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APRIL 10-16, 2019 I VOLUME 43 I NUMBER 14

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Skip Viragh Center for the Arts, Chaminade 425 S. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63131 The Philharmonic’s own John Thomas takes the spotlight as composer with the local première of his first symphony. Afterwards, the orchestra performs colorful classical masterpieces made popular in the films Amadeus, Caligula, and Ice Age.

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“St. Louis seemed like a really big city when I moved here. Then I figured out that it’s a big city, but it’s not a huge city. It also has a huge amount of diversity in people and music, which makes it really cool. I’m going to miss St. Louis so badly. It’s been so great, man!” SAXOPHONIST DAVE STONE, PHOTOGRAPHED AT MANGIA ON APRIL 5 DURING ONE OF HIS LAST GIGS BEFORE A PLANNED MOVE TO OREGON riverfronttimes.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Sarah Fenske

E D I T O R I A L Arts & Culture Editor Paul Friswold Music Editor Daniel Hill Digital Editor Jaime Lees Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Columnist Ray Hartmann Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Thomas Crone, Jenn DeRose, Mike Fitzgerald, Sara Graham, MaryAnn Johanson, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Lauren Milford, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer Proofreader Evie Hemphill Editorial Interns Ryan Gines, Chelsea Neuling, Benjamin Simon

COVER Balancing Act Austin Calzada’s unicycle brought him fame — and freedom

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

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HARTMANN Resistance Is Not Futile Representative Dean Plocher has a plan to beat Better Together — and it just might work BY RAY HARTMANN

hen it comes to forcing a shotgun merger-wedding on St. Louis city and county, Better Together (BT) swears by three organizing principles. First, that the residents of the city and county cannot be trusted to improve their own governance. Second, that the only way to correct this deficiency is to impose BT’s superior vision on those residents through a statewide vote to amend the state constitution. And

third, that the 4.8 million Missourians who reside in neither city nor county are pliable. All three pearls of wisdom — carved onto sacred tablets descended from the top of Mount Rex — may this week receive the beginnings of a blasphemous challenge from the state legislature. Most foreboding is HJR 54, a measure introduced by Representative Dean Plocher (R-Des Peres) that would beat BT to its statewide electoral punch. Plocher is proposing a constitutional amendment of his own, one that throws down for the seemingly obvious principle that citizens in places like St. Louis should not have new governance structures in icted upon them by those who live elsewhere. It reads: “No ballot measure that would dissolve any city or county or merge any city or county with another city or county shall go into effect unless the ballot measure is approved by a majority of the votes cast on the measure in each

affected city or county.” The measure also provides that if another constitutional amendment — such as BT’s — is on the ballot concurrently with Plocher’s, the local-approval requirement would apply to it. That means BT’s plan would need to earn a “yes” vote from residents of both the city and county (although not each municipality within the county). On Monday, HJR 54 was voted out of the House General Laws Committee, which Plocher chairs, so it’s moving toward a full vote of the chamber. That’s still a long way from Senate approval, but Plocher tells me he’s optimistic that “we can get this across the finish line.” He’ll have plenty of folks in St. Louis rooting for him. A recent Missouri Scout poll revealed the depth of resentment for the BT plan among county residents, who currently oppose it by a whopping 65 to 21 percent margin. Republicans are against it by an even more eye-popping 80 to 13 percent spread, with

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Democrats opposed 52 to 29 percent. The poll, taken April 3 and 4 among 1,106 likely 2020 generalelection voters, had a three percent margin of error. Those numbers drive home the essential point that BT is attempting to use the statewide ballot to thwart the will of the people in St. Louis. But Plocher’s proposal isn’t just about BT. It’s about the broad principle that no county in Missouri should be forced into merging with another by outsiders. Non-St. Louis voters across Missouri are not stupid: They realize their state has a financial stake in St. Louis’ success. And if BT can use Sinquefield’s money and its own fuzzy math to make this a onesided argument about economics — and not principle — they have a good chance to convince voters that they’ll be saving their own pocketbooks with a merger vote. If I was devising a campaign to sell Missourians on the localvote requirement, it would have a

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simple motto: “You could be next.” Still, it’s not clear whether the opposition has enough resources to get out such a message effectively. For now, at least, it’s all about the legislative process. And Plocher has an uphill fight. Sinquefield contributes handsomely to campaigns of elected o cials in Jefferson City on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers. Many of them can be expected to push back, by happy coincidence, on any measure that would jeopardize his cause of the moment. The Senate is probably more likely to resist Plocher’s effort than the House. A measure similar to Plocher’s has been gamely advanced by Senator Jamilah Nasheed (DSt. Louis) — but my sources say it’s less likely to advance because, well, she’s a Democrat. Nasheed disagrees with that assessment, arguing that she has gotten other bills passed. Regardless, Nasheed typically minces no words as to her intent to derail BT’s plan: “I’m adamantly opposed to this because it’s not democracy, and it’s definitely going to dilute black representation.” Both are true. But unless and until Democrats can diminish Republican’s mega-majority stranglehold in the capitol, the GOP won’t permit even the appearance of Democratic success on a major issue like BT’s proposal. Like it or not, this is a job for Republicans, and a tough one at that. (It’s ominous that no Senate Republican is pushing the way Plocher has in the House.) Plocher offers the most promising chance. He’s a reasonable Republican — my phrase, not his — and though for many of us that’s sadly as oxymoronic as “jumbo shrimp,” “guest host” and “civic progress,” the fact remains that BT’s measure can only be stopped in the legislature if Republicans are willing to back up their traditional “local control” rhetoric with action. “I filed this because it’s the right thing to do,” Plocher says. “It’s the process that I’m taking a position on. The will of the people matters most, and we have long stood up to say that the will of the people and the right to self-determination mean something. Having our government structure imposed upon us from outside is not the sort of democracy I want to live in.” Plocher alludes to another key strategic point: “This view should be equal between rural and urban

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Like it or not, this is a job for Republicans, and a tough one at that. voters. What’s going to happen when we in the big cities want to impose our will on smaller counties and force them to consolidate? They might be thinking about that.” Even so, Plocher has not o cially signed on to the anti-BT resistance. “I commend Better Together for putting all this time and effort into discussion that I think the region needs to have,” Plocher says. “They’ve already shown a willingness to listen to others and make changes to their proposals. At this point, I’m neutral on their plan. I’m open to some form of merger, and I respect them for what they’re trying to do.” Ironically, with such “reasonable Republican” commentary on the merger plan, the guy who may pose the biggest threat to BT understates the passion of his own constituents. Plocher, who lives in Des Peres, represents an 89th District that includes all or part of irkwood, hesterfield, rontenac, Town & Country and his own hometown. Based on both anecdote and the rhetoric coming from mayors and other elected representatives, those areas appear to be a hotbed of anti-BT resistance. The electoral reality, however, is that wide opposition in the St. Louis area — evidenced by the Missouri Scout poll — can be overcome with a much smaller margin of “yes” votes for the BT plan among non-St. Louisans. They outnumber city and county residents nearly four to one, yet have no reason to care about a city-county merger even as they hold the power to force it. Especially with a guy spending $20 million or more to prey upon their disinterest. That’s why it’s important to get a principled measure like Plocher’s on the Missouri ballot next year, one that makes this about the selfdetermination rights not just of St. Louis, but of all residents of Missouri. They might not be so pliable then. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977 and recently returned to these pages as a columnist. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or follow him on Twitter at @rayhartmann.

NEWS

Former P-D Columnist Is Content at Last Written by

BENJAMIN SIMON

ylvester Brown Jr. remembers the first day he walked into the brick, box-shaped building on North Tucker Avenue. It towered over the street, proudly proclaiming the words “St. Louis Post- ispatch” in black lettering. Brown can still see the marble wall that greeted him as he opened the doors. He can still see the Joseph Pulitzer quote displayed on it. The memory brings a soft smile to Brown’s face. The good old days. In , Brown was hired as a metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Twenty-five years before, Brown didn’t even read or write on a regular basis. In fact, he had dropped out of high school. He had attended community college, with the intention of studying art and becoming a cartoonist. He had started a makeshift magazine so he could practice his newfound interest in writing. Hell, if it weren’t for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, a text he read in community college, and the first he had ever encountered with a black protagonist, who knows where he would have ended up. When Brown was a boy, with his father in and out of the picture, his mom working multiple jobs and the house packed with eleven kids, Brown would wander around St. Louis, daydreaming. “I saw myself driving the nice cars, being on the billboards, having all of those nice products. reaming was my way out, my escape,” Brown says. And now he had escaped. Sylvester Brown was at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “This is cool,” Brown remembers thinking when he walked through the front doors. “I am a part of real, legitimate media. “But it was only cool for a moment.”

Sylvester Brown Jr. has found purpose with his Sweet Potato Project. He also recently published his first book, When We Listen. | BENJAMIN SIMON

en years after he left the P-D, Brown, , is in his secondoor apartment in ld North. espite the -degree day, the street is empty, and the block has its fair share of the green grass of vacant lots. The front of the apartment building is painted a warm blue. n one of the three steps leading up to the building is the word “smile.” The display was painted by a local artist, Jamaica Ray, who lives in the same apartment complex. The color livens the block. It is also Brown’s way of putting his money where his mouth is. He believes in “do-for-self” economics, a concept that emphasizes maintaining a community without the help of outside sources. He shares the idea with the kids at his Sweet Potato Project. Brown created the project in , helping local students use local vacant lots to grow their own sweet potatoes in the summer. They then use them to bake cookies, which they sell to buyers in the fall and winter. He regularly draws applicants for each year’s twenty spots. But the sad reality is that if it weren’t for his time and his fallout with the Post-Dispatch, the Sweet Potato Project may never have come to fruition.

or fifteen years before Brown came to the daily, he developed what he calls a homegrown “African American investigative magazine,” Take Five Magazine, with the help of his then-wife and their friend Jabari Asim. But when their minimal revenue stream forced them out of business, Brown got a call from the Post-Dispatch. They were looking for someone different than longtime black columnist regory reeman. Without traditional journalism experience, Brown couldn’t believe he was qualified. “As it turns out, they were looking for someone who wasn’t like reg. reg was very affable, people liked him, he was a middle-of-the-road guy. But they told me they wanted someone who was going to dig and explore the whole race issue,” Brown says. This was the “cool” phase. The Post-Dispatch provided him with space to share his thoughts. Readers were attracted to his argumentative and thought-provoking style. “The most important thing that people said to me was, I didn’t always agree with you, but I learned from you,’” Brown says. He secured a house in south St. Louis. He enrolled his two daughters in private school. He bought cars for

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both himself and his wife. Then, in , Iowa-based Lee Enterprises bought the Post-Dispatch, and the good times came to an end. “It seemed to me that their shift was less controversy. Less confrontation. Less con ict. Let’s just be nice,” Brown says. “I was on the mayor’s ass. They would bend over backwards to accommodate him, to the point they were trying to send my columns to him for approval first. That’s not journalism.” Brown specifically remembers the paper trying to “appease those redstate readers” in the county. Brown came home disgruntled, exhausted from all of the tension. “It was like torture. I felt like a boy ... my stomach would hurt. I felt compromised. I felt less than.” Brown chafed at the direction from the paper’s new owners. “It became clear that I wasn’t that Negro. I wasn’t the guy that was going to smile and be happy to be there ... the management had no respect for not only the black readers, but for black employees. That really started to eat me up inside.” But Brown stuck with it. “I got national recognition,” he says. “At the Post-Dispatch I realized how journalism can change events.”

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SYLVESTER BROWN Continued from pg 9

He remembers writing about a woman who needed a kidney. It wasn’t much longer before she received one. “I recognized the power of working for a major newspaper.” Brown toughed it out until , when he wrote a story about a group of East St. Louis ministers and their trip to Washington, . . Brown covered the leaders’ effort to garner funds from . . lawmakers for their sustainable energy project. He says he was in . . for another press conference at the time of the ministers’ trip, working on a book project. But when another Post-Dispatch staffer saw him, that person phoned their boss. When Brown arrived at the o ce the next day, they told him to pack his stuff. He had violated the newspaper’s ethics policy, they claimed. The newspaper believed that the ministers had compensated Brown for writing the story on them, which Brown insists to this day was not the case. “This trip was for my own edification, my own project,” he says. “It had nothing to do with the PostDispatch. If I came home with a glowing column about what they were doing in . ., then they had me dead to rights. It would have been a con ict of interest. But I didn’t. I was writing about something totally different.” Asked about Brown’s time at the P-D and his departure, the newspaper’s spokeswoman, Tracy Rouch, refers the RFT to a “note to readers” published April , , which she says still summarizes its stance. It reads “Sylvester Brown Jr. is no longer writing a column for the Post-Dispatch. Brown accepted the offer of a free trip to Washington from supporters of a group that he had written about in a column the day before. The column, Metro East leaders head to . . to tout EMacrosystem,’ ran on March . Brown also had not notified his editors of his trip or the offer. ur integrity and our credibility with readers is of utmost importance to us. ur ethics policy clearly states the parameters regarding con ict of interest, and what our journalists can and cannot do. “Brown declined an opportunity to write a farewell column.” Brown says the newspaper offered to keep quiet about the situation. Brown thought about it, but decided he didn’t want to go out that way. Instead, he called a press conference, announcing his

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Sylvester Brown is at home in Old North, not far from where he grew up as one of eleven kids. | BENJAMIN SIMON resignation. “I think I walked out with my head up. I felt liberated,” Brown remembers. He landed on his feet, working with national talk show host Tavis Smiley at his publishing company. But the job was on and off and money was scarce again. Brown’s wife worried. “ ou need to get yourself another real job,” he says she told him. A year after he left the paper, they separated. Two years after that, he lost the house. “Everything was gone... it was like ground zero for me,” Brown remembers. “There were times when I was like, Sylvester, you really screwed up, you set yourself back.’” It wasn’t much longer before Brown returned to his old stomping grounds of north St. Louis, the same neighborhood where he used to wander and daydream, the same streets where he says his father was beaten by police o cers. Through Smiley, he met “prominent black thinkers” like Louis arrakhan, Al Sharpton, ornel West and Eric Michael yson. Brown’s interactions with them made him realize that he wanted to help kids in his community. He learned about Barack bama’s Healthy ood inancing Initiative, which brought more nutritious food options to disadvantaged areas. That’s when the idea for the Sweet Potato Project popped into his head. He had never grown anything before, but he knew sweet potatoes were tasty

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Ever since he read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Brown has been interested in “do-for-self” economics. Now he had a chance to implement it. and easy to grow. Why not let the kids grow and sell these healthy vegetables Ever since he read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Brown has been interested in “do-for-self” economics. Now he had a chance to implement it. Through the Healthy ood inancing Initiative, he could get the funding to teach these kids valuable skills about agriculture and business. All they would need were vacant lots, a space to grow. And north city has that in volume. “I want kids to wake up knowing that the food from their mother’s garden is at the grocery store, at the gas station. That we can go to the grocery store and have our own label like el Monte or

lory foods. It’s those little things that will solidify the idea that we can control our own destinies,” Brown says. He began the program in , raising money himself. The project is not a registered nonprofit, but can accept donations through the North Area ommunity evelopment orporation. The tenweek program starts in the summer students spend four days a week with Brown. It’s during this time that they start planting the sweet potatoes, circling back in the fall and winter to sell the cookies. The program became so popular that he had to start an application process. Brown looked for students not with the best grades or cleanest disciplinary record but those who truly wanted to engage with their community. That’s because the students aren’t simply growing plants and shipping them. They’re writing, reading, talking and analyzing the world around them. Brown has students bring newspaper clippings to class, where they share and discuss their findings. He also takes them on “neighborhood walks,” where they write about what they see. They even travel outside of north city to places like the entral West End. He wants them to articulate on paper how the two worlds compare and contrast. “Writing is part of the job. If you don’t do the assignment, you don’t get paid. I dock you,” Brown says.

