Bob McMahon

Moms' Secret Recipe: Menomena's Danny Seim on his band's resurgence

The Best Concerts in St. Louis this Week: January 22 to 27

Well, I hope you enjoyed that temporary shot of springtime over the weekend while you could! Clouds are currently unloading some major snowflakes outside, but that's no reason to get left out in the cold during this week's shows. Check out Ian Fisher & the Present's CD Release and visits from Sponge ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From August 27 to September 2

Did everyone survive LouFest? Surrounding this post is our extensive coverage; be sure to read up. Rain be damned, the whole thing seemed to go off without a hitch. More big outdoors shows populate this week's post, for those of you that didn't get enough over the weekend. Tonight Verizon Wireless ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From August 13 to 19

You can actually comfortably go outside today! The temperatures are supposed to be in the 80s. It's been so damn oppressively damn hot this whole damn summer that this respite, however brief, is newsworthy on even a music blog. My massively overtaxed air conditioner is assuredly on its last leg, but ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From July 9 to 15

The Monday after Independence Day weekend is one most brutal. After a full weekend of barbecue and beer and illegal fireworks, going to work seems all the more objectionable. I'm too damned hungover on Freedom to be productive, personally. My "word of the day" today is "aliquant," which even my spel ... More >>

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase Lineup for June 2

Hard Rock: Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is two weeks away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Throughout May, we've been making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year, introducing the nominees from one or more o ... More >>

12 to 6 Movement on How they Got Raekwon and Others on Thier New Record and Why They Called it Titties Out

It took a while, but local hip-hop trio 12 to 6 Movement finally unleashed their new collaboration-heavy album, Titties Out. Since our last interview with the group, they added songs with Joe Budden, Opio and A-Plus from Souls of Mischief/Hieroglyphics and Psycho Les from The Beatnuts to a tracklist ... More >>

Pop: Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is two weeks away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Throughout May, we've been making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year, introducing the nominees from one or more o ... More >>

Singer-Songwriter: Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is a month away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Over the next month, we'll be making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year. Each weekday between now and the showcase ... More >>

New Band: Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is a month away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Over the next month, we'll be making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year. Each weekday between now and the showcase ... More >>

Greek Fire's Johnny Venus has Leukemia and No Health Insurance

About a month ago, Greek Fire drummer Johnny Venus noticed that the exhaustion he attributed to his band's recently completed Japanese tour had not faded. He was reluctant to see a doctor because he does not have health insurance, but his friends and bandmates eventually convinced him to get his blo ... More >>

Chali 2na and House of Vibe at 2720 Cherokee, 3/6/12: Recap

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 collectiv ... More >>

Official First-Ballot Inductees to the Simpsons' Music Hall of Fame: I Bent My Wookie

The sheer longevity of The Simpsons would be impressive if it wasn't so frightening. Consider: A person born on the day of the first non-Tracey Ullman Show episode is now 22 years old. And if characters from the show actually aged, Bart Simpson would be three years away from being able to assume the ... More >>

Best St. Louis Shows of 2011: Part Two

Tom LampeJay Farrar on the pedal steel for Colonel Ford​New Year's Eve isn't just amateur hour. It's a night-long, clown-car traffic jam of colossally defeated expectations, a dispiriting exercise in futility, even, or especially, when you're somewhere somewhat less coastal than Rio. In St. L ... More >>

Nirvana's Nevermind, As Played By Tok: September 23 At Lemmons

​As pretty much every facet of entertainment media is here to remind you, Nirvana's Nevermind is turning twenty on September 24. The landmark album will be reissued in October and is being celebrated with events ranging from a town hall Q&A session with Nirvana's surviving members to a concert ... More >>

Sleepy Kitty's Infinity City Release Party

​Sleepy Kitty's debut full length, Infinity City, had an informal release party last week at the Royale. The band is playing a show tomorrow at Pig Slop with Cowboy Indian Bear and Little Big Bangs. We are introducing a feature, Live and Local, to help introduce St. Louis bands to people who ... More >>

Mac Lethal at the Firebird, 6/26/11

Photo by Bob McMahon​Mac Lethal | Kold Kace | Spark1duh? and DJ Who Sunday, June 26 The Firebird It shouldn't surprise anyone that Mac Lethal is able to improvise. After all, the Kansas City rapper won the emcee battle at the venerable Scribble Jam festival in 2002. This quick thinking came i ... More >>

