St. Louis Music Blog

Tonight, Tilts -- the band fronted by Andrew Elstner of Riddle of Steel and featuring ex-Shame Club members Ken McCray and Andy White -- is playing its first show at the Firebird. Caporetto and Engine Orchestra are also on the bill. The band's MySpace describes its sound like this:

The Immigrant Song meets Dukes of Hazard while listening to Brown Sugar in the General Lee somewhere in the year 1984. So sexy.

Judging by the below MP3s, Tilts loves Van Halen ("It Helps") and Queens of the Stone Age-caliber stoner sludge ("Give Me Some Of Your Loving.") The latter song is particularly ferocious.

MP3: Tilts, "It Helps"

MP3: Tilts, "Give Me Some of Your Loving"

​
Tomorrow night, Cicero's is hosting a Firebrand Recording Studios showcase featuring four bands that have recorded at the local studio: The Blind Eyes, The Livers, Kentucky Knife Fight and the Humanoids. Studio owner Brian Scheffer also shares the following info:

Firebrand Recording will be hosting an open house for musicians, audio engineers, and the interested public on Sunday, November 15th from noon until 6 PM. We'll be barbecuing at 2 PM rain or shine. Come hang out with us, check out the studio and its equipment, listen to samples of our work, and talk with us about our approach to recording. We'd like to see you there if you're a band or artist looking for a place for your next record, a freelance audio engineer looking for a place to call home, or an audio dork interested in the recording process. Pass the word along to anyone you know who may be interested. The studio is located near Page and 270 at 11708 Lackland Industrial Dr.

More info on the studio next week!

On Friday, those cheeky whistling Swedes Peter Bjorn and John will be performing at Vintage Vinyl at 4 p.m., a preview to its show later that night at the Gargoyle. (El Perro del Mar is opening, to keep it in the Swedish family.) I also JUST received a pair of tickets to the band's Gargoyle show, to be given away by tomorrow morning. Leave a comment by 9 A.M. TOMORROW with your full name, a valid email address and why you want to go to the show. I'll pick a winner right away! (Poster below by Chris Kilcullen.)

​

Start your Halloween week off right with the weekly goth night Rapture, which takes place at the Complex. Tonight, they're featuring two very special performers: Voltaire and the Hellblinki Sextet. The former is a long-time NYC artist, videographer and academic (he's a professor at an art school) whose music takes its cues from macabre orchestral-rock and gothic darkness. The Hellblinki Sextet is in the similar vein; fans of DeVotchKa's European folk textures and the Dresden Dolls' manicured cabaret will appreciate.

​  

​

Tomorrow night at Off Broadway, check out the following three locals and Chicago's the Safes. The latter has a bunch of new music in the pipeline; in the meantime, enjoy this chestnut.

MP3: The Safes, "Fairy Tale Tomorrow"

​

​

Brand New is performing a super-rare acoustic set tomorrow at Vintage Vinyl at 4 p.m. To gain entrance into the show, you have to purchase the band's new album, Daisy, at the store, which will earn you a wristband. These are available only until supplies run out, so get cracking! If you get shut out, never fear: The band is playing at the Pageant later tomorrow with Sybris and Manchester Orchestra.

​

​

​

This show flyer kind of sums it up! Cherokee Street staples Apop Records and Binge & Purge are co-hosting a Summer's End BBQ starting tomorrow (August 22) at 2 p.m. All info below and after the jump!

​

It's been quite a good few months for St. Louis bands in terms of national exposure. First, in June, So Many Dynamos released The Loud Wars on Vagrant Records. A few weeks later, Son Volt's Rounder Records debut, American Central Dust, hit stores. And now tomorrow finds the national release of two excellent new albums from local acts: Lean Forward from twangy mainstays the Bottle Rockets, and rock vets Cavo's Reprise Records bow, Bright Nights Dark Days.
​

Almost forgot about this one: Olympia, Washington's Gun Outfit -- whose influences include Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and SST bands -- will be playing at new venue Antarctica (5226 Gravois) on Sunday night. Cardiac Arrest and Worm Hands are also on the bill. Show at 9 p.m., admission $6.

