Riverfront Times, December 25, 2019 by Riverfront Times

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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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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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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THE LEDE

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

“The way I like to think about it is, everything takes steps. You got to get from down here to up there. Sooner or later, you’ll be on top. Just takes plenty of steps.” TYRIE SKIPPER, PHOTOGRAPHED DOWNTOWN ON MARKET STREET ON DECEMBER 18

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Interim Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

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

COVER

The Late Greats Saying goodbye to some of the notable people, human and otherwise, who shuffled off this mortal coil in 2019

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

Cover photos of Linda Kennedy by

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

PROPHOTOSTL.COM

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

INSIDE The Lede Hartmann

News Feature Calendar

Have you been paying attention in 2019?

12 22

The Other St. Nick | Winterfest | The Bacchanal Carnivale | Bloody King Oedipus (or, Pardon Me, Mum!) | everything to do on New Year’s Eve

Film

Cafe

Culture

The year’s best films according to Robert Hunt Cheryl Baehr chooses her favorite St. Louis restaurants of the year

Christian Schaeffer’s favorite St. Louis albums and singles of 2019

Out Every Night

Pokey LaFarge | Bastard Squad | Foam

Savage Love 6

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E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein Creative Director Tom Carlson www.euclidmediagroup.com N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com S U B S C R I P T I O N S Send address changes to Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $78/6 months (Missouri residents add $4.74 sales tax) and $156/year (Missouri residents add $9.48 sales tax) for first class. Allow 6-10 days for standard delivery. www.riverfronttimes.com The Riverfront Times is published weekly by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member 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

Riverfront Times is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1.00 plus postage, payable in advance at the Riverfront Times office. Riverfront Times may be distributed only by Riverfront Times authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Riverfront Times, take more than one copy of each Riverfront Times weekly issue. The entire contents of Riverfront Times are copyright 2018 by Riverfront Times, LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the expressed written permission of the Publisher, Riverfront Times, 308 N. 21st Street, Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63103. Please call the Riverfront Times office for back-issue information, 314-754-5966.

HARTMANN Final Exam

t has been a lot of fun to return to the RFT after an eighteenyear absence. Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome back, including such comments as, “didn’t notice you’d left” and “who are you again?” In that spirit of nostalgia, I’ve decided to resurrect an old RFT tradition of yesteryear, the year-end quiz. This year’s version is culled from the OK-est hits of the 45 columns I wrote in 2019. Hopefully, it’ll provide a fitting year in review, but it’s all in fun. As to scoring, use any grading system you like, and remember: A perfect score is nothing to brag about. Happy Holidays! 1. Which larger cities would St. Louis have allegedly surpassed in population — according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — under the Better Together plan to unify the city and county?

A. Mayberry, Gotham City, Shangri-La, Brigadoon and Emerald City B. San Francisco, Dallas, Washington, Boston and Detroit C. Shanghai, Tokyo, Mumbai, Istanbul and New York D. (A) but might as well have been (B) E. (B) but might as well have been (C) 2. Which Clean Missouri provision passed by 569,480 votes but bothered Missouri legislators so much they moved to overturn it in the first weeks of the 2019 legislative session? A. Public release of breathalyzer tests of legislators B. Public release of email correspondence of legislators C. Public release of high school transcripts of legislators D. Public release of support sheep of legislators E. Public release of hostages of legislators

3. When proudly gay Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, confronted Rep. Hardy Billington, R-Poplar Bluff, on the House floor, quoting from a book written by Billington, which did NOT happen? A. Razer quoted Billington as referring to gays as Sodomites whose “sins are much worse than other sins because they cannot reproduce and thus must recruit” B. Razer quoted Billington as having called gay marriage a “vile and disgusting display of absolute defiance of God’s commandments” C. Razer quoted Billington calling LGBTQ individuals a “perverted crowd” D. Rep David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, accused Razer of “mudslinging” and “an actual brutal attempt at intimidation” for quoting Billington’s book on the House floor E. Billington admitted his book actually was mud, and everyone hugged it out at the end

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4. In announcing that the city was soliciting bids from large private companies which install and operate red-light cameras to monetize tickets for running red lights, which did Mayor Lyda Krewson do? A. Insist that “this isn’t about revenue at all, it’s about how we can have safer streets” B. Insist that “this isn’t about safety at all, it’s about how we can raise lots of new revenue from our streets” C. Test four-way traffic pauses and other proven safety measures before bringing back the cameras D. Propose that city politicians be barred from accepting campaign donations from red-light camera companies E. Admit that companies and cities make more money the more people run red lights 5. When Sgt. Keith Wildhaber sued St. Louis County for discriminating

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HARTMANN

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6. Which statement is true with regard to issouri’s official state website offering a link for people to apply for a Medical Marijuana dentification Card A. This isn’t true. You’re stoned and imagining it B. This isn’t true. The link is a trick and sends you to a website selling MAGA hats C. This is true. But the link is a trick and sends you to a website selling MAGA hats D. This is true. But until next year, Missouri patients hang in a strange limbo in which they have a legal right to possess pot, but they can only buy it from people who cannot sell it to them legally E. This is true. But (D) is so confusing that the right answer is probably (A) 7. Which person demanded Donald Trump be removed from the 2016 GOP presidential ticket a month before the election over “predatory and reprehensible” remarks, only to decline to attack him for saying four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to their home countries”? A. State Sen. Jill Schupp in a speech B. Congresswoman Ann Wagner in a press statement C. Vice President Mike Pence in a ventriloquist performance D. Gov. Eric Greitens during a photo shoot in his basement E. Melania Trump in a message tied to Hedwig’s leg 8. Why did former Mayor Francis Slay wait until Day 5,818 of a 5,844-day administration to reveal that he was enlisting billionaire e inquefield to spend millions

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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St. Louis County police Lt. Keith Wildhaber leaves court. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI to facilitate a billion-dollar-plus scheme to privatize St. Louis Lambert International Airport? A. He was just too busy in the previous 5,817 days B. He had become forgetful. He forgot that he had one of the nation’s top airport directors working for him and he forgot there was a Board of Aldermen, just like people forget where they put their keys. It happens C. He thought it would be a cool surprise to his law firm and associates that they’d be getting nice business contracts from the privatization effort after he left office and he didn’t want to ruin that with a spoiler D. He was afraid Steve Stenger would steal the idea E. Because he could 9. As of July, Missouri ranked No. 1 in the nation — by a lot — in the rate with which it has kicked poor children off of health care coverage. Health economist Timothy McBride of Washington University said, “The process is breaking down because we don’t understand the situations of low-income people.” How did Republicans respond? A. By charging that critics like McBride “don’t understand the situations of high-income people” B. By admitting they were wrong to have cost the state untold billions in federal dollars — and continue to do so — as one of just thirteen states to reject Medicaid expansion because they didn’t want to help that Obama guy C. By saying, “Hey, you got a problem with this?” D. By designating two of their state reps to hold hearings about the situation E. By proclaiming during the Stanley Cup parade, “Hey, we gave

these Blues owners $70 million in state money. Now do you think we should have spent it on some kids who can’t even skate?” 10. ArchCity Defenders is suing the city over hellish conditions in the Workhouse, the jail in which thousands of defendants have languished an average 291 days waiting for trial, in no small part because of a cruel and racist cashbail system. What is being done by city government and the criminal justice system to rectify this emergency? A. Say, “what emergency”? B. Attack Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner for coddling criminals because she’s part of a national effort by reform prosecutors against cash bail C. ilify the Bail ro ect, a fine national group that irritated the entire system by posting bail for 1,300 city defendants in its first year, with a 9 percent success rate in making court appearances, after one inmate whose bail it met — having been set by judge and prosecutors—committed a horrible murder D. Tout a recent grand jury report saying “after years of bad press due to poor conditions, the current reality was far different.” Hey, it’s all good. What were you saying about cash bail? E. All of the above 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).

Answers: 1. E 2. B 3. E 4. A 5. C 6. 7. B 8. E 9. D 10. E

against him for being gay by passing him over for promotions 23 times, which strategy did county officials T employ related to losing a $20 million jury verdict? . ut a lying officer on the witness stand B. Go to trial knowing Chief Jon Belmar had admitted in a deposition to retribution against Wildhaber C. Accept a $850,000 settlement offer from Wildhaber D. Essentially argue that state law allows police to discriminate all they want against LGBTQ officers, so there E. Praise Belmar as “the right man for the job” after the verdict

NEWS

Ex-Dojo Pizza Owner to Be Sentenced Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

he former owner of Dojo Pizza took “sick joy and pleasure” from controlling the underage girls he sexually abused, federal prosecutors say as they make the case for locking him away forever. Loren Copp, the karate instructor and ex-pastor who ran the south city eatery out of a converted church, was convicted a year ago of eight federal felonies related to child pornography and using interstate facilities to coerce a minor into sexual activity. After a series of delays, he is scheduled to be sentenced on December 27. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s ffice have asked . . istrict Judge Audrey Fleissig to send him away for essentially a life sentence — 160 years in prison. “Copp’s actions have gone well beyond the possession of child pornography and exhibit a level of depravity that defies comprehension,” Assistant U.S. Attorney ennifer infield argues in court papers. Copp used to live in the old church in the Bevo Mill neighborhood with a handful of underage girls — the number shifting as some girls came and went. He operated the building as a community hub, running a school of questionable legitimacy for a while, teaching karate in a lowerlevel gym and hosting events in the de-commissioned sanctuary. He turned the church kitchen into a martial arts-themed pizzeria, where the girls waited on tables while dressed in karate uniforms. Copp portrayed the operation as a big-hearted nonprofit, taking in kids with nowhere else to go. But behind the campy facade, authorities say, he orchestrated a complex, multi-faceted campaign of abuse against multiple underage victims. Prosecutors say he groomed girls who came to stay with him when their mothers

Former Dojo Pizza owner Loren Copp is scheduled to be sentenced on December 27 in a child pornography case. | STEVE TRUESDELL went to jail or otherwise couldn’t care for them. He routinely raped two of his victims and also created fake online identities to further manipulate and abuse them. One of the fake identities, purportedly a thirteen-year-old girl named “Chrissy” from China, befriended his victims through social media and persuaded them to send nude photos and participate in sexualized acts. He also created a fake school resource officer, sending his victims emails that threatened them if they didn’t submit to sex acts with Copp, prosecutors say. Investigators later traced both accounts to an IP address assigned to the church. Often, Copp was just down the hall on a computer in his bedroom, messaging the young teens, investigators testified. ollowing a tip from a confidential source, police and building inspectors raided the church in 2015. The FBI followed up with a series of searches, carting away computers that would later reveal caches of child porn, including images of the girls who stayed with Copp at Dojo Pizza. Some of the pictures appeared to have come from a hidden camera in the living quarter’s shower. The case was the subject of a Riverfront Times cover story in December 2015. Copp was arrested in 2016 on

“Copp’s actions have gone well beyond the possession of child pornography and exhibit a level of depravity that defies comprehension.” federal charges and eventually represented himself at trial after dismissing his attorneys. The move allowed him to question his victims directly, and he did so at length. Prosecutors allege it was one more way for Copp to exert control over the girls, including two who had lived with him for years. Copp continues to claim that he is the victim of a complicated conspiracy in which child porn was implanted on his computers, possibly by police, to frame him. He has filed one handwritten motion after another, including requests this month for a new trial, claim-

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ing he has new evidence that proves he was not operating the Chrissy account during one of the times prosecutors say he was. Prosecutors, however, have pointed to photos that show not only backgrounds from the church, but also the house where Copp lived with the girls before his now ex-wife walked in on him in bed with one of the girls and contacted authorities. The girls corroborated the images, identifying themselves and describing the abuse during excruciating testimony in April 2018. He was scheduled to be sentenced earlier this month but persuaded the judge to grant another delay after he claimed the government was withholding his mail. At a hearing on December 1 , infield noted that Copp responded to all their motions, which were mailed to him at the jail. She said prosecutors didn’t request any hold on his mail and his latest motion was “just another attempt to harass the victims in this case.” Copp had opted for a bench trial, leaving the case in the hands of Fleissig rather than a jury. The judge ultimately believed the girls over Copp, finding him guilty of eight of the nine counts in the indictment. He remains in custody at St. Charles County jail. n

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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Dash camera footage shows the moments before police shot a 27-year-old. | SLMPD/YOUTUBE.COM

Video Released After Police Shoot Man Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

t. Louis police released footage from one of two recent officer-involved shootings. The footage, recorded by a patrol car’s dash camera at about 2:20 a.m. on December 12, appears to show a subject raise a handgun at police while walking quickly down an alley near the 4300 block of Arco Avenue in the Grove. The footage, which lacks audio, captured part of the shooting, though the angle of the in-car camera leaves much of the action out of frame. In a press conference after the shooting, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief John Hayden identified the sub ect only as a 2 -yearold man. In an email to the Riverfront Times, SLMPD spokeswoman Michelle Woodling said the department does not identify subjects unless they are deceased or the subject of a warrant. However, during the press conference, Hayden told reporters that police confronted the man because he matched the description of a suspect in an attempted robbery at a nearby White Castle. According to a report later that day from the St. Louis Post-Dis-

patch, Hayden said an officer had spotted the man running behind the alley, and, as the patrol car approached, “the man turned and pointed a weapon but did not fire at officers. The officer e ited his car and fired several shots, the chief said, striking the man in the right knee. The man was later transported to the hospital in “critical but stable condition.” (In an email on December 17, Woodling said the man has since been treated and released from the hospital. She later clarified that warrants have not been issued for this incident at this time.”) In the video, the man appears to raise his right hand to point what police say was a .22-caliber pistol at the officer inside the patrol car. Most of what happens next occurs out of the camera’s frame, and what is visible is largely obstructed by a bush. At the 33-second mark, the man appears to jump a fence and fall on the other side. Two officers then enter the frame and approach the man with weapons drawn. It’s not clear if the man was still pointing the handgun at officers when he was shot. Police later released a photo of a .22-caliber pistol recovered at the scene. o officers were hurt. Less than 24 hours after the shooting — which marked the thirteenth police shooting by an officer in 2019 t. ouis police shot and killed Cortez Bufford during a “pedestrian check,” bringing the number of fatal police shooting this year to eight. Bufford, 24, had previously sued multiple t. ouis officers in 201 after dash cam footage captured officers beating him following a traffic stop, leading to a 20,000 settlement. n

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The

Agnès Varda. | ©CINTAMARIS 2018

Late Great

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ats

e all missed a lot this year. Too much happened,

decade’s

worth of chaos cramming into twelve months. Among the scandals, battles and Congressional hearings, some of the

most interesting people — and internet cats — slipped away with too little time allotted to their deaths. That’s why the Riverfront Times has again teamed up with our sister papers in Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, San Antonio, Cincinnati and Tampa to remember a fascinating few who made our world a little more intriguing. Here you will read of a conspiracy-juicing rock club owner, the ac-

tivist educator who took on the establishment and won, a stereotypecrushing astrologer, an unfairly maligned ballplayer, the paint-bynumbers guy and St. Louis’ profoundly talented and gracious actress Linda Kennedy, who was better than any of us deserved. It is hard to say what 2020 will bring, but we’re sorry these provocateurs, mold-breakers and agitators won’t be joining us there.

—Doyle Murphy

Continued on pg 13

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St. Louis actress Linda Kennedy. | PROPHOTOSTL.COM

Linda Alton Randall Kennedy,

actress

weight for her, if you could carry it. And that voice! Kennedy could make it silken or raspy, scathing or thundering. She had an arsenal of laughs, from cackles to great belly laughs that seemed too boisterous for that body. In a monumental production of Romeo and Juliet, she danced the shimmy and swung as only the truly free could. Every character she created had that same force of life glow that illuminated her from within and made that shock of snowwhite hair a halo that drew eyes to her no matter where she was onstage. I knew her as a phenomenal talent, a genuine star who stayed near the ground where she could teach the next generation, but only met her offstage once, and only then in passing. I was both overwhelmed by her presence and amazed that she had the same eyes as the woman onstage. When Himes founded the Black Rep, he did so to give black performers a chance to play the great roles. In St. Louis in the 1970s they weren’t wanted in white companies. It was only through Himes’ vision that Linda Kennedy was able to practice her craft here, but it was her undeniable skill that saw her eventually break out to every major stage and company in St. Louis. What institutional racism had done she undid with grace, class and God-given and sharply honed talent. The St. Louis theater scene was vastly improved by her hard work over many years. Some rocks don’t break. Linda Kennedy is survived by her son, Terrell Randall, Sr., and two grandchildren. The Black Rep will hold a memorial tribute for her at Washington University on January 13, 2020.

