a fellow named Barack Obama. Clay endorsed Obama on May 11, 2007, a time in which Obama’s 19 congressional supporters were dwarfed by Hillary Clinton’s 30 and John Edwards’ 14.

In an interview with CNN last week, Clay said, “Like President Obama, I feel Kamala Harris is a transformative figure. think the timing is right to signal to people in my state; This is who I favor.”

Clay added, “I have nothing against Vice President Biden. We have a great personal relation-

ship. But this is my choice. This is who I feel I can get behind. She has the skill set to beat Trump.”

Harris returned the favor. “I’m incredibly honored to have Lacy Clay’s support,” she said. “Lacy’s passion for service was inherited from his father and now lives on in his tireless advocacy for the equity and opportunity of all Americans.”

That was interesting. Yes, Clay has always been vocal on civil rights issues. And he advocates for his district as much as the next congressman. But locally, “tireless” is not a descriptive customarily a ed to him, even by allies.

Maybe a new Clay has been molded. It was a strangely highprofile week for him: The arris story had followed news coverage about Clay co-sponsoring articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a move that couldn’t have brought joy to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Then he made another splash coauthoring a strong bill to allow cities to pass tougher gun laws in

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defiance of draconian state laws prohibiting them from doing so in places like Missouri.

Where did this come from?

Clay has long been a reliable liberal Democratic vote, but hardly a legislation machine. And not a renegade.

Indeed, last July, none other than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — aka the rock star AOC — made a special trip to St. Louis to support Clay’s primary challenger, community activist Cori Bush. AOC had even shouted out Bush nationally on June 26, the night the New Yorker stunned the political world by unseating Joe Crowley — like Clay, a seemingly untouchable Democratic stalwart with two decades of experience.

Bush, an activist in the Ferguson protests and beyond, had positioned herself to Clay’s political left. It didn’t help Clay that, years earlier, he had noticeably failed to show up publicly until four days into the world-televised

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unrest, despite it being in his district. AOC apparently saw Clay as another Crowley. Clay had endorsed Hillary Clinton in June 2015, helping her head off a surprisingly strong challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders. That endorsement made Clay appear an establishment insider to progressives; Sanders staffers had set up the organization credited with Ocasio-Cortez’s win.

“What I’m asking for you to do is to support my sister Cori Bush,” Ocasio-Cortez told a St. Louis crowd of rallying for Bush. “Support her because she supports improved and expanded Medicare for all.

Support her, because she believes in tuition free college. Support her because she believes in criminal justice reform and ending the war on drugs. Support her because she believes in a green New Deal to save our climate and our planet for our future.”

Nothing quite like this had ever happened in Clay’s long career, which stretched back to his election in 1982 as a state legislator and included winning in 2000 the congressional district that his father had held for 32 years. Bill Clay, founder of the Black Congressional Caucus, is arguably the premier civil-rights leader in St. Louis history, dating back to his leading role as an alderman (and his arrest) in the famous 1963 protest of racist hiring practices at Jefferson Bank.

Could the dynasty be in danger? Could Lacy Clay, previously known as one of the most liberal members of Congress, be taken down by a national wave of woke progressives for whom he wasn’t liberal enough?

Short answer: o. n the final tally: Clay defeated Bush in the Democratic primary by a landslide twenty-point margin. Bush’s consolation prize is that she came closer than any other challenger had. Clay had crushed fellow Congressman Russ Carnahan by 30 points in a 2012 primary and state senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal by almost 36 points in a 2016 primary.

For Clay, fending off the AOC whirlwind by twenty was a statement win. The mighty political organization created by his father (or the machine, to those who didn’t like it) proved itself as formidable as ever.

With both Ocasio-Cortez and Clay then in the new Democratic majority, one might assume that, at best,

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the two would co-exist uneasily, he the defiant party-establishment regular, she the progressive disrupter. f so, one assumed wrong: Clay is nothing if not a shrewd politician, and he proved it by becoming a co-sponsor of AOC’s signature Green New Deal legislation.

Historically, Clay has been better known by environmentalists as an ally than a champion. In 2018, the League of Conservation Voters gave him an 89 percent rating on its National Environmental Scorecard Lifetime, placing him in the bottom third of congressional Democrats (albeit far higher than Republicans). A lot of Dems got a score of 100.

But Clay can read the mood of his party. It doesn’t get more progressive than the Green New Deal, and while many other establishment Democrats were cautious about supporting it, you cannot say that about Clay. Announcing his co-sponsorship on February 19, just seven months after Ocasio-Cortez came to St. Louis to campaign against him, Clay posed for a beaming photo with his new teammate.

“Others may ignore the scientific evidence or even lie about the threat, but this Congress must deal with the hard, indisputable facts and act now,” Clay said of climate change in a press release. “The Green New Deal is an aspirational roadmap for transformative, progressive legislation that will make America stronger, safer and healthier for generations to come.”

Meet the new — or is that renewed? — Lacy Clay, outspoken voice on the environment. And a guy who knows his way around the halls of Congress, especially on his side of the aisle.

This cannot be comforting to Bush, who announced on February 2 that she would challenge Clay again in 2020. Would OcasioCortez campaign against one of the co-sponsors of her proudest piece of legislation? Doubtful.

And should Harris end up on the 2020 presidential ticket, neither Bush nor anyone else need bother pulling on Superman’s cape by opposing one of her earliest supporters. Lacy Clay knows his Democratic politics.

Speaking of which, I’m not betting against Kamala Harris right now. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler from 9 to 11 p.m.

Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

NEWS Mayor’s Push Led to Pride Reversal on Cop Question Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

M

ayor Lyda Krewson is denying the accusations of a former Pride St. Louis board member, who claims the mayor pressured the organi ation to allow uniformed o cers to march in Sunday’s parade.

“I wouldn’t do it,” Krewson told the Riverfront Times in a phone interview Monday. “I didn’t do it.”

But Jolene Gosha, who resigned from Pride’s board Sunday, says that’s not true. Gosha directed the parade this year, a massive undertaking that takes months of planning and work. This year was extra chaotic following Pride’s announcement on June 8 that, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, uniformed o cers would not be allowed to march.

The decision was massively controversial, instantly dividing people both within and outside of the LGBTQ community.

On June 17, Gosha attended a frantic meeting of Pride’s board.

She says Pride President Matt Harper read a text message he’d received earlier that day from Krewson. Gosha didn’t record the exact wording, but she says the message relayed by Harper and Dennis Gorg, Pride’s compliance director, was that the mayor was threatening to pull their permits and contact their sponsors.

Follow-up conversations with the mayor did not yield any better results, board members were told, according to Gosha.

Not being able to host the parade would have caused Pride’s financial ruin, Gosha says. It would have had to repay several hundred thousand dollars to sponsors, vendors and participants, all of it already spent to mount the event.

“Ultimately, the only choice we

Uniformed cops marched in this year’s Pride parade after organizers yielded to Mayor Krewson’s plea. | THEO WELLING

“Ultimately, the only choice we were left with was reverse the decision or go bankrupt.” were left with was reverse the decision or go bankrupt,” she says.

The decision to exclude uniformed cops from marching (officers would still attend the event for security, and T o cers could march out of uniform) had been decided without a formal vote, according to Gosha. So, on June 17, she says, the board held two votes: One to formalize its previous decision to drop uniformed o cers and the second to rescind it.

Gosha says she and another board member still voted “no” on the reversal, and three others abstained. But the majority voted to invite the uniformed cops back.

The next day, Pride’s board

held a joint news conference with Krewson and St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards to announce the original ban was being reversed. Asked by the RFT at the news conference if she had ever suggested the parade’s permits could be reconsidered if uniformed o cers weren’t allowed to march, Krewson insisted she had not.

But Gosha dismissed that in Facebook posts last night and this morning. In a comment on Krewson’s page, she accused the mayor of “casual blackmail.” ou had the power to fi this but you chose to blackmail (but in a sly way) PrideSTL into forcing the Trans community out and the police in,” she wrote. “How dare you act as though you support the community.”

The mayor denies she did anything of the kind.

“It’s just not an allegation that’s true,” she says.

Krewson says she did send a text message to Pride o cials, urging them to reconsider. But she insists it was a request and a discussion, and absolutely not a threat. She read the text to the RFT: “Is there any possibility you will reverse your decision and allow police uni-

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forms in the parade? We’re being bombarded by calls for an executive order, investigations into sponsors and to support our police. This decision is proving very divisive. I hope you will reconsider.”

The mayor says that was in no way a threat, and she also notes the text did not mention permits.

In referencing calls for an investigation into sponsors, she says she was relaying the comments the city was getting from a social media firestorm.

A longtime participant in the parade, Krewson says she would have continued to work with Pride even if the board didn’t reverse its decision. Still, the text was apparently persuasive to the majority of the board. They voted the same day to reverse the ban on uniforms.

Pride’s reversal also proved controversial. The Metro Trans Umbrella Group, set to be the parade’s grand marshal along with the larger trans community, decided last week it would not participate. The organization had welcomed the e clusion of o cers. A high percentage of trans people continue to report feeling harassed or ignored by police, even as they find themselves targeted for violent crime.

The original decision to drop uniformed police was seen as not only as an answer to one of MTUG’s long-running requests, but larger recognition for a segment of the population that often finds itself pushed to the fringes even within the LGBTQ community.

Gosha says she frequently thought of resigning from Pride after the reversal, but remained in hopes of highlighting and supporting those in the trans community.

She says a number of Pride board members were angry with her and retaliated all weekend through a series of small slights, such as withholding the t-shirts for volunteers who worked with her.

She ultimately stayed through the parade, only to announce her resignation last night. She had volunteered with Pride for nine years but says she was disgusted by what happened in the past few weeks.

“I felt like the community as a whole wanted to shit on the transexpansive community,” she says.

“And every way they could, they did it.” n

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l e e h t o bo burning

hy p r u M e l y o D by

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dia e m l a n natio e h t ri, , u 5 o 1 s 0 s 2 i M n I rma, a P n sion. o n e d t e d l n a raci desce t u o b a the ries o d t e s t s h u t o wi ers t o v both , n g e n h i T r p . ayor m This s k c a l b to t d s e r n i r f u b all H town’s y t i C e and s u o h r he poing the d d n lu c u in o , staffers hite. the gr e iting , were w d a Small s r e c all the an do

f an n old d in e headil 17, a east lice chie Mayor s ote r p A read th n o , h t t k t u c u h o la s ig s n e f mptie Times. fter mid house in th urned to a n’s Staf k w r b y anging o r o a T o Y t m -s w r pril’s ch ame. two f Pa ing. e Ne o h , id t t n s a l w in h a o t t t e e to ri ly t m lin Missou parison twisted rgest med fair d lighte m d la e o n s e c a h y n t h ll s f ia ords an pile of a se was one o 00 people ard init u 7 f the gu e some terse w but Williamo s The ho heel town of r r t osity, alf hou sfully ere we a, a Boo and a h st Th ed anim k) was succes in a r t s in Parm g) about two -55. It was be e c r d. nd bla llin yor ly (who is also d ourne an. wn I a a o d m g (and fa r is in t e u g f form he mee f St. Lo f- son fires be south o s the home o ear term in o rn in. T urs later, the tch was at o w s o a h r-y pa The known ose fou n, a few mergency dis had noticed efore. e yrd, wh ust hours b ended a the s B t r s o s r b u fi h y T tt eig d rning The yrd’s n hat mo d ende r had a ually ret a o . s h y e a .m e m a m c a fi 0 ruck fl k nt a fire t - 1 : rst blac ht, eve glow of d e a g h n a a r city’s fi eting that nig 83-year-old po t of ser he o Parm e n was ou was t d called 911. it id t n b u io tense m g power to a l b t a d, nc tor an hin the roa own had a fu matose elec s. The new n h w w o linquis d r e t t a e us ewcom st critic he emains ther th litical n er bigge on Jr., says t e. Whe rtment at all r ed in recent h ic y v b d e s t a an yrd’s ad suppor ufus William fire dep a had le artments of R ed that the keys ing debate. Parm , ep r id d o iv y r d a e m nte im re so er of h lu e t o e w v iv s e g e il h o t es a two sid ion refused t ns. em, W rs on t yea ighboring tow ears, sometim rcfind th at y e ministr all. Couldn’t ly. That’s wha f n o esou the us couple aren’t r unty e r e h to City ays incredulo he last t T Co nd s had ks out a s ew Madrid puties , a e d r r liamson y b B e e ayor, n fir id. it, say hose d rns. they sa wly ousted m itics since eve to fight y Stevens, w s bu e t s u r e e t c n r a.

