Riverfront Times, December 11, 2019 by Riverfront Times

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HONORS & AWARDS: • Charles Shaw Trial Advocacy Award • Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers • St. Louis Magazine, Best Lawyers in St. Louis DWI • Riverfront Times Best Lawyer • Best Lawyers in United States • 10 years of law enforcement training, including time as a narcotics agent • Invited to speak nationally on the topic of DWI defense • A proven record of successfully defending difﬁcult DWI cases • A graduate of the National College of DUI Defense at Harvard

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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“Usually at night you can see the moon and everything. It looks really nice. Like on a clear night, it’s really nice down here, and it’s nice to sit and look at it. Reflect on things.” DAVETTE LARUE, PHOTOGRAPHED AT HER JOB AS A PARKING ATTENDANT AT THE LEVEE FOR ST. LOUIS PARKING ON NOVEMBER 30

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Interim Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

COVER

Death of a Strongman Ex-competetive bodybuilder Mahir Smajic was gunned down in August. What really happened? Cover design by

EVAN SULT

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

DAN RAY

INSIDE

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

St. Louis shakes itself down to benefit literal billionaires — one more time

News Feature Calendar

The Two Popes | Richard Jewell

Stage

Disenchanted!

9 12 18

20 23

S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (Missouri residents add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (Missouri residents add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member Riverfront Times 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103 www.riverfronttimes.com General information: 314-754-5966 Fax administrative: 314-754-5955 Fax editorial: 314-754-6416 Founded by Ray Hartmann in 1977

Cafe

Short Orders

Culture

Out Every Night

Indo

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

Scrantonicity | Krampus’ Haunted Christmas | They Shall Not Grow Old | Desolation Center | Home & Hearth

Film

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

from a photo by

The Lede Hartmann

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, Joseph Hess, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Lauren Milford, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Ella Faust, Caroline Groff, Ronald Wagner

Savage Love 6

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HARTMANN Same Old Game Just when it looked like taxpayers won, St. Louis’ MLS stadium gets $30 million in tax credits

hen will we ever learn? I pose this question in response to the jarring news last week that Missouri will be providing at least $30 million in state tax credits to support the new Major League Soccer stadium complex northwest of Union Station, without objection. Previously, most of us admired the stadium project as a rare example of civic leaders stepping up almost entirely with their own money to do a wonderful thing for our town. Let’s stipulate a few points, and not just because they’re obligato-

ry. First, getting an MLS franchise is a great thing for St. Louis. It’s a needed morale boost, it brings the city new commerce and it’s a smart approach to stadium development they like to call “MLS urbanism.” That means the new facility won’t be on an island: It will connect with and enhance the surrounding area and, along with the exciting new St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station, may be transformative for the city. Also, the people who are making it possible deserve all the acclaim they’re getting. The Taylor family (including Enterprise Holdings Foundation President Carolyn Kindle Betz), World Wide Technologies CEO Jim Kavanaugh and others are rightfully regarded as local heroes, and not just by soccer fans. This is a fine project funded by fine people. But these are very well-heeled fine people. At the time patriarch Jack Taylor died in 2016, his family fortune was estimated at $5.8 billion by Forbes.

Kavanaugh himself made the most recent Forbes billionaire list, coming in at a modest $1.9 billion net worth. So, before Missouri provides $30 million in taxpayer funding — through the indirect channel of foregone revenues via tax credits — we ought to consider four simple economic principles regarding the owners of our new MLS stadium: 1. They don’t need the taxpayers’ money to succeed with their investment. 2. The taxpayers’ money is not necessary for their investment to succeed. 3. Their investment does not require the use of taxpayers’ money to succeed. 4. They. Don’t. Need. This. Money. The billionaires who are investing in the MLS franchise are not needy. The same is not so true, collectively, for the citizens of Missouri, whose state government ranks at or near the bottom nationally in funding for educa-

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Jim Kavanaugh made the Forbes billionaire list. They. Don’t. Need. This. Money. tion, health services, corrections, highways and many more essential services. And let’s be clear, when the state foregoes $30 million in revenue via tax credits — whether they’re used directly by the recipients or sold to others — that’s lost money for an underfunded government. The theory behind such credits is that the loss is offset by the new revenues of the project involved. The problem with that logic is simple in this case: The local MLS ownership group would be generating the very same revenues

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HARTMANN

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without the tax-credit subsidies. Why? Because this a very sound business investment, on its own merits, regardless of whatever millions the politicians want to throw at it. And it’s pocket change to the investors. I covered that part of the story in this space on May 1. To summarize, the true value of an MLS franchise is tied heavily to the league’s unique approach to sharing marketing and merchandising rights throughout North America, not to the income from hosting seventeen home games per year. That’s why a fellow about to buy the league’s 30th franchise, in Charlotte, is willing to fork over a reported $325 million for the privilege. Is this a can’t-miss business proposition? Of course not. The future of the MLS is still an unknown. That’s why we refer to “risk-and-reward capitalism.” But buying an MLS team is not an act of altruism. That’s why the after-the-fact news of this $30 million state handout — $15 million now, and another $15 million next year, for some reason — is so galling. Especially since it seems to have come out of nowhere. It is true that we had known that a smattering of local public largesse would be forthcoming, but nothing beyond what’s ordinarily done for other projects in this, the Age of Corporate Welfare. There would be two or three special sales districts set up on stadium purchases to contribute to its cost, there’d be a $1 million-plus property tax break, the owners would save $4.5 million through a sales tax exemption and half the city s five percent tic et ta would be abated. None of this resembles Adam Smith capitalism, but so it goes. Those details were dutifully noted August 25 in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story headlined “‘Clearly a better deal’: City taxpayers’ opposition to 2017 MLS stadium plan worked out in long run.” That referred to the inane, failed effort to stick the cash-strapped city with a sales ta to benefit a prior ownership group. This was all good news. And the story even contained a stunning quote from MLS Commissioner Don Garber: “If not for that failed vote, we wouldn’t have been able to have really attracted the interest of the Taylor family.” hat a nice and e ible an Garber turned out to be. Why, as

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Let’s be clear: When the state foregoes $30 million in revenue via tax credits, that’s lost money for an underfunded government. recently as March 27, 2017, this very Garber had performed a solid Marlon Brando impression in saying — and I quote from a St. Louis Public Radio headline — “No public investment in soccer stadium, no team in St. Louis.” Now, you don’t see that sort of turnabout every day, but all’s well that ends well. St. Louis got its MLS team, and we got it with a relatively small amount of public funny money. Or not. Turns out that readers of the August 25 Post-Dispatch story might have wanted to pay closer attention to its seemingly innocuous 23rd paragraph: “Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, who was at Tuesday’s announcement and whose late uncle was St. Louis soccer legend Bob Kehoe, sits on the MDFB board. He told the PostDispatch that he and Parson have ‘a great relationship’ with Mayor Lyda Krewson and ‘we’ll absolutely be a partner going forward. There’s no doubt in my mind.’” Until last week, that harmless reference to the MDFB — the Missouri Development Finance Board — barely seemed worth noting. There was no hint that when Kehoe said “we’ll absolutely be a partner” he really meant to say “we’ll absolutely be handing out $30 million to these fine billionaires. I’m a capitalist. I don’t care if our new ownership group turns a billion-dollar profit on their enterprise. Good for them that they’re local heroes. We should wish them nothing but the best, financially and otherwise. But when will we ever learn? 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 Owning the Patriarchy

Return of the Carjackers

Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

DOYLE MURPHY

o Kat Kissick, the image in her Google search was unmistakable: A digital illustration of a feminine head formed by owers and fra ed by a caption on top that be an oses are red nowled e is power and continued below to p out the patriarchy you beautiful ower. he i ediately reco ni ed it as a ripoff of her own wor an illustration she’d drawn in late 2018 that had gone viral on Facebook, where it had been shared 17,000 times and from which Kissick had sold T-shirts prints and postcards. The irony of discoverin a copycat image drawn by a male artist, named Karl Frey, was also impossible to iss and to issic ind of hilarious. After all the patriarchy is a ter often used to describe the unearned benefits society ascribes to en due to generations of gender inequality and here see ed a perfect e a ple of that sort of patriarchal entitle ent in action. e too the concept of y design, he re-did it in his own style, chan ed s ash to sto p and called it a day issic says. i e than s for a in y point uy. Frey’s image, which until last week was offered for sale on the online retail platfor s ociety and edbubble differed sli htly from Kissick’s in style but not substance. The fe e ower head was redrawn, but in the same pose and perspective. The caption s setup was identical but instead of o s ash the new i a e ur ed to p out the patriarchy you beautiful ower. issic says this wasn t the first ti e so eone had repac a ed her wor . he provided screenshots of products that copied her oses are red nowled e is power setup while others too the ower desi n and added it to new captions. Another ripped-off design was sold as a T-shirt in a fe inist-focused aceboo roup with nearly followers. There s this whole starvin art-

Kat Kissick’s original illustration is on the left, and Karl Frey’s version is on the right. ist clich issic says and it s true. t s pretty cutthroat. veryone is tryin to a e a di e but don’t want to give my dimes away just because they steal y stuff. And Frey isn’t some starving artist. e s an associate professor of art and art history at Northeast a eview olle e in an Antonio a position he s held for nearly a decade. is wor has been e hibited in galleries, and his own website includes the state ent All i a es are under the i pression that they are copyri hted. n ednesday issic posted Frey’s illustration to her Facebook pa e alon with screenshots of an email she sent him under the subject line ello Art Thief n her email, she demanded that Frey ta e down the products and later that day, the items did indeed disappear fro rey s pa e s on ociety and edbubble. Frey declined to comment on the record when the RFT reached hi by phone. owever he did e ail issic who later published his response to her aceboo pa e. n the e ail rey clai ed that he wasn t a co ercial artist and that he had only produced the i a e as a personal favor to his wife’s boss, who had found the image online and wanted it on a T-shirt as a gift to her young dau hter. as ed if there wasn t a T-shirt of it already available and my wife s boss said that there wasn t Frey wrote, though he also acknowledged that he hadn’t asked

where the desi n had co e fro . e added that he had enjoyed the challen e of redrawin the i age, and noted that he had tried to chan e at least twenty percent of Kissick’s illustration in order to create an ori inal wor and not a si ple derivative of your desi n. Frey went on to claim that he made no sales with his version of the i a e. n the e ail he wrote that he had only uploaded the i a e to the retail platfor s so that his wife s boss could select a particular T-shirt fabric blend, but he had neglected to remove the ima es after the favor was co plete. Frey concluded his email with an apolo y writin can t apolo i e enou h for y lac of diligence in sourcing the reference and for leavin it publicly visible and added hope that nowin that no commercial harm or intent was present helps in so e easure to ease your pain. rey s e ailed ended a justifiably s ashed. The offendin products ay be gone, but Kissick tells the RFT that she was incensed by his atte pt at apolo y notin that he only ot to the actual apolo y part after writin a len thy e planation about his wife’s boss’ daughter — and more than that, it showed a professional artist and acade ic admitting he’d tried to alter her i a e just enou h to be ori inal. t was was so typical a typical ale response she says. e was li e eah did it but it was for a ood reason. n

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n August, carjackers ambushed a man as he got out of a Mazda 6 in deep south St. Louis, authorities say. Police believe it was a two-man crew. The passenger pointed a pistol at the Mazda owner and ordered him to give up his keys, according to court records. The gunman then drove off in the sedan, and his accomplice sped off in the other vehicle. Unfortunately for the victim, the key ring he surrendered to the thieves also had his only key to a pickup parked nearby in the 4500 block Nebraska Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The next day, the man found the truck had been stolen, too. A month later, police arrested twenty-year-old Matthew Warnack, who lives in the neighborhood, and charged him with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. According to the charges, he was the passenger who wielded the gun in the carjacking. Last week, police also charged the suspected driver, 40-year-old Joseph Adkins of Columbia, Illinois. Detectives connected the carjacking to the men through a third crime. First, the truck was found abandoned. Inside, investigators discovered a receipt charged to a woman, who had reported her purse stolen. Police then learned her credit card had been used at various stores, including Lowe’s and Walmart. When they checked the surveillance video at Lowe’s, they saw footage of Adkins and Warnack charging more than $750 worth of goods to the woman’s card, according to court records. When police circled back to the carjacking victim, he was able to identify the two as the men who had robbed him at gunpoint a week before the Lowe’s purchases. Adkins was jailed last week on felony charges of robbery, armed criminal action and fraudulent use of a credit card. He was held on $150,000 bond. Warnack, who has additional cases pending, remains in jail without bond. n

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It’s been quite a ride — a very lonely ride — for the Loop Trolley. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI

Loop Trolley to Clang Its Last Clang Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

t came, it clanged, and now, after barely a year of operation the el ar oop Trolley is scheduled to shut down on Dece ber . The announcement came courtesy of ohn eyer president of the oop Trolley o. who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week that we hope a plan will co e to fruition that may allow the trolley to resu e operatin at so e point in the near future but added that there s actually no plan to do so and no fundin to eep the anachronistic and occasionally truc -assisted transport rollin in any for . hile a paltry nu ber of riders have dei ned to ride the . - ile track, the trolley has been circling the drain of financial and operational collapse for onths. n ctober, the trolley’s backers told officials in t. ouis city and county that the streetcar would need to operate into . n-

stead the oop Trolley Transportation evelop ent istrict essentially loaned itself . And here we are. After what feels like hundreds of years, the illion project has run out of o entu . ublic o cials in the region have closed their wallets and federal o cials could even de and paybac for the million in aid that went to build the trolley s infrastructure. That could pose serious proble s for the region’s future chances of obtainin federal aid for transportation projects that are not ba in boondo les. f there s a li er of hope it lies in the Bi- tate evelop ent Agency, which runs the region’s etro in and the etro bus. n an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Bi- tate Taulby oach said the agency is reviewing ways to make the trolley viable. till oach acnowled ed o one at this point nows what will happen. Alas poor oop Trolley. n trolley o cials esti ated it would enerate in tic et sales and nearly passen ers in its first year. t was off by a sta erin ar in a in . on just 17,292 riders, which included efforts to turn it into a rollin co edy club. till we ve treated the oop Trolley like a joke for a long ti e. And now the punchline is co in . n

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ahir Smajic was the kind of guy people noticed. Growing up in the Bosnian community of south St. Louis, he had become interested as a teenager in working out, and later transitioned into bodybuilding. He even competed in his twenties, and though those days on the stage under the lights were behind him, he maintained a hulking, powerful frame. e was five-ten or pounds his oldest brother, Mersad Smajic, says. “Wasn’t afraid of anybody. It was more than just his size and strength. The 35-year-old had a certain confidence and charis a poppin into the coffee shops, markets and bars along Gravois Avenue to chat up business owners and regulars. His easy smile and sharp jawline attracted more than a few young women, and Mahir was not shy about courting their attention. Friends concede he could be a little overconfident and the un he habitually carried in his waistband concerned his family, but scores of newly arrived refugees knew him as the big guy who moved donated furniture into their apartments when they didn’t have anything. e had friends all over says his best friend lir who asked the RFT to withhold his last name. “He was full of life that s what ahir was. And so it came as a shock to his friends and family this summer when they learned he had been shot to death in a rundown neighborhood in Cahokia, Illinois. olice respondin to reports of unfire at a. . on Au ust arrived in front of a s all white house at ildred Avenue to find ahir s Yukon Denali half in the road, the back bumper extending through a neighboring fence. The big man

was slumped in the driver’s seat, shot in the left side of his head. n his ri ht hand he held a . -caliber Glock handgun, according to a search warrant application. Mersad says more than three months later, the family still doesn’t understand why he was at that house or why he was shot. He believes his brother was ambushed and executed. Mahir was too strong, too well trained with a gun to be killed so easily, he says. “If he would have seen someone coming, and they had a un on hi ersad says he would have pulled his un and illed the percent.

efore the sun was up on the morning of the shooting, the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis had cranked into action to help Cahokia police with the case. The coalition of veteran investigators from metro area law enforcement agencies began canvassing the neighborhood and interviewing potential witnesses. The first aho ia patrol an on the scene that morning had already spoken to a neighbor who said he heard shots and hurried outside in ti e to see a an run behind the house at ildred. They are shootin out here the nei hbor told aho ia police cer ody ers an. Be careful. hortly after the o cer reported a an e er ed from the rear of the house with his hands in the air. olice identified the an as rayland iner r. and said he told investigators he had been living in the basement. Miner, a 33-year-old ex-con, told Mersman he heard multiple gunshots and came outside where he saw the Denali had crashed into the fence across the street. When Mersman checked the SUV, he noted two bullet holes through the window. Mahir had been shot near the temple, authorities say. Police believe he was backing out of the house’s driveway when he was killed. Later that morning, a deputy commander for the Major Case Squad, St. Clair County Sheriff’s Captain Bruce Fleshren, briefed reporters on the shooting. Continued on pg 14

OPPOSITE: Mahir Smajic competed in bodybuilding in his younger years. | DAN RAY ABOVE: Smajic was well known in St. Louis before he was shot to death in August in Cahokia, Illinois. | COURTEYSY SMAJIC FAMILY riverfronttimes.com

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DEATH OF A STRONGMAN Continued from pg 13

“At this time we’re still in the beginning of the investigation, trying to determine what the victim was doing here in town, who he met with and who caused his death leshren said at a news conference in the Cahokia Police Department. “We are developing leads as we spea . ive days later on Au ust police provided an update in the case. The Major Case Squad announced in a news release that investi ators had identified a person of interest and had already taken him into custody on August in odfrey llinois. But when they handed their evidence over to the St. Clair County state’s attorney, prosecutors refused to issue any charges. However, the situation quickly changed. About three hours after the first news release the ajor Case Squad announced prosecutors had now completed a review and would be charging their suspect after all. The suspect’s name was eldre oss whose address was listed in court papers as Godfrey but, according to police, stayed at ildred. rosecutors had not charged Ross with the actual killing, only with being a felon in possession of a gun. He was jailed on bond and has been locked up in St. Clair County jail ever since. In late November, prosecutors added a second charge, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Allen, a spokesan for the o ce declined to discuss the reasoning behind the char es or specifics of the prosecution, given that the case has yet to go to trial. Speaking generally, he says prosecutors can only charge crimes if they have strong enough evidence to convince a reasonable trier of fact an incident happened. Cahokia police, who have resumed control of the investigation, did not respond to a request for comment. Ross’ attorney also did not respond to phone messages. However, Mersad says detectives told his family that Ross confessed to pulling the trigger but clai ed to have fired in selfdefense. “My brother is dead, so he can’t tal ersad says. But the other uy can say whatever he wants.

ahir Smajic was the youngest of three brothers who ed with their parents from the mass killings of the s in Bosnia.

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A fence on Mildred Avenue in Cahokia, Illinois, is still broken where Smajic’s Denali crashed into it. | DOYLE MURPHY After first landin in reensboro, North Carolina, the family moved in 1999 to St. Louis where thousands of displaced Bosnian Muslims had already begun to resettle. e was fifteen years old when the Smajics arrived in south city. Like a lot of the young refugees, the teen became part of a bridge generation of kids who were uent in the traditions of their old lives but quick to adopt large strains of the American culture swirling around them in St. Louis’ public high schools. As Mahir grew older, he was equally comfortable in the Bosnian coffee shops of the Bevo Mill neighborhood and the thoroughly St. Louis nightclubs along Washington Avenue. Mersad, who is four years older, didn’t always understand everything his little brother did. He thinks the bodybuilding circuit ushered in a faster lifestyle. e rew up too fast ersad says over coffee on a recent afternoon. The two occasionally butted heads, particularly when Mersad offered unheeded life advice. Friends describe Mersad as the uiet brother. Bein older he integrated into American society differntly than his youngest sibling, focusing instead on business. He worked his way up through the car dealer industry for fifteen years before startin a successful property development and real estate business. While Mahir liked the nightlife, Mersad is more of a work boots and dinner at home with his wife and kids kind of guy. “Night and day is how he describes hi self and his youngest brother. Still,

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Celdre Ross was arrested in August. | COURTESY ST. CLAIR COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY Mersad respected Mahir’s work ethic and generous spirit. Mahir was a regular guest at Mersad’s house and a favorite uncle to Mersad’s two kids. The uy was unreal the older brother says. “Nicest guy in the world lau hed all the ti e. Mahir regularly volunteered at ouse of oods a nonprofit that supplies new refugees with furniture, food, clothes and anything else they need to get started in their new lives. A Facebook post on the organization’s page recounted how Mahir had spotted some perfectly good furniture on the curb during a recent trip to Atlanta e put it in the box truck and drove it all the way from Atlanta to St. Louis House of oods Baitul al. Ilir met Mahir at Soldan International Studies High School,

a magnet school in the Academy/Sherman Park neighborhood. The two soon became best friends. Mahir was the more outoin of the two. ery tal ative Ilir recalls. “Way more talkative than e. That re arious nature helped Mahir move easily through the cultural mix of the often divided city. “He had a lot of white guys who were friends lir says. e had a lot of blac uys as friends. Mahir never showed the same interest as his oldest brother in the career track, but he worked for fifteen years as a ban uet waiter for a Sheraton hotel. Lately, he had been gutting houses for his brother’s company. In his late twenties, he became a father. Mersad says Mahir and the boy’s mother split up after about five years to ether but he remained a dedicated dad and spent time with his son every day. Ilir says it was often the three of them — Mahir, Ilir and Mahir’s eight-year-old son. “Me, him and his son hung out all the ti e lir says. It is hard for Ilir to talk about Mahir too much. He too has questions about how his friend was killed, and he wonders why Celdre Ross is not facing more serious charges. But he has resisted focusing too much on the criminal case because, he says, he is not ready to deal with it yet. Mahir isn’t coming back no matter what he learns. “He was somebody I spoke to daily for the last fifteen years he says. e was in y life daily.

Mersad Smajic suspects his brother was ambushed. | DOYLE MURPHY

here were aspects of his brother’s life that Mersad says he only learned after the shooting. Much of it was good. He heard stories he never knew about his brother helping people — accounts of him jumping in his truck in the middle of the night to move furniture were among dozens of tales about his acts of kindness. Mersad estimates between and people ca e to the funeral. verybody new hi he says. And while he already knew that was true around the city, Mersad says he later found out Mahir was also well known at the east side strip clubs. He has heard one of his hangouts was Bottoms Up, a club in Brooklyn, Illinois. Police have said Mahir and Celdre Ross knew each other before the fatal shooting, and Mersad wonders if they connected at the club. id he eet hi there he asks. “Did he meet him somewhere else Early on the morning of August both oss and ahir were inside the white house at ildred, according to authorities. Detectives told Mersad that Ross was among three men and one woman, hanging out there with his brother in the early morning hours. Mersad was not given many details by police, but he assumes they were partying or had been partying. He says he was told his brother may have gone to the house with the woman and later got into a disagreement with some of the others, eventually going out to his SUV to leave. Police say Mahir was backing out of the driveway when he was shot, and

“If he was in his car, in reverse, how the hell were you afraid for your life?” the Denali kept rolling across the road until it crashed into a neighbor’s fence. It seems like a clear-cut case of murder to Mersad. e s dead he says. buried hi . t s bad. t s just bad. In a search warrant application for Mahir’s Denali, a Cahokia detective wrote that police hoped to find items in the vehicle “which have been used in the commission of or which constitute evidence of the offense irst e ree urder ... But Mersad says police told him the case was muddied by shifting statements from the others who were at the house. And Mahir was holding a loaded handgun on his leg when he was shot, the kind of detail a defense attorney would undoubtedly seize upon. Still, police say Mahir was backing out of the drive, which makes Mersad believe that whatever happened before was over and his brother was leaving. “It just makes no sense the way he was killed that it was self defense he says. Mersad is convinced there was more to it. His brother had always been someone who could handle hi self in a fi ht. The fact that Continued on pg 17

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The house at 785 Mildred Avenue in Cahokia was closed up after the killing. | DOYLE MURPHY

DEATH OF A STRONGMAN Continued from pg 15

he seemed to have been driving away and never got off a shot suggests to Mersad that Mahir never saw his killer coming. “My brother, man, he could have fought ten guys and beat the all in ten inutes he says. To e it was a setup. He looks back now and replays scraps of information, wondering if they fit into a lar er pu le. The night he was killed, Mahir had canceled plans to visit the home of his other brother, telling a niece that he had some things to take care of and would see them the next day instead. Whether that had anything to do with the killing, he can’t say for sure, but these are the kinds of questions he asks as he waits week after week for answers. “What was happening behind the curtains he says. don t now. obody nows.

he house at ildred Avenue is closed up now — not exactly boarded up, but old cabinets hold a sheet of plywood against the front door and pallets are crammed around a back entrance. A yellow-green sign that the Village of Cahokia stuck on a front window proclaims the buildin uninhabitable. They shut that house down says a neighbor, who declined to give her name. “There was a urder. She and another neighbor interviewed by the RFT suspected it was a dru house. t had sold for last year, and people seemed to

come and go at all hours. The morning Mahir was killed, a neighbor says she heard maybe three blasts from a gun at about a. . “I heard the shots, and then I heard a screa she says. Police pulled up shortly after. Later, a SWAT team arrived and surrounded the house for hours before entering late in the afternoon, the neighbors say. There was apparently no one inside. It is a little more than seven miles from the house to the Brooklyn strip clubs — not far, but not around the corner, either. “My strong gut feeling is that he was lured there, maybe for them to rob hi ahir s friend lir says in a phone interview. “I don’t see any other reason for hi to be there. If that was the case, Ilir suspects he was chasing a woman. Another longtime friend, Ibro Suljic, agrees. “His weakness was women he says. Suljic says Mahir had been at a Bevo Mill bar called Triple Crown for a drink the night before he was killed and apparently drove across the river to Illinois later. He suspects that if Mahir did, in fact, get into a confrontation with the people at the Cahokia house, Ross would have quickly realized he wouldn t win a fistfi ht with the strongman. Tall and slim at si feet two inches tall and pounds, Ross would have been no match physically for Mahir, who sometimes worked as a bouncer for concerts and events in the Bosnian community. Instead, Suljic suspects Mahir was taken off guard. He doesn’t believe he was killed in self defense. “If he was in his car, in reverse,

how the hell were you afraid for your life uljic as s.

