Riverfront Times - May 18, 2016

MAY 18–24, 2016 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 20

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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“The thing I notice about St. Louis versus Philly or New York -- whatever hobby [you’re into], people are really excited for you to be there instead of you having to prove yourself.

Everywhere else it’s like, there are enough people into punk, so you don’t see yourself as punk enough to be in that crew. Whereas here it’s like, ‘Oh you like this stupid band? Me too! Awesome. Let’s hang out.’”

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURE

11.

Past Due

For some crime victims, the violence is only the beginning.

Written by

DOYLE MURPHY Cover by

KELLY GLUECK

NEWS

CULTURE

DINING

MUSIC

5

17

25

35

The Lede

Calendar

Your friend or neighbor, captured on camera

Seven days worth of great stuff to see and do

8

21

A Cover Up in South St. Louis

Thomas Crone reports on the unsurprising new development in a street artist’s quest to better the city

Film

Sweet Bean (An) captivates Robert Hunt

22

Stage

8

Paul Friswold finds that Jill Sobule’s tunes give new life to Yentl

The Missouri Legislature wants to help ex-offenders move on, writes Danny Wicentowski

23

New Hope for Ex-Cons

Galleries

Art on display in St. Louis this week

Wot’s Up?

Cheryl Baehr thrills to the fast-casual Ethiopian feast at Moya Grill

28

Expert Opinion 28

38

First Look

A2 GF CF is a cool cafe even if you couldn’t care less about gluten

30

Coffee

Lauren Milford likes what’s brewing at Rise Coffee

The Gin Girl brings a big festival to Tower Grove East

MAY 18-24, 2016

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B-Sides

Anne Croy gives her picks for the city’s best Vietnamese

Food News

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Thomas Crone meets the Webster Grove couple peddling pedalmakers to the stars

32

6

Bigger and Better

Jeff Niesel catches up with Silversun Pickups

Homespun

Middle Class Fashion iii

40

Out Every Night

The best concerts in St. Louis every night of the week

43

This Just In

This week’s new concert announcements

Tuesdays, April 26–May 31

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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 Elizabeth Semko Staff Writers Doyle Murphy, Danny Wicentowski Restaurant Critic Cheryl Baehr Film Critic Robert Hunt Editorial Interns Katelyn Mae Petrin, Emily Higginbotham, Harlan McCarthy Contributing Writers Mike Appelstein, Allison Babka, Sara Graham, Roy Kasten, Jaime Lees, Joseph Hess, Kevin Korinek, Bob McMahon, Nicholas Phillips, Tef Poe, Christian Schaeffer, Mabel Suen, Lauren Milford, Thomas Crone, MaryAnn Johanson, Jenn DeRose

A R T Art Director Kelly Glueck Contributing Photographers Abby Gillardi, Robert Rohe, Mabel Suen, Steve Truesdell, Eric Frazier Micah Usher, Theo Welling, Corey Woodruff, Tim Lane

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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NEWS

A Cover Up in South St. Louis Written by

THOMAS CRONE

O

nce Phil Berwick’s “Merferd” appeared on the cover of the May 4 Riverfront Times, the timer was set: There was absolutely going to be a response to the offbeat street art character’s sudden fame, and that response was almost certainly going to involve more paint.

This past weekend, the largest guerrilla series of Merferds in town was painted over, in blocky roller-streaks of white. Berwick had previously painted a small grove of half-man/half-tree Merferds on a series of “panels” set within the old storefronts of the long three-story building on Grand, just south of Gravois. They’re still there, the Merferds, only now they’re obscured by those hasty white-outs, along with a singular message: “Free The Merf,” done in a similar, slightly-bubbled style to St. Louis’ prolific Free The Herb tags. Clearly, this was not the work of the city’s anti-graffiti Operation Brightside.

Perhaps the mystery someone (or someones) wielding the paint roller was responding to Berwick’s admission, within the RFT piece, that he enthusiastically paints over other street art that he finds negative or coarse. (That practice flies in the face of the unwritten code that guides graffiti artists.) Or maybe they just don’t appreciate his high profile.

Reached by phone last week, Berwick says he’s been treated to a few additional reports of cover-ups, though he says that the response to his work, on balance, has been more than a little bit positive. There have been invites to speak at schools, dozens of autographed Merferds whipped up on the spot, a never-ending supply of personal correspondence.

Continued on pg 9

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

After someone painted over these Merferds, a message was added reading “free the Merf.” | THOMAS CRONE

New Hope for Ex-Cons

R

olling back the stigma of a criminal conviction takes time — and that’s exactly what the Missouri legislature hopes to provide some ex-offenders. A bill passed last week by both the Senate and House would significantly reduce the waiting period to expunge criminal records, cutting a twenty-year wait for felonies to seven years. For misdemeanors, the wait would drop from ten years to three.

The bill now goes to the desk of Governor Jay Nixon, who told the Associated Press last week that he would give the bill serious consideration.

Drafted by teams of defense attorneys and prosecutors from the Missouri Bar Association, the bill, SB 588, represents a compromise reached on some “common sense ideas and solutions,” says Jason Lamb, who co-chairs the Missouri Bar’s Criminal Code Revision sub-committee.

“Prosecutors have said for years that we would be happy to endorse an expungement bill as long as it had some specific approaches that we felt were important for public safety.”

Among those approaches, explains Lamb, is a requirement to preserve law

MAY 18-24, 2016

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enforcement’s access to a person’s complete criminal records — even after the expungement is complete.

“There would be no destruction of records,” Lamb says. Rather, the records would be sealed, meaning they could be used in court as proof of prior criminal history.

And not all records would become closed to the public, either. Under the measure, ex-offenders could not have records sealed for any Class A felony, any violent crimes (such as domestic violence or assault), or any crimes that would require registering as a sex offender. Also not eligible: Anyone convicted of any additional crimes, even misdemeanors, after completing their sentences.

But getting your criminal record expunged would carry huge benefits to those trying to start over after serving time. It’s not just that records are sealed; it’s that, in some situations, it would be as if the incident never happened. If an employer asks if you’ve ever been convicted of a crime, for example, the bill would permit job-seekers to answer “no.” (However, the bill would still require offenders to reveal their expunged criminal convictions if they’re applying for a position in a federally insured bank, savings institu-

tion or credit union.)

The bill isn’t the only recent good news for ex-offenders. In an executive order last month, Nixon “banned the box,” meaning state agencies can no longer ask about criminal history on initial employment applications, unless that history is directly related to the position.

But if Missouri hopes to reduce the sky-high unemployment rate for ex-offenders — 44 percent for state residents on parole in 2015, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections — these measures may not go far enough. Private employers aren’t bound by Nixon’s “ban the box” order, and these proposed reforms will help only those selected ex-cons who can afford to pay the $250 expungement fee.

The fee was originally $500, and legislative researchers estimated that the fees could ultimately bring in millions of dollars each year, the AP reported.

The potential windfall drew the ire of Senator Rob Schaaf (R-St. Joseph).

“You’re going to make net profit to expunge their criminal records,” Schaaf says. “It’s obscene to do that.”

The legislation now includes a provision allowing judges to waive the fee for the indigent. — Danny Wicentowski

MERFERD Continued from pg 8

Local Art, Local Beer May 27-29

*Memorial Day weekend

end of the half-block-long building.

During that same era, a secondfloor pool hall was reputedly the social hangout of the notorious Vietnamese stick-up crew, the Black String. Today, though, it maintains a years-long hibernation, awaiting a new life as something, anything other than a canvas for street art.

While discussing the cover-up of the Merferds, Berwick pivots the conversation. As hinted to in last week’s story, Berwick sees Merferds as a standard-bearer, a positive message against the violence that he sees as endemically tied to St. Louis’ history and culture.

“Underlining it all, I want the killings to stop,” he says, “and rather than being a city of mistrust and fear, that we become a city that’s brother for brother. Missouri has a stigma, dating all the way back to the Civil War, that it’s a place of brother vs. brother. That’s the reality of this state. And that’s why Merferd, a lot of times, just has his arms out, not saying anything.

“The white-outs of the Merferds are no big deal. Really, no big deal at all. What we should be sad about are lives blotted out. I can go down there tomorrow and paint the Merferds back, twice as big. But when a light is gone, it’s gone.” n

016 Artist Serie ur 2 sb o g ee r: rin u t

Wheat!

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“I’m just blown away by this week,” he says. “I’m literally just amazed. And I guess the best response is when people go away and have a good feeling. … Seeing the responses of how people are bummed that he’s gone [on Grand] makes me feel that there was a lesson to having him on that desolate corner.”

Though abandoned for a good decade, the large structure at 3608 South Grand had a long, storied history in its corner of south St. Louis, initially as a moviehouse.

According to the website Cinema Treasures, “The Melba Theatre was opened on November 29, 1917.

After adding a long succession of neighborhood houses, Fred Wehrenberg acquired the Melba Theatre. The 1,190-seat house on Grand Avenue had an airdome next to it. During warm evenings, shows would be stopped in the auditorium, and film reels carried to the airdome. The movie would then continue in the cooler outdoors.”

In the ‘70s, it housed the popular pizzeria, Pizza-A-Go-Go, itself a business refugee from Gaslight Square. In the 1990s, a small music club called Johnny’s found a short-lived run on the southern

fea

The Merferds decorated a building that previously housed the Melba Theatre. | THOMAS CRONE

Friday, May 27th: 5pm - 10pm Saturday, May 28th: 10am - 10pm Sunday, May 29th: noon - 4pm

Schlafly Bottleworks 7260 Southwest Ave. www.schlafly.com

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

MAY 18-24, 2016

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PAST DUE

For some crime victims, the violence is only the beginning.

BY DOYLE MURPHY

N

early seven months ago, Ivis Oldham found himself dodging a storm of bullets on Inter-

state 70.

He was in the driver’s seat and had just steered his red Chevrolet Impala onto the highway near the Mark Twain Industrial Park in north St. Louis. His girlfriend was in the passenger seat, and his cousin in the back.

The first bullet sounded like a rock hitting the windshield.

“What’s that?” Oldham asked.

It was almost 11 p.m. on a Saturday, and the three were on their way to see rappers Dej Loaf and Migos perform at Harris-Stowe State University. Then 27 years old with a boyish enthusiasm, Oldham cleaned floors during the week at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.

He had also landed another job as a forklift operator and was supposed to start Monday.

They were cruising through the dark, listening to Chief Keef on the stereo, when the shooting began.

The confusion of the first gunshot turned to panic as the sound of bullets blasting through metal and glass thundered inside the Impala.

Oldham shoved his girlfriend’s head below the dash and stomped on the gas pedal. Shrapnel ripped the skin above his lips. Shattered glass embedded in his eye. Police would later count eighteen bullet holes in the car.

Oldham swerved through traffic, surging past 100 miles per hour, 110 miles an hour, 120. At least two bullets slammed into his back.

He veered off the interstate at Grand Boulevard and kept going.

The Impala roared through red lights and darted around cars, racing and racing until Oldham pulled into a hospital’s emergency bay, stopped the car and collapsed.

He woke in a hospital bed.

“I feel like I got a second chance at life,” he tells the Riverfront Times months later. “I’m just happy to be alive. I appreciate the air that I breathe, the birds, the trees, everything.”

Physically, he has made a full recovery. The nightmares and pain that used to keep him up all night have finally subsided. His girlfriend, now his fiancée, and his cousin somehow managed to avoid getting shot that night. Oldham considers them all lucky.

But as the questions of immediate survival fade into bad memories, new worries creep. Bills are piling up. No money is coming in.

At first, recovery made working impossible. He used to have an apartment in Jennings but had to break his lease and move in with his mother after leaving the hospital. He sold the shot-up Impala to a guy who thought it might be worth something at an auto auction. If he needs to drive, he borrows his fiancée’s car.

He hasn’t worked since the shooting.

“My mom and girlfriend are supporting me,” Oldham says.

“They keep me going and keep me strong.”

Oldham has been approved for help from a state program that reimburses victims or their survivors for certain expenses resulting from crime. The fund is a lifeline for people suddenly forced out of work or trying to scrape together the thousands of dollars needed to bury a murdered son, but it can also take months to navigate the process of applying and being accepted.

Oldham is still waiting. He says that he has been patient since beginning the paperwork last fall, and he believes he is nearly to the finish line.

“Everything has been approved,” he says, smiling. “I’m just waiting on the check.”

Ivis Oldham was shot four times in October 2015 when someone fired at least eighteen shots at his car on I-70. | DOYLE MURPHY

T

here is a karmic cycle to financing the state’s Crime Victims’ Compensation Program. The money — nearly $4.2 million spent on 752 approved claims in the 2015 fiscal year — comes from court fees paid by convicted criminals, as well as small surcharges on traffic violations and other criminal prosecutions.

