St. Louis News Blog

You have a weekend, then a short week, and before you know it, you'll be in line outside the electronics store at 4 a.m. waiting to get flat-screen TV at deep, deeeep discount.

So please, enjoy this final weekend before holiday madness descends on all of us. Here are ten options for weekend fun for $10 or less, which is about the only thing these events have in common, besides their St. Louis location.

Looking for local music? Peep our weekend concert calendar.

Credit: Dale Chihuly

​Dale Chihuly at the Duane Reed Gallery (Opens Friday)
While nature is settling in for a long winter's nap, Dale Chihuly's glass pieces -- best known in St. Louis for being on display at the Missouri Botanical Garden are as lively as ever -- and they're within the warm confines of the Duane Reed Gallery (4729 McPherson Avenue; www.duanereedgallery.com or 314-361-4100) beginning Friday, November 20. Opening with a free public reception from 5 to 8 p.m., this exhibition of Chihuly's latest work features the stunning winter-whiteness of Palazzo Ducale Tower, a writhing, elegant form that will tower over gallerygoers, shimmering and shining all throughout the winter -- well, almost. The show remains on view Tuesday through Saturday until Saturday, January 30. Alison Sieloff has more details for your right here.

Ugh. Monday has reared its ugly head once more. And sadly, it looks to be a soaking wet week. (Again.)

Hopefully our weekend coverage will brighten your day a bit. Here's the recap.

Old School Tattoo Expo

Photo: Jason Stoff

This tattoo needs more... Cowbell! See more photos from the Old School Tattoo Expo.

​Over the weekend, Lyle Tuttle's Old School Tattoo Expo again got underway in St. Louis, and for the second year it was held at the Holiday Inn Select downtown. We have 58 photos from the tattooing bonanza. Even our photographer couldn't resist, getting his first tattoo.

Remain non-broke all the way through Monday with the following suggestions for having fun on a budget this weekend.

Looking for live music? We have that for you too, with our weekend concert calendar. It's also one of the best weekends all year long to see a movie in St. Louis.

​Everything is Terrible!: The Movie at Antarctica (Friday)
A group of students at Ohio University compiled the worst video footage they could find, found footage "ranging from the hilariously arcane to the blissfully obscure," so says promotional bulletins about the film. Unreal interviewed Commander Gilgamesh, one of the group's founding members, to find out more about this movie. Those interested in seeing hilariously bad, the worst of the worst, can do so on Friday night. It costs $8 for the public, $6 for students, and begins at 9 p.m. at Antarctica, a new venue/space on the South Side (5226 Gravois.)

So Many Dynamos at Off Broadway (Friday)
We locals can be forgiven for feeling mighty proud of So Many Dynamos right about now. After all, we've seen the post-everything quartet grow from a spazzy-behind-the-ears band into a formidable live act that's opened for Ra Ra Riot and Death Cab for Cutie. The Dynamos, with new guitarist Nathan Bernaix, play Friday night at Off Broadway. The show starts at 8 p.m. and admission is just $8. Annie Zaleski has more details about the show here.

King Khan & BBQ Show

​Fans of the rock duo The King Khan & BBQ Show were disappointed last night when the band was a no-show for its scheduled concert last night at the Off Broadway in St. Louis.

Today the Riverfront Times music blog A to Z has the skinny on why the band failed to appear.

Turns out at least one member of the outfit got arrested yesterday in the-middle-of-nowhere-Kentucky. Kristin Klein, tour manager for the band, was arrested in Oak Grove, Kentucky, and charged with driving on a suspended license and possession of a controlled substance.

The band was supposed to be driving from Nashville to St. Louis yesterday. 

An Illinois judge is left to fill in the blanks.

​Not that rap lyrics are required to rhyme, but we here at Daily RFT are having the darndest time imagining the following sentence as musical verse:

If this account doesn't reach $50,000 in the next 7 days then a murderous rampage similar to the VT shooting will occur at another highly populated university, this is not a joke!

