England

Stage Directions: May and June will be big months in local theater. Time to take stock.

Droll with the Punches: National Theatre Live presents Alan Bennett's People at the Tivoli

Man City vs. Chelsea: St. Louisans Desperately Search Craigslist for Busch Stadium Soccer Tix

Last week, Daily RFT told you why you should care that the Premier League's Manchester City and Chelsea F.C. will be playing an exhibition game at Busch Stadium. Apparently, St. Louis soccer fans needed little convincing. The game sold out within minutes, and when we went to check out online sales ... More >>

She Flies Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease: Meet St. Louis' own Elliana Grace, Human Cannonball

Out Every Night: The Best Shows in St. Louis from March 18 to 24

Sorry, spring breakers! We know, we know -- Animal Collective postponing their St. Louis show throws a huge wrench into the works, along with all this freezing and wet mucky, gloomy sadness outside the window. Chin up, music fans. There's plenty of other bands to make donning some galoshes and splas ... More >>

Bridging the Gap Between Noise and Music: Listen to Tone Rodent's Full Catalogue

This week's print feature is about local psych / noise-rock outfit Tone Rodent. Tone Rodent has existed in one shape or form since Adam Watkins first formed the project in 1999. Since then the musical endeavor has taken the form of everything from a one-man artistic noise project to a full-fledged s ... More >>

Here's a Look at So Many Dynamos in the RFT Over the Years

This week's music feature on So Many Dynamos is the latest piece on the band in the pages of the RFT. In that feature, singer/keyboardist/guitarist Aaron Stovall says the group's latest release (a self-titled EP that comes in the form of a digital download whose only physical presence is a SMD 'frid ... More >>

Ellie Goulding at the Pageant, 1/30/13: Photos

England's ever-talented songstress Ellie Goulding played to a capacity crowd at the Pageant last night. Goulding's debut studio album Lights catapulted the singer to dizzying heights of success in 2010. The October 2012 release of follow-up Halcyon made sure that she stayed there. RFT Music's Jon G ... More >>

Rams Lose Large in London

The bad news is this: the Rams lost yesterday, and lost big. They looked flat-out awful. The Patriots put an old style same-old-sorry-ass-Rams beatdown on Jeff Fisher's squad. The final score was 45-7, a score more appropriate for a team's low point in a sports comedy than an actual, real life NFL g ... More >>

Pogrom Notes: C.P. Taylor's WWII drama Good is bad (in a good way)

Hearts and Minds: With Argo, Ben Affleck asks us to love Hollywood again

Hear the Song Pokey LaFarge had on Last Night's Boardwalk Empire [Update]

Update: Pokey LaFarge reached out to us this morning to shed some light on the actual source of his inspiration for the recording of "Lovesick Blues" you heard last night on HBO: It was Emmett Miller, who committed the song to tape in 1925. "Just trying to give a nod to a cat who never got his due," ... More >>

The FarFetched Collective's big, weird welcome party

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

LouFest is this weekend, but you will not find it listed within this post. This is because St. Louis's favorite outdoor festival will already see plenty of press this week -- hell, I'd be surprised if this blog post isn't surrounded on either side by bigass advertisements for the event. Point is, yo ... More >>

All Hail the King: The Muny dishes up a royal treat with the King and I

Kevin Gray returns to Muny for his signature role in The King and I

Dylan Richter Discusses His Surprise Drafting by Harlem Globetrotters

Dylan Richter has a lot to work on over the next couple weeks. There's the dribbling while sliding on his knees. There's the throwing buckets of confetti on referees and fans and the hiding of the basketball in his shirt. And there's the spinning of the ball on his fingertips. You got to master that ... More >>

Capitalist Pig to Bring Barbecue to Soulard's Mad Art Gallery

Last week, Feast noticed a new barbecue restaurant among its -- and several other local food-media sites, including Gut Check's -- Twitter followers: Capitalist Pig. It turns out that Capitalist Pig is the latest project from Ron Buechele, owner of Mad Art Gallery (2727 South 12th Street; 314-771- ... More >>