— Paul Friswold

December 5, 1950 - August 16, 2019 In my mind, it’s impossible to think of Linda Kennedy without the next thought being the Black Rep, the company she worked with for so many years, so many brilliant performances. Company Founder and Artistic Director Ron Himes called her “the heart and soul of the Black Rep,” and even if you only knew her through her many and diverse roles, that much was obvious. She brought that heart and soul to every production, whether as actor, director, writer, choreographer or mentor. For St. Louis audiences, she was the rock-solid, sure thing; if you needed to be coerced into seeing a play you weren’t sure about, the phrase “Linda Kennedy is in it,” would do the trick. Kennedy had a gift for a character’s physicality. As Iyaoja in Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman she dominated Himes’ horseman with the sudden cocking of her foot. Himes towered over her, and yet Kennedy’s smaller frame, draped in sumptuous colors, caught the Grandel Theatre audience’s breath in that one movement. She was a defiant outh frican woman carrying all she owned on her back with her brutal man Boesman death-marching her to a new life, that small frame made smaller by her burden, the weight of Boesman’s hand. When she pleaded for a rest with a grating, hopeful “Here?,” you ached to take that

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

Agnès Varda,

filmmaker and artist May 30, 1928 - March 29, 2019

She’s sometimes called the mother — or grandmother — of the French New Wave of cinema, but Agnès Varda was more of an Auntie Mame type: whimsical, generous, but nobody’s doormat or den mom. Her work was marked by a formal brilliance that influenced her fellow ouvelle ague filmmakers, but her fierce humanism a deep concern for women and workers — buoyed her above the style-obsessed pack. Her recent collaboration with French muralist JR, Faces Places, gained her more attention in 2018 than she’d seen since the ’80s. With her two-toned bowl cut, sneakers and loose tracksuits and pajamas — although, n.b., they were by Gucci — Varda was a welcome haimish presence on the awards season’s red carpets, looking like a comfy little kitchen witch among the gazelle-like starlets. he inhabited the film world in the same way — showing up when and where and exactly how she chose, following no rules but her own. Rather than stick with the

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narrative films that won her acclaim Cléo From 5 to 7; One Sings the Other Doesn’t) she followed her muse to documentaries Mur Murs; Jacquot de Nantes). She made lightly dramatized biopics of her loved ones’ lives, cast family members as actors and inserted herself into her documentaries; she made dramas, comedies, a sci-fi parable and a feminist musical. More rule breaking: After losing patience with the traditional dance of studio backing, she founded her own production company to handle her films and those of her husband, acques my but she ran the office located across the street from her home like a shop, often hand-selling DVDs to visitors or allowing them to watch her editing. “I love being able to have the direct contact with people who are consumers. It’s like a peasant, you know, who grows tomatoes and you can come and buy the tomatoes at the farm,” she bubbled to Sight + Sound magazine in 2011. Her final film, Varda by Agnès, was released posthumously in November. It’s a self-directed retrospective of her 60-year career, a knowing and playful wink to an oeuvre preoccupied always with human behavior in the face of mortality. — Jessica Young

Russ Gibb,

rock & roll promoter June 15, 1931 - April 30, 2019

If Iggy Pop is the Godfather of Punk, then Russ Gibb is its uncle. After working as a Detroit-area schoolteacher, radio DJ and promoter, “Uncle Russ,” as he was known, became a major booster of Motor City rock & roll when he founded the Grande Ballroom in 1966, inspired by a visit to San Francisco’s Fillmore. The venue became known for booking local acts like the Stooges, Alice Cooper, the Amboy Dukes and the MC5, who served as the venue’s house band and recorded its debut Kick Out the Jams live there. That’s all in addition to booking national acts like Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Cream and the Who, among others, many of whom played some of their first U.S. shows at the venue. Gibb was involved in other milestones in rock history as well. In 1969, while working as a part-time DJ on WKNR-FM, Gibb took a call from a listener who claimed the Beatles’ Paul McCartney died and was replaced with a lookalike and that there were clues in the band’s lyrics and album artwork. The conspiracy theory soon went viral. erhaps it would come as no surprise that much later in life, Gibb would promote Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s birth certificate on his blog. Gibb closed the venue in 1972. But in the 1980s, he was back in the music business, providing financial backing for the Graystone Hall, a Detroit punk venue. All the

while, Gibb worked as a history and media teacher at Dearborn High School; he died in April at 87 of natural causes. The Grande, however, long abandoned and now sporting an MC5 mural, could soon see a new life: It’s now owned by Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who said they might lease it out for events — including possible music concerts. —Lee DeVito

John Witherspo on,

actor and comedian

January 27, 1942 - October 29, 2019 “John Witherspoon is black history,” Twitter’s Rembert Browne tweeted after the comic actor died of a heart attack at his Los Angeles home in October at age 77. It was a fair assessment itherspoon’s filmography spanned decades, including appearances on The Richard Pryor Show, the Friday franchise, Martin, The Fresh Prince of BelAir, The Wayans Bros. and The Boondocks, as well as Jay-Z and Goodie Mob music videos, among others. Born in Detroit to a family with eleven siblings, Witherspoon got his start taking theater classes in the Motor City in the early ’70s. He got into stand-up at the behest of his acting instructor, who thought he’d be funny in a holiday comedy show. Witherspoon soon relocated to Los Angeles, opening for the legendary Richard Pryor at the Comedy Store. Later, Pryor cast him as part of his short-lived NBC variety show in 1977 before it was canceled for being too risqué. For many, though, Witherspoon will always just be “Pops” — the amusingly cantankerous father to Ice Cube’s Craig Jones in the 1995 stoner comedy Friday. Witherspoon would reprise the role in 2000’s Next Friday and 2002’s Friday After Next and was cast in a similar role as “Granddad” in the comic strip-turned-Adult Swim cartoon The Boondocks, which debuted in 2005. After years of development hell, a fourth Friday film was finally given the green light in 201 but was only in pre-production at the time of Witherspoon’s death. He was also set to appear in a recently announced Boondocks reboot, though that project had not begun production yet either. In an odd way, Witherspoon got to enjoy a final goodbye. n 2012, when a false report of his death went viral, Witherspoon reacted to the news just as Pops might. “What the hell y’all talkin ’bout on here?!?!?” he tweeted. “I ain’t dead, I’m in Ft. Lauderdale.”

—Lee DeVito

Nancy Novak,

owner of Novak’s Bar

November, 7 1955 - November 29, 2019 The end was always near for Nancy Novak.

Nancy Novak, center, threw herself a farewell party at Just Johns, where friends were able to show their love. | THEO WELLING or years, the specter of impending financial, legal and personal disaster — realized just often enough to lend a certain plausibility — was part of the drama and intrigue of the maverick of the St. Louis bar scene. She ran Novak’s Bar, a legendary lesbian spot that managed to include anyone who felt like a wild night. And if countless waves of rumors were to be believed, collapse was always right around the corner: Checks were bouncing, Nancy was partying too hard, lawyers were circling. The fact that it existed at all could seem revelatory, especially to the legions who slipped out of small towns hours away to drink and dance in the first place they felt comfortable to be themselves. All that “Going Out of Business Sale!” energy undoubtedly contributed to the in-the-moment vibe of long afternoons that stretched into 3 a.m. Nancy swirled in the center of the barely controlled chaos, performing acts of generosity that earned fierce loyalty in some while feuding with others. Accused of deceit and petty attacks by rival bars, she reacted with the righteous ba ement of a wounded innocent. And still Novak’s spun on for more than seventeen years. If doomsday really was on the horizon, no one wanted to miss that last party. n 201 , ovak’s hosted a final blowout as Nancy “retired,” only to reopen after the weekend payday. And when it closed for good shortly after, there were whispers that she would bring it back to life one day. The RFT’s sister magazine Out in STL profiled her in September, and she said she wanted to reopen the bar and leave it for everyone. She was dying of cancer then and had returned to St. Louis from California, appearing at a reunion at Just Johns. It was something of a living wake. Even then, critics quietly wondered if it was a bluff, that she was setting us up for one more return. If anyone could have pulled it off, it was Nancy. —Doyle Murphy

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Bernice Sandler,

catalyst of Title IX

March 3, 1928 - January 5, 2019 In 1969, Bernice Sandler was a bright young instructor at the University of Maryland, hoping to land a full-time spot on the faculty. She knew she was a good teacher, and there were seven open positions. So when she was barely considered, she asked a male faculty member if he had any insight. He conceded she was easily qualified, but let’s be honest, you come on too strong for a woman.” Sandler, who died in January at age 90, probably repeated that quote thousands of times in interviews and speeches in the five decades that followed. “Sometimes people ask me what inspired me to get involved in women’s issues,” Sandler said in 2012 after receiving a human rights award. “I have to tell you, I wasn’t inspired at all. I was mad.” She began researching sex discrimination and found an executive order barring organizations that received federal money from discriminating based on race, religion, national origin or gender. Armed with that information, andler filed complaints against 250 universities, battling the system that routinely discriminated against female teachers and students. She partnered with crusading Congresswoman Edith Green to pass Title IX. The 37-word bill, signed in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, has since become a versatile and powerful tool for fighting se discrimination. ost famously, it has been applied to collegiate sports, guaranteeing female athletes opportunities unheard of before. Sandler spent the rest of her life advocatContinued on pg 16

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community. The close-knit family was challenged in 2015 when Erna was diagnosed with melanoma. But she battled through the surgery and recovery. The opening of Lemmons seemed the beginning of a new era for the young mother. She handled the marketing while her brother managed the front of house and her sister served as the chef. And then the cancer returned. Erna fought again, but it had spread to her vital organs. The disease finally overtook her this spring. She was 36. Hundreds attended her funeral. Refugees who first met a ten-year-old rna in the warmth of her family’s home had seen her grow up and become a success. And they were there to mourn the end.

THE LATE GREATS Continued from pg 15

ing for equal rights. She served as chair of the National Advisory Council on Women’s Educational Programs under presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and has been cited as a hero by some of this country’s top athletes. But she never forgot that line about coming on “too strong for a woman.” It turns out, she was too strong to be stopped. — Doyle Murphy

Scott Walker,

— Doyle Murphy

musician

Lil Bub,

January 9, 1943 - March 22, 2019 How could one craft an appropriate epigraph to sum up the singular musical life of Scott Walker? Can you imagine Frank Sinatra in his later years collaborating with a doom metal band? Or Justin Timberlake chucking away stardom for cigarettes, sunglasses, Bertolt Brecht and slabs of raw meat as percussion instruments? Walker did it his way and then some. Fresh from a stint as a teenage session musician in . ., alker n e oel cott ngel became one-third of the Walker Brothers in the mid-1960s; they became immediate sensations in the U.K., mixing beat-combo moves with symphonic grandeur, yielding hits like “Make It Easy on Yourself” and the immortal “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” Soon enough, Walker found that the screaming fans and the pop life weren’t for him, at one point apocryphally retreating to a monastery to get his head together before being ejected by the monks as fans besieged the gates. Walker struck out on his own and from 1967-1969 crafted four of the most exquisite and heartbreaking albums of all time, the eponymous Scotts 1 through 4. This was Walker at his most iconic: sunglasses, shag haircut and a soaring, unbelievably gorgeous voice offering no hope whatsoever. Latterly hailed as the gospel by artists from David Bowie to Thom Yorke, these albums had the net effect of destroying his career, eventually forcing him back into the arms of the Walker Brothers for a reunion in 1975, but Scott couldn’t even do a cynical cash-grab right, penning the sinister “Nite Flights” and “The Electrician,” two gleaming hits of dystopian electro-pop that still sound state-of-the-art, pointing the way to possible sonic futures even now. From there, Walker began his gradual disappearing act, retreating to a life based around the simple pleasures of going to the pub and watching regulars play darts, bicycling and seeing movies. He’d emerge every few years with ever-more ambitious and mind-bending solo work — Climate of Hunter, Tilt and The Drift — but by the time Walk-

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

Erna Grbic was a hero in the Bosnian community. | FACEBOOK

internet celebrity

April 2011 - December 1, 2019 er was given the hagiography treatment in the 2006 documentary 30 Century Man, it was clear he wasn’t going to give fans a triumphant return to the stage. Instead of the nostalgia circuit, he gave them strange and beautiful work like the instrumental piece for dance And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?, collaborations with unn and Bat for ashes, a final solo album, Bish Bosch and two film scores for Brady Corbet. Walker passed quietly this year due to complications from cancer, enigma fully intact. —Matthew Moyer

Erna Grbic,

restaurateur

October 17, 1982 - February 25, 2019 In the summer of 2017, Erna Grbic was optimistic. She and her two younger siblings, Ermin and Senada, had just opened their restaurant Lemmons by Grbic, little more than a mile from the popular Bosnian eatery their parents opened two decades before. The trio had given the traditional cuisine a twist, blending the dishes their mother cooked with their American favorites. “It’s been going over quite well,” Erna told the RFT that summer. “I think it’s more people don’t know what to expect.” Erna had grown up helping her parents as they fed and welcomed the Bosnian refugees who in the 1990s had fled genocide in their home country and landed in St. Louis. Patrick McCarthy, associate dean of libraries at Saint Louis University and longtime ally of the Bosnian newcomers, later wrote in the RFT that the e perience led first to the opening of Grbics but also influenced Erna and the other Grbic children, who grew up with a dedication to serving their

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It’s been a bad year for viral cats. Not only did Grumpy Cat, perhaps the most commercial of all the internet animal celebs, die in ay, but ust as we finished putting this article together, the inimitable Lil Bub passed away in her sleep, victim of a persistent bone infection. Lil Bub’s “dude,” Mike Bridavsky, found her in an Indiana barn in 2011, the runt of a litter expected to die quickly due to her dwarfism and other genetic anomalies. Enchanted by her bulging eyes and stubby legs, Bridavsky took in the toothless, droopy-tongued “permakitten” and gave her a life beyond feline imagining, full of hand-fed fishy yogurt and speciali ed medical attention — and she returned his attentive care tenfold in grit, spunkiness and adorable cheeps, snorks and chirrs. Truly, Bub seemed to speak a language all her own, related to but not the same as regular housecats’ meows.) Not only did Bridavsky’s many Bub-centric bits of merch — socks, T-shirts, plush toys, fridge magnets — prove catnip to her internet fans, the monies raised were donated to various animal shelters and rescues for special-needs cats. And not only did Bub’s oddball mug feature on consumer goods, she starred in a Vice documentary Lil Bub & Friendz), hosted fourteen episodes of a talk show Lil Bub’s Big Show, with guests including Michelle Obama and Steve lbini , recorded her own album Science and Magic, with a cover illustration by Orlando artist Johannah O’Donnell) and guested on Run the Jewels’ feline remix album, Meow the Jewels. Bridavsky always claimed Lil Bub was a “magical space being,” and whether she came from outer space or not, she certainly seems to be magic — she raised $700,000 for animal charities in her short life, and brought immeasurable joy to millions. Good job, Bub. —Jessica Young