Students are expected to show up on time. They are expected to do all of their work. It’s not for a grade, it’s for real money. The former newspaper columnist has found that he still has a lot to learn. “At one point I would have called myself the teacher. At one point I would have said employer. But it turns out I am the student,” Brown says. “I didn’t expect to be. What I hope to be is a validation. To make them feel validated.” Not long after starting the project, he decided to document it. That has led to his first book, When We Listen, another way for Brown to secure funding for the program. In the self-published volume, Brown uses his own experiences running the program to critique how community organizers must rethink their work

with kids. “I just hope I’m some kind of example, man,” Brown says. “Because, again, high school dropout, raised in poverty, got involved with drugs and the fast life, but yet, I found some value.”

fter an interview, it’s time to take a photo. The thing is, there are too many good spots. There’s the mural of America he painted on his living-room wall one year ago. There’s the picture of Malcolm X, watching over Brown’s desk. There is the certificate from Washington University, there’s the framed photo of the first issue of Take Five Magazine, there are the endless photos of his children, there are the fresh plants sprouting throughout the room. He settles for multiple photos. After that’s completed, Brown stands on the wooden porch, en-

Brown’s book considers how community organizers interact with kids. | COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

joying the spring weather and admiring the backyard. Staring right back is a mural, painted on the side of the connected building, featuring a bright-colored collage of St. Louis residents, history and structures. This one is also by Jamaica Ray. “Eclectic. Unique,” Brown says about the mural. “It tells the stories of St. Louis.” To the side of the mural is a bed of dirt, with a few brown sticks popping up from the ground — the stems of Brown’s personal sweet potato garden. It looks bleak on this March day, but the energy of the mural makes up for it. This is clearly not the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. There are no marble walls, no quotes from Joseph Pulitzer. But Brown is content. He is still writing, he is still drawing, and now he has his sweet potatoes. n

A widely circulated image shows six young men, now dead, who had ties to protests in Ferguson. | VIA FACEBOOK

Ferguson Conspiracy Theory Won’t Die Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

he theory that some person or group is responsible for an alarming number of deaths involving Ferguson activists is nearly as old as the Ferguson movement itself. In the years since crowds took to the streets of the north-county suburb to protest the police shooting of Michael Brown, unsolved homicides and suicides have pushed the story to the surface again and again. And while it’s one thing for those theories to swirl around Facebook, or even to appear in popular niche national outlets like the Root, last month the Associated Press got in on the story. Its March 17 story, “A puzzling number of men tied to Ferguson protests have died,” was immediately republished and repackaged in local papers across the country, as AP stories tend to be. Many

outlets ran versions of the story under its given headline, but others saw fit to subtly alter the story’s operative adjective: The deaths that were first “puzzling” became “suspicious,” “mysterious,” “strange” and “sinister.” The AP itself issued a clarification on the story on March 21 — amending its own headline to “Activists unnerved by deaths of men tied to Ferguson protests.” But the story had already dumped gallons of fuel on a fire of speculation. It demonstrated just how compelling the conspiracy theory remains, no matter how many times its particulars fail to show evidence of a pattern. “Two young men were found dead inside torched cars,” the AP’s Jim Salter began the story. “Three others died of apparent suicides. Another collapsed on a bus, his death ruled an overdose.” Those six deaths serve as the foundation of a story whose central point was countered within the story itself — police told the AP that the deaths are not related to the Ferguson protests; no specific evidence was presented that suggested otherwise. And yet, Salter writes, the deaths generated “attention on social media and speculation in the activist community that

something sinister was at play.” That speculation only grew on social media in late March. Images showing the six young black men named in the AP story were shared thousands of times. The AP story includes quotes former U.S. Senate candidate Cori Bush, a protest organizer who suspects white supremacists or police sympathizers of orchestrating various acts of harassment, including running her car off the road, vandalizing her home and shooting a bullet into her car. “Something is going on,” Bush says in the AP story. “I’ve been vocal about the things that I’ve experienced and still experience — the harassment, the intimidation, the death threats, the death attempts.” So what is really going on? On March 29, that question was given its most deeply reported evaluation to date, courtesy of the radio program This American Life. It sent the New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb to investigate the story, but rather than go deeper down the AP’s path of suggestion, Cobb’s reporting focused on activists caught up in the conspiracy mindset. The segment, “Show Me State of Mind,” raised familiar critiques of the

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theory that the deaths of the six young black men are related. For instance, Deandre Joshua, 20, was in fact found shot in a burned car on the night of a grand jury’s decision not to indict the Ferguson officer who had killed Michael Brown — but, according to Joshua’s parents, their son had never attended a protest. He wasn’t, as rumors have claimed, a grand jury witness, much less one who had been murdered to ensure his silence. Other cases in the AP story present equally murky reasons for being “related” to Ferguson. MarShawn McCarrel, 23, is described by the AP as having been “active in Ferguson,” but his death came by suicide in 2016 and took place on the steps of the Ohio statehouse. In This American Life, Cobb delves into Joshua’s death, but he notes that the more recent deaths, involving protesters with much clearer connections to Ferguson, have made the theory much harder to ignore. There was Edward Crawford, 27, arguably the most visible Ferguson protester — he was the subject of an instantly iconic photograph showing him throwing a teargas canister back at police — who died of Continued on pg 12

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CONSPIRACY THEORY Continued from pg 11

a self-inflicted gunshot in May 2017. At the time, Crawford’s father maintained his son’s death was an accident, not suicide. But that didn’t stop news of Crawford’s demise from reviving that familiar question — what is really going on? “It is now not coincidental,” tweeted then-Missouri Senator Maria ChappelleNadal after Crawford’s death. “There is a murderer targeting activists from #Ferguson. #WeAreNotInvisible #Resist.” However, it was the 2018 death of Danye Jones that gave the conspiracy theory its biggest push into the spotlight. Jones, the son of prominent protest organizer Melissa McKinnies, was discovered dead in October, hanging from a tree in his mother’s backyard in Spanish Lake. In this case, the suggestion that Jones’ death was something other than a suicide (as police investigators have insisted) came not from social media, but McKinnies herself, who wrote on Facebook, “They lynched my baby.” Even so, for This American Life, Cobb peels back layer upon layer of the theory. The picture that emerges isn’t “NASA faked the moon landing,” but, he says, “clusters of suspicion, brushfires of doubt about the official narratives of what was happening around them.” That doubt is present for activist Ash-

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ley Yates, who concedes to Cobb, “Can I say that right now, in this moment, there is a conspiracy against activists? No, because again, I don’t have the hard, concrete evidence.” Still, she adds, “Can I say that it is likely? When I take into account my experiences, the experiences of people around me and those before, absolutely.” There is no dispute that the day-to-day experiences of activists like Yates frequently involve death threats made over social media. Protest organizer Ohune Ashe tells Cobb that she continues to receive threats on her life. She won’t dismiss the deaths of other activists as mere “theory.” “When you have a list of names of people who are known,” Ashe says, “and they are dying in this mysterious way, as an activist or as a person that people deem active, you wonder, are you next?” There is another variable in the mixture of grief and paranoia — St. Louis kills young black men at an astonishing rate. Life expectancy in predominately white and affluent west St. Louis County is in the 80s. Life expectancy in some parts of mostly black north county is in the 60s. The rate of homicide victimization for Missouri’s black residents, meanwhile, is ten times higher than the national average for people of all races. It’s 2.5 times higher than black people in other states. Sidestepping the role of violence and

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“It is now not coincidental,” tweeted thenMissouri Senator Maria ChappelleNadal after Crawford’s death. “There is a murderer targeting activists from #Ferguson.” poverty can make it seem like a cluster of deaths might truly involve a killer stalking their way through a list of activists. But that perspective misses part of what it actually means to live in the places that produced those activists. When Ferguson livestreamer Bassem Masri died on a St. Louis bus last year at 31, his name was added to the grim ledger of supposedly murdered activists. According to a medical examiner’s report, though, Masri died of a fentanyl

overdose. “When he passed away, people said, ‘Well, what happened?’ Well, what happened was, he was still in the ghetto,” rapper Tef Poe, Masri’s former roommate, tells Cobb. “This is the reality of the circumstances,” Poe says. “And I’m pissed off about the fact that I keep having to bury people. And people are acting like Santa Claus is coming down here killing folks.” Poe calls the theory of an unknown killer targeting activists “unicorn stuff.” While he doesn’t directly criticize others for partaking in the theory, Poe suggests that if he were to get shot, no matter the circumstances, he would join Crawford, Jones and the others as a topic of conspiracy. It would be his photo on a viral Facebook post. And in a city like St. Louis, where people are shot and killed every day, it’s only reasonable to presume that this won’t be the last time the death of a young black person — even one not related to the Ferguson protests — raises the same puzzlement. Later in the interview with Cobb, Poe remarks that a serial killer targeting local protesters would be far less effective than the forces already working against young people in St. Louis. “They don’t have to send a firing squad into the apartment to kill you,” Poe explains. “Now, all they gotta do is leave you in north St. Louis to die.” n

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Austin Calzada, descending a rocky path at Tilles Park, got his first unicycle as a Christmas gift in 2017. He was immediately taken with it. | RYAN GINES

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BALANCING ACT Austin Calzada’s unicycle brought him fame — and freedom BY DOYLE MURPHY

he slim figure appears almost ghost-like in the photo. Perched atop, of all things, a unicycle, he leans lightly against the pole of a tra c signal, waiting for the light to turn green. It is January in Brentwood during one of the winter’s worst snowstorms. White-knuckled drivers have already turned on their headlights, even though it is still afternoon as they navigate the slush-slicked intersection of South Brentwood Boulevard and Manchester Road. And here is this young man, not just outside in disastrous weather, but disarmingly relaxed on his unicycle. His right hand rests comfortably on his thigh. His knees are bent as though he is sitting on a bar stool. If he had been on foot in the blowing snow, he would have seemed pitiable — some sad sack caught out in the elements. But to ride a unicycle in a snowstorm It sparks something more like wonder. The photo was taken by a passing driver named Jane Redington. She was on her way from layton to irkwood and had diverted off the highway because of the storm. As she inched along Manchester, she was stunned to see the unicyclist. “Who in the hell rides a unicycle in this weather ” she wondered. Redington was on her handsfree phone with an incredulous friend, so she waited until she was stopped at the intersection and took a photo as proof. She sent the photo to the Riverfront Times after she got home, and we put it online that evening with the headline, “St. Louis Hero Unicycles Through Blizzard.” It was a little cheeky. But there was something truly fascinating about

A passing driver took this photo as proof there really was a unicyclist in the snowstorm. | COURTESY JANE REDINGTON the image of the mysterious rider, blurry through Redington’s slushy car window. He somehow manages to seem completely out of place and entirely at ease. He has a whole storm swirling around him, drivers can barely see, and there he sits in perfect balance.

he figure in the photo was instantly recognizable to the unicyclist’s friends and relatives. Eighteen-year-old Austin alzada cycles everywhere. “It’s the only way I get around, whether it’s raining, snowing or

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a tornado siren is going off,” he says. n the afternoon that he was spotted and photographed, he had been pedaling to his p.m. shift at the Brentwood Schnucks, where he would bag groceries and wrangle carts from across the parking lot. Riding a unicycle alongside busy roads has become such a part of his routine that he barely notices the stares anymore. But this was different. In the days after the RFT article went online, coworkers and shoppers alike began complimenting him on his newfound stardom. riends of his family called with congratulations. “Mom, everyone at work says I’m famous on acebook ” he said, his mother recalls. Austin is five feet ten inches tall and whip-thin with black-rimmed glasses and brown hair that he wears pushed over his forehead. In addition to the unicycle, he likes Legos and sports cars and sports cars made of Legos. He posts funny ouTube videos and occasionally takes care of stray spiders. In his early days on the unicycle, Austin was caught off guard by the interest he attracted. There were smart alecks, of course, but he was all too familiar with those types. It was the friendly people who surprised him. Strangers smiled or asked genuine questions. ops waved. “I think that was the first time he felt like one of the cool kids,” says his mother, Laurie alzada. Austin nods his head. “ eah,” he says. They are in the living room of their Brentwood condo, where Laurie moved her two kids in during a dark time in their

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lives. The burnt-orange walls, low lights and comfortable couches give the room a warm feel. It is just the two of them since Austin’s older sister went off to college. A couple of house cats, Lucky and Lavender, laze around on the thick, beige carpet. It is a ride of about ten hilly blocks from here to the Schnucks. Austin, who is autistic, first started working at the store as part of the Summer Work Experience Program, which helps high school students with disabilities try out jobs. Schnucks liked him so much they hired him part time after the eight-week program ended and then increased his hours after his ebruary graduation from Logos, a therapeutic school in livette. It is not hard to see why. The teen says he loves “everything” about the job, and he is unyielding in his commitment. When they planned to visit out-of-town family for Thanksgiving, his mother had to reassure him that Schnucks would not fire him for scheduling some time off. It was Laurie who bought Austin his first unicycle for hristmas in . He had ridden bikes but never seemed to take care of them. She had a hunch something a little outside the mainstream might appeal to him. “He’s always been a non-conformist,” she says. Austin was immediately taken with the unicycle, heading out in the ice and snow to practice for hours. Within two weeks, he could pedal around his neighborhood. He is fascinated by cars, but that has not extended to actually driving. He walks at the pace of a jog, like he is trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. “I hate walking,” he says. “I don’t know why. I just feel awkward, like the world around me is so big, and I’m so small.” n the unicycle, it feels a little more manageable. It has changed his life. He is more independent, more confident, happier. A business consultant and motivational speaker, Laurie sometimes talks about Austin during her presentations. There are “blessings and curses” to raising an autistic child, she says. It is mostly blessings these days. But there were times when she wondered what would become of him. There were times when she was both afraid for him and afraid of him. “There was a tear in my eyes for five years every single day,” she says.

