Beat Happenings

Music news you can use

A A A Comments (0) By Kristyn Pomranz Wednesday, Sep 6 2006

Tettey Tetteh bang bang:West African drummer Nii Tettey Tetteh is charging into St. Louis with percussive force and the Kusun Ensemble (www.kusunensemble.com) in tow. These musicians from Ghana have blended indigenous instruments and African rhythms with traditional jazz bass and guitar, conceiving a style of music called "Nokoko" (translation: "something special"). While this is a superlative experience independently, it's also a benefit for the Salvation Army Food Bank of St. Louis. So thump over to the Emerson Performance Center at Harris Stowe State University (3026 Laclede Avenue; 314-340-3366) on Tuesday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $20, with a $1 discount for each non-perishable food item donated. Children eight and under are free.

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Smigus-dyngus: The aforementioned seemingly nonsensical phrase is actually a Polish excuse for boys to douse girls with water. While the RFT cannot guarantee that the 32nd annual Polish Falcons Polish Festival (www.polishfalcons.org) will feature the tradition of Smigus-dyngus, here are rules for at-home play: Young men stalk young women, spray them with water, and each woman to suffer a splash will (in theory) be married to her spritzer that year. (And you thought Beat Happenings wasn't educational!) Get soused at the Polish Falcon Gardens (2013 St. Louis Avenue; 314-421-9614) on Friday, September 8, from 4 to 11 p.m. (lunch is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and Saturday, September 9, from 1 to 11 p.m. There will be authentic polish food, artifacts, games and polka band Downtown Sound will perform both nights. Free.

"I want to eat drums!": Immediately after "Good Last Night" buffered on The Feed's MySpace page (www.myspace.com/feedrock), I thought I had shrewdly detected a similarity to famed Muppet band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Fancying myself astute, I admit I felt utterly thwarted to discover that they self-describe as "the Muppet Band meets Pantera." Damn the Feed, always beatin' me to the punch! Regardless, this is hardcore feel-good music, punky, bluesy and sans guitars. Catch the Feed's CD-release party at Lucas School House (1220 Allen Avenue; 314-621-6565; www.lucasevents.com) on Saturday, September 9, at 8 p.m. Openers are Ghost in Light and Casey Reid. Tickets are $7, and it's an eighteen-plus show.