Andre Williams at the 2010 Chicago Blues Festival. | BRYAN THOMPSON/FLICKR

Andre Williams,

R&B singer

November 1, 1936 - March 17, 2019 Not many people get a big break in the music business. Andre Williams got two. Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Zephire “Andre illiams first hit it big as an B singer when he moved to Detroit in the early 1950s and won an amateur night competition. He soon signed to Fortune Records, becoming lead vocalist in the Five Dollars, then rechristened Andre Williams and the on uans. prolific writer, he also scored solo hits, including “Jail Bait,” “The Greasy Chicken” and “Bacon Fat,” which cracked the top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart. He also wrote Five Du-Tones’ “Shake a Tail Feather,” later performed by Ike & Tina Turner and much later, featured in The Blues Brothers and Hairspray), and even served a brief stint as a songwriter for Motown, co-writing tevie onder’s first song, “Thank You for Loving Me.” But by the 1980s, Williams hit rock bottom: Addiction found him homeless in Chicago. In the 1990s, however, Williams was rediscovered by the rock & roll revival scene. That led

to records like Greasy, released jointly on indie labels Norton and St. George Records in 1996, and Silky, released on In the Red in 1998. More indie rock collaborations followed, with Williams recording tracks with Jack White, Mick Collins of the Dirtbombs, and the country band the Sadies. His proto-hip-hop singtalking style, penchant for profane lyrics, and sartorial preference for flashy suits and matching hats earned him the nickname by some of “the godfather of rap.” Williams continued to struggle with addiction, but he also continued to make music, releasing I Wanna Go Back to Detroit City in 2016. He died in Chicago at age 82 from cancer, but he never stopped: His manager, Kenn Goodman, told Billboard a week before his death that the singer “was committed to trying to sing and record again.” —Lee DeVito

Dan Robbins,

paint-by-numbers inventor May 26, 1925 - April 1, 2019

Dan Robbins was a little-known commercial artist at a Michigan paint company in

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the late 1940s when his boss asked him for an idea to help sell paint sets to adults. Robbins eventually settled on a system that allowed even the most unskilled, inexperienced customer to create paintings that looked professional, if not exactly imbued with an artist’s originality. His paint-bynumbers kits were a bona fide sensation by the early 1950s. The early offerings were faint line drawings, created by Robbins himself, intricately divided into sections that corresponded to pre-mixed paint colors. Soon, an army of artists, working under the Craft Master brand for Detroit-based Palmer Paint Co., were churning out kits based on Robbins’ model. Using the slogan “Every man a Rembrandt,” 20 million kits were sold in 1955. Artists and critics were appalled that painting had been turned into a step-bystep instruction guide and mass-marketed, but Robbins didn’t seem to mind. “I remembered hearing that Leonardo used numbered background patterns for his students and apprentices, and I decided to try something like that,” he once told the Associated Press. The paint-by-numbers craze crashed within a decade, and Robbins’ boss sold the business. But he made a mark, penetrating an art world that derided his efforts. Andy Warhol riffed on the model, and even the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History displayed an exhibition of paint-by-numbers pieces in 2001 and 2002. Robbins died at 93 knowing he had influenced legions of people who might have never picked up a brush if not for him. “We like to think dad was one fo the mostexhibited artists in the world,” his son Larry Robbins told AP. “He enjoyed hearing from everyday people. He had a whole box of fan letters.” — Doyle Murphy

Ken Nordine,

performance artist

April 13, 1920 - February 16, 2019 You may not know Ken Nordine’s name, but chances are you’ve heard his voice. Over the course of a 60-plus-year career, Nordine put the “art” into the concept of a voice-over artist. His silky baritone graced the airwaves of Chicago radio stations, narrating “The World’s Great Novels” and other programs. He was also the voice behind several educational films, so if your teacher ever used a woefully out-of-date filmstrip in class, you might recognize his timbre. His most enduring creations, though, were his Word Jazz albums, on which, over backing tracks of cool jazz, Nordine tells stories or acts out scenarios with a particular focus on meter and sound. Nordine’s success with the Word Jazz series earned him a weekly program of the Continued on pg 18

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THE LATE GREATS Continued from pg 17

same name on flagship station B in Chicago, and the show ended up running for more than 40 years. His 1967 Colors album, in which Nordine expounds upon the personalities of various hues, remains a favorite of those interested in offbeat curiosities from yesteryear. t grew out of his radio commercials for the Fuller Paint Company.) Lines from his recordings have been sampled in songs by Aesop Rock, Pizzicato Five and the Orb, and in 2007, David Bowie himself asked Nordine to perform at the High Line Festival in New York. Nordine died at the age of 98, preceded three years earlier by Beryl Vaughn, his wife of 71 years. —Thaddeus McCollum

Bill Buckner,

big leaguer

December 14, 1949 - May 27, 2019 When he hung up his cleats after a playing career that stretched across an incredible four decades, one of only 29 ballplayers to do so in baseball’s entire history, Bill Buckner laid claim to an incredible list of achievements. And those numbers and stats look even more impressive now, 29 years after his retirement. He ranks among the top 200 men to ever play the game in hits 2, 1 , ranking th , B s 1,20 , ranking 1 0th and e tra-base hits 21, ranking 1 th . He was an All Star, a batting champion and an evangelist for the game long after he stepped off the field, until his death this year from Lewy body dementia at the age of 69. After 22 seasons, including stints with the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, Angels and Royals, Buckner moved to Boise, Idaho, with his wife and three children, where he stayed involved with the game, joining the Boise State baseball team as a hitting instructor in 2012. For all his gaudy stats and his contributions that helped the Red Sox make the 1986 World Series, his legacy was much more. As Gary Van Tol, who was the Boise State coach while Buckner was with the team, said, “He taught me humility, dignity, grace and patience.” And yet, he’s remembered in popular culture for one error, an infamous dropped ball during the 1986 World Series when he was at first base for the Red Sox. The Red Sox lost the series and Boston fans, rarely noted for the virtue of forgiveness, focused their ire on Buckner, raining taunts, boos and even death threats on him. The heckling was picked up by opposing teams and their fans, and

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

Norma Miller performs at Masters of Lindy Hop and Tap at the Oddfellows Temple’s Century Ballroom in Seattle, Washington. | JOE MABEL/CENTURY BALLROOM followed him for years. Seventy-eight players, many of whom played far fewer games than Buckner during his career, have made more errors at first base than the legendary player. None of them were forced to move to Idaho to spare themselves and their family the taunts and hatred of sports fans and reporters who care far more about the results of games than the humanity of the players who play them.

—Vince Grzegorek

Sahar Khodayari,

soccer activist

and arrested by security guards for “openly committing a sinful act.” After being released on bail, Khodayari was told that she was looking at a sixmonth jail sentence. In protest, she left the courthouse, poured gasoline on herself and lit herself on fire. She died in hospital a week later. Since her death, FIFA, the international governing body of football, informed Iran that women must be allowed to attend scheduled World Cup qualifying matches taking place in Iran. On Oct. 11, the Iranian national team beat Cambodia 14-0, cheered on by 3,500 women sitting in a segregated section of the stadium.

—Thaddeus McCollum

Unknown, 1990 - September 9, 2019 Football — not the American kind — is the world’s sport, in part because of its low barriers to entry. You don’t need any expensive equipment to start a soccer game, just a ball. But in Iran, half the population is barred from entering sports stadiums. Women have not been allowed to watch their favorite teams in person since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This has led some women to disguise themselves as men in order to attend games, even though being caught likely means imprisonment and possible torture. One woman, 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari, decided to take the risk to see a match at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium between Esteghlal FC — her favorite team — and Al-Ain FC. She dressed as a man but didn’t make it to her seat before being noticed

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Norma Miller,

Queen of Swing

December 2, 1919—May 5, 2019 People were done with the waltz and tired of the tango as the ’20s came to a close. The craze that came next was swing, a vivacious, freewheeling dance born in Harlem. wing spread across dance floors the world over with the help of the dance group Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, named for the Lindy Hop, an especially athletic member of the swing dance family. It was a specialty of Norma Miller, a dancer who earned her spot in a group that counted Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. among its members and whose skill and

renown earned her the moniker “Queen of Swing.” Miller was a woman of many specialties. A Harlem native, she worked as a choreographer, actor, author and a Redd Foxxbacked comedian. But being a black girl in early 20th-century America was a circumstance with limited paths toward success. Her mother cleaned houses, and Miller likely faced a similar life of hard labor, but she was clearly an anointed talent. By 5, Miller was wowing locals at talent shows. She and her preternatural prance were discovered outside the famous Savoy Ballroom and by 14, she was in Paris performing with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Through the ’30s and ’40s, the group set the standard for swing on international tours and in movies like the 1941 major motion picture Hellzapoppin’. Miller, who passed away this year of congestive heart failure at 99 in her Fort Myers home, was not just the youngest member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers but also the last surviving member. Into her 90s, she was teaching swing courses, speaking at engagements, choreographing dances and composing music. In the documentary about her, Queen of Swing, Miller summed up the secret to her long and active life: “Keep on swingin’.”

—Solomon Gustavo

Walter Mercado,

astrologer

March 9, 1932 - November 2, 2019 Walter Mercado was much more than a TV astrologer born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. By the time he died at age 87 on Nov. 2, he had created a cultural legacy far beyond the televised predictions viewed by millions of abuelitas across Latin America; Mercado had become an icon and inspiration for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people living in Latinx society. “This is a culture that’s been dominated by machismo and homophobia for a very long time, film producer le umero told Fox News upon his passing. “He was really brave.” It didn’t take clairvoyance to know Mercado’s on-screen persona, a stylistic cross between Carolina Herrerra and Liberace, was an act of courage. He owned more than 2,000 capes and pointed to viewers through the camera lens with fingers adorned in colorful rings. He never publicly discussed his se uality, but he definitely let audiences know which team he played for. In his decades of appearances on Telemundo Puerto Rico, Mercado became a common point of relation between superstitious oldsters and open-minded youth — perhaps even more so after he moved to Florida to broadcast on Univision. In college, he had studied pharmacology, psy-

chology and pedagogy, before becoming a well-known ballet dancer and theater star, and later appearing in telenovelas. His fans will perhaps remember him most by his catchphrase, somehow even more meaningful after his death: “Pero sobre todo, mucho, mucho, mucho amor bove all, much, much, much love .

—Dave Plotkin

Barbara Hillary,

adventurer

June 12, 1931 - November 3, 2019 Barbara Hillary was not an explorer. Because she was the first black woman to reach the orth ole, and the first to summit the South Pole, she is often described as one, placing her in the company of intrepid trekkers like Robert Peary and Matthew Henson. he accomplished those firsts relatively recently, reaching the North Pole in 2007 and the South in 2011, a century after men first set foot on either pole. Hillary was something more: a cultural adventurer, charting paths untrodden by black women like her but also paths that few dare traverse. The Harlem native, born in 1931, made her pole e peditions in her 0s orth, age 75; South, 79). She always wanted to travel and, after retiring after more than 50 years as a nurse, began making plans to visit non-touristy locations. How many black women before her, how many people in general, have seen Paris? Now, how many have been to the very tippy-top and very bottom of the globe? She went to Manitoba to photograph polar bears and went dog-sledding in Quebec, and then she learned no black woman had been to either pole before and decided to be the one. Those treks are arduous, with stretches of intense hiking and skiing requiring immense stamina against harsh weather conditions that would hamper an athlete of any age. She hired a trainer and started eating more vegetables. It was the kind of challenge that appealed to Hillary, who habitually stared down towering obstacles throughout her life. She beat breast cancer in her 20s and lung cancer at 67. In Queens, New York, she founded and was the editor-in-chief of The Peninsula Magazine, a nonprofit multi-racial publication that was the first of its kind in the area. She said she avoided stress and maintained happiness and a youthful, pole-summiting spirit, by choosing to stay unmarried. In 2017, she spoke to at the commencement of the New School, her alma mater, and advised the grads, “At every phase in your life, look at your options. Please, do not select boring ones.” That was Hillary’s style. She created her own desires, destinations that she

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reached by following a compass of her own making. —Solomon Gustavo

Donald “Nick” Clifford,

Mount Rushmore carver July 5, 1921 - November 23, 2019

We build things, large and small, temporary and permanent, and then years later we marvel at them. The names attached, through the names of these things themselves — built by, named for or dedicated to — are monumental, notable ones. But we also marvel, perhaps without knowing or fully recognizing, at the people who built these things, the men and women who toiled in ways big and small, through ideas or labor, to make them reality. So for all the names associated with Mount Rushmore — the four presidents, to start with; followed by Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum, the father-son sculpture and artist team who designed the monument; followed still by Doane Robinson, the South akota state historian who first con ured up the idea of a sweeping mountainside sculpture to drive tourist traffic to a neglected part of the state — let us also immortalize Nick Clifford, who died this year at the age of 98. Clifford was the last living worker who helped build Mount Rushmore, a job he fell into after being recruited by the Borglums to South Dakota to play for a baseball team they’d put together. Work began in 1927 and lasted fourteen years, and when Clifford turned seventeen in 1938 and could qualify to work the site, he jumped at the chance to join the other 400 men. Half a century later, Clifford was unendingly proud of his contribution and was often present at the Mount Rushmore gift shop to sign copies of his book about the work, which paid tribute to the other workers who created the monument. Recognition for them was hard to come by prior to Rushmore’s 50th anniversary, but with the celebration came interviews and a chance for Clifford to expand on his and their histories, while paying respect to its designers. “None of us were sculptors,” Clifford, who was also a World War II veteran, said in one interview. “We had only one sculptor — that was Mr. Gutzon Borglum.” A few years before his death, Clifford said: “I feel like Mount Rushmore was the greatest thing with which I was ever involved. It tells a story that will never go away — the story of how America was made and the men who helped make it what it is today.” Clifford was one of them, and let us remember his story too. —Vince Grzegorek

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD business and ice skating, one of the more exhausting physical activities. ven better, ew ear’s ve is ushered in at p.m. only in iener Plaza, with a huge countdown and fireworks when the new year starts. Then you can ferry your little skaters home and either turn in yourself or wait ’til midnight. dmission is free, and skate rental is to 12.

FRIDAY 12/27 Ray of Light Director/script doctor Nicholas Ray was misunderstood by his American contemporary audience and beloved by the French New Wave during his initial years as a filmmaker. hile he eventually was acclaimed for his starmaking collaboration with ames Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, his entire body of work reveals a thoughtful, revolutionary director who understood motion, space and the marginalized underdog better than anyone. That those three key elements apply to most of America’s mythology of itself is no coincidence. The Other St. Nick, a si -film celebration of Nicholas Ray’s masterful work in film, is presented by the Webster Film Series from riday, ecember 2 , to Thursday, anuary . irst up is ay’s first film as sole director, They Live by Night. t’s a romantic epressionera couple-on-the-run thriller starring Farley Granger, Howard Da ilva and ay C. lippen as a trio of convicts who break out of ail. They plan a robbery to get some quick cash, but it goes wrong and an inured Bowie Granger is left in the care of eechie Cathy ’ onnell . ove blossoms, Bowie swears off crime and the two flee in order to start over somewhere else but find they can’t outrace the past. They Live by Night screens at 7 p.m. riday, ecember 2 , at ebster University’s Moore Auditorium 0 ast ockwood venue www.webster.edu film-series , and tickets are to . In a Lonely Place and On Dangerous Ground are shown on Saturday and Sunday ecember 2 and 29 .

SATURDAY 12/28 Tale as Old as Time The thing about isney fanatics is that it’s impossible for them to get tired of their favorites. Hundreds of viewings equals hundreds of hours spent with your favorite characters and songs. f you’re a

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Pop Goes the Year

Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell in They Live by Night. | COURTESY OF WEBSTER FILM SERIES Beauty and the Beast family, trade in that T screen for the big screen. The t. ouis ymphony presents Beauty and the Beast in Concert a post-Christmas screening of the 1992 film with the symphony performing the soundtrack live. Conductor orman Huynh leads the symphony through that glorious Academy Award-winning score by lan enken and Howard shman. magine how buoyant Be ur Guest will sound with the mighty pushing it along. Beauty and the Beast starts at p.m. riday and 2 and p.m. aturday ecember 2 and 2 at owell Hall 1 orth Grand Boulevard www.slso.org . Tickets are to 1. 0.

game through ecember, racking up almost identical records. t’s no wonder, really ets star winger atrik aine keeps piling up points, while center ark cheifele looks capable of beating his personal best record of goals, which he set last year. The Blues are no slouches either, even with ladimir Tarasenko still recovering from a left shoulder in ury. The two teams meet at 2 p.m. unday at the nterprise Center 1 01 Clark venue www.stlblues.com , and tickets are 9 to 2 .

