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Everything looked bad but the weather. I crawled through traffic in parts of Cahokia and Sauget that will never make a John Mellencamp small town video. I stared at the lines snaking around the GCS Ballpark half an hour before show time. I forked out $10 for the pleasure of later waiting an hour to get out of the parking lot. And I felt certain the hippie gyro-dudes would have more fun slinging lamb for the tailgaters than I would watching the Bob Dylan Show (featuring The Wiyos, Willie Nelson and the Coug) through a foul ball net 15 rows back on the first base side.

I was wrong; that happens sometimes.

I just got off the phone with a spokesman for Major League Baseball, and he clarified that Elvis Costello is not opening for Sheryl Crow next Saturday, July 11, nor is he doing an entirely separate set of his own material. He'll come out during the show and join her for some songs. In other words, he'll be a special guest. The show, which takes place under the Arch, is still starting at 8 p.m.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This old adage was proved true last night in the parking lot outside the Judas Priest/Whitesnake show at Family Arena in St. Charles, as this slideshow here proves.

Steve Truesdell

A Judas Priest show now. View More "Then and Now" photos.

Sure, the metalheads in attendance may have gotten a little grayer and wider around the midsection, but party must go on. If you're unfamiliar with the cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot, a short documentary chronicling the scene outside a Priest show in Maryland in '86, let me explain the film's salient characteristics: Budweiser, Priest singalongs and general badassery by some of the finest metalheads in the greater East Coast region.

From Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Above: A Judas Priest show then. View More "Then and Now" photos.

A clip of the original documentary is below.

This is slightly off-topic from music, but still worth mentioning: Citygarden, a sculpture garden between Market and Chestnut and 8th and 10th streets downtown, opened yesterday. It's very cool -- I suggest you check it out. Here's a story I wrote last week, and a post featuring lots of photos right here.

So, Counting Crows is headlining Fair St. Louis tomorrow night at 8 p.m. (Magnolia Summer opens at 6 p.m.) And so for the return of the '90s Jam of the Week, I have to post "Round Here." Now, "Mr. Jones" may have been more popular, but goddamn, this tune has endured. Who didn't have August and Everything After back then?

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer reviews the Radical Sons' debut EP, Throwing Knives. He has this to say: 

The Radical Sons' twin-guitar lineup allows for the interplay between lackadaisical strums, inventive leads and the occasional bit of stop-start dynamics. The guitars are mostly played without much adornment, letting the amplifier's natural distortion give a little crunch and bite (as on the tail end of "Planes and Trains"). This leaves plenty of room for Goldstein's boho drawl, which settles in the space between '66 Bob Dylan and '67 Lou Reed. On the title track, however, he drops the detachment and lets the quick, syncopated guitar strokes lift his vocals above the din, showing the group's more playful side.

St. Louis faves Gringo Star are sneaking back into town for an Independence Day gig at the Firebird with Kid Scientist and Pet Rock: The Musical. Roy Kasten wasn't entirely impressed with the band at SXSW, but Jaime Lees has given them plenty of love in the past. Decide for yourself this weekend -- or by listening to a song from last year's All Y'all below.

MP3: Gringo Star, "Come On Now"

In this week's paper, Christian Schaeffer critpicks the Red-Headed Strangers, the eight-piece featuring the Sullivan siblings. He says:

Happy July 4, everyone. Have fun, be safe and rock out.

Thursday, July 2
*Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson/John Cougar Mellencamp, GCS Ballpark (Sauget)
*Brooke Waggoner, Off Broadway
*Dr. Manhattan, Cicero's
*Hip-Hop Showcase, Atomic Cowboy
*Bridgeton Air Defense/Tenement Ruth, Mangia
*Peter J Woods/ Instinct Control/ Kingston Family Singers/ Mavis Concave, Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

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