That sentence is a crucial piece of evidence in the trial of Olutosin Oduwole, a student at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville who prosecutors say was plotting a terrorist attack.

The sentence in question (which referenced a PayPal account) was found on a piece of paper inside Oduwole's abandoned car back in 2007. The note coincided with a police investigation into Oduwole's attempt to buy guns through the Internet. Prosecutors say the note in the car was a terrorist threat.

But as Oduwole's attorney argued in court yesterday, the defendant is an aspiring rap artist who was just taking a few cues from famous musicians Bob Marley and Johnny Cash.

A great weekend to be outside and that's what how many of us spent it -- but on Friday and Saturday night there were two great shows to check out, if you could get a ticket. Here's a recap of our weekend coverage:

Son Volt at the Pageant

Sun Volt played the Pageant on Friday night. Read the concert review here.

​Son Volt, led by Millstadt, Illinois native and former Uncle Tupelo member Jay Farrar, played the Pageant on Friday, to bunches of long-time, loyal fans. Music writer Robin Wheeler was in the audience, and finds Farrar has "matured musically and has found a band that cooperates with his musical vision while honoring his past. [Farrar] keeps progressing." The band released a new record in April, American Central Dust. The RFT spoke with Farrar about that record in July in this interview.

Read more about Son Volt's show at the Pageant with this full review: "Show Review: Son Volt at the Pageant, Friday, November 6."

You could go out this weekend and spend a wad of cash drinking like a sailor. Or, you might find yourself online or at the mall, and end up charging a ridiculous-looking thermal coat to your Visa.

But why put yourself in the poorhouse (or the poky) when all the following events are just $10 or less?

P.S. We've got plenty of music choices this weekend, too.

Image Via

See Bob Run premieres Friday.

​See Bob Run at the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court (Opens Friday)
See Bob Run, a one-woman show by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, is a darkly weird combination of unreliable narrator and undeniable horror. Soundstage Productions presents this psychological drama at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday (November 6 through 8) at the Marble Stage Theater in the ArtSpace at Crestwood Court (Watson and Sappington roads, Crestwood.) Tickets are $10. Paul Friswold has more details about See Bob Run here.

Over the weekend, the Saint Louis Symphony gave a preview of Powerful Percussion, the concert it will be performing at Carnegie Hall in New York this season. The highlight of the show was undoubtedly the second number, Tan Dun's Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra, in which percussionist Colin Currie did some amazing things with water with some surprisingly homely pieces of equipment.

colincurrie.net

Currie percussing.

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Currie's performance engendered a couple of collective epiphany among the audience. First, water makes a really nice sound. Second, while it might take lots of training to become an expert water percussionist like Currie, there's no reason you can't make really cool water percussion sounds in your own home.

What you'll need:

• Lots of water.
• Glasses
• Wooden salad bowls of varying sizes.
• Sticks.
• A metal plate.
• A colander.

After a week where we rarely saw the sun, the weekend's weather seemed to make up for the days of gray. Besides Halloween, there was a lot going on and here's a recap of our weekend coverage.

John Oates at the 'Stache Bash

Photo: Chad Garrison

John Oates at the 'Stash Bash on Friday night.

​You might have read about Oates receiving a proclamation from St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay earlier in the day, but on Friday night, the second-half of Hall & Oates did what he does best at the 2009 'Stache Bash at the Roberts Orpheum Theatre. Read the full concert review here. Robin Wheeler writes:

Oates and his four-piece band started with "Camellia", the Oates-penned opening track from Hall and Oates' 1975 self-titled album. Marred by a sound mix that left Oates' vocals overpowered by the instruments, it wasn't looking good. But then he asked if there were any '80s fans before traipsing into a stripped-down version of "Maneater," and it all came together. Read more.

​ Hundreds of ruggedly handsome people gathered in downtown St. Louis on Friday for the American Mustache Institute's third-annual 'Stache Bash and the crowning of the 2009 Robert Goulet Memorial "Mustached American of the Year."