SUNDAY 12/29 The Blue Jets

ome kids want to stay up to ring in the new year, even if it kills them or their parents . ave yourself the headache and take them to ew ear’s ve at Winterfest. The ice rink in iener la a 00 Chestnut treet www.archpark.org winterfest hosts a family-friendly celebration that starts at p.m. Tuesday, ecember 1. There will be costumed characters, the Sugarfire inter Caf will be open for

The St. Louis Blues and the Winnipeg Jets play a home-and-home series this weekend, with Game 1 in Winnipeg on Friday and Game 2 here in t. ouis on unday, ecember 29. The conference rivals are matching each other game-by-

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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TUESDAY 12/31 An Early Night

Are you worried about the years creeping by and dread celebrating the arrival of 2020 llay those fears at Ballpark illage 01 Clark venue www.stlballparkvillage.com with the Pop 2000 Tour New Year’s Eve party. nside, it’s 2000 again and boy bands rule the charts. Chris irkpatrick of C is your host, -Town, ’s Brad ischetti and yan Cabrera reel in the years with musical performances as six different venues inside Ballpark illage welcome revelers. There are a variety of food and drink packages to choose from, and a Champagne toast, confetti and a ball drop will mark the arrival of 2020. The party starts at p.m. Tuesday, ecember 1, tickets are 110 to 1 0 for individuals, and you must be 21 or older to get in the building.

A Roman Feast ola an lla is throwing another ew ear’s ve bash, and this time she’s going old school. The Bacchanal Carnivale draws inspiration from the booze-andhedonism-fueled parties of Ancient Rome, which were meant to honor the gods even as they created a night you’d never remember. Ba uka oe, ee e ouee , a i Glamour, the Bon Bons and a whole bunch of an lla’s burlesque bosom buddies will perform a show of mythological proportions. Grab a costume and oin them from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday, ecember 1, at the Casa oma Ballroom owa venue www.eventbrite.com . There will be live music by The pectaculaire rchestra and lena, a midnight buffet and more surprises along the way. Tickets are to 0.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 26-JANUARY 8

FRIDAY 01/03 Joan Crawford Goes West The Other St. Nick series celebrating the work of director icholas ay continues this weekend with his cult western, Johnny Guitar. oan Crawford stars as ienna, a strong-willed woman who runs a saloon on the outskirts of town. The townies want her gone, especially the equally strong-willed mma ercedes cCambridge . hen the stage coach is robbed, the people pin the blame on the outlaws who hang around ienna’s saloon and ride to drive her off. The timely arrival of mysterious stranger ohnny Guitar is the only thing that saves ienna and her business, but the problems aren’t over. The colors are vibrant to the point of garish, several of the locations are evocative and the plot is a bit of an afterthought. Crawford is a terror throughout, and the whole film has an otherworldly beauty. Johnny Guitar is shown at p.m. riday, anuary , at ebster niversity’s oore uditorium 0 ast ockwood venue www.webster.edu filmseries . Tickets are to .

admission is free, but you’ll need money for the film tickets and some of the TB events.

SUNDAY 01/05 New Year, New Start The new season of Doctor Who is about to begin, and if you’re a fan or want to start and are looking for a way in to the long running show , the season premiere is broadcast to movie theaters nationwide at 1 p.m. unday, anuary . This new series is set to reveal more of the stillnew octor ho’s odie hittaker multiple hearts as she continues her travels through time and space with companions Tosin Cole, andip Gill and Bradley alsh. This special launch includes a sneak peek at the next episode, as well as live with the cast transmitted live from ew ork , which is pretty much only for the hardcore hovians. ou can watch it locally at the Marcus Ronnies Cine 20 outh indbergh Boulevard www.fathomevents. com . Tickets are 1 . .

MONDAY 01/06 The End of an Era Oedipus Sings! Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is currently being shown at the t. ouis cience Center’s mnima Theatre 0 0 akland venue www.slsc.org , and if you want to make the most of it, buy tickets for the 10 p.m. show on riday, anuary . First Friday: Star Wars marks the end of the story-cycle started way back in the ’ 0s with a night devoted to the greatest space opera of them all. The 01st egion of stormtroopers will be present to keep pretend order and pose for pictures, and r. atrick ohnson author of The Physics of Star Wars will discuss how physics works in the tar ars universe weirdly as opposed to here in this universe. More events will be announced shortly, so keep checking the cience Center website. irst riday takes place from to 10 p.m. and

ew ine Theatre artistic director Scott Miller has a strange sort of luck when it comes to finding scripts. ast year he found the long-lost Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Zombies of Penzance, and he’s ust recently been given what may be the only full book and score for the same duo’s Bloody King Oedipus (or, Pardon Me, Mum!), which was ferreted out by a college student combing the duo’s papers. Gilbert and ullivan adapted the work from the ancient Greek tragedy by ophocles, upon which tale they grafted a suitably bouncy score. ew ine Theatre presents a public reading of the script with the songs at p.m. onday, anuary , at the arcelle Theater 10 amuel hepard rive www.newlinetheatre.com . dmission is free. n

New Year’s Eve Afrosexycool NYE 2020: Ring in a new decade with the music, fashion, style and vibe of St. Louis’s afro-cultural renaissance. DJ sets by Blvck Spvde, Makeda Kravits, DJ Nico Marie and James Biko. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.1 a.m., $20-$125, www.eventbrite. com/e/afrosexycool-nye-2020-tickets-80166342689. Sophie’s Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, 3224 Locust St. second floor of .Zack, St. Louis, 314775-9551. Cirque du So Long 2019: Roar into 2020 with a cavalcade of creatures and performances ringmastered by Mimi Le Uke. DJ SheBeats sets the tone, while Amazing Amanda and Zi the Mentalist will astound you with their magic. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., $10-$100, www.themonoclestl.com/the-emerald-room/2019/12/31/cirque-du-solong-2019. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-932-7003. CWE NYE 2020 Barhop: Celebrate NYE at the Gamlin Restaurant Group’s bottomless cup bar hop. Enjoy signature drinks at Sub Zero, Gamlin Whiskey House and 1764 Public House in your souvenir cup, plus selfie booths and midnight Champagne toast at all three locations. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., $80, 1764pub.com/2019/12/12/ cwe-nye-2020-barhop/. Sub Zero Vodka Bar, 308 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314-367-1200. New Year’s Eve at 1915 Park Ave: Ring in 2020 at POP and Bailey’s Chocolate Bar. Tickets include access to exclusive bar program (beer, wine, bubbles, cocktails), as well as curated appetizers. Sommelier will be on site to talk about rare and unique wines, plus a Champagne toast at midnight. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., $50-$120, www. eventbrite.com/e/new-years-eve-at1915-park-ave-tickets-85140863615?.

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Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, 1915 Park Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-8100. New Year’s Eve Decade Party: Playing all your favorite hits from the past decade, plus drink specials and a Champagne toast & balloon drop at midnight. 21 and older. Tue., Dec. 31, 3 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Up-Down STL, 405 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314-449-1742. Irish New Year’s at Pat’s: When it’s midnight in Ireland, it’s 6 p.m. in St. Louis. Get your celebrating done early with live music on both floors, and complimentary Guinness and Tullamore Dew toasts at 6 p.m. Tue., Dec. 31, 4-8 p.m., $10, www.patconnollytavern.com/newevents/2019/12/31/irish-new-yearstoast. Pat Connolly Tavern, 6400 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, 314-647-7287. New Year’s Winter Wonderland: The HandleBar is transformed into a winter wonderland to celebrate the end of the year. Music and video by DJ Irene G., drink specials and complimentary Champagne toast at midnight. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-2:30 a.m., $10-$15, www.eventbrite.com/e/nye-winter-wonderland-party-tickets-85553006345. HandleBar, 4127 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-652-2212. NYE 2019 $1000 C&P Balloon Drop: Two levels of party with four DJs, a new laser light LED show, party favors confetti cannons. And at midnight, the largest balloon drop in town with $1,000 in cash and prizes inside ‘em. VIP bottle and table service available, 18 and older to enter. Tue., Dec. 31, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $15-$20 before midnight, www.facebook.com/ events/1314459285398218/. Europe Nightclub, 710 N. 15th St., St. Louis, 314-221-8427.

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

Continued on pg 24

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able. Tue., Dec. 31, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. The Last Hotel, 1501 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314-390-2500.

NYE CELEBRATIONS Continued from pg 23

New Year’s Eve Ballroom Bash: At Best Western Premier Alton-St. Louis Area Hotel, 3559 College Avenue, Alton, IL. Best Western Premier presents the showstopping band Flatliner! The 2019 New Year’s Eve Ballroom Bash includes all the amenities. Featuring an open bar, appetizer buffet, party favors and champagne toast at midnight. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., $70. 618-462-1220, www. bwpremieralton.com/event/bwp-nye2020-ballroom-bash-with-flatliner.

NYE Boozer’s Ball: Slip into your nicest swag and head on out to Atomic Cowboy for New Year’s Eve and the Boozer’s Ball. DJ Uptown drops the beats at 9 p.m., and the Champagne toast is poured for midnight. Tue., Dec. 31, 7 p.m.-3 a.m., no cover. Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314775-0775. Pepper Lounge’s New Year’s Eve Bash: Pick from four different party packages. DJ Kaizen and two-time World DJ Champion DJ Deception rock the house all night. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $30-$360, www.eventbrite.com/e/ nye-bash-2020-featuring-dj-kaizen-anddj-deception-at-the-pepper-lounge-tickets-84846083921?aff=ebdssbdestsearch. The Pepper Lounge, 2005 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2005. The Player Haters Ball: Get your pimp & hoe costumes out your closet and get down to an epic New Year’s Eve Bash. Cash & Prizes for “Player Hater of the Year & Sexiest Ladies Costume! First, second & third place winners. Three different party packages to choose from. Tue., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.-3 a.m., $70$500, lacledes-landing.bigdaddystl. com/new-years-eve-party-stl-lacledeslanding/. Big Daddy’s-The Landing, 118 Morgan St., St. Louis, 314-621-6700. Roaring ’20s New Year’s Eve Party: Free 1920s-themed dance party with tarot reading by Bruja Bex from 8 to 10 p.m. Complimentary “Champagne of Beer” toast at midnight with Miller High Life. 1920s attired encouraged, 21 and older only. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-midnight, free admission, www.facebook. com/events/297832297570402/. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. Social House NYE 2020: Everyone gets the chance to roll the dice to win $20,000. If the dice spell S-O-C-I-A-L on your turn, you’re $20,000 richer, Premium open bar from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., live entertainment and late night buffet. Music by DJ Ol Skew. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $45-$65, www.eventbrite.com/e/social-house-soulard-nye2020-tickets-85690008121. Social House Soulard, 1551 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-241-3023. Timechaser New Year’s Eve: Three rooms of visuals, live artistry, vendors and magic. Musical performances by Aaron Kamm and the One Drops, MVSTERMIND, Staqq Overflo & Haptoclone. DJ sets by DJ Mahf, 10andcounting, Alexis Tucci and Mark Lewis. Fantas-

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Ballpark Village gets wild on New Year’s Eve. | COURTESY BALLPARK VILLAGE tical surprises by Dancakes, The Firechasers and more. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.3 a.m., $35-$50, www.facebook.com/ events/2720-cherokee/nightchaserpresents-timechaser-new-years-eve-wak1d-friends/449149312459118/. 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Center, 2720 Cherokee St., St. Louis, 314-276-2700. The Bacchanal Carnivale — An NYE Spectaculaire: Taken from Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and good times, a bacchanalia is a chance like no other to indulge your every whim and feast your every fancy. Van Ella Productions invites you to ring in the new year in the most over-the-top, decadent, debaucherous, spectaculaire in St. Louis! Featuring an all-star cast of burlesque, circus, and variety gods and goddesses, and inspired by ancient Greek, Roman and world mythologies, you won’t want to miss a single heart-stopping moment of this all-singing, all-dancing, high-flying, theatrical spectacle of your wildest fantasies! Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $55$350, 314-610-1649, www.vanellatickets@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/ events/2600415506668876/. Casa Loma Ballroom, 3354 Iowa Ave. The Black and Gold NYE Ball: At the Dance Pizazz Ballroom, 6722 State Highway N, St. Charles, 63304. The New Year’s Eve Party in St. Charles County that you’ve been waiting for! Come and ring in the new year with live band Rhythm Of The Nite in St. Charles County’s newest ballroom. The Black and Gold Ball is guaranteed to be a good time! The event

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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starts at 7:30 p.m. for the VIP dinner and 9 p.m. for general admission. Tickets are on sale now starting at $65 for general admission and $110 for the VIP dinner. Hotel accommodations are also available. Single and double rooms at the Hilton can be purchased as a guest. Tue., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., $110 VIP / $65 general, 636-441-6854, nikki@dance-pizazz.com, www.eventbrite.com/e/blackgold-nye-ball-tickets-7591089-0517. Evangeline’s New Year’s Eve Party: Live music of all genres begins at 6 p.m. and goes until 12:45 a.m. Full menu served until 10 p.m. with a complimentary appetizer buffet from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and champagne toast at midnight. No cover, cash bar, dress for FUN! Tue., Dec. 31, 6 p.m.-12:45 a.m., No cover. Evangeline’s, 512 N. Euclid Ave., 314-367-3644. The Last Night: New Year’s Eve at the Last Hotel: Toast the new year in style. Limited open bar (select beer, wine and spirits): $80 per person from 10 p.m.2 a.m. Each ticket includes a selection of draft beer, wines and local spirits by 1220 Encrypted Vodka, StilL 630 The Last Rye Whiskey and Two Step Gin, as well as Espalon Tequila and J Wray Rum. All other cocktails will be served as a cash bar. Throughout the night, enjoy passed appetizers and food tastings from chef Evelyn Swoboda and a dessert bar from Suji Grant, and ring in the ball drop with a toast of bubbles! This ticket allows you access to all our bars in the lobby and rooftop. This event is 21 and over. Last Supper Dinner Seatings avail-

New Year’s Eve Karaoke with S&M Productions: This year for New Year’s Eve we’re taking a laid-back approach to the partying. S&M Productions hosts karaoke from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., with a variety of drink specials throughout the night in addition to free party favors and a free champagne toast at midnight. Come out to sing your hearts out and ring in the new year. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Free, 636-441-8300, nightshiftbg@gmail. com, www.nightshiftbg.com/event/newyears-eve. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Rd., St. Peters. New Year’s Eve Party 2020: A Space Odyssey: At Brennan’s Work & Leisure, 3015 Locust St., Brennan’s Work & Leisure and Anti-Agency invite you on a space odyssey to celebrate the new year. Once aboard the ship, enjoy a premium bar selection, heavy appetizers of the future by chef Josh Galliano (Companion Bakery, The Libertine) and interstellar desserts by pastry chef Tai Davis. Groove to the night’s soundscape provided by DJ Black Guy, then step into the Zero Gravity Photo Booth to send evidence of your journey back home. All passengers must report to the orbiter near midnight for a live music performance, projection show and champagne toast. Dress: modern cocktail attire / space shuttle. Tue., Dec. 31, 8:30 p.m.-1 a.m. $15-$95, 203-223-4394, hello@ brennanswl.com, www.facebook.com/ events/502355647045284. New Year’s Eve Party Featuring Vintage Vibe: At Cheer’s Bar & Grill, 61 Nationalway Shopping Center, Manchester. Admission includes live music by Vintage Vibe 8 p.m.-1 a.m., appetizer buffet 8-10 p.m., three drink tickets (domestic and rail), champagne toast at midnight and a gift-basket raffle! Please pre-order your tickets through Katt at the bar on Tuesday and Friday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. or Thursday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cash or credit accepted. No reservations! Presale tickets enter at 7 p.m. Tue., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.; Wed., Jan. 1, 4 p.m.-1 a.m., $40. 636-222-8754, Katt0125@hotmail.com.