That tidy loop, however, can look more like a maze to people trying to pry loose cash to cover their bills after violence strikes.

Victims often don’t even know the program exists. Once they do, they must satisfy a strict set of requirements and gather key documents, such as birth certificates and records of insurance settlements, that can hold up the process for weeks before the state considers their claim.

A spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, which oversees the fund, says state workers start sorting out the claims as soon as they are received.

“There is no backlog,” spokesman riverfronttimes.com

Mike O’Connell says in an email.

State statistics, however, show a dramatic spike in the amount of time it takes to assess victims’ applications and determine whether they are owed anything for expenses. A process that took an average of 47 days in the 2013 fiscal year ballooned to 76 days in 2015.

Wait times through the first four months of 2016 averaged 78 days.

It can feel even longer — applicants might spend weeks trying to work with various governmental and private agencies to gather the documents they need to prove their claims even before they forward their paperwork to the state. And the increase comes even though the number of claims across Missouri submitted to the fund have dropped in recent years.

O’Connell theorizes the longer processing times could be the result of a decision in fiscal year 2014 to double the amount of time applicants have to submit necessary documents. The state

MAY 18-24, 2016

Continued on pg 12

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PAST DUE Continued from pg 11 used to deny claims if all the supporting paperwork — death certificates, medical bills, police reports, etc. — was not filed within 30 days of the state acknowledging it had received an application.

The program’s staff thought that tight window might discourage people from applying, so it was increased to 60 days, O’Connell says. The Riverfront Times, however, reviewed a letter the state sent in February to a St. Louis applicant, warning that if full documentation was not received “within thirty (30) days from the date of this letter, this claim will be denied.” Asked about the letter, O’Connell says caseworkers tell applicants about the expanded 60-day window if they are having trouble obtaining documents.

The state has refused to make a caseworker or manager for the program available for an interview with the RFT. The state has previously suggested staffing is to blame for slowdowns. When the program was short one person for six months in fiscal year 2014, processing times jumped from 47 days to 65, according to an explanation contained in a state budget request.

The program has just four caseworkers to cover all of Missouri.

A total of 1,539 new claims were filed in the 2015 fiscal year, according to state records. More than a third — 551 — were filed in St. Louis city and county, which is managed by one caseworker. O’Connell says if a caseworker is out or a position is open, their colleagues are expected to pick up the slack — the situation earlier this year while the state was down to just three caseworkers.

(O’Connell says they’re now at full strength after hiring a new one a month ago.)

But even beyond staffing difficulties, the process remains maddeningly dependent on the U.S. Postal Service, even in an increasingly digital world. A claim must first be notarized and submitted through snail mail (although bills can subsequently be sent via email). There is no way to check the status of a

claim online. And even after a claim is approved, the state sends a letter in the mail notifying the applicant. The claimant must then sign off on the approval and send it back. Only then will the state send a check — it, too, sent via the post office.

Jessica Meyers of the Crime Victim Advocacy Center of St. Louis tells clients the entire process, from the first step to the day the check arrives, takes about three or four months. That is an improvement. At the beginning of last year, she was counseling them to expect a six- to nine-month wait.

The nonprofit center works with about 11,000 victims and dependents every year, figuring out what they need, connecting them to services and helping out with the paperwork that is crucial to pulling them out of crisis.

About three-quarters of their clients live at or below the poverty line, and the sudden financial blow of violent crime can be devastating.

“From day-to-day, you become moment-to-moment — ‘Can I eat today? Can my kids eat today?’”

Meyers says. “People think that’s hyperbolic. I don’t think the general public really understands the tenuous position of the clients that we work with in that they really are making day-to-day decisions of ‘Do I refill this prescription, or do I have food for today?’”

“Our clients really are making day-to-day decisions of ‘Do I refill this prescription, or do I have food for today?’”

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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M

onaki Crump spent three months just trying to track down a death certificate for her seventeen-year-old son after he was shot in north city.

The bureaucracy took over not long after young Trevon Chapple II collapsed on Goodfellow Boulevard.

City detectives say the teen had been riding in the backseat of a vehicle on January 30 when another passenger, seventeenyear-old Montrell Jeffery, tried to rob him at gunpoint. Trevon bolted into the street, and Montrell opened fire as Crump’s doomed son literally ran for his life, according to court records. (Montrell is awaiting trial and remains in custody on $1 million bail.)

The teen died on a Saturday afternoon. No one told Crump.

She had heard about a killing on Goodfellow, but the early gossip described the victim as twenty years old. It was only when Trevon’s friends began posting remembrances and little angels on Facebook that she grew worried.

She went first to the Jennings Police Department but was sent to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department headquarters on Olive Street. She says officers there had not identified the dead teen and told her to come back on Monday.

She spent the rest of the weekend in a state of suspended belief, hoping in the absence of an official announcement that her son was still alive somewhere.

The fantasy ended on Monday morning. She skipped the police department and went straight to the morgue, where an employee showed her the body of a teenager. The boy, laid out flat on a table, was covered to his neck in a sheet.

“It was him,” Crump says, quietly retelling the story one afternoon at Lewis and Clark public library.

Crump has stoplight-red hair and a tattoo that says “LOVE HURTS” across her collarbone.

Another on the inside of her forearm says “THOU SHALT NOT KILL.” The back of her jacket is screenprinted with a picture of Trevon with angel wings.

Crump carries a thick brown folder someone at the funeral home gave her. It is stuffed with all the records she has collected to prove, yes, the second-oldest of her three boys really was murdered and, yes, it really is a nightmare that now spills into her finances.

There is a receipt ($1,125) for burial at Lake Charles Park Cemetery & Mausoleum, a program from the homegoing service at Williams Temple Church of God in Christ, a letter from the state Crime Victims’ Compensation Program informing her she needs to provide a death certificate, scraps of paper with the price of caskets and a recent addition — the longawaited death certificate, which leaves off part of her son’s name but accurately lists the cause of death as “GUNSHOT WOUND OF THE CHEST.” Crump says she had to wipe out the little savings she had and borrow money from relatives to cover the cost of a funeral and burial.

“I tapped out everything I had,”

T

Monaki Crump’s teenage son, Trevon Chapple II, was killed on January 30 in north St. Louis. | DOYLE MURPHY

“When my son passed, the world stood still. I forgot I even had bills.” she says. “I didn’t want him to sit in that morgue.”

A minister told Crump about the state fund a couple of days after Trevon’s murder and passed along a number for the Crime Victim Advocacy Center, where she met Meyers.

Crump recently heard her request for funeral costs has been approved. Overall, it is wonderful news, but she still has to wait for the official letter to arrive so she can sign it, fax it back and wait for the check.

The lengthy process has pushed her to the financial brink. She received a notice her lights would be shut off on Tuesday, she says. She spent Monday scrambling to find some way to buy a little more time.

“It was like, when my son passed, the world stood still,” she says. “I forgot I even had bills.”

Sorting through the paperwork after Trevon’s death was about the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no other choice. She still has his eleven-year-old little brother to raise. So she has slowly built her file with the help of the Crime Victim Advocacy Center and a second caseworker assigned through the Circuit Attorney’s Office.

The state fund reimburses a

maximum of $25,000 of victims’ expenses for things like medical bills, but there are caps for the various eligible categories. Lost wages max out at $400 per week, and the fund will pay no more than $250 for items, such as bedding or clothes, seized as evidence by law enforcement. The cap for funeral services is $5,000.

Trevon’s funeral and burial totaled $5,900, so Crump will have to make up the $900 difference.

The fund will not pay the rent or replace damaged property. (No help for bullet-riddled Impalas.)

And because the state is a payor of last resort, victims have to prove their costs will not be covered by insurance, workers’ compensation, sick leave or other sources.

The state also has to verify applicants are truly victims. That means police reports, assurances from prosecutors or maybe a court decision. To qualify for the fund, the victim must have reported the crime within 48 hours and then cooperate with law enforcement if a suspect is identified.

Each step, every document takes time. Crump says she chased her son’s death certificate along a triangular path of entities, making repeated calls to the medical examiner, funeral home and the city Recorder of Deeds before she finally received it on April 28 — three months after Trevon’s death.

She knew the state would not take her word that her son was killed without it, but it still seemed ridiculous.

“He was murdered,” Crump says. “It was all over the news, so I don’t see what the problem is.” riverfronttimes.com

he cost of a funeral can hit survivors like a hammer. The median price plus a viewing and burial tops $7,000 in the United States, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.

“The sad part of the cases we handle is I would say 97 percent of them are not prepared to handle it,” says Pastor Willie James of the Homicide, Ministers and Community Alliance.

His group, founded in 2009 in a collaboration with the city police Homicide Division, gets a call every time someone is murdered in St. Louis. An on-call minister reaches out to next of kin to help guide them through the heartbreak and chaos.

James, who is also a longtime police chaplain, says one piece of advice he gives family members is to shop around before picking a funeral home and at least consider cremation, which is much less expensive.

“Every once in a while, someone will do that,” James says, but it is rare. No one wants to think they are cheaping out when it comes to saying goodbye. Even if they consider a more reasonable service, the grieving are easily swayed.

“You’ve got family members that can’t afford to do an elaborate funeral; they’ll listen to other family members who convince them to do it,” James says. “To me that’s a disadvantage to that person.

They’re distraught. They’re not thinking clearly.”

Funeral homes in St. Louis increasingly refuse to perform services for murder victims without the money up front.

Representative Kimberly Gardner (D-St. Louis) blames the state Crime Victims’ Compensation Program’s administration. The state is slow to handle claims and will not talk to funeral home directors about the status of an application, Gardner says.

Gardner, whose family runs Eddie Randle & Sons Funeral Home in St. Louis, has proposed legislation that would allow funeral homes — with permission of their clients — to apply directly to the state for reimbursement. The bill would keep distressed relatives from worrying about upfront payments and paperwork during a time when some cannot bring themselves to even talk about what happened, let alone write it down on a form, she says. For funeral homes, it would ensure they do not get stiffed on

MAY 18-24, 2016

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PAST DUE Continued from pg 13 bills or spend months trying to track down family members to see if the state approved their reimbursement claim, Gardner says.

“The process is a burden on the funeral homes, and they’re taking a chance when they say I’m going to do this service with no money down,” she says.

The bill stalled in the legislature, and critics note Gardner’s family business has an interest in seeing it pass. (She is also listed as a funeral director on the home’s website.)

They worry that unscrupulous funeral homes could easily abuse the process if the legislation goes through. Meyers, who testified against the bill at a hearing, says there have been cases where funeral homes badly overcharged families, and they were only caught because the victims’ relatives looked over their bills.

But the current situation isn’t ideal, either. James says some families are so desperate to pay for funerals they will delay the service while they hold fundraisers. Sites such as GoFundMe are filled with heart-wrenching pleas for money from people who cannot pay the onslaught of bills.

The digital version of passing the hat comes with complications, however. According to the state’s rules, any donations count against any reimbursement from the compensation fund.

“They’re taking a chance when they say I’m going to do this service with no money down.”

C

rime surges and changes from one year to the next, and people who work with victims follow the shifting trends out of necessity.

“Obviously, last year we had a lot of homicides,” says Kathy Tofall, the head of the Victim Services Unit for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney. “We have lots of assaults. Right now, the drive-by shootings seem to be moving up in the number of victims we’re meeting with.”

The unit takes on 1,500 to 1,700 new cases each year and serves about 2,500 to 3,000 victims annually.

A staff of thirteen, often supplemented by as many as ten

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college interns, helps victims and relatives navigate the criminal justice system. Caseworkers let them know what to expect, act as liaisons with prosecutors and will even sit side-by-side with them during trials.

But victims’ needs extend beyond the court system, and it is impossible to know ahead of time what problems each person is facing and will face in the f uture. The terror of living in the same neighborhood as a suspect’s relatives might make a witness to a crime desperate to move, or the constant stress of a lost job coupled with the trauma of a shooting might turn into a mental health problem six weeks later.

“We’ve worked with Section 8 housing,” Tofall says.

“We’ve worked with food resources, the homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, varying counseling agencies.”

The unit is notified about victims as suspects are arrested and prosecutors begin their investigations. If a crime is unsolved, however, there is no prosecution, and the victims could be out of the unit’s purview.

Meyers and the Crime Victim Advocacy Center try to fill the gap, identifying victims from news reports or maybe a referral from a particularly conscientious police officer. Clients, especially in highcrime areas such as north city, often learn of the center through wordof-mouth.

St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed says victims from across the region call his office almost every day in search of help. That might seem like a troubling sign of the city’s out-ofcontrol violence, but Reed says it at least lets him inform people about resources and show them the community cares.

Helping victims is also one of the most effective, long-term ways of fighting crime, he says.

“We know, for instance, that adolescents who are victims of crime are more likely to commit violent criminal offenses themselves if we don’t intervene,” Reed says. “We have a cycle of violence here in St. Louis. Supporting victims is one of the best ways for us to break that cycle.”

