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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“Everyone’s in such a hurry ... they just walk right by it, and they don’t really realize that this is history. It’s important.” ARTIST MATT RULO, PHOTOGRAPHED MAKING RELIEF PRINTS OF THE COMMON SEAL OF ST. LOUIS OUTSIDE THE CARNAHAN COURTHOUSE ON OCTOBER 20

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Interim Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

COVER

Guts & Glory Glory Pro Wrestling has taken some bumps in the past three years, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fought its way back to elevate sports entertainment in the St. Louis area

A R T Art Director Evan Sult Contributing Photographers Virginia Harold, Stephen Kennedy, Monica Mileur, Zia Nizami, Andy Paulissen, Nick Schnelle, Mabel Suen, Micah Usher, Theo Welling, Jen West P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Haimanti Germain

Cover photo by

MONICA MILEUR

M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy

INSIDE

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

The Lede Hartmann

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John Shimkus discovers hints of a spine as he oozes out the door

News Feature Calendar

E D I T O R I A L Managing Editor Liz Miller Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writer 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 Ella Faust, Caroline Groff, Ronald Wagner

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The Forgotten | Left Bank Books | Legally Blonde | Jennifer Colten: Real Estate Row | Halloween Listings

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 N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (Missouri residents add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (Missouri residents add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member

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HARTMANN Bye, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye A GOP congressman from southern Illinois critiques Trump on Syria — and heads for the hills BY RAY HARTMANN

know this is going to hit you hard, but we’re losing John Shimkus. You know who John Shimkus is, don’t you? OK, perhaps you don’t. But you should, because this man has spent more than two decades not mattering to us much as a congressman from a district that includes metro-east portions of the St. Louis area. He hails from

Collinsville, Illinois, which happens to sit closer to the Gateway Arch than Creve Coeur. Shimkus got his fifteen minutes of quasi-fame October 10 with the announcement that he is not only resigning from Congress after twelve terms, but he’s quitting Donald Trump, as well. That’s saying something, because until that moment, he was co-chair of Trump’s 2020 Illinois campaign (admittedly a rather symbolic post in one of the bluest of states). It turns out that the first and last straw for Shimkus was Syria. The congressman was among dozens of Republican congressmen who — after being cool with Trump’s bromances with Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and assorted dictators, and silent while he trashed NATO partners, Canada, Australia and the like — found their foreign-policy moral compass when Trump abandoned Kurdish allies whose countrymen had died fighting ISIS for us. Shimkus did go much further than most of his colleagues in ex-

pressing his entirely justifiable indignation with Trump’s latest assault on American foreign policy. Here’s what he had to say regarding the Syrian debacle: “It’s terrible. It’s despicable,” Shimkus told KMOX’s Mark Reardon. “I’m heartbroken. In fact, I called my chief of staff in DC and said, ‘Pull my name off the I Support Donald Trump list.’ We have just stabbed our allies in the back. “This has just shocked, embarrassed and angered me. President Trump is a populist who wants to put Americans first and to the detriment of our allies and friends. Some people in this country like that. I do not.” Shimkus didn’t stop with the KMOX interview, issuing this statement later in the day: “While my votes will continue to support the President’s domestic policy agenda, because of this terrible foreign policy decision I asked that my name be removed from his campaign’s official list of supporters.” That, of course, falls far

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short of any suggestion that Shimkus would support impeachment of the president in the House of Representatives, an endeavor that appears increasingly inevitable. Theoretically, Shimkus will be free to relocate and vote his conscience now that he’s no longer seeking reelection. If and when impeachment hits the House floor, Shimkus will certainly be a lot more interesting to watch than he has been for the last couple of decades. Any Republican votes for impeachment would have considerable symbolic significance, at the very least, and retiring congressmen are likely to be the only ones on the GOP side with any appetite to join with Democrats. I certainly wouldn’t count on Shimkus’ vote. He did, after all, speak out for Trump in the wake of the Access Hollywood scandal on the eve of the 2016 election, even as the predator was getting cut loose by fellow Republican members of Congress from the St. Louis

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HARTMANN

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area — including Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Ballwin) and Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville). And Shimkus is the same guy who was among the loudest Trump cheerleaders on another foreign-policy abandonment: the administration’s unforgivable withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change. That might not ring a bell with casual followers of politics. But loyal, longtime readers of the RFT might at least vaguely remember Shimkus on the topic of climate change. An enterprising, multi-second search of RFT archives revealed that the mostly obscure Shimkus appeared on our pages once in the past decade, and in no small way, I might add. It turns out that on November 22, 2010, Shimkus earned the coveted “Ass Clown of the Week” award from the RFT. If we’re going to lose this congressman — who has seldom hit the local media radar in a rank-andfile career of strident percent anti-abortion positions, a lifetime “A” rating from the NRA and the like — then we should at least memorialize his Trumpish weirdness on climate change. Here’s how the RFT’s Chad Garrison reported the news of that day: “The Republican from Collinsville, Illinois, was speaking before a subcommittee of Congress in March 2009 when he pulled out a Bible and read a passage from Genesis in which God promises not to destroy the world again after oah’s flood. At the end of the reading, Shimkus declared: ‘The Earth will end only when God declares it’s time to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth ... I do believe that God’s word is infallible. Unchanging. Perfect.’ “Yesterday, Shimkus defended his statement. “‘Put into context I was at a hearing in which there were two theologians who were testifying using scripture (that God would destroy the earth through global warming) so I also wanted to address scripture really directed at those two theologians,’ Shimkus told KMOX. “The congressman went on to inform KMOX that global warming could actually be a good thing — for the people of Greenland. “‘Those people would like to see climate change, I’m not being funny, they would like to see a little bit of climate change,’ said Shimkus. ‘There is already debate (in Greenland) about a northwest passage with cruise ships going

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An impeachment vote is coming, and John Shimkus will matter when it does. Will he put country before party and do the patriotic thing with regard to exorcising Trump? Or will he hedge his bets and support the president? there to look at the icebergs.’ “Gee, we hadn’t thought about that. The opportunity to view icebergs from the deck of a Carnival cruise ship while wearing nothing but our swim trunks and flip flops is rather appealing!” For some reason, I’m not seeing the same John Shimkus — even nine years later — mustering whatever it would take to vote to impeach Trump, no matter how obvious the high crimes and misdemeanors are shown to be. It’s doubtful that Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds, historic and hideous as it is, would be among the impeachment counts. But stay tuned. An impeachment vote is coming, and Shimkus will matter when it does. Will he put country before party and do the patriotic thing with regard to exorcising Trump? Or will he hedge his bets and support the president, in the event that Trump survives and tragically gets reelected? Mindful of that eerie scenario, Shimkus might want to keep open the possibility of kissing and making up with Trump. Given the track record that earned him RFT recognition, he’d make quite an ambassador to Greenland. 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 Catholic Supply Shooter Eyed as Serial Killer Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

awyers for a man executed for murder in Tennessee want evidence tested to see if it matches Thomas Bruce, the suspect in last year’s coldblooded killing at the Catholic Supply store in Ballwin. Bruce, 54, had taken an avionics course in 1985 in Millicent, Tennessee, a few months before a nineteen-year-old Marine Corps lance corporal there was viciously raped and murdered when she went out for a jog, according to a new petition filed in a ennessee county court. A man named Sedley Alley was convicted and ultimately executed in 2006 for the fatal attack on the victim, Suzanne Collins, but his family has long maintained he was pressured into a false confession. The Innocence Project has taken up the case, and co-founder Barry Scheck announced at a news conference that lawyers had

Would-Be Weed Buyer Carjacked Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

man told investigators he was carjacked after meeting an acquaintance to buy marijuana, police say. The meet up happened shortly after 8 p.m. on October 17 at the BP gas station off of Goodfellow Boulevard in the Walnut Park West neighborhood of north St. Louis. The man, who was not publicly identified, pulled up and saw the person he knew before a bearded man with gold-

Police are investigating Thomas Bruce’s history. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE received a “chilling communication” from St. Louis investigators, seeking information in the case and raising the possibility of ties to Bruce. “There was some information that perhaps he was a serial killer,” Scheck said last week in Nashville. Even before Bruce’s arrest, investigators had begun to explore the possibility that the Catholic Supply killing was the work of an experienced criminal. The Jefferson County man is accused of staking out the shop, which sells religious items, during a visit in November 2018, and then returning with a handgun. He ordered workers and a shopper, 53-year-old Jamie frame glasses and a gold grill slipped into the victim’s car and pulled a gun on him, police say. The bearded man ordered the wouldbe weed buyer out of the car and then drove off with a red sedan following behind. About two hours later, police spotted the red sedan and tried to pull it over. A chase followed, ending when officers popped the sedan’s tires with a “tire deflation device,” police say. Three people — two men, ages 27 and 26, and a 24-year-old woman — were taken into custody, and police found in the sedan three guns and what they suspect are drugs. One of the suspects had the victim’s keys, and officers found the man’s stolen car in the 8900 block of Edna Street. n

Schmidt, into a back room where he made the women disrobe and ordered them to perform sexual acts on him, police say. Investigators believe Schmidt refused, and Bruce shot her in the head. It was a violent, calculated crime, and law enforcement throughout Missouri and beyond began checking open cases in search of a pattern. Authorities in Indiana contacted St. Louis County police after noticing physical similarities to a mysterious man who was possibly tied to the killing of two teens there. And police in the St. Louis area have also been looking for other possible cases. In January, Bruce was charged in Jefferson County with kidnapping, burglary and sexual abuse after a 77-year-old woman who had been attacked in her home told investigators she recognized Bruce’s mug shot from media coverage of the Catholic Supply killing. In Tennessee, Scheck says Bruce left the avionics program before Collins was ambushed, but they’re investigating whether he might have returned for a graduation ceremony scheduled for the day after the attack. Scheck says Alley, who like Bruce had served in the Navy, told family members he was severely intoxicated the night of the crime and had little memory of those hours when Collins is believed to have been killed, but he didn’t believe he was involved. He claimed until his death that investigators had coerced him into confessing to something he didn’t do. In a ennessee court filing, attorneys for Alley’s family cited

suspicions about Bruce in a request to conduct a DNA test on a pair of red men’s underwear found in 1985 next to Collins’ body. Defense lawyers had tried while Alley was alive to persuade a court to order the test, but they were denied. Scheck says Tennessee law has changed since then, and the underwear could be the key to determining whether the state executed the wrong man. Aside from the recanted confession, there was little else to tie Alley to the case, Scheck says. Early theories in the case had Alley hitting Collins with his car, and later stabbing her in the head with a screwdriver recovered from his vehicle. But blood found on the car turned out to be from a bird, and tire tracks and a footprint from the crime scene didn’t match Alley, Scheck says. And an autopsy turned up no sign that Collins had been stabbed in the head with a screwdriver, he says. “This, on the face of it, looks like a false confession,” Scheck says. The Innocence Project had previously sent a request to prosecutors to preserve evidence in the case. When St. Louis investigators started asking around, the organization sent an investigator to see if the underwear was still there. Scheck says it is and could still be tested. “This is the kind of crime that somebody enraged, certainly somebody engaged in serial killing, might have committed,” Scheck says. on’t you want to find that person if it was not Sedley Alley?” n

The victim went to meet his hookup and was ambushed, police say. | FLICKR/PAUL SABLEMAN

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Debbie Buff and her thirteen-year-old son Aiden say Princess Pickles is part of their family. | DEBBIE BUFF

Princess Pickles in Permit Peril Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

o the city of Festus, Princess Pickles, a one-year-old potbellied pig, represents the illegal presence of “livestock” within its limits. But in the ongoing controversy over a pig in a Missouri city, the pig’s owner, Debbie Buff, is running out of time. “She’s like one of my kids,” says Buff, who adopted the “mini pig” in August of last year. Buff says she hadn’t sought to make her home the palace of a regally named pig, but a friend told her about a family that was getting rid of a pig they’d only just adopted “in the spur of the moment.” That family’s adoption remorse led Buff to adopt (and name) Princess Pickles, who Buff says acts as an emotional support animal and, aside from a fenced-in yard, lives as an “indoor pet.” However, Buff got a notice in March from the city of Festus. She was being cited for violating city ordinance against owning prohibited animals.

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Festus is trying remove Princess Pickles from her kingdom with the Buff family. | DEBBIE BUFF According to a copy of the violation, Buff was written up on a single charge: “Pig in city.” Over the next months, Buff showed up to Festus City Council meetings to argue that a city ordinance written to prohibit “exotic, wildlife, poultry [and] livestock” should not include a pet pig who, according to a letter from Buff’s psychologist at the Mercy clinic in Jefferson County, “should be allowed [to be kept] as an emotional support animal.” It was more than just a psychologist’s words on paper. Buff says the same year that Princess Pickles joined her family, Buff’s 24-year-old son tragically passed away. In the grief that followed,

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Buff says, it was Princess Pickles who supported her and her thirteen-year-old son, Aiden. “She’s not affecting anybody’s life in any kind of negative manner,” Buff says. For a time, it seemed like Festus would indeed accommodate Princes Pickles. In early September, Festus City Administrator Greg Camp told the Jefferson County Leader that he’d been directed by the city council to “do a little research” on other cities whose laws allow for pet pigs, and the mayor was quoted as saying he and the city council were still “deciding what action we’re going to take.” In the end, though, they decided to take no action — meaning Princess Pickles remains illegal in Festus. “It looked like they were going to change the ordinance, but they didn’t,” Buff says. She claims that she was told that city officials were worried that amending the city code could “open up the door to other issues, if people want other kinds of animals, and that would cause a problem.” That means that Buff’s original citation from March — delayed by a judge’s order while the city council mulled over the issue — is now coming due. In a letter dated September 17, Festus Prosecuting Attorney Lawrence Wadsack acknowledged that “the City Council is no longer considering amending the applicable ordinance” re-

garding prohibited animals. Wadsack’s letter continued, “The City’s intent in enforcement is to bring you in compliance with City Code rather than to prosecute you in court,” and concluded by noting that, after a 30-day grace period, Buff would risk “citations being issued daily.” According to the Leader, the risk amounts to a $250-perday fine after those days are up. That 30-day grace period ran out last week, on October 17, and despite public support — as of last week, a Change.org petition titled “Keeping Princess Pickles the Mini Pig in Her Home with Her Family” had gathered more than 4,800 signatures — the future is unclear for the princess. On October 18, one day after the deadline, Buff says that a Festus animal control officer showed up at her house, with a police officer in tow, asking “to talk about your pig.” “I said, ‘No, you don’t need to talk about my pig,’” Buff says. “I told them to leave, and they did.” The next stage may lead the parties to court. Buff says that she’s “considering her legal options” to keep Princess Pickles at home, but maintains that she’s willing to fight estus’ attempts to enforce an outdated ordinance that sees pigs only as livestock. “They think they’re scaring me, to intimidate me to get rid of her,” Buff says. “But I’m not doing that. I’m not doing that to my son or myself.” n

The victim was driving for St. Louis County Cab when he was attacked and killed. | GOOGLE EARTH

Florissant Man Charged in Cabbie Killing Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

t. Louis County police arrested a Florissant man last week on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of a cab driver. Officers responded at 1:50 a.m. on October 17 to reports of a man down in the 10100 block of Bon Oak Drive, an unincorporated section of north county. There they found 47-year-old Richard Lilie Jr. of Wentzville, who was dead and appeared to have been shot, police say. Lilie was a driver for St. Louis County Cab, and his car was missing. After learning Lilie’s identity, police investigators contacted the cab company and were able to track the last calls and location of the cab. Three hours after the initial call, at 4:45 a.m., police found Lilie’s missing 2011 Crown Victoria in the 100 block of Taney Drive, a residential neighborhood in Florissant. Officers spotted 40-year-old Antouine Redmon going through the contents of the cab’s trunk and took him into custody, police say. Redmon lives at 785 Pebble Lane in Florissant, which is little more than 300 feet from where he was spotted with the stolen cab. It is also where Lilie was sent on his last call. Next to Redmon’s house, police discovered a bag of bloody clothes and a pair of bloody gloves, police say. A DNA test of the gloves matched Redmon and Lilie. Investigators questioned Redmon, and he admitted to killing Lilie during an attempted robbery, police say. He was jailed without bond.