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Austin and his mother, Laurie Calzada, outside their home in Brentwood. | DOYLE MURPHY

Laurie photographed Austin immediately after his adoption (left) and again ten days later. | COURTESY LAURIE CALZADA

ustin spent the first fifteen months of his life in an orphanage in Russia. Laurie and her husband at the time, Lou alzada, traveled in May to the city of Maykop near the Black Sea to adopt the toddler and his older sister. It was a harrowing trip. They expected to be shaken down for bribes, so Laurie says Lou had , cash strapped to his body in a money belt during the ight across the ocean. The orphanage was bleak. Laurie recalls babies packed two to a

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crib in the dingy infant room and a playground comprised of a rusty pipe on a concrete slab. “It was literally very similar to the movie Annie,” she says. In a picture Laurie took right after the adoption, Austin is sallowskinned with deep bags under his brown eyes. His older sister, Angeles, was so sick that she was in the hospital when they arrived. After that stressful first meeting, it was a relief to y home to the United States. The kids rebounded almost immediately

after arriving in St. Louis. In a second photo, taken just ten days after the first, the bags under Austin’s eyes have disappeared, and he is so much healthier it is like he is a different boy. There were still signs of problems ahead. Laurie says she would put him in her lap, and instead of snuggling up, he would immediately roll away to get down. “ ou could tell he’d never been held,” she says. She would later learn this was a symptom of reactive attachment disorder, a rare disorder in children who are neglected as infants and miss out on critical early connections with parents. Later, doctors also recognized signs of fetal alcohol syndrome in the boy. As he grew, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and prescribed Adderall in the first grade. It was fine at first. But Laurie says she learned later that the combination of the powerful drug and the changing chemistry in boys could have combustible side effects. When he was nine, Austin’s behavior suddenly became aggressive and erratic. “That’s when I really saw the highs and lows of the drug,” Laurie says. Austin’s mood would swing wildly. He might be calm in the morning and then try to kick the windows out of his mom’s car in the evening. Laurie and her husContinued on pg 18

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band had separated three years after the adoption, and the kids primarily lived with her. In his fury, Austin would grab knives and threaten his mother, sister or himself. He was tiny — maybe pounds in seventh grade — but Laurie says his anger could be frightening. She recalls waking one night to find him at her bedside, just glaring at her. “I got to the point where I really thought he was going to seriously hurt me or my daughter,” she says. In , Austin had become so aggressive that he was hospitalized for a week. It turned out to be a major step forward. A neurologist from Washington University helped wean him off the Adderall, and Laurie saw the most aggressive behavior begin to fade almost immediately. “It was the chemical imbalance,” she says of the most frightening times. “It was not Austin.” He was diagnosed with autism in fourth grade. By the time Austin was heading into junior high, the darkest days had begun to lighten. Laurie moved the kids into Brentwood after researching the best school districts for her son — a decision for which she is still thankful. “Brentwood School istrict is the best-kept secret in this town,” she

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swing ld u o w d o o m Austin’s alm in c e b t h ig m e wildly. H try to n e h t d n a g in the morn s out of his w o d in w e h t kick evening. e h t in r a c ’s mom be 50 y a m — y in t s He wa rade — g h t n e v e s in pounds nger a is h s y a s ie but Laur ning. e t h ig r f e b ld cou

says. The middle school’s principal, r. Andrew Loiterstein, sometimes talked to Laurie six or seven times in a school week as they searched for programs and strategies. “Some days, he was doing great,” Loiterstein says. “ ther days, we were trying to micromanage his day minute by minute so he could find some success.” The unprovoked aggression of the Adderall period had subsided, but Laurie says her son still struggled with anger issues. He was socially awkward and sometimes lashed out as he struggled to fit in. nce, he grabbed a saw from the school shop and chased another student. But mostly, it was trouble following rules or navigating the schoolwork expected of him. Laurie describes the years of late elementary school through middle school as their “journey.” Austin required near-constant attention, making it impossible for her to work. Even as he began doing better, issues popped up almost at random. Some of it seems funny — like the time he learned origami and stayed up all night blanketing the oors of the condo in paper

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cranes. thers were less so. Laurie and her ex-husband were called into a meeting with the school district because Austin was caught giving other students the melatonin pills he was supposed to take to help him sleep after phasing out the Adderall. Laurie says a former district o cial at the meeting told them Austin could be expelled. When she described her son’s struggles and tearfully pleaded for the district’s help to send him to a school for kids with special needs, she says, she was told that little could be done unless he hurt someone or himself. “That was my real turning

point,” Laurie says. Ultimately, Austin was suspended, not expelled. That kept him under the compassionate watch of Loiterstein and his staff for a few more months, but Laurie was terrified. High school was looming, and while Austin seemed to be emerging from the hardest days, it was clear a big public high school was not going to work. “He was going to drown,” Laurie says. She was not the only one who worried. “There was this big, vast unknown in terms of what his next steps would be,” Loiterstein says. Then, in Austin’s last month at Brentwood Middle School, a school o cial gave Laurie the number to a psychiatrist in Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s behavioral health department. esperate for help, she called without knowing what to expect and agreed to bring Austin for a consultation that summer of . Austin spoke to the psychiatrist first, and then his parents took their turn. Laurie laid out their long, painful story, only to learn this was just a one-time visit. It seemed like a total waste of time. Then she got a call the next day. The hospital had agreed to accept Austin into a program. Not only

The Brentwood Brentwood Schnucks Schnucks isis Austin’s Austin’s social social hub. hub. || DOYLE DOYLE MURPHY MURPHY The

would he begin therapy with the psychiatrist, he would be assigned a caseworker and educational assistant. unding would help cover the costs, including medications. Laurie says she is still not entirely sure what happened, but she is forever grateful. “That was the day that changed my life,” she says. BJ helped fine-tune his medications, and the first comprehensive psychiatric evaluation of his life revealed bipolar tendencies, along with the autism. He began regular therapy sessions. Laurie could soon see changes taking hold. Austin’s new allies also helped Laurie lobby the school district to place him in Logos. She had filled a file cabinet with her research of potential options over the years, and the private therapeutic school in livette seemed like a dream. esigned to address autism along with a wide variety of challenges and disorders, Logos paired each child with his or her own therapist and kept class sizes tiny. It was also the most expensive of the options available. Laurie and Austin’s advocates were asking Brentwood not only to acknowledge that the public school district could no longer provide adequate opportunities as required under the law, but also to pay Logos’ tuition. Austin’s future was decided during an intense three-and-halfhour meeting that summer before his freshman year in high school.

Laurie and his dad sat around a table of more than fifteen people, including district o cials, Loiterstein, teachers, the high school principal, representatives from the special school district, counselors and therapists. Before they began, they called Austin in and asked him to tell the group what he wanted. “All I know is I want to be somewhere they understand me and where they’ll be nice to me,” he said, his mother recalls. It was so heartbreakingly basic. “That’s all he wanted,” she says. The group ultimately voted to send Austin to a private school — a decision Laurie believes “saved my son’s life.” The next day, she learned from the district she would get her first choice, Logos. “I haven’t cried a day since,” she says.

ustin can do it so easily now. He stands the unicycle on the ground in front of him, rotates the frame back slightly and then springs forward onto the pedals, gliding onto the seat above a -inch wheel. He wobbles momentarily and then quickly gains control. or beginners, the fraction of a second it takes to climb onto the cycle is the hardest part. It is a mixture of strength and finesse, a rapid but precise movement on a hopelessly unstable perch. Think about jumping onto a basketball Continued on pg 20

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As a joke, Austin will carry a small speaker with him, synced up to his phone to play the sound of an engine revving. | RYAN GINES

BALANCING ACT Continued from pg 19

and standing there on one foot. It is harder than that. Even veteran riders will skip the so-called “free mount” and instead balance themselves against a railing or wall before pedaling away. or Austin, “it just feels natural to me,” he says. He nearly wore out the twentyinch cycle his mother bought him for hristmas in and has upgraded to the larger size. He rides to work. He rides for fun when he is off work. He rode it at the Logos school talent show. “There are times he’s left at o’clock in the morning, and I don’t see him until or at night,” Laurie says. As word of Austin’s prowess on the cycle spread, a St. Louis circus group reached out to see if he would be interested in trying out for a job. But Austin prefers to ride on his own terms. “I’m not ever dressing up in a clown costume and riding a unicycle,” he says. Besides, he has a job. n this afternoon, he cruises east and then south, chugging uphill along his familiar route to the Schnucks. He will sometimes

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carry a small speaker with him, synced up with his phone to play the sound of an engine revving — a little joke he plays on bewildered onlookers. He cuts through a bank parking lot and pedals along the front of the Brentwood ommunity enter before veering onto the sidewalk that parallels South Brentwood Boulevard. He arrives in twelve minutes at Schnucks, slips off his unicycle and carries it with him through the automatic doors. irst stop is the display where a chef doles out samples of sausages. “When are you going to get a -inch ” the chef asks, smiling as he gestures toward the cycle. Austin pauses brie y to chat, compliments the man on the tasty samples and keeps moving. He quickly unloads his stuff in an employee locker room and sets out on his rounds. He is fifteen minutes early, so he snags a custardfilled doughnut from the pastry case, narrating his routine as he walks in those fast, loping strides. “This is my favorite cashier,” he says, strolling into a checkout line to pay for the doughnut. “ h, I’m you’re favorite ” the young woman says, laughing. At home, in the presence of a stranger, he lets his mother do

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most of the talking, but here in the store he is loose and funny. Buy a jar of rey Poupon, and he will ask, “Ma’am, did you drive your Rolls Royce today ” ri ng on the s commercial. When a box of Uncle Ben’s rice lands at the end of his checkout counter this afternoon, Austin looks quizzically at a middle-aged couple and asks, “Are you making this for Spider-Man ” The husband grins. “I get it. Uncle Ben — Peter Parker’s uncle.” Brentwood is tiny, and the store has become Austin’s social hub. Everybody has to buy groceries eventually. He says he ran into Hogan Haake, a fellow unicyclist, the other day. Haake, a -yearold software engineer from Webster roves, has been riding since and now rolls around on a -inch wheel. They plan to catch up again soon so Austin can try out the big wheel. “He’ll probably ride it better than I can,” Haake says later. Not long ago, Austin’s old principal at Brentwood, r. Loiterstein, was shopping at Schnucks when he spotted his former student. “Austin, what are you doing ” he called out in mock surprise. Building Austin’s confidence had been one of the middle school staff’s main goals, Loiterstein says

later. “Even when he was really struggling, he still had a charisma, and he had this likability.” Now, Loiterstein enjoys seeing Austin coming into his own. “It was partly this sense of pride in him, partly this sense of relief.” When Austin graduated high school from Logos, his old principal and Brentwood High School’s principal, r. Edward Johnson, were in the audience to cheer him on. These days, Laurie and Austin still quibble occasionally, but it is the mundane stuff of teens and mothers. She would like him to clean up more, and she bristles when he swears. She caught him smoking recently. “Augh Teens ” she writes in an email. But there are also “one-minute hugs” and pleasant evenings at home. He grew six inches during his freshman year at Logos and is no longer the tiny little boy that worried her to tears. She is proud every time he walks out the door with his unicycle. Austin says he will always ride. He gets a little exasperated with the questions and the stares. Sometimes, he thinks it might be nice if it was not such a spectacle. “ ind of, but not really,” he says, “because then it wouldn’t be as special.” n

“It’s the only way I get around, whether it’s raining, snowing or a tornado siren is going off,” says Austin. | DOYLE MURPHY

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CALENDAR

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

WEEK OF APRIL 11-17

THURSDAY 04/11 Live, Tonight: Lennon & Hendrix For many people, Thomas Lennon will always be Lt. Jim Dangle, the kindhearted and very lonely sheriff’s deputy from the TV show Reno 911! (For a much smaller percentage, he’s forever Monsieur Laupin, suave host of the much-missed Viva Variety.) The comic actor has written multiple successful films Night at the Museum, Balls of Fury) and is on the cusp of releasing his first novel for young readers. Ronan Boyle and the Bridge of Riddles is about a young boy recruited into the Garda, the Irish police force. Ronan finds himself within the special unit that deals exclusively with the magical beings of the Emerald Isle. He’s undersized, with bad eyes and social anxiety, but he won’t let that stop him from proving that his jailed parents are innocent of all charges and were most likely framed by the wee people. Lennon’s creative partner is local illustrator John Hendrix, who knows a thing

Thomas Lennon has a new children’s book out. | JASON LAVERIS, FILM MAGIC or two about children’s books. Lennon and Hendrix will sign copies at their rescheduled event, which is now at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at Mad Art (2727 South Twelfth Street; www.left-bank.com). Tickets are $20 for one person and one copy of the book, with $5 companion tickets available for the twelve-andunder crowd.

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Jackie Chan fights his way through criminals and thugs in Police Story 2. | (C) GOLDEN WAY FILMS LTD

It Is a Silly Place King Arthur and his dodgy Knights of the Round Table are back on the boards, singing their way through Spamalot, Eric Idle’s musical adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Lancelot (the stabby one), Galahad (the political firebrand , Robin the singing one) and Bedevere (the gassy one) all go questing for the grail and find that medieval England is full of peril, songs and actresses who wish their role was meatier. It’s a silly show, but one that’s relentlessly entertaining. Spamalot gallops into the Stifel Theatre (1400 Market Street; www.stifeltheatre. com) for a single performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11. Tickets are $35 to $85.

FRIDAY 04/12 Brothers at Arms Austin is holed up in his mother’s house, working on his screenplay, when his older brother Lee shows up. The two have neither seen each other nor spoken in a few years. A film producer may be interested in Austin’s script, maybe, but Lee keeps distracting his little brother from his work. Even worse, when the producer shows up, Lee talks

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day and 3 p.m. Sunday (April 12 to 28) at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue; www.stlas. org). Tickets are $30 to $35.

Florida, Man

Two brothers go nuts in True West. | STLAS up his own nonexistent script, and the producer shows immediate interest. The brothers’ relationship is fraught at the best of times, but if Lee thinks he’s going to horn in on Austin’s big break, another intra-family murder may be added to their family tally. Sam Shepard’s drama True West is about sibling rivalry, American men and American violence, particularly the violence practiced in the semimythical American West. St. Louis Actors’ Studio presents True West at 8 p.m. Thursday through Satur-

Pete, Barbara, Matthew and Bridget are on their way to Florida in an RV but are currently stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, Seth is supposed to be on a date but is instead in the company of some criminals, who nabbed him instead of his roommate — the guy they really want. And then there’s Rudolph, a married man enjoying an affair. All of these disparate (and desperate) strangers come together in Lucas Marschke’s road-trip comedy, Florida. The play won the 2018 A.E. Hotchner playwriting festival and makes its world premiere this weekend at Washington University’s Hotchner Studio Theatre in the Malllinckrodt Center (6445 Forsyth Boulevard; www.edison.wustl. edu). Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (April 11 to 14). Tickets are $15 to $20.

SATURDAY 04/13 Markt It Down Locally made craft beer comes

together with local craftspeople at Urban Chestnut’s Summermarkt. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Saturday of each month from April to August at Urban Chestnut’s Midtown Brewery & Biergarten (3229 Washington Avenue; www.urbanchestnut.com , you’ll find more than twenty artists and artisans selling handmade goods both inside and outside, while your hosts offer food specials and beer. You can’t enjoy a fresh beer while shopping at the mall, friends — not even at the outlet mall. endors at the first event of the year include Rudy’s Flower Truck, Blackwood Print Shop, DebFen Photography and the Indigo Home Decor Truck. Admission is free.