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onny Lewis is one of the people who called Reed’s office. The 29-year-old says he was talking to his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend in October 2014 in Ferguson when the man suckerpunched him.

“I don’t know if it was brass knuckles or what, but he knocked a few teeth out, loosened some,” he says.

Lewis was working at a nursing home at the time, and his performance began to suffer after the attack.

“I was dizzy,” he says now. “My appearance was jacked up. I didn’t want to talk much to them.”

It was not long before he was out of a job. The next year was a slow slide of temporary gigs and waning confidence. Childhood pictures at his grandmother’s house in the Walnut Park East neighborhood show Lewis smiling widely next to his family. He does not do that anymore. If he smiles now, it is more like a grin, with his lips pressed tightly together.

He had his broken teeth looked at once and learned it would cost $5,000 to fix them. Unable to come up with the money, he took a piece of copper, bent it into the shape of a tooth, polished it and slipped it over the jagged remains of a ruined incisor.

“I didn’t want to seem like a crybaby,” Lewis says. “I just take care of stuff on my own.”

He landed a factory job in

September, starting as a temp and eventually working his way into a full-time position on the overnight shift. On the surface, life has normalized, but he recognizes differences in himself. He is quieter now and less trusting.

“I would say I have a lot of negative energy,” he says.

At the very least, he would like to get his teeth fixed. Reed’s staff told him about the state Crime Victims’ Compensation Program and sent him a packet with the forms. Lewis says he filled them out weeks ago and mailed them to the state. He never heard anything back; he can’t be sure they were even received.

He thinks he will send another application to the state, but he is not optimistic.

“I really don’t think they’ll help me,” he says. “I really don’t.” n riverfronttimes.com

MAY 18-24, 2016

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CALENDAR

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W E E K O F M AY 1 8 - 2 4

Lola Frost performs at the Show-Me Burlesque Festival. | JOHN-PAUL BICHARD

BY PAUL FRISWOLD

THURSDAY 0519 Lindy West: Shrill If you’re not reading Lindy West, you’re missing out on one of America’s better writers. West’s essays about how women are portrayed in media are biting attacks on the subtle and not-sosubtle ways women are denigrated in everything from commercials to news broadcasts, and her film reviews are equally savage and funny (read her all-out assault on the second Sex and the City movie, or her masterly deconstruction of Love, Actually). Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman collects West’s essays and think-pieces on feminism, pop

culture and her own life. West discusses Shrill at 7 p.m. tonight at Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid Avenue; 314-367-6731 or www.leftbank.com). Admission is free, but reservations are required. Books must be purchased through Left Bank in order to get them signed.

FRIDAY 0520 Sweet Bean Sentaro works all day in his small shop, making dorayaki pancakes, a Japanese treat beloved for its sweet red bean paste filling. Unfortunately, his dorayaki are not that great — the commercially pro-

duced bean paste Sentaro uses is doing him few favors. He hires the elderly Tokue reluctantly — her age and slightly deformed hands are definite red flags — but his mood changes when he samples her home-made paste. Soon business is booming at the pancake shop, and both Sentaro and Tokue are happier than they’ve been in years. But everything changes when customers discover which disease has ravaged Tokue’s hands.

The Webster Film Series screens Naomi Kawase’s drama Sweet Bean at 8 p.m. Friday through Saturday (May 20 to 22) at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood Avenue; 314-968-7487 or www.webster.edu/film-series).

Tickets are $4 to $6. See full review on page 21. riverfronttimes.com

Show-Me Burlesque Festival The seventh installment of the Show-Me Burlesque Festival features a cast of hundreds. The three-night extravaganza includes scores of burlesque artists from as far away as Germany and as close as St. Louis performing a different show each night (Friday through Saturday, May 19 to 21) at three venues. You’ll see burlesque, boylesque, pole dancers, belly dancers and even a magician. The Opening Night Grand Burlesque takes place at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Ivory Theater (7620 Michigan Avenue); Friday night’s show is

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CALENDAR Continued from pg 17 called Spectaculaire, and it starts at 9 p.m. at the Casa Loma Ballroom (3354 Iowa Avenue); the Red Light Revue is the final performance, and it takes place at 8 p.m. Sunday at 2720 Arts Center (2720 Cherokee Street). Tickets are $20 to $50 per show, or you can buy a festival pass ($65 to $120) good for all three shows.

SATURDAY 0521 Taste of Maplewood We’re in the delightfully comfy middle of spring now, which means the festivals come fast and frequently. The Taste of Maplewood is one such street festival that has everything you could possibly require. Food and drink?

M-wood is home to numerous excellent restaurants, from Pie Oh My to Maya Cafe. Shopping options? The Book House, Larder & Cupboard and the highly anticipated Mauhaus Cat Cafe will all be selling goods during the festival.

Music? The Blue Devils Rhythm and Blues Band, Power Play and Jeremiah Johnson Band are all on the bill. Taste of Maplewood takes place from noon to 9 p.m. today on Sutton Boulevard, just south of Manchester Road. For more information visit www.maplewood-chamber.com/taste-2016.

Admission is free.

Five-Fifths: The Age of Glam The St. Lou Fringe Fest isn’t until August, but that doesn’t mean you have to go without your alternative/experimental theater til then. Five-Fifths: The Age of Glam is a night of storytelling, spoken word and original theater that satisfies on all fringe-y levels. The main event is a single story told by five performing arts groups, each working in a different discipline. This year’s cast includes the Black Rep, DJ Boogieman and Matthew Kerns, and the whole shebang is hosted

by Sabine England and Loren D. A pop-up art show and gallery, Glitz 18

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Chinese Culture Days return. | COURTESY MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN and Gold, rounds out the evening with live painting by Vesna Delevska and original artwork

by Nelson Perez, Thomas Park and Kari Pillow. Five-Fifths starts at 7 p.m. at Attitudes Nightclub (4100 Manchester Avenue; www. stlfringe.com). Tickets are $20 to $250. Stick around after the show for a special free drag tribute to Cher.

La Bohème Starving artists are thick on the ground in Puccini’s opera La Bohème, poor in cash but rich in spirit. Rodolfo is a struggling poet whose life is turned upside down when he meets Mimì, a seamstress with a persistent

cough. The two fall in love and enjoy endless nights in Paris, but Rodolfo’s conscience gets the better of him: Mimì’s cough is clearly consumption, and if he leaves her she’ll be free to find a rich man to take better care of her. Can either of them really be happy if they’re not together? The menace in Mimì’s cough strongly implies that neither of them will be happy for long regardless. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis opens its new season with Puccini’s big, beautiful heartbreaker at 8 p.m. tonight at Webster University’s Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; 314-961-0644 or www. opera-stl.org). Tickets are $25 to $129. La Bohème is performed eight more times in repertory through June 25.

SUNDAY 0522 Chinese Culture Days There might be only one place in St. Louis where you can see a 70-foot-long dragon who dances: Chinese Culture Days at the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw Boulevard; www.mobot. org). The annual celebration of China’s people and culture takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday (May 21 and 22), and opens with a grand parade led by a Chinese dragon and the Lion Dance and Drum team (the parade is repeated a t 2 p . m . b o t h d ay s ) . T h e weekend includes marital arts demonstrations, performances by the incredible New Shanghai Circus and cooking demos by Chef Andrew Shih of Hot Wok. Admission is $5 to $12.

MONDAY 0523 The Shakespeare Show It’s been 400 years and one month since Shakespeare died, which is a round enough number to celebrate with fanfare. The Royal Shakespeare Company m a r ke d t h e e x a c t o c c a s i o n with The Shakespeare Show, a special performance in the Bard’s honor. Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, his hotness Benedict Cumberbatch and the lithesome Rufus Wainwright all participated in the show, which was hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate. A mash-up of Shakespeare’s best scenes with additional music and dance, the show is a fitting tribute to the original king of entertainment.

T h a n k s t o Fa t h o m E v e n t s a n d B B C Wo r l d w i d e N o r t h America, you can bask in the wonder of The Shakespeare Show at 7 p.m. tonight at the AMC Chesterfield 14 (3000 Chesterfield Mall, Chesterfield; w w w. f a t h o m e v e n t s . c o m ) .

Tickets are $16.22.

TUESDAY 0524 St. Louis Cardinals The Cardinals have been up and down this year, but you’d better believe the team will be fired up and ready to play when the Chicago Cubs come to town. The Cubs came out of the gate strong and are still leading the Central Division, but no matter;

this is a rivalry game, so anything can happen. The Cubs are in town for a three-game series, with game times at 7:15 p.m. Monday, 6:10 Tuesday and 12:45 Wednesday (May 23 to 25) at Busch Stadium (Broadway and Poplar Street; www.stlcardinals.com). It’s worth noting that Tuesday’s game is David Eckstein Bobblehead Day, but you need to buy a special Budweiser Bash theme ticket to get the collectible. Tickets are $20.90 to $230.

Planning an event, exhibiting your art or putting on a play? Let us know and we’ll include it in the Night & Day section or publish a listing in the online calendar — for free! Send details via e-mail (calendar@ riverfronttimes.com), fax (314-754-6416) or mail (6358 Delmar Boulevard, Suite 200, St. Louis, MO 63130, attn: Calendar). Include the date, time, price, contact information and location (including ZIP code). Please submit information three weeks prior to the date of your event. No telephone submissions will be accepted. Find more events online at www.riverfronttimes.com.

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[REVIEW]

Time Is a Pancake Sweet Bean is about an eternal, lonely Tokyo and the people who live there Written by

ROBERT HUNT Sweet Bean (An)

Directed by Naomi Kawase. Written by Durian Sukegawa (novel) and Naomi Kawase (screenplay). Starring Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase and Kyara Uchida. Screens at 8 p.m.

Friday through Sunday (May 20 to 22) at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood Avenue; www.webster.edu/ film-series).

W

e see so little of contemporary Japanese cinema — and most of what we see are either gangster films, horror movies or anime — that it may be tempting to approach Naomi Kawase’s Sweet Bean as a novelty, admiring it with a kind of cinematic tourism. Oddly, Kawase’s film resists such an approach, evoking a sense of Japanese culture that hovers dangerously close to nostalgia, yet never quite embraces it. It’s an odd film that wants to be endearing but instead creates a sense of emotional distance.

Much of the film takes place in the suburban Tokyo shop where Sentarô (Masatoshi Nagase) sells dorayaki, a popular confection consisting of two pancakes filled with a sweet red bean paste called an. He maintains a temperament so perpetually gloomy that it’s become a joke to his customers, most of whom are schoolgirls. (He also seems to have befriended one of them, Wakana, a lonely girl with family problems — though their relationship isn’t entirely made clear.) As the film begins, Sentarô is visited by Tokue (Kirin Kiki), an elderly woman who asks him for a job. Rebuffed, she reappears a day later to tell him that his an needs work and leaves him with a sample of her own recipe. Won

Sentarô (Masatoshi Nagase) makes dorayaki pancakes in solitude. | KINO LORBER over by her cooking, Sentarô hires Tokue and soon has dorayaki customers lined up at his door — until rumors and sheer pettiness bring his success to a halt.

By almost any standard of judgment, Sweat Bean should be a mess. It’s sentimental, and overloaded with banalities about the rich tradition of dorayaki preparation (“I always listen to the stories the beans tell,” Tokue explains as she lovingly peeks into a boiling pot). The secondary characters are trite and stereotypical, while the subplots involving Wakana’s home life and the reason for Sentarô’s grumpiness are too thin to be taken seriously. Yet somehow, in its own modest way, the film works.

There’s hardly a turn in the plot that avoids cliché, but Kawase manages to deflect the flaws in each of them with a minimalist twist, by simply ignoring them.

Many of the most significant narrative points — Tokue’s downfall, Wakana’s difficulties

with her mother — take place off screen, letting the viewer piece them together. Can a plot twist be considered banal if it’s omitted altogether?

The film is at its best when it focuses on everyday events: the rhythms of the shop, the process of mixing the batter or boiling the beans. At times this leads to an excess of Tokue’s rambling pseudo-mystic reveries over dorayaki tradition, but it also brings to life the growing friendship between the older woman and “Boss” as they bond over the stove top and ignore the rest of the world. Personalities triumph over plotting; the chemistry between Kiki, Nagase and, in the role of Wakana, Kyara Uchida (Kiki’s granddaughter in real life) outshines the particulars of the story. (It’s probably also helpful that the character of Tokue in Durian Sukegawa’s novel was written with Kiki in mind.)

I’ve read that Kawase has often been criticized in her country as a director whose films are more riverfronttimes.com

suited to the international festival circuit than for her home audiences (Sweet Bean is her seventh film to be shown at Cannes). But Sweet Bean has been described as her first real Japanese film — and her first actually made in Tokyo.

