k l a t OF THE TOWNS by bill beggs jr.
Grand Center
Whether you’re a baby boomer, Gen Xer, millennial, cheugy … cheugy?! ... or anyone in between, there’s sure to be much music to love throughout the Grand Center Arts District come mid-September. And we’re telling you this now why? Because tickets went on sale yesterday (May 18) to see as many shows as you’re able to over three days. We’re talking 60-some artists, from jazz-funk master Roy Ayers and former MGs leader Booker T. Jones of Green Onions fame to a band named Naked Rock Fight (not to be mistaken for the band named Kentucky Knife Fight). Boomers can educate the cheugy contingent, some of whom might be too wet behind the ears to glom onto stars of the 1960s and ’70s. And vice versa. Then there’ll be the likes of blues wizard Marquise Knox (pictured) and hip-hop revisionists iLLPHONiCS. The focus is on local talent and artists with some connection to The Lou, such as Lalah Hathaway, daughter of Donny. Shows will be staged at The Fox, Jazz St. Louis, The Sheldon, The Grandel— just about anywhere to the north, south, east and west of the Grand/Washington intersection. The festival, Music at the Intersection, was slated for last year.
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MAY 19, 2021
Water, water … somewhere. Just not where you expect it, or when. We’re not talking about the local weather forecast, which some people don’t trust on TV—they defer to their ever-trusty bum knees, which act all wonky when rain is on the way. But we’re not dissing meteorology. We have our own ideas. First, let’s go west to Lone Elk Park in West County, where there’s a manmade lake. Well, there used to be. Observers ’round about May 7 alerted county officials that the water level was dropping. And it had, by about 3 feet. About one-third of the water formerly contained in Lone Elk Reservoir drained away through a sinkhole that appeared close to another that popped up in 2016 and had been repaired with concrete slurry. Officials say the water ran into a dry creek bed in Castlewood State Park. Maybe. Well, we also heard that a stream has been running under the surface of Tower Grove Park for more than 100 years and is to be excavated so as to flow in the open air for visitors to enjoy. Our idea? (It’s not a theory because that would involve science, and science doesn’t always fare well in the realm of public opinion. We have unscientific opinions, too.) We think that maybe the water leaking out of the reservoir out west is flowing eastward into the city to join the underground stream. H2Ologists, or whatever, probably would tell you that water from Lone Elk Reservoir flows into the Meramec River. Well, we think the water is actually flowing underneath the riverbed, then on to just below the surface in our glorious Victorian walking park. We can’t prove it, of course. Nor are we overthinking it. We’re just putting two and two together. For anyone who says our argument doesn’t hold water, or that we’re all wet, there’s at least one other possibility: Hooligans fill water balloons in the county, drive them into the city and empty them. Some of you may demand a conclusion determined via the scientific method. OK, fine. Catch some fish in both places, and compare their DNA. It is what it is. Isn’t it? And that’s our final opinion. But then, wasn’t there a water main break downtown last week? Darn.
South County
Many one-of-a-kind locomotives and other vintage rolling stock have reached the end of the line in an unincorporated section of South County that’s kind of Des Peres and a little bit Kirkwood, plus a whole lot of neither: The National Museum of Transportation at 2933 Barrett Station Road. This is a place where kids who love trucks and trains can frolic (carefully) and adults can be like Peter Pan and just never grow up. I know that I’ve enjoyed visiting with both my kids when they were wee ones, and still do as an antique adult. Like many attractions, the nonprofit museum has not benefited from the pandemic, but it’s put together any number of unique promotions to lure visitors. Not the least of which is a one-hour morning speakers series; the first on famed aviator Charles Lindbergh is coming up at 9 a.m. June 10. Admission is free, but advance reservations are necessary to allow the museum to obey county COVID-19 restrictions. Non-member reservations begin June 1, but don’t delay; member reservations began April 19. Lectures continue on a monthly basis, each one at 9 a.m. on a Thursday, through November. The series should prove interesting, to say the very least. For one thing, Lindbergh’s leanings toward Nazism were extreme for a beloved American who commanded so much attention between the wars. Thus the title of the presentation by Jason Stratman: Charles Lindbergh: The Man, the Myth, the Legend. The talk July 8 by James Erwin is on steamboat disasters; one that started May 17, 1849, sparked the worst conflagration in St. Louis history. All Maps Are Lies is the title of the Sept. 9 presentation by Kelly Johnston. (Just try breaking that to your GPS. It’s self-conscious because it’s probably not updated for you to negotiate the very best way from Chicago to L.A.—or even get through Joplin, Missouri.) Visit tnmot.org
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It’s clear as mud, alas, what the allowed capacity of venues will be Sept. 10-12, when it’s time to party. (Single-day passes go on sale May 25.) Suffice it to say, since social distancing will be required, there’ll be no stage diving, moshing or crowd surfing. And that’s either a bummer or something to be thankful for, depending on your generation. So, get ready to mask up and get down! If that sounds like a tagline, it is. Visit musicattheintersection.org
The Metro
IN 1927, CHARLES LINDBERGH FLEW SOLO ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, NONSTOP FROM NEW YORK TO PARIS, IN A SINGLE-ENGINE SILVER PLANE DUBBED ‘SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS.’ WHERE IS THE PLANE TODAY?
LAST ISSUE’S Q&A How many major golf tournaments did Jack Nicklaus wind up winning? How many majors does Tiger Woods have under his belt? Finally, how many Masters did each golfer win? Jack Nicklaus won 18 ‘major’ tourneys (U.S. Open, Masters, PGA, British Open). Tiger Woods has won 15, the 2019 Masters being the last before his SUV accident this year. With his last Masters victory—in 1986 at age 46—Nicklaus was privileged to put on his sixth green jacket. Woods is one Masters win behind with five.
