TOWN TALK
k l a t OF THE TOWNS by bill beggs jr.
fenton
Seems everybody is shedding office space, what with companies allowing more employees to work from home thanks to the pandemic. Even before COVID-19, travel-marketing behemoth Maritz reportedly had decided to consolidate space at its enormous 73-acre campus in Fenton. Then virus protocols really threw the travel industry for a loop. Meanwhile, Panera Bread Co. was considering downsizing its headquarters space in Sunset Hills, approximately 163,000 square feet, at Watson and South Geyer roads. Both companies, as they say, saw an opportunity. “Terms were not disclosed.”
chesterfield
Kevin Gagnepain doesn’t look anything like Roger Waters, bass guitarist for Pink Floyd. Maybe that’s for the best. Waters has a face only a mother could love. But close your eyes, and Gagnepain sure sounds like Waters. That’s by design. Gagnepain’s pet musical project since 1999 has been El Monstero, the wildly popular metro Pink Floyd tribute act slated to appear July 9 at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Grammy-winners Living Colour open the show. Anyway, inquiring minds want to know: Why didn’t Gagnepain and his compatriots settle on a name like Fink Ployd? It was out of their hands, and in a roadie’s. He’d ink “El Monstero was here” in marker on a wall at the venue. “He never explained it,” Gagnepain says. After a while, the band assumed the moniker ‘El Monstero Y Los Masked Avengers,’ soon deemed too cumbersome. One of my favorite rock fanatics—let’s call him Jason—has enjoyed El Monstero’s stylings no fewer than four times. And he’s seen Pink Floyd twice, but both post-Waters. The ‘real thing’ is what many fans want: Dark Side of the Moon and other ‘KSHE Classics’ from the period. Plus, their offspring want to know what all the fuss is about.Even without illicit substances, there’ll be plenty to hear, and see, on and offstage: flashpots, lasers, a helicopter flyover. A backup singer will duplicate the compelling, keening soprano voice heard on Dark Side. Come December, El Monstero will have played Pink Floyd classics for 23 years: That’s the ‘70s times two plus three. They have the act down to a science. They’ve got ‘the chops,’ according to Jason. “We’re here to entertain,” Gagnepain says. “At the end of the day, as long as we can make people happy, we’re happy.” For a glimpse of the upcoming spectacle, visit elmonstero.com.
AN OFFICE BUILDING AT THE MARITZ HQ CAMPUS IN FENTON.
BILL BEGGS JR. HAS WORN MANY HATS AT NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND IN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS SINCE BEFORE THE ERA OF THE FLOPPY DISC. NOW HE JUST WEARS A HAT TO KEEP HIS BALD SPOT FROM GETTING SUNBURNT. YOU CAN REACH HIM AT WRTRS.BLCK@GMAIL.COM
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TOWN&style
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JUNE 22, 2022
the metro
For any of you filmmakers who may have a problem with procrastination, here’s a deadline you might be able to meet: April 7, 2023. No, you haven’t already missed it. Yes, it’s next year. The eighth edition of Cinema at Citygarden—a biennial co-presentation of Cinema St. Louis (CSL) and the Gateway Foundation—presents a unique opportunity for would-be and accomplished metro movie makers to let their imaginations blossom by creating short works that incorporate nature as a key element. So, think less about ray guns and more about flowers, squirrels and birds. This juried competition will award cash prizes—$1,500 for first, $1,000 for second and $500 for third—to the top three entries. The winning shorts will then be featured in a program that will screen on Citygarden’s video wall starting May 26, 2023. In addition to the three cash-prize winners, other submitted works will be featured in the program, which will play on a loop from 5 to 10 p.m. daily and continue at Citygarden through June 30, 2023. Impressive in its own right, the video wall is set within a limestone face that arcs across two blocks. As a screening site, Citygarden is a natural choice. Open since 2009, the two-block oasis of plants and trees, flowing water and fountains— and internationally renowned sculpture—in the heart of downtown’s Gateway Mall, the garden is free and open to the public 365 days a year. Citygarden attracts visitors from everywhere with its blend of beauty and serenity. And it’s fun, too. Don’t pass up this chance both for a wad of cash and exposure to a diverse audience, which is priceless. Competition rules and a link to the FilmFreeway online submission platform are on the CSL website.
TT trivia ☛
That’s just business, which means brokers and other folks also stand to make some money on this deal when the ink has dried on the paperwork for Panera to take over some of the space Maritz opened up. Maritz had idled some of its workforce because of a previous downturn in travel bookings and has been leasing space on its south campus. Plenty is available for St. Louis Bread Co.’s parent to move into a smaller, 72,000-square-foot space, about half its previous footprint, which is expected to happen next year. Meanwhile, Panera is trying out Panera To Go, restaurants designed for the hungry and harried to get right in, then get the heck out. The first of three such locations has opened, a digital-only store in Chicago. No seating. Well, there’s pretty much no seating at lunch in many Panera locations, anyhow, or during the morning rush for their truly stupendous coffee. Along with Starbucks, it’s a wildly popular office away from the office for innumerable workers in our Information Age.
WHAT SONG WAS PINK FLOYD’S ONLY NO. 1 ON BILLBOARD’S TOP 40?
LAST ISSUE’S Q&A Historically, how and when has Salmonella been to blame for widespread U.S. health problems? Salmonella, the bacteria responsible for the recent recall of Jif peanut butter, has been to blame for widespread health scares, most recently in 2012, when salmonella outbreaks in the United States and overseas stemmed from multiple sources, including eggs, fish and poultry, even tomatoes. Here, more than 1,800 people became infected and seven died; in Europe, there were 61 deaths among 65,317 cases. The outbreaks increased awareness of how easily and swiftly bacteria may spread among organisms, prompting researchers to look into ways to prevent crops from becoming contaminated in the field.