ersad Smajic has considered marshaling the Bosnian community and Mahir’s friends to protest prosecutors and police in St. Clair County over the handling of the case. But he does not know whether that would be effective, and ultimately, they are one of the few avenues for his family to get any more answers about what happened. “The way he was killed — the way he lost his life — was so miserable it blows y ind ersad says. “It blows my parents’ minds. t blows y brother s ind. The worst part is the effect on Mahir’s eight-year-old son and five nephews and nieces he says. Shortly before he died, Mahir took Mersad’s son to the mall to look for a pair of shoes. They couldn t find the right ones, so they planned to go back later. There was no reason to think it would be the last time they saw each other. Four days later, a detective contacted Mersad to deliver the bad news. “My son, man, my son took it so hard he says. It has now been sixteen weeks since Mahir’s death. Mersad wonders if he will ever know for certain the details, even if they’re ugly, of what happened that morning. The little he does know and the questions it raises eat at him. How could someone just walk up and shoot his brother in the head one night in some random neighborhood away from his friends and family? “It’s so cheap, you know what I ean ersad says. or what n

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

SATURDAY 12/14 Our Non-Great Rivals Early in December, the St. Louis Blues made the trip east for a game against their hated rivals, the hica o Blac haw s. t was a hell of a match, with the Blues treatin the aw s to a - defeat. ut that on your co ically fat pizzas and choke on it, Belushi boys.) At 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, the Blackhawks are the uests of the Blues and here s hoping history repeats itself. The game takes place at the Enterprise enter lar Avenue www. stlblues.com), and tickets are $88 to $530.

Celebrate Dunder Mifflin. | COURTESY SUPREME ENTERTAINMENT

THURSDAY 12/12 Meet at Poor Richard’s The American version of The Office remains a pop-culture phenomenon, despite going off the air in 2013. The everyday heroes of the under i in aper o pany are celebrated at Scrantonicity, an Office-themed party that takes place from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Thursday, December 12, at the Ready Room (4195 Manchester Avenue; www.thereadyroom.com). There will be Office trivia, cocktails inspired by the show, a costume contest and recreations of the under i in ly piad and the Dundee Awards. Tickets are $15 to $37, and a portion of the price benefits ife for ife y orth ide o unity chool and ission t. ouis.

FRIDAY 12/13 GMC Xmas Concert: A Song for Santa & Stan The ateway en s horus annual December concert is one of St. ouis best hrist as traditions. For Home & Hearth, the chorus performs songs inspired by the comforts and joy of being home for the holidays. There will be music, good cheer and a dash of wistfulness, as the chorus remembers the good times and the people —

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It Takes Three

The Darkness presents a horror-filled holiday. | SCAREFEST.COM some of whom are no longer here — who always made the season meaningful. Home & Hearth is performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (December 13 and 14) at t. tanislaus ost a hurch orth th treet www. cstl. org). Tickets are $20 to $25.

an na ed Beastly he s an actual snowman, not a cuddly yeti). Tickets for the night of frights, treats and jump scares are $25. Bring a ca era you don t often see anta and Krampus working the same side of the street.

f you want to catch a few hoc ey a es this winter but don t have the cash for the post- tanley up prices, take note of the Winterfest 3-on-3 Hockey Classic. Teams of six adults (21 and older only) will play a odified version of the best sport in a five- a e series. There are two twelve-minute halves to a game, and only three players are allowed on the ice at any time; crucially, there are no goalies. The opening games take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, December at iener la a hestnut Street; www.nhl.com/blues/ community/winterfest-hockey), and admission is free for specta-

Horrible Holiday ra pus the oat-de on of entral European folklore, traditionally precedes anta laus arrival in order to scare naughty children into being nicer. He is the raging yang to anta s jovial yin and his wor is never done. nce a ain ra pus has journeyed to the Darkness (1525 South Eighth Street; www. scarefest.com) to create a temporary oasis of horror for adults who enjoy a scary night out. Krampus’ Haunted Christmas takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday (December 13 and 14) and features evil elves, a nasty Santa laws and an abo inable snow-

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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An unlikely concert series began on this spot. | (C) MU PRODUCTIONS

WEEK OF DECEMBER 12-19

British soldiers on the front lines during World War I. | COURTESY OF FATHOM EVENTS tors. Teams pay a $750 registration fee, and every team will receive six custom jerseys to dress skaters.

TUESDAY 12/17 Desert Fantasy n the early s the os An eles punk rock scene was under siege by the A . i s were bro en up, nightsticks were swung and arrests were made. Stuart Swezey was friends with some of the musicians and had a wild idea to escape the notice of the police. What if he organized shows in unconventional venues, such as warehouses and lofts? After a couple successful shows, he had a wilder idea: What if he made cardboard tickets, sold them in record shops, and used the money raised to rent a A a enerator and so e buses and transported everyone into the Mojave Desert for a show? These open-air events became legendary in the scene, both for the bands that played instur ende eubauten, the Minutemen, Swans and Sonic Youth) and the joyful, raucous crowds that showed up. n his new docu entary Desolation Center, Swezey discusses the origin and impact of his shows and the role he inadvertently played in inspirin for-profit festivals such as ollapaloo a and oachella. Desolation Center screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 17, at Webster

niversity s oore Auditoriu ast oc wood Avenue www. webster.edu fil -series . Tic ets are $5 to $7.

WEDNESDAY 12/18 World War I in Color orld ar was a con ict defined by new technolo y fro rapid-fire achine uns to tan s to airplanes, all captured on her y-jer y blac -and-white fil . irector eter ac son used the latest fil restoration processes to create his documentary about the war, They Shall Not Grow Old. He transformed the grainy, blackand-white contemporary footage into colori ed di ital files and then supplemented the imagery with restored archival interviews with the British soldiers who lived throu h the con ict. The result is startling. The men and boys who lived and fought in the trenches of Western Europe tell of the fear and camaraderie they survived, and what it was like to get home when so any didn t. They Shall Not Grow Old is shown in 3D at 7 p.m. Tuesday and 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday (December 17 and 18) at the A reve oeur live Boulevard reve oeur www.fathomevents.com). Tickets are . . n

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

FILM

[REVIEW]

The Men Under the Miter Two Popes is a lively look at the faith and burdens of two men in the same job Written by

ROBERT HUNT The Two Popes Directed by Fernando Meirelles. Written by Anthony McCarten. Starring Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins and Sidney Cole. Opens Friday, December 13, at the Landmark Tivoli Theatre and begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, December 20.

he leaders of the Roman Catholic Church are, by tradition and in most cases more likely by temperament, titanic fi ures risin above the ordinary asses by po p and pa eantry as well as by their supposed divine callin . ernando eirelles The Two Popes achieves the unli ely tas of brin in papal authority down to earth pee in throu h atican doors to reveal ore private aspects of the ost recent residents of the Apostolic Palace, the current ope rancis and his retired predecessor Benedict . t s a surprisin ly en a in fil a humane and witty character study that softens its subjects without di inishin the ravity of their in uence on . billion followers. (Disclaimer: As a non-Catholic, my interest in the politics and procedures of the Vatican has been and re ains ini al. Adapted by Anthony c arten from his play The Pope the fil be ins with a prolo ue in after the death of John Paul II, the uch-loved pontiff whose -year rei n stren thened ore conservative aspects of the church. n a contentious conclave that re uired four rounds of votin the assembled cardinals selected the Bavarian oseph at in er despite an une pectedly stron showin for refor er or e Ber-

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Pope Benedict and Pope Francis (Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce) are shown to very human men. | PETER MOUNTAIN

Most of The Two Popes consists simply of two men taking account of each other. o lio of Ar entina. avin established its two prota onists the re ainder of the fil ta es place appro i ately seven years later when the atican is pla ued with scandals and Ber o lio hopin to retire, is summoned to Rome to meet with Pope Benedict, despite their theolo ical differences. ost of The Two Popes consists si ply of two en ta in account of each other both brou ht to life by masterful performances from two veteran actors. As at in er Benedict Anthony op ins preserves the so ewhat severe deeanor of Benedict revealin a an who e braces every aspect of the church s authority but can occasionally let his uard down to express a kind of bemused tolerance of the secular world. Ber o-

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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lio rancis played by onathan ryce is a ore co ple fi ure in his verbal joustin with Benedict he re ects on his decision to become a priest and his troubled role leadin his church durin Arentina s irty ar of the s. ryce s perfor ance is an e ercise in controlled subtlety. e lets the revelations of his past lea out as if he s al ost surprised to learn the hi self. espite its wei hty the es The Two Popes is consistently lively and fre uently co ical. c arten best nown for writin several recent fil bio raphies Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything and Bohemian Rhapsody is serious about e plorin uestions of faith and responsibility but always throu h the personalities of his characters, not as abstractions or ar u ents. irector eirelles ives the fil an unpredictably leisurely pace, even when it ta es a sudden turn into the political material of the second act. e s respectful but not overwhel ed by the ravity of his characters and just as mindful of mundane subjects like the process of oin throu h airport security or dealin with untied shoelaces. e directs in choppy yet vibrant

scenes that ana e to obscure the fact that uch of the fil is si ply two en tal in . This isn t just openin up a play by addin super uous e terior shots it s hu ani in it revealin the conicted personalities of two en who have ta en different paths in balancin the routines of life with their spiritual responsibilities. The Two Popes is lar ely a celebration of the current pope, but not one that turns its back on the proble s of the world. ar ely dis issive of the atican s tradition and spectacle as is rancis hi self accordin to so e reports it shows the popes not as otherworldly masters of divine nowled e but as ordinary hu an bein s who carry their own pasts and proble s. eirelles shows the pee in down fro their exalted positions of authority and reco ni in the si ple and occasionally absurd pleasures of everyday life li e pi a and soccer re indin us that the barriers between the sacred and the secular are often purely arbitrary. sn t it about ti e a fil a er has loo ed at the sobriety of a papal conclave and thou ht now e actly which ABBA son would o reat with this n

Jewell was an overnight sensation whose sudden fame turned sour after three days when it was reported that he was under investigation by the FBI as a suspect.

corner; he’s a puzzled, childlike innocent in a world of fast talkers and unstable relationships, surviving mostly by his naïve but unshakable faith in justice. Hauser, best known for his role as one of the conspirators in I, Tonya, takes a role that could easily have been a one-note caricature and creates a character who is comically simple yet almost heroically stubborn. The film gives him a compatible sidekick by structuring his story around his friendship with Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), an attorney who he had known for a few years and became by default his representative (he was the only lawyer Jewell knew) during the FBI investigation. Rockwell brings an amiable world-weariness to the role, a jaded skepticism that blends nicely with his client’s ethical simplicity. This is not the first time Eastwood has cast his lens on the hazards of celebrity, a subject which he barely distinguishes from notoriety. Richard Jewell follows his 2006 film Flag of Our Fathers in presenting overnight fame as an imposition, a momentary lapse from the ordinary

which allows a lot of back-slapping weasels a chance to slip into a person’s life for their own benefit. While the Iwo Jima flag-raisers were caught up by gales of patriotism and the war effort, Jewell’s trouble comes from a less predictable and more irrational circumstance, simply being in the right place at the right time and having the rest of the world telling him it’s wrong. It will be tempting for some to consider the director’s occasional public statements (especially those made when speaking to empty chairs) and interpret the film as an attack on the free press or governmental overreach, but Eastwood’s films almost always take an ambiguous approach. Regardless of his real-life politics, Eastwood’s on-screen ideology has always ranged from a kind of bare-bones libertarianism to a knee-jerk crotchetiness, and this film remains faithful to those positions. Jewell remains true to himself and the film stays by his side even as the world around them spins absurdly out of control. n

[REVIEW]

An Ordinary Hero Richard Jewell recounts the 1996 race to pin a terrorist attack on the wrong guy Written by

ROBERT HUNT Richard Jewell Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Billy Ray, from an article by Marie Brenner. Starring Paul Walter Hauser, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates. Opens Friday, December 13, at numerous theaters.

ever underestimate Clint Eastwood. Last year, the 89-year-old filmmaker released his 36th — and worst — feature, The 15:17 to Paris, only to follow it ten months later with The Mule, a strong, personal adventure with a cantankerous hero roughly his own age. With retirement still nowhere in sight, Eastwood offers a new film that stands with his best work, drawn from the story of one of the more controversial nine-day wonders in recent history. Richard Jewell is an unexpected triumph, a complex drama about courage, fame and the peril of living under public scrutiny. Richard Jewell was a security guard working in Atlanta’s Centennial Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics when he discovered a backpack containing three pipe bombs hidden under a bench. Although the bomb went off, killing one bystander and injuring more than a hundred others, Jewell’s early discovery and efforts to clear the park likely reduced the number of casualties, and he was praised as a hero — an extremely unlikely, overweight hero who lived with his

mother and had an obsessive interest in police work and security. Jewell was an overnight sensation whose sudden fame turned sour after three days when it was reported that he was under investigation by the FBI as a suspect. The fact that there was — no spoiler here — no evidence against him held even less weight in the court of public opinion. Jewell became a punchline, presumed guilty by many commentators and branded “the Una-doofus” by Jay Leno. Written by Billy Ray, Richard Jewell turns the anecdotal news story into a more personal drama showing how sudden fame and shifts of public sentiment alter the lives not only of Jewell and his mother (powerful performances from Paul Walter Hauser and Kathy Bates respectively) but of many others swept up in it, from a headline-hungry reporter (Olivia Wilde) to the cynical FBI agent (Jon Hamm) who seems more interested in keeping his job than in finding the truth. The film executes lively circles around the figures but remains firmly in Jewell’s

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DECEMBER 11-17, 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.

