St. Louis Music Blog

As the snow starts falling outside my window, it's hard to believe that we're actually starting to think about the 2010 edition of the RFT's music showcase. Details are still coming together, but I can reveal that the event will take place on Saturday, June 5, 2010. I know no other details beyond that -- seriously. Check back here, of course, in the coming months for much more information.

I know everyone's probably video'd out after the Super Bowl, but this SNL clip from this weekend is totally great. What happens when the very-'80s hardcore band "Crisis of Conformity" gets back together at the wedding of its vocalist? Why, just ask Fred Armisen -- the vocalist in question -- and Dave Grohl, who's sporting a hilarious gray ponytail wig. The quartet nails the old-dudes-rocking-out vibe perfectly, especially because the fake song they play is a dead-on satire of the more strident bits of the genre. Also, fun fact posted in the Stereogum comments: Did you notice the wedding is "Cadena-Norton"? I.e., Dez Cadena and Greg Norton of Black Flag and Husker Du, respectively?

Grohl, incidentally, was on the show with Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. Video of "Mind Eraser" after the jump.

On Friday night, local favorites So Many Dynamos, newcomers Sleepy Kitty and Kansas City's Capybara played to loyal fans -- we say loyal because the weather Friday was less-than-great -- at the Old Rock House. Photographer Corey Woodruff was at the show and brings back these photos. Below are a few highlights.

The view from the balcony of the Old Rock House during So Many Dynamos' set on Friday night. See more photos here.

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Hot damn! The Arctic Monkeys' latest tour finally has a St. Louis date: The Britrockers are coming on Sunday, April 11 at the Pageant. Ticket info TBA, but we do know that the great San Francisco psych-rock band Sleepy Sun is opening. AM's latest album, Humbug, is its best (IMHO) -- the proper combination of glam, post-punk, Britrock and attitude.

"Crying Lightning"

Good news for anyone who missed Gov't Mule's Pageant show on Saturday night: The band is doing a set at Vintage Vinyl today at 6 p.m. The only way to gain admission to VV tonight? Obtain a wristband by buying a copy of the act's latest, By A Thread, at the store today. (Anyone who bought Thread at the VV table on Saturday night is, of course, ready to go.) Below, video of the Mule jamming with Peter Frampton in Cincinnati last week. Frampton lives in that area now.

Last July, we told you about Old Lights' downtown video shoot. Eight months in the making, the video for "Losing My Mind" premiered late last week. Spot your favorite St. Louisian! I spy Steve Smith, Beth Bombara and (I think) John Joern from Fattback. View it below.

OLD LIGHTS - LOSING MY MIND from www.codystokes.com on Vimeo.

By many accounts, a Girls concert is an inert affair. This assessment is usually the result of sizing up the band's unusual biography against the near-universal appeal of its debut album -- and then seeing the band live. Anything less than the pale Nazarene himself taking the stage and playing guitar all night with his feet leaves folks feeling underwhelmed. After first accounting for the well-known Gargoyle Effect™ (poor acoustics, sauna warm, no sightlines, no beer, ferocious student b.o.), I would say that Girls delivered exactly the vibe you'd expect from its songs: warm, staid and fringed with panic.

Photo: Todd Owyoung

Girls last night at the Gargoyle. See the full concert slideshow here.

​Most of the show focused on lead singer Christopher Owens, whose woebegone manner and chessmaster-cool surround him with a nimbus wherever he travels on stage. While Girls has another half in multi-instrumentalist JR White, there is no question that Owens is the source of the band's draw -- as is his voice, which (at least last night) deepened like a coastal shelf over the course of the show.

The black metal documentary Until the Light Takes Us wrapped up its weekend stay in St. Louis with a showing last night at Webster University. The documentary focuses on the formation, meaning and messages in the scene during its beginnings and heyday in Norway in the early- and mid-'90s. As with all documentaries on music sub-genres, key players, bands and stories are inevitably going to be excluded.

Metal fans Andrew Shafer (left) and Max Barnett (right) at Until the Light Takes Us on Sunday night.

​After the jump, a recap and what a few fans thought of the film.

Biz Markie performed at last night's Fresh Fest.

​Who remembers Kangol caps, Addidas sweat suits and gold-rope chains? If you raised your hand, you just gave away your real age. Don't worry though: You were in good company last night at the Chaifetz Arena. An impressive crowd came out to watch some of hip-hop's true pioneers perform at Fresh Fest -- and many dressed for the occasion. It was almost like an '80s-themed house party: Everywhere you looked there were door-knocker earrings and coke-bottle glasses (a la the Fat Boys). Even I was sporting my shell-toe Superstars.

The show started promptly at 8 p.m., with Big Daddy Kane in the lead-off spot. I made it to my seat just in time to watch him close out his set with "Aint' no Half Steppin," and he killed it. Kane's not be the skinny kid with the flat-top he was in '88, but he's still pulling off some of the trickier moves with his backup dancers.

Last week's Jeff Beck album cover fun was so successful, I decided to do it again. Here's the cover for indie-rock woodland sprite Joanna Newsom's new one, Have One On Me. What comes to your mind when you see this? Comment below. As an added bonus: I modified the cover slightly after the jump; couldn't help myself. If you come across a new album cover that's particularly....something, email me. It just might end up as a post.

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