Kawase tries to capture the most ordinary aspects of the city, a calmer and more natural place than is usually seen on screen. Her camera lingers at intersections, gazes upward at cherry blossom trees and presents a strange and lonely city. There are few traces of the contemporary world, and even those — cellphones, power lines — are banished to the edges of the frame. Kawase creates a kind of timelessness, as if the city has somehow been frozen in the past, but as the film reveals more of Tokue’s harsh life, the drab, simple streets take on an heroic quality as well. In this film about long lives and secret tragedies, we slowly realize that we’re seeing an eternal city, the place the aging heroine has dreamed of for most of her life. n

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THE ARTS

[ S TA G E ]

An Unorthodox Yentl Songs by Jill Sobule give new life to the play best known for the diva who filmed it Written by

PAUL FRISWOLD Yentl

Written by Leah Napolin with Isaac Bashevis Singer, music by Jill Sobule Directed by Edward Coffield Presented by New Jewish Theatre through June 5 at the Jewish Community Center’s Wool Studio Theatre (2 Millstone Campus Drive, Creve Coeur; www.newjewishtheatre. org). Tickets are $39.50 to $43.50

T

here are two explicit warnings in the program for the latest pr o duc t io n by t h e N e w Jewish Theatre that the Yentl you’re about to see is not the Yentl made famous by Barbra Streisand. Streisand rewrote the Leah Napolin play (which is based on an Isaac Bashevis Singer short story) so that it became an awards-ready star vehicle larded with schmaltzy songs and “serious” acting moments. Napolin has now wrested it back and brought in Jill Sobule to write new songs.

The result, which closes New Jewish Theatre’s nineteenth season, is an astonishingly contemporary musical about gender, identity and love. Even better, Sobule has restored Singer’s wry sense of humor by incorporating it into her buoyant, Klezmer-meets-pop songs. Director Edward Coffield and company have crafted a Yentl you can feel down to your soul, even if you’re not a Jew. Shanara Gabrielle is our Yentl, the only daughter of Reb Todrus (Terry Meddows), a scholar of both the Talmud and Kabbalah.

She has a brilliant mind and longs to follow in her father’s footsteps, but Jewish law in late nineteenth century Poland forbids such a

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Study partners Yentl (Shanara Gabrielle) and Avigdor (Andrew Michael Neiman) argue about love and the Torah. | ERIC WOOLSEY thing. (Scenic designers Peter and Margery Spack’s Polish village consists of three white houses for entrances and exits, and a massive landscape painting — framed, even — that wraps around two walls. The painting may be more impressive than the homes, if only because of the realistic way the sky glows when lighting designer Seth Jackson turns up his blues for night.)

But Yentl learns anyway, because the life of a wife and mother is a hollow prize compared to the rich treasures she finds in Jewish law.

You can see her point in light of her father’s sole recommendation for the traditional role played by her mother: “When we’re reunited in heaven, she will be my footstool!”

Reb Todrus’ death allows Yentl to move to a new village and start her life as a male Yeshiva student named Anshel. Before she departs, she forces her way into the menonly minyan held for her father’s soul. What is viewed as an act of defiance is in fact one of profound love. As the men scatter to escape the abomination of a woman at a minyan, only the village idiot (who was present to reach the necessary

MAY 18-24, 2016

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quorum of ten men) stays to finish the service. Meddows also plays the idiot, smiling with delight as Yentl sings “Last Candle,” a song in honor of this final moment of her daughterhood (in more ways than one).

If you don’t enjoy the song, you’ll enjoy nothing in the show. It’s a showcase for Sobule’s facility at marrying deceptively simple lyrics and a wistful melody to imply the depth of Yentl’s loss, and musical director Charlie Mueller leads his small ensemble (guitar, bass, clarinet) through it softly while Gabrielle puts it over the top.

Yentl is soon caught up in the whirl of study and debate, and a growing friendship with Avigdor (Andrew Michael Neiman), her handsome study partner. Neiman is instantly likable in the role, which he plays as a laughing, chiding older brother. He’s a man who knows what he wants — to marry the beautiful Hadass (Taylor Steward), his one-time fiancee.

When Yentl is invited to Hadass’ family home for dinner, she first becomes their go-between, and eventually one point in a love triangle that neither Hadass nor

Avigdor are aware exists.

There is no shying away from either segment of that triangle, either. After Yentl and Avigdor share a drunken kiss, the other students sing the winking “Jonathan and David,” inspired by the relationship these two friends share in the Bible. “They were really close — if you know what I mean,” the boys brightly sing, before clasping hands and making a quick exit.

The Bible also inspires the love song Hadass and Yentl share, “My Sister, My Bride,” a phrase from the sensual Song of Solomon. Gabrielle delivers it with Solomonic passion, inflamed by both Hadass’ beauty and her generous spirit. Their love is real, even if Anshel is not the man Hadass believes Yentl to be.

Yentl’s solution to her romantic entanglement also takes a cue from Solomon: The triangle must be sundered. Yentl pursues the love she’s fought for since childhood, a solitary figure in a century that wasn’t prepared for someone like her. It’s an unexpectedly happy ending, all things considered — and not just because “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” is nowhere in sight. n

ART GALLERIES

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Chess Painting No. 2 (Duchamp vs. Crepeaux, Nice, 1925), 2009. | TOM HACKNEY

Tom Hackney: Corresponding Squares Painting the Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp World Chess Hall of Fame 4652 Maryland Ave. | www.worldchesshof.org Opens 6-8 p.m. Thu., May 19. Continues through Sept. 11.

French avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp was an avowed chess fanatic. While the analytical portion of Duchamp’s brain was playing the game, his artistic side was enchanted with the patterns created by the movement of his pieces. Inspired by Duchamp’s unique view of chess, British artist Tom Hackney created geometric paintings of individual games, particularly those played by Duchamp himself. Chess Painting No. 54 (Michel vs. Duchamp, Strasbourg, 1924) features criss-crossing yellow slashes left by both bishops’ progress, the red charge of the king’s knight ending prematurely in an apparent capture, and a white defensive wall of pawns dominating the central foreground.

Artists-in-Residence Exhibition Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design 6640 Delmar Blvd. | www.craftalliance.org Opens 6-8 p.m. Fri., May 20. Continues through Jul. 3.

The Craft Alliance’s artist-in-residence program is designed to bring artists to

St. Louis to produce work and engage with the city and its citizens. The pieces produced by 2016 resident artists Tamryn McDermott (fiber), Jessica Anderson (metal), Virginia Eckinger (clay), Emilie Mulcahey (metal) and Megan Singleton (fiber) are featured in this group show, which includes everything from wearable jewelry (Mulcahey’s dramatic red brooches) to installations (among them Singleton’s metallic-looking flowers and McDermott’s reclaimed bricks and stonework bound together by delicate nets).

Nomad Studio: Green Air Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis 3750 Washington Blvd. | www.camstl.org Opens 1 p.m. Sat., May 21. Continues through Aug. 14.

Nomad Studio is a landscape architecture firm based in New York. For its second installation at the Contemporary, the museum’s courtyard will be transformed by 2,000 slices of poplar wood suspended from the trellis in a wave pattern. Individual Tillandsia air plants are attached to each sliver of wood, creating a natural canopy of living green swaying overhead.

But while the plants need only light and air to survive, they are susceptible to pollution. The cleaner the air, the health ier the installation — and the city. Complimentary lemonade will be served at the opening reception, so reservations are requested. Visit the museum website to register.

—Paul Friswold

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CAFE

25

[REVIEW]

Wot’s Up A new fast-casual spot in the Loop shows off the deliciousness of Ethiopian cuisine Written by

CHERYL BAEHR Moya Grill 567A Melville Avenue, University City; 314-8336621. Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.10 p.m. (Closed Sundays).

G

uy Fieri. There he was, in all of his goateed, frosted-tipped glory, invading my dinner at Moya Grill. Had the bus to “Flavortown” taken a detour? That was the only explanation I could imagine for his presence on the lone television screen at the four-month-old Ethiopian restaurant.

Moya Grill, after all, is no diner, drive-in nor dive, but rather a bastion of East African cuisine in the Delmar Loop, about as far removed from donkey sauce as you can get. That the eatery’s two employees stood watching the program as if transfixed by morbid curiosity was jarring — but nothing could be more antithetical to the food they had simmering on their stove.

The name “moya” comes from the word for an individual skilled in cooking.

And while Fieri’s worthiness for that sobriquet is up for debate, there’s no doubt that owner Atsede Wondem qualifies. She’s given the restaurant its name not only in reference to herself, but to the generations of women from whom she learned to cook, in particular her mother.

Since 2007, Wondem and her husband Henok Gerbi have been serving up her old family recipes at their South Grand restaurant Meskerem. As the town’s gold standard of Ethiopian cuisine, the formal, sit-down restaurant has given the pair a great deal of success. Seeing the boom in the fast-casual market, they realized that Ethiopian fare was tailormade for such a dressed-down concept.

But while Wondem and Gerbi have eschewed Meskerem’s formality, they did not sacrifice style in the process.

The handsome restaurant is filled with inviting contemporary touches. The walls are a combination of rustic, light-colored wood and black paint with murals of Continued on pg 26 gold-hued East

Moya’s delightful vegetarian combination platter features a host of veggies, served with injera. | MABEL SUEN riverfronttimes.com

MAY 18-24, 2016

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MOYA GRILL Continued from pg 25 African figures. Long wooden tables and black chairs dot the tiny space, which previously housed the shortlived Al Forno E pizzeria and before that, Gyro Grill.

If you’re familiar with Meskerem’s menu, many of the dishes will look the same, though the presentation is a bit different. The traditional Ethiopian style of dining features multiple items served on large communal platters atop injera, the spongy, sharply sourdough-tasting bread that is a staple of Ethiopian food. Moya, however, follows the one-person, one-dish model, which makes much more sense in a setting like this. You can choose to have your entree prepared over rice or served with injera. If you go the injera route, it comes rolled up on the side, and you’re encouraged to use it to pinch up pieces of your dish by hand.

That injera is also the best way to enjoy Moya’s main courses, like the doro wot. The menu claims this is a famous celebration dish, and it’s clear why. Hunks of boneless, fork-tender chicken thigh are stewed for hours in a mélange of ginger-spiked tomatoes and exotic spices. The stew is as rich and meaty as a Bolognese sauce, with the warmth of masala or curry — the heat is subtle, but it creeps up on you. A few halved hard-boiled eggs bob in the dish and are infused with the spicy flavor.

Moya Grill offers several vegetarian entrees, including a lentil stew that can be prepared either mild or spicy. The former is infused with turmeric; the latter has so much red chili it makes the nose run. “Healthy Greens” consist of slow-cooked collards and kale that have so much depth of flavor, you’d think they were actually unhealthy greens. A stew of green beans and thick-cut

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Beef minchet k’ay: It’s the Ethiopian cousin of taco meat. | MABEL SUEN carrot rounds simmered in tomato sauce is shockingly delicious, and the creamy chickpeas, rustically mashed with lemon and jalapenos, give hummus a run for its money as the dominant garbanzo dip. You can order these individually, but a combination platter — served on request — gives you a little bit of everything. It’s the only way to go with so many delectable options.

In addition to the stews, Moya Grill serves classic Ethiopian tibs, or grilled and sautéed dishes. The chicken version is excellent, like East African spiced fajitas served sizzling with bell peppers and onions.

The juice from the meat and spices forms a peppery and garlic-heavy glaze that begs to be sopped up with injera. The same preparation works wonderfully for tofu — the neutral bean curd soaks up every last bit of flavor like a sponge.

Though Ethiopia is nowhere near Central America, the beef minchet k’ay is shockingly similar in both texture and flavor profile to taco meat. Cardamom and basil-spiced beef, prepared to the consistency

MAY 18-24, 2016

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of a fine forcemeat, is meant to be scooped up with injera. The meat’s spices warm the back palate while the tart bread cuts through its richness.

Moya Grill serves a handful of appetizers, including the excellent sambusas. Two triangles of deepfried dough are stuffed with mildly spiced ground beef that is so juicy you don’t need a dipping sauce — or at least that’s what you think until you taste the accompanying piquant salsa. The tomato-based condiment is an addictive cross between chili paste and the tamarind chutney you get at an Indian restaurant.

If the beef minchet k’ay is kinfolk to the taco, Moya’s avocado salad is so similar to guacamole you’d be forgiven for doing a double take and thinking you were actually at a Mexican cantina. Just don’t look for tortilla chips. The refreshing concoction of mashed avocados, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and olive oil is meant to be eaten simply with a fork or scooped up with pieces of injera.

Unlike Meskerem, Moya Grill

offers two handheld options. The “Gabi Wrap,” filled with a mixture of finely minced beer and mashed fava beans, is brightened by lettuce and tomatoes dressed in herbs and olive oil, while the “Foole Sandwich” is filled with mashed fava beans, wrapped with olive-oil dressed lettuce, tomato and bell peppers.