New Year’s Eve Party Cruise: Ring in the new year with a view of the magnificent St. Louis skyline. Featuring an elegant three-course dinner, open bar, DJ entertainment and midnight champagne toast. Reservations required. Must be 21. Call 877-982-1410 for info. Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Gateway Arch Riverboats, 11 N. 4th St., St. Louis. New Year’s Eve Pop 2000 Tour: Ballpark Village celebrates New Year’s Eve 2020 with added entertainment featuring the region’s best DJs along with the Pop 2000 tour hosted by Chris Kirkpatrick of *NYSNC with performances by O-Town, Ryan Cabrera and LFO’s Brad Fischetti. Plus, confetti cannons, a balloon drop, champagne toasts, the only ball drop in St. Louis and more! Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., $60-$650. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. NYE End of a Decade Black and White Ball: Out with the old and in with a new decade. Live music all night starting at 6 p.m. with The Matching Shoe, followed by AM Whiskey on the main stage and DJ Arty J in the Green Room! Dinner packages, booth and table reservations, as well as all-inclusive bar packages. Tue., Dec. 31, 8-11 p.m., $20-$720. Tin Roof St. Louis, 1000

Clark Ave., 314-240-5400. Roaring ’20s New Year’s Eve: Put a little Great Gatsby in your New Year’s Eve celebration. Dance the night away with Dirty Muggs performing at Boogie Nights. They rock until 1:30 a.m., when a live DJ takes over to continue the celebration until 3 a.m. Plus, experience the best balloon drop in St. Louis at the stroke of midnight. Boogie Nights ticket packages include a single ticket for $30, two tickets for $50 and booth packages for up to 15 people (includes a bottle of champagne) from $300-$750. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., $30-$750. Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Center Dr., Maryland Heights, 314-770-8100. Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party: Ring in the new decade with two ballrooms with live music and fun at Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch’s Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party. The celebration includes a delicious dinner buffet, an open bar, photo booth, party favors and live music throughout the evening from Groovethang and Broseph. As the clock strikes midnight, the party will feature a balloon drop and champagne toast to welcome 2020, and late-night snacks will be provided. The Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party package starts at $369 for an overnight stay and two all-inclusive party tickets.

A limited number of party-only tickets will be available on Eventbrite starting Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. 314-655-1234. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-1 a.m., $169-$369, 314-655-1234, www.facebook.com/ events/422379371803365. Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, 315 Chestnut St., St. Louis. Russo’s NYE Bash at Spazio Westport: Meet at Spazio Westport for Russo’s NYE Bash 2020! Featuring live music by All Mixed Up Band, six-hour full open premium bar, passed appetizers, fourcourse dinner including hand-carved entrees, dessert stations, midnight snack and photo booth. Hotel accommodations available. $95 per person. Tue., Dec. 31, 7 p.m.-1 a.m., 314-5760400, emily@russosgourmet.com, www.russosgourmet.com/nye-spazio. Spazio at West Port, 12031 Lackland, Maryland Heights. Russo’s NYE Party at Piazza Messina: At Piazza Messina, 5535 State Highway N. Come to Piazza Messina for Russo’s NYE Party 2020! Featuring live music by The Great Escape, food and dessert stations and full open premium bar. Tue., Dec. 31, 7 p.m.-12:30 a.m., $85 per person, 636-232-0109, kay@russosgourmet.com, www.russosgourmet. com/nye-messina.

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2020 New Years Eve Ball: With all the amenities, especially at the price, this event truly stands out as one of the top all-inclusive events for New Year’s Eve in St Louis! Picked by CBS St. Louis as one of the “Top-Five New Year’s Eve Parties in St Louis,” this celebration has sold out ten years in a row! Tue., Dec. 31, 7 p.m., clubcontagious@sbcglobal. net, www.nyeballstlouis.com. Marriott St. Louis Airport, 10700 Pear Tree Lane, 314-423-9700. The Ultimate New Year’s Eve 2020: The event you have been waiting for is finally here! An amazing three-course dinner, the best burlesque show in town and all you can drink. Dance into the new year with a confetti cannon explosion. Don’t wait; grab those tickets while you can. Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., $105-$200 per person, 314436-7000, theboomboomroomstl@ gmail.com, www.theboomboomroomstl.com/new-years-eve-2020. The Boom Boom Room, 500 N. 14th St., St. Louis. West End Grill & Pub New Year’s Eve: Four-course dinner and a show, featuring live music by WirePilots and special guest Kim Fuller. Tue., Dec. 31, 8:30 p.m., $35-$85. West End Grill & Pub, 354 N. Boyle Ave., 314-531-4607. n

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

THIS WEEK THE GROVE SELECTED HAPPENINGS

Day or night, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

22 48 R RIRVII VEV ERE RFR RFF ROR ONO NTN TTT ITTMII MME ESE SS FMEJDAUBERNRC EUEHAM2R1B04YE- -2R26802,-, 5M2-20A30R118C,8 H2 0r5r1i,iv9ve2er0rfr1frir8ovonentrtrtfti rivmomeenerstfst.r.ciocmonometmst i. mc oe ms . c o m

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28

PLAYERS LEAGUE

THE RECORD LABEL PRESENTS BASTARD SQUAD BASTARD LUCK RELEASE

$6, 8:15 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27

HOMEBURGER AND PUTTY

7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

$10, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

STEADY FLOW W/ THE DRIFTAWAYS & EMERSON JADE AT THE BOOTLEG

CENTER STAGE SHOWCASE XI

$12, 8 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29

sat dec 28

steady flow w/ the driftaways + emerson jade

Thu Jan 16

WOOD & WIRE Fri Feb 7

chicago farmer

w/ special guests TBA

Sun Feb 8

PIP THE PANSY w/ KID SCIENTIST

Sat Feb 15 Missouri Muses:

A Celebration of MO Women in Rock Featuring: Aina Cook, The Burney Sisters, Molly Healey

sat mar 21

JAKE’S LEG 4130 MANCHESTER AVE. IN THE GROVE FIRECRACKERPIZZA.COM

SELEKTA PRESENTS: MRS MAGOO 8 PM AT THE MONOCLE

MONDAY, DECEMBER 30

IMPROV SHOP OPEN MICROPHONE 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

NYE BOOZER'S BALL AT ATOMIC COWBOY - NO COVER! 7 PM AT ATOMIC COWBOY

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1

90'S FREAKOUT

9 PM AT HANDLEBAR

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11

THURSDAY, JANUARY 2

ROCK 4 TOTS

HAROLD NIGHT

$12, 9 PM AT THE READY ROOM

$8, 8 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4

MOTHER STUTTER, YOUNG ANIMALS, THE GRAND OPENING, LEE & LANEVE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31

90'S FREAK OUT WITH THE MIGHTY PINES

NYE FOR KIDS!

8 PM AT THE READY ROOM

THE GAUNTLET: A LIVE “TALENT COMPETITION”

4 PM AT HANDLEBAR

NYE WINTER WONDERLAND PARTY

$8, 10 PM AT THE IMPROV SHOP

7 PM AT THE READY ROOM

r i v e r f rr oi nv et tr if mr oe ns t. tc iomme s . c Do Em C E MJ BU EN RE 2 50 - 32 16 ,, 22 00 11 98

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FILM

[REVIEW]

More and Less There were more films and more ways to watch in 2019 but fewer original ideas and more remakes Written by

ROBERT HUNT The Year in Film In which our indefatigable film critic rants, raves and rages against the superhero simplex

019 was the year when major studios developed a magic formula for making greater sums of money with fewer films and even fewer new ideas. etfli , the film studios, every T channel you’ve ever heard of and the Forgotten en of the business, the theater owners, all got in line to dip into the trough known as streaming services. These offer more and more proprietary titles and new releases, while hoping that subscribers don’t notice that the films of the past are becoming less and less accessible. Streaming once held out the promise of easy access to almost anything you would ever want to see; in another few years, that dream will have turned into an e plosion of monthly charges as you maintain one account for isney films, another for arners or niversal, a third for documentaries and a fourth or fifth or si th for etfli , ma on, Hulu, Criterion or other niche providers. ilm distribution, already battered, suffered a few more bumps. If you happened to visit your local 2 -screen multiple during the opening weekend of Franchise Man and the Repetition Squad: Some Assembly Required!, you discovered that it dominated at least nineteen of those 2 screens, with the other five carrying the dregs of the previous weekend’s blockbuster. challenge to the hegemony of the bloated superhero film finally came late in the year with the kerfu e we’ll call corsesegate.

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Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt lookin’ good in Quentin Tarantino’s first mature work. | ANDREW COOPER © 2019 CTMG, INC. It began courtesy of the internet, breeding ground for fau controversies at the rate of one every 2. hours. The director of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull was asked his opinion of comic book movies, something akin to asking Bob Dylan what he thinks about the lyrics to Baby hark. His answer a polite o, thank you sent the fanboy world into convulsions, provoking roughly 9 0,000 arguments by bruised bloggers that (insert randomly chosen comic book titles here were, in fact, the Rashomon and Citizen

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

Kane of our time. By the time the dust had settled, corsese had released his second ma or film of the year — both free of caped heroes — and the outraged Marvel fans had fallen back in step to the beat of corporate auteur Kevin Feige. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. nd yet, despite the bombast and aggression of the loudest commercial offerings and arid arthouse attractions, a few films manage to slip through. Whenever ’m faced with trying to sum up the current state of the movies, ’m reminded of rancois Truffaut’s

Dolemite Is My Name has an infectious enthusiasm. | FRANCOIS DUHAMEL/NETFLIX

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introduction to his 19 collection The Films of my Life, where he describes his friend and fellow critic ean omarchi He has watched 0 films a year passionately ... and every time meet him he says, Tell me, old friend, it’s nice to have something to see, isn’t it ’ nd so it goes, even in 2019. 10. Non-Fiction Director: Olivier Assayas ssayas’ latest is a talky, cerebral comedy about upscale Parisians uggling romance, careers and reputations, but his real sub ect is the decline of ideas in the age of digital conformity and knee-jerk outrage. n ambitious and unrepentantly intellectual shout of protest in an age where Twitter is defended as “modern-day haiku.” 9. Dolemite Is My Name Director: Craig Brewer on’t call it a comeback. n this odd but irresistible comedy about the brash, profane comedian udy ay oore and his action film Dolemite, ddie urphy grabs the viewer from the first scene and doesn’t let go for a minute. t’s a compelling recreation of a toofrequently overlooked school of filmmaking, overloaded with an infectious enthusiasm for the era and its eccentric players.

8. Asako I and II Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi mysterious gem of a love story, albeit a wisely hesitant one. t’s an eccentric but completely charming portrait of a young woman finding herself in two separate, dissimilar relationships. Hamaguchi throws away the conventions of romantic films but keeps the passion and confusion. 7. Pain and Glory Director: Pedro Almodovar lmodovar here is in a reflective mood, looking back at his past with regret and resignation. Not entirely autobiographical but unquestionably personal, with a powerful performance from ntonio Banderas as the director’s surrogate. 6. Richard Jewell Director: Clint Eastwood Clint astwood’s th film as director finds him doing what he does best, looking at e traordinary events through the eyes of ordinary people who would prefer that history, fame or whatever you want to call the events that put a pudgy security guard in the national spotlight would just leave them alone. Great performances guided by astwood’s bree y but level-headed touch. 5. Parasite Director: Bong Joon-ho rguably the strangest film of the year, Bong oon-ho’s suspense horror comedy is a perfectly crafted pu le that defies e planation. t’s a political satire, a psychological thriller and a fierce, stunning cartoon that revels in its dismantling of social classes yet remains unsettlingly ambiguous. 4. Amazing Grace Directors: Sydney Pollack and Alan Elliott ot so much a film as a miraculous time capsule, a record of an e traordinary performance by retha ranklin, filmed by ydney ollack in 19 2 but left unfinished until years after his death. t’s raw, unvarnished filmmaking Franklin returning to her gospel roots to record a live album in a os ngeles church. ollack and his crew were smart enough to stay out of the way and let her do what she had to.

Aretha Franklin works up a sweat in Amazing Grace. | COURTESY OF NEON

3. and 2.: Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese and The Irishman Director: Martin Scorsese Two innovative meditations on the culture and history of the last five or si decades. n the first, corsese tweaks ylan’s image by recreating and reshaping the story of a mid-’ 0s tour that was the artist’s own attempt at imagetweaking. The second takes the kind of gangster saga Scorsese has offered in the past, places it firmly into the political history of the late twentieth century and filters the whole thing through the memory and regrets of an elderly man who lived through it. 1. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Director: Quentin Tarantino uch has been said about Tarantino’s typically flashy narrative tricks, his provocative twisting of history and his usual attention to even the minutest details in his recreation of os ngeles circa 19 9. But for all of its mirrors and whistles, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Once Upon a Time is perhaps his first mature work, with characters facing real problems who can be understood

as more than just generic types and film-buff allusions. Just under the top ten: Ash Is Purest White, Echo in the Canyon, The Two Popes. Also of interest: Burning, Yesterday, Too Late to Die Young, Hale County This Morning This Evening, The Green Fog, Where’s My Roy Cohn?, Toni Morrison: The Pieces

I Am, The Decline of the American Empire, Jojo Rabbit, Marianne and Leonard and The Nightingale. And the Best Superhero Film of the Year: The enyan Supa Modo, the story of an ailing nine-year-old girl with super-heroic ambitions, was the highlight of this year’s frican ilm estival. aster than a speeding bullet and a whole lot more endearing. n

Asier Etxeandia and Antonio Banderas are excellent in Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory. | © EL DESEO. PHOTO BY MANOLO PAVON. COURTESY SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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CAFE

Best New Restaurants of 2019 RFT’s restaurant critic ranks her favorite ten restaurants to open this year Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Editor’s Note: This list is based on restaurant critic Cheryl Baehr’s 2019 review schedule. As such, restaurants that opened after November 10 are not eligible for consideration in this edition.

s I look at the names of the best new restaurants to open this year, I’m struck by just how much they represent the many voices that make our city’s food scene so vibrant. This year, it seemed as if there was a collective leap of faith as restaurateurs set out to tell their own stories, on their own terms, confident that t. Louis diners would be receptive to what they had to say. It was a year of taking chances — and whether those chances took the form of a regional Thai restaurant that finally reflected a family’s heritage, a tasting menu that took a chance on a forgotten cuisine or a barbecue exhibition hall that set out to redefine the genre t. ouis chefs and restaurateurs confidently stepped out of the safe zone, and their gambles are paying off in the form of one of the most thrilling years of new restaurants in recent memory. No new restaurant better encapsulates this phenomenon than Nick Bognar’s Botanical Heights masterpiece, Indo. Here, Bognar builds upon the legacy handed to him by his mother, Ann, by creating a space that reflects the Thai heritage that set the family on its course in the business in the first place. This soulful approach to food, coupled with the best sushi t. ouis has ever seen and a chef’s table din-

The shrimp toast at Indo, our critic’s best new restaurant of 2019. | MABEL SUEN ing e perience that redefines the tasting menu, makes Indo simply extraordinary. The year in food was so rich, it was difficult to contain to ust the top ten so, for the first time, I’ve included an unranked Best of the est category filled with even more compelling stories. As you eat your way through these ama ing menus, hope you’ll find something that makes you think of a style of cooking, a particular dish or a restaurant experience in general in a different light. 10. The Last Kitchen Of the handful of boutique hotel restaurants that have popped up around town in the past year or so, the Last Kitchen (1501 Washington Avenue, 314-390-2500) stands out from the crowd with a menu and aesthetic that transcends what is typically expected of the genre. Helmed by chef Evy woboda, whose r sum includes serving as Gerard Craft’s chef de cuisine at Pastaria, the Last Kitchen marries her Italian cooking prowess with the culinary heritage of different cultures along the Mississippi River. The boudin ravioli a massive pillow filled

with wild boar and rice sausage — is a particular standout that incorporates both of those aspects. However, the Last Kitchen’s most unforgettable dish may be its simplest. Called Grown Up Garlic Noodles, these oil-slicked ribbons of fresh pasta, flecked with fermented black garlic, chiles and Parmesan cheese, may be the best pasta currently offered in town. woboda says that her goal is to have guests think of the Last Hotel as a restaurant and bar with rooms, and not the other way around. With dishes this good, she’s on her way to realizing that vision. 9. BEAST Butcher & Block avid andusky is not content to simply put out the best barbecue in the bi-state area. If he were, he and his wife, Meggan, would’ve kept plugging away at their acclaimed Belleville, Illinois, smokehouse, B T Craft BBQ. Instead, he has set out on a mission to change the very way we think about the genre at his huge barbecue complex in the Grove, BEAST Butcher & Block (4156 Manchester Avenue,

THE BEST OF THE REST Mayo Ketchup “Plantain Girl” Mandy Estrella finally found a home of her own with her standalone, Lafayette Square storefront, Mayo Ketchup (2001 Park Avenue, 314-696-2699). Her fierce commitment to doing Dominican, Puerto Rican and Cuban fare right has earned her a following over the years, and at her first bona fide restaurant, she continues to show us why. Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef A humble South City dive bar may be an unlikely setting for some of the year’s most thrilling food, but Chris Ward and Melanie Meyer don’t let that stop them. Frankly, the pairing of their specialities — whimsical, thin-crust pizzas and Korean street food, respectively — is just as unconventional, but they do both so well at Party Bear Pizza and Tiny Chef (4701 Morganford Road) that they make it seem like a natural combination. Akar At miniature-sized Akar (7641 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton; 314-553-9914), Continued on pg 35

Continued on pg 35

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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FEATURED DINING CRISPY EDGE

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6 RESTAURANTS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT...