SUNDAY 04/14 An Officer and a Daredevil Martial-arts film legend Jackie Chan has never been afraid of a little hard work. After his second attempt to break into the American film market failed (the subpar cop movie The Protector is no one’s favorite Chan ick , han returned to Hong Kong to make his own cop movie, Police Story. The high-action comedy busted some blocks and launched an entire movie series. This weekend the Webster Film Series presents the first two entries, Police Story and Police Story 2. Chan plays Chan Ka-Kui, a daring police o cer who tries to balance a personal life with his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung) while taking down crime lord Chu Tao. Chan undertakes a series of very real, very bonkers stunts in both films, hanging off double-decker buses, sliding down towering light poles and engaging in some hairy chases. There is martial arts action a-plenty, but Chan’s death-defying stunt work is the real star. Police Story is shown at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 12, and Police Story 2 is at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14; both are at Webster’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood Avenue; www. webster.edu film-series . Tickets are $5 to $7. n

Counterpublic welcomes NIC Kay. | NIC KAY PUSHIT! [EXERCISE 1 IN GETTING WELL SOON], 2018, AT THE TBA, PORTLAND, OREGON, 2018. COURTESY: PORTLAND INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART. PHOTO BY SARAH-JI RHEE.

SATURDAY 04/13 The Great Experiment

t. Louis is a city of neighborhoods. Everyone in St. Louis has said that at some point; if there is a truth universally acknowledged in this town, it’s that our many neighborhoods are our strength and civic identity. And yet, how many people in your neighborhood eat the same food, share the same values and dream the same dreams? For James McAnally, who with his wife Brea is the co-artistic director of the Luminary, the neighborhood theory may be true, but it’s not a unifying principal. “William Gass wrote that ‘the Midwest is a dissonance of parts and people,’” says McAnally, referencing the late St. Louis-based writer. That idea is the inspiration for the Luminary’s ambitious new project, Counterpublic. The three-month long artistic exploration of the many dissonances that inhabit a shared geographic area incorporates public art, installations, discussions and performances. The McAnallys chose their own home turf for this experiment: Cherokee Street, with all the many cultures and people who inhabit it. “It’s a complicated project and something that hasn’t been done yet,” McAnally says with just a hint of understatement. “This idea of the ‘counterpublic,’ it speaks to the idea [that] there are people who don’t feel included in this community. A counterpublic is analogous to subculture. It comes out of queer culture and feminist writing. The framing that’s most helpful for Counterpublic is that it’s a public art festival, or a platform that is meant to activate the neighborhood.” McAnally is quick to note that Cherokee isn’t simply one neighborhood. The street crosses through four differ-

ent ones on official city maps — Tower Grove East, Benton Park West, Marine Villa and Gravois Park — as well as two different aldermanic wards. “Cherokee is the Latinx community, it’s majority African American, it’s eclectic and diverse,” explains McAnally. “What do all of these groups have to say to each other? How can we keep the neighborhood together? Counterpublic is meant to activate the neighborhood — all of it, every group.” To do so successfully, the McAnallys began by talking to representatives of each division and explaining the plan and seeking partnerships. “It was important to us early on to involve the business community, the Latinx community, all of these groups,” McAnally says. “We have twenty permanent exhibitions throughout the project, from both local and national artists who come from the cultures found in Cherokee. We invited several Indigenous artists — we call it ‘Cherokee’ casually, but what does that really mean?” Counterpublic encompasses many parts, people and ideas, all coming together to facilitate a free exchange of ideas. The plan is for Counterpublic to

be a triennial festival that moves to a new neighborhood with each new iteration, but it’s not at all an attempt to pigeonhole or homogenize any community. The dissonance is vital, and in the case of the inaugural production, deeply personal for the McAnallys. “Counterpublic is a chance to ask ourselves, ‘How do these many different voices come together, and how do we maintain an equitable development?’” James asks, not all rhetorically. “‘How do we account for difference, and dissent? And how do we continue to live alongside each other while disagreeing?’” Counterpublic opens Saturday, April 13, with tours, talks and performances from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Luminary (2701 Cherokee Street; www.theluminaryarts. org). An opening-night party takes place from 8 to 11 p.m., with complimentary food from neighborhood restaurants, artist-designed galletas by Rodolfo Marron III and Diana’s Bakery and live video and DJ performances. New installations, processions, performances and public programs will continue through July 13. The full schedule is available at www.counterpublic.us. n

Artist Cauleen Smith’s work will be featured in the Luminary’s Counterpublic. | CAULEEN SMITH, SOJOURNER (PRODUCTION STILL), 2018. COURTESY OF CORBETT VS DEMPSEY, CHICAGO AND KATE WERBLE, NYC.

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FILM

[REVIEW]

The Wilted Age PBS aims squarely for the middlebrow with its milquetoast film The Chaperone Written by

ROBERT HUNT The Chaperone Directed by Michael Engler. Written by Julian Fellowes, from the book by Laura Moriarty. Starring Haley Lu Richardson, Miranda Otto, Elizabeth McGovern and Blythe Danner. Opens Friday, April 12, at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac.

he Chaperone begins in Wichita, Kansas, in 1922, where the news of bold changes in art, music and dance is viewed with suspicion. Fifteen-yearold Louise Brooks (yes, that Louise Brooks) has been given the opportunity to study with a renowned dance company. Overhearing that her father frowns on the idea of his young daughter heading off unaccompanied to New York City, Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern), middle-aged and unhappily married, introduces herself and offers to join Louise on her sojourn to the big city. Despite little common ground, the two women head off, each with a private agenda that can’t be fulfilled in cowtown. Louise rapidly becomes the prize pupil of the Denishawn School of Dance and pursues the other pleasures of Jazz Age urban life (speakeasies and obliging young men), while Norma makes furtive visits to a local orphanage, hoping to uncover the identity of her birth parents. Aided by the orphanage’s friendly handyman Joseph (Géza Röhrig), a widower with a tragic past and a questionable accent, Norma’s search turns out to be anticlimactic next to her other big secret: the details of her unfortunate marriage, revealed in clumsy ashbacks. The first theatrical film released by PBS and produced through its long-running Masterpiece series,

Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) leaves Kansas for New York and more exciting films than The Chaperone aspires to be. | BARRY WETCHER, COURTESY OF PBS DISTRIBUTION The Chaperone is 103 minutes of unashamed pandering to a middlebrow audience that likes its films sophisticated on the surface, but without any intellectual heavy lifting. Guided by a pair of Downton Abbey veterans (screenwriter Julian Fellowes, director Michael Engler , the film spells out its intentions, overloads itself with underdeveloped topicality and carefully removes any trace of ambiguity. Cultural and social issues like feminism and sexuality are carelessly tossed about and given a polite nod before being set aside as rapidly as they appeared. This is a story of personal growth told in capital letters, a condescending film that sets its dramatic sights low and congratulates itself for hitting all the right sophisticated tones. Despite an engaging performance from McGovern (and an appealingly bouncy one from Haley Lu Richardson as Brooks), there’s not much depth. The characters don’t have personalities, they just have opinions — about sex, Prohibition

The film spells out its intentions, overloads itself with underdeveloped topicality and carefully removes any trace of ambiguity. and Edith Wharton novels. These don’t carry any weight; you’re merely meant to acknowledge them without giving them much thought. Even the plot twists and revelations (Brooks has her own secret) are delivered with a smug wink, a self-congratulatory sense of worldliness.

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Aside from its curious air of feel-good jadedness, The Chaperone simply doesn’t have anything to say, not about the characters in it nor the changing social climate around them, and certainly not about the historical figure it so shamelessly exploits. Does it matter that Mrs. Carlisle’s charge, as we’re told from the very first scene, will go on to become the star of Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl and then be rediscovered late in life as the quintessential 1920s free spirit? There’s not much to connect the young girl in this film to the historical Brooks, who really did leave Kansas to join the Denishawn dance troupe at fifteen. The filmmakers simply borrow her image (which amounts to little more than a hairstyle and an attitude), hoping it will rub off on her cinematic namesake. Like so much of The Chaperone, it’s an act of narrative laziness, a cultural name-dropping meant to produce an air of sophistication without any concern about backing it up. n

APRIL 10-16, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

APR TIM MEADOWS 12/13 The Ladies Man Saturday Night Live

APR PATRICK KEANE Live at Gotham 17-20 Punching Henry

APR JAKE “THE SNAKE” 23 ROBERTS WWE

MAY JOE MARLOTTI Professional Comedian 8-12 St. Louis’ favorite!

MAY JORDAN ROCK All Def Comedy 16-19 Kevin in Netflix series “Love”

APRIL 13 The Black and White Band

RIVERFRONT TIMES

APRIL 10-16, 2019

MAY 4 Billy Peak

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MAY 11 Assata Storm

MAY EDDIE IFFT Podcast Talking Sh*t 2-5 Tommy Chong 420 show

JUN GUY TORRY American History X 7/8 Runaway Jury

STAGE

Nicole Angeli, center, portrays a long-forgotten scientific pioneer in West End Players’ beautifully told Photograph 51. | JOHN LAMB

[REVIEW]

Forget Me Not Nicole Angeli triumphs as Photograph 51’s Dr. Rosalind Franklin, whose critical work on DNA was largely erased from history’s telling Written by

PAUL FRISWOLD Photograph 51 Written by Anna Ziegler. Directed by Ellie Schwetye. Presented by West End Players Guild through April 14 at the Union Avenue Christian Church (733 North Union Boulevard; www.westendplayers.org). Tickets are $20 to $25.

ou don’t go to a play about scientists expecting poetry, and yet it’s a constant presence in Anna Ziegler’s historical drama Photograph 51. A lightly fictionalized account of the search for the structure and inner workings of DNA, Photograph 51 follows two groups of scientists as they struggle with faulty equipment, develop new techniques and maintain grueling hours to answer the big questions about life and genetics. Mounted by the West End Players Guild and directed with scientific precision by Ellie Schwetye, the current production of the 2015 play is a beautifully told story about how life ourishes and fades away, and about how death is not the end of anything really. Little bits

of all of us remain in the people we leave behind, like fingerprints on an empty glass. Dr. Rosalind Franklin (Nicole Angeli) is the rare woman scientist in post-war Europe who moves to King’s College in London on a fellowship. She’s got the credentials to justify a leading position, yet she learns upon arrival that she’s meant to be an assistant to Dr. Maurice Wilkins (Ben Ritchie) and not in charge of a project, as she’d believed. She’ll also supervise Wilkins’ Ph. D candidate, Ray Gosling (Ryan Lawson-Maeske). So she refuses. Angeli stares down the very proper Wilkins with an unnervingly direct gaze as she tells him what work she’ll do and what she won’t, while he gasps and stammers and physically recoils from the power of her personality. He reluctantly agrees to be partners, and then sets Franklin loose to use her magnificent brain and camera skills to discover what the structure of DNA looks like and how it functions. Meanwhile, in Cambridge, impetuous young American James Watson Will Bonfiglio teams up with well-connected English scientist Francis Crick (John Wolbers) to solve the same mystery, by any means necessary. The structure of the play mirrors that of DNA, with the two teams of two working side by side on stage in two labs separated by a wall. Watson and Crick drink and kibbutz and periodically go to London to sniff around Wilkins’ lab to see if they can glean any helpful data. Wilkins and Franklin work in an uncomfortable de-

tente, rarely speaking or keeping the same hours. The play’s dual narrators further the helical structure. Gosling explains the work and the small leaps forward, while American Don Caspar (Alex Fyles) exchanges exuberant letters with Franklin about her work and the breathtaking images she captures through her mastery of X-ray crystallography; these letters reveal something of her inner life and thoughts on her own work. Wilkins and Franklin are similar people in many ways, or perhaps re ections of one another. Ritchie plays Wilkins as so stiff that he’s almost frozen he rarely moves, weighed down by interlocking layers of formality and indirectness that he wears like cast-iron armor. Wilkins is a crushingly lonely man devastated by the abandonment of his wife and the loss of his child, and he starts to believe Franklin might be the right woman for him. Several times he attempts to start over with his silent lab partner, as if better manners or a more politely contorted language will bring them closer. As good as Ritchie — and really the entire male cast — is, it is Angeli’s ranklin who fires your imagination. She’s a self-contained woman, also solitary, but by choice: Her work is all that matters to her. She often stands in the center of her lab, eyes scanning the most minute details of photographic plates, and a small smile of satisfaction tugs at her mouth when she pins a fact in place. You don’t expect scientific discovery to be so enthralling, but Angeli shows the real satisfaction that

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comes with seeing something no human being has ever witnessed. Her ranklin is a singular figure in the male world of science, set even further apart by the rigor of her work, her thought, her commitment to proving — never hypothesizing, only proving — the structure of DNA and how it replicates. Photograph 51 also demonstrates the differences in how men and women work. To the Cambridge team, the NA puzzle is a race to win so they can reap the rewards of fame, fortune and women. For Franklin, it’s a personal struggle with a problem that will benefit all humanity. “When I was a girl, I prided myself on being right — because I was always right,” she says at one point. It’s being right, not being first, that matters. When Wilkins, in his shortsightedness, shows Franklin’s perfect image of DNA — the eponymous photograph 51 — to Crick and Watson, he guarantees that she will not be the first, and a Nobel Prize is lost even as another is won. Franklin is right, though: History will forget her for quite a few years in the rush to praise two men. Franklin and Wilkins talk about that too, albeit obliquely. Twice they discuss a production they saw of A Winter’s Tale. Wilkins offers his pet theory that because Hermione named her daughter, she was able to live rather than die. Franklin replies that she doesn’t recall who played Hermione; “she simply didn’t stand out.” With Photograph 51, Anna Ziegler gives Rosalind Franklin a name again, and Nicole Angeli makes her stand out — her Franklin is as remarkable, as miraculous as life itself. n

APRIL 10-16, 2019

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

APRIL 10-16, 2019

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CAFE

[REVIEW]

All About Seoul Munsok So never gave up on Laclede’s Landing. Now he’s scored a huge success with the Korean-inspired Kimchi Guys Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Kimchi Guys 612 North Second Street, 314-766-4456. Mon.-Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

n a clear day in the summer of 2015, Munsok So was working, per usual, at his corporate o ces inside the Cutlery Building on Laclede’s Landing. So had bought the historic building nine years earlier, using it as the hub for his restaurant company, So Hospitality Group. He was bullish on Laclede’s Landing. His agship brand, Drunken Fish, ran out of the building’s ground oor, as did his nightclub, XES. So’s duties kept him so busy that he typically worked through lunch. However, on this day, after a friend unexpectedly stopped by, he made the fateful decision to go out to eat. The pair were just settling into their meal when So got the call: The south wall of the Cutlery Building had collapsed. The entire wall. It was so catastrophic that the conference room chair So usually sat in had been left dangling in the air, four stories above Second Street. For many people, a near-death experience and catastrophic building collapse would have been a sign to cut their losses. But So isn’t like most people when it comes to the Landing. The restaurateur had expanded the Drunken Fish to the riverfront district in 2006, a time when the area’s reputation as a bar-hopping hotbed and tourist trap was already waning. He saw promise in the Landing thanks to the casino development at its north end and decided not only to open his third