The two sandwiches confused me on my visit. Calling the Gabi a wrap seemed like a misnomer, as it was served atop crusty white bread like an open-faced sandwich. I later found out this was a mistake — it was supposed to be wrapped in an injera-lined tortilla. This would have been a much better presentation, as the beef and beans were quite mushy on such fluffy bread.

The kitchen also messed up my order of the Foole Sandwich: It came wrapped in the injera-lined tortilla, even though it was supposed to be served atop the crusty bread. This mistake, though, was a welcome one. Served this way, it felt like the East African answer to a falafel, with filling the consistency of a mashed chickpea fritter, heavy on the lemon. If Wondem and Gerbi are looking for their fast-casual staple, this is it.

But even if that’s one of the few dishes that would lend itself to being eaten on the road, there isn’t much about Ethiopian cuisine that doesn’t fit the fast-casual model.

These dishes are ready quickly and, thanks to the injera, don’t even require a knife and fork. In light of how flavorful this style of food is, it’s a welcome addition to the sometimes bland pantheon of quick-service options.

Hey, maybe Guy Fieri makes sense after all. Moya Grill may be miles from a diner, but this really is Flavortown. n Moya Grill Sambusa .............................................$5 Foole sandwich ............................. $6.95 Doro wat ........................................ $9.95

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SHORT ORDERS

[EXPERT OPINION]

[FIRST LOOK]

Anne Croy’s Picks for the Best Vietnamese Food in the City

FOR HATERS OF GLUTEN, A NEW DOWNTOWN SPOT Written by

SARAH FENSKE

Y

Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

A

nne Croy’s passion for food was ignited on her aunt and uncle’s 440-acre grain farm in west-central Oklahoma, where she spent her summers watching her aunt and uncle churn fresh cream into butter, raise livestock and tend to their large orchard.

It was about as far removed from southeast Asian as you can get, so when Croy had her first taste of Vietnamese cooking while away at college in Arizona, it was as if an entire new world opened up to her. “It was really different from any food I had been accustomed to and that I grew up with,” Croy explains. “It certainly wasn’t farm food. There were so many different vegetables and flavors that I just wasn’t familiar with.”

As the executive pastry chef at Pastaria (7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-862-6603), Croy’s working life is spent exploring the sweet side of Italian flavors. Vietnamese, however, remains her go-to — the comfort food she turns to after a long day or the dinner of choice for a night out with her husband.

“We both like a little bit of spiciness but also sour and bitter. There are enough of those flavor profiles in Vietnamese food to keep us satisfied,” Croy says. “Plus, we just like those clean, clear flavors — basil,

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Dao Tien (left) and Mai Lee are among Anne Croy’s favorites | MARK FETTY/JENNIFER SILVERBERG cilantro, fish sauce — that aren’t masked with a lot of richness and heaviness. I’m actually trying to work these flavors into a gelato or sorbetto. That will be interesting.”

Until those sorbettos set, here are Chef Croy’s picks for St. Louis’ best Vietnamese food.

1. Mai Lee 8396 Musick Memorial Drive, Brentwood; 314-645-2835 “We’ve been going to Mai Lee for about twenty years, so at this point it feels like family. We always get their pho and any of their other soups.”

2. Dao Tien Bistro 8600 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-995-6960 “It’s just such a happy place to

MAY 18-24, 2016

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go into. The people are so nice; the food is clean and clear and nutritious and really fresh. We get their noodle bowls — I really like the one with pork.”

3. Pho Long Restaurant 8620 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-997-1218 “This is where we go for pho. We really love theirs.”

4. Pho Grand 3195 South Grand Boulevard; 314-664-7435 “We have some friends who are gluten-free. When they come to town we go here because they are willing to talk them through the options that are available to them. We like a lot of their dishes — we’ve n probably eaten all of them.”

ou don’t have to be averse to gluten to enjoy the benefits of gluten-free food — or, for that matter, to enjoy the new cafe now open in downtown St. Louis.

A2 GF CF (1330 Washington Avenue, 314-266-3225) offers a full menu of gluten-free foods, with the option to go without casein as well. (Casein is the protein in cow’s milk.) And these aren’t just rice bowls or piles of veggies. There’s a full roster of sandwiches and pizzas, exactly the kind of food that gluten-free eaters despair of ever finding.

Perhaps just as exciting, the space is a far cry from the frumpy look you might associate with good nutrition. Bright, light, with free WiFi, stylish modern furniture and an espresso bar, it’s the kind of space you’d hang out in to write your screenplay or draft that presentation for work, even if you couldn’t care less about nutrition. Lounge-style seating with mid-century lines beckons in an area near the big windows facing Washington Avenue, with table seating both inside and outside on the bustling sidewalk.

“If I had a cafe in my home, this is what I’d want to look like,” says co-owner Audra Angelique Gandy.

A native of Portland, Oregon, with a background in branding and marketing strategy, Gandy first fell in love with St. Louis while visiting a friend. She moved here to perform with the famed Ralph Butler Band.

But then her life took a surprising turn. In St. Louis, she met Audrey Faulstich, a St. Louis native and registered nurse who’d become convinced of the benefits to a gluten-free and casein-free Continued on pg 32

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[COFFEE]

How Rise Coffee Became a Haven for Kids — and Adults, Too Written by

LAUREN MILFORD Rise’s kid-friendly space includes room for both kids and adults. | LAUREN MILFORD

R

ise Coffee is a neighborhood gem for everyone, even the little ones.

When you become a parent, you deal with an identity shift, and for many people, it can be hard to figure out how to adapt — suddenly, some of your favorite haunts don’t feel quite so welcoming when you have a child in tow. Rise meets this challenge by offering a kid-friendly area with ingenious touches, even while remaining an urban coffee shop that’s appealing to kid-free adult customers.

Located in the Grove neighborhood, Rise was started by Jessie Mueller, who is mother to Oliver, now four years old. Mueller says she had a rough time of it after having Oliver; she was adjusting not only to caring for a child while coping with post-partum depression, but also dealing with the shift in expectations and identity.

“I was new to St. Louis and

“When Rise opened, the vision was to be like the Grove is, which includes everybody.” came to the Grove and loved how welcoming it was, but saw that there needed to be a place where I could take my son and have him feel welcome, too,” she says.

The key wasn’t just creating a child-friendly place, but a place where people would genuinely want to go, with or without their children. And in that, she was tapping into something that many

parents feel: When you have a child, you are slapped with the label of “mom” and some of the connotations that go with it may not feel very comfortable to you.

Not every mom wants to wear “mom jeans” or drive a minivan. (Though, hey, if you do, more power to you.) Mueller created Rise with the idea of a place where she genuinely wanted to spend time, but with the conveniences necessary to keep her son happy, too.

Rise’s general manager Mike McKinlay says, “When Rise opened, the vision of Rise was to be like the Grove is, which includes everybody. Everybody feels comfortable coming to the Grove and the Grove embraces everyone.” Everyone including children — the kid-friendly room on Rise’s second story allows kids to be free to play and enjoy themselves.

The play space is smartly de-

signed. A pull-out wooden fence keeps kids in the playroom and prevents them from falling down the stairs (and saves their parents from running after them when they try to go down the stairs), in addition to separating the little ones from adults who might want more peace and quiet. A carved wooden tree hides shelves full of puzzles, trains and dolls, plus cleaning supplies for the inevitable messes. There’s even a changing table within the space — extra handy for those who have more than one child and don’t want to take both kids to the bathroom to change one of their diapers. There are also plenty of books and of course, a high chair, plus a kidsize table and chairs where little ones can enjoy their scones or play with blocks.

Rise also hosts “craftability” classes on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as sing-alongs for little ones once a month.

McKinlay says, “Adults are allowed to have a bad day, but everyone freaks out when a kid has one.”

The Rise team wanted to make sure that even cranky babies are welcomed, and their parents don’t have to become homebodies if they don’t want to.

Rise’s welcoming attitude has made the coffee house a success, and in the fall the shop plans to move next door to a bigger space that will offer almost double the seats as the current building. Rise’s business owner, Aaron Johnson, is adding some new touches and a full kitchen and bakery space.

(Mueller owns the building that Rise is currently housed in, while Johnson owns the business.)

The quirky decor, though, is coming along for the move. And worried parents can rest assured: A kid-friendly room will be part of n the new location, too.

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A2 GF CF Continued from pg 28

An A2 GF CF pizza. | SARAH FENSKE diet through her work with Dr. Tracy Fritz, who specializes in integrative medicine. She was soon preaching the gospel to Gandy — and Gandy found herself experimenting in the kitchen. New recipes led to dinner parties which finally led to an epiphany: Hey, we should open a restaurant!

Today Gandy mostly runs the kitchen and Faulstich mostly runs the front of the house, but “we’re both kind of in charge of everything,” Gandy laughs.

Using a base of sunflower seed flour from locally based Think Eat Live, they’re able to offer everything from pizza to sandwiches to salads.

The bread, baked in house, has proven so popular that they’re already hearing from customers who want a loaf to go (they’re accommodating when they can be, Gandy notes, but they ask people to order their loaves a day in advance, since otherwise running out is a serious possibility).

A2 GF CF first opened its doors a month ago, and the co-owners have enjoyed a softer opening that’s allowed them to work through the kinks. For example, they found their pizza crusts will stand up to refrigeration but not being frozen, and that the bread tastes best if they bake it every day. They’re working crazy hours, but delighted by the response they’ve gotten.

The partners have big plans.

Beyond catering, which many customers have asked about, Gandy is convinced they have a concept that could work in many other cities as well.

“I designed it to be something we can duplicate,” she says, adding, “I think St. Louis is the perfect place to launch just about any new concept.” n 32

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You don’t have to love gin to be interested in Natasha Bahrami’s new festival — though it helps. | H. JOCHEN

For Gin Lovers, a Giant Festival

I

f you’re a fan of those mouthwateringly complex spirits distilled with juniper berries — and what serious drinker is not? — you’re in for a treat this weekend: The largest gin festival in the whole damn country is happening Saturday in the city’s Tower Grove neighborhood.

And if you can’t wait until Saturday to whet your appetites, well, the news gets even better: Gin Fest is preceded by Gin Week, with 50 bars and restaurants participating across the metro area, as well as numerous brands from across the nation.

Gin Week and Gin Fest are the brainchildren of Natasha Bahrami, perhaps better known these days as the Gin Girl. Bahrami operates the Gin Room (3200 South Grand Boulevard), which will serve as a base for many of the festivities.

But Bahrami wants to make it clear that this isn’t about the Gin Room, nor is it about the Gin

MAY 18-24, 2016

riverfronttimes.com

Girl. Instead, it’s about St. Louis bartenders, restaurateurs and bar flies coming together to celebrate community — and learn about the good stuff.

Oh, and drink a whole bunch of it, too.

“There’s nothing of this magnitude anywhere in the country,” Bahrami says. “The largest gin festival in the U.S., going on in dinky little St. Louis, Missouri.”

She adds, “This is what should be happening in New York right now, but isn’t.”

To participate in Gin Week, all you have to do is visit one of the many participating bars and order the gin cocktail they’re offering in celebration of the week.

(Yes, that’s happening now; see www.natashasginroom.com/ginweek/ for more info, including details on a “Gin-Barreled Beer Launch Patio Party” featuring 4 Hands Beer brewed in gin barrels on Friday.)

As for Gin Fest 2016 ...

The Saturday festivities aren’t all educational sessions, though they will be a big part of it. There will also be music (Tommy Halloran of Guerrilla Swing) and a fun street party. Wyoming will be closed at South Grand so the party can spill out from the Gin Room into the sunlight.

And there will be gin. Sample after sample of gin.

That doesn’t mean you have to love the stuff to attend. “I full acknowledge that the whole world is not in love with gin,” Bahrami says. “I have to come to terms with that. Maybe three percent of the people who attend will have any massive interest in gin — and the rest are just curious.”

And that’s fine.

“It’s a party,” she says. “These aren’t stuffy seminars. This is meant to be something for people who have no interest in gin — we want to see if we can change that, in a really fun way.”

– Sarah Fenske

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

MAY 18-24, 2016

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MUSIC

35

“I think we were all in a good spot where we were open to trying things and experimenting with new instruments.” | REBEKKAH DRAKE

Bigger and Better Indie-rockers Silversun Pickups broaden their sound with Better Nature Written by

JEFF NIESEL

W

hen an indie-rock band winds up on the fast track to fame, its members often find themselves unprepared to deal with the demands.

Not Silversun Pickups.

Throughout the course of a sixteen-year career, the band has evolved and grown at its own pace.

Singer Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger first met back

in 1997 as they were on their way to an exchange program in Cambridge, England. They struck up a friendship and quickly started going to concerts together after they returned to LA, becoming roommates.

