Metal and Hardcore

Metal: Meet the 2013 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2013 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is a week and a half away! Think of it as St. Louis music's own official holiday and consider this the season. Throughout May we at RFT Music have been working hard to make our cases for all 130 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year in ... More >>

Last Shot: Helmet Doesn't Let My Dedication Go Unsung

[Editor's Note: Long-time concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out two years ago that he had stage IV colon cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events, on top of other freelance work and working a day job at a hospital, of all places. As he continues to fight for his l ... More >>

Sign Up to Save Beavis & Butthead, Then Watch the Duo's Five Best Music Video Critiques

This month marks twenty wonderful years since MTV aired the first episode of Beavis and Butthead. Mike Judge's hilarious cult phenomenon originally ran from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997, before being retired so that Judge could focus on Fox's animated series King of the Hill. When that show ca ... More >>

The Best Concerts in St. Louis This Week: February 18 to 24

Here at RFT Music, so many shows come across our desks on a regular basis in the form of announcements, previews and reviews that things can get pretty darn redundant. So when we come across fun coincidences, like the photo of Man Man sporting some homemade D.R.I. swag above, we're a little too easi ... More >>

The Six Best Sloppy Drummers

Of all rock and roll instruments, drums require the most physical ability and coordination. Sometimes musicians get so preoccupied with the technical aspect, they forgot that drums are also these loud things that sound cool when you hit them. Here are the six best sloppy drummers. Let us know your f ... More >>

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Jukebox The Ghost, Lindsey Stirling and More in This Week's New Show Announcements

Here again: every newly announced show for the week! On page one you'll find a quick list of shows that particularly caught our attention, followed by embedded YouTube videos; there, you can check out some of the artists you may not be familiar with. Page two contains our complete listing of new sho ... More >>

The Six Sweetest Riffs Of 2012

It's the most wonderful time of the year: list season. Before we open up all our presents from the past 12 months, let us gather around the fireplace and reminisce on the gifts from the guitar gods. Here are the six sweetest riffs of 2012. Let us know your favorites in the comments below. See also: ... More >>

Propagandhi Resuscitates Punk at the Firebird: Review

Propagandhi The Firebird November 4, 2012 Before it became a simple formula, punk was a term used to describe bands whose urgent and passionate sound didn't conform to any typical rock n' roll standards; punk bands had actual unique identities. How do you easily summarize the differences between ba ... More >>

YOB

8 p.m. Thursday, September 13. Fubar, 3108 Locust Street.

Kiss and Mötley Crüe at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre: Review and Photos

When you open for Kiss you have to put on a hell of a show, and Mötley Crüe delivered. From the displays camaraderie to the set list full of hair metal hits, Crüe brings brotherhood onstage and encourages it amongst the audience. With four-way fist bumps and sly "we got this" smiles, Crüe really ... More >>

The Lamb of God and Dethklok Tour Has Been Canceled

Dethklok and Lamb of God, with support from Gojira, were supposed to make a stop at the Family Arena on August 15. It's a bill we've been excited about since it was first announced and was probably the marquee metal show of the summer. Unfortunately, the entire tour has just been cancelled because L ... More >>

Alice Cooper with Tentacles and Shooting Out Sparks at the Pageant: Photos

Alice Cooper (golf enthusiast) may not be catching anyone off guard with his horror rock musical act any more, but he can still put on a hell of a show. Over the weekend, the man who ate his band by taking its moniker for his solo project made a stop in St. Louis. He brought with him a demon pulpit, ... More >>

The Melvins at the Firebird, 5/3/12: Review, Photos, Setlist

The Melvins w/ UnsaneThe Firebird May 3, 2012 The Melvins beckons a special brand of music worship. The band pushes otherwise psychedelic sounds through sludgy down-trodden songs that confuse rock with metal. This April 2012 tour kicks off a prolific year for the group, and promotes its new EP, Th ... More >>

Ten Music Game DLC Releases That Stirred Up Controversy

It's not hyperbole to say that downloadable content sparked a huge revolution in console video gaming. Expansions prolonged replay value of many titles, especially music games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero. The Rock Band franchise in particular has produced an impressive amount of downloadable ... More >>

Rock Band Delivers its Most Requested Song Ever: "Never Gonna Give You Up"! No, Seriously.