Ter her The en sh m f h r h if it a r w P e bourn w , l h 5 s o S 01 odd n d patr rom il lden f e lp in e h g been at king o ce. n ing for her ow e a ar ta n hav fighters drivin east) and M er prep om a televisio e before e ir ed to m h t F o iv c r o r t w a fr ne est) miles w e pg 14 e was the in, she learned y’s eleven em lv h o t e (tw tinued n s to it n e c g o k il C r e in m o r h t a w n swe tee i of han l (thir ather t r that s reporte ad resigned r e the nationa h mad and ployees dustup is black e h d r T y . r for he ecause rgely b news, la

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find the fire in a full rage.

Byrd was not there at the time, but a neighbor told a T reporter from Cape Girardeau that the -year-old seemed devastated when she eventually showed up. Alderman Simon Wofford, yrd’s father, says she was taking a shower at his house early that morning when they got the news about the fire.

She ust started screaming, Wofford told FS 1 . guess she got a phone call. Started screaming, and didn’t know what was going on. She said, ‘My house! My house ’ The old house turned from white to gray to nothing in less than three hours. The roof came down, as did the second floor and all the wooden framing. nly a pair of metal trellises, holding up the front end of a collapsed balcony, remained standing by the end.

There was only a pile of smoldering rubble when Lilbourn and Malden packed up and left. ispatch records show them clearing the scene at 3:05 a.m. ne minute later, ilbourn was back on the radio, calling in a second fire.

Smoke was coming from City Hall.

The charred remains of former Mayor Byrd’s home. | DOYLE MURPHY

THE FRIDAY BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY

weekend, Parma’s normally barren main street is livened with a couple of do en merican flags.

When national reporters visited in 015, they described a town in decline. nly a handful of businesses remained, and a once-bustling downtown had deteriorated into permanently closed shops and empty buildings. Parma was withering away, the Washington Post wrote in its dispatch on yrd’s tumultuous election.

The New York Times reported, Parma’s main strip looks like a bombed-out Wild West town ... little hyperbolic, maybe, but Parma is even worse off now than it was four years ago. Several of the vacant buildings that were standing have collapsed. sign taped to the post o ce door announces the latest boil order for water is in effect until further notice.

We went way down, and we’re struggling, and everybody knows it, Mayor Williamson says.

The city lost its high school to consolidation in 1980, and automation of agricultural industry has all but replaced the farmhand obs that used to sustain families here. Young people moved away.

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Former Mayor Tyus Byrd spoke with NBC News soon after her election. | SCREENSHOT

Before the fire, Byrd’s residence was one of the bigger homes in Parma. | GOOGLE STREETVIEW usinesses closed. one of this is uni ue, of course. The hollowing out of the ootheel is an merican story.

The elements of lost obs and disintegrating community are achingly familiar whether you used to assemble Cadillacs in etroit, process odak film in an upstate ew ork warehouse or mine coal in West irginia.

But Parma has been hit especially hard. esidents wish for the barest of amenities a ollar eneral store, clean tap water or one of the three deserted filling stations to reopen so they can buy gas in town. n a recent visit, a man in a wheelchair rides down the center of the main road. Passable sidewalks are a rarity in town; so is tra c. When grew up here in

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the 19 0s, you couldn’t have asked for a better place to live, the man says. ow, it’s full of snitches and drug dealers.

His girlfriend drives past on a riding lawnmower and shoots him a look without stopping. ’m still proud to say ’m from Parma, he continues. ut can’t wait to leave.

As soon as he moves on down the road, a white pickup that’s been idling nearby pulls up. The driver rolls down his window and chats for a moment before nodding toward the departing man in his wheelchair. That guy’s the biggest pedophile in town, he says, launching into a story. For what it’s worth, the man in the wheelchair is on the se offender registry, although whether he’s the biggest pedophile in Parma is

probably sub ective.

When the media came calling in 015, the city was not at its best, and it is still hoping to regain its footing. The stories that followed yrd’s election and the flight of city workers before her tenure even began painted the fracas as a sign of racial tension among a small town that was two-thirds white and one-third black. ut Byrd and the ex-employees alike bristled at that framing. “They made it about race, and it’s not about race, the mayor told the Washington Post. t was, instead, about policing. ( nd then also kind of about race.) esidents complained that the police department (a chief, one full-time o cer and a couple of part-timers) cracked down on tra c infractions and nitpicked code violations. They will literally be out in the morning with a measuring tape, measuring your grass, Terrell Thatch, a cousin of yrd’s, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Meanwhile, larger crimes

Parma’s City Hall also burned on April 17. | DOYLE MURPHY

such as burglaries, violence and everything else tied to a blossoming drug trade went largely unsolved, critics said.

Then, about a month before the election, a seventeen-yearold cousin of yrd was tased by an o cer investigating prank calls to the police station. Police claimed the o cer’s actions were ustified. ut a group of black residents went to the police station to complain.

The old mayor, 78-year-old Randall amsey, believed the incident galvani ed black voters against him. think the black population saw they had an opportunity to elect a black mayor, and think nearly all of them voted for her even though I have a good relationship with the blacks, amsey told the Washington Post. “But I think they were ust hellbent on voting for a black.

Police Chief Trish Cohen, who uit after yrd’s election, told C ews that she had run-ins with yrd’s relatives who then posted her address on social media. She worried the mayor wouldn’t have her back. ou can’t have an anti-police mayor, and that’s the way she made me feel, Cohen told the network.

Both Byrd and Cohen later stopped doing interviews, unhappy with the onslaught of coverage.

The ordeal has similarly made the current leadership wary of how the recent fires will be viewed.

Williamson says he has been asked repeatedly if Parma has a racial problem. f we do, don’t know about it, he insists.

BYRD

HAS NOT SPOKEN PUBLICLY

about the fires and essentially disappeared from Parma immediately after. The ew Madrid County Sheriff, Stevens, says his investigators talked to her the first day, and he has since heard she is staying out of state. think she’s ust kind of in shock, he says.

She did not seek the media spotlight that followed her into o ce in 015 and soon retreated, shutting down interview requests before the first wave of coverage had ended. In one of those early interviews, she appeared on C ews and described her bewilderment at the mass resignations. don’t know why, she told the network. t was cited to me that it was safety issues. I would love to know what those safety issues are. wish we could have set down to

come to whatever the reasons there were. Maybe we could have come to some kind of agreement and understanding. nstead, employees complained that yrd never approached the staff after her election. nce she was in o ce, people claimed she was hard to reach and avoided the public. n the aftermath of the fires, her father did most of the speaking on the family’s behalf. The New York Times, Washington Post and St. Louis Post-Dispatch could not reach her. She did not respond to re uests for comment on this story.

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sked if she was considered a suspect in the fires, Stevens says he can’t rule it out, but only because they haven’t been able to eliminate almost anyone. “Well, she’s as much of a suspect as anybody, he says. nvestigators discovered the City all fire had been set in multiple places inside the one-story brick building — and happened while firefighters were occupied a uarter-mile away at yrd’s house. y the time ilbourn’s crew noticed the smoke, there was a roaring bla e showing through the front

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door.

The fire at City all was definitely arson, Stevens says.

There’s no doubt.

Lilbourn Assistant Fire Chief enny Schaffer responded to the scene that morning after finishing his late shift at a power plant. ack-to-back fires sounded suspicious, so he called for a state fire marshal.

“The front glass was blowed out, he recalls. nd when firefighters went around to the rear of the building, they discovered the back door, normally locked, was open.

The building had once served primarily as the police station.

Byrd moved government operations there from the community center late in her term, reportedly to save money. t wasn’t like the police were taking up much space. Following the 015 resignations, Parma operated with ust one o cer.

The fire has turned City all into another eyesore, one of three vacant, burned-out buildings within a half block. t is still boarded up across the front. strand of yellow caution tape stretches over the sidewalk. Mayor Williamson says it would cost too much to repair the building. e unlocks the back door and leads a uick tour of the damage.

The sour smell of damp ash is immediate. The worst of the fire tore through the front o ce. Wood paneling has been charred black and strips of insulation hang from the ceiling. Tile floors are smeared with soot. t the center of the destruction, the town’s computer sits in a torched heap atop a roasted desk. nvestigators and town o cials were able to salvage a few boxes worth of paper files from drawers and file cabinets, but whatever was on that computer is gone.

AMONG THOSE WHO VISITED PARMA

to poke through the remains of City Hall were a pair of investigators from the Missouri State Auditor’s Public Corruption and Fraud ivision. n the fall of 018, a whistleblower called the auditor’s hotline with concerns about operations under yrd. etails of the allegations haven’t been publicly revealed, but state uditor icole Galloway has said that an investigation by her staff found them to be credible.

The next step would be an au-

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Parma’s former treasurer Kim Hampton says an audit is long overdue. | DOYLE MURPHY dit. State law requires a formal invitation or a residents’ petition for that to happen. There was no reuest under yrd, but the election of Williamson offered an opening.

Then City Hall burned. That very ne t day, while the fire still smoldered, Galloway revealed that the new administration had planned to make a formal request for the audit at a special aldermanic meeting. t had been scheduled for the following day. But the fire left serious uestions: Would there even be records to audit While Parma’s former treasurer im ampton welcomed the audit, she says it’s long overdue. f they had come down even two years ago and stopped this madness, we wouldn’t be in this mess, she says. ampton worked for the city for 3 years under Mayor amsey. t was a part-time ob. amsey allowed her to work from the offices of a cotton gin that her husband owned. She kept the books in a safe at the back of her o ce.

Then yrd beat amsey, 1 to 8 votes. The new mayor told reporters she couldn’t locate basic city documents when she took o ce.

That still annoys Hampton.

That was lies, she says.

Hampton says everyone knew where the records were and that a second set was stored in the community building. Ultimately, the arrangement benefited the city, she says, because the gin donated the use of o ce e uipment, such as a printer and copier not to mention storage space in its safe. nd it was a fireproof safe, Hampton adds pointedly.

She was sorry to see Ramsey leave o ce. e was a really

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good person, a good man, she says. (Ramsey died last year, in his sleep.) n contrast, yrd made her and other employees from the past regime uneasy. Byrd had previously been a city clerk for a short time, and when she left, a few thousand dollars were inexplicably missing from court funds, ampton claims. t was never tied to Byrd, but Hampton says the lingering questions are what prompted much of the old staff to resign. She considered uitting with them but says others in the community persuaded her to stay and keep an eye on things.

She did, for a while, but left after a few months of clashing with yrd. She says the final straw came after she learned the city was dangerously close to not making payroll. Alarmed, Hampton says, she contacted a clerk for help sorting it out. Word soon got back to yrd.

She called me and umped all over me and chewed me out for telling the clerk, ampton says.

She uit the part-time ob after that, but she did not fade away.

Convinced yrd was steering the city to financial ruin, in 01 , ampton took her concerns to law enforcement.

The sheriff’s o ce and state police investigated, eventually driving Hampton to Jefferson City to meet with the state auditor’s staff.

Investigators there reviewed the information but ultimately decided they didn’t have enough to determine whether there had been any fraud or theft.

Then, in 01 , her husband llen ampton was elected one of Parma’s four alderman. e had hoped to get access to more of the

town’s financial records but says Byrd often kept information from the board. When he tried to contact her, her staff claimed she was in meetings.

The conflicts came to a head one afternoon. Allen Hampton caught up with yrd at the community center, but she went behind a clerk’s window and wouldn’t talk to him, he says. It got pretty heated.

“I was talking strong, and she slammed the damn window on me, llen ampton says.

He banged on the window, and she called the town’s lone cop to have him arrested. Hampton suggested they also contact the sheriff’s o ce and state police.