“We were going to shows all the time,” says Monninger via phone from Los Angeles. “It was Modest Mouse and Built to Spill and Wilco and Sonic Youth. They were playing all the time in LA. We would go to shows all the time, especially when we lived in Silver Lake and we had so many friends in bands.

It was a very supportive scene of going to see your friends play.”

Though they played in separate bands at the time, they soon realized they had so much in common that it made sense for them to play together.

“He was in a different band, and I was in a different band, and we talked about joining the same

band,” says Monninger. “It really just started in our kitchen.”

Silversun Pickups’ full-length debut, 2006’s Carnavas, sold respectably well as four of its singles made their way onto Billboard’s Modern Rock chart.

The band had another solid hit with 2008’s Swoon, an album that delivered the haunting “Panic Switch,” a song that showcased Aubert’s androgynous vocals and the band’s dream-pop sound.

Bigger and better tours followed.

Last year, the group returned with Better Nature, an album that shows a willingness to tweak a formula that’s worked well to this date. Produced by Jacknife Lee (U2, Two Door Cinema Club, Crystal Castles), with whom the group collaborated for 2012’s Neck of the Woods, and mixed by Grammy award-winning engineer Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Royal Blood), the riverfronttimes.com

album broadens the band’s sound.

“I think we were all in a good spot where we were open to trying things and experimenting with new instruments,” Monninger says when asked about the songwriting process. “I play a vibraphone on there, and I play a piano part too.

Usually, that’s all [keyboardist] Joe [Lester’s] parts. It was a great collaboration between us.

We recorded at Jacknife’s home, where we also recorded Neck of the Woods.

“It was fun to go to recording every day,” she adds. “His house is at the top of Topanga Canyon in a remote area. It was interesting recording this time, because we didn’t record all the way through.

We did a couple of weeks there and here — it was all within a few months’ period. We would have a week or two off. It helped to have everything sink in to see if we

MAY 18-24, 2016

Continued on pg 36

RIVERFRONT TIMES

35

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MAY 18-24, 2016

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changes. I think that helped us.”

A plodding number that features a heavy bass riff and shimmering guitars, “Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance)” features a duet between Aubert and Monninger, who rarely sings. Monninger says she wrote the song about a friend who passed away.

“From the beginning of the album, the guys wanted me to sing,” she says. “I’m hesitant. In general, I’m not that outgoing.

It was originally going to be something that I just sang alone.

We then thought it would be nice to do a duet together. It’s about a friend of ours who passed away last year. It was an homage to him.

That inspired me to break through my fears.”

With its fluttering electronic blips and beeps and soft vocals, “Friendly Fires” has all the poignancy of a Smashing Pumpkins ballad.

“It’s a nice breath on the album,” says Monninger. “When we put things together, we always think of how well the songs play together.

Brian sings the vocals, so it’s hard for me to respond to what it’s about. The thing about that one is that it’s so minimal, but at the same time includes a lot. It’s a great song to just let Brian’s vocals speak for themselves.”

The album sequencing was very intentional, and the ascendant album closer, “The Wild Kind,” works as a good way to bring the disc to a conclusion. Monninger says the group labors over these details to make sure the material works as a whole.

“It’s very important to us that the songs blend well,” she says. “We want to make an actual album. It’s fine with us if you want to buy singles. To us, it’s meant to be listened to all the way through in order. It’s well thought-out and that’s what we would hope. We have carefully thought about the album order and how things fit together. It’s all very important to us. When we listen to albums that we like, it seems like they’re set up with that in mind.”

Monninger admits the group, which just formed its own record label to release Better Nature, has exceeded her expectations.

“We never thought up a life plan,” she says, “but so far everything is working out, so we’re going with it.” n

B-SIDES Pedal Makers to the Stars A Webster Groves couple is supplying preamps and pedals to some huge names in music Written by

THOMAS CRONE

B

rad and Auset Sarno live in a postcard-worthy Webster Groves home, in the kind of neighborhood where kids play ball games in driveways and their parents sit on the porch to read the newspaper. Their backyard has the woodsy feel of a forest with birds singing overhead, which is especially noticeable on a spring day that feels like fall. A visitor would be forgiven for the slightest pangs of envy.

Here, in this charming house, they’ve raised a family and three businesses, if you can consider a musical act a business. They do.

Simply yet cleverly named Auset Music Project, their two-person band is based in a converted front porch, now given over in its entirety to music.

The band, jokes Brad, “is our musical performance business.

It’s an official LLC. When we’re busy, we play two, three times a month. We’ve been trying to finish a record, so lately it’s been lower — maybe once a month, or less.”

In a sliver of a highly organized office space off the kitchen, Auset Sarno oversees the remaining businesses, both founded in the finished basement. There’s the senior operation — Blue Jade Audio Mastering, born in 1999, now boasts work on 2,000 singles and albums — and the relative upstart, Sarno Music Solutions, a pedal and preamp business that’s gaining acclaim all over, with a roster of name-brand musicians that keeps growing.

“She’s really the business administrator to all of this,” Brad says of his wife. “She does the dirty accounting work. The organizational stuff. All the visual work, the web, the social media.

Brad and Auset Sarno perform as Auset Music Project. | VIRGINIA HAROLD

“Bob Weir has had three Black Boxes for nearly five years. More recently, the Earth Drive — and he uses it constantly as well. It freaked me out at first.”

That’s all her time and energy. I couldn’t do what I do without her; I wouldn’t have the time to do it all. I’m a chaotic mess.”

Like a lot of boutique pedal/gear businesses, Sarno Music Solutions has grown organically, with a small line of six products developing, at times, from the couple’s very personal needs. The Earth Drive guitar pedal is the piece that’s really caught on of late. A boost/ overdrive pedal, it was developed with Auset’s guitar in mind.

“Auset was playing a Strat through an old Fender, and that amp was too powerful to crank at gigs,” Brad remembers. “But she wanted to get that sound at any volume. We lined up ten of our

favorite pedals. She sent me down to the dungeon and I came up with a prototype a couple of hours later. We made some adjustments and that was all. It’s her ears on the Earth Drive. I just had the electronics knowledge to achieve it, to get what she was asking for.”

As is their custom, Auset named the piece and soon enough, the Earth Drive was making its way to pedal boards around town.

News of the pedal’s possibilities certainly got around. Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco became fans, with Cline buying them in bulk and giving them to friends.

It was that connection that landed the Earth Drive with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo; his latest album features only two pedals on every track, and the Earth Drive is one of them. Richard Thompson is also a customer. The couple has taken random calls “from a Los Angeles number that said ‘Andrew Summers,’” as in the guitarist of the Police. These kinds of stories used to surprise a bit more than they do now.

Like a lot of small-business entrepreneurs, the Sarnos keep a direct line between themselves and clients. It just so happens that a lot of the connections take place in nightclubs. Last week, for example, the long-running Americana/rock act Cracker was in the house at Blueberry Hill’s riverfronttimes.com

37

Duck Room, along with local support from Brothers Lazaroff.

On stage that night were four pieces of equipment built in the Sarnos’ basement, including a FreeLoader — a clip-on pedal used

by Cracker’s steel guitar player, Matt “Pistol” Stoessel, a recent convert.

At the show, Brad admits there’s a bit of a different feeling being in the audience and knowing that you’ve touched the show in even a small way.

“It’s nice to know a lot of these musicians,” he says. “You can have down-to-earth conversations about equipment. And it’s rewarding to find them really happy with what I’ve been able to help them with. … The last time [Stoessel] was in town he was struggling a bit with his gear, down at Off Broadway.

We had a long conversation, got it figured and now he’s thrilled with his sound.”

Cool story, sure. But for an avowed Deadhead to be working with Bob Weir — well, that’s nextlevel stuff.

“For four or five years,” says Brad, a veteran of 50 Dead shows, “he was struggling with some digital equipment that he was using — it just didn’t have that sweet sound. Someone suggested me and he fell in love with our Black Box. Weir has had three Black Boxes for nearly five years.

More recently, the Earth Drive — and he uses it constantly as well.

It freaked me out at first. Now he’s not just that god that I followed around the country in the ‘80s.

The earliest connection was very nervous for me. But he’s pretty disarming. After a few years and some email banter, you get more comfortable with somebody. He’s a very nice guy, super supportive.

A real gracious dude.”

After working with Weir at Dead & Company’s arena-sized soundcheck here last fall, Brad was in heaven listening to the set.

Though, with his ears, that enjoyment came with a caveat.

“You can always hear a show better at an Off Broadway, an Old Rock House,” he says. “But the artist, how much he means to me, personally, that he uses our gear — well, really verifies what we’re doing.” n

MAY 18-24, 2016

RIVERFRONT TIMES

37

38

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

he span of three years is hardly an eternity, but for a band or artist, such a gap between albums can feel vast. (Album-hungry Frank Ocean acolytes will get no sympathy from D’Angelo fans, for appreciation of scale.)

There was a time when Jenn Malzone seemed to have more songs than she knew what to do with; as the creative force behind Middle Class Fashion, she helmed two fine, diverse albums of sweetly sour pop songs that made it hard to tell the difference between a zinging riposte and a lover’s promise. Released in 2013, Jungle pushed the band away from the piano/bass/ drums arrangements that marked Girl Talk as a bouncy debut; the addition of synthesist Katie Lindhorst gave depth and darkness to Malzone’s songs, which increasingly emphasized beats over ballads.

Now, with the just-released iii, Middle Class Fashion continues its embrace of danceable, darkly tinted pop songs. Recordings began at David Beeman’s Native Sound studio — the lush analog synths heard on celestial closing track “Lift the Law” come from his arsenal — but a partnership with Tom Burns, who is more accustomed to writing beats for hip-hop acts at Phat Buddha Studios, led to a new approach in these songs’ creation.

Malzone and drummer Brad Vaughn talked about how the long gestation period between albums helped solidify their stylistic choices.

“The way we approached it in the studio was whoever had the best idea and the best tone, we would record that,” says Malzone. “Usually, we would record in the studio and replicate what we do live — ‘everybody take your turn and do your parts.’ For this we did the opposite; Katie was writing bass parts, I was thinking of drum parts, Brad was doing synth. It was just whatever anybody had. I loved it; I don’t think I could go back to just piano anymore.”

The band’s shift in sound was accompanied by another line-up change as well. Founding bassist Brian McClelland departed during recording, in part to focus on his power-pop band Whoa Thunder, which has successfully moved from bedroom recording project to full-fledged live act. His contributions on iii are unmistakable — the punchy, bristling low end on “Don’t Stop It” is partnered with his clarion backing vocals.

“What we were wanting to do was kind of wasting his talents, because he’s one of the best bass players I’ve ever known or seen,” says Vaughn of McClelland.

“He can write these amazing melodic parts, but we were just getting away from that.”

On songs like “Runway” and “Schoolboy,” Middle Class Fashion amps up the BPM and turns out slinky and pulsating pop tracks. But these songs seem to call to attention questions of gender, sexuality and

MAY 18-24, 2016

riverfronttimes.com

Middle Class Fashion. | COURTESY OF THE BAND identity, topics that Malzone’s beguilingly opaque style have touched on over the years, but rarely this directly.

“We’ve really made a conscious decision to embrace that a bit more as a band,” Malzone says, referencing what she calls the group’s “gender-bending” image.

“I always would avoid it because I like to keep my personal life pretty private on social media and stuff, and I figure it doesn’t really matter in a pop song. I changed my mind about that and I felt like it made for more interesting material; I felt like I could expand a lot as a songwriter. It’s made me really happy — even with our image, changing up our style and trying to make sure that everything we do feels really comfortable and genuine and honest. That’s been really good for us.”

To premiere the video for “Don’t Stop It,” Middle Class Fashion partnered with music blog Queermusic.tv. That was the most overt the band had been to date about issues of sexuality, but Malzone says those themes have been at the root of many of her songs.

“Girl Talk was basically about being infatuated and obsessed and in love with a girl that I couldn’t be with, but obviously that wasn’t clear or anything,” says Malzone of the band’s debut. “It never felt like I was writing in a closeted way, but it never seemed important and I would leave it neutral.

“I never wanted to be perceived either way, in either box, because I’m not in either box,” she continues. “I didn’t want our songs to be put in some clear category, like ‘lesbian singer-songwriter’ or ‘straight singersongwriter’ or anything like that. I was just really protective over them.”

With iii, Malzone and Middle Class Fashion have crafted a tightly constructed album of modest anthems and personal triumphs. The sound and songwriting process may have changed, but it has left the band emboldened in its new direction.

“We’re never gonna wait three years again,” laughs Malzone. “I wanna put something out in six months.”

–Christian Schaeffer

riverfronttimes.com

MAY 18-24, 2016

RIVERFRONT TIMES

39

40

OUT EVERY NIGHT

THURSDAY 19

Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

City Casino Blvd., St. Louis, 314-388-7777.