Tower Groove Records: The Story Behind the Collective's Art, Plus Free Posters

Ed. Now that the dust has settled on this weekend' three-day Tower Groove LP release epic, we'd like to leave you with one last thought about the collective (for now). Hopefully this information on the artwork adorning the vinyl you bought will give you something to think about as you're spinning th ... More >>

Vinegar Tom at SLU: Fiery, Feminist Theatre That Pulls No Punches

Vinegar Tom is the name of an ugly, foul-smelling black cat who lurks around the periphery of the rural English village in Caryl Churchill's Brechtian play about the lives of a group of women. He's spoken to by the characters but never seen by the audience, which is unusual only because he's the cau ... More >>

It's World Book Night, So We Visit a ReadMob and Get Advice from Tim O'Brien

Sometime today, if you're lucky, somebody will shove a paperback book in your face and demand you take it home and read it. There are worse fates that could befall a person. The reason for this ardent promotion of literacy is World Book Night. A conglomeration of publishers, booksellers, librarians ... More >>

LouFest Lineup 2012: The Flaming Lips, Girl Talk, Dinosaur Jr., Cotton Mather and More

The LouFest 2012 Lineup is here: the Flaming Lips and Girl Talk get top billing and there's plenty of depth. Dinosaur Jr. and Cotton Mather for you reunion fans. King Tuff, Little Barrie and THEESatisfaction for those looking for new sounds. Cults and Hacienda will act as a musical speedramp to get ... More >>

Chris Cornell will Always Love You, Regardless of Your Sexual Orientation

Longtime Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell is winning a heap of (deserved) praise for scolding a homophobic traveler. According to the New York Post, Cornell was waiting in the Alaska Airlines lounge at Seattle's airport when he stepped in during a verbal fracas: Witnesses said Cornell jumped into ... More >>

This Was the Year That Is: Our two fearless theater scribes look forward to 2012

"I Just Want To Do Things I Love": An Interview with King Khan

When I first reach Mr. Khan, he's somewhere in Florida, time zone unknown to him. King Khan: Do you know Chuck Berry? Roy Kasten: I've met him once. Do you want me to pass on a message? King Khan: Yeah. Tell him to come to our show. I didn't have the heart to say it: There have been nights whe ... More >>

Sitar Hero: Imrat Khan Cultivates Family Dynasty

imratkhan.comUstad Imrat Khan - a world-renowned sitar and surbahar player - has had a presence in St. Louis in recent times.​For most adherents of old time rock n' roll, the sitar is perhaps best known for its dynamic contribution to classic Rolling Stones and Beatles tunes. But long before ... More >>

Lawsuit: "Notorious Overseas Oligarch" Trying To Buy Rare Earth Mine in Missouri

Ahti Vilppula made his millions in media and metals in Europe.​It reads like the plot to a James Bond flick. New complaints added to a federal lawsuit in St. Louis suggest that a Finnish businessman with alleged ties to organized crime in Europe and the Middle East is attempting to gain control of ... More >>

Devin Johnston Talks About Short Poems, Mongolia and Bird-Watching

image viaDevin Johnston.​Devin Johnston is a professor of English at Saint Louis University. He's also a poet whose fourth book, Traveler, is out this month. Johnson will be reading from it at Left Bank Books at 7 p.m. tomorrow, September 27. Johnston's poems are short, but that doesn't mean ... More >>

The Year Punk Broke Finally Gets Reissued: Where The Featured Bands Are Today

​About twenty years ago, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore asked his friend, filmmaker Dave Markey, to document the band's short European tour, including its performance at the massive Reading Festival. Markey (best known for his underground classic Desperate Teenage Lovedolls) left with his passp ... More >>

RIP Poet and Songwriter Fran Landesman, 1927-2011: "Life is a Bitch"

image viaFran Landesman in 1996.​Fran Landesman, a poet and songwriter who, along with her husband Jay and brother-in-law Fred, ran the Crystal Palace nightclub in Gaslight Square in the late 1950s, died last Saturday, July 23, in London. She was 83. Her website proclaims her "the poet laurea ... More >>

McDonald's Makes Big American Burgers in Israel, Inaccurate British Burgers in America

Remember last month when we looked at the totally wrong versions of American regional flavors McDonald's foisted on the U.K.? Well, they're at it again, this time in Israel and right here in our American back yards! Yesterday McDonald's announced that it's introducing two new American-themed bur ... More >>