Kimchi Guys’ tacos are topped with cucumber kimchi, cilantro, queso fresco and cilantro mayo. | MABEL SUEN Drunken Fish there but to buy its building as an investment. Then came the financial crisis, which halted development around the casino and the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis. Renovation of the Arch grounds, which began in 2013, only added to the Landing’s plight, rendering the district a ghost town beyond a few businesses hanging on by a thread. So, it seemed, had placed a losing bet. The building collapse gave So an out, if he wanted it. He could take the insurance money and move on, or even replace the wall and rebuild Drunken Fish, returning to business as usual. Instead, he saw the situation as an opportunity to think even bigger. He hatched a plan to help people rethink what the Landing could be. One part would involve transforming the space into a stunning events venue with some of the best views in the city. Another compo-

nent would be a coffee shop to serve the neighborhood’s growing workforce. And for his pièce de résistance, So would open Kimchi Guys, a Korean fast-casual restaurant serving up some of the best chicken ever to pop out of a deepfryer on either side of the river. Kimchi Guys only opened in February, but already the restaurant has the feel of a concept poised for replication. Eye-catching vibrant green branding unites the employees’ hats, the menu board and the paper that lines food trays. The stylish space exudes that familiar fast-casual look of cool industrial touches juxtaposed with exposed-brick warmth. The majority of the real estate is comprised of the order counter and an open kitchen where cooks prepare each dish to order. This can, at times, result in a slightly longer ticket time than other fastcasual restaurants; cooking fried chicken, after all, takes longer

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than dishing pre-made food out of a steam table. Still, it’s well worth the five minutes or so that it takes to get your food. Seating is limited, consisting of a large communal table, three four-tops and a row of wall-ledge seating with bar stools, although additional seating is available in the Cutlery Building’s lobby, in the hallway just outside the restaurant. The over ow is necessary, as the restaurant’s beverage selection, which includes the Korean liquor soju and South Korea’s Hite beer, will make you want to linger a little longer than you would at a typical fast-casual spot. Anyone skeptical about the Landing should witness just how quickly those seats fill up during any given lunch or dinner service. The restaurant is positively bustling. In part, that’s due to the reopening of the Arch grounds, which has made it easier to access

APRIL 10-16, 2019

Continued on pg 33

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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KIMCHI GUYS

Continued from pg 31

the district from the monument. However, after tasting So’s wonderful Korean-inspired cuisine, you might conclude that Kimchi Guys would be full even if diners had to traverse the Mississippi on handcrafted rafts to get there. Much of the menu is dedicated to well-executed versions of Korean Mexican fusion, like the “Korrito,” which stuffs a burrito with earthy kimchi-fried rice and creamy street corn along with the protein of your choice. I chose the warmly spiced, succulent shrimp, which soaked up the soy, chile and fermented vegetable avors that permeated the dish. The shellfish’s texture is snappy, adding to the already pleasant texture of the al dente corn and crunchy fermented vegetables. The “3 Takos Combo” gives diners a chance to sample three Korean-style meats, each wrapped in a miniature our tortilla. With a subtle herbed sweetness, the succulent chicken is the most straightforward. The beef is bulgogi-adjacent — not as intense with sweet soy as is typical of the dish, but with those avor undertones nonetheless. The standout, though, was the spicy pork, which paired the tender, juicy meat with hot Korean chile sauce. The contrast between the fiery meat and verdant coolness of the accompanying cilantro mayo was breathtaking. So further embraces Korean fusion with his sandwich offerings. A “Bulgogi Philly” subs in beef marinated in a garlicky brown-sugary

The delectable Korean fried chicken is brined, battered and double-fried. | MABEL SUEN

soy for the standard chopped meat, resulting in an infinitely more avorful sandwich. The meat’s juices soak into the soft bread, mixing with molten provolone, seared onions and cilantro-kissed mayo. Piquant cucumber kimchi pickles cut through this richness, giving a burst of refreshment to the otherwise decadent dish. The “Kuban” is an equally stunning riff on a classic sandwich. For this Korean-Cuban mash-up, So pairs his spicy pork and bulgolgi-style beef with bacon that gives the dish a subtle hot and smoky backbeat. The meats are pressed with Swiss cheese, cucumber kimchi a magnificent substitute for the traditional pickles), mustard

and mayo onto crusty Cuban-style bread. The result is the best take on the quintessential sandwich that I have enjoyed in recent memory. Kimchi Guys does not rely solely on fusion. So’s takes on traditional Korean fare are equally enjoyable, including the spicy pork bibimbap, a well-executed version of the classic egg, vegetable and kimchi rice bowl. The restaurant also offers a vegan version, subbing in gochujang-tossed plant-based protein for meat. I missed the richness of the egg on the vegan rendition and wished for more of the spicy protein and fermented vegetables to make up for its absence. The avors were there I

just wanted more of them. When it came to Kimchi Guys’ signature Korean fried chicken, however, I wanted for nothing — except, perhaps, an endless supply. The meat is brined, battered and double-fried, which results in a thick layer of shockingly crispy breading. It acts almost like insulation, locking in the meat’s juices while keeping the exterior crunchy. The chicken alone is perfection, but So doesn’t stop there. Instead, he coats it in one of four sauces: a “Spicy Original” that has the earthy fire of orean hot sauce; a “Korean Buffalo,” which replaces the deep warmth of Korean chiles with the mouthwatering vinegar spice of Frank’s Red Hot; a “Garlic Soy,” which is delicate in texture but powerful with soy, sesame and garlic; and a “Honey Butter” so wonderfully rich and sweet you wish you had a biscuit to sop up its drippings after you pick every last morsel of meat from the bone. The only thing at Kimchi Guys more impressive than this fried chicken is So’s endless optimism. Even three and a half years ago, when standing at the Cutlery Building meant looking at a pile of rubble and a dangling o ce chair, So could see enormous potential in what had become an unfashionable part of town. Today, basking in the beauty of that fried chicken after a sunny day at the Arch grounds, the rest of us can see it too. And boy, does it taste delicious.

Kimchi Guys Three-piece fried chicken combo .......... $9.95 “Kuban” .................................................. $9.95 Bibimbap bowl .....................................$11.95

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SPENCER’S GRILL

314.272.3230 4220 DUNCAN AVE, ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

314.821.2601 223 S KIRKWOOD RD KIRKWOOD, MO 63122

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

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

CARNIVORE STL

MORRISON’S IRISH PUB

314.449.6328 5257 SHAW AVE, ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

618-433-8900 200 STATE STREET ALTON, IL 62002

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

Several, long-beloved Irish pubs have staked a claim to being the most-authentic in town, though a strong case be made for one of the newer entrants. Located in the historic and scenic Alton, IL, Morrison’s Irish Pub brings all the elements of a great Irish pub under one roof - which, in this particular case, dates way back to 1865. Live music’s on-hand, with a strong selection of the area’s finest Irish and Irish-tinged groups and solo performers, heard from Thursday-Saturday nights. The selections of whiskey and beer reflect just the right touches of domestic and imported options, with plenty of favorites on-hand, including a wide-and-deep selection of Irish whiskeys that’d rival any other spirits menu in town. But it’s the menu that really solidifies the deal, with corned beef and cabbage, leek soup, Irish stew and Irish soda bread all available on a daily basis, along with rotating specials. Fare such as burgers, salads and wraps add to the traditional Irish fare, giving families a host of options. Open every day but Monday, Morrison’s offers a legit Irish pub feel without any artificial ingredients.

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OAKED

THE BLUE DUCK

314.305.8647 1031 LYNCH ST, ST. LOUIS, MO 63118

314.769.9940 2661 SUTTON BLVD, MAPLEWOOD, MO 63143

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

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

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

From Nursing the Sick to Nursing Drinks Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

rendan Sante was three years into nursing school when he had an existential crisis. He’d been priming himself for the profession his entire life, hoping to combine his passion for humanitarian work with his love of seeing new places as a traveling nurse. To the outside observer, he was well on his way. But he’d decided nursing was no longer what he wanted to do. “I realized it wasn’t for me when I started doing clinical rotations,” Sante explains. “When I interacted with the nurses who’d been doing it for five years or less, they were still cheerful. However, the ones who had been doing it longer had lost the light in their eyes. It’s a di cult job, emotionally and physically. I knew myself well enough to know that I was not going to be happy doing this. I had to pull the plug, or I was going to hate myself in five years.” Sante’s pivot from the world of health care to bar manager at Juniper (4101 Laclede Avenue, 314329-7696) might look like it came out of left field, but it was the realization of a life path he’d often pictured for himself. As a kid, he gravitated toward the kitchen, and his mom encouraged him to make messes and play around with food. However, her encouragement waned when he began expressing interest in cooking professionally. “As I kid, I always thought I wanted to be a chef, but my mom told me that I didn’t want to do that,” Sante recalls. “She told me that chefs work long hours and don’t get paid well, so I said, ‘OK,’ and decided not to do it.” When nursing school didn’t

Juniper’s Brendan Sante made a big career change, with felicitous results. | JEN WEST

work out, Sante bucked his mom’s advice (she’s since apologized). As he got his feet wet in the industry, he found himself particularly intrigued by the bar side of the business, an interest he traces back to being stuck indoors with the u as a fourth grader, watching “Distillation Week” on the History Channel. The bar environment reawakened that passion within him and before he knew it, he was learning everything he could about the craft. Sante worked at Baileys’ Chocolate Bar for three and a half years, reveling in the opportunity to learn all he could about cocktails both behind the bar and in his own research. However, when friends asked him to join them as a bartender at Mangia, he decided to change course. The 3 a.m. bar not only spoke to his night-owl tendencies but also afforded him the opportunity to get paid to serve his friends drinks. Over time, however, Mangia’s shots-and-beer vibe made

him feel creatively sti ed. He reached out to his mentor from the chocolate bar, John Bailey, for advice. Instead, he got a job offer. “I called to ask him if I could use him as a reference, and he said to me, ‘Actually, I might have something for you,’” Sante recalls. “I staged with him at Juniper in December, and I never left.” As bar manager at the Southernin ected entral West End restaurant, Sante finds himself inspired by as much by proprietor John Perkins’ thoughtful cuisine as his work ethic and passion for hospitality. To Sante, that’s the best part of the business — and one that is not all that removed from what drew him to nursing. “During rotations, seeing people who were appreciative of what you are doing really makes your day,” Sante says. “Being at a place like Juniper, when I’m able to show someone a good time and take care of them does the same thing.” Sante took a break from the bar to share his thoughts on the St.

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Louis food and beverage scene, his quest for late-night food and the unlikely person who most inspires him when it comes to hospitality. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did? When I’m able to find the time, I’m out riding or wrenching on old mopeds with my best friends. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Like most folks, coffee and spending quality time with my dog. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? If I never needed sleep, I would be a much more productive person. The next day’s tasks are always on my mind to a fault. Beyond my professional and social life, I’d like to get more reading done. Teleportation would be cool too. What is the most positive trend in food, beer, wine or cocktails that you’ve noticed in St. Louis over the

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BRENDAN SANTE Continued from pg 35

past year? Tiki cocktails and vegetableforward/hyper-local cuisine. Tim Wiggins at Yellowbelly/Retreat (among others, of course) has certainly made strides to bring a reputation to the St. Louis cocktail scene and demonstrate that we’re something to keep an eye on nationwide. In addition, the work he puts forth testifies that drinks in general can be whimsical while being truly original and elaborate. Dining at Vicia and Savage has shown me, as an avid carnivore, that veggies can in fact steal the spotlight in the best meal you’ve ever had. What is one thing missing or that you’d like to see in the local food and beverage scene? Decent food worth your time and money after 2 a.m. As a fervent night owl, the lack of worthwhile 24-hour/late-night food establishments beyond the go-to diner can leave a lot to be desired. Who is your St. Louis food or drink crush?

There’s too many to name. But if I had to pick two, Tony Saputo at the Midwestern and Raquella at Courtesy Diner on Kingshighway. As a college student years ago, I would slip over to Layla between or during classes for a quick bite and a drink or two. Tony never had anything but an amazing attitude towards guests and would answer any questions I had when I came to talk shop. Regarding Raquella, I have never seen such work ethic and positivity in an individual, period. She never bats an eye at a di cult order or a packed house. If I think I’m having a hard time at work, my experience pales in comparison to the tribulations I’ve seen her conquer. Who’s the one person to watch right now in the St. Louis food and beverage scene? Natasha Bahrami of the Gin Room or Vic Gainor at Vicia. Natasha has done more than anyone I know to demonstrate that the St. Louis drink scene is more than worth its salt with the Gin World events she coordinates. Vic makes custom-ordered cocktails seem effortless. You can give him a oneword descriptor and he’ll make

you the drink you’ve been searching for all your life. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? Green chile. Sometimes spicy, sometimes sweet. If I can find an excuse to use it behind the bar I run with it. If someone asked you to describe the current state of St. Louis’ food and beverage climate, what would you say? I would say the restaurant and bar scene in St. Louis is still emerging. That falls on the venue as much as the guest. I hope to see more risks being taken and unusual or intimidating ingredients being used and enjoyed. While our city has made leaps and bounds in the world of food and drink, we have yet to reach the ceiling. If you were not tending bar, what would you be doing? I would be dead in a ditch. Since coming into the hospitality industry, I’ve never looked back and I’ve never felt more at home. Name an ingredient never allowed behind your bar. Rose’s Lime. That stuff is foul. What is your after-work hang-

[SNEAK PEEK]

Tempus Eyes Summer Opening Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

ormer Elaia chef Ben Grupe may have made a name for himself in the world of fine dining and the international culinary competition circuit, but for his debut restaurant, Tempus (4370 Manchester Road), he wants to make one thing abundantly clear: This is not your average fine dining restaurant. “I want to remove the pretension of fine dining,” Grupe emphasized at the recent unveiling of his much-anticipated concept. “We’re going to be very identifiable and approachable, somewhere people can come to several times a month and not an ABC — anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations — restaurant.” Tempus will be the debut restaurant for Grupe, an industry veteran whose career spans such notable properties as West Virginia’s venerable Greenbrier Hotel & Resort, the Racquet Club Ladue and most recently Elaia, for which he was named a semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest by the James Beard Foundation in 2018. Grupe left Elaia last fall to launch a dinner series, Work in Progress, with the

RIVERFRONT TIMES

After years in the industry, Ben Grupe is ready to launch his debut restaurant, Tempus. | RJ HARTBECK goal of facilitating a conversation with St. Louis diners about what most interested them. Tempus is in part a result of that conversation. However, as Grupe explains, his inspiration for the restaurant goes back much further than the dinner series. “It’s a distillation of my career,” Grupe explains. “It’s about the compe-