THE KICKIN’ CRAB

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314.310.3343 4168 JUNIATA STREET ST. LOUIS, MO 63116 What began in 2013 as a passion project in the founder’s kitchen has now grown into a retail and wholesale potsticker manufacturing facility located right in the heart of Tower Grove South. Crispy Edge believes that potstickers are the perfect vehicle to explore authentic global flavors from breakfast to dessert: handheld, wrapped in dough, and CRISPY! The restaurant features indoor and dog-friendly outdoor seating, private dining room, and a café lounge. The full bar and hot beverage program highlight local specialty coffee, cocktails, and beers. All products are made in-house and sourced from the finest ingredients. From Ordinary to Extraordinary - Crispy Edge is a global community for those who want something fun, tasty, social and exciting to eat.

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

J. SMUGS GASTROPIT

POKEDOKESTL.COM

314.499.7488 4916 SHAW AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

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

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

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

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BLK MKT EATS

CRAWLING CRAB

BLKMKTEATS.COM

314.328.3421 6730 PAGE AVE ST. LOUIS, MO 63138

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

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

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DECEMBER 25-31, 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.

BEST NEW RESTAURANTS

BEST AND THE REST

314-944-6003). It’s an ambitious undertaking: Part barbecue restaurant, part butcher shop and part e hibition kitchen, B T Butcher & Block pushes us to look past the traditional smokehouse template and see the many ways fire-cooked food can be en oyed. His e hibition kitchen, the kullery, is at the heart of what andusky is trying to do. A space for collaborations with local chefs and tasting menus courtesy of executive chef Ryan McDonald, the kullery dares to cast barbecue in an upscale light. And if you haven’t been to a kullery brunch, do yourself a favor and go at once. With porchetta so tender you can butter one of McDonald’s fluffy biscuits with it, it’s the best brunch in town.

chef-owner Bernie Lee explores his roots, incorporating the culinary heritage of his native Malaysia with the flavors he has fallen in love with during his vast travels across the globe. At just five seats, Akar is more dinner party than restaurant, an atmosphere that gives Lee the freedom to cook on his own terms with wonderful results.

Continued from pg 33

8. Han Lao ome of Thom Chantharasy’s fondest memories of growing up in the middle of Tennessee are of the feasts the local Laotian community would put on for special occasions — which ended up being about every other week. The spirit of those events animates the delightful Han Lao (1250 Strassner Drive, Brentwood; 314932-1354), the restaurant he opened as a way to celebrate his culture and pass on his heritage to his children. Chantharasy is a veteran in the restaurant business; for the past twenty years, he’s been in kitchens like ekisui and his ramen and Japanese Maplewood restaurant, Robata. However, this is the first time Chantharasy has cooked Laotian food professionally — and when you taste his fiery, vibrant food, you wonder what took so long. Laotian sausages, stunning curries and crispy baby back ribs are all exceptional, but if you want to travel with Chantharasy back to those Tennessee family gatherings, the khao poon is the way to go. This pork broth soup, spiked with red curry and coconut milk, is as close as you get to the traditional Laotian parties of his youth — the dish itself is a celebration. 7. The Bellwether The talented team behind Polite ociety have made lightning strike yet again, this time with their magnificent sophomore effort, the Bellwether (1419 Carroll Street, 314-380-3086). The first thing that hits you about the sexy restaurant and bar is just how smart partners Brian

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At Sultan Mediterranean Cuisine, chef-owner Jenar Mohammed’s cooking is nothing short of extraordinary. | MABEL SUEN chmit , onathan choen, Travis Hebrank and Thomas Futrell are about how they used the space. Occupying the former Element in the old City Hospital Building just east of afayette quare proper, the Bellwether is spread out over two stories and a patio. Unlike the former tenant, chmit , choen and company decided to put both the bar and restaurant on the same floor, creating an intimate vibe for guests. It’s a beast of a restaurant to work — the kitchen and private event space, the Reference Room, are one floor down from the dining room — but they navigate it with ease, at least from the guest’s perspective. You’d expect nothing less from a kitchen run by the talented Thomas Futrell, whose cooking continuously wows, whether he’s executing delicate scallop carpaccio or a glorious short rib ragout that is a cross between a outhern grandma’s pot roast and nonna’s unday sauce. The menu, combined with Hebrank’s thoughtful bar program, makes this a dazzling addition to the city’s food and nightlife scene. 6. The Midwestern Meat & Drink If you’ve had the sheer pleasure of eating the beef ribs at the Midwestern Meat & Drink (900 Spruce Street, 314-696-2573), you understand why this wonderful restaurant has quickly become one of the most essential barbecue joints in town. Peppery bark yields to succulent meat so marbled it melts on the tongue like marrow. You could butter your bread with this masterpiece — and yet, it competes with the dry-aged brisket burger

for the title of the restaurant’s best dish. Covered in housemade pub cheese that soaks into every crevice of the patty so that each bite is an explosion of fat and goo, the Midwestern’s double cheeseburger is the best burger in a city filled with magnificent ones. Helmed by acclaimed pitmaster Ben Welch, the Midwestern builds upon the legacy of his former restaurant, Big Baby Q, by incorporating outhern-style dishes into his barbecue repertoire. Add to this one of the city’s most impressive cocktail lists and bourbon selections courtesy of the immensely talented bar manager Tony aputo, and it’s no wonder the Midwestern is such a gem. 5. Bait If you drive past Bait (4239 Lindell Boulevard, 314-405-2797), you might think that you are passing the eastern Central West End’s hottest new nightclub: On riday and aturday nights, it’s not uncommon to see a line of well-dressed patrons-in-waiting that starts at the front door and snakes all the way down the stairs onto the sidewalk. The restaurant is a scene, for sure, but the line has everything to do with Bait’s stunning food, courtesy of rising star chef Ceaira Jackson. A seafood restaurant unlike anything t. ouis has seen, Bait da zles with over-the-top dishes like flaming, head-on prawns, a massive, whole Caribbean-style snapper dressed with fresh herbs and edible flowers, and a show-stopping seafood boil of crab, shrimp and sausage that bob in a buttery, Cajun-spiced nectar. The brainchild of first-time restaurateur

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Chao Baan With Chao Baan (4087 Chouteau Avenue, 314-925-8250), the Prapaisilp family could have played it safe and opened a second location of their wildly popular restaurant, the King and I. Instead, at the insistence of their son Shayn, they took a chance and bet that St. Louis diners were ready for the traditional northern and southern Thai dishes that define their family heritage. Their gamble has paid off in the form of an addition to the city’s dining landscape that is nothing short of thrilling. Esther’s Persian Café For years, Reza Toghiyani has been enchanting his family and friends with his wonderful home cooking. With Esther’s Persian Café (12466 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton; 314-755-1882), he is letting the general public in on the fun with his signature kebabs, kookoo sabzi and a version of tahdig, the traditional Persian crispy rice dish, that is so good, you understand why people have been begging to be a part of his dinner parties for years. Cocina Latina Two decades ago, Maritza Rios arrived in St. Louis with a plan to open Cocina Latina (508 North Euclid Avenue, 314696-2294). However, she tabled the idea, afraid that St. Louis diners would not be receptive to authentic Peruvian food, in favor of the American-style Mexican restaurant, El Paisano. Now that she has taken the leap and shown us her vibrant cooking, there’s no question that we are more than ready for it — it’s what we’ve been waiting for. Morning Glory Diner A greasy spoon that’s not at all greasy, Morning Glory Diner (2609 Cherokee Street, 314-261-4842) is a wonderful daytime addition to Cherokee Street. The brainchild of chef Ari Ellis, this delightful restaurant embraces everything she loves about the classic diner concept but removes the grit in both the style of the place and the substance. Just try her version of a St. Louis classic, the slinger, and, when you wake up the next day without a rock in your stomach, you’ll understand what she’s going for.

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

BEST NEW RESTAURANTS Continued from pg 35

Kalen Hodgets, Bait represents his gamble that t. ouis would support a swanky seafood spot that evokes the boutique hotels he loves to frequent on his travels around the country. Clearly, that gamble is paying off. 4. Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant Jenar Mohammed’s cooking is so soulful, one bite of it instantly transports you from Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant (4200 Manchester Avenue, 314-390-2020) in the Grove to a home kitchen in Iraqi Kurdistan. In fact, that’s exactly where she honed her cooking chops, perfecting traditional recipes until the early 1980s when she and her husband, kram aeed, were forced to flee their homeland for the nited tates in the wake of addam Hussein’s brutal regime. Once here, Mohammed continued to cook, this time adding to her repertoire the cuisines of Turkey, yria and alestine. However, she wanted more and eventually branched out from her home kitchen to ameem fghan Restaurant with dreams of one day opening a place of her own. That day came this past January, when, after a year-long renovation of the Grove storefront that used to be Erney’s 32 Degrees, Mohammed finally got her chance to show t. ouis all she is capable of doing. Her cooking is nothing short of extraordinary, including the restaurant’s signature ultan pilau, a crispy phyllo shell filled with lamb, almonds, pistachios, walnuts and raisins. The dish’s aroma is so intoxicating, the steam is like a siren song that will haunt you long after you leave this wonderful restaurant. 3. Elmwood ome restaurants make this list because they feel as if they are unlike anything t. ouis has seen. Elmwood (2704 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood; 314-261-4708), however, earns praise because it feels like it’s been a part of our city’s food scene all along. Owned by powerhouse Niche alums Chris Kelling and Adam Altnether, this Maplewood eatery nails that hard-to-hit spot of being both a destination restaurant and neighborhood spot by serving food that is at once elegant and immensely comforting. Anchored by a best-in-class charcoal-powered grill and oven, Altnether’s menu has a cosmopolitan feel to it — Middle Eastern spices

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Han Lao’s stunning and flavorful Laotian soups and curries are exceptional. | MABEL SUEN on lamb cruda, a Thai-inflection to the yellowfin ceviche but it never strays into the esoteric. His cooking, paired with Kelling’s unparalleled understanding of hospitality, combine to make Elmwood an instant classic. 2. Bulrush If you know anything about chef Rob Connoley, you understand that the term “down the rabbit hole” is the best way to encapsulate the way he approaches the world. It’s why his Ozark-inspired Bulrush (3307 Washington Boulevard, 314-449-1208) has interns; it’s why he is in regular contact with archivists and seed banks; it’s why he could probably tell you more about pawpaws than you ever thought you would care to know. In fact, that obsessive quest for knowledge is the reason Bulrush e ists in the first place. hen he returned to t. ouis in the summer of 2016, Connoley knew he wanted to open a restaurant with a certain ethos, but he didn’t know exactly what form that would take. As he dug into the region’s history, topography and culinary heritage, the outlines of an idea emerged; when he met his sous chef, Justin Bell, it crystalized. Together, they embarked on an exploration of the region’s uniqueness, honing in on the food of the oft-overlooked Ozarks. Their research is the foundation

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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of Bulrush, and in particular, its Ozark tasting experience, which explores this unsung piece of food history and, in turn, celebrates a marginalized culinary culture. Modern yet grounded in a deeply rooted piece of our region’s history, Bulrush feels like a welcome new voice in the symphony of America’s food heritage. 1. Indo Born into a restaurant family, there was no way that Nick Bognar could escape the industry’s call. Whether rolling crab Rangoon and egg rolls at his family’s restaurant, Nippon Tei, or hanging out with his Thai grandmother in her kitchen when his mom was at work, Bognar was surrounded by food at an early age and learned the ins and outs of the business while still a kid. However, rather than simply accept his fate in the restaurant industry, Bognar used his heritage as a jumping off point for discovering his own culinary passion. Indo (1641D Tower Grove Avenue, 314-899-9333) represents those two facets of Bognar — a deeply felt gratitude to the restaurant family that gave him his heritage and a sense of wonder at the path he is forging on his own. Bognar offers the Indo experience in many ways: Quick and affordable lunch, an a la carte dinner menu that allows you to mix and match nigiri with Thai-inflected delica-

cies or the omakase event, a twentyplus course, chef’s table-style guided journey through the most amazing fish it’s possible to procure in the idwest. u urious but not fine dining, elegant but not stuffy, Indo is the most e citing restaurant in t. ouis right now because it feels like a revolution in the way we think about what it means to be a great restaurant in 2019 and beyond. t. ouis is lucky to have it. n

BEST AND THE REST Continued from pg 35

Pie Guy Pizza Pie Guy Pizza (4189 Manchester Avenue, 314-899-0444) may have a fun, irreverent and casual atmosphere, but this outstanding restaurant in the Grove is serious about its pizza. Chef-owner Mitch Frost’s outstanding pies are built on a beautiful, chewy crust that is undergirded by a layer of crispness akin to Texas toast. Loaded up with thoughtful and fun toppings, it’s pure magic. Kimchi Guys Korean fast-casual restaurant Kimchi Guys (612 North Second Street, 314766-4456) is one of Munsok So’s many efforts to breathe new life into the Landing. With glorious Korean fried chicken, glazed in sauces like garlic-soy or honeybutter, he will have people flocking back to the once-vibrant St. Louis neighborhood in no time.

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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MUSIC + CULTURE

Great music was made in St. Louis this year across every genre, combining fantastic flights of fancy with grounded pop accessibility.

BEST ALBUMS

[HOMESPUN]

Hey, ’19 The best local albums and songs from 2019 Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

year ends, a decade comes to a close, and the lure of easy summations and strict hierarchies is hard to resist. We fall into that trap every year about this time, using the weekly Homespun column — a place to tell the stories of t. ouis musicians through their songs, studios and stages — to collate a list of the stand-out albums and tracks from the previous twelve months. We’ll leave the top-line summaries to someone smarter or more foolhardy and simply note that with every year, the city’s best musicians honor t. ouis’ musical heritage by not being beholden to any one style. On this alphabetical list of nine albums and nine songs, local artists continue to do boundary-busting work by reaching across stylistic strictures to create something as diverse and amorphous as the city itself.