Blood Pony to disband after June 18 farewell show at The Warehouse

​Despite making great strides in its two and a half years of existence, Blood Pony is being put out to pasture. The seven-piece orchestral indie-pop group, which released full-length Escapists this January after last year's Kissing Cities EP, is playing one last show this Saturday, June 18, at ... More >>

John Gradley explains how he became the karaoke master

John G, Youtube Karaoke Star: The Interview

Jennifer Silverberg​John Gradley has a job, a wife, a whole life of karaoke. But he will always live online as John G, star of a student-produced video that has gone relatively viral, the unlikely karaoke master. In this week's feature, Bob McMahon talked to Gradley about his unusual devotion ... More >>

2010: The Year In Music

Ten Mini Local-Album Reviews

​We receive dozens and dozens of local CDs a year at the RFT. Although we review many in our weekly Homespun column, there just isn't space to touch on all of them. To remedy that, here are brief reviews of ten more releases that crossed our desks this fall. The ChalkBoyz Chalk Dirty to Me Be ... More >>

Murphy Lee promotes a healthy-cooking show, while Steve Ewing finds success with a hot-dog cart

Steve Ewing's Latest Post-Urge Endeavor: Steve's Hometown Hot Dogs!

courtesy of Steve EwingSteve Ewing and his team at Taste of St. Louis​Steve Ewing is a familiar face in the local music scene. He first made a name for himself as the frontman for the popular rock/funk/ska/reggae/you name it act the Urge, a post he held from the '80s until the band's breakup i ... More >>

St. Louis Video: R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe as a Rocky Horror Fan

H/T to RFT writer Bob McMahon for pointing out this new YouTube video. Here's vintage St. Louis news footage of the Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon, featuring none other than R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe, who lived in southern Illinois in the late '70s. Scroll to 1:25 or so to see Stipe in ful ... More >>

Interview: OK Go Vocalist Damian Kulash On The Band's New Label, New Direction and Yes, Its Videos

Picture GroupOK Go is at the Old Rock House on Sunday​It's not even half-over yet, but 2010 has already been a monumental year for OK Go. In January, the quartet released Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, its first album of original material since 2005's Oh No. A marked departure from their earli ... More >>

Interview: Dick Valentine of Electric Six, Playing at the Firebird Tonight

​Among the usual hard-partying social climbers and cocky but insecure sleazebags that populate Electric Six's new album, KILL, is a factory worker who complains of pain and ponders taking a day off, but ultimately decides that he's where he belongs. It's not hard to imagine that Electric Six f ... More >>

Your Thanksgiving Weekend Round-Up: Local H at the Firebird, "Where'd You Go to High School?" and Juggalos in the Parking Lot

Back at your desk after the long holiday break and looking to postpone doing any actual work for a few more minutes? We'll here's a diversion: Our recap of a very fun -- and filling -- Thanksgiving weekend.Local H at the FirebirdImage ViaLocal H​On Wednesday night, music writer Bob McMahon was in ... More >>

Videos: Orchestrating Diversity, at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

In this week's paper, Bob McMahon wrote about the Orchestrating Diversity program. Helmed by Mark Sarich of the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, the summer program helped underprivileged high school musicians learn about music theory and performance.When he was observing the participants, McMahon shot ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Jumbling Towers Return and Play Firebird, London Calling Takes Over the Pageant, Crocodiles Play for Free at Halo Bar and Pepper Lounge Turns Seven

Labor Day seems like so far away on this Monday, September 14, doesn't it? Here's a recap of our weekend coverage.Jumbling Towers at the FirebirdJumbling Towers - myspaceThis is not Jumbling Towers on Friday at the Firebird. This is them in-studio.​Music writer Bob McMahon was at the first Jumblin ... More >>

Over the Weekend: The Dandy Warhols at Pop's, An Under Cover Weekend at Firebird, the Tour of Missouri Rolls Through Downtown

The long weekend behind us, at least we have a four-day work week ahead. If you missed some of these events over the three-day break, catch up here.The Dandy Warhols at Pop'sPhoto: Steve TruesdellOn Friday night, the Dandy Warhols played at Pop's in Sauget, Illinois. See more photos from Friday's gi ... More >>