RFT Photo

Delmar Lounge once seemed like an invincible safe haven for progressive minded music lovers in the city of St. Louis. The establishment has an almost legendary reputation for showcasing the spontaneity St. Louis loves. During the evening hours of business you could aimlessly find yourself eating dinner and enjoying the smooth sounds of a live jazz band or maybe there would be a house music DJ spinning something light-hearted and groovy.

The range of variety in between the genres is one of the many things that made this place special. Last Sunday I attended what was possibly this establishment's final night in the business. Before I even stepped out of the car I noticed maybe 30 to 40 people piled outside on the corner drinking publicly, guzzling liquor from glasses and pitchers.

Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time as I quickly glanced at the faces and noticed the crowd was filled with local rappers, guitarists, soul singers, concert goers and comedians. In recent years, the night life scene at Delmar Lounge on the weekend has transformed in a true school hipsterish hip-hop vibe. I walked inside with my friend Jay Stretch and witnessed one of the most chaotic bar scenes in my life. Corey Black approached me, chuckling and saying, "Everything is $4.00 tonight." People were standing at the bar, holding money in the air as if the stock market were crashing.

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Jon Gitchoff

The Syn City Burlesque show on June 16.

Jumpin' Jupiter, a neo-supper club in Maplewood, narrowly evaded eviction this weekend after owner Jim Callahan settled a dispute with the state for $28,000 he owed in sales taxes. The city of Maplewood agreed to renew his business license on Friday, but the raunchy Saturday night show wasn't exactly a party for the restaurateur, who says he's run out of money and making some tough cuts.

On Saturday night at the Naughty Naughty Late Show, Callahan darts between computers behind the bar, oblivious to the three women on stage who are making out with each other in a blow-up kiddie pool.

View a full NSFW slideshow of the June 16 Syn City Burlesque show.

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​You're in town for the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The basketball has ended for the night, and you're still looking for some "live" entertainment to keep the party going? Well, does Riverfront Times have some advice for you! (And they say service journalism is dead?)

Plug a few of the addresses below into your rental-car GPS and make your way to the fine nudie bars of the East Side. Why? Why not!?

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Laura Miller

The dining room at Harry's Restaurant and Bar.

Downtown mainstay Harry's Bar is undergoing a facelift. The long-running nightspot is abandoning its fine dining concept and becoming a boutique dance club.

"Yeah, we're switching things up," says owner Tim Pieri. "I get 50 calls a week asking where people can go dance downtown, and there's just nowhere. The old Velvet and all that back in the day, they've all disappeared now. This is kind of a smaller-scale dance club."

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Mabel Suen

The stage at Plush.

Back in October, RFT Music reported that Plush would be opening "next month," which is new-club code for "we'll let you know when we know." Owner Maebelle Reed has been laboring to get the club off the ground for more than two years, but renovating the 40,000 square foot behemoth hasn't been a walk in the park. "The recipes are ready, the liquor has been ordered, we're ready. We just keep running into these little complications." Reed doesn't have a final date in mind, but says they're waiting on a few final details, and if pressed, they could be open "in two days."

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Well sports fans, it's the day you've all been waiting for. The St. Louis Squirrels will face the Texas Trash 'Staches one final time on this most hallowed day of baseballing, Game Seven.

5. Friendly's: There's no point in going broke just for a baseball game, and at Friendly's, that's barely an option. Whiskey diet, and keep 'em comin'? That'll be $2. The covered outdoor bar serves up $1.50 hot dogs and cheeseburgers during game time, and unlike downtown, this Tower Grove South gem is too out of the way for Rangers fans. But bring cash.

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Diana Benanti

Inside the Jumpin' Jupiter.

St. Louis' first neo-supper club, the Jumpin' Jupiter, opened its doors in Maplewood this weekend in the old Jive and Wail location (7376 Manchester Road, Maplewood; 314-645-5867). We reported on the opening back in March, and now the wait is over.

"We think of ourselves as a mini-Fox or a more intimate Pageant," says manager Ryan Callahan, son of Jim Callahan, who owns Jupiter Studios as well as the Jumpin' Jupiter.
"We're more like the Fox because we do more theater-based stuff, but we're going to be doing all different kinds of music. We're not going to be doing metal or anything like that."

He adds that eventually they'll start booking high-end, national acts, and uses Rod Stewart as an example of someone he'd "love" to see at Jumpin' Jupiter. "It'd be perfect for him. Who wouldn't want to see Rod Stewart here?"

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Wikimedia Commons

A venue with an ambitious take on entertainment is slated to open in the spot last occupied by the now-closed Maplewood branch of the Jive & Wail (7376 Manchester Road, Maplewood). Called the Jumpin' Jupiter, it's being dubbed a "neo-supper club" by its owner, Jim Callahan.

"We specialize in unique, Las Vegas-style entertainment, everything from variety acts to circus acts to, like, classy burlesque," he says via phone from Colorado, where he was purchasing some kitchen equipment for the venue.

The Jumpin' Jupiter's main attraction indeed will be a Friday and Saturday night supper show, which will feature a cocktail hour, a five-course meal and a two-hour variety show. Preliminary pricing for the ticketed event is $59.95 a person, with drinks extra. Callahan stresses that it's not what you might expect from traditional dinner theater.

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Spring is still being a big ol' tease, but new venues are blooming across the Southside like crocuses. The Heavy Anchor opens in a few weeks, The Warehouse has a new sign and is open for business, and Halfway Haus (7900 Michigan), a new bar and venue coming to South Carondelet, opens March 10.

Diana Benanti

Bar in progress at Halfway Haus.

Benjamin Simms, president of development firm Stein's Broadway, is opening Halfway Haus with Brian Scholtes, current owner of The Patch Tavern a few blocks away. Scholtes said Halfway Haus is the fifth bar to open in the neighborhood in the past two years--a sure sign that the area already has a willing and thirsty public. "All these bars work together, we promote each other's events," he says. "That's the kind of camaraderie we have with other bars."

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Diana Benanti

The Warehouse, 2501 South Jefferson.

If you've been to the Way Out or Trader Bob's in recent months, you may have noticed a new venue popped up a few doors down from those Jefferson Avenue institutions.

The Warehouse opened in late November, and owner Tony Labarbera says so far, the reception from the neighborhood has been "good."

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