Bloom, Colors Kalyn McNeil, who makes invasive, sensual R&B under the name Bloom, knows how to set the mood. Her songs ripple like pinpricks across the skin, and the relatively unadorned production places due emphasis on her expressive, octave-spanning voice. In a Bloom song, feelings are magnified to the cellular level. And on her second album, Colors, McNeil uses her music to explore love, motherhood and body positivity, but not until the booming, cratering opening track “Go Crazy” starts the album with a cathartic fracture. Beth Bombara, Evergreen Beth Bombara has been making records long enough for her career to have phases and moods. If 2017’s Map and No Direction was ruminative on personal fulfillment and general an iety, this year’s Evergreen finds her back on the sunny side of the street. Her current line-up is her best yet, with guitarist Sam Gregg transmitting the bluesy and twangy Tenderhearted, a song about fidelity — to one’s partner in love and life, certainly, but to your artistic dreams as well. Bombara sings to her subject that he has “turned your back on the back-up plan” as her band rides a descending lick to its terminal point, as if to underline the whole operation. Bounce House, Starter Home Siblings Cory and Cody Perkins share the spotlight in the propulsive

synth-pop quartet Bounce House; she plays keys, he plays drums, but they work together to make up the whole of their spazzy songs on the band’s first release, Starter Home. “On&On” serves as the apotheosis of Bounce House’s sound. A rattling bassline gives a nod to the players’ roots in punk rock while the kaleidoscopic synths give a new range of color, and the Perkins siblings’ competing vocals seem to offer two versions of the same story. But immediately following “On&On” comes the slower, slinkier “Distort Yourself,” which places the groove back onto the drum kit and suggests a sizzle where the rest of the EP pops. Katarra, Cocoa Voyage Katarra Parson went from a shy pianist with near-debilitating stage fright to one of the city’s most talked-about vocalists and musicians in just a few years’ time. Her debut album, Cocoa Voyage, sounds like a synthesis of a short lifetime of musical influences rich gospel piano chords, jazzily scatted vocal runs and propulsive hip-hop beats fade in and out. Many of those textures pop up on standout track “Conversation Golden” — silky synths swirl against a squelchy bassline, but only after a clacky upright piano and a virtual choir of Katarras introduce the song with a celestial air. Opera Bell Band, Bell-Slide The local whimsy-folk quintet Opera Bell Band revels in the en-

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trancing oddness and participatory nature of its theatrical live shows, but its full-length debut proves that Shane Devine’s songs can stand alone. He counts Harry Nilsson, Van Dyke Parks and Smile-era Brian Wilson as inspiration for this project. And those influences come through on the first single Green emon Buggy, a song that marries two of the band’s key fi ations food and travel. In it, Devine envisions an automobile made up of comestibles, traipsing over wordplay (“cucumber bumper,” “celery accelerator”) several times a verse. The song travels on the back of a wheezy melodica and some Spike Jones-esque marimba, and while it sounds fleetingly familiar, the Opera Bell Band succeeds in being impossible to pin down. Golden Curls, Goblin Market The year’s most long-awaited album may also be its best Goblin Market delivers on the promise and scope of Golden Curls’ earliest recordings and recent live shows with an immaculate, intricate collection of songs. Singer and synthesist Sarah Downen draws inspiration from folk tales and fairy stories while bristling against simple and pat lessons; her songs are fantastical in their source material but almost always rooted in earthen emotion. And along with drummer Philip Zahnd and guitarist Stephen Favazza, Downen coats her songs with richly textured

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dream-pop and gossamer, plangeant synthesizer washes. MotherFather, MotherFather Nelson Jones and Brian Scheffer are co-owners of Firebrand Studio, a north county destination that is so frequently booked that the pair’s own band, other ather, finally released its long-awaited debut in 2019. The self-titled album is a pristine-sounding document of the band’s post-rock inclinations, where Jones’ and Eli Hindman’s guitars duel in melodic and textural counterpoint through songs that can recall math-rock intricacies as easily as the swelling grandeur of Explosions in the Sky. Behind the guitars, bassist Scheffer and drummer Tim Hardy lock in to corral the shifting tides of the songs. Sister Wizzard, Page of Mirrors Madison Price uses little more than a tiny Korg synthesizer and a notebook full of observant lyrics to cast a wide net on her first full-length. The slinky and smoky “King Cobra” is a song about a caddish playboy that exposes the sliminess of dickish dudes — kind of a “Smooth Operator” relocated to Cherokee Street; the slow and swirling “Dry Up” takes a more personal and vulnerable look at busted relationships and the role that addictions play in deepening those fissures. The album closer “Enough” is Sister Wizzard’s take on an empowerment anthem — rice calls it her i o-inspired “bad bitch” moment and envisioned crowds chanting its chorus back at her as she wrote it. The song also serves as a capstone to the eight-track album. Jesse Gannon, Jesse Gannon In-demand keyboardist and sideman Jesse Gannon created the portmanteau “soulphistipop” to represent his mix of soulful, sophisticated pop music. He cites legends like Quincy Jones, Curtis ayfield and George uke as influences and exemplars of the form, but plenty of the vibes on his new his first solo release in five years — owe a debt to hip-hop and sample culture. ocal emcee Thelonious Kryptonite guests on the track “Doctor Spin,” and a host of local soul and jazz phenoms (Jharis Yokley and Dhoruba Shakur on drums, Teddy Brookins and Bob DeBoo on bass) support Gannon’s work on acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes and analog synth. n

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Le’Ponds’ Lisa Houdei and Cara Louise both captured memorable performances with powerful voices. | JOSH BASCO / KRISTEN MCGEEHAN

BEST SONGS All St. Louis Revue, “Bittersweet Home Chicago” Al Holliday and his East Side Rhythm Band undertook a big and noble project in 2019: to serve as the backing band for a host of this city’s best soul and R&B singers, offering a unified sound and production aesthetic to some of St. Louis’ best voices, like Brian Owens, Emily Wallace and Roland Johnson. But it’s Holliday’s sole lead vocal performance that resonated the most; he interprets Nathan Jatcko’s composition, “Bittersweet Home Chicago,” with soul and sensitivity. The slow, celestial blues number serves as a farewell to Jatcko, a talented pianist, composer and sideman who passed away in 2018. “That song is gonna be good for over a hundred years,” Holliday noted. “It’s a beautifully written standard.”

Sunday brunch, but here it sounds like Pini’s life has been measured out in coffee spoons and soundtracked by disco drums and florid sax solos. Dutch Courage, “Another First Son” Andy Puechner has been making small, finely wrought and smartly tuneful indie rock songs as Dutch Courage for a few years, putting out small-batch cassette releases every so often. “Another First Son” serves as the title track to his latest three-song offering, and it tells a tale of progeny, destiny and family lineage. The scope is both grand and intimate: He feels the weight of the family name amid allusions to prophets and sages, but couches his decision to end the family line amid a resonant drone and bright guitar lines in a way that sounds like a triumph of self-actualization.

Cara Louise, “Tears Turn into Rain” For the Fragile Heart EP, Cara Louise Wegener doesn’t totally throw away her fascination with roots music; rather, she and her band stretch elements of the genre toward the moody and cinematic. “Tears Turn Into Rain” lopes along like a country waltz, and it could certainly have maintained its winsome cowpoke rhythm without much adornment. But the layering of a beautifully nuanced string section lends the song an air of eternal dusk, and Wegener’s layered vocal harmonies soften the existential dread that creeps into her increasingly impassioned lead vocals.

Le’Ponds, “Quail Ridge” Lean To, Lisa Houdei’s third album as Le’Ponds, is largely reflective and acoustic, allowing her voice to rise and fall against circular guitar patterns and bucolic images. She has settled into a lower register than on her first recording, Heat, and has — for the moment, at least — retreated from the full-band thrum of last year’s I Was Dancing with My Dream Team. “Quail Ridge” is the EP’s ruminative centerpiece, a projection of an idealized existence for Houdei, one of natural solitude and selfsufficiency.

Drangus, “Mokabe’s” You’ll hear the influence of Tom Pini throughout this year’s best-of list: His production work aided the albums of Sister Wizzard and Golden Curls, but his electro-soul trio Drangus pumped out a dark, sensual and danceable EP called Love, Dust to Dust amid the band members’ other projects. It’s hard not to love a song named after the South Grand coffee shop known for its comeone, come-all spirit as well as its killer

Macaroon Afterparty, “Feel Right” Gary Schmidt took the long road to make his three-song EP, Pastry Police, under the name Macaroon Afterparty. I mean that literally — he made several trips to Ohio to record with members of the indie band Pomegranates, and the pristine, reverberant production on opening track “Feel Right” suggests that all those road trips paid off. The track is both moody and slick, giving Schmidt space to work in a nimble

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falsetto run. Son of the Pale Youth, “Age of Reason” Having grasped the brass ring of midlevel indie-rock fame with American Wrestlers — national tours, respected label, blog buzz — Gary McClure shelved that raucous quartet to make music of a nearly ascetic quality. Son of the Pale Youth began with just McClure’s high tenor voice and a clean electric guitar; successive recordings in 2019, which included local drummer Mic Boshans and McClure’s former bandmate Phil Kay, pushed into the avant-garde, but “Age of Reason” stems from his earliest iteration. The track illuminates McClure’s innate melodic gifts and the beauty that comes from leaving them unadorned. Thames, “Spotlight” The moody and atmospheric quintet Thames is old enough to have a few EPs under its belt and young enough to make dramatic shifts with each release. Its debut full-length Spotlight finds the band in a place where it is comfortable with rock dynamics but more eager to play with atypical rhythms and moody keyboards. On the title track, singer and guitarist Gabriel Jackson’s voice shows a sensitivity and guilelessness that helps sell some of the more emotionally loaded lyrics. Tonina,“Mercy” Tonina Saputo’s melting-pot approach to jazz, pop and R&B has taken her to a few European ports of call over the past few years, but 2019’s St. Lost is a nod to her hometown and a sampler of the many styles she encompasses. “Mercy” starts out simply, with a lilting waltz tempo and delicate acoustic guitar giving ample canvas for her ebband-flow delivery, but at the halfway point Saputo’s upright bass asserts itself with a nimble, off-kilter figure before David Gomez’s tenor saxophone takes flight.

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OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Pokey LaFarge. | THOMAS BALTES

Pokey LaFarge 8 p.m. Friday, December 27 and Saturday, December 28. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $25. 314-773-3363. Pokey LaFarge wasn’t featured in Ken Burns’ epoch-spanning Country Music series on PBS (the story ends around 1996, when LaFarge was thirteen), but he could have been. As Burns tells the tale, Jimmie Rodgers — and his sui generis fusion of blues, jazz and string-band sounds — was the pole star for every musician to follow him, and he is LaFarge’s musical hero as

THURSDAY 26

ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART’S MUSCLE THEORY: 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. EL MONSTERO: 8 p.m., $30-$40. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. MISTER MALONE: w/ Shots Fired, Ashwood 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. RUM DRUM RAMBLERS: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. SCHLAFLY BEER’S 28TH ANNIVERSARY: w/ The ed-Headed trangers p.m., free. chlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. SORRY PLEASE CONTINUE: A COMEDY STORYTELLING SHOW: w/ Kenny Kinds, Jeremy Hellwig 8 p.m., $5. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. STU ALLEN & MARS HOTEL: w/ Dino English, Brad Sarno, the Matching Shoe 8 p.m., $17-$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

FRIDAY 27

AS EARTH SHATTERS: w/ Defcon 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. EL MONSTERO: 8 p.m., $30-$40. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. IT COMES IN WAVES: w/ Tone Wolf, Slumm & Gutta, Never Go Quietly, Provoke The Colossus 7 p.m., $5-$8. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto

well. Like Rodgers, LaFarge writes songs that seem to have been around forever, and he delivers them with a voice that surges from a delicate croon to a bawdy moan, and, being no stranger to the punk metier, LaFarge adds his own distinctive howl and wild enthusiasm for the whole breadth and depth of American music. Homeward Bound: LaFarge has resided in Los Angeles for the last year and a half. St. Louis dates have been rare, and his end-of-the-year stand at Off Broadway has already sold out. —Roy Kasten

Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. JOE METZKA BAND: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. KATARRA: w/ Aviana and The Pure Root, Syna o ro 9 p.m., free. chlafly Tap oom, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. KIJANI ESHE: w/ Glued 8 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. MY POSSE IN EFFECT: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEASTIE BOYS: w/ Eazy Duz It, DJ Mahf 8 p.m., $15-$20. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. PHILLIPALOOZA 2019: 6 p.m., $15-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. PHOEBE ELLIOT: 8 p.m., $25-$30. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. POKEY LAFARGE: w/ Nick Africano 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. RIVER BEND BLUEGRASS BAND: 9:30 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. STRAWBERRY BUCKSHOT: w/ the KG Roberts Band, Frago, Just Maple 7:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. T.J. MULLER AND HIS MUSICAL COWBOYS: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. THREE PEDROS: 7 p.m., free. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. TOM HALL: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Bastard Squad. | VIA THE ARTIST

Bastard Squad Record Release 8 p.m. Saturday, December 28. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $10. 314-833-3929. It’s been a busy year for Donald Gene Brazel. In December 2018 he opened a record store, aptly name the Record Space, specializing in punk music and horror movies. In October that venture expanded to include the Record Label, launched as the home of Brazel’s hardcore punk act Bastard Squad. And this week, Bastard Squad releases its debut LP, a twelve-track affair of ripping, anthemic punk music from a group of scene veterans that includes

THIS JUST IN Continued from pg 45 TORREY CASEY & THE SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

SATURDAY 28

20/20 VISION: w/ Tezzyo, Alysha, Valencia 8:30 p.m., $8-$12. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. BASTARD SQUAD RECORD RELEASE: w/ Bassamp & Dano, Kristeen Young, Redbait, Brute Force 8 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. CEDRIC BURNSIDE PROJECT: 7 p.m., $15. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. CHAOS COLLECTIVE: w/ Karaoke After Party 8 p.m., $7. The Crack Fox, 1114 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-621-6900. DR. ZHIVEGAS – PLAYING THE MUSIC OF PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION: 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. EL MONSTERO: 8 p.m., $30-$150. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. JASON COOPER BAND: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. KAPOW!: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. KATIE MCGRATH: 8 p.m., $30-$35. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. LOBBY BOXER: w/ Origami Angel, Short Fictions, Young Animals, The Acid Flashback At Nightmare Beach 8 p.m., $10. Foam, 3359 Jefferson

members of Better Days, Twisted Media, Common Jones, Very Metal and Final Theory. Bastard Luck is an album worthy of that pedigree, filled with fast-paced four-chord calls to arms and denunciations of society’s ills, wrapping up with as punk a sentiment as any with the final track’s chorus: “We’re Bastard Squad, so fuck you all!” Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes, Cornflakes: Bastard Squad takes its name from the short-lived but massively influential British sitcom The Young Ones, whose 1982 to 1984 run brilliantly lampooned punk, mod, hippy and jock stereotypes through a ridiculously silly and anarchic lens. The show has since become a cult favorite. —Daniel Hill Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. MOUND CITY SLICKERS: w/ Boney Goat Band, Wayward ountaineers 9 p.m., free. chlafly Tap Room, 2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337. NEW YEAR’S WEEKEND COMEDY FESTIVAL: w/ Mike Epps, Gary Owen, Mark Curry, Tommy Davidson, HaHa Davis 8 p.m., TBA. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., St. Louis, 314-977-5000. PHILLIPALOOZA 2019: 6 p.m., $15-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. POKEY LAFARGE: w/ Nick Africano 8 p.m., $25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. ROSES! HANDS!: w/ Chris Moore, Jake’s Mistakes 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. RYAN KOENIG & THE GOLDENRODS: 8 p.m., $12$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. STEADY FLOW: w/ The Driftaways, Emerson Jade 8 p.m., $12/$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

SUNDAY 29

ANTICIPATION: PRE-NEW YEAR PARTY: w/ Laka 6 p.m., free. Angad Arts Hotel, 6550 Samuel Shepard Dr, St. Louis, 314-561-0033. BARBARA CARR BAND: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BOO BOO DAVIS & THE RENEGADES: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. FOAM’S FINAL SHOW: w/ Dubb Nubb, Banana Clips, Town Cars, Pono AM, Camp Counselor, Joss Barton, Dill Spears 7 p.m., $5. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. MOSAIC MUSICAL TRIO: 6 p.m., $20. The Focal