Antouine Redmon. | ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE

Ron Klein, director of the St. Louis Metropolitan Taxi Commission, pointed out that cab drivers, unlike drivers for ride-share companies, are required by regulation to pick up “almost anyone, anywhere,” which can put them in perilous situations. Cab companies take various safety measures, Klein says, but it can still be dangerous. “Sometimes, tragedies like this happen,” Klein said in a statement. “My heart goes out to the driver’s family and friends.” Along with the charge of first-degree murder, Redmon is facing one felony count of armed criminal action. He has a long criminal record, including convictions for harassment, drug possession and robbery. The investigation is ongoing, and police ask anyone with information to call them at 636-529-8210 or to remain anonymous and possibly collect a reward, call CrimeStoppers at 866-3718477 (TIPS). n

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Glory Pro Wrestling has taken some bumps in the past three years, but it’s fought its way back to elevate sports entertainment in the St. Louis area WRITTEN BY LIZ MILLER It’s rare to see tailgating in the parking lot of the Gardenville Masonic Temple in Affton. The unassuming building at the intersection of Gravois and Heege roads has hosted magic shows and weddings, but on a recent Saturday, it features a very different kind of ring: one built for professional wrestlers. The October 5 event marks the comeback of wrestler and Affton native Kevin Kwiatkowski, one of three owners of Glory Pro Wrestling in St. Louis. Known in the ring as Kevin Lee Davidson or KLD, at 378 pounds, Davidson cuts a commanding figure. ith a line of attendees snaking out the entrance and across the Affton parking lot before doors open, Davidson can be seen shaking hands and saying hello to friends, family and fans. Free beer is served to those patiently waiting to get inside, but Davidson doesn’t partake — this isn’t that kind of wrasslin’ show. The day is a long time coming for him. At a match in late January, while catching another wrestler

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MONICA MILEUR who was doing a dive, Davidson was hit by a second wrestler, and the combined impact tore his bicep tendon clear off the bone. In the nine months since, he’s gone through surgery, recovery and training to heal and regain his strength. The past year has also been trying for Davidson personally; in August 2018, his father, David Lee Kwiatkowski (who inspired KLD’s ring name), was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer. He died a week before Christmas and about a month before Davidson’s injury. “That stretch right there really wasn’t good for me,” Davidson says. “I was going through a pretty bad time.” During his recovery, the promise of this comeback show in his hometown helped keep Davidson motivated. For most of 2019, his #NoNewFriends tag-team partners, wrestlers Mike Outlaw and Editor’s Note: Unless otherwise noted in this article, wrestler’s ring names are being used in place of their legal names for readability.

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Danny Adams, built up a storyline with two wrestlers representing The Four Star Heroes from Chicago. On October 5, KLD and Adams would finally settle the feud in a no dis ualification street fight match for the United Glory tagteam championship title. Much of the feud revolved around the Chicago wrestlers hating St. Louis and bad-mouthing our fair city, which swiftly made them enemies with #NoNewFriends and fans. “It was very important to me to ha e my first match back from surgery in my hometown,” Davidson says. “I’m more motivated now than ever. I really did feel like this was a very crucial year in my career that I missed out on. I’m looking to make the most out of these last few months of the year.” It’s also a big day for Glory Pro, a promotion that’s endured its share of challenges in the past two and a half years, including a public scandal involving its former owner. And though Glory Pro is about to head into its third year of business, the October show

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PREVIOUS PAGE: Clad in a white and blue lucha libre mask, Seishin delivers a flying kick to Hakim Zane. THIS PAGE: Impact Wrestling’s Tessa Blanchard headlined Glory Pro’s first Missouri show.

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is its first in issouri. re ious events were hosted in venues just across the river in Illinois due to Missouri Athletic Commission licensing and regulation fees that proved prohibitive for the upstart enterprise. It took a lot of work for Davidson and his current business partners, Dan Kujawa (a.k.a. Danny Adams) and Corey Inskip (an attorney with no ring name, unfortunately to get to this point. ith a final headcount of about , their first Missouri show is sold out, thanks in large part to the charisma of its card, including Impact Wrestling star, Tessa Blanchard, featured in a women’s fatal four-way match. As the sun dips low in the sky, the temperature on this early October evening is cooling, yet inside, the packed room of wrestling fans is not only warm, it’s hot — that is to say, it’s a rowdy and rapacious crowd that’s ready for some damn professional wrestling. The fans are excited, fueled by months of hype (and, of course, free beer). Now it’s down to the three part-

ners to make sure the night isn’t just a success, but hopefully the first of many lory ro shows to come in Missouri.

Long before Glory Pro showed up on the scene, the St. Louis area had a storied history with professional wrestling. From 1959 to 1983, weekly television show Wrestling at the Chase aired on KPLR-TV (Channel 11). Filmed at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in the Central West End, the show was promoted by the now-defunct St. Louis Wrestling Club, a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (which has, bizarrely, been owned by Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan since 2017 and recently launched a YouTube show). Although mostly a local sensation, the Chase ring saw some of the most prolific and celebrated wrestlers of the time, including Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody and Ted DiBiase. Missouri native Harley Race, who achieved international stardom with the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE), was a familiar face at the Chase as well. In 2000, he founded the

Harley Race Wrestling Academy in Troy, Missouri. Growing up in St. Louis, Adams remembers the impact this promotion had on his family, albeit from the stands. “My roots go back to Wrestling at the Chase days, because my great-grandfather was a super fan of Wrestling at the Chase; he was at every single show,” Adams remembers. “He instilled that into my dad, because they’d watch on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and that just trickled down from my brother and cousins to me. I don’t remember a time in my life when there weren’t wrestling tapes and action figures it was just always a part of my family.” If Wrestling at the Chase doesn’t ring a bell, mention of South Broadway Athletic Club likely will for many St. Louisans. Maybe that’s because it actually predates it — the club has operated in Soulard for more than a century — or because it has run monthly wrestling shows for more than 40 years. When Glory Pro was founded in Alton, Illinois, in February 2017, it was aiming to offer a different kind of local wrestling expe-

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rience to fans — one that drew from more modern styles and trends in professional wrestling. With Glory Pro, the hope was to reflect not just the current state of mainstream wrestling but also the best talent the indie circuit has to offer. This wouldn’t be a place where fans would see the same faces year after year, but one where talent from across the country would travel to perform, including industry superstars. That mission was embodied by Glory Pro’s founder, Aaron Frobel (ring name “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin), a world-traveled professional wrestler who has worked in high profile promotions including New Japan Pro Wrestling, Impact Wrestling and Revive Pro Wrestling. Elgin’s industry experience and connections are impressive, and he’d already opened a successful sister business locally, a wrestling school in St. Louis that was getting buzz well beyond the metro area. Davidson and Adams both trained at Elgin’s school, as did Camron Rogers (ring name Curt Stallion), who moved from his home in Texas to do so. Stallion says he gave Glory Pro its name.

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“We wanted something that stood out, as opposed to All American Wrestling or everything else out there today,” he recalls. “We wanted something that people would hear and instantly be like, ‘OK, that’s different.’ The original thought process was royalty and kingdoms and stuff like that, but it e ol ed from the first show. e knew we had something special.” That something special was talent, and not just from within the regional or indie scenes, but nationally and internationally. In less than a year, Elgin booked some very big names in the industry, including The Lucha Broth-

ers, Marifuji, Donovan Dijak (now known as Dominik Dijakovic in the WWE) and Cody Rhodes. (The Rhodes show alone sold a staggering 650 tickets in advance.) Most of these events were held at the Spaulding Club, a bar and banquet hall in Alton, save for the Rhodes show, which was hosted at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center in Belleville. Glory Pro also took pains to stage a polished professional wrestling show, including branded ring aprons, turnbuckles, walkout curtains and a ring announcer who only appears in a suit. The aura of early shows was that this

was a cut abo e what you’d find elsewhere, not just in terms of entertainment but in quality. Glory Pro quickly gained a large following, both on the backs of strong regional mid-card wrestlers and the famous names headlining events. By the end of 2017, though, the new and promising promotion was in trouble. In December, Elgin was publicly accused of mishandling a sexual assault allegation made against one of Glory Pro’s featured wrestlers. The news broke on social media and myriad wrestling sites. The backlash was so swift that Elgin, who was wrestling in Japan at the

time, deleted his Twitter account. A few days later, he released a public statement acknowledging the allegations and apologizing for his handling of events, but for many Glory Pro fans, the damage was done. In the statement, Elgin announced that he was in the process of transitioning ownership of Glory Pro. “I love the company I’ve helped build, the wrestlers that have worked for it and I love that the fans enjoy the product,” Elgin said in the statement. “If me being involved harms that, I wanted to make sure that Glory Pro was able to stand on its own without me if necessary.” (In an email, Elgin declined to comment.) It was a mess, and the timing was terrible. Glory Pro was heading toward its most important event yet, a one-year anniversary show featuring New Japan Pro Wrestling star Tetsuya Naito as the main event. In 2017, Naito was named the twelfth-best wrestler in the world out of 500 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated; to say that the show was a big deal to fans would be an understatement. Davidson and Adams were too personally invested in Glory Pro and what they’d helped build there to see it die, yet they had no previous experience running a wrestling promotion. (Inskip, a Glory Pro business partner from the beginning, stayed on.) Davidson, who spent his early twenties as a music promoter and concert venue owner before giving up that career for wrestling, knew a thing or two about running shows, but admittedly not as much as he’d have liked before hosting Naito. Even today, Adams quickly channels the an iety of that first show. “The guy who started [Glory Pro] got himself into trouble, and the company was in danger of just going away; it was going to be done because there was no one to step up and run things,” Adams says. “Just for me, personally, I couldn’t let all of the hard work that everyone did — all the wrestlers that first year building it up for it to just be thrown in the garbage.” Scheduled for February 18, 2018, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the show was billed as the promotion’s oneyear anniversary, but behind the scenes, Davidson and Adams were struggling to pull it off. “Six hundred tickets sold and, at the time, we had one of the top wrestlers in the world coming in, and we didn’t know what we were doing yet,” Adams remembers. Yet the day of the show, the Continued on pg 17

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biggest snafu was a disorganized meet-and-greet with the headliner, something that Davidson and Adams still regret but that hardly sunk the show. Over the course of 2018, the pair found their groove as promoters, balancing the needs of Glory Pro with their own personal ambitions as wrestlers. I think when we first started, with our experience as wrestlers, we were able to build a wrestler’s wrestling show, in that, when I get to a show, what do I want my experience wrestling on the show to be like?” Adams says. “I like shows that are laid back and everyone kind of has the creative freedom to do what they want to do. We’re not trying to control the wrestlers. It’s not a power-trip thing.” With the October 5 show, the new owners have gone beyond what Elgin built with Glory Pro by overcoming another hurdle: hosting the promotion’s first issouri show. This may seem like a small thing to industry outsiders, but it required quite a bit of time, money and work. (Inskip and Adams have full-time jobs on top of Glory Pro, Inskip as an attorney and Adams as an IT professional.) The state of Illinois requires no regulation, licensing or fees to stage professional wrestling shows, which is one of the reasons that Glory Pro had previously only hosted events in Alton, Belleville, Collinsville and Edwardsville. “If you find a big hall in Illinois and put a ring in it, there’s nothing stopping you from having a show,” Adams says. To begin hosting shows in the St. Louis area, Glory Pro would need to comply with the regulations and licensing governed by the Missouri Athletic Commission. Regulations for pro wrestling events vary from state to state; some states consider it “sports entertainment” (the term industry titan WWE uses as well), while others label it a sport but don’t charge the same fees for licensing and regulation. The Missouri Athletic Commission is a fee-funded agency, which means that it is sustained by the income it collects, says Missouri Athletic Commission executive director Tim Lueckenhoff. To host a pro wrestling event in issouri, you first need a promoter’s license. These licenses are issued every two years and aren’t prorated based upon when you buy it; if you need it a month before it e pires, it’s still . Next, a promoter has to provide a

Wrestlers Curt Stallion (left) and Jake Lander (right) fought Daga at the October 5 show. surety bond or letter of credit for , , which acts as insurance in the event that a promoter defaults on paying anyone involved with the event. You then need an e ent permit, which costs . In addition to these permitting fees, the state takes fi e percent of ticket sales for every show; a portion of that fi e percent is meant to cover the agency’s costs for inspectors, who are on-site for every show. The day of an event, at least one state inspector visits the event venue ahead of the start time to verify that all of the wrestlers participating have state licenses and have had blood work and a comprehensive physical (two more expenses required for wrestlers) completed within the past year before they’re approved to participate that day. The Missouri General Assembly passes the laws that give the commission the ability to regulate the sports in the state. The commission has the power to file re uests for statute changes, which first must be approved by the governor’s office. Although pro wrestling is often seen as entertainment, it is a physical, full-contact sport that often involves injury and bloodshed. “Several years ago we went to our legislature and tried to not require blood work for wrestlers, just to ease the cost burden, but the legislature advised us that we need to continue because it is a sport where they do bleed,” Lueckenhoff says. or lory ro’s first issouri show, Davidson, Adams and Inskip paid for the blood work and physical exams needed for their featured wrestlers whose insurance wouldn’t cover those costs, as well as the licenses required for each wrestler to partic-

ipate. The trio estimate their total upfront costs with the Missouri Athletic ommission for their first issouri show at about , . “It’s not a bad thing, but it’s a huge pain when you want to bring guys in from out of state and you have to explain to them the licensing process, and then they have to go to the doctor and do that on their own time — especially for the wrestlers where it’s not hard for them to get work,” Davidson says. “It’s going to be hard for us to deal with stuff like that in Missouri; luckily we have a core group of wrestlers who are very invested in this product.” The fees required by the Missouri Athletic Commission are perfunctory for industry heavyweights like WWE, which hosts a handful of televised and untelevised shows in Missouri every year, but they can be daunting for new promotions without much capital like Glory Pro, which operates on razor-thin margins. In addition to paying for bloodwork and physical costs for wrestlers whose insurance wouldn’t cover those fees, Glory Pro also paid for expenses for its two Impact Wrestling headliners, Tessa Blanchard and Daga. Blanchard is a rising star in the independent wrestling circuit with promotions including Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide in Mexico and Women of Wrestling. In 2018, she was named the fifteenth best female wrestler in the world out of the top 100 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. In the ring, Blanchard displays incredible strength and intensity; her billed weight is 126 pounds yet she wrestles as if she’s twice that size, attacking opponents with forceful chops and kicks and

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landing brutal moves. She is captivating — and most importantly, a lot of fun — to watch, regardless of a given match outcome. he booking reflects how much the professional wrestling industry has evolved in the past decade: The sun has set on the misogynistic and degrading days of bra and panty or string bikini matches, with female wrestlers finally appreciated for their skills and athleticism in the ring. At lory ro’s first issouri event, Blanchard faces a St. Louis wrestler, Savanna Stone, and two Chicago natives, Elayna Black and Laynie Luck, in a fatal four-way. All four women are extremely talented in the ring, with each bringing a different style and persona to the match. Blanchard is a huge get for Glory Pro; she is one of the most talented and ambitious women working in the indie wrestling circuit right now, if not in the industry in general. The challenges that Davidson, Inskip and Adams have faced with Glory Pro in the past two years have resulted in greater opportunity for up-and-coming wrestlers, too. In the almost two years since Davidson, Adams and Inskip have run Glory Pro, they’ve seen the profiles of many of their longtime wrestlers rise, with some even positioned to potentially break into mainstream wrestling in the coming year.