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Headlining this year's event was the inimitable John Oates of the incredibly famous pop duo Hall & Oates. After living the past two decades sans lip hair, Oates regrew a thin -- but admirable -- handlebar mustache for his performance.

Yet as rockin' as Oates' was on stage (concert review here), what really made the party were the people. Check 'em out below.

Pop singer John Oates has re-grown his world famous mustache after a two-decade hiatus.

Oates, part of the super group Hall and Oates, debuted his new lip hair today in St. Louis where he'll headline tonight's "Stache Bash" party presented by the American Mustache Institute.

Photo: Chad Garrison

A big thumb's up to Oates' new handlebar mustache.

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Oates tells Daily RFT he vividly recalls the day he shaved off the mustache he had worn throughout his meteoric rise up the pop charts in the 1980s.

Oates' vintage '80s 'stache.

​"We were playing a concert in Tokyo in 1989 that Yoko Ono had arranged to commemorate the anniversary of John Lennon's death," says Oates. "I was going through a lot of personal stuff then, and after the show I was back in the hotel and just looking at myself in the bathroom mirror. I looked down toward the sink and there was a razor sitting there, and with that I shaved off the mustache and haven't look back."

Until now.

So why did Oates decide to re-grow his famous lip hair after so many years?

Unless you've been cowering under a big glob of shaving cream, you're probably aware that this Friday the American Mustache Institute is hosting its third annual 'Stache Bash at the Roberts Orpheum downtown. (More details on the party here.)

You're also probably aware this year's event features the one and only John Oates, of '80s power-pop duo Hall and Oates, and a famous mustache-wearer in his own right.

But did you know that opening up for Oates are fellow mustache champions, The Flavor Savers?

Flavor Savers: Romeo DanceCheetah, Rodney Bel-Aire and Bronco Festiva

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The Chicago outfit features super smooth dance moves and more than a few songs dedicated to lip hair. Last night Daily RFT spoke to the band by phone prior to their venture to St. Louis on Friday.   

flickr.com/photos/purpleferret

​First thing, you throw a party.  People like parties. Even if they have somewhat cheesy names like "A Noteworthy Affair." Hold it on a Saturday night, say October 24, when there's not much else going on.

Make sure it's at some classy venue. People are much more likely to open their wallets if they're someplace like Powell Hall or the Coronado Ballroom that has gold (or at least gilt) on the walls than in a dive bar covered in grime. Even if there is a tip jar.

Emphasize that even though you are charging admission, the money is going to a Worthy Cause that is supported by rich people, like the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Rich people like classical music. It makes them feel cultured. (Not sure where this presumption came from, but it certainly perpetuates itself in movies like A Night at the Opera and Pretty Woman. Yeah, those were opera, but hey, Mozart is still Mozart, right?)

http://www.slso.org/gala/

​Also emphasize the exclusivity of the occasion by charging a minimum of $750 to attend, though, of course, guests are permitted, nay, encouraged, to pay much, much, much more. That ought to keep the hoi polloi out. Threaten waitlisting, in bold red type on the promotional web site, if people don't get their tickets immediately. Also discontinue, for one night, the most excellent $10 student ticket program.

Arrange some kick-ass celebrity entertainment like Yo-Yo Ma soloing in Dvořák's Cello Concerto and David Robertson conducting the SLSO through Schubert's Eighth Symphony (the "Unfinished" one). Your guests are paying a shitload of money; they deserve the finest you've got, and definitely not any of that super-annoying modernist crap. Only music professors like that stuff, and they're poor.

It was a weekend for great concerts in St. Louis. We also saw the pre-Halloween parties begin. Here's a recap of our weekend coverage.

Victorian Fetish Ball at Lure Nightclub

Photo: Egan O'Keefe

See more photos from Saturday night's Victorian Fetish Ball at Lure Nightclub. Some photos are NSFW (Not Safe For Work!)