IVAS JOHN BAND: 10 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues

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

jor Softie 9 p.m., free. Schlafly Tap Room, 2100

Blank Thomas 8 p.m., $5. Foam Coffee & Beer,

MAKossa, Nappy DJ Needles 9 p.m., $5. Blank

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KEVIN NEALON: 7 & 9:30 p.m., $25-$35. Lumiere

BILLY BARNETT BAND: 9 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues

SISTER SPARROW & THE DIRTY BIRDS: 10 p.m.,

CODE ORANGE: 8 p.m., $12-$14. The Firebird,

Place Casino & Hotel, 999 N. Second St., St.

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

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2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

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Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

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Jazz At the Bistro, 634 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis,

SATURDAY 21

314-534-3663.

ANDREW RAYEL: w/ Mario Sky 9 p.m., $5.

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RIP JAMES: w/ Eric tha Red, G Monie 8 p.m., $6-

WILLIAM CLARK GREEN: 8 p.m., $10-$12. Off

Europe Nightclub, 710 N 15th St, St. Louis,

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$10. Pop’s Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East

Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-

314-221-8427.

INDIHOP 2016: noon, $25-$30. The Grove,

St. Louis, 618-274-6720.

3363.

BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS: 8 p.m.,

Manchester Ave. between Tower Grove and

ROGUE WAVE: 8 p.m., $16. Old Rock House, 1200

$40-$50. River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River

Kentucky, St. Louis.

S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

FRIDAY 20

ROLAND JOHNSON: 8 p.m., $7. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

APEX SHRINE: w/ Bella & Lily, King James and the Killer Bee 9 p.m., free. Schlafly Tap Room,

[CRITIC’S PICK]

SPLIT LIP RAYFIELD: 8 p.m., $20. The Ready

2100 Locust St., St. Louis, 314-241-2337.

Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL: 8 p.m., $30-$40. Old

833-3929.

Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-

TOM HALL: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups,

0505.

700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

BATTERY: w/ Conquest 7 p.m., $10-$15. Pop’s

WAMPUS MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL: May 20,

Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis,

6 p.m.; noon, $45-$55. Atomic Cowboy, 4140

618-274-6720.

Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

THE BOB BAND: w/ Foothold, Vandalion 9 p.m.,

WEDNESDAY 13: w/ Article III, jusTed 7 p.m.,

$7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St.

$12-$15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis, 314-

Louis, 314-352-5226.

289-9050.

CARRIE AND THE CATAPULTS: w/ Ground Floor Band 8 p.m., $7. Beale on Broadway, 701 S.

SUNDAY 22

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

BATTLE FOR SLUMFEST 2016: 8 p.m., $10. Blank

CHRIS SCOTT: w/ Matt Jordan, Bobby Ford 8

Space, 2847 Cherokee St., St. Louis.

p.m., $10-$12. Cicero’s, 6691 Delmar Blvd.,

BOYCE AVENUE: 8 p.m., $25-$27.50. The Pageant,

University City, 314-862-0009.

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

CITY 2 CITY TOUR: 10 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108

Alseep at the Wheel. | MARY KEATING BRUTON

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

THE CLOTHESLINE 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY: w/ Parisian, Teszla, DJ Agile One 9 p.m., $7. Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee St., St. Louis.

JERRY LEWIS: 8 p.m., 8pm. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-896-4200.

JOSH RITTER: 8 p.m., $25. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

KEITH SWEAT: w/ DJ Kut 8 p.m., $35-$55. Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Road, North St. Louis County, 314-869-9090.

MIDDLE CLASS FASHION ALBUM RELEASE PARTY: w/ Super Fun Yeah Yeah Rocketship 8 p.m., $10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

MOM’S KITCHEN: w/ the Provels 9 p.m., $7. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

RIDDLE OF STEEL: w/ Dirtnap, Traindodge, Blight Future 7 p.m., $15. The Firebird, 2706

40

RIVERFRONT TIMES

CHRIS BARICEVIC CD RELEASE: 9 p.m., free. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-7733363.

Asleep at the Wheel 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 20.

The Old Rock House, 1200 South 7th Street. All ages: $30. 314-588-0505

Calling Asleep at the Wheel a “western swing” band is like calling a Testarossa a “motorized vehicle.” Led by the towering presence of baritone Ray Benson for five decades, the Austin, Texas, group has won nine Grammys and released a battery of albums that both honor the music of Bob Wills and push it to its limits. Jump blues, big band jazz, crooner cool, hillbilly jive — it’s all life-affirming and frequently hilarious

MAY 18-24, 2016

riverfronttimes.com

DAVE DICKEY BIG BAND: 6 p.m., $21.50. Jazz At

music to a band that, like the Texas Playboys before it, experiments and improvises wildly with the raw material of rhythm and blues and country. For Asleep at the Wheel, the western-swing road goes on forever and the dance party never ends.

Roundup: The group’s latest release, Still the King, makes explicit tribute to Bob Wills by enlisting superstars like Brad Paisley as well as a new generation of roots swingers like the Avett Brothers and even hometown hero Pokey LaFarge.

–Roy Kasten

the Bistro, 634 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314534-3663.

THE GROW WILD TOUR: 6 p.m., $15-$99. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

JACKSON HOWARD: w/ The Good Deeds, Nate Currin 8 p.m., $7. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

JIM BRICKMAN: 3 p.m., $35-$75. Powell Symphony Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd, St. Louis, 314-534-1700.

JOSH HOYER & SOUL COLOSSUS: 6 p.m., $10. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

KDHXFEST: w/ Funky Butt Brass Band, Aaron Kamm and the One Drops, Thee Fine Lines, Bottle Rockets, River Bend, Jack Grelle & Ryan

Continued on pg 42

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riverfronttimes.com

MAY 18-24, 2016

RIVERFRONT TIMES

41

OUT EVERY NIGHT Continued from pg 40 [CRITIC’S PICK]

thur. may 19

9PM Rum Drum Ramblers

fri. May 20

10PM

Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds

with Special Guests Star and Micey

sat. may 21

10PM

Funky Butt Brass Band

wed. may 25 9:30PM Voodoo Players

9PM

Davina and the Vagabonds 736 S Broadway St. Louis, MO 63102 (314) 621-8811

Bruce Hornsby 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21.

Tribute to Van Morrison

thur. June 2

Bruce Hornsby Band. |MICHAEL MARTIN

River City Casino, 777 River City Casino Boulevard. $40 to $50. 314-388-7777.

To see the extent of Bruce Hornsby’s reach and influence, you’ll have to think past those few indelible, still-worthy hits from the mid-80s. His long association with the Grateful Dead accounts for a significant subset of his fanbase, and he brings a kind of grey eminence on the just-released Day of the Dead tribute album (he tackles “Black Muddy River” with DeYarmond

RIVERFRONT TIMES

MAY 18-24, 2016

riverfronttimes.com

–Christian Schaeffer

Koenig, The Vanilla Beans, The Gaslight

MONDAY 23

Squares, Soulard Blues Band Jam, DJ GWiz, DJ

BEARD: w/ Cara Louise Band, Bobby E Stevens 9

Kate, DJ Carlos Jove, DJ Doug Morgan noon,

p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave.,

free. Grand Center, N. Grand Blvd. & Lindell

St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

Blvd. 2, St. Louis, 314-533-1884.

BLACK STONE CHERRY: 8 p.m., $20-$22. Old Rock

KRISTO AND THE STRANGE PLACES / AL SCORCH

House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

RELEASE SHOW: 9 p.m., free. Off Broadway,

GNARLY DAVIDSON: w/ Young Bull, Dangerbird,

3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

Voidgazer 8 p.m., $5. Foam Coffee & Beer, 3359

LOGAN & HOPKINS: 9 p.m., free. Broadway

Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314-772-2100.

Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

JAZZ TROUBADORS: 9 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues

621-8811.

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

LOVE JONES “THE BAND”: 10 p.m., $10. BB’s

5222.

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Lou-

JOSH MANNIS: 8 p.m., $10. The Demo, 4191

is, 314-436-5222.

Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532.

PARKWAY DRIVE: w/ Cover Your Tracks,

MIIKE SNOW: 8 p.m., $25-$27.50. The Pageant,

Shapist, In My Silence 6 p.m., $20. Pop’s

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

Nightclub, 401 Monsanto Ave., East St. Louis,

PRONG: 6:30 p.m., $15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St,

618-274-6720.

St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

PATTI AND THE HITMEN: 4 p.m., free. Broadway

SOULARD BLUES BAND: 9 p.m., $5. Broadway

Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

621-8811.

621-8811.

RHYS CHATHAM: w/ Vernacular String Trio 8

42

Edison). So far this year Hornsby has shared the stage with country-pop singer Zac Brown (for a cover of “End of the Innocence”) and enlisted Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon to sit on Rehab Reunion, his forthcoming LP with his longstanding band the Noisemakers.

Piano-less Man: For Rehab Reunion, Hornsby steps away from his usual seat at the piano to perform largely on the dulcimer, that four-stringed lap harp of Appalachian origins.

p.m., $15. The Luminary, 2701 Cherokee St,

TUESDAY 24

St. Louis.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: w/ Fallujah, Dis-

THE SCANDELAROS: w/ The Stone Sugar Shake-

entomb 7 p.m., $20. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St.

down , Irene Allen, Greg Silsby Band, The

Louis, 314-289-9050.

Bedlam Brothers 1:30 p.m., $7. The Bootleg,

THE DAWN DRAPES: w/ Doctor Delia 7 p.m., $10.

4140 Manchester Ave., St. Louis, 314-775-0775.

Cicero’s, 6691 Delmar Blvd., University City,

[CRITIC’S PICK]

KDHX Fest

St. Louis’ favorite community radio station, KDHX (88.1 FM), is stepping into the festival game with its inaugural KDHX Fest, coming this Sunday to Grand Center. Billed as a “thank you party” for the station’s donors and volunteers, the free event will feature performances by nine local

acts across two stages (including the Bottle Rockets, Funky Butt Brass Band, Thee Fine Lines and more) as well as DJ sets inside the Magnolia Cafe. The festivities run from noon to 7 p.m., leaving your evening wide open for further pursuits, musical or otherwise Come Hungry: Food trucks will be on hand to fill your belly, alongside a beer tent to pummel your liver. Bring some cash!

–Daniel Hill

314-862-0009.

3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

DEAN MINDERMAN & SOUL SUPPLIERS: 9:30 p.m.,

EUGENE JOHNSON & COMPANY: 7 p.m., $5. BB’s

$5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,

Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis,

St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

314-436-5222.

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: 8 p.m., $27.50-$32.50.

FREDDY COLE QUINTET: 7:30 & 9:30 p.m.; May 27,

The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis,

7:30 & 9:30 p.m.; May 28, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., $35.

314-726-6161.

Ferring Jazz Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave, St.

HIPPO CAMPUS: w/ Riothorse Royale 8 p.m.,

Louis, 314-571-6000.

$13-$15. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St.

HAIM: 8 p.m., $28.50-$35. The Pageant, 6161

Louis, 314-588-0505.

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

JAMAICA LIVE TUESDAYS: w/ Ital K, Mr. Roots, DJ

IVAS JOHN & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: 7 p.m.,

Witz, $5/$10. Elmo’s Love Lounge, 7828 Olive

$5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway,

Blvd, University City, 314-282-5561.

St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

KIM MASSIE AND THE SOLID SENDERS: 10:30

JOE METZKA BAND: 9:30 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz,

p.m., $10. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway,

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

St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

436-5222.

OLD 97’S: w/ Heartless Bastards, BJ Barham 8

MANDROID ECHOSTAR: w/ Auras, Native Con-

p.m., $25-$28. The Ready Room, 4195 Manches-

struct 6 p.m., $12-$15. Fubar, 3108 Locust St,

ter Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

OLD HAND: w/ Koff, Formlessness 9 p.m., $7.

THE OBSESSED: w/ The Atomic Bitchwax, Kar-

The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Ave., St. Lou-

ma To Burn 8 p.m., $20. Fubar, 3108 Locust St,

is, 314-352-5226.

St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

SCREAMING FEMALES: w/ Aye Nako 8 p.m., $12.

ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: 10:30 p.m.,

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

$7. Beale on Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St.

773-3363.

Louis, 314-621-7880.

TERRPIN FLYER: w/ Melvin Seals, Mark Karan,

TANTRIC: 8 p.m., $12-$14. The Firebird, 2706

Alice Drinks the Kool-Aid 8 p.m., $15-$17. 2720

Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

Cherokee Performing Arts Center, 2720 Chero-

THE TRAVELIN BAND: 4 p.m., free. Broadway

kee St, St. Louis, 314-276-2700.

Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-

TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION: w/ Sons of Texas 7

621-8811.

12 p.m. Sunday, May 22.