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Banana Clips. | MABEL SUEN

Foam’s Last Show 7 p.m. Sunday, December 29. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Avenue. $5. 314-772-2100. Foam was a few different things before it settled into its role as a music venue: It was a coffee shop, a corner pub and an important landmark at the entrance to Cherokee Street when that neighborhood was in the early throes of its revitalization. But Foam’s booking policy, shepherded by owner Mic Boshans and actualized by Sinkhole proprietor Matt Stuttler, meant that its barely elevated

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 47

Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. ROCKY & THE WRANGLERS: 4 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. A VERY SOLID CARD: w/ MVP, Chef Trez, B Magic, Math Hoffa 6:30 p.m., $50-$75. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. WILLIAM ELLIOT WHITMORE: 8 p.m., $18-$30. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

MONDAY 30

KELLER & THE KEELS: 8 p.m., $40-$85. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. MUSIC UNLIMITED BAND: 9 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THIRD SIGHT BAND: 5 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

TUESDAY 31

9TH ANNUAL NYE FRIENDS & FAMILY: 6 p.m., $123-$183. Hilton St. Louis Frontenac, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Frontenac, 314-993-1100. AUDIEN: 9 p.m., $25. Ameristar Casino, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-949-7777. BLANK SPACE’S 8TH ANNUAL FREE YEARS EVE: w/ DJ Limewire Prime, DJ Tomas 8 p.m., free. Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee St., St. Louis. DAVE & THEM: 8:30 p.m., $10. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. FUNKY BUTT NEW YEAR’S EVE: 10 p.m., $15. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. KELLER WILLIAMS’ GRATEFUL GRASS: w/ The HillBenders 9 p.m., $60-$85. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. KINGDOM BROTHERS BAND: 7 p.m., $20. BB’s

stage hosted any number of local and touring acts, ranging from folk to spoken word to avant-garde. The fact that many shows had a tip jar instead of a cover charge may have foretold the bad news of the venue’s closing, but we prefer to think of it as an egalitarian arrangement that ran its course. A year-ending, venueending show feels like the right way to send Foam off into the great blue yonder. Locals only: Dubb Nubb, Banana Clips, Town Cars, Pono AM and a few more are expected to take the stage one last time. —Christian Schaeffer

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 11 p.m., $20. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314436-5222. THE MIGHTY PINES: w ne ay Traffic 9 p.m., $20-$25. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. NIGHTCHASER PRESENTS TIMECHASER NEW YEARS EVE: w/ Aaron Kamm and the One Drops, Mvstermind, MC Scrub, Jesse Gannon, Sample ulture, taqq verflo and Haptoclone, Mahf, 18andCounting, Alexis Tucci, Mark Lewis, Steve Tuohy, Atomix and the Vokalist, Doum and B-Wise, Crate2Crate, Josh Sedivy 8 p.m., $35-$50. 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Center, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis, 314-276-2700. NYE BOOZER’S BALL: w/ DJ Uptown 7 p.m., free. Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. ROARING ‘20S NEW YEAR’S EVE PART: 8 p.m., free. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. THE SAMPLES: 8:30 p.m., $125. Blue Strawberry Showroom & Lounge, 364 N Boyle Ave, St. Louis, 314-256-1745. VOODOO GRATEFUL DEAD NEW YEAR’S EVE: w/ Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players 9 p.m., $15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

THIS JUST IN AUDIEN: Tue., Dec. 31, 9 p.m., $25. Ameristar Casino, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-949-7777. BARBARA CARR BAND: Sun., Dec. 29, 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BETH BOMBARA AND FRIENDS: Fri., Jan. 31, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778.

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December 24 and 25

Wednesday Jan. 1

closed Merry Christmas

Closed Happy New Year

Thursday Dec. 26 9Pm

FRiday Jan. 3 10PM

Jackson Stokes Band

Clusterpluck

Friday DEc. 27 10PM

Saturday Jan 4 10PM

Grassfed and One Way Traffic Saturday Dec. 28 10PM

Jeremiah Johnson Band with Special Guest Amanda Fish Sunday Dec. 29 8PM

Blues, Soul and Pop Diva Kim Massie Tuesday Dec. 31 10PM

NYE with Funky Butt Brass Band

Odd’s Lane

Sunday Jan. 5 8PM

Blues, Soul and Pop Diva Kim Massie Monday Jan. 6 9PM

Soulard Blues Band

The Longest Running Blues Jam in America Tuesday Jan. 7 9PM

Steve Bauer and Matt Rudolph FREE SHOW

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FIND THE PERFECT GIFT! RIFLES & SHOTGUNS

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HAND GUNS

SAFES & KNIVES

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 49

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: Thu., Dec. 26, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. 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. BLANK SPACE’S 8TH ANNUAL FREE YEARS EVE: W/ DJ Limewire Prime, DJ Tomas, Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., free. Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee St., St. Louis. THE BLUE EYED BETTYS: Thu., Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. BOB BOVEE: Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. BOO BOO DAVIS & THE RENEGADES: Sun., Dec. 29, 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BOTTLESNAKES: Sat., Jan. 11, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. BRASKY: W/ Grave Neighbors, Stoker, Fri., Jan. 31, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. CALIGULA’S HORSE: Tue., June 16, 8:30 p.m. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. CASKEY: W/ 86Family, Peterillo, Spotlite, Hvrtboy, #Itsrep, Thu., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., $20$25. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. CEDRIC BURNSIDE PROJECT: Sat., Dec. 28, 7 p.m., $15. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. DRAGONFORCE: W/ Unleash The Archer, Sat., March 14, 9 p.m., $23. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. FIDDLIN’ SAM AND THE GOLDEN BOLO BAND: Fri., Jan. 24, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. FROST NIGHT 2020: W/ Luxurii, Del Broadway, J- Rebel, Brodie 8500, T Mali, Yung Sauc33, Coljac YSD, Denny, $tu, Sat., Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. FUNKY BUTT NEW YEAR’S EVE: Tue., Dec. 31, 10 p.m., $15. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. GLORIA ATTOUN: Fri., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. GOLDEN SHOVELS: W/ Willi Carlisle, Sun., Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. GRADUATING LIFE: W/ King of Heck, Wed., March 11, 8 p.m., $13. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. HEADBANGERS HAIRBALL: Sat., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., $10-$100. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. THE ILL-MO BOYS: W/ Rum Drum Ramblers, Sat., Feb. 8, 8 p.m., $25. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. JACK GRELLE’S THIRD ANNUAL EVENING OF SONG: Fri., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. THE JAG-WIRES: W/ the Gasps, Jesus Christ Supercar, Giant in the Sky, Sat., Feb. 1, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. JASON COOPER BAND: Sat., Dec. 28, 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JENNA & MARTIN: W/ Cree Rider, Fri., Jan. 10, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. JOE METZKA BAND: Fri., Dec. 27, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JOHN CALVIN ABNEY: Sat., Feb. 22, 8 p.m., $15$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. JORDAN BAUMSTARK: W/ Loogey, Jerei, Brock Seals, Jack Spears, Lil Ana, Chris Cannibal, Kamikaze Cole, Narco Flash, Sat., Jan. 11, 8:30

p.m., $8-$12. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. KELTIC REIGN: W/ Lore, Fri., Jan. 3, 8 p.m., $12-$15. W/ Lore, Sat., Jan. 4, 1 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. KINGDOM BROTHERS BAND: Tue., Dec. 31, 7 p.m., $20. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: Tue., Dec. 31, 11 p.m., $20. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LOW WATERMARK FOR GHOSTS RELEASE SHOW: W/ the Potomac Accord, MotherFather, Sat., Jan. 18, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. LUNASA: Wed., Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m., $30-$35. Thu., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., $30-$35. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. MISSOURI BREAKS: Fri., Jan. 17, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. MOSAIC MUSICAL TRIO: Sun., Dec. 29, 6 p.m., $20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. MUSIC UNLIMITED BAND: Mon., Dec. 30, 9 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. PAUL BROCK BAND: Sun., Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. ROAD TO POINTFEST 2020: W/ Deadgnat, Hosteen and the Aztechs, Casey Bazzell, Point Elm, The Broken Kingdom, By Will Or Fate, Sat., Jan. 4, 7 p.m., $6-$8. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. ROARING ‘20S NEW YEAR’S EVE PART: Tue., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., free. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. ROCKY & THE WRANGLERS: Sun., Dec. 29, 4 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. RYAN KOENIG & THE GOLDENRODS: Sat., Dec. 28, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. SLEEP ON IT: Fri., March 27, 7:30 p.m., Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SONGBIRD CAFE: Wed., Jan. 22, 7:30 p.m., $18$23. Wed., Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m., $20-$25. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. SUBHUMANS: W/ All Torn Up, Thu., April 9, 8 p.m., $15-$20. Red Flag, 3040 Locust Street, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SWITCHBACK ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: Sat., Feb. 15, 8 p.m., $25-$30. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. T.J. MULLER AND HIS MUSICAL COWBOYS: Fri., Dec. 27, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. T.J. MULLER’S VALENTINES DAY SHOW: Fri., Feb. 14, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. THE HOT CLUB OF ST. LOUIS: Fri., Feb. 21, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. THIRD SIGHT BAND: Mon., Dec. 30, 5 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THY ART IS MURDER: Thu., April 9, 6:30 p.m., $20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. TIM GRIMM & BEN BEDFORD: Sun., Jan. 26, 2 p.m., $15-$20. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. TOM HALL: Fri., Dec. 27, 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. TOMMY HALLORAN: Sat., Feb. 1, 8 p.m., $10-$15. Sat., Feb. 1, 8 p.m., $10-$15. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. TORREY CASEY & THE SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: Fri., Dec. 27, 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. UNIMAGINED FAREWELL SHOW: W/ Morose, Broken Youth, Misery Loves Company, Luxora, It Comes in Waves, Sat., Feb. 1, 6:30 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. VULTURE CULTURE: W/ Hazebond, Crystal Lady, Fri., Jan. 24, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. n

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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SAVAGE LOVE OPEN ENDED BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a mid-20s cis straight man. After my girlfriend and I finished college, she moved overseas to start her job. We’ve broken up twice and gotten back together twice. We are interested in opening up our relationship, but I have reservations. She wants the freedom to throw herself into her new world without the constraint of having to shut down non-platonic sparks. My girlfriend has brought up marriage several times. While she admits she doesn’t have a good track record with monogamy, she insists marriage will change that. Another concern: The last time she was in an open relationship, she cheated on her then-boyfriend with me. “No exes” was one of their rules, and I was her ex at the time. (I didn’t know she was with someone else.) Another wrinkle: When I confided in her recently that I had developed romantic feelings for another person, she asked me to choose between her and them, and so I aborted this burgeoning connection. That felt unfair, seeing as she wants her freedom. She is also bisexual and wants to have experiences with women. I would be fine with her hooking up with women, but it makes me sick to my stomach to think about her with other men. She would be willing to put her desire for experiences with other women to the side in order to be with me, she says, once we are married. I would love to hear your thoughts on these things: (1) Whether we should open our relationship. (2) My male/ female hookup distinction. (3) How to move forward if your partner is unsure whether they are built for monogamy but nonetheless wants to settle down in a married, monogamous relationship. Onto Processing Entirely New Situation 1. Don’t open it. End it. It’s time to put this dumb, messy, past-its-expiration-date shitshow of a relationship behind you. Would knowing your girlfriend is already fucking other people help you do that? Because your girlfriend is almost certainly fucking other people.

Already. Because when someone with a shitty track record where monogamy and nonmonogamy are concerned asks their partner for an open relationship while at the same time demanding their partner “abort” any potential “nonplatonic” friendships they might have ... yeah, that motherfucker is already fucking other people. They just don’t want to give their partner the same freedom they’ve already seized for themselves. 2. It seems like a silly distinction to me, OPENS, one that comes from a place of insecurity. (And a “no other dick” rule would make most gay open relationships impossible.) But sometimes, working with your partner’s insecurities — accepting them, not fighting them — is the key to a successful open relationship. And since many bisexuals in monogamous oppositesex relationships often ask to open the relationship because they want to act on their same-sex attractions or, indeed, have their first samesex encounter), keeping outside se same-se at least at first — isn’t an entirely unreasonable request. But this is irrelevant in your case, since your girlfriend is already fucking anyone she wants. 3. Your soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend is hilarious. People who are bad at monogamy don’t get better at it once they’re married. If anything, people who were good at monogamy tend to get worse at it the longer they’re married. If your soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend isn’t bullshitting, if she isn’t bringing up marriage and monogamy to complicate and extend your conversations about opening up this doomed relationship, then she’s deluded. And if your girlfriend cheats because she gets off on risk, danger, or deception, getting married — which would obviously make cheating riskier and more dangerous — could make cheating more appealing to her, not less. Hey, Dan: I’m a bisexual man married to the most beautiful trans woman. I can’t keep my hands off her. But why can’t I fuck her anally like we both want? I can’t seem to push past the gates, which sends a signal to my brain that I’m doing something wrong, which make me Mr. Softee. Every other thing we do in bed is smooth as silk. Help! Limp Isn’t My Preference

Your soon-to-beex-girlfriend is hilarious. People who are bad at monogamy don’t get better at it once they’re married. I’d have to see video to guess at what might be wrong — not an ask, LIMP, don’t send video — but it never hurts to use more lube, engage in more anal foreplay, and sometimes do butt stuff without even attempting anal intercourse. And when you do go for it, maybe instead of you trying to fuck her/ push past the gates, LIMP, you could lie still and let her take charge. In other words: Don’t fuck her with your dick, let her fuck herself with your dick. Hey, Dan: I’m a twentysomething bi man in a loving relationship of three years with a straight woman. Last year, we opened up our relationship. At the beginning, we set some ground rules. One of her rules was that I could get together only with women, no men. It bothered me at the time, but it was the only way she would be okay opening up, so I didn’t press her on it. Fast-forward to a couple days ago, when I brought it up again. She eventually admitted she’s afraid I will leave her for a man and that’s why the idea of me being with other men makes her uncomfortable. She knows these are stereotypes, but she says she can’t get over it. I ended that night angry and hurt. Now I don’t know what to do. To be honest, if we weren’t in an open relationship, I wouldn’t be bothered by the fact that I can’t be sexual with men. But now that I know she is not okay with me doing so because of these bi stereotypes, it drives me nuts. I’m not going to end our relationship over this, but how can I get her to understand my bisexuality is not a threat? Bye-Bye Bisexuality? “BBB obviously isn’t going to leave his girlfriend for the first man he sleeps with,” said Zachary Zane,

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a bise ual influencer and a se writer for Men’s Health. “All bisexual men are not secretly gay. But this is a lie — a vicious stereotype — that BBB’s girlfriend has heard countless times. So even though she knows this logically, she still can’t shake that concern. Fear often isn’t rational and it can override logic. She’s simply insecure.” And while accommodating a partner’s irrational insecurity is sometimes the price we have to pay to make an open relationship work, accommodating your partner’s insecurity — one so clearly rooted in biphobia — isn’t going to be sustainable over time. You’re already angry and hurt, BBB, and you’re going to get more upset with every dick you have to pass up. So what do you do? “The key to helping BBB’s girlfriend understand that his bisexuality isn’t a threat is for him to reassure her often that he’s not going to leave her for a man,” said Zane, “and to tell her and show her how much he loves her. He might also ask if there’s a way she’d feel more comfortable allowing him to be sexual with a man. Maybe they have a threesome. Maybe she prefers that it be someone she knows, or someone she doesn’t know. There’s a lot to discuss.” But eventually, for your own sanity, you’re going to have to insist that your girlfriend get over her biphobia. She can’t just throw up her hands and say, “I can’t help it!” “Perhaps I’m giving BBB’s girlfriend too much credit, but it sounds to me like she’ll come around in time,” said Zane. “And while BBB is angry — and validly so — the anger shouldn’t be placed on his girlfriend. It should be placed on a society that has ingrained in her the belief that bisexuality isn’t valid and that bi men will always leave their wives/ girlfriends for another man if given the opportunity.” And if she never comes around, BBB, then you can show her how silly and irrational her fears were by leaving her for another woman. Follow Zachary Zane on Twitter @ZacharyZane_. Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter humpfilmfest.com

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

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DECEMBER 25-31, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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