Ten Biggest Musician Death Conspiracies

wikimedia commons​There's always been a sense of glamour in the blur of all that is sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and it doesn't end when the music's done, or even when the rock stars die. Instead, an eerie feeling of mystery and unfinished business surfaces when the demise of a music icon is ... More >>

MOBot Part of International Plot to Digitize Darwin's Library

image via​How do you come up with a scientific theory that will totally rock the world and continue to be debated 150 years later? If you were Charles Darwin, you'd take a long boat ride to the Galápagos Islands and spend lots of time examining the beaks of the local finches, a process he des ... More >>

Real to Reel: See The Importance of Being Earnest onstage, onscreen

Run, Witches, Run!

Wedding Bands Answer the Five Essential Questions About Playing the Royal Wedding

Photos courtesy of the artists​Kate Middleton and Prince William are getting married in a matter of hours (have you heard about this at all?). You can watch the Royal Wedding via webcam, but let's be honest: Weddings are boring when you're actually there. So we'll take a pass on grainy video f ... More >>

Arcade Fire and the National at the Scottrade Center, 4/21/11: Review

Todd Owyoung​Arcade Fire/The National Scottrade Center Thursday, April 21 "We're still getting used to this arena-rock thing," Win Butler said last night. "But shit, a room's a room. Let's go!" With that, he and the indie rock juggernaut he fronts launched into "No Cars Go," seven of its eigh ... More >>

Frank Buckles: Last U.S. Veteran of World War I (and a Missouri Native) Buried Yesterday

Buckles' 1917 Army photo taken when he was 16.​A man born in 1901 in the small northwestern Missouri town of Bethany was laid to rest yesterday in Arlington Cemetery with full military honors. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden attended the services. Frank Buckles was widely consi ... More >>

Last Collector Standing: Les Aaron of the Point's New Music Sunday on T. Rex and His DJ History

The number of chain record stores nationwide has dwindled. However, St. Louis has become an unlikely safe haven for indie record shops as well as for DJs who prefer to spin the black circle instead of scrolling their iPods. In this weekly column, we'll focus on personal portraits of St. Louis' recor ... More >>

The story of C.S. Lewis' fling with a younger woman fails to achieve lift-off

From party girl to Oscar winner, Sofia Coppola's journey to Somewhere

Ask a Mexican: Missing Mexico: Is moving back to the motherland the best way to reconnect with your roots?

Electronic-music icon Gary Numan talks performing his landmark album, The Pleasure Principle

Interview: The Fleshtones' Keith Streng on New York, the Ramones, Lenny Kaye and Rock & Roll

Anne Streng​ According to some garage rock geeks, the Fleshtones is the greatest rock & roll band in the world. For once, the geeks may have a point. At the very least, the New York group, formed in 1976 by high school friends Keith Streng and Peter Zaremba, has come to symbolize what still ma ... More >>

Franzen Frenzy: Why Couldn't This Have Happened Here?

Catastrophe befell Jonathan Franzen this afternoon at the launch party for Freedom (aka The Greatest Novel Of Our Time) in London: ​ ​ The thief escaped by jumping into the Serpentine in Hyde Park (where, incidentally, Percy Shelley's first wife drowned herself). He or she left a ransom ... More >>

Interview: Bryce Dessner of the National on High Violet and Talented Pals

Keith KlenowskiThe National. Bryce Dessner is on the far right.​Tonight, the National returns to St. Louis for the first time since a (very-sold-out) show at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room in June 2007. Owen Pallett - who we interviewed yesterday - is opening. The National is touring behind High V ... More >>

Clandestine Air-Quality Test Upsets Bar Owner, Smoking Ban Opponents

That mysterious British agent with a drink in his hand? It's not 007.​For anyone puzzled by the silver-haired gentleman with the English accent observed acting suspiciously at Double D's Lounge on Saturday night, here's an explanation:   His name is Martin Pion and he was there collectin ... More >>

Oliver Stone's sequel lets the bad guys off easy in Money Never Sleeps

Polk, It Is Your Destiny

Welsh, Welsh, Welsh

Llywelyn's expands the empire