When they showed up, Allen Hampton says, they refused to arrest him and told the Parma o cer they would lock him up for kidnapping if he tried to make the bust.

Sheriff Stevens says he does not remember all the details but it was clear it was not a criminal matter. She didn’t agree with him, the sheriff says. e didn’t agree with her. ltimately, nobody got arrested. earing up for the 019 election, the Hamptons were eager to find a replacement for yrd. ut neither wanted to run.

“Mayor Williamson is the one who stepped up to run for mayor, and that’s how we got Mayor yrd defeated, llen ampton says.

And with that, Kim Hampton went back to doing the city’s books at the cotton gin, a task that’s been complicated by the fire at City all. im ampton says she was able to get the past four years of statements from the bank to go with whatever the fire did not destroy. n a recent visit, she sits with a magnifying glass, entering amounts from photocopies of checks into a database. Salvaged papers scent the safe with the smell of smoke and ash.

Hampton says she hopes to quit the volunteer position as soon as she sorts out Parma’s finances, but so far the picture is grim. She says the city is now more than 50,000 in debt. yrd’s administration had essentially ignored basic obligations to take out money for state unemployment, state withholding and sales tax among other bills since mid- 01 , according to Hampton. In addition, the state notified Parma that the city was being fined 30,000 for not filing its 018 financial report a reuirement of municipalities. The city had also stiffed local vendors on bills.

We’ve got all this debt that we’ve got to figure out how to pay, ampton says.

SOMEONE SET CITY HALL ON FIRE.

n the background of Parma’s political battles and financial wrangling is the investigation into a bra en arson very possibly two. Sheriff Stevens says that while he’s convinced the City all fire was intentionally set, the cause of the house fire is murkier. e and ust about everyone else in town strongly suspect the two are linked. But he is running into a familiar problem in arson investigations: Sometimes the evidence burns up.

The house was a total loss, Stevens says. There wasn’t even any frame standing. t was a complete burn. nce the embers cooled, investigators used shovels and a backhoe to sift through the debris.

Stevens says they came up empty. verything had burned, including any sign of how or even where the inferno began. Progress on both fires has been slow, he adds. They have no suspects. o eye witnesses have come forward.

We’re still digging, he says.

We’re still rattling cages. ot that it has slowed speculation in town. The theories of who is responsible generally center around Byrd — either as the suspect or the victim.

Williamson, for one, now suspects there was a reason he wasn’t given the keys the night he was sworn in.

“I guess they knew they were going to burn ... he says, before stopping mid sentence. Well, guess they knew it was going to catch fire. should be careful how say that. veryone has an idea of who is responsible, but investigators say they’ve uncovered precious little evidence. Multiple people insist to a reporter that a local drug addict set the fires, although they’re split on whether he was motivated by yrd’s camp, her adversaries or his own demons. Some say he was spotted carrying a gas can near City all on the night of the fires.

Stevens has, of course, heard the same stories. We’ve got a lot of conspiracy theories that we’ve been approached with think this guy did it, I think that guy did it,’ he says.

Those who suspect yrd point to the looming state audit, theori ing the house fire was a diversion, occupying firefighters while the town’s computer and other records went up in flames. nd yet, burning down your own house would be a pretty extreme move.

She didn’t burn her own house down, says a relative of yrd’s, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Mary. That’s

ridiculous.

She and others in yrd’s camp suspect the fires were the culmination of four years of animosity.

“Last night a possible ‘Hate Crime’ took place in Parma, M , yrd’s husband, drian yrd, wrote on Facebook hours after the fire. Thank od my Family is safe We do not have confidence in ew Madrid County Sheriff dept investigation! Hopefully State and or Federal authorities will find out who is responsible for this cowardly act Thank you for all your prayers e soon deleted the post.

Schaffer, the ilbourn assistant fire chief, says he only saw the scene after firefighters had cleared, but what he saw seemed odd. t ust didn’t look like a normal burnt structure, he says. ven in the worst of house fires, a few things usually remain. t yrd’s house, there was nothing. o bed frames or springs. othing metal that should have been stuck up. o refrigerators. o appliances. e emphasi es that he is not accusing anyone of anything, but the fire continues to seem strange to him.

“By the looks of the remains of the house, he says, don’t think the house was occupied.

BYRD’S

FATHER,

SIMON WOFFORD,

owns a small auto body shop in Parma. ven with Memorial ay weekend in full swing, he is at work early on Saturday morning to pull the transmission out of a truck and does not have much time to talk.

A longtime alderman in Parma, he knows some people think his daughter was somehow involved with the fires. That makes him shake his head.

“When something like that happens, they’re going to look at us first, he says.

Whereas some saw his daughter as combative, the 1-year-old Wofford is soft-spoken and generally regarded around town as measured and thoughtful. He worried about Byrd when she was the mayor. er election and the ensuing spotlight sparked a frightening fury in some.

She received some threats, he says. “She would get notes on her door. ne man even threatened to burn her house down, according to Wofford. fter the fire, he counseled her to avoid Parma until things calmed down. e says it’s true his daughter often stayed out of town, even when Continued on pg 19

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Parma Mayor Rufus Williamson Jr. says there are no plans to rebuild City Hall. | DOYLE MURPHY

BOOTHEEL BURNING Continued from pg 17

she was mayor. Her husband works in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and she would make the 90-mile commute to Parma on nights she stayed there. The house is in Wofford’s name, and he says another of his daughters had been living there recently.

After a few minutes, he says he has to get back to work on a truck, but he is happy, for yrd’s sake, that her time as mayor is over. It made her too much of a target. ’m glad she’s not in the position anymore, he says.

MAYOR WILLIAMSON

IS HOPING TO

start fresh. When he took over in April, Parma again saw a giant shakeup: this time, because Williamson fired everyone from yrd’s staff, including Parma’s only police o cer. There were no national headlines about that — only the fires.

The city now depends on a skeleton crew of part-timers and volunteers. Williamson, who spent much of his career working for Pfi er in St. ouis before returning home to the Bootheel, spends his days mowing city properties, overseeing a pair of part-time maintenance workers and chasing down the odd nuisance complaint, such as dumped tires. is salary is 00 a month.

We’re going to clean it up, paint it up make it look accessible, he says of the town.

City Hall, however, is probably done. don’t think we’re going to

rebuild that, Williamson says. olunteers from a nearby FW post spent part of Memorial ay weekend making repairs to the community center, so Parma can reopen city o ces there.

Two of Parma’s few remaining thriving businesses agriculture companies M Fertili er Grain and AgXplore — donated to the cause. Williamson says they have had so many offers to help rebuild Parma that he has had to turn people down.

We’ve had people tell me, ’m going to help you fi our streets. ’ve got two shovels, ’m going to fi some of these holes,’ the mayor says.

There is still much to be done. riginally, Williamson says, he thought it would take him about si months to get the city looking presentable. The fires have pushed that timeline back, but he is still optimistic.

Why don’t you come back a year from now and see how we look he says.

He always knew it would be a hard ob, but he says he had no way of knowing how hard. He did not e pect to be finding a new home for city operations or waiting on answers in an arson investigation.

A reward for information in the fires has topped 0,000. Williamson went out in the dark that morning. He remembers standing there before the sun had risen on his first day as mayor and taking it all in.

This was smoking, he says, gesturing to City Hall, “and that house was still smoking. I thought, ‘My od, what has happened here ’ n

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

The Missouri Botanical Garden leaves the lights on for you this summer. | ROBERT SCHMIDT/MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN

WEDNESDAY 07/03 Independence Eve As a prelude to the festivities at Fair St. Louis, ParadeTown opens at 3 p.m. today, with family fun in Kiener Plaza (500 Chestnut Street; www.fairstlouis.org). Organizers promise “music, food and drinks, activations, hot air balloons, a DJ and a fireworks finale though you’d be wise to note those fireworks won’t be the full show promised at the Arch Grounds the following three nights. They begin at 9:50 p.m. (after Jake’s Leg) and should wrap in about ten

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minutes. Come back the following night for more.

THURSDAY 07/04 America’s Birthday It’s Independence Day and Fair St. Louis is under the Arch once again what could be better This year’s Fair St. Louis takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday, 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday (July 4 to 6) at the Arch Grounds (200 Washington Avenue; www.fairstlouis.org), and admission is still

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free. All three days are actionpacked, with the Boeing Air Show featuring the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute demonstration team, the VP Parade at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, a “salute to the troops on Saturday, an interactive STEAM zone and live music

by Johnny Gill, Keith Sweat, the Flaming Lips, Randy Houser and Brett Young. As is tradition, the sensational Edward Jones Fireworks Show closes out all three nights of the party.

Freedom Party Prepare for a world of fun as the O’Fallon Heritage and Freedom

Fest returns to the Ozzie Smith Sports Complex (900 T.R. Hughes Boulevard, O’Fallon; www.heritageandfreedomfest.com) Tuesday through Thursday (July 2 to 4). There will be a carnival and midway, performances by the Street Drum Corps, a kids zone and Arch City Adventures bubble soccer on all three days. Musical performances by Noah Guthrie and Walker Hayes (Wednesday) and Gabby Barrett and Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo (Thursday) are followed by a 9:30 p.m. fireworks display. The festival opens at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 9:30 a.m. Thursday, and admission is free. Some activities (the

WEEK OF JULY 3–9 carnival, bubble soccer) require a fee.

FRIDAY 07/05 The Plays Are the Thing The seventh edition of the LaBute New Theater Festival returns for a four-week run, courtesy of St. Louis Actors’ Studio. The celebration of new, short theatrical works is one of the more popular tickets in town, as it presents challenging, thoughtful plays to a discerning audience. As always, the eponymous playwright contributes a new piece (“Great Negro Works of Art”), which will be performed at every show. This year’s six other finalists are performed in two batches, with three presented the first two weeks of the run and the other three closing out the festival’s final two weeks. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday (July 5 to 28) at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www.stlas. org). Tickets are $30 to $35.

Poor Bastard Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide wasn’t well received upon its debut, but after several reworkings it has become beloved at last.

Based on the novella by Voltaire, it’s the story of Candide, the ille-

gitimate relative of a fiery baron.

When Candide falls in love with the baron’s daughter, Cunegonde, he sets off a series of calamities, degradations and unlikely resurrections. Throughout his travels and travails, Candide keeps finding Cunegonde and her vengeful brother Maximillian, despite Fate’s best efforts. Union Avenue Opera opens its 25th season with Candide. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (July 5 to 13) at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.unionavenueopara.org). Tickets are $35 to $55.

SATURDAY 07/06 Night Lights If you don’t live in an air-conditioned place, the Missouri Botanical Garden (4434 Shaw Boulevard; www.mobot.org) is one of the coolest places to be when the summer sun goes down, thanks to its multitudes of flora. Fortunately, the garden will be open late once again on select nights during Garden Party Lights, a massive installation of multimedia light projections designed by AVI Systems and Theatrical Concepts.

Doors open at 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday (July 6 to October 19), with the light show starting once it’s dark. There will be food and beverage sales at both the covered Biergarten and the Cohen

Mikaela Bennett plays the role of Cinderella at the Muny. | COURTESY OF THE MUNY Cantina. Tickets are $10 to $20, and Thursdays and Sundays are family nights, with $3 tickets for kids younger than twelve.

Last of the Blowouts Pets, music, food and fun: Webster Groves has it all during its Community Days Independence Day Festival, which takes place Wednesday through Saturday (July 3 to 6) at 40 Acres (Elm and Glendale avenues; www.webstergroves.org/communitydays.org).

The Webster Groves Lions will handle the barbecue duties, and they’ve also arranged for carnival rides and the midway booths. Local bands including Brawsh, Cortez the Killer and Dang will perform during the evenings, with fireworks spectaculars scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday. Admission to Community Days is free.