Grand Center, North Grand and Lindell boulevards.

Free. 314-925-7556.

p.m., $15-$18. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

THIS JUST IN

WEBSTER X: w/ Hella Collective 8 p.m., $8-$10.

ANDY GRAMMER: W/ Gavin DeGraw, Tue., Sept.

The Demo, 4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis,

27, 7 p.m., $26.50-$86.50. Peabody Opera

314-833-5532.

House, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

WEDNESDAY 25

ARKANGELA: Sat., July 9, 8 p.m., $5. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

BOB “BUMBLE BEE” KAMOSKE: 8 p.m. Beale on

ASKING ALEXANDRIA: W/ Reconcera, A Promise

Broadway, 701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-

To Burn, Thu., July 21, 8 p.m., $22-$25. The

7880.

Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis,

CHICAGO: 7 p.m., $32-$96.95. Peabody Opera

314-833-3929.

House, 1400 Market St, St. Louis, 314-241-1888.

BEARD: W/ Cara Louise Band, Bobby E Stevens,

DANGERKIDS: w/ Avion Rose, Our Last Words

Mon., May 23, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor,

7 p.m., $13-$15. The Demo, 4191 Manchester

5226 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532.

BEYONCE: Sat., Sept. 10, 6 p.m., $45-$280. The

DIIV: 8 p.m., $16-$18. The Ready Room, 4195

Dome at America’s Center, 701 Convention

Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929.

Plaza St., St. Louis, 314-342-5201.

DOM FLEMONS: 8 p.m., $12-$15. Off Broadway,

Continued on pg 44

riverfronttimes.com

MAY 18-24, 2016

RIVERFRONT TIMES

43

FIND ANY SHOW IN TOWN...

erts/

PHOTOGRAPHER: TODD OWYOUNG BAND: SLEEPY KITTY

R R 44

THIS JUST IN Continued from pg 43 BINGX: Sat., June 11, 8 p.m., $12. Fubar, 3108

MELVINS: Wed., Aug. 17, 8 p.m., $20. The Fire-

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

bird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353.

DAMNATION ARMY CD RELEASE PARTY: W/ An-

MIKE PETERS OF THE ALARM: Sat., Sept. 24, 8

gerchild, Fri., June 17, 7 p.m., $10. Fubar, 3108

p.m., $15-$25. Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St.,

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

St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

DEAN MINDERMAN & SOUL SUPPLIERS: Tue., May

MORNING IN MAY: W/ Last Plane Out, You Me

24, 9:30 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700

and The American Dream, Last Plane Out,

S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

Thu., June 2, 6 p.m., $8-$10. Fubar, 3108 Lo-

THE DOCK ELLIS BAND: Sat., May 21, 9 p.m.,

cust St, St. Louis, 314-289-9050.

$10. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave., St. Louis,

OLD HAND: W/ Koff, Formlessness, Tue.,

314-773-3363.

May 24, 9 p.m., $7. The Heavy Anchor, 5226

THE DOWNTOWN HOEDOWN: W/ Whiskey Myers,

Gravois Ave., St. Louis, 314-352-5226.

Casey Donahew, Randy Rogers Band, Sun., June

OPEN HIGHWAY MUSIC FESTIVAL KICK OFF PAR-

26, 6 p.m., $15-$30. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark

TY: W/ Frankie Cosmos, Warehouse, Tue., Aug.

Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481.

2, 8 p.m., $13-$15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp

EUGENE JOHNSON & COMPANY: Wed., May 25, 7

Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broad-

PURPLE: W/ Black Tar Heroines, DEAD to begin

way, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

with, Dangerbird, Mon., June 27, 8 p.m., $8-$10.

FRANKIE COSMOS: W/ Warehouse, Tue., Aug. 2,

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

8 p.m., $13-$15. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave.,

THE RIGHT HERE: W/ Guy Morgan, Grave Neigh-

St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

bors, Brasky, Sat., Aug. 20, 8 p.m., $10. Fubar,

FULL FRONTAL FEMALE - A BENEFIT FOR WOMEN’S

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

SAFE HOUSE: W/ The Danaides, Ramona De-

ROLAND JOHNSON & SOUL ENDEAVOR: Wed.,

flowered, The Vigilettes, Cult Boy, Royal Brat,

May 25, 10:30 p.m., $7. Beale on Broadway,

Fri., May 27, 8 p.m., $7. Off Broadway, 3509

701 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

Lemp Ave., St. Louis, 314-773-3363.

ROOTS OF A REBELLION: W/ The Driftaways,

THE FUNERAL PORTRAIT: W/ the Ivory, Will

Unifyah, Sat., June 4, 9 p.m., $8-$10. The

F.M., Tue., July 12, 6 p.m., $10-$12. Fubar, 3108

Demo, 4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-

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

833-5532.

GNARLY DAVIDSON: W/ Young Bull, Dangerbird,

SIMO: Wed., June 22, 8 p.m., $10. The Demo,

Voidgazer, Mon., May 23, 8 p.m., $5. Foam

4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532.

Coffee & Beer, 3359 Jefferson Ave., St. Louis,

THE STOLEN: W/ Mike Schiavo, Sat., July 16, 6

314-772-2100.

p.m., $10-$25. Fubar, 3108 Locust St, St. Louis,

GOOD LUCK: Thu., June 23, 8 p.m., $8-$10. The

314-289-9050.

Demo, 4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-

SWEAR BEAM RECORD RELEASE: W/ Bug

833-5532.

Chaser, Posture, Wed., July 20, 9 p.m., free.

IN DYING ARMS: W/ It Lies Within, Sea of

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

Treachery, Ecclesiast, Sun., July 17, 7 p.m.,

773-3363.

$10-$12. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis,

TERRPIN FLYER: W/ Melvin Seals, Mark Karan,

314-535-0353.

Alice Drinks the Kool-Aid, Tue., May 24, 8 p.m.,

IVAS JOHN & THE RHYTHM RENEGADES: Wed.,

$15-$17. 2720 Cherokee Performing Arts Cen-

May 25, 7 p.m., $5. BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups,

ter, 2720 Cherokee St, St. Louis, 314-276-2700.

700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, 314-436-5222.

TOO SHORT: Fri., June 17, 9 p.m., $20-$35. The

JAZZ TROUBADORS: Mon., May 23, 9 p.m., $5.

Marquee Restaurant & Lounge, 1911 Locust St,

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

St. Louis, 314-436-8889.

Louis, 314-436-5222.

THE TRAVELIN BAND: Wed., May 25, 4 p.m., free.

JERRY LEWIS: Fri., May 20, 8 p.m., 8pm. Family

Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway, St.

Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St Charles, 636-

Louis, 314-621-8811.

896-4200.

TREVOR HALL: Fri., July 15, 8 p.m., $18-$20. The

With our new and improved concert calendar! RFT’s online music listings are now sortable by artist, venue and price. You can even buy tickets directly from our website—with more options on the way!

JOE METZKA BAND: Wed., May 25, 9:30 p.m., $5.

Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis,

BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups, 700 S. Broadway, St.

314-833-3929.

Louis, 314-436-5222.

TROYE SIVAN: Mon., Oct. 31, 7 p.m., $29.50.

KIM MASSIE AND THE SOLID SENDERS: Tue., May

The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis,

24, 10:30 p.m., $10. Beale on Broadway, 701 S.

314-726-6161.

Broadway, St. Louis, 314-621-7880.

US THE DUO: Fri., July 29, 8 p.m., $17.50-$20.

KUTT CALHOUN: W/ Whitney Peyton, Sincerely

The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St.

Collins, John Boi, Thu., July 7, 7 p.m., $15-$17.

Louis, 314-833-3929.

The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-

THE WHISPERS: Sun., July 3, 8 p.m., $35-$55.

0353.

Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Road, North St.

LOUIS C.K.: Thu., Aug. 4, 8 p.m., $25-$65.

Louis County, 314-869-9090.

Scottrade Center, 1401 Clark Ave., St. Louis,

YOUNG THE GIANT: W/ Ra Ra Riot, Thu., Sept. 29,

314-241-1888.

8 p.m., $27.50-$30. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar

MASS APPEAL JAMES BROWN TRIBUTE: Sat., May

Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161.

21, 9 p.m., $10. The Demo, 4191 Manchester

ZZ TOP: W/ Gov’t Mule, Sun., Sept. 18, 6 p.m.,

Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532.

$20. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, I-70 &

www.riverfronttimes.com/concerts/

MATT WERTZ: Sun., Oct. 9, 8 p.m., $16-$20. Old Rock

Earth City Expwy., Maryland Heights, 314-298-

House, 1200 S. 7th St., St. Louis, 314-588-0505.

9944.

RIVERFRONT TIMES

MAY 18-24, 2016

riverfronttimes.com

SAVAGE LOVE EYES WIDE SHUT

BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I didn’t talk to my nearly70-year-old dad for most of my 20s.

Now that I’m back trying to maintain relationships with my parents, I am struggling. My dad is the king of the overshare. He makes creepy comments about women who are about 30 to 40 years younger than him — including women who were kids when he met them but are now grown-ups. Not something I want to hear. I don’t think he is abusing anyone, just being creepy, but I desperately want him to stop with the inappropriate comments. He makes about one creepy comment per phone conversation. If he were a person at work, I would be able to stand up for myself and say, “That is not appropriate.” But when he says creepy stuff, Dan, I’m a deer in the headlights. I go silent, it’s awkward, and I keep hoping he’ll understand how weird he’s being. I would say something, but bringing up things that anger me causes him to act overly sorry, and that routine is annoying too. I asked my mom (they divorced a long time ago), and she had no suggestions. She was just like, yeah, he’s like that. Any suggestions on what to say?

Seeking Help Regarding Unpleasant Guy

“Dad! It creeps me out when you make comments about women you wanna fuck. I realize you’re a sexual person, and I honor that, and blah de blah blah blah. But these are thoughts you share with friends, Dad, not with your adult children. There’s no need to go into your oh-so-sorry routine, Dad, we just need to change the subject.”

Hey, Dan: My husband and I have been married for sixteen years. We have been polyamorous for the last five years. We are a bit mismatched sexually in many ways. Polyamory was our solution. For much of this time, my husband had a girlfriend.

Before I go on, let me say that I adore my husband in all ways except sex. We are raising a child together and are a good fit otherwise.

I no longer have any desire to have sex with my husband. Lots of men and women write in to complain about their partner’s low libido.

This is not the case. My libido is fine.

I just don’t want to have sex with my husband. Whenever we would have sex in the past, I would get anxious and try to avoid it. We each have our issues. He feels insecure and has trouble maintaining erections.

I always felt desexualized — not by him, but when I was younger. Being a poly woman dating in my 40s has been incredibly empowering and sexy. But my husband’s experiences have been different. He is frustrated

because it is hard for him to meet women, and his frustration is made worse by the fact that I don’t want sex with him either. When he had a girlfriend, our sex life wasn’t as much of an issue. What should I do?

He’s unhappy. I’m frustrated. Neither of us wants to divorce. Should I force myself?

Lady In Baltimore Isn’t Desiring Obligatory Sex It is a truth universally acknowledged — in the poly universe anyway — that a married poly woman will have an easier time finding sex partners than a married poly man. Some men in open/poly relationships present themselves as dishonest cheaters rather than honest nonmonogamists because women would rather fuck a married man who’s cheating on his wife than a married man who isn’t cheating on his wife.

Go figure.

Anyway, LIBIDOS, the answer to your question — should you force yourself to fuck your husband? — depends on your answer to this question: How badly do you want to avoid divorce? Because if your husband can’t or won’t pretend to be cheating, LIBIDOS, and if women won’t fuck him because he’s in an open marriage, your refusal to fuck him could wind up incentivizing divorce.

So to save your marriage, LIBI-

riverfronttimes.com

45

DOS, you might wanna fuck your husband once in a while. Forcing yourself to fuck someone is tiresome and dispiriting, I realize, but you can always close your eyes and think about someone you’d rather be fucking — a time-tested stratagem employed successfully by millions of people in loving, stable, and sexually enervating/ dead marriages.

And since you’re off the hook when your husband has a girlfriend, LIBIDOS, you might wanna do everything you can to help him find a new one — a stratagem employed by tens of thousands of women in poly relationships. You don’t want your husband stewing alone at home while you’re out fucking your boyfriend(s), LIBIDOS, because that ups the odds of your resentful/unfucked husband asking you to close up your relationship again or asking you for a divorce. So help him craft messages to women he contacts online, go to play parties and poly mixers with him, and vouch for him to women he’s interested in.

But between girlfriends, LIBIDOS, you’ll probably wanna fuck him once in a while. Lube for you, Viagra for him, pot for you both.

Listen to Dan’s podcast at savagelovecast.com mail@savagelove.net @fakedansavage on Twitter

MAY 18-24, 2016

RIVERFRONT TIMES

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