Kholood Eid

Emily Wells | The Portland Cello Project
May 8, 2012
Old Rock House

Emily Wells is a one-woman symphony on record. Nimble violin harmonies meet looming keys and trunk-rattling drum beats. She's also pretty handy with a guitar, banjo, assorted percussion and plenty more. And that is to say nothing of her voice, otherworldly and schizophrenic and looped until the whole thing resembles a hall of mirrors. How do you do all that live?

Last night at Old Rock House, she manned a violin, a couple tables full of loop triggers and a drum kit arrayed at her sides and behind her. Snare drum on her left, floor tom on the right and a kick drum behind her, which she played by stamping her foot on the pedal and playing accent notes with a mallet held in her right hand. Which seems like a lot, for sure, but it was hard to focus on any of that. She sang up into the mic with her head tilted, her eyes half closed, so absorbed in each song that her movements seemed involuntary.

View a full slideshow of Emily Wells and the Portland Cello Project at Old Rock House.

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Roy Kasten

JD McPherson and band at the Duck Room

JD McPherson
Blueberry Hill's Duck Room
April 26, 2012

JD McPherson's signature song, "North Side Gal," is a hit waiting for a chart, a single looking for a jukebox, an irresistible dance number on its way to a rockabilly rhythm & blues sock hop that doesn't exist anywhere, save all the joints where he plays it, even on medium-to-slow nights like Thursday at the Duck Room. The song is insanely catchy, pumping and rumbling, swinging and a little wild, like Elvis in 1955, but sung with the sweet and rasping voice of Chicago bluesmen like Magic Sam or Little Walter.

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Slaughterhouse

Slaughterhouse | Murphy Lee | Steddy P. | Mathias
The Old Rock House
April 25, 2012

For hip-hop fans who still appreciate lyricism, Slaughterhouse epitomizes the term "supergroup." Joe Budden, Royce Da 5'9", Crooked I and Joell Ortiz returned to St. Louis last night for the first time since 2009 - this time bringing a stronger performance, a bigger catalog, and most importantly, bars. The underground heavyweights are currently touring in support of the upcoming album Welcome to: Our House, their first project under Eminem's Shady Records imprint.

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Courtesy of Chali 2na

Chali 2na with House of Vibe | Mathias | Soundclash
2720 Cherokee
March 6, 2012

Ex-Jurassic 5 rapper Chali 2na might not be as famous as he was in his old group's heyday, but damn if the man doesn't know how to throw a party. Backed by a three-piece band culled from L.A.'s House of Vibe collective, 2na kept his decently-sized crowd dancing all night to selections from his solo album Fish Outta Water as well as old J5 favorites and the occasional cover.

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Courtesy of Polica

Back in November of 2011, and unknown band (at least around these parts) from Minneapolis, Polica (pronounced Poe-Lisa), quietly put on a gripping performance at the Old Rock House -- even if there were fewer than a dozen people there to witness it. Since that time, Polica has played sold out shows across the country, released its debut album Give You the Ghost, and then played some more packed houses across the U.S.. While Monday night's show was far from sold out, there was a much more respectable turnout this time around.

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Michael Dauphin

The Promise Ring, not phoning it in.

Throughout the late '90s and early '00s, Milwaukee's the Promise Ring harnessed about as much buzz as any indie band trudging through the underground. Even so, one could argue that the band was, and still is, underrated. Or, if nothing else, it became a victim of its own press. The "emo pioneer" tag more than likely scared some folks away, but you wouldn't have known any better if you were at the sold out Metro in Chicago on Saturday night. Aging hipsters, pop purists and younger folks who missed the band its first time around crowded the building, buzzing almost as hard as the band itself during the Y2K days.

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Mabel Suen

Bloody Knives sound-artist Jim Moon (left) and bass player Preston Maddox (right) swing their hair and spit gnarly Texan noise rock.

Bloody Knives | Bug Chaser | Tone Rodent | Trauma Harness
El Lenador
February 10, 2012

El Lenador has become a ganglion in South St. Louis for raw performance art, be it in the form of punk rock or wiry folk music. Nights like Friday, February 10th, where Austin-natives Bloody Knives were welcomed by local stalwarts for an evening of loud, messy psychedelic music, have become a norm in the city.

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Kiernan Maletsky

Beth Bombara plays at Schnucks.

The check out at the Schnucks in Richmond Heights is a gridlock six carts deep and ten lanes wide. The soundtrack is a chorus of bar-code beeps. But if you walk away from the registers, toward the expansive produce section, the mood shifts. The lights are softer, the ceiling higher and what you hear is a woman patiently singing Neil Young through a small P.A.

Beth Bombara is on her second Schnucks gig. She's one of the musicians you can find on weekends at the locations in Richmond Heights, Des Peres just off of Manchester Road and the grocery chain's Culinaria Market downtown. Today, Super Bowl Sunday, Bombara's playing from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., nestled in between a soft-drink refrigerator and a display stand for Kaldi's Coffee. "It's a really good place to play a new song to see if it attracts anyone's attention," she says. "During a certain song I was playing, I noticed a girl shaking her hips while she was picking out produce."

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Courtesy of Voodoo Glow Skulls

The pride of Spanky's Cafe.

Voodoo Glow Skulls | Authority Zero
The Firebird
February 3, 2012

Punk/ska fans got a great bang for their buck at this weekend's concert at the Firebird, which brought Voodoo Glow Skulls, Authority Zero and Sky Fox to town and threw on locals Snooty and the Ratfinks and Scene of Irony for good measure. The night culminated in triumphant, crowd-pleasing performances by the headliners that made sure everyone went home happy.

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Kholood Eid

Alabama Shakes at the Old Rock House on Sunday, December 18.

Alabama Shakes
Old Rock House
December 18, 2011

Hot damn. Alabama Shakes owned the Old Rock House last night with an outstanding performance lead by singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, whose mighty energy at the end of the first song claimed two guitar strings (they broke) -- and earned her a transfixed audience.

We were hooked. Howard and her band mates plunged into a fourteen-song set after a brief greeting (although the band's Facebook page lists three other members: Heath Fogg, Zac Cockrell and Steve Johnson, there was a fifth on stage last night--Ben Tanner on the keyboard). The music: start with a little soul, add rock and sprinkle in some blues. Shake accordingly. These elements came together beautifully, delivered right on point by Alabama Shakes.

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