There’s an element of professional wrestling that’s not unlike method acting. To varying degrees of intensity, all wrestlers are putting on a performance, even if it’s a performance that’s in some way an extension of their own personality. “I wouldn’t say I delve so much into a character as I turn me up to 100,” Davidson says. “Wrestling should be an extension of yourself.” There are three basic personas most wrestlers fall into: a face or babyface, who is a hero or good guy (think Hulk Hogan before the real-life bad guy shit); a heel, who is a villain or bad guy (Macho Man Randy Savage as the villain to Hogan’s babyface); and a tweener or antihero, whose persona falls in between the two (think Eddie Guerrero). In the ring, Davidson is somewhere between a babyface and a tweener: He’s intense and in your face, sticking out his tongue and mugging for the crowd, but he’s often wrestling more straightforward heels, and — at least in St. Louis — he is never booed. There is nothing ambiguous about Glory Pro fan favorite

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“Lonestar” Curt Stallion, however — or the boos that fans enthusiastically hurdle his way. For much of his time with the promotion, Stallion was a textbook antihero, and an incredible one at that: In and out of the ring, he speaks with a slight Texan drawl, but his opponents aren’t greeted with Southern hospitality. At a recent show for a competing local promotion, Saint Louis Anarchy in Alton, Stallion roiled the crowd with an indictment of other popular St. Louis wrestlers. Prior to the match, a fan had shared a photo of four wrestlers on Twitter, calling them the pillars of St. Louis professional wrestling. Stallion received a hero’s welcome that day due to a recent Evolve Wrestling special he appeared on that was shown on the WWE Network, so he needed to turn the crowd against him again. “I’ve been made aware that there are four pillars of St. Louis professional wrestling,” Stallion said at the match. “Let’s give them a round of applause, come on. I won’t name names, because you really should know who they are, but let me tell you something: I got here in January 2015, and I can’t say that there was much of a foundation for those pillars to be standing on until that concrete from Texas came and got laid down. I showed up here, started busting my ass and all these motherfuckers came up right with me because they had no other choice. They wanted to keep up. I came here with a purpose, and that purpose is I want one of those four fucking pillars, and I don’t care who it is; I’m going to show you guys exactly how you were able to

KLD and Danny Adams (top left, left to right) defeated Knicks and Brubaker (top right, left to right) to win the United Glory tag-team championship title. stand in the fucking first place. (Anarchy, unlike Glory Pro, is not billed as a family-friendly promotion.) What’s smart about this promo is not Stallion’s ability to make a crowd hate him (in pro wrestling, you either want to be fiercely lo ed or fiercely hated . It’s how he took a seemingly benign fan tweet and turned it into an opportunity to feud with and fight a local wrestler; he essentially created a rivalry and match out of thin air. Although a talented technical

wrestler, Stallion understands that success in his industry is often more about savvy storytelling and character work than perfectly executed piledrivers. “They told me to go out there and make people mad, and by ‘they’ I thought they meant the wrestlers, so I started rambling,” Stallion says. “Nine times out of ten, when you see me grab a microphone or talk on camera, it is pretty much real. I’m one of the guys who doesn’t hold back because I don’t care if anyone gets offended by

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what I say. But this promo was from the heart; these guys were nothing until I gave them a reason to start pushing themselves and stake their claim, and they had to hustle a little harder.” As a kid growing up in west Texas, Stallion idolized WWE superstars like Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Benoit and St. Charles native “The Viper” Randy Orton (the son of WWE hall of famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton). These wrestlers

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are clear influences on both Stallion’s in-ring persona and wrestling style today. “The guys who don’t need to call things, but they still have that presence, that aura, to them,” Stallion says. When he describes not needing to call things, he’s saying that these are wrestlers who don’t slavishly plan out every move in a match other than the finish. A lot of guys nowadays want to put whole matches together and call a million things [ahead of time], and I can do that too, but I’d rather … if you don’t have a bunch of stuff to remember, you can go out there and have this presence, this energy, because your brain isn’t just focused on what’s next,” Stallion says. “That’s what I do. Not a lot of people are capable of doing that.” Stallion is a strategic wrestler; he’s always probing, looking for weak spots in his opponents. Tall and lean, his wiriness makes it difficult to predict his mo ements in the ring. Stallion’s style is a little closer to classic wrestling — moves that, if you were wrestling in high school or college, would look familiar than the flashy scripted spots often associated with sports entertainment. He remembers telling his maternal grandfather, Curt Tidmore, that someday he’d be a wrestler like the ones he loved watching on TV. So when it came time to choose a ring name, he drew inspiration from his grandfather (as well as Stallion’s own middle name, Curtis) and a favorite manga series, Fullmetal Alchemist. “For the last name, I said Stallion, because I watch a lot of anime, and there was a character named Roy Mustang on [Fullmetal Alchemist], and I thought that was the coolest name. He had nothing to do with horses, it was just Roy Mustang. And Curt Stallion just worked.” Since moving to St. Louis to train under Elgin in 2015, Stallion’s popularity on the indie wrestling circuit has soared. Glory Pro was one of the first promotions to gi e him a title (the industry name for championship belts), and he’s gone on to wrestle in promotions all over the country and the world. In January, Stallion signed a contract with Evolve Wrestling, a Tampa, Florida-based promotion that has an exclusive deal with WWE to scout its talent. Evolve exists on the same plane as many other American independent wrestling promotions,

including Impact, New Japan, Revive Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Game Changer Wrestling. In the industry, these promotions ha e fan bases as fierce and as loyal as WWE yet typically pack much smaller houses. Evolve’s affiliation with undoubtedly makes it attractive to wrestlers who, like Stallion, can hopefully use it as a farm team before being called up to the big leagues. “My goal at the end of the day is to main event Wrestlemania, and I let it be known when I signed with Evolve, these are all the [other promotions] that I turned down, and this is me signing this contract because I’m going to go to WWE,” Stallion says. “Wrestlemania, not just WWE. And I’m trying to get there as soon as possible, because I’m 29 years old.” During the second week of October, Stallion had two matches

with current WWE wrestlers that may prove to be the most pivotal in his career so far. The matches — one with Kassius Ohno and the other with Cameron Grimes — were watched by WWE talent scout and retired wrestler William Regal. Wrestlers like Stallion and promotions like Glory Pro are coming up during a particularly pivotal moment in professional wrestling history. or the first time since the dissolution of World Championship Wrestling around 2000, WWE is again competing with another mainstream promotion, All Elite Wrestling. Like WCW in the ’90s, AEW is positioning its programming as edgier than WWE in both tone and opportunity and promising its wrestlers more creative freedom. Unlike WCW, however, AEW creative has been run by wrestling

Josh Briggs (left) grapples on the mat with Tyler Colton.

Go for the Glory! Ready to join the action? Check out Glory Pro’s next few months of shows below. Sunday, November 24 Glory Pro’s first Steel Cage Challenge is happening on Sunday, November 24, at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds & Expo Center in Belleville, Illinois. The event will bring together wrestlers Curt Stallion, Kevin Lee Davidson, AJ Gray, Ethan Page, Josh Alexander and Ricky Starks in a series of steel cage matches (plus a few in the normal ring). Doors open at 1 p.m. and the show starts at 2 p.m. General admission is $17 in advance and $20 at the door. Front row tickets cost $25. Saturday, December 21 Typically a family-friendly promotion, Glory Pro will host its annual adults-only event in Sauget, Illinois on Saturday, December 21. Titled Unsanctioned 2 and presented by #NoNewFriends tag-team partners Kevin Lee Davidson, Danny Ad-

ams and Mike Outlaw, you can expect the event at Pop’s Nightclub to include colorful language and likely some bloodshed. The card includes wrestlers such as Effy, AJ Gray, Mance Warner, Curt Stallion and the Besties In The World. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. All tickets are $25. Saturday, January 18 Glory Pro’s second Missouri show will be held on Saturday, January 18, at the Elks Lodge at 6330 Heege Road in Affton. The event will mark Glory Pro’s inaugural David Lee Memorial Tournament, a tribute to wrestler Kevin Lee Davidson’s father, who passed away late last year. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the show starts at 5 p.m. Frontrow tickets cost $30, general admission is $20, and tickets for kids ten years old and younger is just $5.

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business veterans from the beginning, including New Japan Pro Wrestling alums Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega. (And remember The Lucha Brothers from Glory ro’s first year hey’re now starring on AEW.) The new promotion is also writing checks from the seemingly robust bank account of billionaire owner Shahid Khan. For wrestlers like Stallion who want a future in mainstream professional wrestling, the rivalry between the two mainstream promotions could mean an even greater shot at breaking through. In ad ance of its first show on TNT earlier this month, AEW had been signing up popular wrestlers on the indie circuit for the better part of a year. Never to be outdone, WWE has become more aggressive with signing new talent as well, and recently repackaged its developmental wrestling program, , into its own bona fide brand to directly compete with AEW. To some of the wrestlers signed, this means fame, fortune and validation after years of busting their asses in the indies, while to others, it’s just the realization of a childhood dream that they long assumed was out of their grasp. Since late September, NXT has aired a two-hour show on the USA Network on Wednesday nights, which just so happens to air during AEW’s two-hour show on TNT. Fans have already christened the competing shows the Wednesday Night Wars, a callback to the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWE in the ’90s. And on October 4, WWE celebrated a big milestone: WWE’s Smackdown Live debuted on o , the first weekly wrestling show to air regularly on a major broadcast television network. Long story short, the energy and excitement in professional wrestling right now is huge for both fans and fighters, and there’s a lot of doors opening and opportunity for both to enjoy. For promotions like Glory Pro, that hopefully means an expanding audience for professional wrestling in general and an interest in seeking out homegrown shows. “The reason that Glory Pro has the benefit of helping younger guys out is because there are mainstream guys who still watch the indies, and by watch the indies, I don’t mean that they just watch random Tennessee VFW hall, 40-people-in-the-crowd shows; they’re watching shows like Glory Pro,” Stallion says. “It’s one of the more important places to be as a professional wrestler early in your career, and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to be a part

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Before wrestling “The Little Blue Dragon” Seishin, Hakim Zane threatened to “pluck her wings off.” of the entire journey of Glory Pro from the start.”

Like most of the venues where Glory Pro has hosted shows, the Gardenville Masonic Temple auditorium feels small with a professional wrestling ring and barrier centered in the room. Add 200plus folding chairs surrounding that ring and concessions (inside, the beer is not free, unfortunately , and you find yourself sitting in a bit of a tight squeeze. The event is sold out, and, it turns out, there aren’t enough chairs for everyone, so a good number of fans stand around the perimeter of the auditorium, most of them posting up there for the entire three-hour show. In professional wrestling, the two most important matches are usually the first and the last the first sets the tone, and the last lea es fans with their final image of the night. At this event, the opening honor goes to six wrestlers — Gregory Iron, Reilly MaGuire, Camaro Jackson, PB Smooth, Barackus and Mike Outlaw — who are more than up to the task. The audience eats it up, but of course the best is still yet to come. The second match of the night is between Hakim Zane, a rousing heel with a commanding ring presence who’s being featured frequently by Impact Wrestling, and Seishin, “The Little Blue Dragon,” one of the most talented and beloved female wrestlers in town. his pairing is particularly significant because it couldn’t have happened in Missouri before September 30, 2018. From 2005 until about a year ago, intergender matches weren’t allowed in the state. (The rule was written primarily to govern professional boxing, kickbox22

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ing and full-contact karate, for which it still applies.) Clad in a striking white and blue lucha libre mask, Seishin is largely silent throughout the match, save bursts of yelling and wailing, mostly when charging at Zane. hat’s just fine, though, because Zane is enough of a mouth for the both of them: “By all means, bring out that little blue dragon, so I can pluck her wings from her body, and I can show the world that I’m Hakim Zane, and my mother called me sun because I shine like one.” He’s the kind of heel that fans love to boo; their taunts only make his smile broaden and his mic work meaner. Next up is a tag-team match between the Riegel Twins (twin brothers Logan and Sterling Riegel) and Halal Beefcake, a duo made up of “The Genetic Jackpot” Joe Coleman and “The Sultan of Shawarma” Idris Abraham. They’re followed by a two-way match between Steve Manders and Matt Kenway; both matches further amp up the crowd and display the kind of mid-card talent that Glory Pro is aiming to showcase: wrestlers with larger-thanlife personas, to be sure, but with technical prowess. When the Manders-Kenway match ends, ring announcer Ben Simon blares that there will be one more bout before intermission. he first and last matches might be the most important, but a strong pre intermission fight is a close third, and Glory Pro fans have never seen one more highoctane than what unfolds next. From behind the entrance curtain burst Knicks and Brubaker, the current United Glory tag-team champions. The duo has been feuding with #NoNewFriends (Davidson, Adams and Mike Outlaw) Continued on pg 23

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for most of 2019, and now it’s time for the showdown. A lot of their story as heels in this rivalry has been that they’re from Chicago and hate St. Louis, so naturally they’re clad in Chicago Blackhawks gear. They make a big splash, emphasizing that they’re the champs and shamelessly throwing their title belts o erhead with a confidence that screams, “Please boo us.” The crowd knows that KLD and Adams are about to follow, and the room is rippling with chants, cheers and a current of excitement and energy that will be familiar to any sports fan. This is the kind of room that can convert the casual viewer into an immediate professional wrestling fan; it’s the sort of thrilling drama mixed with daring and ruthless athleticism that draws you in for a match and then for life. This is the feeling that pro wrestling fans try to describe to people unfamiliar with or uninterested in the industry. “When you walk into a movie theater, you check your disbelief at the door, and it’s the same thing with professional wrestling,” Davidson says. “I think it’s the best form of entertainment in the world; it’s theater in the round. The fans come to be entertained — obviously they know it’s not real. We’re out there telling a story with our bodies and our facial reactions, and just because I know what’s coming doesn’t mean my body hurts any less.” When Davidson and Adams emerge from behind the curtain, the room erupts in a deafening cry of “KLD, KLD, KLD.” Pro wrestling is as personal as any sport; fans feel that they know their favorite wrestlers and their journeys even if they’ve never met them. That level of admiration and respect doesn’t change much from WWE superstars to headliners at the Gardenville Masonic Temple — or at least tonight it doesn’t feel that way. Looking around, kids as young as four or fi e are on their feet, cheering as fiercely for their favorite wrestlers as the adults in the room. As KLD makes his way around the barrier outside the ring, highfi ing fans young and old, he does so in a purple Affton High School hoodie with “Big Guy” scrawled across the back. Ten years ago, there was the thought that he’d leverage his time on the school’s football team into a spot on a college team, but he chose another path. A decade later, to the people in this auditorium in his hometown, he’s

celebrated for a different kind of athleticism, and one that means so much more to him. he match is a no dis ualification street fight for the tag team title, and given the narrative buildup and KLD’s life-real journey that inspired it, there’s little chance that #NoNewFriends won’t be victorious. That’s also the magic of professional wrestling: The fans can often predict the outcome, but wins and losses don’t matter as much as the story and show that get you there. After all, if you lose, you’re just teed up for a rematch and another chance to pack the house. In the ring, KLD is a forceful fighter when he slaps or chops an opponent, he’s really making contact, something known in the industry as fighting stiff. onight, this is evidenced by the midmatch welts KLD freely leaves on Knicks and Brubaker. Although a towering presence, he displays impressive acrobatics, including jumping over Brubaker, clearing almost four feet of air in the process. Brubaker is not a small man, but next to KLD, he looks it, which is as much a credit to KLD’s ring presence as Brubaker’s ability to play the heel tonight. In contrast to , Adams is a more high flying, acrobatic wrestler and just as entertaining. In the end, KLD and Adams defeat the bad guys: After a series of wild exchanges involving a steel trash can, two purple folding chairs and a deluge of chops, kicks and dives from the top rope, KLD throws Brubaker through those folding chairs, choking him out, and then wins by pinfall. The pair of #NoNewFriends then raise their newly won tag-team titles over their heads, embracing one another and seeming to tear up at the victory. The lines of what’s real and what’s exaggerated are once again blurred — it’s an emotional moment, to be sure, but in the crowd, you never forget that it’s a planned one as well. Yet for the athletes and entertainers in the ring as much as for the people in the audience, that’s the art behind professional wrestling. Every Glory Pro show won’t bottle the same stakes and spirit as the first in issouri, but therein lies another joy of sports entertainment: You’re never guaranteed the same show twice, whether that’s at an event hall in Affton or a Wrestlemania pay-per-view. No matter the venue, the wrestlers in the ring are still taking bumps, diving from the top rope and working submission holds for the win, and for audiences, there’s never been a more riveting time to tag in. n

HAPPY HOUR

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL PAUL FRISWOLD FRISWOLD BY in cash and pri es is up for grabs to the best of the best in various categories. ompeting in the adult contest costs $25 for individuals and $50 for groups (cash only), but entry to the event is free. The alloween arty is centered on the intersection of Maryland and uclid a enues www.cwescene.com . retty much all the neighborhood restaurants and businesses participate in one way or another, so bring your party money to ensure a good time.

THURSDAY 10/24 Danse Macabre Last year for Halloween, Leverage Dance Theater presented a site specific dance performance inside the darkened Intersect Arts Center (3636 Texas Avenue; www. leveragedancetheater.org). The company returns to the Intersect to present The Forgotten, which is a fine arts take on the haunted house. ancers will mo e throughout the building while audiences follow them, which means you should be able to climb stairs and be comfortable in relati e darkness. If you want to really get in the spirit, the company suggests you come up with an outfit inspired by the themes of decay and darkness.” The Forgotten is performed at p.m. hursday and and p.m. riday and Saturday ctober to o ember . ickets are $20 to $30.

FRIDAY 10/25 50 Years of Books or fi e decades Left Bank Books has sur i ed changing times, changes in ownership, the rise of Ama on, peak and e ery other possible complication. he St. ouis of was a ery different place, and yet one thing remains the same eople still buy books from independently owned bookstores. eft ank ooks commemorates years of community inol ement and hand sold books with a special 50th anniversary party that starts at p.m. riday, October 25, at the Mahler Ballroom ashington ouleard www.left bank.com . here will be a cash bar, door pri es, a silent auction, light refreshments and birthday cake, as well as live music by atarra arson and special presentations by authors. Admission is only , and the dress code is casual.