MONDAY 07/08 Danish Encore

The O’Fallon Heritage and Freedom Fest celebrates America. | COURTESY HERITAGE AND FREEDOM FEST

The role of Hamlet provides a formidable challenge for any actor, and only the greats can capture the Danish prince in all of his keening sorrow and whitehot rage. A decade ago, Benedict Cumberbatch played the role in a

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memorable production at the National Theatre, with the excellent Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones, Harry Potter) as the murderous Claudius. Fathom Events marks the tenth anniversary of this remarkable production with a nationwide rebroadcast. National Theatre: Hamlet is shown at 7 p.m. Monday, July 8, at the Marcus Ronnies Cine (5320 Lindbergh Boulevard; www.fathomevents. com). Tickets are $19.39.

TUESDAY 07/09 For Love and Country Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is a beloved family favorite, although the 2013 Broadway revival updated the show slightly.

In this version, Cinderella makes her handsome Prince aware of his kingdom’s horrible oppression of its most vulnerable subjects, which stems from the cruelty of the Prince’s chief minister. What’s more, Cinderella’s stepsister Gabrielle is in love with the crusading Jean-Michel, who’s actively fighting the minister’s legislation. The Muny presents this new Cinderella at 8:15 p.m. Monday through Tuesday (July 8 to 16) at the Muny in Forest Park (www.muny.org).

Tickets are $15 to $105.

See Fourth of July listings on pg 25

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Fourth of July Bash The Kinloch Fire Protection District’s firefighters bring you a Fourth of July Bash, with activities for all ages, including free BBQ grilled up by Kinloch Fire’s pitmaster/firefighter Jayson Schroer. The evening will be topped off by a fireworks show brought by the city of Kinloch. Thu., July 4, 5-9:30 p.m., Free. www.kinlochfire.org/2019/05/27/new-website/.

Kinloch Park, 5541 Mable Avenue.

Your Complete Guide to Fourth of July Fun

Godfrey Family Fun Fest FLICKR/TYLER NEU

CALENDAR

Continued from pg 21

Fair St. Louis Fair St. Louis returns to the Arch grounds for four days of food, live entertainment, balloon glows, an air show and performances by Jake’s Leg, Brett Young, Keith Sweat and the Flaming Lips. Fireworks begin at 9:35 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with a much briefer display at 9:50 p.m. on Wednesday. See website for complete details. July 3-6, free admission, www.fairstlouis.org. Gateway Arch, 200 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 877-982-1410

J.B. Blast Enjoy music by “the South Side Johnny Band” under the stars at the Veterans Memorial Amphitheater and a fireworks display. This year, the Blast will feature a concert from 7 to 9 p.m., with fireworks to follow. Admission and parking are free.

Blankets, picnic baskets and coolers are welcome. Wed., July 3, 7-10 p.m. Call 314-615-4386 for more information. Jefferson Barracks Veterans Memorial Amphitheater, 345 North Road, St. Louis.

Alton Fireworks Spectacular Fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. Wed., July 3, free admission, www.visitalton.com/ events. Alton Riverfront Amphitheater, 1 Henry St, Alton.

Red, White and Brew at Old Bakery Beer For only $5 you will be guaranteed a seat to view Alton’s fireworks, enjoy live music from Big George Jr. and the NGK Band, and have access to Old Bakery Beer and BBQ, featuring both meat from Hansen Meat Co.–Alton and vegetarian options.

Spend your night dancing, playing yard games and enjoying the concessions. Top it off with an amazing view of the Alton fireworks display. Wed., July 3, 6-10 p.m., $5, kids younger than 5 are free, www.visitalton.com/events. The Old Bakery Beer Company, 400 Landmarks Blvd., Alton.

O’Fallon’s Heritage & Freedom Fest From 4 to 10 p.m. on July 2, 4 to 11 p.m.

on July 3 and noon to 10 p.m. on July 4, celebrate America’s birthday with a carnival and midway, bubble soccer and live music.

Performers include Walker Hayes, Gabby Guthrie and Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

Parade at 9:30 a.m. on July 4; fireworks on July 3 and July 4 following the concerts.

Free. www.heritageandfreedomfest.com.

July 2-4, Ozzie Smith Sports Complex, 900 TR Hughes Blvd., Saint Charles.

America’s Birthday 5K Bust out your patriotic garb and celebrate America’s favorite summer holiday at the 2nd Annual America’s Birthday 5K. July 4, 6:30 a.m.-noon, $30-$45, 855-786-5945 ext. 716, www.fleetfeetstlouis.com/AB5K. Soldiers Memorial Plaza, 14th and Chestnut streets, St. Louis.

Chesterfield’s 4th of July Celebration Party on the Fourth at one of the biggest and best fireworks shows in the metropolitan area, presented by the city of Chesterfield. The main stage will feature live music. The main viewing area will be at the Chesterfield Mall. Fireworks begin promptly at 9:30 p.m. Thu., July 4, 6:3011 p.m. Free. www.chesterfieldmochamber.com. Chesterfield Mall, Clarkson Road & Chesterfield Parkway S., Chesterfield, 636-532-0777.

Ellisville Independence Day Festivities Park opens at 6 p.m. July 4 for food and drink sales. There will be a bounce house, giant slide and obstacle course for the kids and live music from Griffin & the Gargoyles. Independence Day Ceremony starts at 8 p.m.; fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. Free. www.ellisville. mo.us/247/Independence-Day-Festivities. Bluebird Park, 225 Kiefer Creek Road, Ballwin, 636-227-7508.

Eureka Independence Day Celebration The city of Eureka sponsors an old-fashioned July 4 celebration dedicated to military veterans, along with a fireworks display. Concessions will be available for a nominal cost. Thu., July 4, 7-10 p.m., free admission, www.eureka.mo.us. Lions Park, 400 Bald Hill Road, Eureka.

The Village of Godfrey Parks and Recreation Department hosts the Fourth of July Family Fun Fest at Robert E. Glazebrook Park. Festivities include vendors, inflatables, games, a zip line, cow train, games, concessions, arts and crafts and a fire truck. Fireworks start at 9:15 p.m.

Free. Thu., July 4, 5-9:30 p.m., www.visitalton.com/events. Robert E. Glazebrook Park, 1401 Stamper Lane off Route 67, Godfrey, 618-466-1483.

Kirkwood Community Freedom Festival Enjoy the annual Community Freedom Festival and fireworks in Kirkwood Park on July 4. Musical entertainment starts at 7 p.m., and the fireworks go off at dusk. Food trucks will offer refreshments for purchase. Bring a blanket or chairs.

Free. Thu., July 4, 7-10 p.m. www.kirwoodmo.org. Kirkwood Park, Geyer and Adams, Kirkwood.

Manchester Fourth of July Celebration Celebrate the Fourth of July with music

by Butch Wax and the Hollywoods followed by fireworks. Bring your chairs and blankets. Some food and beverages sold at the park. Free. Thu., July 4, 6-10 p.m. www.manchestermo.gov. Paul Schroeder Park, Old Meramec Station between Manchester and Big Bend roads, Ballwin, 636-391-6326.

Webster Groves Community Days From July 3-6, Webster Groves hosts an old-fashioned community celebration, with a pet parade, live entertainment, carnival rides and games and BBQ. Fireworks at 9:30 p.m. on both July 4 and July 6. Free. www.webstergroves. org/194/Community-Days. Hixson Middle School, 630 South Elm Ave., Webster Groves, 314-963-6450.

Wentzville Liberty Fest The annual Fourth of July parade begins at 10 a.m. on July 4 at Hold High School and travels east on Pearce Boulevard, ending at Luektenhaus Boulevard. Everyone is invited to participate by making or designing a float (this year’s theme: All Star Salute to the USA). After the parade, head over to Progress Park for free activities, including swimming, inflatables, face painting and live music. Fireworks start at 9:05 p.m. Free. Thu., July 4, www.wentzvillemo.org. Progress Park, 968 Meyer Road, Wentzville. n

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Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is the only guy who knows the music of the Beatles — in other words, “typical Beatles fan.” | JONATHAN PRIME © UNIVERSAL PICTURES

[REVIEW]

Leave It Be Richard Curtis’ ‘tribute’ to the Beatles is more bland than fab Written by

MARYANN JOHANSON Yesterday Written by Jack Barth and Richard Curtis.

Directed by Danny Boyle. Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James and Meera Syal. Now showing.

I

magine there’s no Beatles. It’s easy if you try, according to inexcusably lazy comedy Yesterday, which proposes that, absent the incalculably enormous impact the Beatles have had on not just music and pop culture but upon culture itself, the world would nevertheless look exactly as it does today. Which seems impossibly unlikely, and also feels like a huge insult to the Fab Four.

The unexplained high concept here: One night there is a momentary worldwide electrical blackout that lasts for only a few minutes, during which struggling singersongwriter Jack Malik (Himesh

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Patel) is hit by a bus and knocked unconscious. After he wakes up, he slowly comes to the realization that he’s the only person who knows about the Beatles and their music. He discovers this only because he starts playing “Yesterday” on his guitar, and his friends — who include his manager, Ellie Appleton (Lily James) — think it’s a new song that he himself has written. oogle confirms it: There has never been any such band as the Beatles. Has Jack somehow slipped into an alternate universe? Is God a Rolling Stones fan (they still exist here) and used the blackout to erase all evidence of the Beatles from history and from everyone’s memory?

Whichever the case — and it really doesn’t matter — it’s just an excuse to tell yet another story about a not very talented guy who enjoys unwarranted success, for Jack goes on to “write” and record all the Beatles songs, which turns him into a global phenomenon.

Because of course the songs are terrific to our ears, in the cultural context in which we know them.

Would “I Want to Hold Your Hand” really have the same impact, brand new, in 2019 as it did in 1964? How would “Eleanor Rigby” or “Let It Be” land today? The Bea-

JULY 3-9, 2019

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tles’ songs exist in a bizarre vacuum here, literally excised from the social and artistic environment in which they were written and performed and received. Songs like these, like all of the Beatles’ work, are so much of their moment in time — which of course is part of how and why they endure — and there’s no sense of that in Yesterday. These songs would surely sound odd, anachronistic, maybe even random if they were presented as created now.

Perhaps the weirdest thing about Yesterday is that it isn’t even a revue of Beatles’ music, like those shows that end up on Broadway and in the West End and now are transferring over to movies, as with Mamma Mia! Only a few of the songs are actually performed in anything close to their entirety. It’s all mostly just a one-note running joke about how no one except Jack knows all those famous Beatles lyrics and tunes, combined with a blah romance: Ellie is naturally in love with the oblivious Jack, and now is losing him to fame and fortune.

Patel, an Indian-British TV actor making his feature debut here, is charming enough (and, small favors, at least it’s not another white guy sailing to unearned

adoration). But Yesterday is, at its very best, inoffensive to the point of blandness; even Kate McKinnon in a small part as a Big Music shark who latches onto Jack only briefly brings some spark to the screen. At its worst ... well, there’s a moment toward the end of the film that is so cheaply manipulative that it feels like a punch in the gut, and not in any good way, and leaves a sour taint over the whole endeavor.

I’m sure director Danny Boyle and screenwriters Richard Curtis and Jack Barth imagined they were paying tribute to what is probably the greatest band in the history of rock & roll — and maybe some of the most profoundly influential people in the history of humanity — with this movie, which is replete with their songs (or snippet reminders of them) and with a whole planet of 21stcentury people newly discovering them and going crazy for them.

But it utterly defangs the music we know and love so well, and diminishes its significance and the meaning it has for so many of us. And ultimately, Yesterday very clearly says that if you took the Beatles away, nothing would be different and no one would even notice. n

CAFE

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[REVIEW]

A Fine Balance Fired by a coal-fired oven and two exceptional talents, Elmwood has quickly become one of the best restaurants in town Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Elmwood 2704 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314261-4708. Tues.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 5-11 p.m. (Closed Sunday and Monday.)

E

lmwood’s Josper grill and oven — the only one of its kind in all of North America — is less a piece of kitchen equipment than a work of art. This may sound like inside baseball, but once you dig into just how special this machine is — how revered it is by acclaimed chefs around the world, how many Michelin-starred kitchens it graces — you can’t help but get caught up in what a big deal it is.

What makes the charcoal-powered Josper so special in a cooking scene that’s wood-fired obsessed is its balance and restraint. The Josper burns relatively clean for charcoal, allowing cooks to get the wonderful effects of smoke without it hitting you over the head.