​

Poster by Brian Yap. Band's also playing at the Firebird with Bad Veins and the Domani International later tonight.

Featuring Dive Poets, Via Dove, Elsinore and Lost in the Trees. (Preview here.) Poster by Jason Potter.

The Monads are importing 180 pounds of crawfish for this. Yes, you read right -- 180 pounds of crawfish. Which they're picking up from the airport for this shindig. That's what's called "setting the bar high for future events."

Also: Free PBR. This is the day after the band opens for Rancid and Rise Against at Pop's (outside!) Poster by Brian Yap from Boxing Clever.

Sorta last-minute show from a pretty fantastic Chicago band (and two good local acts as well), at Atomic Cowboy. I hear it might be in the venue's new space -- anyone been to a show there yet? Curious what it's like...

Jason Potter

Tonight at the City Museum, head on down for a raucous night filled with local music, burlesque, beer and DJs -- all to benefit community radio station KDHX (88.1 FM). (Full disclosure: I am a volunteer programmer there.) The schedule of what band is playing when can be found here.

I broke the sad news that power-pop throwbacks the Maxtone 4 are breaking up and performing their last show tomorrow, May 2, at the Wedge. This bitching poster somewhat assuages the sadness, as does an MP3 for "Make Out Party" after the jump. (Do I want to go to a make out party? Rhetorical question, I assume, Maxtone 4. Always!) Also on the bill is Jesse Irwin and the Painbyrds.

The Beauty Bar is a name of a venue in other cities -- Austin and Las Vegas, for starters -- and now a "punk rock hair salon" in St. Louis. The grand opening is tomorrow, and will feature beer, BBQ, burlesque and tunes from Strawfoot. (I tried to continue the "B" alliteration, and just couldn't. Bummer.) See the poster! Check the MySpace! (Adorably, the playlist is all songs about hair and haircuts.)

Here are the nominees for this year's music showcase. Enjoy 'em after this year's poster, courtesy of the amazing Tom Huck.

Tom Huck

Hey, check it out: The Kemper Art Museum at Wash U is holding shows this spring. So sayeth them:

"Join us on Fridays from 6-8 pm throughout the spring from to enjoy the second annual Kemper Presents Spring Concert Series, FREE live concerts from a diverse variety St. Louis musicians, plus complimentary refreshments."

The first show is tonight, featuring the 75s and Left Arm. Flyer by the latter's Jason Potter.

Jason Potter

(poster by Logan Alexander; original here)

The Hold Steady are playing Monday night at the Gargoyle on the campus of Washington University. It's a dry venue, meaning the only drinking patrons ever do there during a show there is in a bathroom stall or out of a water bottle filled with booze.

Now, this situation is downright antithetical to the Hold Steady's partying nature -- seeing the band play without a drink in hand is like seeing the Osmonds at CBGB's. However, you could take your burgeoning alcoholism into your hands, yell "Double whiskey, coke, no ice!" and go out before the show.

To help alleviate the dry venue issue -- and to responsibly advocate drinking without driving -- A to Z has come up with ten places within walking (or Metrolinking) distance from the Gargoyle (which although it feels like a pit, it certainly isn't a "party pit.")

The Gargoyle holds about 500 people, and luckily for those concert-goers, the Delmar Loop is just a short walk away via this artery: the Ackert Walkway. This walking path connects you, the thirsty music fan in the Loop, to the esteemed confines of Wash. U.

The top ten list is after the jump.

From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow on Cherokee Street, head on down to enjoy some beautiful weather and the independent shops and restaurants cropping up everywhere. Also be sure to check out some tunes from lovely local bands the Rum Drum Ramblers and Alley Ghost at Firecracker Press, who made these posters.