The Doctor Is Way Out ane, Alan and rancis all go to the carnival for fun but instead

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Blonde Ambition

Jamie Hendler and Meatball are in WUPAD’s Legally Blonde this weekend. JERRY NAUNHEIM, JR./WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY are deeply unsettled by one of the acts. r. aligari claims he’s the caretaker for a young man named Cesare who has been asleep for more than twenty years aligari further claims that when uestioned, Cesare can predict the future. Dubious, Alan asks how long he will live, and Cesare predicts he’ll be dead by morning. hen esare’s prediction comes true, it spurs rancis to in estigate aligari and his strange charge, with disastrous results. obert iene’s silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was released in , and years later it remains an eerie, disturbing film thanks to its off kilter set design and stark, haunting lighting. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is screened with a live score composed and performed by Austin’s he In incible ars at p.m. riday, ctober , at ebster ni ersity’s oore Auditorium ( ast ockwood A enue www.webster.edu film series . ickets are , and costumes are encouraged.

day outdoor celebration starts at a.m. Saturday, ctober , with a kids’ costume party and parade, led this year by Cinderella and her magical carriage. At p.m. the costume parade for dogs and their people starts, and then general re elry continues until p.m. when the adults-only party begins. he big e ent is the costume contest, which always features the most creati e and inspired costumes in the city because ,

elta u sorority sister lle oods has aced college and is now ready to get started on her happily ever after with dreamy boyfriend, arner. ut when arner tells lle he needs someone more serious now that he’s off to arard aw School, she e entually follows him to pro e she can be serious. hat she ends up gaining from law school is a belief in herself and the reali ation that she’s more than just another pretty blonde. Legally Blonde is a musical juggernaut thanks to its compelling central argument Anyone, e en the pretty it girl, can be greater than they think possible if they work for it. he ashington ni ersity erforming Arts epartment presents Legally Blonde with an entirely age-appropriate cast. erformances are at p.m.

SATURDAY 10/26 Halloween All Day There are Halloween parties, and then there is the Central West End Halloween Party. The all-

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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The Invincible Czars return with Dr. Caligari. | COURTESY OF THE INVINCIBLE CZARS

WEEK OF OF OCTOBER OCTOBER 24-31 24-31 WEEK

Everybody shows up at the Central West End’s Halloween party. | JON GITCHOFF riday and Saturday and p.m. Sunday ctober to o ember at ashington ni ersity’s dison heatre orsyth oulevard; www.edisontheatre.wustl. edu). Tickets are $15 to $20.

SATURDAY 10/26 Our Glorious Past In the s, Se enth Street at Chestnut was chockablock with high-rise buildings that represented ci ic wealth. nly the ainwright Building, now a National istoric andmark, remains standing. hotographer ennifer olten, in conjunction with the uminary Arts and the ational Building Art Center, presents the large-scale installation Real Estate Row, which e amines the built en ironment of St. ouis along Se enth Street. In a acant storefront at Se enth and ine streets, Colten displays archival photos of the region formerly known as eal state ow, her own photographs of architectural elements from the buildings that were demolished and scans of the region that show the ebb and flow of downtown St. ouis. Jennifer Colten: Real Estate Row opens with a free walking tour of the neighborhood from to p.m. Saturday, ctober . he tour

is led by historic preservationist Michael Allen.

more! At 9 p.m., America’s only live tribute to pop sensations like The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, New Kids on the Block, Boys II Men, One Direction and more takes the stage. The show features seven gifted entertainers bringing to life the music and dancing of your favorite boy bands. Fri., Oct. 25, 8 p.m. $20. www.hollywoodcasinostlouis. Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights.

SUNDAY 10/27 His Mewes e in Smith has consistently disrupted the standard mo ie maker’s playbook, from bankrolling his first film with the sale of his comic books to touring the country with a copy of his film rather than going through distributors. he latter is Smith’s plan for showing his new mo ie Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. ay and Silent Bob (best friends Jason Mewes and e in Smith, respecti ely are stoners who hang around outside various Jersey businesses and engage in low-level shenanigans. hen they learn ollywood moguls plan to reboot an old mo ie based on their lives, they head west with a vengeance. In a case of life imitating art, Smith and best friend ason ewes ramble across America, screening the film for fans and then answering audience uestions afterward. he duo plan to show Jay and Silent Bob Reboot at p.m. Sunday, ctober , at the ageant elmar oule ard www.thepageant.com , and then start taking uestions at p.m. ickets are $42.50 to $50. n

Black Cat Ball:

Pride St. Charles hosts a drag show, creepy costume contest, silent auction and dancing. 21+, advance tickets $31, $40 at the door. Fri., Oct. 25, 7-11 p.m., info@pridestcharles.org, www.pridestcharles.org/black-cat-ball. Memorial Hall, Blanchette Park, 1900 W. Randolph St., St. Charles.

Cedar Lake Cellars’ Halloween Party in the Barrel Tomb: The evening features DJ Rob Cutler in the winery’s Barrel Room and prizes for costume and dance contests. Fri., Oct. 25, 7-10 p.m., free to those 21 years of age and older, 636-745-9500, www.cedarlakecellars.com. Cedar Lake Cellars, 11008 Schreckengast Road, Wright City.

Boo-Lesque Halloween Creepyworld: America’s lonBurlesque Show: The Boom gest haunted Screampark features Boom Bombshells bring your favorite Halloween characters to life at this burlesque show. Wear your best costume and compete for fun prizes. A Top 40 dance party follows the show. Thu., Oct. 31, 9-11:59 p.m., $20. 314-436-7000, www.theboomboomroomstl.com. The Boom Boom Room, 500 N. 14th St, St. Louis.

thirteen haunted attractions, including the new Brigantine Asylum and the Monster Midway. Ride the haunted hayride through the scariest neighborhood in town. Zombie Axe Throwing, Zombie Paintball, a Tomb Escape, corn mazes and haunted houses. Hours and days vary, $25, CreepyWorld, S. Old Highway 141 and 13th St., Fenton, 314-6318000.

The Boy Band Boogie Bash Halloween Party: The Darkness Haunted Fans of boy bands won’t want to miss House: Named America’s Scariest this event! 106.5 The Arch will broadcast from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will also be a costume contest, prizes and

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Haunted House, the two-story haunt

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

HALLOWEEN

Continued from pg 25

is filled with high-tech scenes and live monsters. Multiple attractions include the new Horror Party Room with horror-themed arcades, pinballs, electric chair, three-minute escape room, Zombie-themed haunt The Hive and the Outdoor Scare Zone and monster selfies. Hours, days and prices vary, www. scarefest.com. The Darkness, 1525 S. Eighth St., 314-631-8000.

The Forgotten: Leverage Dance Theater invites audiences to follow the performers during an immersive dance experience through the mazes, hallways and stairwells of the Intersect Arts Center. Audience members are encouraged to dress in theme for the Halloween-inspired show, preferably in something black, dark, creepy or decaying. Thu., Oct. 24, 7 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 25, 7 & 9 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 26, 7 & 9 p.m.; Thu., Oct. 31, 7 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 1, 7 & 9 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 2, 9 p.m., $25-$35. Intersect Arts Center, 3630 Ohio St. The Legendary CWE Halloween: Festivities kick off with daytime activities for the whole family. The party continues as the sun sets with an adults-only bash and costume contest, featuring $6,000 in cash and prizes. Sat., Oct. 26, 11 a.m.-11:59 p.m., free, 314-305-4012, www.cwehalloween.com. Euclid and Maryland avenues.

Locked In: Craft Beer Cellar’s Halloween Party is an adults-only lock in. Imbibe on unlimited draft beers. If you leave, there’s no coming back. Admission includes three hours of unlimited pours, chances to win cool merch and giveaways, as well as games, scary movies and spooky surprises! Costumes and snacks encouraged! Tickets available online and in store. Sat., Oct. 26, 10p.m. - 1 a.m., $30, 314-2220333, craftbeercellar.com. Craft Beer Cellar South City, 5760 Chippewa St. Magic, Mystics & Mayhem: Join the vintage soiree at Mad Art Gallery and party in the jail cells of an old haunted police station with 3 Girls in the Dark, your favorite local paranormal team! Free parking across from venue. Appetizers, drink specials and multiple DJs. Cash-prize costume contest. Readings by Big Cat Tarot. $15 pre-sale tickets available now! Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.12:30 a.m., $20, 314-771-8230, info@ madart.com. Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th St.

Masked Halloween Ball: The Masked Halloween Ball is a multimedia omnielectric party experiment in real/past/future times. HEARding Cats Collective artists will design a cohesive experience and platform for live sound and video improvisation. Video processing, recording and projecting will use the

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OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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costumed attendees as subject matter. It is vital to the event’s success that you wear your most elaborate and otherworldly costumes. Admission is free for those in costumes. Sun., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., $10-$20, 314-436-3325. William A. Kerr Foundation, 21 O’Fallon St.

Soulard Hayride Pub Crawl: The crawl features horsedrawn hayride trailers and tractor-drawn trailers ready to take you through Soulard. Twenty-two establishments will offer drink or food specials to the participants. Half the proceeds after cost will be donated to the St. Louis Area Food Bank. Hayrides run from 6 to 10 p.m., but the crawl goes all night! Thu., Oct. 24, 6-11:59 p.m., $15, 314-436-3045, GreatGrizzlySTL@gmail.com. Nadine’s Gin Joint, 1931 S. 12th St.

Spookapalooza:

The Cherokee Street pub crawl includes over 60 perfomances through the day and night at multiple venues and features productions by Farfetch and Nightchaser ($10 at the door, $5 with wristband). Limited tickets. VIP tickets include complimentary karaoke, food and beverages at Artist Art (3-9 p.m.). Sat., Oct. 26, 3-11:59 p.m., $15 - $25, 636-3461764, mammothmandp@gmail.com. Cherokee Street, Lemp Ave. and Cherokee St., St. Louis.

Storm Area 314 Halloween Party: Join the crowd at Ballpark Village for the biggest Halloween party in the galaxy presented by Johnnie Brock’s Dungeon. Over 2,000 people plan to storm Area 314 as UFO-BPV lands in the heart of downtown. Orbit around five venues. Live entertainment by Breakdown Shakedown band and DJ Nune, with an epic costume contest, offering $7,000 in cash and prizes, hosted by Todd Thomas. Sat., Oct. 26, 7 p.m., $10-$35. 314-345-9481. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave.

Urban Chestnut Presents Nosferatu: Enjoy this cult classic with live musical accompaniment by the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra and food & beer specials, including Count Orlok, Urban Chestnut’s Black Pumpkin Wheat Ale, as well as a few other surprises. Free, family-friendly event. The movie will begin after sunset. Wed., Oct. 23, 6-10 p.m., free, 314-222-0143, events@urbanchestnut.com, urbanchestnut.com. Urban Chestnut Midtown Brewery & Biergarten, 3229 Washington Ave.

Witch Please!:

GutterGlitter is celebrating queer and trans babes that this society hasn’t been able to burn. Bring your coven, or come stag! Just be ready to party at this underground, queer dance party. Basics are subject to a $15 up charge; come in costume! Fri., Oct. 25, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $5-$15, 314-621-6900, gutterglittertillyoudie@gmail.com. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St. n

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OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

PING PONG TABLE • POOL TABLE • BOARD GAMES WEDNESDAY TRIVIA • LIVE MUSIC / DJS 5 DAYS A WEEK

THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS

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

2248 R RI RVI IVEVERERFRRFFRORONONTNTT ITTMI IMEMESESS FMEJAOUBRCNRCTEUHOAB2R1E04YR- -2226803,-, -M2220A90R1,18C82H0 1r5r9i,ivve2er0r fi1frvr8oeonrntftrtrtioivmnmeetertsfsi.r.mcocoenomstm.t ci mo me s . c o m

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24

BARREL-AGED COCKTAIL CLASS

COMPLIMENTARY WHISKEY

$60, 6:30 PM AT INTOXICOLOGY

TASTING

JEN NORMAN AND KELLE GREEN AT JANE 7 PM AT JUST JOHN

5 PM AT INTOXICOLOGY

BEAU DIAMOND AND THE

COLLECTIVE DREAM BAND CD

BROADWAY PIANO KARAOKE

RELEASE SHOW

8 PM AT HANDLEBAR

$5, 7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

4130 MANCHESTER AVE. IN THE GROVE FIRECRACKERPIZZA.COM

HAROLD NIGHT - IMPROV

YACHT ROCK

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26

$8, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

6 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

REHAB'S PROM NIGHT

PLAYERS LEAGUE - IMPROV

SMALL TOWN MURDER LIVE

7 PM AT REHAB

$6, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

ELLE VARNER

ROYAL REGGAE THURSDAYS

EMPTY. FULL OF SORROW

$3, 10 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

$10 ,8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25

THE BUNKER

TRACKSTAR & FRIENDS AT THE BOOTLEG

VOODOO PLAYERS' VOODOO

$8 ,8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

$10, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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FILM

[REVIEW]

The Reckoning Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory is a thoughtful rumination on a life’s work, carried by Antonio Banderas’ sensitive performance Written by

ROBERT HUNT Pain and Glory Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Penelope Cruz and Julieta Serrano. Opens Friday, October 25, at Landmark Theatres Plaza Frontenac Cine and Tivoli Theater.

ellini’s 8 1/2 wasn’t the first film to offer an autobiographical perspecti e on the joy and agony of making mo ies, but it set the mold so firmly that almost e ery subse uent effort in cinematic self e ploration seems more like a parody of ellini. ou know the story rustrated egotistic artist stumbles through the e ents of his life while figures from his past and his creati e work drop by, gi ing him a push as he unsteadily stands on a precipice between fantasy and reality. edro Almod ar knows his way around gaudy distortions of reality and has ne er been afraid to present life through the curtain of dreams, so it comes as a surprise that his most personal film about life and creati ity contains not e en a nod toward the ellini model. In Pain and Glory, the year old Almod ar looks back on his past with calm consideration. his isn’t autobiography as spectacle a la ellini or osse but a thoughtful struggle along the path of memory. Antonio anderas plays Sal ador olla, an aging filmmaker whose taste in clothes and d cor and his unruly shock of hair mark him as Almod ar’s surrogate. eeling adrift in his adrid apartment, olla has lost interest in making films, sidetracked by a litany of health problems which Almod ar piles onto him by way

Alberto and Salvador (Asier Etxeandia and Antonio Banderas) reconnect after many years to make a movie. © EL DESEO. PHOTO BY MANOLO PAVON. COURTESY SONY PICTURES CLASSICS of a cle er animated se uence. As the film begins, he’s gradually beginning to regain interest in his work. e’s been asked to introduce a screening of a restored film from years earlier, one that he had considered a disappointment and that led to a falling out with the lead actor. Suddenly warming to the earlier work he’s told by a friend, It’s your eyes that ha e changed. he film is the same. he decides to track down the lead actor Alberto respo Asier t eandia and put their feud behind him. respo, a heroin addict, is suspicious about olla’s sudden reentry into his life, but the director is persistent and soon begins, almost absentmindedly, to share drugs with the actor. y settling his differences with respo, olla is inad ertently forced to confront his past. he actor disco ers an autobiographical te t, the story of a romance from the past, on the director’s computer and asks to turn it into an uncredited performance piece. In a daring mo e, Almod ar turns o er a fair portion of the film to a theatrical monologue, a mo e which allows the film to become autobiographical by projection, turning elements of olla’s life and, one guesses, Almod ar’s into a one man show. It’s a kind of artistic sleight of hand. he director’s story becomes the actor’s the heroin addict goes on

stage to relate the tale of someone else’s addiction. he theatrical centerpiece is key to Almod ar’s definition of his art. ords come before images, e en though they may be of e ual importance. olla struggles o er both, his an iety neatly balanced a small e ent that takes place in two scenes, decades apart. As a child, olla teaches an illiterate teenager working in his home to read in a contemporary scene, he is rewarded for his efforts with a message disco ered at an art gallery. As with respo’s play, word and image come together in a single work of art. Pain and Glory is bookended by segments showing olla’s relationship with his mother. In the early scenes, he’s enchanted by his childhood home a whitewashed ca e in a small illage but his ambitious mother acinta en lope ru finds it shameful. he later scenes of olla caring for his mother played as an older woman by Almod ar regular ulieta Serrano ser e as an emotional anti clima . he director comes to terms with his disappointments as well as hers. he death of a parent is often a potent reminder of one’s own mortality, making this a fitting epilogue for a film about memory, aging, and coming to terms with one’s past. hough he’s rarely off screen,

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anderas underplays his role, gi ing olla a struggling, passi e uality as if he’s getting lost under the weight of his past. is brief spell as a ollywood action hero once threatened to o ershadow just how good an actor he is. Almod ar brings out anderas’ thoughtful and ulnerable characteristics that most other directors ha e missed. I’m not familiar with t eandia’s work, but he matches anderas with a thoughtful, precise characteri ation, playing both romantic muse and ephistopheles to the director. hen Almod ar first appeared on the film scene in the s, his films were often promoted for a kind of camp flamboyance, but those elements ha e pro en to be less important o er time. e still likes bold colors and meticulously planned d cor, but those are just background elements. he heart of Pain and Glory, as with his best work, is in the ideas and emotions connecting olla and the other characters. he director may enjoy a well designed set, but it’s not going to distract from the human drama within. Pain and Glory isn’t Almod ar’s attempt at a flashy or histrionic confession boast it’s not an Iberian All that Jazz . It’s a personal and profound assessment of life from a filmmaker who’s too honest to claim he has all the answers. n

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FEATURED DINING SEDARA SWEETS

SPONSORED CONTENT

6 RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT...

CLUSTER BUSTERS

SEDARASWEETS.COM

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314.532.6508 8011 MACKENZIE RD AFFTON, MO 63123

314.297.8846 3636 PAGE BLVD ST. LOUIS, MO 63113

In May of 2019, Sedara Sweets joined the community of Affton. Sedara serves a variety of baked goods including fifteen types of baklava—both Iraqi and Turkish. Just like the name says, Sedara sells ice cream, using products from Wisconsin-based Cedar Crest, and milkshakes. The cafe offers a small savory menu featuring breakfast bread, falafel and shawarma sandwiches, with rotisserie versions of beef or chicken both on offer. Whether you are looking for something to satisfy your sweet tooth, or a new option for lunch and dinner, Sedara has you covered. “We want to have something for everybody” Sedara Sweets is both family owned and operated. They offer dine in and take out food services, as well as an amazing Baklava gift box that can be ordered online, or even delivered! Owners George and Esraa Simon look forward to meeting their new neighbors and sharing some of their favorite dishes with the community!