​On Saturday night, the tenth annual Victorian Fetish Ball got underway at Lure nightclub. Although as these photos suggest, the party may have strayed from the traditional theme this year. See for yourself in this slide show.

flickr.com/photos/stockholm_cindy

​All apologies to detractors of Joyce Meyer, but Elizabeth Clare Prophet, who slithered off this mortal coil last Thursday, was undoubtedly the weirdest female religious figure in this country.

Prophet began her prophetic career in 1973 when her husband Mark Prophet died and she took over the leadership of the Summit Lighthouse, a group he had founded in 1957 and which combined elements of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Theosophy.

Writes William Grimes in Prophet's New York Times obituary:

In 1975, she founded the Church Universal and Triumphant, a formal religion with ceremonies and sacraments, extending the work of the Lighthouse. The religion's teachings were derived from divine messages believed to be transmitted by the Ascended Masters, a pantheon of mystic saints and sages, among them Jesus and the Theosophist master El Morya. Its worldwide membership was once estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 people.

In the late 1980s, Mrs. Prophet issued warnings of an impending nuclear strike by the Soviet Union against the United States. More than 2,000 of her followers left their homes and gathered at the church's compound near Corwin Springs, Mont., near the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park. There they began stockpiling weapons, food and clothing in underground bomb shelters.

As luck would have it, nothing happened. Don't you just hate when your prophecies don't work out?

An advertisement for Club TV One from earlier this year.

​Last time we mentioned Robert Williams here on Daily RFT, the 46-year-old Kirkwood resident had just earned a nomination in one of our first Ass Clown of the Week competitions.

That was back in April when law enforcement raided his East St. Louis bar, Club TV One, and found him in possession of $100,000 worth of fixtures stolen from his nightclub's previous landlord on Washington Avenue.

But the stolen furnishing was just the tip of the iceberg. Authorities also noticed a "strong odor" in the club and traced it to a backroom where they discovered 190 kilos (418 lbs) of marijuana.

Ghastly creatures visit St. Charles this holiday season.

​Just received a press release that come December 17 the St. Charles Family Arena will play host to the Charlie Daniels Band Christmas.

This latest concert announcement reminded me of one I received last week (also from the Family Arena) heralding the December 5 arrival of the Christmas with John Tesh.

Now, all of a sudden, I can't stop thinking of arctic snow monsters because I'm wondering to myself, which concert will be more abominable?

Will it be the Charlie Daniels' show described thusly:

Good morning, St. Louis! Here's a recap of our weekend coverage: two concert reviews for your reading pleasure and a slide show of the models at Saint Louis Fashion Week.

Photo: Jon Gitchoff

Lucinda Williams did her roots rock thing on Saturday night at the Pageant. See more photos from Saturday night's show.

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Here's your guide to having fun this weekend on a budget. Looking for live music? Check out our weekend concert calendar.

Where the Wild Things Are opens Friday. Read J. Hoberman's review.

​Where the Wild Things Are at various theaters (Friday)
While J. Hoberman questioned some of director Spike Jonze's methods in this adaptation of the 400-word children's classic, the buzz about this film is inarguable. It opens Friday at various theaters here and across the country. Read Hoberman's full review before you go see Wild Things.

Paint by Numbers at Mad Art Gallery (Friday)
The Saint Louis City Open Studio & Gallery (314-865-0060 or www.scosag.org) hosts a fundraising event where everyone who wants to be an artist is an artist if only just for the night. Paint by Numbers is held at the Mad Art Gallery (2727 South 12th Street) -- it sounds artsy already! -- and throughout the evening attendees get to take up brushes and contribute colors to the largest paint-by-numbers mural in the state. $3-$5. Alison Sieloff has more details here.

A somewhat unlikely group of bar owners, bowling advocates, tobacco salesman and -- yes -- a Christian radio host, gathered today in University City to announce their opposition to a smoking ban proposal for St. Louis County.