2244 R RI RVI IVEVERERFRRF FRORONONTNT TT IT TMI IMEMESESS MF EJADUBRENRCCEUHEAM2R10B4Y-E-22R680,1-, M122-0A01R1718C,8 H2 0r5ri1,iv9ve2er0rf1frrr8ioovnentrtrt fti rivmmoeenerstfs.tr.ciocmonometmts i. mc oe ms . c o m

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11

8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

GOOSE

PLAYERS LEAGUE

$10, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

$6, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

KITCHEN DWELLERS AT THE BOOTLEG

KUNG FU AT THE BOOTLEG

$10, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

SCRANTONICITY

$13, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

ONE FOUR FIVES: AN IMPROVISED MUSICAL

4130 MANCHESTER AVE. IN THE GROVE FIRECRACKERPIZZA.COM $10, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14

8 PM AT HANDLEBAR

$6, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

EMO NITE AT THE READY ROOM

BROTHER ALI

COMEDY SHOWCASE AT THE SHOP

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17

$15, 9:30 PM AT THE READY ROOM

$22, 8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

$12, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

NOLA SWING DANCE + ALL DAY

NEAL FRANCIS AT THE BOOTLEG

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15

HAPPY HOUR

SKETCHY SUNDAY

8 PM AT HANDLEBAR

CASHMERE CAT - PRINCESS

HARK! PRESENTS "THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS" 10 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

DJ BLACK GUY 10 PM AT HANDLEBAR

$10, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

HAVOC'S HABERDASHERY

BURLESQUE & VARIETY SHOW + DJ IRENE

MONDAY, DECEMBER 16

CATGIRL TOUR

THE LAB

$23, 7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

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STAGE

[REVIEW]

Princess Revenge Disenchanted! reveals what really distressed all those damsels Written by

PAUL FRISWOLD Disenchanted! Written by Dennis T. Giacino. Directed by Justin Been. Presented by Stray Dog Theatre at the Tower Grove Abbey (2336 Tennessee Avenue; www.straydogtheatre.org) through December 21. Tickets are $25 to $30.

tray Dog Theatre’s Christmas counter-programming is a tradition that dates back more than a decade, and with any luck it will continue for the next decade. Rather than giving in to the usual pine-trees-andwishes shows, Stray Dog selects a play that either challenges the clichés of the season or ignores them entirely. Dennis T. Giacino’s musical Disenchanted! hails from the latter school, and it’s an intelligent and witty show about some of the most famous princesses of your favorite fairytales. Under the sensitive guidance of director Justin Been, these women collectively lament their boring Prince Charmings, the strangeness of their lives post “happily ever after,” and the stodgy gender politics of the genre. The songs are catchy and fun, but as the complaints and corrections pile up, you realize the terrible impact these so-called happy endings have on the main consumers of the princess entertainment complex: young girls. Cinderella and Snow White (Sarah Gene Dowling and Kelly Slawson) are the ringleaders of the truth telling, presenting their peers in cabaret-style, one-woman confessionals. Slawson’s Snow White has a powerhouse voice and a fondness for abusing vocal pyrotechnics; she makes Mariah Carey seem restrained. Dowling’s Cinderella is a blackbelt shit disturber, imitating “Snowy’s” trilling runs up the scales behind her back. Cinderella also has a mischievous gas

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Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty (Sarah Gene Dowling, Kelly Slawson and Dawn Schmid) are here to set the record straight. | JOHN LAMB problem to go with her nasty sense of humor, and as the show develops so too do her disruptive antics. Cindy and Snowy make a fantastic pair together. Sleeping Beauty (Dawn Schmid) is sweetly naïve compared to her brassy friends and frequently felled by a lingering narcolepsy that postpones her big number several times. Don’t let her sugary personality fool you, she’s buckling under the stress of having to be “perfect,” and she hints that her suitors have consent issues (a sleeping woman is easily victimized). Some of the women’s issues are problems only because of their fictional situations. Belle (Madeline Black) is excellent as a princess driven barking mad by singing and ambulatory crockery. Black snarls and growls as she sings about her husband, who is in more ways than one a large animal. The Little Mermaid (Stephanie erritt drin s li e a fish out of regret for giving up her beautiful tail in exchange for human legs she still can’t master. Staggering across the stage bottle in hand, her song “Two Legs” is a rousing, country- ec ed ro p that reveals the perils of making wholesale changes to oneself in order to land your dream guy.

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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But Gitana Mims’ Pocahontas is worn down from trying to reclaim her factual origins from the glamour of the Disney mythmaking. Her song “Honestly,” is the saddest one in the musical, as Mims explains that Pocahontas has essentially been erased from her own life to sell books, movie tickets and merchandise. It’s not all gloom and despair, though. In “Without the Guy” Hua Mulan (Hevan Leon) recognizes that the lack of a prince at the end of her story must mean she’s a lesbian, which frees her from having to satisfy male expectations. She pursues a romantic interest of her own choosing, and then seemingly consummates this relationship backstage. Walt Disney and his corporation come in for a couple of beatings, although the show mostly sticks to sly references rather than outright condemnations. Princess Badroulbadour (Eleanor Humphrey), perhaps better known as Jasmine, rages about being a supporting character in her own story, while The Princess Who Kissed the Frog (Selena Steed) is mainly relieved that she finally ot to be a princess for black girls and is less upset about her lack of a name. It is Rapunzel who is most aggrieved. Ericka Cockerham stalks

across the stage with a riding crop in hand and shouts in a thick German accent about being cheated by “Valt.” All that merchandising, and she gets not “Vun Red ent. ith an iron fist she leads the crowd through a riotous singalong, and you’d better believe she punishes lackluster performances. In a show positively crowded with strong female characters (and highly skilled women playing those roles), Cockerham’s Rapunzel is the most strident voice of resistance. Disenchanted! provides a path to recognizing and naming that resistance. Its all-woman cast primarily addresses the concerns of generations of women, with only brief detours into the horrors of the male gaze. It’s worth noting that the Stray Dog band maintains the all-woman demographic. Jennifer Buchheit (music director and keyboards) Desiree Jones (drums) and Michaela Kubla (bass) ably perform all the music, and occasionally get roped into the action. Disenchanted! may be a show by and for women, but don’t let that stop you from bringing your husbands, boyfriends or sons: We need to hear this stuff too. Just make sure they’re strong enough to take it, because these ladies don’t pull any punches. n

CAFE

[REVIEW]

Here to Omakase Nick Bognar’s Indo is more than a restaurant — it’s a revolution of the form Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Indo 1641D Tower Grove Avenue, 314-899-9333. Tues.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-11 p.m.; Sun. 5-10 p.m. (Closed Monday.)

ick Bognar’s grandmother passed away about three months before he opened Indo. Born in Thailand and trained in the domestic arts as a noblewoman in the royal palace, she lived long enough to see her daughter, Ann Bognar, rise from a server assistant at a south St. Louis County hotel to a beloved restaurateur. She also got to watch her grandson transform from being his mom’s kitchen helper at her restaurant, Nippon Tei, to a a es Beard Award se ifinalist. Though she never saw Bognar’s vision for Indo realized, his grandmother’s presence is felt throughout the restaurant. There are the photos that hang on the hallway wall that leads from the front entryway and chef’s table to the back dining room — black and white portraits, her hair pulled back into a bun and beaming. There is the Thai in ection that runs through the whole menu, a nod to the familial homeland. Then there’s the laarb. Bognar admits that, though at its heart the laarb is his grandmother’s, he’s tweaked the recipe a bit. In place of beef, he uses lamb, which gives the dish a fuller avor without any a iness. andied pine nuts and mint perfume the meat, additions that impart a subtle coolness that mitigate the searin hot chiles that are ec ed throughout the chopped lamb. Fried shallots and sweet chips of candied garlic add crunch and earth, tying the dish together in

Indo impresses with expertly prepared dishes, including short rib curry, shrimp toast, benitoro, shima aji, laarb and salmon sashimi. | MABEL SUEN perfect balance. Luxuriously rich and palate tingling at the same time, it’s a glorious way to both honor and build on the matriarch’s legacy. With such a profound culinary heritage, Bognar was destined for great things in the restaurant industry. It may have started with his grandmother, but she wasn’t the only one in the fa ily to in uence his path. Bognar’s uncle was the first in the fa ily to open a restaurant, a Thai establishment in Cape Girardeau, followed by one in west county. However, it was his mother, Ann, who would seal Bognar’s fate. After rising from restaurant assistant to food and beverage director at the Butler Hill Holiday Inn, Ms. Bognar decided to strike out on her own, opening Nippon Tei in Ballwin when Bognar was ten years old. The son of a restaurant owner, he was either with his grandmother, learning to taste and cook in her kitchen, or helping his mom out around Nippon Tei by rolling crab Rangoon and egg rolls. When he was a junior in high school Bo nar too his first culi-

nary classes through a local tech school and, following graduation, enrolled in the culinary arts program at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. Around that time, he also became interested in sushi, working both at Nippon Tei and Wasabi Sushi Bar. Though he embraced his family s in uence Bo nar also felt the need to strike out on his own. He left St. Louis for Austin, Texas, and landed at the acclaimed Japanese restaurant Uchiko, an experience that set the tone for who he would become in the business. He soaked up every bit of knowledge he could at Uchiko and not only grew as a sushi chef, but also as a restaurant professional. He parlayed this experience into jobs at Kaze and E+O Kitchen in Cincinnati where he was iven his first opportunity to design a sushi program. Despite his success in Cincinnati, Bognar decided to come home to help his mom breathe new life into Nippon Tei. Their changes transformed the restaurant from from a solid Japanese mainstay into the best place in the area, if not the region, for sushi, and

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earned him a James Beard Award nomination for Rising Star Chef of the Year. Still, just as when he was a youn coo tryin to find a distinct identity, he felt the call to forge his own path. That path, Indo, opened in June, occupying the Botanical Heights storefront that previously housed Good Fortune. There’s no question that Nippon Tei’s menu is personal for Bognar — it is, after all, the family restaurant that set him on his course in the business and thrust him into the limelight. Indo, however, feels autobiographical in that it combines his stunning command of sushi with the Thai cuisine that is his heritage. Divided between Hot and Cool Tastings, larger shareable plates and an impressive nigiri menu, Indo’s offerings respect tradition without being married to it. Instead, he uses classic techniques and recipes as a jumping-off point for exploration, whether with candied pine nuts in lamb laarb or a rice our and water lace that lays atop two awlessly cooked gyoza. Stuffed with pork and chicken, the dumpling wrap-

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

Continued on pg 29

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SEDARA SWEETS SEDARASWEETS.COM

THE KICKIN’ CRAB

314.532.6508 8011 MACKENZIE RD AFFTON, MO 63123

THEKICKINCRAB.COM

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!

314.888.8688 9616 OLIVE BLVD OLIVETTE, MO 63132 The Kickin’ Crab has joined the Crustacean Nation and is here to satisfy your taste sensation. The Kickin’ Crab is a fun-filled Cajun seafood destination where patrons come and escape into flavor paradise. Offering a distinct ambiance to enjoy the finest and freshest Cajun seafood around! Kickin’ Crab is a great place to hang out with friends, family, or both! No plates...no utensils! Just your hands, a bib, and our unique and absolutely irresistible KC sauces - a combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors - over freshly prepared seafood that will give your taste buds satisfaction unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted. Join us and partake in the festivities and quality of seafood that The Kickin’ Crab has to offer.