Located on both Page Avenue, as well as the upcoming location in the Saint Louis Galleria, Cluster Busters hopes to provide Saint Louis with high quality seafood at affordable prices. Cluster Busters offers both dine in and carry out seafood, with recipes from Chef Deion Woodard. You will find all your favorites dishes such as seafood, pasta, gumbo, and fried fish. Whether you want to try their flagship “Cluster Buster” or the Lobster Mac and Cheese, Cluster Busters offers something for everyone. Since 2017, Cluster Busters continues to grow as part of a staple of the North Saint Louis community, and is very excited to bring their offerings to the Galleria. Keep an eye out for menu additions as well as daily specials. Cluster Busters is also available for catering and private events, so consider them for your next event. At Cluster Busters, you’re invited to come catch this drip!

POKE DOKE

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314.833.5900 8 S EUCLID AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63108 314.553.9440 6316 DELMAR BLVD UNIVERSITY CITY, MO 63130

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

Poke Doke offers St. Louis their energized recipes intertwined in a fast-casual model. Best part is every bowl is customizable to the patron -- whether you know what you want and can come up with your own flavor pairings — but it’s certain your heart will be content with the rich, high-quality seafood. Customers choose a size, a base, (such as rice, greens, or soba noodles) and choose from proteins (such as salmon ahi tuna, spicy tuna, shrimp or tofu), then add as many toppings and drizzles as they wish. If you’re less interested in the simple pleasures of fish and more in playing around with accoutrements, both the shrimp and tofu are neutral enough that they benefit from the enhancements. The menu also offers appetizers such as pork-filled pot stickers, miso soup, and crab rangoon, along with an assortment of bubble milk teas and soft serve ice cream. With locations in both the Central West End and the Delmar Loop, Poke Doke is the perfect spot to grab a quick bite!

JSMUGSGASTROPIT.COM

BLK MKT EATS

CRAWLING CRAB

BLKMKTEATS.COM

314.328.3421 6730 PAGE AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63138

314.391.5100 9 S. VANDEVENTER AVE. ST. LOUIS, MO 63108

Looking for the best seafood in St. Louis or the Midwest—don’t fret, Crawling Crab is now open! Here, we drizzle everything in garlic butter and then sprinkle on our magic dust! In a fun and casual atmosphere, you’ll enjoy fresh, hand-cleaned seafood ranging from lobster, shrimp, and of course crab legs. All platters come with corn sausage potatoes and Cajun boiled eggs and shrimp that won’t disappoint. For those pasta and veggie lovers out there, there is a spot for you here too! Enjoy our double dipped garlic butter rolls along side with your meal. And if you are still not stuffed, we have homemade dessert on the menu too! Have a big family coming in or an event coming up? Enjoy our family meal options and our beautiful seafood tables. As we continue to grow, we are excited to add new items to the menu, get creative with new recipes, and give back within the community. Join us on the first Tuesday of the month for $20 platter specials, and $5 appetizers on every Wild Wednesday! Open Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm-10pm, currently located in the 24:1 Coffee House Cafe.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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The fast-fresh, made-to-order concept has been applied to everything from pizza to pasta in St. Louis, but the sushi burrito surprisingly had no Gateway City home until BLK MKT Eats opened near Saint Louis University last fall. It was worth the wait, though, because BLK MKT Eats combines bold flavors and convenience into a perfectly wrapped package that’s ideal for those in a rush. Cousins and co-owners Kati Fahrney and Ron Turigliatto offer a casual menu full of high-quality, all-natural ingredients that fit everything you love about sushi and burritos right in your hand. The Swedish Fish layers Scandinavian cured salmon, yuzu dill slaw, NOT YOURAnother AVERAGE Persian cucumbers and avocado for a fresh flavor explosion. favorite, the OGSUSHI Fire, featuresSPOT your choice 9 SOUTH VANDEVENTER DINE-IN, jalapeño TAKEOUT and OR DELIVERY MON-SAT 11AM-9PM of spicy tuna or salmon alongside tempura crunch, masago, shallots, 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.

CAFE

[REVIEW]

Sweet Escape The Bellwether’s magnificence transcends its transformation of an already impressive space Written by

CHERYL BAEHR The Bellwether 1419 Carroll Street, 314-380-3086. Sun.Thurs. 4:30-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 4:30-11 p.m.

wo years ago, when Brian Schmitz needed some quiet time away from Polite Society, the popular Lafayette Square restaurant he owns with his business partner Jonathan Frederick, he’d sneak off to Element. It was the perfect escape: close enough so he could get to and from his restaurant in a matter of minutes while seeming worlds away at the same time, a feeling he attributes to the elevator ride up to its third floor lounge. lement was where he went when he needed to think, and he’d often find himself settled into a barstool with a glass of wine and a notebook, jotting down ideas about menus, service, design and general musings about the restaurant business. When Element closed in October 2018, that respite disappeared — but fortunately not forever. Today, Schmitz — together with Frederick, bar manager and partner Travis Hebrank and chef homas utrell finds himself bringing those ideas to life in the very space he drafted them. The ellwether, which opened fi e months ago in the former Element digs, is the second restaurant from their Be Polite Hospitality group, which includes Polite Society and the forthcoming City Foundry daytime spot Good Day. If you’d asked Schmitz and company, they would’ve been content leaving their restaurant group at two, at least for the time being. Although the partners often talked about new concepts and what growing their business would look like, those conversations were usually more abstract. That

The scallop carpaccio with a bacon lemon vinaigrette is the best scallop dish in town, and it exemplifies the sex appeal of the menu. | MABEL SUEN changed, however, when they were approached by a realtor friend who was tasked with finding a new tenant for the Element space. At first, the friend was merely seeking their advice as restaurateurs on what to do with the property. Gradually, those musings became more concrete, and the trio found themselves presented with an opportunity to take it over themselves. Schmitz and his team relished the chance to breathe new life into a stunning place that, while at one time a hotspot, had waned in popularity and ultimately closed. Because they’d all regularly patronized Element, they were able to analyze it with both a customer’s perspective and a restaurateur’s eye. hey also had the benefit of hindsight, seeing what worked and what did not at the two-level space that, while impressive, proved challenging to operate. heir first item of business was addressing the space itself, which they tackled by combining the restaurant and bar within the build-

The Bellwether is a thrilling restaurant that is eclectic enough to maintain interest without being so far out there that it loses its point of view. ing’s third level. The move meant that the Bellwether’s kitchen is now located on a different floor than the dining room, but it also means that the energy is concentrated into one area. It’s a tradeoff that makes the room feel filled and buzzing with life without being crowded or loud. hough the reconfiguration is

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the biggest change from the old tenant, the aesthetic shift is also significant. In place of the former cool, industrial vibe, the Bellwether is warm and downright sexy. The luxe velvet and tapestry-appointed room feels like a Venetian café; Moroccan-inspired lanterns give a distinct North African touch. As gorgeous as it is, however, it’s hard to compete with the stunning outdoor patio that, if you catch it at the right time, gives a sweeping view of the sunset. Indoors or outside, it’s one of the loveliest places in town to dine. That beauty is not limited to the atmosphere. Under chef Futrell’s guidance, the Bellwether is a thrilling restaurant that is eclectic enough to maintain interest without being so far out there that it loses its point of view. Recognizing its place as more of a destination spot than Polite Society, Futrell upped his game, imbuing his dishes with sex appeal that matches the environs. The scallop carpaccio perfectly encapsulates this effect.

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THE BELLWETHER Continued from pg 33

he thin slices of shellfish are so creamy you feel as if you are eating a tempered pat of butter that melts on the tongue. Slivers of Asian pear bring out the scallops’ natural subtle sweetness, and a bacon-spiked lemon vinaigrette adds a whisper of smoke without taking over. If there is a better scallop dish in town, I haven’t seen it. A simple watermelon salad is anything but. Futrell compresses the fruit, concentrating what seems like the fla or of an entire melon into a square the size of a sugar cube. The squares are marinated in sherry vinegar and lime, which adds to their vibrancy, then paired with feta, mint, basil and pickled watermelon rind for a wonderful alternative to a caprese salad. Lamb meatballs are another standout small plate. The meat itself is tender and spiked with heat, but the plate’s real highlights are the shockingly creamy grits — so rich you wonder if Futrell is secretly a Southern grandma — and lavash crackers made with lamb fat, a subtle yet powerful touch. Equally impressive is the red pepper piperade, a as ue influenced stew-like mélange of tomatoes, poblanos and capers, ladled over a crispy potato cake that resembles a giant smashed Tater Tot. This alone is reason enough to order the dish, but Futrell ups the ante by drizzling the plate with a luscious black pepper cream that is so rich it’s like a fresh cheese. It feels like a haute riff on a vegetarian slinger — in other words, it’s perfect. Entree-wise, the butcher’s steak

Short rib ragout with rigatoni is the star of the Bellwether’s pasta offerings. | MABEL SUEN provides a refreshing alternative to the tired steak and potatoes template. Here, Futrell rubs the beef in cinnamon and coffee before grilling, then pairs it with fragrant coconut jasmine rice and a peach-chile sauce. The salmon is a more traditional preparation, though no less fla orful. A delicate pea nage and smoked paprika accent the fish. y only uibble is that it was slightly overcooked. The Bellwether may not be the place you’d think to order a burger, but it should be. The burger is a marvelous mess of perfectly seasoned ground chuck covered in molten sour pub cheese, mushrooms and bacon jam that meld together into a cheesy-gravy concoction so good you can hear an-

gels singing when you take a bite. And the pork steak is every bit as good — if not better. Futrell cooks the meat sous vide for eighteen hours, then finishes it on the grill. Inside, it’s positively succulent; on the outside, there is a touch of char to give it a suggestion of backyard barbecue. A sweet and tangy Carolina barbecue sauce evocative of a nostalgic brown sugar and ketchup meatloaf glaze finishes the pork. he ne t time an out-of-town friend visits and wants to know what St. Louis food means, serve them this. However, the Bellwether’s pastas perhaps its most significant menu difference from Polite Society — may be its biggest surprises. One would never be tempted to

call this an Italian kitchen, but Futrell and his team are turning out some of the city’s best pastas, like the saffron fettuccine, a wonderful seafood pasta so full of flavor you feel as if the ocean’s entire shellfish bounty is contained in each bite. The English pea ravioli is also breathtaking. A hearty ravioli shell is stuffed with ricotta cheese, then smothered with redwine-braised chicken and peas finished with a mouthwatering sauce made from the chicken’s pan jus. Crisp pieces of chicken skin add crunch and salt to this decadent dish. However, the star of the pasta selection — if not the entire Bellwether experience — is the short rib ragout. This masterpiece, comprised of rigatoni noodles, caramelized fennel and braised short ribs, is what would happen if the most talented Italian grandmother home cook was asked to make pot roast. Sherry vinegar and cherry tomatoes are cooked to the point that they burst with fla or, providing a zing of refreshment that cuts through the decadent beef jus. Two weeks later, I am still fantasizing about this magnificent feast. Pairing this dish with a glass of Sicilian red from Hebrank’s thoughtfully selected list is about as welcome an escape from the rest of the world as one can hope for. If the space was a respite for Schmitz and company before they got their hands on it, now it’s a place you’ll never want to leave.

The Bellwether Scallop carpaccio .................................... $18 Short rib ragout ....................................... $24 Pork steak ................................................ $27

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

Meet the St. Louis Party Bear Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

hris Ward was sitting at his desk, working his day job as a senior copywriter, when he got a fateful email from his friend. In it was a link to a Craigslist ad with the intriguing subject line “For Sale: A Party Bear.” Before he knew it, things were taking on a life of their own. “My friend Kris found this ad on Craigslist and sent it to me, saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny to buy this party bear?’” Ward recalls. “I was like, h yeah, we definitely need this party bear,’ but we didn’t have $200 to spend on a joke bear. As a joke, we set up a GoFundMe — and really, I think there is something icky and privileged about raising money for a joke, but this was the one instance when we decided to do it. We raised $400.” An ad for a giant brown bear sporting a Hawaiian shirt may have been the catalyst for opening Party Bear Pizza (4701 Morganford Road), but Ward’s desire to open a pizzeria started much earlier — during his childhood in Rushville, Illinois. After working jobs in the coal mining and livestock industries, his parents decided to switch courses when they stumbled upon an opportunity to buy an established pizzeria when Ward was in eighth grade. Although he saw all the hard work it took to make it successful, he couldn’t help but feel an affection for the business and always imagined he would open a pizzeria of his own someday. Ward put the idea on the back burner and instead pursued broadcasting and journalism in college. After graduating, he worked several jobs in his chosen career that brought him to St. ouis. ne of his first impressions about the city was its vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, and

A Craigslist ad and a pizza pedigree led Chris Ward to open Party Bear Pizza. | ANDY PAULISSEN he couldn’t help but feel moved to be a part of it. “One thing that stood out to me about St. Louis was that this is a place where I could try something,” Ward says. “I was inspired seeing what my friends were doing on Cherokee or in the Grove, and I wanted to be a part of that. I felt like this was a place I could try something, so I figured, why not give it a shot?” Ward began developing his Party Bear Pizza idea once he had the bear, but it wasn’t until he and his partner, Melanie Meyer, came across an opportunity at the Silver Ballroom that it got serious. Self-described “pinball nerds,” the pair would regularly frequent the south-city bar, and hatched the idea to make their restaurant dreams official when they learned that its small kitchen was available. Their idea was quirky: Ward would operate Party Bear Pizza alongside Meyer’s concept, a Korean-inspired street-food counter called Tiny Chef. However, as odd as the combination sounded to those on the outside, Ward and Meyer were convinced it would work. “We know it’s a weird name, but we thought it would be fun

because we think food should be fun,” Ward explains. “We think of it like Batman and Robin or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — two great tastes that taste great together.” Ward and Meyer opened Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef in April and have been thrilled by the response they’ve received. Just as exciting for Ward is how much working alongside Meyer has been a source of inspiration for his pizzas; their impromptu collaborations have resulted in a host of off-thewall ideas, including a Doritos Locos pizza and even a pie inspired by the movie Gremlins. Their success has even impressed his parents, who were a bit apprehensive of him starting his own pizzeria because of how difficult they knew it would be. “My mom and dad love it now,” Ward says. “I’ve always wanted to do things that I’ve had fun doing. When you make something, and watch people bite into it and then see the look on their face and know they love it, it’s such a cool feeling. Making food for people to make them happy — what else do you want to do?” Ward took a break from the pizza counter (and his day job as a

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copywriter) to share his thoughts on the St. Louis food and beverage scene, his pizza pedigree and why you shouldn’t be surprised if a Road House-inspired pie is his next creation. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? I have a long pizza pedigree! I’ve been part of our family’s pizza business in central Illinois for nearly 25 years, beginning in eighth grade. As kids we used to take pepperonis and throw them so hard they’d stick to the ceiling when my mom wasn’t looking, which is highly frowned upon in today’s pizza climate. I also did food prep for Monte Bello Pizzeria for a year to make a little extra money — and to just be around pizza. That place is amazing. It’s legit in the basement of a house and opened in 1950. You have to go. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? The world’s longest shower. It’s the only place left where no emails or texts can reach me. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? The ability to say “SWAYZE!”

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[FOOD NEWS]

Halloween Pop-Up Bar Debuts in CWE Written by

LIZ MILLER

ust in time for Halloween, St. ouis is getting its first spooky pop-up bar. On Thursday, October 17, Corpse Reviver debuted inside the Hideout (210 North Euclid Avenue), serving a selection of creepy cocktails amid some scary good decorations, from spiderwebs and skeletons to black skulls and gothic candelabras. The Hideout is the newest venture from On Point Hospitality owners Travis Howard and Tim Wiggins, who opened the intimate event space last month. Connected to their much-loved restaurant Yellowbelly in the Central West End, the Hideout is designed for both private and public events, with Corpse Reviver being the first to debut in the space.