There’s char, but it is less bitter than usual. The smoke is obvious, but not jarring. It’s primal, but at the same time controllable. As a result, it holds an exalted status among top chefs.

Elmwood’s powerhouse partnership between front-of-house master Christopher Kelling and chef Adam Altnether is not unlike the Josper. Effusive with his passion for hospitality, Kelling describes himself as someone who tends to “run hot” compared to Altnether’s even keel.

It’s a balanced partnership that dates back to 2011 when the two met at Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group. Kelling had just taken on the role of general manager at the original Benton Park location,

At Elmwood, a grilled pork steak (lower left) shares the menu with lamb cruda, gnochetti sardi and Wagyu beef jerky skewers. | MABEL SUEN and Altnether was a partner in the restaurant group, working in high-level kitchen roles throughout its properties, including serving as the opening chef for Taste’s Central West End relocation and reconception.

Even after Kelling left St. Louis to work in Napa Valley, the two stayed in touch. Their paths again crossed when Kelling returned to Niche just as Altnether was departing to take on cooking roles outside of the restaurant business. However, it wasn’t until Kelling left Niche a second time, in 2017, that the two began making plans to strike out on their own.

Kelling had originally thought about opening some sort of lowkey diner. However, after hearing that Altnether was feeling the itch to get back into restaurant work, he reached out. As they talked, they realized that they had basically the same vision — and it wasn’t a diner. After a key meeting at the Living Room in Maplewood, they stood on the corner of Manchester and Sutton, shook hands, and agreed to start a restaurant together.

That handshake took place on the very corner where Elmwood now resides. Formerly home to the Live Juke Joint, the large, open room has been transformed into a space that, while elegantly dark

and sultry, makes you feel comfortable even if you’ve walked in wearing eans and flip-flops. The room is the color of charcoal, floor to ceiling, punctuated with neutral-colored banquettes and blond wooden tables. The bar is separated from the dining room by a half wall which both connects the two areas but keeps them distinct enough to create two different levels of experience.

Elmwood’s most striking design feature, however, is its glassenclosed kitchen, a smart way to let diners peek behind the curtain while still maintaining a bit of mystery. The effect is stunning: You see the hustle and bustle, but without sound. It’s like watching a live-action art installation.

What hits the table is no less magical. Here, the beauty of the Josper becomes much more than cerebral through dishes like the grilled broccoli, cut lengthwise so that they can be grilled like steaks. This encases the exterior in subtly bitter char that acts like a crust. Toasted bread crumbs, Caesar dressing and sprigs of fresh dill and dill flowers accent the vegetable. Nominally a broccoli salad, the cooking style and thoughtful touches elevate it to a place of elegance.

The crispy rice salad is equally compelling. A remarkable variety

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of textures — crispy puffed rice, crunchy cucumbers and green beans, firm rhubarb are like a symphony, tied together with charred pepper aioli that, while spicy, is balanced by the cooling vegetables.

Even a simple crudité is anything but, not just because of the lovely char that encases each vegetable’s firm flesh, but also thanks to the hearty ranch dressing served as a dipping sauce. If bottled Hidden Valley is a Toyota, this thick, herbaceous concoction is a Bugatti.

Altnether clearly has a way with vegetables, a talent that is underscored by the sweet potato babaganoush. Instead of eggplant, he uses sweet potatoes, roasting them under coals so they soak in their smoke. Pomegranate molasses provides a subtly sweet depth, while mint and pomegranate arils provide refreshing contrast to the rich flavors and grilled, house-made naan underscores the smoke. It’s a beautifully balanced plate.

Elmwood’s mussels are the most unique presentation of the shellfish ’ve encountered: a mouthtingling Szechuan-spiced dish that walks right up to the line of taking over the shellfish without ever crossing it. The menthollike sauce gilds every mussel and

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ELMWOOD

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pools at the bottom of the bowl so that it can be used as a deliriously tasty condiment for the crispyfried shoestring potatoes. This is one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, and it’s clear why.

Dishes are designed for sharing, but the latter half of the menu moves from the realm of small plates to more traditionally sized entrees. Gnochetti sardi is a glorious eggplant pasta; both the gnochetti and eggplant are cooked perfectly al dente, then infused with charred tomatoes and molten mozzarella. The beef burger, meanwhile, is glazed with Korean barbecue and covered in bacon, crispy shallots and gooey American cheese, like a cross between a haute Big Mac and bulgolgi. Both may be big enough to share, but you will still have a di cult time offering up your portion.

Elmwood’s pork steak adheres to the backyard form, down to a thin layer of tomatoey barbecue glaze that caramelizes on the grill.

Alone, it’s stunning, but Altnether slices it and serves it alongside lettuce cups, pickled leeks and a sauce made from pureed vegeta-

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Co-owners Adam Altnether, left, and Christopher Kelling. | MABEL SUEN bles, transforming it from simple cookout fare to a fusion taco. His take on a roasted chicken is no less dazzling. The chef takes a young bird, rubs it in Middle Eastern-inflected spices and serves it with muhamarra, a mouthwatering Syrian barbecue sauce that is silken, but features little podshaped Aleppo peppers that pop when bitten. It’s the comfort of Grandma’s kitchen — if Grandma

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regularly traveled to Damascus.

Elmwood’s simplest dish, though, may be its best. A whole roasted black bass is presented skin-on and deboned, its exterior gently kissed with grill char, its inside the texture of tempered butter. The shockingly tender flesh melts on the tongue, its creaminess balanced by a vibrant salsa verde. t’s ust grilled fish and salsa, yet it rises to the level of a

masterpiece.

Cooked on the grill, even a dish of strawberries rises to a magical level. The local berries are gently grilled, which brings out their juice and adds a subtle savory component. Caramel and vanilla ice cream gild this already gleaming lily.

Elmwood is positively glorious — unquestionably one of the best restaurants in the city — and that’s not just because of that Josper grill. As masterful as Altnether is in the kitchen, Kelling is equally so with the front of the house, cultivating an environment of hospitality that puts you at ease, even in the midst of such a wondrous place. “We’re nothing if we’re not genuine,” he likes to say, and that ethos is what makes Elmwood succeed where others do not — nailing that hard-to-hit tone of a restaurant that is simultaneously special occasion and somewhere to grab a burger and a beer after work on a Wednesday.

And that balance is even more striking than anything a fancy grill can produce.

Elmwood Crispy rice salad ...................................... $13 Gnochetti sardi ........................................ $15 Whole grilled black bass ......................... $37

SHORT ORDERS

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[SIDE DISH]

Veteran Chef Is Home at Kingside Diner Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

E

ric Prophete was a carefree teenager in 1986, enjoying all the rites of passage that come with being a high school senior. There was just one problem: They cost money, and his mom was tired of footing the bill.

“I was preparing for graduation ceremonies, prom and all of that, and it got pretty expensive,” Prophete recalls. “My mom told me that I needed to get a job so I could contribute. We lived on North Euclid, and I could see the Central West End from my porch, so I went down to Cafe Balaban’s and got hired as a busboy, but every time I went in the kitchen it looked like they were having all the fun. I thought to myself, ‘Wait, I think this is what I want to be.’”

Prophete now lives that calling as the executive chef of Kingside Diner (two locations, including 4651 Maryland Avenue; 314-4543957). Still, it was a long path to get there. After graduation from high school, he dreamt of becoming a barber while working in kitchens around the city — the Missouri Athletic Club, O.T. Hodge Chili Parlor and the Eggery Etc. in Creve Coeur.

It took getting into corporate restaurant work to realize that cooking was his career path.

“Back in the ’90s, casual dining was starting to become a thing — places like Applebee’s and Outback,” Prophete recalls. “I worked at both and became the kitchen manager at Outback. That’s when I had my ‘aha!’ moment that I was in it for the long haul.”

Prophete worked at Outback for a few years, but he admits to getting burned out on the corporate path. He left the industry for a few

Even though he’s now the executive chef at Kingside Diner, Eric Prophete still finds himself frequently working the line. | JEN WEST years and got a job doing factory work, then another working for Charter. When he and his wife fell into a profitable real estate deal, he thought he would build upon that experience and start a real estate business.

It wasn’t as easy as he thought.

Because he wasn’t a licensed broker, he did not qualify for tax breaks and other benefits. e also found himself with a lot of idle time and needed to supplement his income. Just like his days as a teenager, he found himself in the restaurant business out of necessity — and again had the realization that it was where he wanted to be.

“I got a job working at Soulard Coffee Garden, and it was completely different than any experience I’d had,” Prophete says.

“I had worked at all those corporate places, so I had never experienced the amount of freedom and ability to be creative. It was there that I really woke up and

realized that this is what I am supposed to do.”

Prophete loved his time at Soulard Coffee Garden but was looking to pick up extra hours. A friend told him about a new place that was opening — a new concept called the Shack Pub Grub.

He applied, and before he knew it, he was creating menus and, eventually, helping the concept grow into what is now the Shack.

Prophete worked at the wildly popular local daytime restaurant chain for five years, running its commissary and creating dishes that have become its staples. Feeling restless, he decided to apply for a cook position at Kingside Diner. He was initially surprised when he sat down to an interview with the owner himself — Aaron Teitelbaum.

“Now I know that Aaron is very hands-on and had plans,” Prophete says. “He saw my resume and where I came from and offered me the executive chef position.”

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Two years later, Prophete is in charge of the culinary operations of both the original Central West End location and its little sister in Clayton. Though it’s his first time running multiple units, he’s found his groove, which, to everyone’s surprise, lands him on the line with frequency.

“It’s just what I do,” Prophete says. “Sure, I could get someone else to do it, but this is how I lead, and I love it. I’ve been doing this for 30 years now, and I’m not doing it to pay the bills; I’m doing it because it’s my passion — and I’m having the time of my life.”

Prophete took a break from the kitchen to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food and beverage scene, his daily ice cream habit, and why he’s the best chef to contact if you are in need of a haircut.

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

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FEATURED DINING

SPONSORED CONTENT

6 RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT...

CARNIVORE STL

OAKED

CARNIVORE-STL.COM

OAKEDSTL.COM

314.449.6328 5257 SHAW AVE, ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

314.305.8647 1031 LYNCH ST, ST. LOUIS, MO 63118 Treat yourself to an elevated culinary experience. With spring’s arrival, OAKED introduces its Pink Moon menu. Diners can order the entire menu inside the speakeasy-feeling lounge, upstairs in the spacious dining room, and now on the beautiful New Orleans-style patio dubbed “the Veranda”. Chef Stephan Ledbetter and crew create new dishes each menu using the finest available ingredients while keeping past winners. This time around includes Duck Breast with charred Cabbage; Ratatouille with Spaghetti Squash and Vegan Burrata; and the housegem - Wild Mushrooms served with Duxellé, Truffle and Mushroom Tea. OAKED ensures their menu includes several vegan and gluten-free options so everyone can savor their evening. OAKED also has one of the better curated wine list in town alongside a selection of whiskeys and craft cocktails. It even has a small cigar bar outside on “the Gallery”. Offering Happy Hour specials from 4-6 daily. Music in the lounge Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Ample parking. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are recommended.

Carnivore fills a nearly 4,000-square-foot space on The Hill with a dining area, bar lounge, and adjoining outdoor patio gracefully guarded by a bronze steer at the main entrance. Always embracing change, Joe and Kerri Smugala, with business partners Chef Mike and Casie Lutker, launched Carnivore STL this summer. As the Hill’s only steakhouse, Carnivore offers a homestyle menu at budget-friendly prices appealing to the neighborhood’s many families. Steak, of course, takes center stage with juicy filet mignon, top sirloin, strip steak and ribeye leading the menu. Customize any of the succulent meats with sautéed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, or melted housemade butters, such as garlic-and-herb and red wine reduction, on top of the flame-seared steak. Other main dishes include a thick-cut pork steak (smoked at J. Smugs) and the grilled chicken with capers and a white wine-lemon-butter sauce. St. Louis Italian traditions get their due in the Baked Ravioli, smothered in provel cheese and house ragu, and in the Arancini, risotto balls stuffed with provel and swimming in a pool of meat sauce. With an exciting new brunch menu debuting for Saturday and Sunday, Carnivore should be everyone’s new taste of the Hill.