Any DJ, cover band or organ grinder can attest to how touchy people can get when a requested song isn't played. The blowback can be even more harsh when the musical entity in question is Harmonix, the creator of the Rock Band video game franchise. Even though music gaming experienced some discerni ... More >>

If the World Ends in 2012, We Want to Ride to Hell with This Guy

Todd Owyoung went to Pop's Nightclub (401 Monsanto Avenue, 618-274-6720) last night to let out some agression with the rest of the crowd for Machine Head. And we're not kidding -- if this is it and the world's not long for this universe (what's that you say about Mayan misinterpretation?) we will gl ... More >>

Seven St. Louis Bands to Watch in 2012: What Are Your Picks?

Ed. In this week's print edition, we talk a bit about seven bands we're think will be worth watching in 2012. They're listed here -- please let us know what you're excited about in the comments below. Karate Bikini Though Karate Bikini has been in existence in some fashion for a few years, it has ... More >>

Seven St. Louis bands to watch in 2012

The Six Sweetest Riffs of 2011

​There's no precise way to define a sweet guitar riff, much less a criteria for such categorization. A sweet riff is, like love or God or truly excellent barbecue, something only realized upon experience. This, the second year of the second decade of the twenty first decade of the modern calen ... More >>

The Justin Bieber Fan Vicious Murder Fund: Donate At A Gwar Show Today!

Photo by Jon Gitchoff​They're definitely still cleaning the fake blood off of everything at Pop's after last night's GWAR show. But amidst all the surprisingly realistic zombie corpses and cartoon medieval weaponry, our photographer noticed a relatively innocuous (visually, anyway) sign at the ... More >>

The Six Creepiest Children In Songs

Happy Halloween! Let's celebrate with a list of the six best cameos from creepy children in song. 6. Michael Jackson - "Little Susie" The inclusion of Michael Jackson on this list has nothing to do with any accusations of inappropriate behavior with children, of which I will always give the man th ... More >>

Volcanoes Heavy Hands: Listen To Standout "...And Then We Destroyed Each Other"

​Volcanoes released its debut full-length last week at Apop records. We talked to the duo before that show -- read the interview here. Christian Schaeffer reviewed the record in this week's Homespun. In it, he says, "Across eleven tracks and nearly 40 minutes, the band tries on mutated cheerle ... More >>

Owner Scott Carey Discusses New Sump Coffee

Ian FroebSump Coffee in south city​I noted last week that a new coffeehouse called Sump Coffee will be opening at 3700 South Jefferson Avenue in south city. Today, I had a chance to speak with owner Scott Carey, who returned to his hometown of St. Louis last year after spending time in both Berkel ... More >>

Nine Albums Overshadowed by Nevermind

​Tomorrow, Nirvana's Nevermind turns twenty years old, leaving Gen Xers questioning where their lives have gone, just as they questioned where their lives were going to the strains of Smells Like Teen Spirit. While Nevermind marked a victory for the underground in a stellar year of albums, th ... More >>

Motley Crue Ticket Giveaway: with Poison and the New York Dolls

wikimedia commons​Mötley Crüe's summer tour is under way; the St. Louis date is Wednesday at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. A couple very important notes about this show: 1. Poison and the New York Dolls are opening 2. The setlist is fan determined 3. Tommy Lee is playing drums ON A F ... More >>

Rural Alberta Advantage

9 p.m. Friday, April 22. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Danzig 2011 Tour Coming to St. Louis

Well, technically, Danzig's 2011 tour is bringing it to Sauget, Illinois -- yes, our favorite kitty litter-carrier/Henry Rollins lover/bookworm is coming to Pop's on Wednesday, May 25. DevilDriver and 2Cents are opening. Tickets are $25 in advance, $27 day of show and are on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. ... More >>

Foo Fighters are Going to Hell in a Custom Limo -- and Lemmy's Driving

​Motorhead is playing at Pop's this Sunday, February 20. We'll have an interesting feature -- an interview with the codirectors/producers of a new Lemmy documentary -- in this week's paper, so stay tuned. Lemmy is popping up everywhere these days, it seems. Just yesterday, Foo Fighters posted ... More >>

Show Review Photos Setlist: Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie Conjure an Early Halloween at the Family Arena, Thursday, October 7

Todd OwyoungAlice Cooper at the Family Arena.​As might be expected, the Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie "Gruesome Twosome" double bill at the Family Arena was a somewhat surreal experience. Between the fans aping Cooper's look, those dressed to the goth nines and the setting - a faceless concrete aren ... More >>

Interview Outtakes: Chris Shiflett on His Guitar Heroes, Being a Dad and the Status of Foo Fighters