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titions, my time at Greenbrier, but it’s also about food without labels. I don’t want this to be seen as fine dining or Italian or anything like that. We are notching our own brand.” Grupe describes that brand as fine dining without pretension, offering a “comeas-you-are, laidback vibe that’s fun and energetic.” It’s a determined step away

out? CBGB on South Grand for a few rounds with some really good friends and even better bartenders. That, or Parlor with some very close coworkers and a few games of Skee-Ball. What’s your edible or quaffable guilty pleasure? I don’t typically go for sweets, but I’ll devour Almond Crush Pocky. We keep multiple packs stocked in the kitchen for the whole crew to snack on during breaks. What would be your last meal on earth? I grew up hunting and fishing with my dad and cooking with my mom. My mom learned to make Indian food with some family friends after we adopted my sister, and her tikka masala is indiscernible from the otherwise real deal. I’ve always been a sucker for anything with curry spices. My dad taught me how to grill, and his grilled pheasant with roasted vegetables brings back homey nostalgia. To finish, my grandmother’s strawberry-rhubarb cobbler; it’s so good. All of that with plenty of dry Provençal rosé and my favorite gin to finish it off. n from the elaborate tasting menus he’s prepared and the even more elaborate culinary competition showpieces — some of which, he admits, could be unrecognizable and esoteric. But even as he’s getting away from that style, Grupe emphasizes that he will not be getting away from substance. His emphasis on technique and quality ingredients will be front and center at Tempus, only in a more approachable way. “We will take familiar flavors, but they will be both sophisticated and simplistic,” Grupe explains. “For example, something like chicken and dumplings — they’ve familiar and approachable, but we’ll still be doing them with drive and technique so that they are the best chicken and dumplings you’ve ever had.” Though there will be prix fixe options available, the bulk of Tempus’ menu will be comprised of a la carte dishes. Grupe also plans to eventually offer late-night options geared toward restaurant workers, or those simply looking for something outside of diner food later in the evening. Drew Lucido, who has worked at Olio, Juniper and Taste, will run the bar program at Tempus. He describes the drink menu as one that will “push the boundaries of what people expect of cocktails in St. Louis.” He also plans to feature wines from lesser-known varietals, as well as large-format beers that can be paired with meals like wine. Grupe plans to open Tempus by late summer on the southeast corner of Manchester and Newstead. n

[ FA S T F O O D ]

Impossible Whopper Debuts in STL Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

urger King is making St. Louis ground zero for its entry into the meatless burger market. Say hello to the Impossible Whopper. The burger, which is available at 59 St. Louis-area Burger Kings as of April 1, consists of the same parts that make a Whopper, well, a Whopper: sesame-seed bun, generous slathering of mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and sliced onion. What the Impossible Whopper doesn’t have, of course, is a four-ounce grilled beef patty. Instead, it’s got the Impossible version, a scientifically developed patty that promises all the avor of meat without any of the cruelty. The surprise announcement came with the release of a candidcamera-style advertisement in which Burger King customers are informed that the burgers they just ate are in fact plant-based. The customers then react with heavily bleeped disbelief. “It’s made of f—king beef right here,” one man tells the camera, raising the bun as if to better prove the protein he just ingested is, indeed, a formerly living animal. “You see that right here? It’s beef!” The narrator chimes in, “We swear, it’s not beef.” Maybe the ad is trying a little too

For better or worse, the Impossible Whopper is the real deal. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI hard, but it’s also true that the Impossible Whopper is a shockingly faithful version of the fast-food staple. Similar to White Castle’s Impossible Sliders, which hit the local market last year, the Impossible Whopper benefits greatly from the combination of the patty and its toppings and sauces. And even on its own, the patty doesn’t falter. There’s no weird aftertaste and it doesn’t crumble while chewing. The essential “Whopperness” is there, and it hits that spot. “We’ve done sort of a blind taste test with our franchisees, with people in the o ce, with my partners on the executive team,” Burger King’s North America president, Christopher Finazzo, told Reuters. “Virtually nobody can tell the difference.”

“We’ve done a blind taste test with our franchisees, with people in the office, with the executive team. Virtually nobody can tell the difference.”

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Does that really mean the Whopper and Impossible Whopper are identical? Well, no. The Impossible version is $1 more at $5.49. The plant-based patty can’t quite hit the inherent juiciness of the original’s piece of beef, and the dryness of the Impossible patty became more apparent during a comparison taste-test performed under the rigorous scientific conditions required by RFT’s editorial guidelines — that is, alternating bites whilst double-fisting burgers in the parking lot. Sure, the launch of the Impossible Whopper on April Fool’s Day feels like a corporate stunt and desperate tie-in to a holiday already made insufferable by brands. But this Impossible Whopper is no joke. It’s just really fucking good. n

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[BARS]

Malört Has Arrived (Gulp) Written by

THOMAS CRONE

or years, St. Louisans who wanted to enjoy a shot of Malört had to know which bars stocked the product, even if those bars weren’t doing so legally. A small, loose confederation of taverns kept a bottle in their understock, probably procured at a southern Illinois liquor store, as the brand wasn’t technically available for purchase in Missouri. That changed a few weeks ago. Major Brands has begun carrying Malört, and that means St. Louis-area bars serviced by the distributor have begun to purchase it — including the Crow’s Nest, Tamm Avenue Grill, CBGB’s, Taste Bar, Lucas Avenue Grill, Flamingo Bowl, Pin-Up Bowl and the Waiting Room. The Heavy Anchor will be getting it this week. And for those who like to drink at home, Randall’s has it. People familiar with the spirit have been busily spreading the word that the, um, let’s call it “unique” taste of Malört has arrived in bars throughout the city and county.

In Chicago, where it’s distilled, Malört has achieved cult status among the town’s drinking class. It’s a very particular drink and folks are either having one because they legit love it (some people) or are drinking it on a dare or prank, or through pure curiosity (many, many more people). How extreme could it possibly be? Well, the first sip is such a gamechanger that reaction photos and videos are easily found through the hashtag #malortface. On the Malört website, the product is described like so: “Jeppson’s Malört is Chicago’s local beskbrännvin — a style of bitter, wormwood-based, Swedish schnapps. First developed during medieval times for its supposed medicinal benefits, it’s traditionally associated with the farms of Skåne, in Sweden, where wormwood grows wild. In the early 1900s, it was the most ubiquitous drink in Sweden and accompanied the nearly 1 million Swedes who immigrated to the U.S. during that period. One of those immigrants was a man from Ystad, Skåne named Carl Jeppson.” Mr. Jeppson created something that’s describable, sure; see the words above. And yet to fully, accurately give a sense of Malört’s taste profile is a trick indeed. The shot is often given descriptions like “rootsy” or “earthy” and other, naturalistic terms. As an avid gardener, I’d go ahead and offer this scenario: If you were able to stick a straw into the distilled, liquified

The nastiest beverage in Chicago is invading your local bar. | FLICKR/RYAN center of a backyard compost pit, the microbial delights that you’d find in your first sip would be akin to Malört. If you’ve had shots of Jaegermeister or Fernet Branca and your head tilted sideways, imagine that reaction amplified, multi-fold. For local establishments, a bottle of Malört runs just shy of $17, roughly equating to a $4 shot. It’s a relative bargain since those new to Malört will also have an evening of entertainment, describing what was just tasted.

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To have a round, of course, is up to the individual; to have a round and not discuss it ad nauseum is well-nigh impossible. Choose wisely. Or be bold. Do what you gotta do, ’cause Malört’s in town, legal and ready to party. In addition to being a frequent contributor to the Riverfront Times, Thomas Crone is the liquor/beer buyer at the Tick Tock Tavern in south St. Louis. And yes, the Tick Tock is now serving Malört.

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

THE BEST LOCAL MUSIC WEEKEND OF THE YEAR!

THEGROVE

JUNE 2019

FRI 21 & SAT 22

Tonina • T-Dubb-O • The Lion’s Daughter • DJ Alexis Tucci • The Knuckles • Shady Bug • Le’Ponds Janet Evra • Ryan Koenig•Paige Alyssa • Rec Riddles • Sorry, Scout • Dracla • Starwolf Devon Cahill • Jon Bonham and Friends • National Blues Museum Jam Band St. Villagers • PLUS a two hour opening set on Saturday by School of Rock St. Louis

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

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MUSIC + CULTURE

Desire Lines’ rock & roll approach marks a departure for Jenny Roques (second from left) from her usual country-tinged work. | VIA THE BAND

[HOMESPUN]

Front and Center Longtime player Jenny Roques steps into the role of band leader with Desire Lines’ debut LP Written by

CHRISTIAN SCHAEFFER

t’s a Tuesday night, and the Whiskey Ring feels more like an old-time hootenanny than a Cherokee Street tavern. Wedged into a tiny vestibule by the door and gathered around some prehistoric microphones, Ryan Koenig is holding court with various instruments and fellow musicians. After playing accordion alongside guitarist Nick Pence and fiddler Alena Wheeler, Koenig takes a break and reconfigures his set-up with his new backing trio, the Goldenrods. Kellie Everett holds up the low end on upright bass, Jess Adkins squeezes her turquoise-sparkle accordion and guitarist Jenny Roques strums and sings alongside Koenig, her strong voice booming through the bar’s open door on an early spring night. Singing alongside her friends is a situation Roques has been in many times before. Over the past decade, she’s been an integral part of a few folk, Americana and

rock bands: with Jacqueline Oberkrom in the twangy duo Arson for Candy; alongside Mike Leahy in the desert-noir rock band Tortuga; and as part of the short-lived but mighty fun all-women quartet Joan of Dark. But as the leader of the rock quartet Desire Lines, Roques is breaking new ground in a few ways: She’s the sole singer and lyricist in the group, and her recent embrace of the electric guitar brings a nervy and hardened edge to songs that might normally have been adorned with country and folk affectations. Reached by phone just a few hours before her Whiskey Ring gig, Roques talks about her band’s debut record, After Sundown, while her daughter jumps in mud puddles in their backyard. After Sundown, Roques says, is yet another milestone in her career. “It’s my first full-length album I’ve ever written. It’s a big deal — it’s my baby!” she says, laughing. “It’s baby number two!” Roques didn’t have to look far for source material for the eightsong release. “I went through a lot of personal life changes and stuff — getting divorced and all that fun stuff,” she says. “I wanted to do something completely different.” Part of that change included how she approached her songs, which led her to set aside the Americana palette for something more rangey and raw. “I love country music, but I’m kind of a weirdo and I like all sorts of music,” she continues. “I was starting to feel almost crunched in a corner. I do a lot more than

“I felt I needed to do something else with this, something different. I wanted to abandon everything I’d ever done before and do something new.” that, and sometimes my writing is a little weird for country.” Likewise, her embrace of electric guitar not only gives Desire Lines a dreamy and slightly psychedelic charge; it also affected her compositions. “Buying an electric, I couldn’t just strum; I would have to play it differently,” she says. “It impacted what I wrote.” Having played as part of larger ensembles for so long gave Roques some trepidation at being Desire Lines’ focal point, but working with a band of well-seasoned musicians — bassist Matt Pace, guitarist Sam Golden and drummer Ryan Adams — made her more comfortable with embracing the role of a bandleader. “They actually made me take a more commanding front and asked me to tell them what we are going to do,” Roques says of her

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bandmates. “They really helped me develop that director role and be very vocal about what I was wanting to hear.” The process of developing the band’s sound was gradual. Desire Lines initially started as an acoustic project between Roques and Pace, and the pair would often play a mix of covers and originals in less formal, more happy-hourcentric settings. “After Matt and I were playing acoustic around the apartment, I felt I needed to do something else with this, something different,” Roques says. “I wanted to abandon everything I’d ever done before and do something new.” After Sundown will be released in mid-April — a rush order to aid the band’s Record Store Day set at Vintage Vinyl, Roques says — and Desire Lines has continued to gig around town, including a recent set at the Duck Room. Playing as part of a showcase celebrating the release of Reedy Press’ The Sound of St. Louis, Desire Lines performed alongside more established rock bands Finn’s Motel and Grace Basement. Being a part of the celebration of St. Louis music has special resonance for Roques, whose ancestor John Roques is credited with leading St. Louis’ first drumcorps band in the 1820s. She even has the documentation from the Missouri Historical Society to prove it. Rather than just playing a gig, Roques had a sense of making good on her birthright. “I thought, ‘Holy shit, I’m doing what my grandpa did 200 years ago,’” Roques says. n

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

Wednesday April 10 9:45PM Urban Chestnut Presents

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To Abbey Road

THIS THURSDAY Uli Jon Roth

Scorpions Lead Guitarist

APRIL 25

Broken Arrow

A Tribute to Neil Young

+Vapes CBD +Kratom +Local Glass +Cheap Prices 8122 S. BROADWAY 63111 314.261.4279

@710GLASSCO | 42

RIVERFRONT TIMES

@710GLASSCOMPANY

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Friday April 12 10PM

Jeremiah Johnson’s Return From Europe Show

APRIL 26 Mitch Ryder

APRIL 27

Dogs of Society

A Tribute to Elton John

Saturday April 13 10PM

Tropidelic and RDGLDGRN

APRIL 28 Rich Guzzi

hypnosis/comedy show

Sunday April 14 8PM

Legends Sunday with Roland Johnson and Soul Endeavor

JUNE 6

An Evening with Roger McGuinn

JUNE 8

Al Stewart

A Night of His Greatest Hits

Wednesday April 17 9:45PM Urban Chestnut Presents

Sean Canan’s Voodoo Players Tribute To The Stones

[PREVIEW]

All Around the World Spectator finds a new audience with the release of an LP on a Norwegian label Written by

THOMAS CRONE

hen you’re a Midwestern dream-pop band signed to a Scandinavian record label, your music can be enjoyed in ways you might never expect, much less appreciate in real time. That’s been the case for Spectator. With the o cial release of Charlie, Baby on April 12 via Norway-based Nordic Records, the St. Louis band has a unique view of how modern music is created, recorded, distributed and enjoyed. Sometimes, the latter happens in the hours before musical- and life-partners Megan Rooney and Jeff Albert are awake. Occasionally, they tune in. As Rooney says, “There’s an amazing radio show in the UK called Audition. Each week, they play a set of songs and listeners vote on the songs to be added to their playlist. Hearing that ‘we are live in the UK right now,’ was like, ‘Huh, that’s not something we ever thought would happen.’ It went well, too. We finished number five out of about 30 or 40.” Blog posts, podcasts, reviews in various foreign languages, a few appearances on European radio stations: These are the realities of spring 2019 for Spectator, which has primed the pump for its new album by releasing three singles in recent weeks: “Waves,” “Weight” and, most recently, “The nly ne.” Interestingly, the first two singles featured Albert as the primary vocalist, though Rooney is principally found in that role. Fitting, perhaps, this mild misdirection. Spectator has always had a bit of elusiveness and mystery in its story, with releases spread out over time and a spare live schedule. In some ways, the band has been appreciated outside of St. Louis as much as it is here. Meeting in 2006, the songwriting pair first released an EP, In the Brick, in 2012, with its next album, The Last Exchange, arriving

Megan Rooney and Jeff Albert worked with a cast of local luminaries to produce an album for international release. | NATE BURRELL three years later. Both were recorded at Centro Cellar Studio in Columbia, Missouri. For Charlie, Baby, the duo brought their efforts closer to home, working at Native Sound Recordings with their bassist, Kevin Bachmann, serving as producer. “This guy’s got an intimate knowledge of the songs,” Rooney says. “Even in the rehearsals leading up to our playing live, he’s played that producer’s role. It takes a little bit of pressure off of us, as he can make some of the decisions.” “He’s very clear,” Albert adds. “He can step back and see the whole thing. He’s got a laser focus on our pieces and may hear something we’d otherwise missed.” That said, Bachmann was working with a base of lovely, understated pop songs, compliments of the band’s two songwriters, whose output is not unlike that of Mazzy Star, Viva Voce or Fleet Foxes. Changing its approach with each recording experience, the group went into the studio this time with some players who will be continuing with them in live settings. In-demand drummer Mike Schurk is the talented second half of the rhythm section, alongside Bachmann. Guitarist Dominic Puleo, who’s played with the group previously, is on hand

as well, as is RFT columnist Christian Schaeffer on keys. It’s something of a departure from the way the group worked in the past, when the recording came first and a eshed-out membership followed. “Dominic’s been playing with us for a long time. He got involved right around the time we released the second record and he’s been playing live with us pretty much since,” Albert says. “Mike took over on drums and has been playing with us for a few years, whenever he was available. He’s been with us since the last album, but he hadn’t been on the previous albums. This time, Mike was involved from the outset, alongside Kevin, who’s playing bass and played a ton of the instruments on the records. The two of them have the rhythm so locked down. It’s unique for us, having the two of them from the beginning and now as part of the live show. We’d always pieced bands together after the fact.” The addition of a dedicated keyboard player has proven fruitful, freeing up Rooney to concentrate on her vocals. “Christian’s been great on keys,” Rooney says. “He’s stepped in like a pro. Having Christian allows me to just focus on singing. I’ll play some keys now, but historically I’d

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played all the keys and sang. I’d rather just focus on singing, and he’s taken that weight off of me.” Rounding out the studio unit was Seth Porter, who helped arrange strings. Adding a string section was a big step, Albert says, but the result was a sound “a little bit more true to what we heard in our heads.” Rooney and Albert recently spent two years in California. While they were gone, the pair suggest, a transition of sorts took place around town. But they’re again finding their place in the local musical landscape. “We’ve started rehearsing for our show and playing with the core band that recorded our album,” he says. “I feel a little bit back in the zone.” “I think that new bands pop up and move forward a little bit, so it takes time to get back into the groove,” Rooney says. “You want people to remember you, that you’re still around.” The move to Nordic, she says, “allowed us an opportunity for us to find new people and start fresh.” Spectator’s official album release will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Off Broadway. Charlie, Baby will be available digitally via the usual platforms on Friday, April 12.