SPENCER’S GRILL

CAFE PIAZZA

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314.821.2601 223 S KIRKWOOD RD KIRKWOOD, MO 63122

314-343-0294 1900 ARSENAL STREET ST. LOUIS, MO 63118

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.

THE CHOCOLATE PIG

BLK MKT EATS

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314.272.3230 4220 DUNCAN AVE, ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

314.391.5100 9 S. VANDEVENTER AVE. ST. LOUIS, MO 63108 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 ingredients that fit everything you love about sushi NOT AVERAGE SUSHI SPOT and burritos right in your hand. The Swedish FishYOUR layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dill slaw, Persian cucumbers and avocado for a fresh flavor explosion.

Another favorite, the OG Fire, featuresMON-SAT your choice of 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, TAKEOUT OR DELIVERY 11AM-9PM 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.

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Like pizza? Nobody does it better than Café Piazza, a Sicilian Café & Bar in Benton Park & a stone’s throw from Anheuser-Busch (enjoy this iconic St Louis vista from our patio). Our “Big Momma” (a 4-ton laser wood-fired pizza oven) has been firing out pizzas since 2017. Try the original 11” Italian style: bestsellers include our Pizza Bianca (garlic infused alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, bacon and parmigiana) or Queen Margherita (fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil). Prefer a deeper dish? Try our Sicilian pizzas baked in Extra Virgin Olive Oil & tomato fillet sauce with your choice of toppings. Heard of our famous graffiti mural which covers the entire ceiling? Created by legendary artist Paco Rosic, it depicts famous St Louis luminaries: kudos to those who can name all eleven! If pizza isn’t your thing, our appetizers, paninis, and salads definitely will be. Open for lunch & dinner daily. Brunch served Saturday, Sunday 10am – 2pm. $7 original 11” Italian pizzas all day every Monday! Happy Hour 4pm – 6pm weekly ($3 draft beer), all-day Sunday. Open until midnight Friday & Saturday. Group catering also available.

JULY 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 moderatelypriced 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.

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Continued from pg 29

I spend a great amount of time and research to create great menu items and great dining experiences for guests.

What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you?

I enjoy ice cream every night, bowl or bar doesn’t matter.

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

Super-human endurance to get all the things I need to get done.

What is the most positive thing you’ve noticed in the St. Louis restaurant scene over the past year?

I like the commissary kitchens for potential restaurateurs who have an idea for a product but no capital to implement it.

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

More ethnic restaurants. We have a great array already, but more Jamaican and Caribbean establishments.

Who is your St. Louis food crush?

Julie West of Soulard Coffee Garden is an amazing chef and pastry chef.

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

Yael Moose, the executive chef at Hopcat, has been in the restaurant scene for decades.

Which ingredient is most representative of your personality?

Avocado. It’s been around for a long time, makes things better and is very versatile.

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

I would have been a barber.

Growing up, my friends were either paper boys or cut grass and did odd jobs around the neighborhood. I was the neighborhood barber.

Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant.

Seasoned salt.

What is your after-work hangout?

My yard, doing lawn work.

I’m in pursuit of the perfect lawn.

What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? ed ull sugar free, of course. It makes me feel less guilty.

What would be your last meal on earth?

My wife’s chili. It’s to die for. n

[FIRST LOOK]

Indo Brings a Rising Star to the City Written by

KATIE COUNTS

W

ith all the hype surrounding James Beard-nominated chef Nick Bognar’s debut restaurant, he wants to make sure it isn’t taken too seriously. If anything, he wants his new southeast Asian and Japanese restaurant Indo (1641 Tower Grove Avenue, 314-899-9333) to feel like a “professional party.”

“I really like the idea of everyone who comes here essentially not feeling serious about it, yet getting very serious food,” Bognar says.

Opening last Friday, Indo features a rotating menu, a bar and rapid-fire coursing, with both hot and cold meals. Patrons can try a variety of smaller dishes, share a large dish for the whole table, or dine omakase style at the restaurant’s eight-seat chef’s counter.

“It doesn’t need to be pretentious, and it doesn’t need to be too much of anything,” Bognar says.

“It just needs taste great and have people feel satiated by it.”

While this is ognar’s first restaurant, it is not his first goaround. The St. Louis native grew up learning from a family of restaurant owners, and started his formal cooking education at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. He then worked at restaurants in Austin and Cincinnati before returning home two years ago to run his mother’s longtime restaurant Nippon Tei in Ballwin.

Bognar’s work there was transformative. He established a sophisticated sushi menu at the strip-mall restaurant, thrusting him into the spotlight. This year, the -year-old was a semifinalist for the James Beard Rising Star Chef Award. Riverfront Times food critic Cheryl Baehr declared his sushi the best in the metropolitan area.

With Indo, Bognar gets to mix his formal training in Japanese modern cuisine with his Thai heritage. (The name is an abbreviation of Indochina.) Bognar grew up making Thai food with his grandma, an e perience reflected

Nick Bognar’s new Indo opened last weekend in Botanical Heights. | KATIE COUNTS on Indo’s menu and in its decor.

Photos of Bognar’s relatives, including his grandmother, line the walls.

“A lot of the stuff she’s taught us, we don’t really need to change,” Bognar says. “But in a way, we bring it to a modern restaurant setting.”

Bognar says it’s really important for him to approach dishes with his own style. He loves mixing a variety of flavors like using Midwest beef for classic Thai dishes or adding a spicy paste like his grandmother did.

Some of the restaurant’s dishes include fried madai with a papaya salad, crab and rice served in a clay pot, and lamb ribs garnished with candied peanuts.

“Part of my stamp on meals has become getting you to have a bunch of different flavors in one dinner,” Bognar says. “I think that brings a ton of value to what we do. You can sit down and have lots of different stuff. That’s not something you can do at home.”

From Thursday to Sunday, the eight-seat chef’s counter will include an omakase menu. Patrons can also dine a la carte or in the formal dinner space. Indo will even have an outdoor patio with a small bar.

Blue walls, wooden tables, and plants growing down the interior brick are featured through the restaurant, which was previously home to Good Fortune. Since Indo

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seats approximately 40 people, Bognar wants to keep the staff small but strong. Members of the team include chef de cuisine Mark Silva and Hana Chung, previously of Vista Ramen.

Bognar wants the small space to bring all the amenities of a finedining restaurant.” Most of the up to ten dishes offered will change daily, but a few will remain constant.

“I want people to feel like we stay fresh overtime and we give them a reason to come back,” Bognar says.

As well as high-quality and local ingredients, Bognar says Indo will feature a wine list curated by sommelier Zac Adcox of Reeds American Table and a creative series of cocktails, including one that arrives with a bag of rock candy and hibiscus.

Bognar says many people might not know what to expect from the restaurant, but he knows exactly what it is.

“Is this a serious omakase restaurant? Is it this kind of rustic Thai restaurant? I think it’s none of those things,” Bognar says. “It’s just me cooking what I’m excited about on any given day.”

Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Dinner will be served from 5 to 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays dinner extends to midnight. n

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Up-Down STL is now back in court through no fault of its own. | KATIE COUNTS

[FOOD NEWS]

City Erred on Up-Down License, Court Says Written by

SARAH FENSKE

T

hree weeks ago, Up-Down STL (405 North Euclid Avenue, 314449-1742) opened its doors in the Central West End, ending two years of legal wrangling over its liquor license.

Last Tuesday, the appeals court said “not so fast.”

In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the Eastern district of the Missouri Court of Appeals said the city had erred in granting the license. It has sent the matter back to the circuit court to send back to the city’s Excise Division.

In short, through no fault of its own, Up-Down is right back where it was two years ago.

And that’s because the court wasn’t ruling on the merits — it didn’t say, for example, that Up-Down would be a detriment to the neighborhood, as a pair of neighbors have argued. Instead, it said the city’s excise hearing commissioner failed to consider whether Up-Down would be a detriment to the neighborhood. The court is in effect sending the matter back so he can do just that.

Calling the ruling “really a bummer,” Up-Down owner Josh Ivey says he has been seeking answers this morning from City Hall, and feels fairly confident the arcade bar can continue serving drinks, at least for now. “We have a liquor license,” he says. “We have not had that taken away, and the court has not directed the city to take it away.”

Up-Down’s problems stem in part from upheaval at City Hall.

At the time of the hearing for Up-

Down’s license, back in May 2017, the city’s longtime excise commissioner Bob Kraiberg had been fired by the mayor’s office and fighting to get his job back (a fight he later won). An outside attorney, Tom Yarbrough, had been brought in to handle the case, which had faced fierce resistance from some neighbors unhappy with the fact that a bar was replacing the longtime tenant, Herbie’s Vintage 72, which had closed a year earlier.

At the hearing, Yarbrough said he would strictly limit his decision to whether Up-Down had gathered enough signatures from the two groups mandated by city ordinance. He decided that day that the Iowa-based arcade bar group had done so, and announced he would grant the license, along with conditions designed to mitigate neighborhood concerns.

That decision, the appeals court says, was inadequate. City ordinances, the justices agreed, contain thirteen factors that the Excise Division “shall consider” in determining whether a license would be detrimental to a neighborhood. By focusing only on signatures, Yarbrough dropped the ball. “[W]ithout detailed findings, and without a specific conclusion regarding detriment prior to the Commissioner’s decision to grant the license application, we cannot determine whether the Hearing Officer properly followed the ordinance or review whether the decision is supported by competent and substantial evidence upon the whole record,” wrote Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr. With the lower court likely to order the city to gather more information on possible “detriment” to the neighbors, Ivey says he welcomes the probe. “I’m fairly confident we can show we are not a detriment, and we are a positive to the neighborhood,” he says. “We have had no police calls, and we’re working our hardest to make sure we don’t have any problems.”

Of the legal wrangling, he admits, “I just want it to be done.” n

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MUSIC + CULTURE

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[HOMESPUN]

In the Extreme No longer tethered to Nelly’s E.I. program, super producer Carl Nappa plots his future in St. Louis Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

T

ucked away in a quiet, quasiindustrial stretch of the Hill sits the St. Louis Recording Club. No sign alerts you to its presence — like any good club, exclusivity is part of the appeal — but most afternoons and nights you can bet that Carl Nappa will be at work behind his console.

Nappa, a Boston-bred engineer and producer, gives a brief tour of the gallery wall of records he’s worked on. The wall serves as something of a Rorschach test for music fans: Wu-Tang fans will swoon to know that he has a mixing credit on RZA’s Bobby Digital in Stereo; children of the mid-’90s will flip to know he had a hand in several songs on the Space Jam soundtrack. This particular writer was thoroughly geeked to hear that Nappa recorded the recently departed Dr. John for his contribution to Spiritualized’s epic Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.

But the pride of place is reserved for St. Louis’ very own Cornell Haynes Jr. Nappa’s engineering and production work on Nelly’s albums, including Brass Knuckles and the Sweat/Suit double whammy, are prominently represented on the wall of fame.

“I probably spent more time with him in those three or four years than I’ve spent with anybody else in my lifetime,” he says of his time with Nelly. “You’re talking eighteen, twenty hours a day.”

In fact, it’s Nappa’s relationship with Nelly that brought him to St. ouis in the first place, initially as a traveling engineer on albums and later as an architect of the curriculum at the Ex’treme Institute (E.I.), Nelly’s recently shuttered produc-

Carl Nappa’s extensive discography includes work with Ice Cube, Ghostface Killah, Nas and more. | ERIC NEMENS tion school, which was opened with Vatterott College. It’s not a role he initially felt suited for.

“I thought I was just coming up to consult,” he recalls. “I was in a meeting with the [institute’s] CEO and she asked me to run the school. I said, ‘I’m the wrong fucking guy.’ I started rolling up my sleeves — I’m covered in tattoos, I don’t have a college degree and these aren’t even my shoes! I borrowed them from a friend of mine to come to this meeting!”

But Nappa’s twenty years in the business proved to be precisely what E.I. was looking for. As for writing the curriculum, Nappa used his own back pages to plot the students’ coursework.

“I worked backwards from my own timeline: ‘Where in my life did I fuck up?’” he says. “‘Oh, I signed this bad contract, so we should have a class about contracts.’ ‘It took me awhile to understand mixing and instruments — we should have classes around that.’”