POKE DOKE

POKEDOKESTL.COM

CARNIVORE STL CARNIVORE-STL.COM

314.449.6328 5257 SHAW AVE, ST. LOUIS, MO 63110 Carnivore fills a nearly 4,000-square-foot space on The Hill with a dining area, bar lounge, and adjoining outdoor patio gracefully guarded by a bronze steer at the main entrance. Always embracing change, Joe and Kerri Smugala, with business partners Chef Mike and Casie Lutker, launched Carnivore STL this summer. As the Hill’s only steakhouse, Carnivore offers a homestyle menu at budget-friendly prices appealing to the neighborhood’s many families. Steak, of course, takes center stage with juicy filet mignon, top sirloin, strip steak and ribeye leading the menu. Customize any of the succulent meats with sautéed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, or melted housemade butters, such as garlic-and-herb and red wine reduction, on top of the flame-seared steak. Other main dishes include a thick-cut pork steak (smoked at J. Smugs) and the grilled chicken with capers and a white wine-lemon-butter sauce. St. Louis Italian traditions get their due in the Baked Ravioli, smothered in provel cheese and house ragu, and in the Arancini, risotto balls stuffed with provel and swimming in a pool of meat sauce. With an exciting new brunch menu debuting for Saturday and Sunday, Carnivore should be everyone’s new taste of the Hill.

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

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!

BLK MKT EATS

CRAWLING CRAB

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

DECEMBER 11-17, 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.

INDO

Continued from pg 27

pers are so delicate they’re almost translucent. The combination of textures — soft dumplings and lace so crunchy it s li e a attened Rice Krispie treat — is magical. Indo’s lamb ribs are the sort of dish that make you lose track of space and time. Glazed in palm sugar, the sweetness hits your ton ue first but it s uic ly set aside by the salty crunch of peanuts and a refreshing herb salad. Still, that glaze lingers and, mingled with lamb fat and a bit of char, is so intoxicating you’ll be lic in your fin ers even in polite company. As glorious as the lamb ribs are, the Issan Hamachi may be my favorite dish at Indo. Although Hamachi has become ubiquitous on even non-Japanese menus, Bognar eschews the typical crudo preparation in favor of a thoughtful Thai-in ected presentation. The fish is sliced into rectan les then dressed in coconut nam pla Thai fish sauce chile oil candied garlic and Thai kosho, a bright, citrusy condiment that enlivens the fish. resh fun y and vibrant it s understandable why this is quickly becoming Indo’s signature dish. Crab donabe rice, a larger format offering, sounds simple: crab and rice in a clay pot. It’s utterly transcendent. Tender, freshly cooked rice is dressed with Dungeness crab, and buttery crab fat infuses the rice, giving it a rich shellfish e cla ation point. Pea-sized salmon roe sits atop the dish like shiny jewels; mixed into the rice, they pop with each bite, releasin a bri ht sea-li e avor that enlivens the concoction. The rice can be ordered a la carte, but it is also likely to make an appearance on Bognar’s omakase (pronounced ow-muh-kaa-sei tasting menu, the ultimate Indo experience that proves why this young chef will likely go on to be considered one of the top chefs in the country. This monumental dining extravaganza — twentyplus courses — is the sort of thing you d watch as a et i food documentary, sitting on your couch gob-smacked and thinking that you will never be able to experience this in real life. Yet here it is, in Botanical Heights. And while it does set you back a pretty penny (well over $250 with drink pairings, tax and ratuity ndo s o a ase delivers an extraordinary dining event that will undoubtedly rank as one of the best meals of your life. Set up

Benitoro, or seared salmon belly with lemon zest and white soy glaze. | MABEL SUEN

Chef-owner Nick Bognar. | MABEL SUEN as a chef’s table with room for just six diners, Bognar serves as chef and grand marshal for a parade of ni iri sashi i Thai-in uenced soups and A5 Wagyu — to name just the tip of the iceberg — that is as intoxicating as falling in love. Each nibble gives you the feeling that you are tasting something for the very first ti e and chances are, that is indeed the case. Bognar has the most exquisite of delicacies own in fro apan that we are not usually so blessed to experience here in the Midwest. Though the menu changes based on what’s available, he typically be ins the dinner with a cup of fish broth, an offering that evokes the ritual of a tea ceremony, followed by a savory egg custard infused

with a broth made from prawns and crab shell, then slicked with toasted sesame oil. i iri a es up a si nificant portion of the omakase dinner. The evening I attended, Bognar used that part of the meal to show the dramatic differences between different types of snapper as well as fish li e the deli htfully clean and bright — yet unfortunately named — Japanese grunt. This dry-a ed ounder is electrified with Thai chiles and a Japanese sardine so teeming with luxurious oil you had to eat it the moment it was served lest it would soak too much into the rice and make a mess. Then there are the Hokkaido scallops, which Bognar describes — and which, based on this meal,

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I concur — are the best scallops in the world. Their pearlescent esh is the texture of tempered butter, a decadence Bognar offsets with shishito peppers. Sea urchin the texture of custard, foie gras nigiri dressed with candied quinoa — Bognar does not hold back in giving his guests every luxury he can get his hands on. However, as prime of an experience as the omakase is, he presents it with ease and humility, sprinkling his commentaries with a chorus of ic -ass descriptors and the occasional dad joke. He also shows this playfulness in his cooking. The cherry ocean trout, dry-aged for seven days so that it concentrates the avor and served with crackling skin and beurre blanc, is a riff on a salmon dish from the Cheesecake Factory he can’t help but love. That Bognar can crack jokes about the Cheesecake Factory and Red Robin while serving a $300 eal ies in the face of everything we have been conditioned to thin about fine-dinin and it’s utterly refreshing. I’d go so far as to say that Indo as a whole, even including the omakase, is not a fine-dinin restaurant at all while being one of the most luxurious meals I’ve ever experienced. It’s a revolution that has changed our city’s dining scene, fomented by a chef who we will be hearing from for years to come. Grandma would’ve been proud.

Indo Laarb ........................................................ $16 Crab donabe rice ...................................... $40 Omakase tasting menu .......................... $150

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

How Leaving the Kitchen Made Aaron Teitelbaum a Better Restaurateur Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

aron Tietelbaum vividly remembers the moment he walked into the dining room of the restaurant that would be his big break in the business. A self-described naïve kid from the Midwest, he had just graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and wanted to learn all about the front-of-the-house somewhere in New York City. On this particular day, he decided to apply for a job at a stunning restaurant — one that was so beautiful it looked like an opulent hotel. He sat down with the operations manager, touted his credentials and sold himself for the job as if he owned the place. It took a while to register that he was sitting in the middle of one of the city’s most lauded establishments, Daniel. “I didn’t know anything about it,” Teitelbaum laughs. “I was big enough in my world in St. Louis that I knew I was going to do a good job, but I didn’t know what I was getting into there. They ended up hiring me as an assistant general manager — a new position — but they had to sneak me in under the chef’s nose because I wasn’t French, and they wanted me to prove why this non-French guy was running the show in his house. or the first onth they hid me from him, which was so bizarre because he lived above the restaurant.” Now a seasoned restaurateur who considers chef Daniel Boulud

Aaron Teitelbaum operates two locations of Kingside Diner in addition to Herbie’s. | GREGG GOLDMAN a trusted mentor and dear friend, Teitelbaum has more than proven his worth in the industry, most notably as owner of the St. Louis institution Herbie’s (8100 Maryland Avenue, Clayton; 314-769-9595). However, in his mind, it wasn’t all that long ago that he was a high school kid who got into the business because he needed a job for spending money. That job — with Mark Erker at Catering St. Louis — would prove to be fateful for Teitelbaum. Almost instantly, he realized he loved serving people, a passion that would propel him into a management position with the company by the time he was nineteen years old. r er was y first entor and he taught me about business, serving people and doing what you do with care,” Teitelbaum explains. “He instilled in me how important it is to be your best. That’s an important thing for me, sometimes to a fault.” Teitelbaum worked for Catering St. Louis for eight years before leaving the company to go to college. Once there, however, he realized that school wasn’t his thing,

and he ended up oofin around more than going to class. After a year of ounderin he decided to return to St. Louis and again work for Erker. This time, though, he made an important mental shift: The job was no longer just a way to make money; it was what he wanted to do for a career. After three years, Erker encouraged Teitelbaum to take the next step in his career and apply to culinary school. He was admitted to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where he fell in love with cooking both inside the classroom and during his externships, in particular a stint at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. As much as he loved cooking, Teitelbaum understood that his experience in management and leadership at Catering St. Louis put him in a unique position to be a bridge between the front and back-of-the-house. He made the decision to focus on the management side of the business and gained tremendous experience in that role working for chef Boulud. The two grew close, and he learned not only the operations and cooking sides of the business,

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but also how important it is for a restaurant owner to be a part of the community. He’d see Boulud’s philosophy in action in the days that followed 9/11. For two weeks, Teitelbaum worked by Boulud’s side at ground zero, leading a circle of workers who d co e down to feed the first responders. It made a tremendous impact on him, both professionally and personally. “After 9/11, New York changed,” Teitelbaum says. “I decided it was time to move on and move back to St. Louis to open a restaurant.” Teitelbaum returned to town with the goal of opening a restaurant unlike one that St. Louis had ever before seen. That restaurant, the now-shuttered Monarch in Maplewood, would go on to beco e one of the city s definitive dining establishments and bring Teltelbaum great success and notoriety. Professionally, he was on top of the world, but he admits he was not at his personal best. Instead, that time period was defined by e o and represented a point in his life when he wasn’t particularly healthy.

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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AARON TEITELBAUM Continued from pg 31

That changed when, about halfway through his tenure at Monarch, Teitelbaum got sober. With that major life change came a desire to return to the kitchen. In 2008, he bought local dining institution Balaban’s out of bankruptcy and reopened the iconic Central West End restaurant as its new chef-owner. “I was energized and excited and decided it was time to do my own thing,” Teitelbaum says. “I love being in the kitchen and leading a team. For me, being a chef is all about balance — knowing how to run a business and cook.” Teitelbaum worked as Herbie’s executive chef until he moved the restaurant to Clayton in 2016. Although he loved cooking, he understood that running the restaurant’s operations regularly took him out of the kitchen. He felt it wasn’t fair for him to get all of the credit when others were doing the day-to-day kitchen grind. This realization made him rethink his role as that of a mentor — that it was time for him to do for others what Erker and Boulud had done for him. Teitelbaum’s move out of the executive chef role has also helped him to balance the demands of work and family, a change in perspective that has helped him in all aspects of his life. “I realized that I am good at running a kitchen and executing, but the day to day of a restaurant is not what I want to do anymore,” Teitelbau e plains. had to fi ure that balance out — how I am going to own different restaurants and make that work but be home by 6 p.m. to be with my family. For my family, for my recovery and for the businesses, those all had to wor well to ether. ve finally found that — and it’s changed my place in the restaurant — but it’s been amazing.” Today, Teitelbaum operates two locations of Kingside Diner (in Clayton and the Central West End) in addition to Herbie’s. He recently took a break from the kitchen to share his thoughts about the St. Louis restaurant scene, his passion for coaching and leading a tea and why he s finally iven up on his cilantro ban. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? My life has been a pretty open book in my world, and I don’t hide much of anything. My team

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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knows me well because I am open and honest. I guess the one thing that people may or may not know is that I am in recovery and love that it is prevalent in my business today. I get to run my businesses in a way that mirrors my life today. It is my biggest achievement in business. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Morning meditation. It sets me out on the right foot each day. What is the most positive thing in food, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the past year? Camaraderie and collaboration among chefs and restaurateurs. It is something I saw a great deal while working in New York City, and I’ve found it to be an important part of what makes our business great. Who is your St. Louis food crush? Jimmy Fiala and Matt McGuire. I believe they both have stayed true to great food and service while also running a solid business. It is what makes a great chef and restaurateur. Balancing all three of these areas is the hardest part of our business. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis dining scene? This is hard for me to answer with so many talented people working with me. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? I really don’t know. I have always been in it. Even though my family isn’t in the business, I was always on this path since I can remember. If I had to choose, I guess it would be in a field where was able to coach and lead a team. That is what I love about the business: bringing a group together and encouraging them to do great things together. Name an ingredient never allowed in your restaurant. It used to be cilantro, but while working for Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill, I’d see cases of cilantro chopped every day. I have given that up since I am not running the kitchen day to day. What is your after-work hangout? At home with my family. They are my everything. What’s your food or beverage guilty pleasure? Diet Gosling’s Ginger Beer. I drink it almost every day. What would be your last meal on Earth? I love a great steak. It would be served with foie ras and tru e Madeira, Rossini-style. n

[FIRST LOOK]