CHRIS WARD

Continued from pg 37

and snap my fingers, and atrick Sway e appears for fifteen minutes at a time. We’d hang, eat pizza. It’d be pretty chill. I’ll low-key ask him about Road House, Point Break and To Wong Foo, my three fa orite Sway e films. It would only be fifteen minutes at a time, though, because I am very busy. As he knows. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? Not only the diversity in types of food, but the fact that St. Louis is competing with some of the best food cities in the entire country. And especially with pizza — we get a bad rap. It’s a good time to be alive and hungry in St. Louis. What is something missing in the local food, wine or cocktail scene that you’d like to see? Ever since I moved back from

The Numbskull Punch is dangerously delicious. | ANDREW TRINH PHOTOGRAPHY The pop-up bar is, of course, named for the famous classic pre-Prohibition cocktail corpse reviver, which earned the moniker because people often drank it to “revive” themselves from a hangover. Guests can choose from thirteen themed cocktails including super Instagramable drinks like the Numbskull Punch, which serves a mix of Banhjez mezcal, Duckett Blue rhum, Aperol, blood orange, strawberry, pineapple, coconut cream and lime in a black skull mug.

What other drinks may lack in fancy glassware they more than make up for with fun extra touches, like the Ghost Malone, with J. Rieger & Co. vodka, pineapple, coconut, almond, lime, ginger beer, “coco-caine” dust and a face tattoo. Yes, dear reader, you read that correctly: Every Ghost Malone cocktail comes with a spooky temporary tattoo affi ed to your glass. “It will be over-the-top,” Wiggins said in a press release. “You’ve seen these pop-up bar experiences for other holidays, but we want

ew ork, I can’t seem to find a good penne alla vodka slice anywhere around here. So that will change soon. Who is your St. Louis food crush? My partner, Melanie Meyer. Working and creating alongside her in the kitchen is like having a front-row seat to watching a culinary wizard. She is actual magic to me. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? Again, this will sound biased, but it’s correct: My partner Melanie Meyer, a.k.a. Tiny Chef. Witnessing people’s faces as they taste her recipes and seeing people discover how good she really is makes my heart sing. I feel like Bradley Cooper discovering Lady Gaga, except for food and also the movie is actually good this time. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? ru e oil. aybe it’s not for everyone, and a little also goes a long way. If you weren’t working in the res-

taurant business, what would you be doing? I’ve been a comic book writer, a dance competition videographer, journalist, a certified pharmacy tech, marketer, a sandwich delivery guy … so the short answer is “something,” as long as I’m happy doing it and people are happy with my work. But I’ve been working toward starting this pizza spot for well over ten years, so I hope people try it out. I can’t go back to filming dance competitions. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. Nothing personal, but it’s Provel. This statement enrages people. If you’re the kind of person who gets enraged over regional cheese opinions, book a float tank today and relax. What is your after-work hangout? St. Louis’ hottest new after-work spot is My Couch. It’s got everything: a loud cat, half a jar of dryroasted peanuts and an Amazon remote control into which I speak tiny wishes for streaming content

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to celebrate all things spooky and cool for the Halloween season.” In addition to the ghoulish grog, customers can order the Yellowbelly pale ale, brewed by Rockwell Beer Co.; white or red wine; or two shots, the Blue Pill or Red Pill. (In case you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.) The cocktail list is the “tricks” portion of the menu, so of course there have to be a few “treats” featured as well. For Corpse Reviver, Yellowbelly pastry chef and baker MJ Stewart developed three small bites: pumpkin gooey butter cake, from-scratch sour gummy worms and Buckeye balls. To complement the spellbinding decor, the space is cast in an orange and purple glow thanks to colored lightbulbs and a thin layer of fog emitting from a smoke machine. Two horror movies are projected on the walls — on our visit, it was Children of the Corn and Killer Klowns from Outer Space — and playlists with names like “Trap or Treat” and “Haunted Tiki” play in the background. The fun runs until Saturday, November 2, from 6 p.m. to midnight, and $1 of every cocktail will be donated to the ACLU of Missouri. Seating for Corpse Reviver will be a ailable on a first come, first served basis, with parties of six or more limited due to space restrictions; guests are encouraged to arrive early to snag seats. n

on my television. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? We’re in the golden age of fast food, and that Chicken Tater Munchie Meal from Jack in the Box is my jam. And I don’t feel guilty about it. If it tastes good, eat it. I may also be the last person my age who dines in at a McDonald’s. I find something romantically tacky and comforting about it. I love being in a hurry, but in a booth alone. There’s a nice lady that works at my regular spot who always says to me sweetly, 100 percent without irony, “Thank you for choosing McDonald’s.” It makes my entire day. What would be your last meal on earth? My mom’s pot roast. Willie Nelson said, “Cook a perfect pot roast, and you’ll never dine alone.” Also, I have to include my Grandma Kate’s made-from-scratch potato and noodle soup. She’d put two ice cubes in our bowls so we wouldn’t get burned — don’t want to start the afterlife with a burned mouth. n

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[FOOD NEWS]

The Ideal Spot for Dinner and a Show Written by

CAROLINE GROFF

rabbing dinner before curtain call at the Fox Theatre just got a lot more fun. On Sunday, October 13, Grand Tavern by David Burke (626 North Grand Boulevard, 314-405-3399), located inside the Angad Arts Hotel in Grand Center, began hosting themed dining experiences inspired by the fourteen shows in the 2019-2020 season. And right now, from Tuesday, October 22, through Sunday, November 3, the Fox is featuring Dear Evan Hansen. Themed around shows like Rent, Wicked and Jersey Boys, the season kicked off with Hello, Dolly!, for which

Grand Tavern served a menu featuring a Waldorf salad, choice of chicken fricassee pot pie or roast beef with béarnaise and an opera cake to finish. “We received great feedback around the launch of our pre-theater offering in the spring and wanted to find a way to build on that excitement and incorporate a unique element to make it that much more special for local theatregoers,” said executive chef Robert Cantu in a recent release. “These performances allow guests to step out of their reality and into those of each performer, so we have curated theatrical menus to make our guests feel like they are a part of the performance. Each menu is unique and carries a special connection to the show.” The musical-inspired dinners begin at 5 p.m. and are offered throughout the run of each show. For $42 per person, each meal serves diners a first and second act capped off by a sweet finale, with wine pairings available for an extra $12. All pre-theater menus will be available on Grand Tavern’s website ahead of each run. n

This week, the Fox is featuring Dear Evan Hansen. | COURTESY GRAND TAVERN

[FOOD NEWS]

[SECTION HED]

Cinder House Debuts Harvest-Inspired Fall Menu

Big Changes for The Wine & Cheese Place Written by

ELLA FAUST

Written by

ELLA FAUST

ooler weather seems to actually have arrived in St. Louis (even if briefly), and while you can no longer spend months laying out at the Four Seasons St. Louis rooftop pool, you can still experience amazing city skyline views while sampling rich fall flavors at Cinder House (999 North Second Street, 314-881-5759) on the eighth floor of the hotel. In late September, the fine-dining restaurant helmed by consulting chef Gerard Craft introduced its fall menu, featuring seasonal dishes perfectly tailored to the upcoming harvest season. The new menu, developed by Cinder House executive chef Aaron Martinez, features simple yet flavorful dishes infused with meat and produce sourced from local farms. “The hearth imparts a lot of flavor; a hint of hearth is in every dish,” Martinez said in a release. “I want to embrace that — not overwhelm a flavor profile.” Menu highlights include a grilled black bass with biquinho peppers, lobster mushrooms and bonito butter; a Berkshire pork chop with smoked maitake mushrooms, sweet potato and black garlic; and a big-eye tuna with habanada

Grilled black bass with biquino peppers, lobster mushrooms and bonito butter. | COURTESY CINDER HOUSE AT FOUR SEASONS ST. LOUIS peppers, chile relish, annatto seed and cucumber jus. These main courses are complemented with family-style sides. Craft is especially proud to feature local farms and food purveyors such as Bohlen Family Farms and Eat Here St. Louis on the new menu. “By drawing from our local surroundings and cooking ingredients over the hearth, we are creating a sense of place for diners that can only be found here,” Craft said in the release. Cinder House is open daily for breakfast from 6:30 to 10:45 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. n

n late September, St. Louis institution the Wine & Cheese Place shared some big news: As of April, ownership of the four area locations had changed hands to husband-and-wife team Vijay and Alicia Shroff, longtime customers of the establishment, which opened in 1982. In a release, Shroff said he worked closely with the previous owner in order to ensure a smooth transition for the four St. Louis-area shops, with locations in Clayton, Ballwin, Creve Coeur and Rock Hill. “One of the reasons I’m so excited to own the Wine & Cheese Place is its large and loyal base of customers who have been shopping with us for, in some cases,

decades — I look forward to serving them and getting to know them,” Shroff said in a release. “I’m also happy to share that our stellar management team, extensive product selection and dedication to the St. Louis community are unchanged.” What will the beloved Wine & Cheese Place stores look like under new ownership? Shroff says his goal is to build on the local chain’s already strong foundation while adding in new amenities and concepts that will round out the shopping experience. In the release, Shroff adds that he hopes to work on, “improving the in-store experience, offering educational and fun tasting events and doubling down on our well-known expertise and personal service.” At the Clayton location, signs of the new ownership have already taken shape. A new whiskey-tasting bar and event space, (In)Famous Bar, was recently unveiled. Stocked with rare whiskeys from around the world, visitors can purchase tickets to the curated event space or customize a tasting experience for up to 25 guests. The four St. Louis-area locations are open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Learn more at www.wineandcheeseplace.com. n

New features include a whiskey-tasting bar. | COURTESY THE WINE & CHEESE PLACE

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[HOMESPUN]

To Beat the Band Cara Louise’s debut solo EP Fragile Heart brings a shift in sound for a seasoned performer Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

s rebrandings go, Cara Wegener’s decision to stop performing as the Cara Louise Band and simply bill herself as Cara Louise is hardly a seismic shift. Her backing band has even remained largely intact. But for Wegener, the subtle change in how she is billed speaks to a larger reinvention of her sound, which has moved from an Americana-indebted rootsiness to a technicolor, synth-and-stringsladen palette on her new Fragile Heart EP. “Cara Louise Band started with a phase I was going through, trying to be as true as I could be to the music I wanted to make,” Wegener says. She notes, though, that even in her earliest stages, she was never interested in staying in one lane. “I was super into golden country, old-timey, roots music and writing songs that way,” she says. “When we put the band together that’s what we had in mind, but e en on our first there were some indie or postrock ideas.” For Fragile Heart, Wegener doesn’t totally throw away her fascination with roots music; rather, she and her band stretch elements of the genre toward the moody and cinematic. “Tears Turn Into Rain” lopes along like a country waltz, and it could certainly have maintained its winsome cowpoke rhythm without much adornment; a few years ago, that’s how the Cara Louise Band would have likely handled it. But the layering of a beautifully nuanced string section lends the song an air of eternal dusk, and Wegener’s layered vocal harmonies soften the existential dread

Cara Wegener has dropped the word “Band” from her musical moniker, and now performs simply as Cara Louise. | KRISTEN MCGEEHAN that creeps into her increasingly impassioned lead vocals. Wegener credits producer and engineer David Beeman for helping direct her shift in sound. Working out of Beeman’s Native Sound Studio, the pair plotted how best to structure her songs. For Cara Louise to step out as a solo artist, she sought the aid of a new set of ears. “My goal for going my own route was to bring on a producer that had a different vision, rather than me having complete control,” Wegener says. That powersharing meant that Beeman was not merely setting up mics and pressing “record.” Several songs were torn down to the studs and built back up. “Some songs were hardly written; a few changed completely in studio,” she says. “I had to be open to letting him take control, which I’m not always good at. “Lyrics have always been something I start with and that I feel confident in, egener continues. “With this album, it was the opposite. I had two songs that didn’t need changing, but the other three, we needed songwriting

sessions. He’s really helped me learn different ways to take songs, thinking outside my little bubble.” “Only You” is the EP’s clearest marriage of Cara Louise’s approach to songwriting and Beeman’s willingness to tinker with the form. “I had a concept for the lyrics — which was about an ex, and not a good breakup — and the chords for the verse that we had written in practice,” she says. “I wanted a big, rock-ballad-y chorus and for it to sound kind of sinister. We recorded the bones of it and I didn’t like it — I didn’t want to put it on the album. David said, ‘Let me see what I can do.’ He ended up writing a bunch of the parts, and it was exactly what I wanted to hear.” Beeman’s additions — trippy drum triggers set against chunky piano chords, overdriven synth counterpoint — help turn the track into the EP’s centerpiece. But all of that studio sweetening makes it hard for a tried-and-true live band like Cara Louise and her gang to recreate the EP on stage. That will be the task at hand for the Fragile Heart release show at Off Broadway on Friday, October 25.

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“Adam [Donald, Wegener’s husband and guitarist has been finding a lot of the synth parts on lead guitar,” Wegener explains. “We brought in Buddy Shumaker on keys and synth, and he’s nailing all those little nuances that David put in. Other than that, the hardest part is all the vocal layers that we put in. It really fills out the sound; I brought in three backup singers for the CD release show.” The show will cap a busy 2019 that saw Cara Louise open for Americana heavyweights including Margo Price and James McMurtrey. Even as she moves outside the lines of that genre, she retains her affinity for the form while remaining malleable. “I’ve gotten these awesome opportunities to open for these people I idolize in the Americana world,” Wegener says. “It’s interesting to transition to a different genre, but I hope to always be changing. I’ve always said that my goal is to break genres and stereotypes.”

Cara Louise Record Release 8 p.m. Friday, October 25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-773-3363.

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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[PROFILE]

Let’s Talk About Sex St. Louis duo created Afrosexology because someone needed to Written by

KATIE COUNTS

alychia Saah and Rafaella Fiallo felt like they never got the sex education they deserved. After graduating college, they decided to do something about it. “[It] gave us the feeling of, ‘We cannot wait for this country to create the sort of sex education we wish we had,’” Saah says. “‘Let’s just do it.’” In 2015, the St. Louis-based duo founded Afrosexology — a sex education platform with the goal of fostering a more sex-positive black community. Afrosexology started as a way to give others the sex education they always wanted and to personally confront the stigmas they grew up with — but what began as a way to liberate themselves and the community has become much more. “It’s so easy to think of liberation as an individual, solo activity,” Fiallo says. “But if you’re not thinking about other people and how you’re interacting with anyone else, I don’t think it makes sense. And it doesn’t work.” Saah and Fiallo met at Washington University. They never had class together, but they were united by a passion for sex education and black liberation. Feeling “motivated” (according to Fiallo) and “unemployed” (according to Saah), the two created the Afrosexology website. They started attending conferences, hosting workshops and posting messages of sex positivity on social media. Now, Afrosexology has hosted more than 50 workshops and has a social media presence with tens of thousands of followers. Their work has even been featured in outlets like Glamour, Buzzfeed and Playboy. Afrosexology covers topics such as self love, oral sex, masturbation, relationships and much more. While Saah and Fiallo lead the conversations, they say everyone is both a learner and an educator.

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Rafaella Fiallo (left) and Dalychia Saah are trying to foster a more sex-positive black community. | ERICA JONES “We are not the experts of your body and your experience,” Fiallo says. Although their workshops cover a variety of topics, Saah and Fiallo say it often comes back to two themes: “Am I normal?” and “Is this okay?” For many who attend their workshops, sex is surrounded by shame and stigma. Until Cheeraz Gormon attended one of their workshops, she had never talked with so many black women about sex. She grew up with her own set of stigmas. “It was, ‘Don’t do it, and don’t come home pregnant,’” Gormon, a writer and speaker, says. As a black woman who identifies as panse ual, she struggled to feel comfortable with her sexuality and sensuality. She used to sit at work listening to Audre Lorde’s essay “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” knowing the words resonated with her, but being introduced to Afrosexology showed her the real impact. hese women are filling a real need,” Gormon says. Now, she makes an effort to center pleasure in her sex life and her everyday life — which is one of the goals of Afrosexology. Walking through the grass barefoot, feeling the wind on her skin, being present, Gormon says. “Pleasure is a very intentional thing every single day of my life,” Gormon says. “They opened that door for me.” Afrosexology suggests there are

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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many parallels between someone’s sexual experiences and the rest of the world. Whether it’s someone’s job, relationship to the government or another aspect of life, Saah says, “we are socialized to think that our pleasure has to come from outside of us.” Their philosophy is: If we won’t settle for less in our sex lives, why should we do that with any other part of our life? “How can we build a world that is catering to our pleasures in a way that isn’t trivial but is very intentional about feeling pleasure in this world?” Saah says. It’s a way of living that has helped Saah a great deal. Working on Afrosexology inspired her to uit a job she felt unfulfilled in so she could start teaching at Washington University’s school of social work. “Centering pleasure in my sex life helped me to reclaim pleasure in a lot of other aspects of my life where I had just settled for things because they were there,” she says. As Afrosexology has grown, it’s kept Saah and Fiallo busy. They often find themsel es on the road — conducting as many as 30 workshops in one year. They have even traveled to the University of Alaska for a workshop, and they planned to attend a conference in Cuba this month. The two want to slow down a little bit so they can work on other projects — perhaps a book or

maybe some collaborations. Not too long ago they released their own line of merchandise featuring clothing with sayings such as “Less Oppression, More Orgasms” and “Ask Before You Touch.” They try to make every part of their work as intersectional as possible. In their social media, Afrosexology makes an effort to feature artists and work of varying gender identities, sexualities, ability, body type and much more. Trying to represent as many people as possible, they say, is the best way to have a holistic conversation about sex. “Not having any representation, in general, is like saying they don’t exist,” Fiallo says. Saah says she and Fiallo created Afrose ology out of a selfish desire to liberate themselves, and the work has grown them a lot. But, to them, the most inspiring part is seeing how others are impacted. “It feels beautiful to see people returning to this version of themselves prior to them being shamed, prior to them internalizing and normalizing all this sexist, racist, classist, ableist, transphobic, homophobic things that we’ve been told,” Saah says. “To see them be unapologetic and really comfortable within their bodies.” “People are already on the journey when they find us, she adds. More information can be found about Afrosexology on their website www.afrosexology.com.