Vatterott and Nelly parted ways in January 2018 in a decision described as mutual; then, in December, Vatterott abruptly closed all of its campuses, citing a U.S. Department of Education decision that limited federal financial aid assistance for for-profit colleges like Vatterott.

Nappa recalls the sudden announcement and closure as “a horrible day.”

“A lot of people lost their jobs that day, but more importantly, students got screwed,” he says. “I had students that were crying because they were two weeks away from graduation and the Department [of Education] wouldn’t allow them to graduate.”

Nappa hasn’t worked with Nelly since E.I. shut down — the rapper has been touring for most of that time — and he notes that the industry has changed so much that the idea of an in-house engineer is somewhat antiquated. While he kept a full roster of mostly out-oftown clients, the school’s closure forced Nappa to decide whether he had a future in St. Louis.

“I had some job offers in Austin and Memphis, things like that,” he says. “But there’s something about St. Louis; I really enjoy the quality of life and the folks. Growing up in the Northeast, everything is so crazy and hustle-bustle, and I get out here and people are like, ‘Hey, how ya doing? Nice to meet you.’”

Nappa is juggling a few local projects at the moment: a big band record featuring vocalist Christian Smith; a Freddie Mercury tribute by singer Terry Barber; and a forthcoming full-length from the heavy, hairy blues-rock

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duo the Maness Brothers.

And while he is keeping busy with local artists in his studio on the Hill, Nappa rejects the notion that it’s easier to work in St. Louis, with much cheaper rent and overhead, than a city like New York or Los Angeles.

“It’s harder,” he says. “There’s less industry. In those places, there’s an infrastructure in place — managers, labels, publishing companies, things like that. Here, we unfortunately don’t have it. There’s no true record label, something that’s employing a lot of people.”

Still, Nappa notes, what the city lacks in traditional music-industry fi tures, it makes up for in musical talent and a web of professional studios and engineers.

He hopes to use his decades of experience in big-name studios and major-label budgets to impart a sense of community — and a little outside perspective — to St. Louis’ music scene.

“What I noticed when I came here was that the studios were segmented,” he says. “Most of them didn’t talk to each other.”

Nappa’s goal in bringing more studio owners and engineers to the table is “just to get everybody on the same page and have an exchange of ideas.” n

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Brandin Vaughn shows off some of his work in his Cherokee storefront. | JOSHUA PHELPS

Thursday July 4 9:30PM

The Meters Tribute [ FA S H I O N ]

That St. Louis Style Designer Brandin Vaughn brings Hollywood fashion to Cherokee Street Written by

JOSHUA PHELPS

D

esigner Brandin Vaughn has hit it big creating clothes for actresses, producers and musicians, counting among his clients Vivica A. Fox and Sweetie Pie’s restaurant owner Robbie Montgomery. He does it all from a small shop on Cherokee Street.

Brandin Vaughn Collection (2604 Cherokee Street, 314-325-2341) is adjacent to Foam coffee shop and next door to Teatopia. His boutique features dresses, pants and other unique women’s wear. Prices range from $89 for separates to $234 to some top-of-theline dresses.

Citing Ralph Lauren as a marketing influence and Valentino Garavani as his design influence, Vaughn also finds inspiration in his mother, wife and daughter.

Vaughn designs clothes for a variety of people, but his store mostly focuses on women. “I love men’s coats, but 90 percent of the store is women’s wear.

I love to design a nice day dress for a

woman that she can wear to work, then transfer it to the evening and feel like a million bucks,” he says.

Adhering to the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” theory, Vaughn plays it safe when it comes to designs. “I like to do everything in threes,” he admits. “If I see something, and I see it three times in three different places, then I know that’s going to be a popular thing coming down the pipeline.”

Most of the time, Vaughn prefers to let the fabrics speak for themselves. “I love telling the story through fabric. I believe simple and elegant is the best way,” he says.

Born in Kennett, Missouri, and raised in University City, Vaughn realized his talent for fashion and design as a tenyear-old, when he made couch cushions from scratch for his family. Vaughn later honed his skills by transforming denim pants into skirts to sell to his friends in school.

“I saw it was a lucrative and profitable business,” he reflects.

After graduating high school, Vaughn moved to Chicago to attend the Art Institute. He met his wife there and got an internship with an independent designer that became a full-time job after he received his bachelor’s of science and fine arts with an emphasis in fashion design from the institute in 2008.

The career services department of the Art Institute connected him with a job at Macy’s Glamorama fashion show. It was then he met and worked closely with Beyoncé and her younger sister Solange

Knowles, as well as MC Hammer and Cyndi Lauper.

“From that experience, I got up close and personal to stardom and was able to work hand in hand with [them], and see what happens when fashion and entertainment collide to produce a magnificent show,” he says.

Around 2013, Vaughn returned to St. Louis with his wife and opened up a shop in Create Space, a co-op workspace in the Delmar Loop. When that closed, Vaughn operated various pop-up shops around the metro area before he was approached by a Cherokee Street developer.

“He was persistent with emailing, calling, and he was determined to get me in. So I broke down and did the numbers and couldn’t pass it up,” he says. “It’s different working in a studio space than working at home, and I knew that I had to eventually get out of the house.”

Vaughn sent an email to his followers asking for donations to cover the deposit for the Cherokee Street space. In February 2018, the boutique officially opened.

Vaughn is hosting an event September 13 at the Marquee Restaurant and Lounge (1911 Locust Street, 314-9439657) showcasing 100 of the 1,000 garments he has produced since he began designing clothes. The event starts at 7 p.m., and ticket prices will be announced in the coming months.

Brandin Vaughn Collections is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. n

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JULY 18

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Dominic Schaeffer, Zane Spencer, Andrea Spencer and Curtis Hendricks form the membership of Keokuk. | MICHAEL WILLIAMS

[PREVIEW]

The Joys of Spring With a new album, Keokuk is doing things its own way — and having a blast Written by

THOMAS CRONE

F

or the band Keokuk, everything comes with a unique twist.

The fact that there’s a mother-son duo as the rhythm section. The prominent role given to a sax in a rock & roll band. The tinges of prog, jazz, ambient and new wave, which dip in and out with abandon. The age range of the players, which spans a couple members in their seventh decade and one member just on the good side of the drinking age. Then there’s the employment of instrumentals (their recent CD release, Spring, has two), and the relatively spare nature of lyrics/vocals on those cuts that do feature them.

None of this was the plan, per se. nstead, it reflects the organic growth of a group with a host of influences, a wide range of life e periences and a desire to play together for as long as it’s fun. These days, says guitarist and vocalist Curtis Hendricks, it is. Along with Dominic Schaeffer on sax, Andrea Spencer on drums and Zane Spencer on bass, “everyone’s digging it,” Hendricks reports.

He adds, “The only wild card is our bass player.” A student at Southern Illinois University, Spen-

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cer is not sure what his future will be, Hendricks says. “But he likes playing with the old folks, bless his heart.”

Six months ago, Hendricks recalls, Spencer turned to the others at practice and and said, “The songs on the next album are hard, more challenging. And that’s good.” Says Hendricks, “It’s made the songs slower in development, but Dom and I and Andrea totally dig it. In certain respects I consider it the best band I’ve been in.” eokuk’s listed influences suggest its members’ varied tastes.

They include the Bad Plus, Gong, King Crimson, the Beatles, Link Wray, the Who and Wilco — as well as some more obscure bands.

Says Hendricks, “I’ve always been interested in more linear playing, not just chordal playing. That doesn’t interest me, as much. I like Television, that style of guitar playing, or the stuff from Quicksilver Messenger Service, a hippie band from the ’60s. That type of thing and others like it.

Dominic’s sax has a pedal that gives him more harmonics and even Zane’s almost playing lead behind us, which gives a chamber trio aspect to it. Andrea’s melodic, at times, though not playing a melodic instrument. I love playing with that additional fourth instrument, after often playing in trios.”

For Spring, the group turned into the ultimate DIY unit, with, of course, some twists. Working without a producer, the members began recording soon after releasing their last, self-titled CD just about a year ago. This time, they recorded it in Hendricks’ and Spencer’s basement on, naturally, Keokuk Street.

“And how we approached this was, in order to break up the monotony of us just recording songs, we’d have a normal rehearsal every week,” he says. “We’d roll

along, play and get to feeling good, then would pick a song to get a recording of; that’s how we’d approach it.

“We’d have the whole group in the room,” he adds, “and there’d be no isolation or any of that.

We’d play the song three times and we’d shoot for the best take.

We didn’t always get one, but it often worked out pretty well. We were playing live, together, and only used a few overdubs. The idea was to have all the bass and drums live, all the rhythm tracks, with most of the guitar and sax live.”

Schaeffer invested in a solid live sound system, which the band put to use on Spring, adding a completely live cut, recorded in the special acoustics of the Venice Cafe. That type of guerrilla recording will potentially be used for the next round of material.

The band “listened to the tracks a ton,” Hendricks says. “Ninety percent of recording is listening back and making decisions. When you’re doing it on your own, you hear every flaw to the power of 100, so it’s really hard. There’s stuff that’s marginal, but the sounds are cool in context and you want that good energy in there.”

A few weeks back, Keokuk played a show at Schlafly Tap Room with two other bands with deep wells of experience, the Treeweasels and American Professionals. The gig made sense, though the group doesn’t need to limit itself to a certain type of bill, a specific venue. They’re rangey, love experimenting, and get off on playing around in the art form of their choice. They’re digging their sound, and each other. Long may they dig.

Spring is now available on CD at Vintage Vinyl and Euclid Records, as well as digitally through Bandcamp, Spotify and iTunes. n

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Andrew Leahey & the Homestead, just one of the acts performing at Americana Fest. | BILL FOSTER

Americana Fest III 5 p.m. Saturday, July 6.

Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Avenue. $15. 314-775-0775.

Like most genre tags, “Americana” is a slippery fish. Once used as a byword for non-commercial country music, it now stands in for all sorts of roots-based, folkinfluenced American music. So it’s an uphill climb for Adam Donald, the local promoter of the Americana Festival, now in its third iteration, but this year’s lineup is predominantly Missouri-centric while

THURSDAY 4

BRETT YOUNG: w/ Randy Houser 6:30 p.m., free.

Gateway Arch, 200 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 877-982-1410.

FUNKIFY YOUR LIFE: A TRIBUTE TO THE METERS: 9:30 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

JOE METZKA BAND: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

LECHE: w/ Big Whoop, the Slow Boys 9 p.m., $5.

The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

NEON BLUES BAND: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

TAB BENOIT: 6 p.m., $20-$55. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

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

FRIDAY 5

ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N.: w/ Magic Beans 6 p.m., $20-$25. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

AWAYFROMREASON: w/ Q Street, Jake’s Mistakes, Crystal Lady, Cold Rooms 7 p.m., $5-$8. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

THE BEL AIRS: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

staying stylistically broad. Columbia’s Hooten Hallers, featuring local baritone saxophone icon Kellie Everett, headlines alongside Nashville’s Andrew Leahey & the Homestead. From there, the variety of St. Louis is well represented with sets from Cree Rider, Native Sons, Tonina, Gene Jackson, AV & the Dirty Details, John Henry, the Dust Covers and Oak, Steel & Lightning.

Fest for the Rest: The festival grounds at Atomic Cowboy will also feature clothing, art and boutique vendors.

—Christian Schaeffer

FUNKY BUTT BRASS BAND: 10 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

JON BONHAM & FRIENDS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

KEITH SWEAT: w/ Johnny Gill 6:30 p.m., free.

Gateway Arch, 200 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 877-982-1410.

KIM MASSIE BAND: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

MELISSA NEELS BLUES: 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

OUTRUN THE FALL: w/ Out Amongst The Masses, LTH, XIII Minutes, Sixes High 7 p.m., $10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

THE THREATS: w/ Fever Strike, Cult Season, Family Medicine 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

WALTER TROUT: 8 p.m., $20-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

SATURDAY 6

‘90S TRIBUTE NIGHT: w/ Polysonikx: Green Day Tribute, Rock Steady: No Doubt Tribute, Small Things: Blink 182 Tribute, Alice Complains: Alice In Chains Tribute 7 p.m., $10. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

Continued on pg 41

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Nikki Lane. | JESSICA LEHRMAN

Nikki Lane 8 p.m. Sunday, July 7.

Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $22 to $35. 314-773-3363.

On rolling paper, Nikki Lane would seem to have all the necessary elements to be a major country star, but this isn’t 1974 — hell, it isn’t even 2004, when honkytonk-friendly, class-conscious women like Gretchen Wilson and Terri Clark could move a million units. Country radio remains stuck in the Pleistocene, run by Neanderthals who wouldn’t push instant hits like Lane’s “Right Time” or “Jackpot” for all the payola you could

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 39

ARIANA GRANDE: 7 p.m., TBA. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

BRUISER QUEEN: w/ The Stars Go Out, The Radio Buzzkills, Jason Detroit 8 p.m., $10.

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

CARLY RAE JEPSEN: 8 p.m., $36-$38.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

CAROLYN MASON BAND: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

CLUSTERPLUCK: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090.

DEVIL’S ELBOW: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

DREADNOUGHT: 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

THE FLAMING LIPS: w/ Vertical Horizon 6:30 p.m., free. Gateway Arch, 200 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 877-982-1410.

JACOB JOLLIFF BAND: w/ Wooden Puddin 8 p.m., $10-$13. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

JAKE’S LEG: 10 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

LIVERY COMPANY’S 7TH ANNIVERSARY: w/ Pat Sajak Assassins, The Silver Arrows, 3 of 5, Irene Allen, Carondelet Guy, Zack Sloan, Adam Gaffney & The Highway Saints 6 p.m., free.

cram into a Cadillac trunk. Lane just keeps on belting out shit-kicking anthems for women (and dudes) who’ve had enough and just want to rock and twang and cut loose without compromise or condescension. So roll another number for the road and the dance floor — Nikki Lane is the highway queen we all need right now.

Bonus Round: Joining Lane for this gig are fellow Nashville-based Americana songwriter Carl Anderson and St. Louis’ own Cara Louise, who may be the best hard-shell country singer in town. It’s a Sunday night, so pace yourself.

—Roy Kasten Livery Company, 6728 S Broadway, St. Louis, 314-558-2330.

MAXIMUM EFFORT DOUBLE EP RELEASE: w/ Grave Neighbors, Dudas, the Uppers, Bassamp & Dano 8 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309.

PAUL BONN & THE BLUESMEN: 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565.

REGULUS: 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

SEATTLE SUICIDE: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.

SKELETON: w/ Army, Crusade, Morbid Rites, Soul Craft 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

STL AMERICANA FEST III: 4 p.m., $15. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

UNDERTOW: A TRIBUTE TO TOOL: w/ Koreigner: A Tribute to Korn, Divine Sorrow 8 p.m., $10.

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

SUNDAY 7

EXNATIONS: w/ ‘90s Kids, Trey, Jaleb 6 p.m., $10.

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

THE HEAD AND THE HEART: w/ Hippo Campus 8 p.m., $36-$61.50. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

KIM MASSIE: 8 p.m., $10. Broadway Oyster Bar,

Continued on pg 43

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. | FLICKR/JESSY GONZALEZ

Built to Spill 7 p.m. Monday, July 8.

The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $30. 314-833-3929.

In the case of Built to Spill, your favorite album is probably the one you heard first.

Credit the band’s remarkable consistency over the years, owing to bandleader Doug Martsch’s hard-won reputation as a bona fide guitar hero. Sure, Perfect From Now On, the group’s first on a major label, still gets the highest marks from critics. But critics don’t buy records on the scale of the masses, and the band’s follow-up,

1999’s Keep It Like a Secret — to be fair, also a critical darling — is the one that cemented Built to Spill’s status as indie-rock royalty. This tour celebrates the twentieth anniversary of that finely honed, dazzlingly composed record. Expect to hear new interpretations of those songs — Martsch is working with a wholly different lineup than those who helped write the record, and the band’s jammy tendencies lend to experimentation.

Center of the Universe: This show is an international affair, with Montreal’s Wetface and Rio de Janeiro’s ORUÃ opening.

—Daniel Hill

OUT EVERY NIGHT

Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

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

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8:30 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

NIKKI LANE: 8 p.m., $22-$35. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

RATBOYS: w/ Choir Vandals, Jr Clooney 8 p.m., $12-$14. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444.

STEVE NOLD: w/ DCR, Rocio B, DJ Thomas Pramod 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

WARRIORS NIGHT OUT: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

COAST TO COAST LIVE: 9 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

DADDY LONG LEGS: 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

EVAN COLE: 6 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

GABE STILLMAN BLUES BAND: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

HEART, SHERYL CROW: 7 p.m., TBA. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944.

LAMAR HARRIS: 7:30 p.m., $15. Gaslight Theater, 358 N. Boyle Ave., St. Louis.

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

Continued from pg 41

MONDAY 8

BUILT TO SPILL KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET 20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR: 7 p.m., $30. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

COOKIE TONGUE: w/ Wooter, Big Step, Janet 7 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: w/ Lala Lala 8 p.m., $35$99. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

ERIC & LARRY: 6 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

THE FUNS: w/ Shux, Kijani Eshe 9 p.m., free.

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

MUSIC UNLIMITED BAND: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz,

TUESDAY 9

WEDNESDAY 10

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

BLACK & WHITE BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

GLASSING: w/ Blight Future, Mystic Will, Cult Season 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

MICHIGAN RATTLERS: 8 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

PRIESTS: 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

SEAN CANAN’S VOODOO PLAYERS: 9:30 p.m., $8.

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

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SAVAGE LOVE PREJUDICIAL STATEMENTS

BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a man from a very liberal background. Recently, a girl I started dating — a girl from a similar background — mentioned that she has “a thing for black guys.” She also met my childhood best friend, a man of Korean descent, and commented to me that she found him handsome despite not typically being attracted to Asian guys.

The position that I’ve always held is that we’re attracted to individuals, not types, and it’s wrong to have expectations of people based on race — especially when it comes to sexualizing/fetishizing people. I think we should date and have sex with whomever we want and not carry prejudiced expectations into our relationships. I am worried she sees black men as stereotypes of athleticism, confidence and the other complicated constructions we’ve made about the black body, like black men having bigger dicks.

I also worry that she might see me as less masculine and less well-endowed because of my race.

I eventually asked her about these issues, and we had a tense conversation. I tried to ask if she had ever checked herself for possible prejudice where her sexual desires are concerned, and she shut the conversation down by accusing me of trying to control her.

I reassured her that I wasn’t trying to control her, but it is possible I was projecting the insecurity her comments stirred into the conversation. I’m trying to balance two components: my own insecurity and the possibility that she’s holding a legitimately prejudiced opinion that makes me uncomfortable.

Any advice?

Seeking To Interrogate Newish Girlfriend’s Statements It’s a big leap from “I have a thing for black guys” to “white guys aren’t masculine or wellendowed,” STINGS, and you made that leap on your own. So in addition to confronting your new girlfriend about her attitudes and assumptions ... you might want to give some thought to your own?

That said, the things your girlfriend has said about black and Asian men are legit problematic.

When someone describes their attraction to a certain group, racial or otherwise, as “a thing,” that usually means they see members of that group as things — and in a society that dehumanizes black people, white people can easily come to see black people as objects.

As for her comment about your Korean friend: Prevailing beauty standards shape our ideas about attractiveness, and those standards are shaped by our rabidly racist culture. A person socialized to only recognize the beauty of men or women of European descent may not even consider — they may not even be able to perceive — the attractiveness of people who aren’t white. And then when someone of a different race does manage to make a blip on their sex radar, it comes as a surprise. But instead of reconsidering their ideas about attractiveness, a dumb fucking white person — even one from a liberal background — is likelier to say something stupid like “I don’t usually find sian guys hot, but your Korean friend is attractive,” rather than rethinking their assumptions about their desires. Declaring one Asian guy an exception allows someone like your girlfriend to have her racist cake ( don’t find Asian guys hot”) and eat it too (“But this Asian guy is hot”).

It’s a shame your girlfriend reacted defensively when you tried to bring all this up, STINGS, but sometimes people react defensively in the moment and then keep thinking about it. My advice: Keep bringing it up — but it would help if you owned your own shit during these conversations (and you have some shit of your own) rather than just self-righteously going after your girlfriend for her shit. I have to say, though, I disagree with you on one thing: People do have types, and there’s nothing wrong with having types. It’s a good idea to ask ourselves whether our “types” are actually ours and not just assigned to us by conventional standards of beauty (white, slim, young) or a thoughtless/fetishizing reaction to those standards (a desire to transgress with nonwhite, larger or older folks).

Hey, Dan: I’m a middle-aged African American man. I’m single, I

“When I masturbate, which I sometimes do after a shower, I notice them both making several passes by their windows to look.” dress well, I’m fit, I cycle to work, I eat healthy, etc. I live in a basement apartment on a narrow street in a large city. My only window faces the street. After showering, and pretty much whenever I’m home, I’m naked while walking around my apartment. A young white couple moved in across the street, and they have an unobstructed view into my apartment. At first I would notice the woman standing at the window looking my way as I toweled off. Then the male as well. And when I masturbate, which I sometimes do after a shower, I noticed them both making several passes by their windows to look. Later I noticed the male coming out late in the evening when the view into my apartment is at its optimum to watch me masturbate. He seems very interested. The woman will come outside and sit on the steps in the morning and look directly into my apartment at me while drinking her coffee. More than once she has run her hand up the inside of her thigh as she’s watching. Also I’ve noticed that their shades, which used to be closed most of the time, are always wide open with lights on so I can clearly see them in their apartment.

I’m sure the woman knows that I want her — and the male seems to be exhibiting bi tendencies (something I’m not interested in at all). In your opinion, are these two a voyeur couple or a submissive cuckold couple? How should I approach to seduce? If she’s sitting on her steps, can I go over and say “Good morning” to break the ice? The other day, I left just as she

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was going out, and we walked past each other. I thought about saying something, but I don’t want to appear to be chasing her.

Display Attracts Neighbors’ Glazed Looks Everyday P.S. What do you make of the male’s behavior?

I once dated a guy who was arrested in his own apartment at ten in the morning for masturbating in front of an open window.

Granted, he lived across the street from a school (a university, not a middle school), and that may have had something to do with it. But he was a white guy, DANGLE, and considering all the ways African American men are targeted by the police, I feel obligated to warn you — well, I feel obligated to warn you about something you already know: Cops are always looking for an excuse to arrest or harass a black man, and your exhibitionism could attract the attentions not just of horny neighbors, but also the authorities.

That said, DANGLE, if everything is as you describe it — if this isn’t a case of dickful thinking on your part — it sounds like this couple is interested. “Interest” is a spectrum, of course, and they could find it interesting to live across the street from a hot, in-shape e hibitionist, and di cult to look away, without actually wanting to be fucked (her) or be cuckolded (him) by you. But if they’re staring into your apartment while you walk around naked and throwing open the curtains so you can stare into theirs, I’d say the ice has already been broken. So say hello the next time you run into them on the street. eep that first convo light, neighborly and nonsexual, and see where it leads. But if during that first convo they invite you over for a beer sometime ... well, that’s a Yahtzee. But even then, don’t make any assumptions or sudden moves: Use your words, draw them out, make sure everyone is on the same page.

P.S. Maybe he’s bi. Maybe he’s a cuck. Maybe he’s the woman’s gay roommate. There’s only one way to find out what’s up with him: Say hello and get to know them.

Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

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HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS CLUB TACO Located in the heart of downtown Kirkwood, Club Taco is a staple on N. Kirkwood Rd. AKA Lindbergh Blvd.

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Some of the creative and surprisingly delicious tacos include a taco with calamari and feta, a taco with crispy fried chicken and four pepper hot sauce, and even multiple vegetarian options. Gerard LaRuffa is the creative genius behind the delicious fare.

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CLUB TACO | 200 N KIRKWOOD RD, KIRKWOOD, MO | CLUBTACOSTL.COM

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