Original J’s Tex-Mex & Barbecue Now Open Written by

LIZ MILLER

ate last month, restaurateurs Mike and Liz Randolph opened Original J’s Tex-Mex & Barbecue (7359 Forsyth Boulevard, University City; 314-202-8335). The couple own Half & Half and the late, great rivado andolfi s and blico making Original J’s one of the most anticipated openings of the year. The restaurant at first was open only from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the hours have now expanded, according to social media posts on the restaurant’s pages, to 8 p.m. every day. As the Riverfront Times reported earlier this year, Original J’s specializes in Tex-Mex-style barbecue in a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. Located in University City inside a former Fortel’s Pizza Den, Original J’s gives James Beard Best hef idwest se ifinalist i e Randolph the chance to explore a different kind of ’cue in town. “I don’t think that this is just another barbecue restaurant in St. Louis, but I also don’t think a city that loves its barbecue like St. Louis has reached critical mass,” Randolph told the RFT in August. “Look at places like Kansas City or Memphis or Nashville — there’s nothing wrong with having a lot of barbecue in your town.” The counter-service restaurant draws some inspiration from a es Beard-no inated blico but with a vibe and price points that are more casual and approachable. The Original J’s menu was also in uenced by the andolphs’ travels throughout Texas and is divided into six sections: Grub, Tacos!, Meats, Platos, sides and sweets. Shareable plates of grub include a pound of smoked wings with lime, agave and arbol pepper; pulled pork nachos; and tortilla chips with J’s Famous chili con queso. Eight tacos are on offer includin one filled with hot links, pickled vegetables, tomato

Pulled pork nachos and the brisket taco at Original J’s. | LIZ MILLER peppers and mustard and another featuring vegan chorizo, guacamole, tortilla strips, cilantro, onion and J’s Sauce. Don’t skip the brisket taco, though, a house signature packed with burnt-end-style brisket points, smoked tomato jam, onion, queso, cilantro and J’s Sauce. Moving on to the Meats portion of the enu diners will find brisket, barbacoa, hot links, “mixed hog,” pulled chicken and a twoheat combo, plus spicy spareribs. You can also opt for the barbacoa on a platter, or plato; other platters include chicken enchiladas, dark chicken mole and carnitas. Like any good barbecue joint worth its salt, J’s doesn’t skimp on the sides, either, offering crispy fries, cilantro rice, Esther’s Beans, Madura plantains, dressed salad, cheesy hominy and more. For dessert, Original J’s offers three fun

and nostalgic options: fried ice cream with Mexican chocolate, an ice cream sundae and a root beer oat. “This is what Liz and I want to eat and what we are excited about at this point in our lives,” Randolph said. “Liz isn’t a huge fan of having a big platter of smoked meat, and she had a huge role in developing the half of the menu that we hope will appeal to a broader range of people.” A separate kid’s menu with lower prices and portions offers the same tacos, platters and bowls, plus a quesadilla — and a coloring page featuring a cowboy riding a bucking bronco on the reverse side. In reverence to the Texas-style barbecue that inspired Original J’s, Randolph is taking a low-andslow approach to smoking meat, letting it go for sixteen hours over

[FOOD NEWS]

Chef Tyler Davis to Host Talk, Book Signing Written by

CAROLINE GROFF

magnificently plated dish is as much a feast for the eyes as it is the stomach. And if anyone knows a thing or two about magnificent plating, it’s chef Tyler “Tai” Davis, who has made a name for himself in town at restaurants such as the Chocolate Pig and the nowshuttered Element. In Davis’ new coffee-table book, Tai Davis [Pastry]: A Visual Anthology of Culinary Works, food lovers can explore

Chef Tyler Davis is a master of beautiful plating. | MABEL SUEN the inspiration and emotion behind the chef’s culinary artistry. On Saturday, December 14, Davis will be setting up at Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid

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Missouri oak in Myron Mixon smokers with just a simple salt and pepper seasoning. “The most important thing for us is to have reverence and respect for Texas barbecue,” Randolph said. “We’re not setting out to say we have the best Texas barbecue. The thing that is instilled in us is that we are dedicating ourselves to the ideal.” When you order at the counter, a cashier hands you a marker card instead of an order number, with each card depicting caricatures of different country music stars (think Hank Williams, Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton). Country music pulses out of the speakers here, as well; on our visit, we may or may not have hummed along to “Here for a Good Time” by George Strait, a personal anthem. From there, grab a seat in the time-warp of a dining room, which features wood paneling, retro framed artwork and vintage stained lass li ht fi tures that would feel just as at home in Sam Malone’s bar or your grandma’s basement rec room. There’s even an old-school Catch a Duck claw game for kids or just the young at heart — although the squeaky toys inside are shaped like pigs, not waterfowl. Seated beside the claw machine is a retro Ms. Pac-Man game and two chairs, beckoning you and a friend to sit down, stay a while and kick some ghost butt. Sitting in the old-school dining room and snacking on perfectly smoked wings, colorful tacos and spicy queso and chips, you’re overcome by how fun and playful it is at Original J’s. The restaurant is good fun, channeling its playful tagline, “J’s For Jolly Good Food!” n Avenue, 314-367-6731) for a discussion about the book and a signing. The event gets underway at 4 p.m. and attendance is free and open to the public. Davis will be discussing the contents of his new book, answering questions and signing copies, which are available for purchase in advance or at the event. Davis has been a rising star in the culinary world of St. Louis since the start of his career in 2010. Over the years his profile has steadily risen for both his restaurant work and his three-tiered pastry business, which sees him dividing time between restaurant consulting, catering and artistic pursuits. He has also been featured on Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship, and next year, he will return to his roots as a savory chef with a monthly soul-food pop-up series dubbed Elevated. For now, though, tickets to the talk and book signing can be purchased through www.left-bank.com. n

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

HAPPY HOUR

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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[FOOD NEWS]

Schlafly Beer to Release Low-Calorie, Low-Carb Lemon-Lime Mead Spritzer Written by

LIZ MILLER

f there was one alcohol craze that dominated 2019, it was the increase of hard seltzers flooding the market (and our livers). Now, Schlafly Beer (multiple locations including 2100 Locust Street, 314-241-2337) is hoping to bite some of that same gluten-free and calorie- and carb-conscious market with a spritzer of its own. Dubbed Boomerang, the first flavor of Schlafly’s mead spritzer, lemon-lime, was released on tap and in cans at both brewery locations on Friday, December 6. The spritzer will also be available in retail stores in mid-December. “Hard seltzers and spritzers have been huge, but we feel like there’s a segment of consumers out there who are interested in something that’s locally produced and a bit more artisan-produced, and that’s

how we approached Boomerang,” says Schlafly lead brewer Jared Williamson. “From a brewer’s standpoint, I really wanted to do something in this category but go about it in a different, more crafted way than anyone else is doing so far.” Williamson says the line will grow to include more flavors over time, but what unifies them all is an incredibly simple list of ingredients and low calorie and carb count. The introductory lemonlime flavor, for example, is made with just mead (water and honey) and natural lemon and lime flavors. Zero sugar is added to the spritzer, which clocks in at 90 calories and only three carbs per twelve-ounce can. At 4 percent ABV, the gluten-free sipper is lightly carbonated and offers a refreshing change of pace from the sometimes overly boozy flavor of hard seltzers. “For people who don’t know what mead is, this isn’t going to be a normal mead, but for people who do know what it is — fermented honey — this is a really interesting kind of addition to this whole seltzer and spritzer category,” Williamson says. “We’re using honey, water and citrus flavor and fermenting it with yeast; it’s very simple and classic, but also a new-school presentation.” Mead even inspired the drink’s name: When you throw a boomerang, it eventually comes back around to you, much like, Williamson says, the recent comeback of mead, an ancient beverage. Boo-

At under 100 calories, Boomerang is poised to compete with the current hard seltzer craze. | LIZ MILLER merang isn’t the brewery’s first foray into mead, but it’s the only “sessionable” and completely dry offering that Schlafly has released in cans. “People think about meads and they think about these really sweet red wines, which is what they were traditionally,

but this is completely fermented out, so when it hits your palate, there’s perceived sweetness, but then it dries out really quickly,” Williamson says. “It’s not like drinking a sweet beverage by any means; it’s very crisp and refreshing, and then it has that citrus pop. The end beverage is something unlike I’ve ever had.” Well before the December release, Schlafly has been testing various flavors of the mead at both local beer events and through R&D with family and friends. Lemon-lime was deemed the “champion” as it’s a familiar flavor, but Williamson says that customers can look for new flavors in 2020, including possible berry and tropical mead spritzers. He says the brewery will likely be testing new flavors at future beer events and festivals around town. “We were the first craft brewery to open in the shadow of Anheuser-Busch, and now we’re trying to do something new in the industry with these spritzers and seltzers and thinking a little bit outside the box,” Williamson says. “We don’t want to just be the next spiked water. This is the hottest thing since IPAs in the beverage industry. We’re excited with what we’ve come up with this year and to get to market before the year’s even out.” Packaged in classic twelve-ounce beer cans, Boomerang offers something else that most hard seltzers do not, as Williamson notes: “These will fit your Koozies!” n

Authentic Hong Kong Style Cuisine

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

VOTED ST. LOUIS’ #1 CHINESE CUISINE! FRESH & HEALTHY. WE CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT!

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MUSIC + CULTURE

[HOMESPUN]

Delicious Sounds Macaroon Afterparty’s three-song Pastry Police whets the appetite Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

ary Schmidt has had something of a peripatetic musical career. Growing up in south St. Louis County, he played in pop-punk and grindcore bands before shipping off to college. While enrolled at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, he jammed off and on with a bassist and drummer that would later form the local band Lightrider. Grad school in Kentucky was focused on working toward his master’s in social work, but while there, he crossed paths with the Cincinnati-based indie band Pomegranates, and that relationship would prove crucial to his future endeavors. Schmidt is feeling settled, at least for now: He has recently moved to Dogtown and continues to play guitar in Lightrider, which he describes as “more on the emo side of things, with a little of that post-rock vibe, more open and ambient and spacey.” He plays alongside his old SEMO pals Tim Schrieber and Jesse Kemling, but he notes his role is more supportin than uidin or the first two years of me playing music in St. Louis, I had to put my own style of music on the back burner.” That has begun to shift with the recent release of a promising three-song EP from his project Macaroon Afterparty, which pairs his sweetly sung lines with wellcrafted and smartly produced indie rock. Opening track “Feel Right” has just enough reverb to make the guitar plucks ring out and enough swirling ambience to tread the line between euphoria and unease. Schmidt’s delicate, layered vocals serve as the song’s emotional and harmonic ballast. To make the EP, titled Pastry Po-

Gary Schmidt has settled in St. Louis and is making his own music after playing a supporting role for years. | TIM SCHREIBER AND BRETT CROW lice, Schmidt relied on his friendship with the guys in Pomegranates and decamped to Ohio to work on the recordings. “The drummer Jake [Merritt] put together a studio, Sabbath Recording, and he had a band he wanted me to work with,” Schmidt says. “I wrote most of everything, and they brought it to life. He brought the most out of these songs.” His trips to Ohio brought out the bright and muted colors in his songs, but it was a cheekily named paint swatch that gave his project its name. “I was looking through a color palette and found one called Macaroon Party,” he recalls. As band names go, though, he found it “a little too sleek.” “The music sounded more like an after-party to me,” Schmidt says. Let’s get a delicious bit of nomenclature out of the way: A macaron is a delicate, sandwichlike confection that is often pastelcolored and usually found at high teas or bridal parties; a macaroon is a coconut-based cookie, much more roughly hewn than its dainty French counterpart. Even at this early stage in his musical career, Schmidt has had to defend the name of the project and the cookie-based confusion (which is exacerbated somewhat by using a tray of the colorful macarons as the album artwork). After releasing lead single “Feel

“It was an introspective and turbulent time, and I’m glad I have a record of that.” Right,” an internet commenter was quick to school Schmidt on the monumental difference that the second “o” in “macaroon” can make. “That’s part of why I named it Pastry Police,” Schmidt says. “I think that kind of clears it up that there’s a discrepancy there.” Schmidt notes that these three introductory songs each strike a different pose; they are connected by his voice and delivery but stake out distinct sonic territory, from moody ballads to more propulsive pop. “Each song, I was listening to different music and feeling different things,” he continues. “It was an introspective and turbulent time, and I’m glad I have a record of that. It was the external product of all these changing parts.” A therapist by trade, Schmidt says that the songs are personal

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without being diaristic. A few ruminate on love and loss, and the songwriting process caused him to “look inward at what mattered to me most.” “I talk in therapy a lot about how people need an outlet for their emotions, and I had to practice what I preach.” While Pastry Police is out now and available on streaming platforms, Schmidt is still in the early stages of putting a live band together. So far he has enlisted Justin ills the local a plifier builder behind Mills Custom Amps, to play in an eventual live band. Mills says he was a fan of Schmidt’s through his work in Lightrider as well as his songwriting. “When I heard Macaroon Afterparty’s styling a dreamy groove based around a more pop sensibility, I was really excited to see how Gary would sculpt that sound,” Mills says. Schmidt has also linked up with a few other local musicians to collaborate on his own material, including Foxing’s Eric Hudson, who contributed to what Schmidt describes as a “more synthetic” pop song that should be out this winter. definitely loo in for ore collaborators to be a part of this process,” Schmidt says. “I am looking to build and be a part of this greater musical community.” n

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Everywhere and noWhere Rappers Sir Eddie C, Zado and Teacup Dragun share what inspired their debut album yelloW Written by