Good morning, St. Louis! What a weekend. Los Angeles absolutely owned both our Blues and Cardinals on Saturday night, and the Rams were easily defeated (again) on Sunday. But there were plenty of opportunities to get one's mind off the sports losses this past weekend. Here's a recap of our coverage of the weekend's winners.

They Might Be Giants at the Pageant

Photo: Jon Gitchoff

John Linnell and John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants on Friday night at the Pageant. The group played its entire 1990 album, Flood. See more photos here

​Fans of long-running indie band They Might Be Giants (remember their set at Mardi Gras 2008?) flocked to the Pageant on Friday to hear the band cover their 1990 record, Flood, in its entirety. We have a full review and set list as well as a slide show of photos from the show.

Good Monday to you, St. Louis. Here's a recap of our weekend coverage:

Big Muddy Records Roof Top Party

Photo: Sarah Paradoski

See more photos from Friday night's party.

​On Friday night, local label Big Muddy Records hosted a party on the roof of the Jefferson Underground gallery. The music went on late -- past 2 a.m. -- and featured a slew of local blues and folk acts. See photos here.

You could say it was the Best week of 2009, and there's plenty to do this weekend for less than $10. Here it is, your affordable weekend preview. Looking for concerts this weekend? There's plenty of them posted in our weekend concert calendar.

​Muny Show 4.0 at Star Clipper (Friday)
If you're itching to release your inner kindergartener's creative spirit, might I suggest the Munny doll -- the mini vinyl doll from kidrobot is a blank slate that can be drawn on, painted, molded and sculpted. For some major inspiration on how to get started, head to Star Clipper for the St. Louis Munny Show 4.0. Munny Show 4.0 opens with a free public reception at 7 p.m. at Star Clipper (6392 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-725-9110 or www.starclipper.com.) More details here! - Courtney Schilling

Got this video forwarded to me this morning. It's footage of local jam band Madahoochi (a three-time Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis winner) making a music video for their song "Txt Slut." 

Unlike a jam-band song, the video is mercifully short. But you may want to skip to the 30-second mark to get to the action.

Good morning St. Louis. And if you're observing Yom Kippur, Gmar Chatimah Tova.

Here's a recap of our weekend coverage:

Dancing in the Streets

The jolly green stilted giant at the Dancing in the Streets festival, held on Saturday in Grand Center. See 48 more photos from the festival.

flickr.com/photos/bottleofblues

The SLSO onstage at Powell Hall.

​The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra ended its fiscal year August 31 with an increase in fundraising and a decrease in its deficit. Added to the increase in ticket sales reported at the end of the concert season in June and a successful labor agreement with the musicians' union, the SLSO appears to be the rare cultural institution able to thrive during the recession.

During this year's Annual Campaign, the symphony raised $4.8 million, its highest revenue since 2004 and a 1.7 percent increase over last year. The SLSO reported a structural deficit of $2.96 million, down 2 percent from last year. The organization claims, however, that these gaps are covered by extra contributions and the symphony is actually debt-free.

Says Fred Bronstein, SLSO's President and Executive Director, "Despite a difficult environment in 2009, significant progress was made in key areas, including a major step forward in turning around multi-year ticket sales and attendance declines in ways that engaged many new patrons; in a second consecutive year of growth in the Annual Campaign; and through continued progress toward financial stabilization by the reduction of the structural deficit."

Now if only the rest of us could be so lucky.

Who didn't watch the Emmys? Here's a recap of our weekend coverage:

The Books at the Luminary Center for the Arts

The Books

On Sunday, the Books played a sold-out show at the Luminary Center for the Arts -- "On record, the group makes mostly acoustic, ambient folksy headphone music that relies heavily upon samples discovered on used cassette and video tapes" -- writes Ryan Wasoba. So how did that translate to a live setting? Wasoba has the review here.

​Last week RFT music editor Annie Zaleski was first to break the news that legendary rock 'n soul performer John Oates would headline the American Mustache Institute's annual 'Stache Bash" on October 31.