[ C I N E M AT H E Q U E ]

A Silver Screen Is Coming to South City Written by

LIZ MILLER

he Bevo neighborhood is already a destination for some of the city’s best dive bars and Bosnian food — to say nothing of the iconic Bevo Mill — and soon, it will be home to the only microcinema in St. Louis. In early , first time entrepreneurs Keith Watson and Sarah Baraba plan to open Arkadin Cinema & Bar at 5228 Gravois Avenue. (Full disclosure, dear reader: I have called Baraba a close friend for many years. This post was edited by interim editor in chief Doyle Murphy to ensure there was no cheering from the press box.) Unlike large multiplexes or historic movie houses, microcinemas offer a different kind of theatergoing experience. Typically, microcinemas (sometimes called arthouse theaters), are smaller, with one screen and more limited seating — Arkadin is aiming for 40 to 50 seats in the cinema — and feature non mainstream films and programming. They usually offer a bar or lounge area for discussion and encourage a dialogue about film with patrons. “We think of a microcinema as an intimate movie-going experience where you can really experience the film with other people and then have the opportunity to discuss and digest that film afterwards with others or the people you came with,” Baraba says. “Our primary goal is going to be to get some really awesome programming in there to give St. Louisans access to movies that don’t come through the city or really even the Midwest. This is going to be an experience you can’t really get anywhere else in the city.” ith a shared passion for film, Watson and Baraba were inspired to open Arkadin after researching similar concepts across the country. Both St. Louis natives, the couple lived in Washington,

Entrepreneurs Keith Watson and Sarah Baraba. | SARAH BARABA . . for almost fi e years before moving back home in 2018. During their time in D.C., they were frequent patrons of Suns Cinema, a microcinema that helped influence Arkadin. While developing Arkadin, the couple worked with the owners of Suns and also The Film Lab in Hamtramck, Michigan, to refine their concept and learn more about the industry. In addition to his full-time career as an attorney, Watson has been a freelance film critic for the past four years, including reviewing movies for Slant Magazine for the past few years. Earlier this year, he covered the Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea for the publication. With Arkadin, he and Baraba hope to curate movies, film series and festi als not currently screened in St. Louis. “The size of it creates both an intimate atmosphere and logistically allows you to show things that maybe have a more niche audience since you’re not having to fill up a big theater, atson says. “The plan is not to do week-long runs of a movie — we’re pretty much doing one-off showings — so you can show things that are maybe targeted toward more of a niche audience. Our plan is to do a lot of series-type programming; one example is a ‘Filmed in St. Louis’ series, showing movies that were actually filmed in St. ouis. Having bought the building on Gravois Avenue last week, the pair are targeting a spring 2020 opening, allowing time to have the space remodeled. (Watson and Baraba both work full-time jobs, which they will continue to do after the grand opening.) Divided into two distinct spaces, the building will allow Arkadin to

“We’re pretty much doing oneoff showings. Our plan is to do a lot of series-type programming; one example is a ‘Filmed in St. Louis’ series.” separate the theater from the bar area and lounge. The couple hope to feature eclectic seating in the cinema, including high-top tables for elevation in the back row and possibly sofas, although nothing is set in stone yet. “What’s great about the space is that it’s kind of a blank slate, and that’s what drew us to it,” Baraba says. “You can do a lot with it; right now it’s just a big open space with endless potential.” To start, Arkadin’s bar will exclusively serve canned beverages to complement classic and gourmet popcorn made in-house, plus candy and other movie snacks. “We want to be able to provide local microbrews and do as many local things as we can, and fortunately we live in a city where we can do not only canned beer from across the city, but also canned cocktails and hopefully some canned Missouri wine,” Baraba says. “We’re going to investigate different popcorn options in

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terms of seasonings and making it a little bit more gourmet and artisan than what you get at the movie theater. But then if you want classic buttered popcorn, of course we’ll have that for you; I’m a butter girl myself.” Watson adds that Arkadin may expand the bar program in the future. “I don’t know that we’re stuck on the can thing forever, but just as we’re opening, I think it’s an easy way to go about it,” he says. When Arkadin debuts next spring, Watson and Baraba plan to operate it three days a week — likely Friday, Saturday and Sunday — with one screening per day. “And then maybe add Thursdays or additional screenings on the weekends; whatever seems to work out best,” Watson says. Pronounced are-cod-in, the microcinema’s name is an homage to rson elles and his film Mr. Arkadin (sometimes billed as Confidential Report). “It’s probably one of his more obscure films I think there’s maybe eight different versions floating out there and there’s not really a definiti e cut of it, Watson says. “It wasn’t really released in a normal way, as was the case with many of his films. It stars Orson Welles as an international powerful man of mystery who’s adopted this name that he created for himself, Arkadin. We liked the sense of mystery about it and that it also had the feel of an old movie house but with a more modern twist. We both really like Orson Welles a lot, as well, so it was a little bit of a tribute.” Located next door to the Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois Avenue, 314-352-5226), Arkadin will be the first modern mo ie theater in the Bevo neighborhood and one of only a few operating in St. Louis City. Watson and Baraba say that neighbors such as Heavy Anchor owners Jodie and Josh Timbrook have already been extremely supportive, alerting them to community meetings, connecting them with the neighborhood association and inviting them to industry happy hours. “Everybody seems really excited about it and bringing something new into the neighborhood,” Baraba says. “And everyone we’ve spoken to has really had great ideas for programming, so I’m really just excited to get open and see what ideas people have and what we can give to people. here’s such an interest in film in St. Louis, and I just would love to be that venue that gives people access to these movies they want to see in a theater setting.” n

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[VENUES]

Firebird Operated for Months with No Liquor License Wednesday Oct. 23 9:30PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players

Tribute To Talking Heads

Thursday Oct. 24 9PM

Alex Ruwe Band Friday Oct. 25 10PM

Jakes Leg

Saturday Oct. 26 10PM

Marquise Knox Sunday Oct. 27 8PM

Blues, Soul and Pop Diva Kim Massie Wednesday Oct. 30 9:30PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute to The Doors

few weeks ago, fans of The Firebird (2706 Olive Street, 314-5350353) learned the disappointing news that the decade-old music venue had closed, with upcoming shows having been transferred to other local venues. When Riverfront Times broke the news, Firebird owner Jimmy Vavak told music editor Daniel Hill that he hoped to reopen the venue in 2020. “We are currently reevaluating and restructuring the business to ideally come back stronger in the coming year,” Vavak told Hill. At the time, Vavak didn’t elaborate on why the venue was closing. After RFT posted news of the closure, we received several tips that the reason for the closing was related to the venue’s liquor license — or current lack thereof. When reached by phone, St. Louis City Excise Commissioner Myles McDonnell confirmed that the Firebird’s city liquor license was considered out of business by his office as of June 24. Prior to confirming its closure on September 25, the Firebird had regularly hosted events advertising liquor for sale after the June 24 expiration date. McDonnell says, “[The Firebird] had been advertising various events and concerts like that there, but we’ve been by a

The Firebird officially closed in September after more than a decade in business. | DANIEL HILL few times and haven’t been able to verify that they were open and selling liquor.” Riverfront Times was able to confirm with a show attendee that alcohol was sold to the public at the Bruiser Queen show at the Firebird on August 17, nearly two months after the club’s liquor license expired. As for the likelihood of the venue reopening in its previous location and with the same bar format?

[CRIME]

Thieves Steal Thousands of Dollars in Gear from St. Louis Musician

couple weeks back, St. Louisbased multi-instrumentalist and music instructor Syrhea Conaway’s car was burglarized in Midtown, with multiple instruments and pieces of sound equipment stolen. Out of all the expensive items stolen, the worst loss for Conaway was her George Brunner Antonius Stradivarius violin, which she’s owned since she was nine years old. Conaway says that despite the rest of the equipment being incredibly expensive to replace, the loss of the violin has been completely devastating for her. When reached by phone, Conaway expressed her frustration and sadness over the theft. “It’s something I never could have imagined myself being without,” she says.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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Syrhea Conaway with her now-stolen violin after winning a bronze medal at a state music competition at the age of ten. | VIA THE ARTIST Unfortunately, Conaway isn’t the first musician to have gear stolen in St. Louis; in fact, she joins a sizable group of local

“I wouldn’t think a [liquor license] renewal would be appropriate at this point,” McDonnell says. “I try to work with people for a couple of weeks or however long it takes if they’re actually making an effort — but I don’t think these people are making the effort to try to renew the license.” Multiple calls and emails to Vavak for comment have gone unreturned.

—Liz Miller

and national acts that have been burglarized or robbed in St. Louis over the past few years. In May 2018, St. Louis city cops busted a musical instrument and equipment theft ring in town, recovering a large quantity of music gear and equipment, some of which had been stolen back in 2014. “Artists and musicians seem glamorous and affluent to people outside the business, so it makes them easy targets,” Conaway says. “But most of the time, even musicians [who] are idolized, they really don’t have a lot of money at all, and they work incredibly hard for what they have. To have everything disappear in an instant can be a huge hit.” Conaway says she’s received an overwhelming amount of support from close friends and members of the music community since the theft. Friends and fans are hopeful that Conaway’s equipment will be returned, but in the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been established to cover the costs of her stolen equipment. Donations can be made at www. gofundme.com/f/help-syrhea-replacestolen-music-equipment.

—Ella Faust

OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Charlie Parr. | VIA ARTIST WEBSITE

Charlie Parr 8 p.m. Thursday, October 24. Old Rock House, 1200 South Seventh Street. $12. 314-588-0505. Minnesota-bred roots musician Charlie Parr pulls off the rare trick of bridging the gap between acoustic blues purists and outsider six-string savants; his recordings wouldn’t sound out of place on the Thrill Jockey label or on Rounder Records. His dedication to country blues is no ruse,

THURSDAY 24

BEAU DIAMOND AND THE COLLECTIVE DREAM BAND CD RELEASE SHOW: 8 p.m., $5. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. CHARLIE PARR: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. DOOBIE: w/ DJ Hylyte, Krash Minati, BSE Count, Swaun 8 p.m., $15-$20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. GUIDED BY VOICES NEW ALBUM LISTENING PARTY: 6 p.m., free. Planet Score Records, 7421 Manchester Rd, Maplewood, 314-282-0777. HAYLEY AND THE CRUSHERS: w/ Radio Buzzkills, Backwash, the Fighting Side 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. JACOB BRYANT: 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. MOUNTAIN RIVER VALLEY BOYS: 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. NIGHTFREAK: w/ Banana Clips, Hover 8:30 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. THE STL SHED: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. SUFFOCATION & BELPHEGOR: 7 p.m., $22-$50. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

FRIDAY 25

BIG TOBACCO: w/ The Sigmund Frauds, Slow Boys, Bill’s Wife 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. CARA LOUISE EP RELEASE SHOW: w/ Bendigo

and on his latest eponymous album, Parr uses his resonator and twelve-string guitars to give shape to story-songs like the first-car love letter “Mag Wheels” and the stormy, embittered “Cheap Wine.” His guitar playing is both on-a-dime precise and perfectly weathered, but Parr’s slightly haggard voice carries the timewarp quality of his songs. Albright? All right!: Fellow country blues twelve-string player Todd Albright opens the show. –Christian Schaeffer Fletcher, Essential Knots 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. CHRIS BEARD BAND: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. CLITERALLY SPEAKING: THE PODCAST: 7 p.m., $20. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-932-7003. A DAY TO REMEMBER: w/ I Prevail, Beartooth 7 p.m., $39.50-$59.50. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-896-4200. DIPLO: 9 p.m., $55-$70. Ameristar Casino, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-949-7777. EMO HALLOWEEN: w/ Finding Emo 9 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. FROST MONEY’S HALLOWEEN BASH: w/ 86 Family, Mike Milli, Double F Gang, 2 Eazy, Montega Rebel, ODDITY, Guiasybutta, Sollow T 8 p.m., $10-$15. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. KILBORN ALLEY BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LOUD LUXURY: w/ Dzeko, Bijou 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. MR. BLUE SKY: A TRIBUTE TO ELO: w/ River Kittens 8 p.m., $20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ONE WAY TRAFFIC: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. OUTLIER: w/ Romasa, Stone Eater, Devourist,

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OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Dale Watson. | VIA ATOMIC MUSIC GROUP

Dale Watson 8 p.m. Saturday, October 26. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $22 to $25. 314-773-3363. Viewers of Ken Burns’ century-spanning Country Music documentary for PBS will surely know the feeling of wonder, if not vertigo, at the vastness of the music — and perhaps the pang of never getting to see the musicians who made it so when the chance was there. Gone in recent years are Merle Haggard, George Jones, Ralph Stanley and Kitty Wells; the music won’t be the same without them. But many keepers of the flame are still on the road, including Dale Watson, the

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 47

Extinctionism 8 p.m., $5. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SMALL TOWN MURDER: 8 p.m., $30-$65. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. THE DR. ZHIVEGAS FAMILY REVIVAL: 9 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. THE YOURS UNDERGROUND/INDIE AWARDS SHOW: 7:30 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. TRISHA YEARWOOD: 7:30 p.m., $46.50-$124.50. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. WAKER: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. ZEUS REBEL WATERS: w/ Roisee 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

SATURDAY 26

AJR: 8 p.m., $38.50-$43.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ARTURO SANDOVAL WITH JANE MONHEIT: 8 p.m., $35-$45. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. BIG MIKE AGUIRRE: 6 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BRADLEY PALERMO: w/ Paige Beller, Amy Quinn 7:30 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. CASE AND ELLE VARNER: 8 p.m., $40-$65. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. CELINE DION: 7:30 p.m., $46.50-$196.50. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis,

Alabama native who is an icon of the Texas wellspring of country and the musical melting pot of Austin. Like his hero the Hag, Watson is a triple threat: a rich baritone singer, sly guitarist and prolific songwriter who pivots effortlessly from emotional devastation to roadhouse shenanigans. He and his band the Lone Stars are legends; don’t take them, or the dancefloor, for granted. Opening Moves: Watson recently left his home base of Austin for Memphis, the home base of Amy LaVere, who kicks off this evening with husband and virtuoso guitarist Will Sexton. LaVere’s new album Painting Blue is one of her most moving releases to date. –Roy Kasten 314-241-1888. DALE WATSON: w/ Amy Lavere, Will Sexton 8 p.m., $22. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. KIDS’ BLUES BOOGIE FAMILY DAY: 10 a.m., free. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis. KIM MASSIE TRIBUTE TO STEELEY DAN: 8 p.m., $15. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. KISHI BASHI: 9 p.m., $20-$23. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MATT “THE RATTLESNAKE” LESCH: 8 p.m., $5. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. PRE-HALLOWEEN SHOW: w lackwell, offin it, Dear Satan, Kodiac 6:30 p.m., $8. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. ROCK U FEST 2019: w/ Guerrilla Theory, Divine Sorrow, The 45, Chasing Ginger, Rear Window Ethics, Evan Thomas, The Johnston Project, 33 on the Needle, Fast A Sheep, The PeaceLords, Mister Malone 4 p.m., $10. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. SLAM DANCE FEST: 3 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. WHITNEY SCREAMS: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300.