YMANI WINCE

uring the week of Thanksgiving, rappers Sir Eddie C and Zado sat inside Mission Taco Joint in the Central West End eating tacos and discussing lights. The rappers make up two-thirds of the group noWhere, and on this occasion, they were particularly concerned with the lights for their December 7 show at Blank Space on Cherokee Street. “If we do lights, it has to be upstairs,” Zado says between bites of chips and salsa. “It’s lights, bro,” responds Sir Eddie C. “It’s gonna be lights no matter what. I’d just rather do all yellow lights.” The conversation is just part of the meticulous planning the trio has pored over since announcing their first show in support of their debut album, yelloW. The group is serious about making sure everything goes according to plan. And that’s the main agenda of noWhere: planning. Since the group’s introduction to the St. Louis music scene in 2017, each artistic effort has been undertaken with extreme forethought. It started with a nostalgic video uploaded to the group’s Twitter page with no explanation. In it, we see Zado, Eddie C and a host of yellow hoodie-clad friends completing various exercises, shot with a ’90s feel straight out of an episode of Freaks and Geeks, while Devo’s “Whip It” sets cadence in the background. “It’s not a music video,” Eddie explains. “No one knew what this was — if it was a show, or if it was a project. And even in this video, we didn’t explain anything really.” After watching the short video, it’s clear that part of the allure of noWhere is that the group is hard to label and define. or starters, what’s with the name? Zado admits that the spelling of noWhere is a stylistic choice. Sir Eddie C adds that the group’s name is a double entendre. The name breaks down from “nowhere” to “now here,” symbolizing the longevity the group wishes to have.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

The members of noWhere are always planning their next move. | DARIAN DALE “We are present; we are now here. We ain’t going nowhere,” Sir Eddie C says. The capitalized “W” in the name symbolizes “big wins” and success, according to Zado. Consistency and longevity are noWhere’s main focus. From their carefully calculated social media posts and graphic design on merchandise announce ent iers and stage props, the group takes their image seriously. And while you may be shaking your head at the turtle costume that has taken on its own sort of fan base, Terry Terrapin has a purpose, too. “The tortoise wins the race,” Sir Eddie C says. “We watched a lot of people blow up and burn out in the two short years we’ve been a thing.” With yelloW, the group hopes to a e an o cial and for al introduction to music fans across St. Louis. They’ve put out songs and individual projects over the past two years, but the culmination of their sound and experiences produced a body of work the group says they’re proud of today. Exclusively produced by local favorite Akeda Keyz, yelloW showcases each member’s individual and group strengths in eight tight tracks. It’s a bouncy album with as much personality in lyricism as there is in technical production. To say that the group is obsessed with the color yellow would be an

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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understatement. The hue serves as a North Star to what noWhere aspires to be guided by. The color itself takes on meanings of selffulfill ent freshness rejuvenation, continuity, clarity and of course, happiness, the group says. That’s what noWhere wants their fans to feel, too: This month, the group encouraged show attendees to wear yellow to Blank Space, setting the tone for their show there. “noWhere allowed us to be new again, because we’ve done stuff before,” Sir Eddie C says. “And yellow symbolizes our story and our journey.” noWhere’s style is nostalgic, with a hint of freshness. If Sam Goody were still open, it would be the perfect location for a music video. The fusion of the members’ individual sounds could be the most intriguing aspect about noWhere. As individuals, Sir Eddie C, Zado and their third cohort, Teacup Dragun, have musical styles that are drastically different. On yelloW, Sir Eddie C features a confident voice that s s oother than room-temperature butter, while Zado’s wisecracks and stylized mumblings make songs like “Crash Out” crackle with every beat transition. Bar for bar, Eddie C and Zado are beyond solid. Their tag-team dynamic feels like a rap seesaw, with self-assured lines from Eddie

C to match cocky and conceited takes from Zado. Teacup Dragun rounds out the group’s dynamic. A self-proclaimed “sad girl,” Dragun’s genre of music is a fusion of R&B and goth — a mix that makes more sense when you hear it. Her contributions to yelloW stem from honestly writing down her emotions, and also reminding listeners that “yes I’ll steal your bitch,” a testament to the nonbinary artist’s openness in expressing and sharing her sexuality. “I try to incorporate my sexualness to the ow of how ddie and Zado go,” Dragun says. “It meshes in well.” Dragun’s energy and honesty come across on yelloW. She credits this to being comfortable being herself — not trying to satisfy an arbitrary feminine energy requirement for the group. “Eddie and Zado both wanted me to be 100 percent Dragun,” she says. “Some of my songs have a really deep meaning, but I try to make it relatable to the person.” Relatability isn’t an issue for noWhere. They aren’t a group so dedicated to creating an image of themselves that access seems far away. They’re open, creative and, as always, steadily planning their next move. Sounds like a formula for a group that’s here to stay. n

OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Beth Bombara. | NATE BURRELL

Beth Bombara 8 p.m. Thursday, December 12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp. All ages: $12. 314-773-3363. The much-deserved attention for Beth Bombara’s 2019 album Evergreen, her fifth full-length record in ten years, has focused on her full-hearted embrace of a live band, the way she channels her inner Tom Petty if not Chrissie Hynde. And there’s no denying the amped-up hooks and the taut-combo grooves, as well as the confidence of the band’s leader. Bombara’s warm alto voice has never sounded more forceful, but it’s

WEDNESDAY 11

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: w/ Aenimus 6:30 p.m., $13. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. BLACK BOX: w/ Freon, the Yeasties 9 p.m., $5-$7. CBGB, 3163 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis. STEEL PANTHER: 8 p.m., $25-$28. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE NIXONS & SPONGE: w/ Bleach 8 p.m., $22$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

THURSDAY 12

311: w/ BoomTown United 8 p.m., $49.50-$52.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. BETH BOMBARA: w/ Essential Knots 8 p.m., $12. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. GRACE FIELD: 8 p.m., $25-$30. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. MUSIC UNLIMITED: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. SCRANTONICITY: 8 p.m., $15-$30. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. ST. LOUIS STEADY GRINDERS: 8:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. SWEETHEART: w/ Seeds of Satan, Biologist 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. TREE ONE FOUR: 11 p.m., free. Halo Bar, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-1414.

FRIDAY 13

the songs, written with bandmate and husband Kit Hamon, their clear melodies and inevitable emotions, that distinguish Evergreen as one of the best rock & roll albums to come out of St. Louis (or anywhere) this year. The songcraft only sounds effortless; Bombara and her band have worked tenaciously to make a record that will stand the test of time. Tied-up tight: Essential Knots has, to date, officially released only two songs. The St. Louis band is in no rush, but fans of jangling, hook-sharp indie pop should be to catch its opening set. —Roy Kasten

93.7 SANTA JAM: w/ Trea Landon, Abby Anderson, Jon Langston, Tenille Townes, Jordan Davis, Chris Janson 7:30 p.m., $6.37-$40.70. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. CHRIS KNIGHT: 8 p.m., $25-$35. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. DEAN CHRISTOPHER: 8 p.m., $25-$30. EMO NITE: 9:30 p.m., $15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. HOTLINE ST. LOUIS: w/ Havnter, Bonus Points, Xavi, Arrow & Sun 9 p.m. Pop’s Blue Moon, 5249 Pattison Ave., St. Louis, 314-776-4200. MATISYAHU: 8 p.m., $31-$36. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE REAL THING: A TRIBUTE TO FAITH NO MORE & MR. BUNGLE: w/ Vivid: A Tribute to Living Colour 8 p.m., $10-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. UNWED SAILOR: 7:30 p.m., $10-$12. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

SATURDAY 14

BROTHER ALI: 8 p.m., $22-$65. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. BUTTERCUP ALBUM RELEASE PARTY: w/ The R6 Implant, Blight Future, Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship 8 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. CHADWICK STOKES AND THE PINTOS: w/ Mihali 8 p.m., $26-$30. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. CHADWICK STOKES AND THE PINTOS: w/ Mihali 8 p.m., $26-$30. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room,

Continued on pg 41

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Wednesday Dec. 11 9PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To The Highwaymen

Thursday Dec. 12 9PM

The Dead Roses Friday Dec. 13 10PM

Odds Lane Blues Rock

Saturday Dec.14 10PM

Roland Johnson and Soul Endeavor Sunday Dec. 15 8PM

Blues, Soul and Pop Diva Kim Massie Wednesday Dec. 18 9PM

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Led Zeppelin

Friday Dec 13 and Saturday Dec. 14

BOB’s Annual Fresh Fish and Scallop Festival

It’s WAY better than a photo booth!

Weddings, B’nai Mitzvah, School Dances, Graduation Parties, Lock-Ins, University Events, Corporate Parties, Brand Activations, Conventions, Fundraisers, Festivals, and More!

314.621.8638 | Info@FishEyeFun.com | FishEyeFun.com 40

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Ethan Leinwand will be tickling Keys for Keys. | LISA DUESING

Keys for Keys 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 17. The Dark Room at the Grandel Theater, 3610 Grandel Square. Free. 314-776-9550. Aside from pipe organs and those several-ton church bells, pianos are about the least portable instrument around: Heavy, wooden and prone to detuning, there’s a reason that the electronic keyboard market holds steady. But the ivory-ticklers at Jackson Pianos will not settle for some digital simulacrum, God bless them — Joe Jackson and his crew rescue, restore and

THIS JUST IN Continued from pg 39 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. CHRISTIAAN SMITH: 8 p.m., $30-$40. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. FOXING: w/ Tonina, Jr Clooney 8 p.m., $18-$20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. HELL NIGHT: w/ Killing Fever, Shitstorm 8 p.m., free. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. KILVEREZ: w/ The Hot Liquors, The Potomac Accord p. . free. chla y Tap oo Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. THE LISTON BROTHERS: 8 p.m., $25-$45. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. OLD 97’S HOLIDAY HOOPLA: w/ Caseymagic, Rhett Miller 8 p.m., $30-$35. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. OVER THE RHINE: 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. ROCK FOR TOTS: w/ Torchlight Parade, South Side 5 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SUPERFUN YEAH YEAH ROCKETSHIP: w/ Buttercup, Blight Future, R6 Implant 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. TRU KLASSIK: w/ Rec Riddles, Kill Em All, Ackurate, Surpreme Sol, Poet X, DJ VThom 9 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

SUNDAY 15

BEN NORDSTROM: 7 p.m., $30-$35. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. MARSHALL CRENSHAW: 8 p.m., $20-$30. Off Broad-

resell pianos of all stripes, and for the holiday season they’ve taken their show on the road with a bright yellow “traveling piano,” making weekly stops along the way. It’s all for a good cause: These “Keys for Keys” events benefit Places for People, a mental health services nonprofit. At the Christmas Ball: For this holiday edition, called “A Blue(s) Christmas,” Ethan Leinwand, Nick Pence and Miss Jubilee will light up the Dark Room with seasonal favorites and vintage blues and boogie-woogie. —Christian Schaeffer

way, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE MOTET: 8 p.m., $20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. NATO COLES & THE BLUE DIAMOND BAND: w/ the Wilderness, Grave Neighbors, Fight Back Mountain 8 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. PHANTOGRAM: w/ Matt Maeson 8 p.m., $27-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THIGHMASTER: w/ Abi Ooze, Prunes 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. UGLY X-MAZ SWAG PARTY: w/ Laka 6 p.m., free. Angad Arts Hotel, 6550 Samuel Shepard Dr, St. Louis, 314-561-0033.

MONDAY 16

ANGELS & AIRWAVES: w/ I Don’t Know How But They Found Me 8 p.m., $38-$48. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

TUESDAY 17

ALLIGATOR WINE: 8 p.m., free. Pop’s Blue Moon, 5249 Pattison Ave., St. Louis, 314-776-4200. BALTIC TO BOARDWALK: w/ Overnighter, Reeling, The Cult Sounds, Yeah I’m Sorry 6 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. CASHMERE CAT: 8 p.m., $23-$25. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314833-3929. PALAYE ROYALE: w/ the Federal Empire 8 p.m., $25-$28. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. RIFF RAFF: 8 p.m., $20-$50. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

THIS JUST IN 25 YEARS OF ALIEN LANES: W/ the Cyanides,

Continued on pg 42

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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

FIND THE PERFECT GIFT!

Don’t forget to pick up your BOB holiday gift certificate

RIFLES & SHOTGUNS

HAND GUNS

a great deal of $35 for a $50 value.

We would love to cater your holiday party, at your place or ours! Call 314-621-8811 to schedule.

New Years Eve is just around the corner.

NOT SURE WHAT TO GET?

Call 314-621-8811 to make your reservation or Preferred Seating. As always, a special holiday menu will be available in addition to our regular menu.

Music by Funky Butt Brass Band starting at 10PM.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

GIFT CARDS MAKE GREAT STOCKING STUFFERS!

