Poison (Band)

Your Guide to the Bands of RFT's Music Showcase

Cover: Meet the 2013 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2013 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is this weekend! 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 26 categor ... More >>

The Top Ten Douchiest Guitar Players of All Time

By Nate Jackson Hey, we can all appreciate a quality guitar god. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of music knows the joy of watching their favorite axe man/woman go on a tear and destroy the crowd with their fast-fingered prowess, signature style and lush mane of flowing hair. It's the textboo ... More >>

You've Been Had: The Bar Is Using Karaoke to Get to Your Wallet

Karaoke can be a dangerous endeavor. What can you sing that won't make friends shun you? How can you go balls-out during your next performance? Each week in "Ask a Karaoke Host," RFT Music writer and professional karaoke host Allison Babka answers your burning questions about maximizing your melodio ... More >>

Here's Tom Cruise as a hair-metal god and hair metal as un-awful in Rock of Ages

Snoop Dogg, Unknown Hinson, El Monstero 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 with which you can check out some of the artists you may not be familiar with. Page two contains our complete listing of new ... More >>

Love is a Mixtape

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 >>

Don Perry and Bonnie Spinola on the Thrill of the Hunt

Jon Scorfina​ Often, the most sincere record collectors have no professional associations with the music industry. Their collections stem from nothing but a love of music. We met this week's Last Collector Standing through Anna Zachritz of Euclid Records, who suggested two of the store's most ... More >>

Last Collector Standing: Kate Eddens on Working at Thrill Jockey and Vintage Vinyl, and Her Musical Education (and Evolution)

Jon Scorfina​As major record labels have struggled to adjust to the new digital landscape, independent labels have thrived by sticking to the tried and true demand for vinyl. We caught up with Kate Eddens, a former employee of both Thrill Jockey records and Vintage Vinyl, at her south city hom ... More >>

The Motley Crue, Poison and, Yes, New York Dolls Tour Apparently Coming to St. Louis

​Late last night, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and David Johansen jointly announced that Motley Crue, Poison and the New York Dolls are launching a 2011 summer tour. (Video of this below.) This trek is reportedly stopping at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights on June 22, according ... More >>

Review: Ozzy Osbourne at the Scottrade Center, Friday, January 14

Todd OwyoungOzzy Osbourne last night at the Scottrade Center​"The crazier you fuckers go, the longer we will play," Ozzy Osbourne crowed to the audience at the start of last night's Scottrade Center show. While a statement like that is always tinged with hyperbole, there was an element of trut ... More >>

Interview: Sleigh Bells' Derek Miller talks New Record, M.I.A. and Escaping the Hardcore Scene

Derek Miller and Aleix Krauss of Sleigh Bells. The duo plays tonight at the Firebird, but if you don't have tickets, don't bother; the show has been sold out for weeks. ​ What's it like being one of the most buzzed bands in recent memory? 2010 has been a watershed year for Sleigh Bells, the p ... More >>

Sleigh Bells

9 p.m. Thursday, October 28. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Flamingo Bowl's Katie Gwaltney: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Alissa Nelson profiles Flamingo Bowl bartender Katie Gwaltney. Below is a Q&A with Gwaltney, followed by a video of her mixing a Spiced Chocolate Martini. Alissa NelsonHow do you like y ... More >>

New Album Release Highlights: Tuesday, July 6

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Big Boi's highly anticipated new album, Sir Lucious Left Foot​*Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty Big Boi's debut solo album has been ye ... More >>

Last Collector Standing: Jimmy Winkeler of the Conformists on Recording New Tunes with Steve Albini, Vinyl Fidelity and His Crush on Louise Post

(The number of chain-record stores nationwide has dwindled. However, St. Louis has become an unlikely safe haven for indie record shops -- and 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' record a ... More >>

Review Photos Setlist: Bret Michaels Defeats Death, Brings '80s Glam Metal to Rib America

Jon GitchoffBret Michaels at Rib America Festival, May 29, 2010. See an entire slideshow here.​Mortality and rock & roll usually don't mix. The whole point of rock music, especially at the retro-heavy Rib America Festival at Soldiers' Memorial this weekend, is to be forever young. But there wa ... More >>

Rib America Festival

5 p.m. Friday, noon Saturday and Sunday and 12:15 p.m. Monday, May 28-31. Soldiers Memorial, 1315 Chestnut Street.

Bret Michaels Is Still Apparently a Go for the Rib America Festival

​Bret Michaels -- who had a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage on April 21, nine days after he had to have an emergency appendectomy -- is still scheduled to play the 2010 Rib America Festival on May 29 in downtown St. Louis, a representative confirmed to A to Z yesterday. This echoes a People maga ... More >>

Top Five Music Festival-Inspired Flavors for Ben & Jerry's Consideration.

Every spring, when the music festivals are unveiling their line-ups, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream also reveals their new flavors. This year, the two have collided with Ben & Jerry's Bonnaroo BUZZ. Ian McCulloch: You know what would go great with that wine? Ice cream.​ The company's website descri ... More >>

Blago to Compete on Next Celebrity Apprentice

It's been years since "You're fired!", accompanied by a cobra-like flick of Donald Trump's right hand, became a national catchphrase, so long, in fact, that Trump has resorted to casting celebrities instead of regular old celebrity-whores on his reality show The Apprentice.But now we may have a reas ... More >>

Show Review Photos Setlists: Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Monday, July 20

Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick played at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater last night for an appreciative, packed house. The show was overall satisfactory and fun -- although the sheer amount of Rock on a Monday night left me a little tired. So here are my random highlights/lowlights and truism ... More >>

Nothin' but a Good Time

Party and then party some more

Poison

7 p.m. Thursday, August 2. Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 14141 Riverport Drive, Maryland Heights.

Hot Summer Music

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

Unreal spends time with lovely Swedish...bridge players.

Then, one reader takes the St. Louis Public Library to task, while another brings home a tasty bowl of spicy bull penis.

The Good, the Bad & the Queen

The Good, the Bad & the Queen (Virgin)

Syl the One

Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls talks up the glam pioneers' history and fantastic new record.

Bullet for My Valentine

7 p.m. Friday, August 18. Creepy Crawl (3524 Washington Boulevard).

Buckcherry

Thursday, Dec. 9; Mississippi Nights

QUICKIES

Beware of mysterious new bands bearing gifts; apologies to Devon Allman and the members of the Jerry Mathers

Agnostic Front

Friday, Oct. 22; Galaxy

KIDS SING THE DARNEDEST THINGS!

Young songwriters pour out their psyches on local masterpiece Kids Alive!

QUICKIES

Rocket Park celebrates the release of a new CD, as do Linda Gaal and the Six Senses

Music

Sun Dance

Sound advice on the summer's hottest concerts