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

Day with an appropriately punkleaning batch of bands on the patio and DJs spinning records inside. Hot dogs and vegan food will be on hand courtesy of Devil Dogs Wienery and Wheely Good Food Dood, with plenty of beer and cider to wash it down thanks to Brick River Cider and Alpha Brewing Co. The festivities kick off at 10 a.m.

Planet Score Records 7421 Manchester Road, Maplewood

Nikki Hill has played all over the world, but she’ll be at Euclid Records this weekend. | ANNEKE KLUNGERS 4 p.m. Starwolf 5 p.m. Turntable Orchestra

[ B R I C K S A N D M O R TA R ]

For the Record Your complete guide to Record Store Day in St. Louis 2019 Written by

DANIEL HILL

ecord Store Day is now in its twelfth year, marking more than a decade of the hipster holiday that runs in parallel with the undead vinyl industry. Think of it as Christmas, or maybe Black Friday, for both collectors and casuals alike. We’ve compiled a list of local Record Store Day events taking place this Saturday that feature live bands and DJs. In our roundup below, you’ll find perks and specials specific to each spot, along with the low down on the live music they offer. Check recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases for Record Store Day exclusives nationwide and prepare to camp out early Saturday morning for the more sought-after releases. Happy hunting!

Vintage Vinyl 6610 Delmar Boulevard, University City

Opens at 10 a.m. Bands: 11 a.m. School of Rock 12:30 p.m. Desire Lines 1:30 p.m. Blue Lotus Records Showcase 3 p.m. Bounce House

RIVERFRONT TIMES

Opens at 10 a.m. 10 a.m. Jarrett Tindall 12 p.m. DJ SayWord 2 p.m. Don Tinsley 4 p.m. Cee Beond 6 p.m. DJ Dub Pen Maplewood’s Planet Score Records has dubbed its celebration a “Re-

DJs: 10 a.m. Andrew Yost 11 a.m. DJ Hal Greens 12 p.m. Lern Radio 1 p.m. Daniel Hill 2 p.m. Donny Fandango 3 p.m. John Henry 4 p.m. Jess Luther & Annie McCance 5 p.m. Gary Hairlson Vintage Vinyl brings a full slate of live acts performing in front of the store as well as a roster of DJs (including yours truly) spinning records inside. Schla y Beer and Echo Echo Wine will provide the refreshments, and those in line before the store’s 10 a.m. opening will be treated to Strange Donuts and Kaldi’s Coffee.

Euclid Records 19 North Gore Avenue, Webster Groves

Opens at 10 a.m. 12 p.m. Nikki Hill 12:30 p.m. Eldraco Price + FreeNation 1 p.m. Thor Axe 1:30 p.m. School Of Rock 2 p.m. The Red-Headed Strangers 2:30 p.m. Thames 3 p.m. Finn’s Motel 3:30 p.m. Boreal Hills 4 p.m. Superfun Yeah Yeah Rocketship 4:30 p.m. Pono A.M. 5 p.m. Beth Bombara 5:30 p.m. The Potomac Accord 6 p.m. The Bottle Rockets 7 p.m. Summer Magic Euclid Records’ bash brings eight solid hours of live music, with performances by fourteen of the city’s finest acts. Live music starts at noon, but doors open at 10 a.m. for those hoping to score exclusives. Sugarfire Smoke House and Hi-Pointe Drive-In will be on hand

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Maximum Effort plays the Record Space this Saturday. | VIA BANDCAMP selling their wares, with beverages provided by 4 Hands, Urban Chestnut, Logboat and Echo Echo.

The Record Space 8716 Gravois Road, Affton

Opens at 10 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Lysergik Acid a.m. Bl ckw ll 12:30 p.m. Bastard Squad 1:30 p.m. Fight Back Mountain 2:30 p.m. NoPoint 3:30 p.m. BB Eye 4:30 p.m. Breakmouth Annie p.m. The Haddonfields 6:30 p.m. The Uppers 7:30 p.m. Kill Their Past 8:15 p.m. Trauma Harness 9:15 p.m. Maximum Effort With DJ sets inside by: DJ Donald Gene Brazel DJ Suzzy Scott DJ SayWord DJ Jon Coriell Affton newcomer the Record Space celebrates its first Record Store

cord Store Day Cookout,” promising burgers, hot dogs “and other tasty treats,” as well as bags of Red Hot Riplets via Old Vienna. Wash all that deliciousness down with drinks provided by Schla y Beer and 2nd Shift Brewing while you thumb through records to the sounds of several local DJs. Doors open at 10 a.m.

Music Record Shop 3116 Locust Street

It’s funny that the Record Store Day celebration that starts the earliest this year also happens to be the one that will have whiskey on hand, but hey, it’s a party! In addition to Rebel Yell bourbon, Music Record Shop’s shindig will feature beer from Urban Chestnut, coffee and donuts for the early birds, and pizza and chicken via U.R.B. and Byrd & Barrel. Point personality Donny Fandango and DJ Mark Lewis will spin records throughout. Doors open at 7 a.m. n

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

SPRING SHOTGUN SALE $75 off all SBE 3’s in stock

Supernova 20003 $499.95 Nova 20100 $399.95

$100 off select Affinity and Intensity 40925, 40874, 40850

Prices too low to advertise

31830, 31842, 31822, 31853

YOUR HOMETOWN FIREARMS RETAILER FOR OVER 15 YEARS!

VOTED BEST GUN SHOP OF 2015

-2015 RIVERFRONT TIMES BEST OF ST. LOUIS

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OUT EVERY NIGHT

[CRITIC’S PICK]

Jeffrey Lewis. | VIA DON GIOVANNI RECORDS

Jeffrey Lewis 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-773-3363. Jeffrey Lewis understands the life of an underground artist. A celebrated cartoonist known for his autobiographically inspired panels, he has long kept a sideline gig as an idiosyncratic folk artist (and his bestknown song “Cult Boyfriend” underlines his self-effacing humor). So it’s not too surprising that Lewis sees a kindred spirit in Tuli Kupferberg, a poet, cartoonist and

THURSDAY 11

BAD BAD HATS: 8 p.m., $10-$12. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. BILL MACKAY: w/ Dark Tea, Jake Leech 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. DREAM RITUAL: w/ Morbid Rites, Choir Vandals, Soul Craft 8 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. ERIN BODE RECORD RELEASE: 8 p.m., $20. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, 314-533-9900. IVAS JOHN & BRIAN CURRAN: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JEREMIAH JOHNSON ACOUSTIC DUO: 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. JOHN MCCUTCHEON: 7:30 p.m., $35-$40. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. LUCINDA WILLIAMS: 8 p.m., $30-$45. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE MOVIELIFE: w/ Travis Shettel 8 p.m., $18$20. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. RICH MCDONOUGH & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. THIRD SIGHT BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. TINY MOVING PARTS: w/ Free Throw, Worlds Greatest Dad 7:30 p.m., $17-$20. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

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singer who ran with Beat poets, folk singers and a host of New York-based counterculture warriors. Lewis’ latest album is a tribute to Kupferberg’s songs, which take cues from folk-singer tropes (“This Train Is Bound for Brooklyn”) and pop-music spoofs (“I Wanna Hold Your Foot”). It’s a perfect fit for Lewis’ arch, self-aware and shambolic take on folk music. Ring the Bell: The Opera Bell Band, St. Louis’ theatrical folk troupe, will open the show. —Christian Schaeffer

FRIDAY 12

ANITA JACKSON: 9:30 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. AS IT SEEMS: w/ Piss Pocket 7 p.m., $8-$10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. BOTTOMS UP BLUES GANG: 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. CALLOWAY CIRCUS ALBUM RELEASE: w/ CIVL, Tristate, Relyness, and Biff K’narly and the Reptillians 7 p.m., $10-$15. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. CLUSTERPLUCK: 9 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. DIVA JAZZ ORCHESTRA: 8 p.m., $35. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. THE FREE YEARS: w/ Jesus Christ Supercar, North by North, Bounce House 8 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. THE GOOD DEEDS: w/ Les Gruff & The Billy Goat 8 p.m., $8. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. HUSH LITE: 7 p.m., free. Hwy 61 Roadhouse and Kitchen, 34 S Old Orchard Ave, Webster Groves, 314-968-0061. IVAS JOHN BAND: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. JANET EVRA: 4 p.m., free. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., St. Louis.

Continued on pg 47

JEREMIAH JOHNSON: 10 p.m., $8. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. LUCKY OLD SONS: 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MAGGIE ROSE: 8 p.m., $10-$13. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. MATHEW SZLACHETKA BAND: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. POWER PLAY: 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. ST. VILLAGERS: w/ Dragon Falcon, Casey Bazzell 8 p.m., $5. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. TRACING WIRES: w/ The Stars Go Out, Lizzy Quinn & The Ontario Survival Plan 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

SATURDAY 13

BELOVED: 7:30 p.m., $5-$15. The 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave., University City, 314-421-3600. DAN VAPID AND THE CHEATS: w/ the Cuban Missiles, the Haddonfields, the Winks p.m., . Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. DIRTY MONEY: 9 p.m., free. 1860 Saloon, Game Room & Hardshell Cafe, 1860 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314-231-1860. THE DUST COVERS: 9 p.m., free. The Frisco Barroom, 8110 Big Bend Blvd., Webster Groves, 314-455-1090. DYNAMO PRO WRESTLING: 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. EUGENE & COMPANY: 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. HEAD FOR THE HILLS: 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Bootleg, 4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775. HUSH LITE: 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. JAKE’S LEG: 2 p.m., $5. Mount Pleasant Estates, 5634 High St., Augusta, 800-467-9463. JEFFREY LEWIS: w/ the Opera Bell Band 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. JONATHAN MCREYNOLDS: 7 p.m., $22-$80. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. KIM MASSIE BAND: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LATE NIGHT GROOVES: 10 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. MARK BATTLES: w/ Del Broadway, GME Peso, Neco Heartaway, Cook, Rob C 8 p.m., $15-$20. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. MARTY SPIKENER & ON CALL BAND: 10:30 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MIKE MATTHEWS PROJECT: 9 p.m., free. Nightshift Bar & Grill, 3979 Mexico Road, St. Peters, 636-441-8300. THE PROPHEC: 10 p.m., $15-$50. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. STICK FIGURE: w/ The Movement, The Elovaters 8 p.m., $26-$31. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. THE TROPHY MULES: 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. TROPIDELIC: w/ RDGLDGRN 10 p.m., $12-$15. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. ULTIMATE JAZZ ALL-STARS BIG BAND: 8 p.m., $35. Blanche M Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Dr at Natural Bridge Road, Normandy, 314-516-4949. VARIETY’S DINNER WITH THE STARS: w/ Sting, Joe Torry 6 p.m., $75. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-499-7600. YOUNG DOLPH: 8 p.m., Young Dolph. Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd, North St. Louis County, 314-869-9090.

SUNDAY 14

BIG MIKE: 3 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. BRIAN CURRAN: noon, free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811.

FLUSTERED MUSTARD DOES ROCKY HORROR: 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. JANET EVRA: 11:30 a.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. MUSIC FOR BAROQUE FLUTE: 3 p.m., free. First Congregational Church of St. Louis, 6501 Wydown Blvd., Clayton, 314-721-5061. ROLAND JOHNSON: 8 p.m., $7. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. RYAN KOENIG AND THE GOLDENRODS: 1 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. SCHOOL OF ROCK: 1 p.m., $10. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. SHOW ME THE BODY: w/ Man The Manipulator, Cult Season 7 p.m., $12. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. SKIRTS: w/ Camp Counselor, Wished Bone 8 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. THE PARLOR MOB: w/ The Cold Seas 6:30 p.m., $10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. TOM HALL: 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. THE USUAL SUSPECTS: 4 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. WALTER GREINER AND PAUL NIEHAUS IV: 1 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. WRISTMEETRAZOR: w/ Brute Force 3 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

MONDAY 15

KEITH BOWMAN QUARTET: 7 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. MONDAY NIGHT REVIEW: w/ Tim, Danny, Randy 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. ROCKY MANTIA & KILLER COMBO: 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. SHEPARD/DAVIS SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT: 7 p.m., $15. Webster University-Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-7128. SPITE, FALLUJAH: w/ Buried Above Ground 7 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

TUESDAY 16

DAIKAIJU: w/ Breakmouth Annie, Big Whoop 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. MXMS: 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. NAKED MIKE: 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. ROLAND JOHNSON: 7 p.m., free. The Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Square inside Grandel Theatre, St. Louis, 314-776-9550. ST. LOUIS SOCIAL CLUB: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THE NATIONAL PARKS AND WILD: 8 p.m., $10-$13. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. TORREY CASEY & SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THE VICTOR WOOTEN BAND AND THE WOOTEN WOODS EXPERIENCE: 8 p.m., $32. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

WEDNESDAY 17

BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BRIAN CURRAN: 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. CASTLE: 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. JOHN MCVEY BAND: 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MARGARET & ERIC: 4 p.m., free. Hammer-

Continued on pg 49

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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[CRITIC’S PICK]

Tank and the Bangas. | ADRIAN MARKS

Tank and the Bangas 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard. $20 to $25. 314-726-6161. Tarriona Ball is the “Tank” in Tank and the Bangas, the New Orleans collective that seemed to emerge in 2017 as full-blown stars on the basis of a single NPR Tiny Desk triumph. But Ball long honed her lyrical chops on the poetry-slam scene, and for some eight years the band had been working just about any joint that would have them in the Crescent City. All sounds are possible in New Orleans, and all find

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 47 stone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. THE NTH POWER: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. PINK NEIGHBOR: w/ Nap Time, Ashley Byrne 9 p.m., $7. Foam, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100. REGGAE RHYTHM & GROOVES: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. TANK AND THE BANGAS: w/ Maggie Koerner, DJ RQ Away 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. TULIP: w/ Closet Witch, Mystic Will, Man the Manipulator 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE?: 8 p.m., $5-$10. Webster University-Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-7128. YAWPERS: w/ the Whale 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989.