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SAFES & KNIVES

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 41

Trauma Harness, the Astounds, Other Town Syndrome, Subtropolis, Matt F Basler, Sisser, Breakmouth Annie, 120 Minutes, Matt Harnish, Sat., April 11, 8 p.m., $8. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. 4TH ANNUAL WINTER DISCO: ne ay Tra c Sat., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., $12/$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. BENEFIT SHOW FOR SAINT PATRICK CENTER: W/ Us Beans, Big Step, The Opera Bell Band, The Crisis Walk-Ins, Fri., Dec. 20, 7 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. BLAC YOUNGSTA: Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., $15-$40. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. THE BLAM BLAMS: W/ Matt F Basler, Lightrider, Fri., Jan. 17, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. BRASKY: Fri., Jan. 31, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. BRUXISM #42: Thu., Dec. 19, 9 p.m., free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. t. ouis 314-241-2337. BRUXISM #43: Thu., Feb. 20, 9 p.m., free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. t. ouis 314-241-2337. CHAOS COLLECTIVE: W/ Karaoke After Party, Sat., Dec. 28, 8 p.m., $7. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-621-6900. CHEER-ACCIDENT: W/ The Conformists, Fri., Jan. p. . free. chla y Tap oo ocust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. CHEMICAL FIX: W/ Time and Pressure, Brute Force, Placeholder, The Cult Sounds, Thu., Jan. 2, 8 p.m., $5. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. CHICAGO FARMER AND THE FIELDNOTES: Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., $12/$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. DAISYCHAIN: W/ The Judge, L84DNR, Fri., Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. EMO VALENTINE’S DAY: W/ Finding Emo, Sat., Feb. 15, 9 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. FLYING HOUSE: W/ The Sparrows, Sat., Dec. 21, 9 p. . free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. St. Louis, 314-241-2337. FOAM’S FINAL SHOW: W/ Dubb Nubb, Banana Clips, Town Cars, Pono AM, Camp Counselor, Joss Barton, Dill Spears, Sun., Dec. 29, 7 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. GRANGER SMITH: Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., $20. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. THE JAG-WIRES: W/ The Gasps, Sat., Feb. 1, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. JESUS CHRIST SUPERCAR: W/ North by North, vy Thu. eb. p. . free. chla y Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. KENDRA AMALIE: W/ Temporal Marauder, Alex Cunningham/Damon Smith Duo, Zak M./Eric all uo at. an. p. . free. chla y Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. KIJANI ESHE: W/ Glued, Fri., Dec. 27, 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-7722100. LANCO: W/ Matt Stell, Fri., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., $15. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. LOBBY BOXER: W/ Origami Angel, Short Fictions, Young Animals, The Acid Flashback At Nightmare Beach, Sat., Dec. 28, 8 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. LOW WATER MARK FOR GHOSTS ALBUM RELEASE: W/ the Potomac Accord, Sat., Jan. 18, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. MAN OF DESTINY ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: Sat., Dec. 21, 8 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. MISSOURI MUSES: A CELEBRATION OF MO WOMEN IN ROCK: W/ Alna, The Burney Sisters, Molly Healey, Sat., Feb. 15, 6 p.m., $10/$13. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis,

314-775-0775. [ C R I TW/I Boney C ’ S Goat P I CBand, K] MOUND CITY SLICKERS: Wayward Mountaineers, Sat., Dec. 28, 9 p.m., free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. St. Louis, 314-241-2337. NIGHTCHASER PRESENTS TIMECHASER NEW YEARS EVE: W/ Aaron Kamm and the One Drops, Mvstermind, MC Scrub, Jesse Gannon, a ple ulture ta ver o and aptoclone DJ Mahf, 18andCounting, Alexis Tucci, Mark Lewis, Steve Tuohy, Atomix and the Vokalist, Doum and B-Wise, Crate2Crate, Josh Sedivy, Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., $35-$50. 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Center, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis, 314-276-2700. THE PAT SAJAK ASSASSINS: W/ The Van Allen Belt eashine at. eb. p. . free. chla y Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-2412337. PIP THE PANSY: W/ Kid Scientist, Sun., Feb. 9, 7 p.m., $10/$12. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. RANDY HOUSER: Fri., March 6, 8 p.m., $20. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314345-9481. RECESS: A MUSICAL PLAYGROUND: Sun., Feb. 9, 7 p. . free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. St. Louis, 314-241-2337. RED DEATH: W/ Enforced, Time and Pressure, Lightning Wolf, Sat., Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. RICK ROSS: Sat., Jan. 11, 7 p.m., $60. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND: Wed., Feb. 12, 8 p.m., $30-$35. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. SCHLAFLY BEER’S 28TH ANNIVERSARY: W/ The Red-Headed Strangers, Thu., Dec. 26, 4 p.m., free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. t. Louis, 314-241-2337. SHOPPING: W/ Automatic, Tue., April 7, 7 p.m., $12. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SILVI SILVI: W/ Kangaroo Pocket, Lindsey and the ire ies ri. eb. p. . . The eavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. THE SLOW BOYS: W/ Vulture Culture, Hands and eet at. an. p. . free. chla y Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. STACKED 2: W/ Mark Angel, DJ Devil Girl, Luke Hansen, Scott McRobot b2b Shen, Original Sin, Quasar Camp, DJ Big J, Heavy Rotation, Sat., Dec. 21, 9:30 p.m., $10-$15. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-621-6900. STAGFEST III: W/ Bruiser Queen, tristano, Banana Clips, Eric Donte, Star Wolf, Chiller Whale, Sat., Jan. 11, 7 p.m., $15. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. SUPERFUN YEAH YEAH ROCKETSHIP: W/ Celia’s Yuletide Express. moSTLy TAP, Fri., Dec. 20, 9 p. . free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. St. Louis, 314-241-2337. TAME IMPALA: W/ Perfume Genius, Sun., July 19, 8 p.m., $49.75-$79.25. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888. TERRI AND VESNA’S 12TH ANNUAL BIRTHDAY EXTRAVAGANZA: Fri., Jan. 31, 9 p.m., free. chla y Tap oo ocust t. t. ouis 314-241-2337. TRE G: W/ Katarra Parson, MAXA, Eric Donte, DJ Hoodbunny, Sat., Jan. 4, 8 p.m., $15-$18. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, 314-533-0367. TREVOR HALL: W/ Brett Dennen, Sun., April 26, 7:30 p.m., $30/$32.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE TROPHY MULES: Sat., Feb. 22, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. THE USED: W/ Dragged Under, Fri., Jan. 31, 8 p.m., $35-$40. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. WALLOWS: W/ Mmmonika, Thu., June 11, 8 p.m., $25-$27.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. WILLIE’S TOUPEE: W/ Giants In The Sky, Thank You Jesus the band, Fri., Dec. 20, 8 p.m., $10. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. n

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DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

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SAVAGE LOVE KINK MONSTERS BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: My husband and I (straight male/bi female couple) have been married fifteen years. We are in our early 40s. When we met, he was inexperienced and crippled by shame from having grown up in an extremely sex-negative atmosphere. I have no hang-ups about sex and was happy to get him involved in some more adventurous stuff — but he quickly became obsessed with kink and shows no sign of slowing. I’m happy to play along with fantasies and role-play, bondage, domination, foot play, anal sex/pegging, going to events, having moresomes, etc. But sometimes I’d like to have gentle and slow “unadorned” sex with an attentive partner who calls me by name, compliments me, and does things to my body he knows I enjoy. My husband has been seeing a therapist for some years. We also went to this therapist for couples therapy, and he gave us some “exercises” to try to tone down my husband’s desire for perfectly scripted kink “scenes” every time we have sex. But my husband was either not able or not willing to try them, and I gave up. He now basically can’t maintain an erection without either (1) a complicated script with roles and props and costumes and toys or (2) going through the motions of romantic sex as long as I keep up a constant stream of “in-character” dirty talk, which makes it impossible for me to be in the moment. I’ve urged him to go see a dominatrix or to get more involved in the local kink scene without me — but he’s obsessed with this imagined moment where I suddenly “awaken” and fully join him in his obsessions. I find this condescending and stupid. Just because I can enjoy kink play now and then doesn’t mean I’ll ever be someone who gasps with excitement at a woman on a leash being peed on or someone dangling from the ceiling by the clamps on their nipples. It doesn’t shock me or disgust me, it just kind of bores me. It feels like watching someone fill their kitchen with every gaudy, expensive, chrome radish peeler and strawberry diddler when they can’t even boil an egg. Is there a trick

to reducing your partner’s dependence on kink? Or a way to make kink more interesting to yourself? Bored By Obsessive Kinkster You must feel like you created a kink monster. But you didn’t! I mean, you did meet this inexperienced, sexually repressed guy, BBOK, and you did encourage him to let go of the shame, and you did give him permission to be a little more sexually adventurous ... and fifteen years later you re stuc with this selfish asshole who s so obsessed and/or dependent on his kinks that you’ve come to dread having sex with him. But your husband was always the elaborately twisted kinkster he is now; he just needed someone to give him permission to admit to being who he always was — or to get in touch with who he always was — and that person was you. And now here you are, BBOK, writing to me in the hopes that I can magically cause your husband to become less dependent on his kinks or can magically “awaken” in you a similarly obsessive interest in the exact same suite of kinks he has. And we both know neither is going to happen, because you’re not going to get kinkier (which is what he wants) and you’ve already tried to get him to rein in his kinks (and that didn’t work). That’s what the couples counseling was about, right? Him learnin to be a little less selfish and a little more GGG and a better partner ... and the selfish sac of shit couldn’t be bothered, could he? Both of your proposed fi es are basically pipe dreams, as I suspect you know, BBOK, and I further suspect you’re not really interested in either one. Because what you really want is right here: “Sometimes I’d like to have gentle and slow ‘unadorned’ sex with an attentive partner who calls me by name, compliments me, and does things to my body he knows I enjoy.” (Emphasis mine.) I don’t think it’s an accident that you wrote about wanting “an attentive partner” to call you by your name and do all sorts of vanilla things to your body that he knows you enjoy. I don’t think it’s an accident that you didn’t use “loving husband” in that sentence, BBOK, because deep down you know your husband isn’t interested in doing those things. And he

Your husband was always the elaborately twisted kinkster he is now; he just needed someone to give him permission to admit to being who he always was. won’t be any good at doing those things. And even if he could fake an interest in doing those things for twenty minutes — which apparently he can’t — you probably wouldn’t be able to enjoy his halfhearted attempts at vanilla sex, because knowing he had to concentrate on BDSM sex the whole time — knowing some script was playing out in his head — would make it impossible for you to be in (and enjoy) the moment. You want to have loving, tender, connected sex with someone who cares about you. You want to have sex with someone who isn’t asking you to be someone you’re not each and every time you have sex with him (or her). And the obvious fi here the easiest wor -around the reasonable accommodation ... well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? You need to have sex with someone else, BBOK, with someone who cares about you. Basically, you need to take your own advice, the advice you’ve been giving your husband, and o find yourself a play partner or two — for vanilla sex, not in y se . f you can find so eone who can give you the kind of simple, passionate, connected sex you no longer get in your marriage, perhaps you’ll come to resent your husband less and your desire for kinky sex with him will rebound. Hey, Dan: I started seeing a man four weeks ago who keeps telling me he can’t sleep with me, or can’t sleep with me yet, because of some all-consuming fetish that he can’t (or doesn’t want to) do with me. He also has sexual issues due to having survived testicular can-

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cer and no longer having testicles. As a bisexual woman, I don’t have an issue with that and am happy to have non-penis sex. But even that is not forthcoming, because he always tells me his fixation on this fetish is interfering, while remaining totally incoherent about what the fetish is and why he can’t do it with me. No one is required to sleep with me, but it’s upsetting to go to bed with him and then, after he plays along for a little while, have to listen to him tell me another totally incoherent version of whatever his fucking problem is. I value this person for the other parts of our relationship, but I’m getting fed up. I don’t see how we’ll ever get along in bed if I’m just trying to have fun while he’s being as tormented, confusing and complicated as possible. Should I just walk away? Is this bullshit or not? Drama Is Boring Unless this ball-less mess is climbin up the fire escape and slippin into your bedroom uninvited — which I’m guessing you would’ve mentioned — he keeps turning up in your bedroom because you keep inviting him. Stop that, DIB. Tell him you’re happy to keep seeing him, if you enjoy his company that much, but you’re not “seeing” him anymore, which means he’s not welcome in your bedroom. So there’s no need for him to bring up his fetish or any other sexual issues with you. As a general rule, a person really shouldn’t mention that they have a kink or fetish to a new partner unless they’re ready to share what it is. You don’t have to be ready to act on it — lots of people have fetishes and/or kinks they enjoy as fantasy only or are ready to share but want to take the doing a little slower. But telling someone you have a kink/ fetish that’s so all-consuming you can’t be sexual unless it’s a part of the action and then refusing to name the kink/fetish and then adding that you wouldn’t want to do it with the person ... well, that’s not just bullshit, DIB, it’s disqualifying assholery and some truly next-level negging. Don’t walk away, run. Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter ITMFA.org

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

riverfronttimes.com

DECEMBER 11-17, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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