Jack Butler​ Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants -- the rootsier side project of the Foo Fighters guitarist -- will be at the Old Rock House tonight. The show's at 8 p.m. and tickets are $8. We chatted with Shiflett in this week's paper. Read on below for some outtakes in which he discusses h ... More >>

Weekend Photos: Nelly Celebrates Ten Years of Country Grammar, The COOL Tour featuring Underoath, As I Lay Dying, More

Summer in St. Louis continues to roll on: Last Friday, Nelly celebrated the tenth anniversary of the release of Country Grammar with a bash at HOME Nightclub. Egan O'Keefe surveyed the scene and brought back a slideshow of photos. View a sampling below:Egan O'KeefeNellyville!​ View more phot ... More >>

Vans Warped Tour

7 p.m. Monday, July 5. Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 14141 Riverport Drive, Maryland Heights.

Show Review: Fishbone Brings its Unstoppable Punk-Funk Circus to the City Museum, Thursday, June 3

Last night's Fishbone concert at the City Museum was a reminder that there hasn't been a band quite like the California septet before or since. Certainly the band has some pretty obvious forebears; Sly Stone's multicultural rock & roll, Toots & the Maytals' slinky ska, and Funkadelic's paranoid groo ... More >>

Tonight In Ear-Bleeding: Slang, Mind Eraser, Migraine and Ecoli at Fubar

If you're looking for ear-splitting hardcore tonight, look no further than Fubar (3108 Locust Street) in Midtown when bands from California, Boston and Japan take the stage floor on the lounge side of the venue. Mind Eraser, which has played St. Louis three times in the past (all in basements, her ... More >>

Rush Documentary Screening at Ronnies in June

If Rush's August show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater won't have enough air-drumming dudes and epic prog breakdowns for you, fear not: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, a documentary on the band directed by the men behind Iron Maiden: Flight 666, is screening in St. Louis on June 10. Says a press ... More >>

Black Metal Documentary Until the Light Takes Us Showing at Webster This Weekend

Until the Light Takes Us shows this weekend at Webster University.​The new documentary about black metal -- that satanic, unholy combination of thrash guitars, blast beats and guttural vocals -- is made by posers. That's the assumption one might have going into a viewing if Until the Light Ta ... More >>

Conquest Doubles Their Evil on Video, Opens for Anvil

Yesterday, a video of local thrash-metal legends Conquest surfaced on YouTube. The clip features the band performing "Evil Times Two" (in Forest Park, perhaps?), as seen on the now-defunct local music program Midcoast Mania. The special effects -- flames! haunted houses! more fire! -- fit the song, ... More >>

In The December 10 Music Section of the Riverfront Times, Read About...

*Christian Schaeffer reviews ten of the year's holiday albums. Ho ho ho. We'll have more releases featured on the blog very soon... *On the B-Sides tip, D.X. Ferris spoke with Ben Weinman of the Dillinger Escape Plan, who will be playing with Thursday at Pop's on Saturday. Ferris also chatted with ... More >>

Plan On It: The Dillinger Escape Plan gives B-Sides a sneak peek of its forthcoming album

Show Review Photos Setlists: Brand New and Manchester Orchestra at the Pageant, October 6, 2009

Brand New means business during its shows. The goal of its live experience is to exorcise demons, to provoke thought and, above all, produce catharsis. Looking for a night of frivolous entertainment? Go see another show instead. These Long Islanders are kicking out the post-hardcore, post-grunge, po ... More >>

Win! 25th Anniversary Twisted Sister Stuff!

Hard to believe it's been twenty-five years since Twisted Sister asserted is independence with the LP Stay Hungry and the tune "We're Not Gonna Take It." But yes, a quarter-century passed since mainstream America became aware of Dee Snider and the rest of his glam-metal compatriots. (Fun fact: Metal ... More >>

Pontiak

9 p.m. Friday, December 19. The Wedge, 442 Bates Avenue.

Sleep State

8 p.m. Saturday, February 9. Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue.

Hot Summer Music

Your guide to St. Louis music — from now till Labor Day.

Throttlerod / Mess with the Bull

9 p.m. Tuesday, May 22. Way Out Club (2525 South Jefferson Avenue).

Encore Performance

Don't fret. Guitar Hero II kills the opening act.

Re-Creation of the Wicked

Celtic Frost, back and as metal as ever.

The Masked Man Plays Again!

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

Christian rock combines the Lord's message with the devil's beat. Sometimes the result is exhilaration. Sometimes it's god-awful confusion.

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