SUNDAY 27

98 DEGREES: 7:30 p.m., TBA. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777. CHRIS WEBBY: w/ Jarren Benton, Locksmith, Ekoh 8 p.m., $25. Fubar, 3108 Locust St,

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OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Immortal Technique. | INKWELL DESIGN GROUP/FLICKR

Immortal Technique 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 29. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $25. 314-833-3929. The last time Immortal Technique touched a stage in St. Louis was August 9, 2015 — the one-year anniversary of the death of Ferguson teenager Mike Brown at the hands of former police officer Darren Wilson. The performance was part of a concert dubbed Ferguson Is Everywhere, which raised money for the Ferguson legal defense fund and also featured appearances by Common, Talib Kweli, 9th Wonder, Rapsody, Bun B and M-1 from Dead Prez. It’s no surprise that the politically minded rapper joined

OUT EVERY NIGHT 8205 GRAVOIS ROAD • ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63123 • (314) 631-3130 MIDAMERICAARMS.COM • FACEBOOK.COM/MIDAMERICAARMS

FALL IS COMING, TIME TO

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AND HEAD TO THE RANGE

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St. Louis, 314-289-9050. JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT ROADSHOW: w/ Jay Mewes, Kevin Smith 8 p.m., $42.50-$50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. MAKE THEM SUFFER: 7:30 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. MICHAEL UNGER ORGAN RECITAL: 4 p.m., free. Second Presbyterian Church, 4501 Westminster Place, St. Louis, 314-367-0366. MOZART’S REQUIEM: 3 p.m., $10-$45. First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, 100 E. Adams, St. Louis, 314-965-0326. MUSIC BENEFIT FOR RENEE SMITH: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MUSIC UNLIMITED: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. RASPUTINA: 8 p.m., $17-$20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. ROGERS AND NIENHAUS: 2 p.m., free. Mount Pleasant Estates, 5634 High St., Augusta, 800-467-9463.

MONDAY 28

YOUR HOMETOWN FIREARMS RETAILER FOR OVER 15 YEARS!

VOTED BEST GUN SHOP OF 2015

-2015 RIVERFRONT TIMES BEST OF ST. LOUIS

DIZZY ATMOSPHERE: 5:30 p.m., free. The Shaved Duck, 2900 Virginia Ave., St. Louis, 314-776-1407. IKARAY: w/ Mystic Will, Lightrider, Blight Future 7 p.m., $5-$7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. RIG TIME: 7 p.m., $5. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SPIRIT ANIMAL: 8 p.m., $15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. THIRD SIGHT BAND “SPECIAL EDITION”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

with his fellow socially conscious performers for the event — it’d be a shock if he didn’t actually, considering his long career of revolution-themed output and fearlessness in regard to speaking truth to power. This show is a decidedly lighter affair, but still, fans who expect a show devoid of any direct denunciation of societal ills are kidding themselves. All the Hits: It’s been several years since Immortal Technique dropped a new album — his latest, 2011’s The Martyr, was a compilation of unreleased tracks, and his most recent before that came in 2008 — so expect him to reach deep into his back catalog at this show. –Daniel Hill

TUESDAY 29

BLACK & WHITE BAND: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. CHILLS AND THRILLS: w the afira uartet p.m., $10. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. CONAN GRAY: 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. FOAM’S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY: w/ Shitstorm, Psychic Vampyrs, Wood Chickens 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. THE FOUR ITALIAN TENORS: 8 p.m., $19-$42. Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, 4431 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 314-373-8200. GRYFFIN: 8 p.m., $25-$108. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE: 8 p.m., $25. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. THE RASKINS: 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THAT 1 GUY: 8 p.m., $13-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. TYLER CHILDERS: w/ Courtney Marie Andrews 8 p.m., $27.50-$57.50. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600.

WEDNESDAY 30

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. DIVERSE CULTURE: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. DOM KENNEDY: w/ Cozz, Jay 305, Warm Brew 8 p.m., $25-$30. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. 2019 OFFICIAL HALLOWEEN PRE-PARTY: w/

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OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 50

Elektrodinosaur, Cheapest Chimp, Dad Jeans, Little League Pep Talk 7:30 p.m., free. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SORRY PLEASE CONTINUE: w/ Kenny Kinds, Jeremy Hellwig 8 p.m., $5. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. STROBOBEAN: w/ Hover, Sparrowhead 8:30 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. TAUK: 8 p.m., $15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. TYLER CHILDERS: w/ Courtney Marie Andrews 8 p.m., $36-$41. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

THIS JUST IN 14TH ANNUAL LAST WALTZ & THE BAND CELEBRATION: W/ The Stag Nite All-Stars, Wed., Nov. 27, 7 p.m., $15. South Broadway Athletic Club, 2301 S. Seventh St., St. Louis, 314-776-4833. 311: W/ BoomTown United, Thu., Dec. 12, 8 p.m., $49.50-$52.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. A.L.I.: Sat., Nov. 23, 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. THE ABDUCTED: W/ the Green Leaves, Nolia, Electric Bear Trap, Despised Mourning, Sat., Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. AFTER MIDNIGHT: Sat., Nov. 2, 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. AL HOLLIDAY & THE EAST SIDE RHYTHM BAND RECORD RELEASE SHOW: Fri., Nov. 22, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE ANNIVERSARY: Fri., Jan. 31, 8:30 p.m., $23-$27. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. AS THE CROWE FLIES: Fri., Nov. 15, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. BEGIN AT ZERO ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: W/ Bradtholomew, Biologist, Sat., Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE BOTTLE ROCKETS: Sat., Nov. 30, 8 p.m., $20. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. COLD WAR KIDS: W/ Tidal Volume, Thu., Dec. 19, 8 p.m., $30. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. CORY WONG: W/ Scott Mulvahill, Fri., Jan. 17, 8 p.m., $22.50-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. COURTNEY KING: Sat., Nov. 16, 7 p.m., $12-$14. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. THE FOGGY MEMORY BOYS: Wed., Nov. 27, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. GOLDEN CURLS ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: W/ Holy Posers, Adult Fur, Fri., Nov. 15, 8 p.m., $7. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. GOTHS ON WHEELS: HALLOWEEN HANGOVER: Sun., Nov. 10, 3:30 p.m., $10. St. Louis Skatium, 120 E Catalan St, St. Louis, 314-631-3922. GREEK FIRE: W/ Hounds, Wed., Dec. 18, 8 p.m., $20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. GREENSKY BLUEGRASS: Wed., Jan. 15, 8 p.m., $27.50-$32.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. GREYHOUNDS: Fri., Nov. 15, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. THE GRIPSWEATS: W/ Looprat, Sat., Nov. 16, 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. GROUND CONTROL: W/ Odd Fellas, Drawing Blanks, Church Fire, Sat., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. HIGHLY SUSPECT: W/ Slothrust, Tue., Dec. 10, 8 p.m., $37.50-$50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. JAKE’S LEG “HALLOWEEN PARTY”: Thu., Oct. 31,

10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JESS HILARIOUS: W/ Jovan Bibbs, Maurice G, JuJu, Sun., Nov. 24, 7 p.m., $35-$45. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. JON BONHAM & FRIENDS: Fri., Nov. 29, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. K.FLAY & MEG MYERS: Wed., Dec. 4, 8 p.m., $25$35. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. LIONESS: A TRIBUTE TO AMY WINEHOUSE: Sat., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., $15-$20. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, 314-533-0367. MAGGIE ROSE: W/ Them Vibes, Fri., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., $20-$23. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE MAVERICKS: Fri., May 15, 8 p.m., $35-$55. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. NERF HERDER: he addonfields, he opyrights, Fri., Dec. 6, 8 p.m., $18. Blueberry Hill The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. NGHTMRE: W/ Crankdat, Wavedash, Black A.M., Tue., Feb. 25, 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. NIRVANUS: UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: Fri., Nov. 1, 8 p.m., $15-$25. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, 314-533-0367. PALAYE ROYALE: W/ the Federal Empire, Tue., Dec. 17, 8 p.m., $25-$28. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. PHANTOGRAM: W/ Matt Maeson, Sun., Dec. 15, 8 p.m., $27-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. PHIL WRIGHT & CARSON MANN: Thu., Nov. 14, 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. POKEY LAFARGE: W/ Nick Africano, Fri., Dec. 27, 8 p.m., $25. W/ Nick Africano, Sat., Dec. 28, 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. POWERHOUSE 747: Sat., Nov. 16, 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. RADOLESCENTS: W/ the Hajj, Thu., Jan. 9, 8 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. THE RAGGED BLADE: Sat., Nov. 2, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. ROCK 4 TOTS: W/ Whiskey Thunder, Sorry Scout, Spacetrucker, Sat., Jan. 11, 9 p.m., $12. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. ROCK FOR TOTS: W/ Torchlight Parade, South Side 5, Sat., Dec. 14, 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. RYNE WATTS & FRIENDS: Fri., Nov. 1, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. ST. LOUIS STEADY GRINDERS: Thu., Nov. 21, 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. THE STL SHED: Thu., Oct. 24, 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THE SUPERVILLAINS: Tue., Nov. 26, 8 p.m., $12$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. SWEETIE & THE TOOTHACHES: Fri., Nov. 22, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. THAMES RECORD RELEASE SHOW: W/ Le’Ponds, Drangus, Little Cowboy, Sat., Nov. 23, 8 p.m., $7-$10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. THANKSGIVING EVE: W/ Shiver, Sex Kills Marry, Wed., Nov. 27, 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. THE NIXONS & SPONGE: W/ Bleach, Wed., Dec. 11, 8 p.m., $22-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE U-TURNS: Sat., Dec. 21, 9 p.m., free. Pat Connolly Tavern, 6400 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, 314-647-7287. THE WARBUCKLES: Sat., Nov. 16, 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. n

riverfronttimes.com

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

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SAVAGE LOVE CHEATERS CLUB BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I am a guy in my 40s, handsome, more financially successful than most, and a classic sexual scoundrel. I cheated on my ex-wife and every girlfriend I’ve ever had. I’m currently dating a woman in her twenties. We are both each other’s ideal type. She has as scandalous a past as I do but has “accomplished” more in a shorter time. We met via a hookup app. Then another one. And another one. We enjoyed each other’s company from the moment we met, and the sex was great. (We share a few not-easy-to-match kinks.) Most of her stuff is now at my house. We’ve had many deep dives into our respective pasts. We cringe now at how we met and why we’ve hooked up with so many random people. Here’s the issue: After twelve months together, with too many breakups to count, we have no idea how to move forward. We cannot establish trust. We are in love and everything’s great ... so long as we have our eyeballs on each other. Once out of direct sight, we both turn into possessive assholes. So many phones have been stolen and thrown away, I can’t count. How do two sluts find peace? Can’t Part Over Sex You’ve cheated on everyone you’ve ever been with, and your girlfriend has presumably cheated on everyone she’s ever been with. (That’s what you meant by “She has as scandalous a past as I do,” right?) But instead of embracing the cheats and sluts you both know yourselves to be and thanking your fucky stars for bringing you together, CPOS, you felt obligated to disavow your past behaviors — some of which sound legitimately terrible — and slut-shame yourselves and each other. And for what? You are still the people you were before you started theatrically cringing about how you met. She doesn’t trust you not to cheat on her, and I don’t see why she should. You don’t trust her not to cheat on you, and I don’t see why you should. So why promise

not to cheat? Why waste time and emotional energy policing each other for evidence of what you both know to be true: You’re going to cheat on each other. That you can trust in. So instead of making promises you can’t keep and then having meltdowns and stealing each other’s phones and breaking up and getting back together, CPOS, make a promise you can keep. Not to be faithful but to be considerate. And discreet. Promise not to do anything that makes her feel like she isn’t your top priority even if you do fuck around occasionally, and ask her to make the same promise to you. Then you can move forward as honest sluts and not lying cheats. Hey, Dan: I am in love with a happily married woman. I was the “other man” almost twenty years ago, before she was married but when she was living with the man she’s with now. We fell madly in love, but we didn’t end up together. In the intervening years, we both married and had children. We’ve reconnected a couple times over the years, and it became a sexual relationship again. Here’s the tricky part: My thenwife was an undocumented immigrant. My marriage was unhappy, but for my child’s sake I couldn’t leave my wife, for fear of his mother getting deported. This year, she got her green card and we divorced. Then I reconnected with my ex again. We desperately want to get married, but she is scared to end her marriage. She’s in a relatively happy marriage, and divorce will be a bombshell. She worries about the shock and destabilizing effect on her children, who are still young. And she fears that nothing short of admitting she’s in love with someone else could end her otherwise happy marriage, but admitting that she’s been unfaithful will make co-parenting impossibly hard going forward. We agonize over this situation but can’t bear the thought of not being together. We understand that pain will have to happen, but we just don’t know what the best course of action is. Pensive And Incredibly Nervous If you two can’t wait until her kids are a little older before you marry, PAIN, then there’s no way to avoid the most painful possible

You’re going to cheat on each other. That you can trust in. version of this shitshow. But your girlfriend’s husband deserves the whole truth right out of the gate, even at the risk of complicating their co-parenting arrangements in the short run. Letting her soonto-be-ex-husband twist in the wind wondering why his decent, loving, seemingly stable marriage suddenly collapsed would just be cruel — and pointlessly so, as he will inevitably learn the truth. You two don’t plan to marry in secret, right? Which means her soon-to-be-ex and their kids are going to find out about you, the new husband and stepfather, at some point in the very near future. The whole truth, all at once. on’t draw it out. Inflicting pain on the installment plan won’t assuage your guilt. Hey, Dan: I’m married to a loving, handsome man. For the first several years of our relationship, we had amazing sex. At some point after moving in together, my interest in having sex with him decreased significantly. This has been a pattern in every long-term relationship I’ve ever had. Living together seems to diminish my attraction to my partner, which is hugely problematic when I am in a long-term monogamous relationship. The second problem is that my kink needs are not being met. My husband is aware of my kinks and is GGG in theory, but he lacks the skill to deliver what I’m interested in. Before I met my husband, I spent many years as a member of a very active kink scene in a big city. I miss the friendships and experiences I had when I was able to share my kinks. Unfortunately, in addition to living in a place without access to these kinds of events and workshops, my husband is monogamous without compromise. He is unwilling to co-top me alongside another Dominant partner and unwilling to let me bottom for others solo regardless of whether sex is involved. Within the past several

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years, this frustration has led me to seek out the occasional experience with others, which is always discovered. My sex drive seems intact when I fantasize about hot, rough scenes with other people, but I experience very little desire for my husband. I’m at a loss. I adore this man, and haven’t ever felt like it would be worth it to leave him just so I could get my kinky needs met, but we are at an impasse. Is it even possible to find a compromise? Sex Alacrity Diminished Knowing what you do about yourself — your attraction to a partner craters after moving in together, you have a powerful need to explore your kinks with casual play partners — you shouldn’t be cohabitating and/or making monogamous commitments. But you are and you have, SAD, so what now? There’s no middle ground between an uncompromisingly monogamous marriage and the kind of freedom to explore your kinks that you need to feel fulfilled, partnered or not. But your husband caught you fucking around — or kinking around — and has presumably forgiven you, seeing as you aren’t emailing during your divorce proceedings. So perhaps if given a choice between letting you and losing you, SAD, he would let you. And who knows? If all your long-term relationships have been monogamous, and they all resulted in the end of rough and adventurous sex with new partners, well, perhaps that’s what is cratering your desire for committed partners — the limitation, not the cohabitation. And who knows? If you were free to fuck around with other people — if your husband didn’t symbolize the end of sexy adventures — maybe you’d still want to fuck him. But if he does give you the freedom to fuck around and you still don’t want to fuck him, SAD, do your husband a favor and leave him. And then no more monogamy or cohabitation for you, got it? Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage ITMFA.org

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

riverfronttimes.com

OCTOBER 23-29, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

INFORMED, HONEST, EFFECTIVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCACY Primero Cannabis Clinics offers State compliant certifications to the program in a safe environment with physicians and advocates that understand how to help you through the process. We also offer certifications through Tele-Care for patients that are home bound or not available during our regular business hours, these certification visits are done by computer or your smart phone. wWe have physicians on staff 6 days a week with different hours to try and accommodate everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schedule. Educated Alternative is a not-forprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization focusing on education and funding for the cannabis patients of Missouri. Currently through our partnership with Primero Cannabis Clinics we offer discounted rates to see the physician for Veterans and patients on SSDI (State disability). We are accepting donations and those funds

will go toward paying the State fees for the program, even fees to grow your own medicine. Once the dispensaries are open, mid-year 2020, we will start to offer free monthly cannabis to patients on our programs. We already offer educational programs on stretching your medicine out by making your own edibles, capsules and other products...all 100% free in our office or at different places we travel. We do personalized aftercare for patients that see the physicians from Primero Cannabis Clinics, offering guidance and advice as you continue your cannabis healthcare journey, and yes, this is completely free as well. You can always reach out for application assistance even if you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see a physician in our office, our goal is to make sure no one struggles to get through the process. Check out our Facebook page for upcoming events!