THIS JUST IN $3 SLAMDOWN: W/ Ending Orion, Warheadd, The Ricters, Frago, Are You In?, Sat., June 1, 7 p.m., $3-$5. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. 4TH ANNUAL ST. LOUIS PIANO FESTIVAL: Mon., June 3, 7 p.m., $20. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. ARCHITECTS: W/ Thy Art Is Murder, While She Sleeps, Fri., May 10, 7:30 p.m., $25-$30. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. AUGUST BURNS RED: W/ Silverstein, Silent Planet, Wed., July 3, 7:15 p.m., $27.50-$32. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. AVATAR: W/ Devin Townsend, Dance With The

a fusion in Tank and the Bangas. Streettough jazz, hard funk, silky urban pop, uncensored spoken word, experimental Afro-punk and even quietly storming soul ripple and crest through the band’s music, which its slim recorded output has yet to channel fully. This band demands to be experienced live: Soothing, searing and even ecstatic, Tank and the Bangas throws the most provocative party around. Opening Flavors: Blue-eyed soul conjurer Maggie Koerner and genre-bending turntablist DJ RQ Away, both from New Orleans, add further spice to this heady night. —Roy Kasten

Dead, ‘68, Fri., May 24, 7 p.m., $25-$30. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. BAD WOLVES: Thu., May 23, 6:30 p.m., $25-$35. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. BIG RICH MCDONOUGH & RHYTHM RENEGADES: Wed., April 17, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. BOOMTOWN UNITED: W/ The Uncouth, Bruiser Queen, BrickCitySoundSystem, Sat., May 4, 8 p.m., $10. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. BRIAN CURRAN: Sun., April 14, noon, free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. Wed., April 17, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. BROTHER JEFFERSON BAND: Sat., April 20, 3 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. BUCKCHERRY: W/ Joyous Wolf, After Alberta, Sixes High, Mon., April 22, 7 p.m., $20-$40. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. CASKEY: W/ Jordan Baumstark, Trenton P, Solider B, Thu., May 23, 8 p.m., $20-$22. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. CELINE DION: Sat., Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., $46.50$196.50. Enterprise Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis, 314-241-1888. CHON: W/ DOMi, JD Beck, Mon., June 17, 8 p.m., $20-$25. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. CHUCK PROPHET AND THE MISSION EXPRESS: Fri., July 12, 8 p.m., $20-$25. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-498-6989. DAIKAIJU: W/ Breakmouth Annie, Big Whoop, Tue., April 16, 9 p.m., $7. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. DANCE GAVIN DANCE: Fri., May 3, 6:30 p.m., $25$99. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East

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NOW H IR IN G

E X P E R IE

NCED S ERVERS

, APPLY

IN P E R S ON

“Thanks for voting us Best Greek Restaurant 2017”

Now Accepting Reservations for Easter

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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St. Louis, 618-274-6720. THE DANGEROUS SUMMER: W/ Have Mercy, Modern Chemistry, Wed., May 29, 8 p.m., $17-$20. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. DAVE HAUSE AND THE MERMAID: Sun., June 23, 8 p.m., $13-$15. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. DAVID DEE & THE HOT TRACKS: Fri., April 19, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. EN VOGUE: Fri., Aug. 30, 8 p.m., $28. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777. FISTER 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: W/ Thorlock, Slow Damage, Blackwell, Sat., June 15, 8 p.m., $10-$12. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. FOG LAKE: Sat., June 15, 7:30 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. GOOD CHARLOTTE: Thu., May 2, 8 p.m., $35$37.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. HARD LOSS: W/ Isabella, City Of Parks, Broken Youth, Skylines, Fri., April 19, 7:30 p.m., $6-$8. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. INSANE CLOWN POSSE: W/ Rittz, Mushroomhead, DJ Paul, Ouija Macc, Kissing Candice, Tue., May 14, 6:30 p.m., $30-$75. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. JOHN MCVEY BAND: Wed., April 17, 8 p.m., free. Wed., April 24, 8 p.m., free. Sat., April 27, 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. KELTIC REIGN: Fri., April 19, 7:30 p.m., $10. Ozark Theatre, 103 E. Lockwood Ave., St. Louis, 314-962-7000. KING WARBLER: W/ Lightrider, Dear Genre, Daytime Television, Wed., April 24, 8 p.m., $8-$10. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. KSHE PIG ROAST 2019: W/ Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Ratt, Blue Oyster Cult, April Wine, Shaman’s Harvest, Shooting Star, Missouri, Royal Bliss, the Black Moods, Sat., Aug. 10, 5 p.m., $19.95-$150. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 & Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-9944. KSLU REVIVAL TOUR: W/ The Sigmund Frauds, Le’Ponds, Tonina, Hounds, Sat., April 27, 7 p.m., $10. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. LARKIN POE: Fri., June 14, 7 p.m., $20-$75. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. LENGTH: W/ Justin RA, Sat., April 27, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. LIGHT THE TORCH: Wed., May 8, 7:30 p.m., $20$79. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: Sun., April 14, 8 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. LUNG: W/ Bounce House, Biologist, Wed., May 1, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226. MARCELL STRONG & THE APOSTLES: Thu., April 25, 8 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MARGARET & ERIC: Wed., April 24, 4 p.m., free. Wed., April 17, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MARGO PRICE: Sat., July 20, 7 p.m., $25-$30. Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis, 314-775-0775. MATT MORGAN: Fri., April 19, 4 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MONDAY NIGHT REVIEW: W/ Tim, Danny, Randy, Mon., April 15, 7 p.m., free. W/ Tim, Danny, Randy, Mon., April 22, 7 p.m., free. W/ Tim, Danny, Randy, Mon., April 29, 7 p.m., free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. MONKS OF DOOM: W/ Victor Krummenacher, Tue., April 30, 8 p.m., $10-$12. Blueberry Hill The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. NAKED MIKE: Tue., April 16, 7 p.m., free. Tue., April 23, 7 p.m., free. Tue., April 30, 7 p.m.,

free. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. PAUL BONN & THE BLUESMEN: Thu., April 18, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. PORCHFESTSTL: Sat., May 4, 1 p.m., free. Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council, 6008 Kingsbury, St. Louis, 314-862-5122. PRXZM: W/ Party Nails, Wed., June 26, 8 p.m., $10-$12. Blueberry Hill - The Duck Room, 6504 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314-727-4444. THE RACONTEURS: Fri., Oct. 18, 8 p.m., $69.50$89.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. REGGAE RHYTHM & GROOVES: Wed., April 17, 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. ROCKY MANTIA & KILLER COMBO: Mon., April 15, 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. ROLAND JOHNSON: Sun., April 14, 8 p.m., $7. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: Sat., April 13, 7 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. Fri., April 26, 8 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. SHEPARD/DAVIS SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT: Mon., April 15, 7 p.m., $15. Webster UniversityMoore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-7128. SHORELINE MAFIA: W/ Dre Cannon, Wed., May 15, 8 p.m., $25-$99. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. SHOW ME THE BODY: W/ Man The Manipulator, Cult Season, Sun., April 14, 7 p.m., $12. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. THE SHOWCASE TOUR: Tue., May 21, 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050. SONGBIRD CAFE: Wed., April 24, 7:30 p.m., $25$30. The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd, St. Louis, 314-560-2778. ST. LOUIS SOCIAL CLUB: Tue., April 16, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. THE STONE SUGAR SHAKEDOWN ALBUM RELEASE: Sat., June 1, 8 p.m., $10. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505. TECH N9NE: With Krizz Kaliko, Dax, Mayday, Ubi of Ces Cru, ATG, Fri., May 31, 8 p.m., $29.50. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis, 618-274-6720. THROWBACKS & COCKTAILS: W/ Yung Joc, DJ Unk, Sun., May 26, 3 p.m., $15-$20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. TIG NOTARO: Sat., June 1, 8 p.m., $40. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. TOM HALL: Sun., April 14, 4 p.m., free. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. TORREY CASEY & SOUTHSIDE HUSTLE: Tue., April 16, 10 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222. TROPHY MULES: Sat., April 13, 8 p.m., free. Rhone Rum Bar, 2107 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, 314-241-7867. TROPIDELIC: W/ RDGLDGRN, Sat., April 13, 10 p.m., $12-$15. Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-8811. TULIP: W/ Closet Witch, Mystic Will, Man the Manipulator, Wed., April 17, 8 p.m., $10. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway, St. Louis, 314-328-2309. UNCLE ALBERT: Sat., April 20, 9 p.m., $3. Hammerstone’s, 2028 S. 9th St., St. Louis, 314-773-5565. WEBSTER UNIVERSITY JAZZ SINGERS: Mon., April 22, 7 p.m., $5-$10. Webster University-Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-7128. WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE?: Wed., April 17, 8 p.m., $5-$10. Webster University-Moore Auditorium, 470 E. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, 314-968-7128. THE WORLD BEAT MUSIC FEST: Sat., Sept. 7, 9 p.m., free. Fellowship STL, 3453 S Jefferson Ave, St. Louis, 314-632-6418. n

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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SAVAGE LOVE OVERFISHED BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a heteroflexible married cis woman in my 40s. I’m also a POS cheater and a catfish. I really fucked up. One year ago, I met an older man in an online fetish forum. He sent me an unsolicited PM, and we have talked for hours every day since then. My husband, whom I’ve been married to for more than twenty years, does not know that I am having an emotional affair. I have no intention of telling my husband what I’ve done. I have been honest with my online boyfriend about everything except my name, my age and the fact that I have a husband. (I know those are all really big things to lie about.) My boyfriend lied to me early on about his name, age and relationship status, but came clean out of guilt. So I had the opportunity to say that I lied too, but I didn’t take it. I know what I’m doing is wrong. My husband would be very hurt if he knew. And my boyfriend, who wants to make a life together, would be very hurt as well. I’m in love with both men, but I’m not leaving my husband. I know the only right thing to do is break things off with my boyfriend. I’ve tried multiple times: I’ve told him that he is better off without me, that I’m a bad person and that he shouldn’t trust me. Each time, he convinces me to stay. We have not been physical. We have never even been in the same room, much to his dismay. I have thought about telling him the truth, but I am worried about my safety, and I do not want to hurt him any worse than I already have. Plus, I’m a fucking coward. I am in treatment for PTSD. My therapist believes that my actions are a coping mechanism, i.e., it is easier to pretend to be someone else than it is to be me. I don’t think she’s wrong, but I also don’t think it excuses what I’ve done. How do I end this relationship without doing any more damage to my two partners? Conning And Tricking For Intensely Selfish Haven

Far be it from me to question your therapist’s assessment — she’s spoken with you on multiple occasions, and her insights are doubtless more informed — but I think her framing falls short. She describes your actions as a coping mechanism: You told a stranger lies and abused your husband’s trust to escape your miserable life. If you weren’t so fucking miserable — if other people and/or circumstances hadn’t conspired to make you so fucking miserable — you wouldn’t have done this. You wouldn’t be doing this still. But despite your therapist’s efforts to help you down off that hook, CATFISH, you seem determined to hang there. She’s offering you absolution, in whole or in part, while you stand around agellating yourself (“POS cheater,” “fucking coward,” “bad person,” etc). Personally, I think you’re entitled to your feelings. Go ahead and feel terrible. You did a bad thing. It’s not the worst thing someone’s ever done online, and most people know not to take what a stranger tells them on the internet at face value. But if feeling terrible doesn’t motivate you to make changes… well, it’s not for me to question your sincerity. But some people think it’s OK to do terrible things so long as they have the decency to feel terrible about having done them. If you’re not one of those people — if you actually feel bad — doing something about it and learning something from it will alleviate your misery. Here’s what you need to do: End things with your boyfriend. Write him an email, tell him the truth about your age, marital status and unavailability. Don’t share your real name with him; you’re under no obligation to do so, and if he turns out to be the vindictive type, CATFISH, you don’t want him to have your real identity. Apologize for not coming clean when he did — he lied to you too at the start — and thank him for the pleasure of his virtual company and the joy he brought to your life. Then block him. Here’s what you need to learn: You didn’t do this because you’re miserable — or you didn’t do it just because you’re miserable. You did this because it was fun. We call it “play” when children

Some people think it’s OK to do terrible things so long as they have the decency to feel terrible about having done them. pretend to be someone or something they’re not; child’s play is also, yes, a coping mechanism. Vulnerable children pretend to be big and powerful superheroes and/or monsters to cope with and momentarily escape their relative powerlessness. And nothing makes a child’s playful fantasy feel more real than a good friend who plays along. Most adults don’t make time for play — most of us aren’t LARPers or kinksters — but even adults need play, and some adults need play more than others. You found a space where you could play (that online fetish forum), and you found a playmate who helped make your fantasies feel real (a guy you’ve never actually met and who could still be lying to you about all sorts of things). It got out of hand when arousal, orgasms, oxytocin and promises you couldn’t keep got stirred into the mix. The play made you feel better at first, but the dishonesty and stress of deceiving two people eventually wiped out the benefits you were getting. ou need to find a way to build some play into your life, sexual and/or nonsexual, that doesn’t require you to lie or hide. It would be great if you could do that with your husband, CATFISH, but if he’s not willing or able to play with you, get his okay to play on your own. Hey, Dan: I am a 70-year-old straight woman, and I haven’t been in an intimate relationship for seven years. I feel deprived of physical contact, but I also have some obstacles to pursuing intimacy at this point in my life. My vagina is seriously out of shape. In fact, it was a challenge to have

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sex with my last partner, because he was rather well endowed. I had to work up to it, but it finally worked. My libido is on the low side, but it still flares up now and then. I also have herpes, plus I’m taking an antidepressant that makes it hard for me to orgasm. But even with all that, I’ve enjoyed sex in the past. Would it make sense for me to look for a man who may also have some sexual issues and/or be willing to work with/around mine? Someone who enjoys all the other aspects of sexual intimacy besides penis in vagina? How would I find such a man? I’m not necessarily just looking for sex — a compatible companion would be great. Need Fresh Input “NFI can have it all — sex, companionship, orgasms,” said Joan Price, author of Naked at Our Age and The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50. “She just needs to find someone who realizes that partnered sex does not have to mean PIV.” our best bet for finding a man these days? Dating apps and websites, including dating apps for seniors. And don’t be shy about taking PIV off the menu, NFI, at least at the start. “As we age, many of us find non-penetrative sex with hands, mouth, and vibrator more comfortable, sexier and an easier path to orgasm,” said Price. “And that includes men with erectile di culties or decreased sensation. In her discussions with a potential new partner, NFI should explain that she’d like to get sexual in stages — and then explore and delight each other sexually, including orgasms, without PIV as the goal. But if she might enjoy PIV in the future, she should keep her vagina active with solo sex including a dildo or penetrative vibrator. Don’t wait until the right penis comes along.” Joan Price’s new book, Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After the Loss of Your Beloved, will be released soon. Follow her on Twitter @JoanPrice. Check out Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com. mail@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage ITMFA.org

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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APRIL 10-16, 2019

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