The Bottle Rockets, Goblin and Chance the Rapper all headline gigs to kick off December in style. Besides that, catch shows including Pat Martino Trio at Jazz at the Bistro and Midlake at the Old Rock House. Read on for a selection of shows in St. Louis this week.
Soulard Blues Band Monday, December 2, 9 p.m. @ Broadway Oyster Bar - $6 By RFT Staff The Soulard Blues Band has gigged around town for more than twenty-five years. Most notably, its weekly residency at Broadway Oyster Bar perfectly accompanies the Southern-themed vibe complete with booze and Cajun food. Bassist and sole remaining founder Art Dwyer, a blues aficionado on local community radio station KDHX, holds down the band with his casual plucked lines. The rest of the rhythm section follows suit, allowing room for solos to float between rounds of drinks and a comfortable swing.
Goblin Tuesday, December 3, 8 p.m. @ 2720 Cherokee - $25-$65 By Kenny Snarzyk From "Goblin Attack: Italian Prog-Rock kings of the horror movie soundtrack Goblin finally hit the USA": A progressive-rock outfit best known for its synthesizer-heavy soundtracks to horror movies Dawn of the Dead, Profondo rosso and Suspiria, the Italian group announced this summer that it would be doing its first-ever American tour, featuring founding members Maurizio Guarini and Massimo Morante.... Goblin produced soundtracks for a vast number of '70s and '80s Italian slashers, finding for itself a comfortable niche even as it endured constant, tumultuous lineup changes.
Midlake Wednesday, December 4, 8 p.m. @ Old Rock House - $13-$15 By Roy Kasten From this 2010 show review: The weather was Midlakian, if ever weather was. Mist and cloud vapors, a drizzle that came and went, all left the streets around the Old Rock House shining....The septet's hour and a half long set proved that esoteric, '70s British folk rock, played by a motley band of young jazz dudes, can be as bracing and thrilling as any sound in semi-popular music. Timeless is the word that comes to mind when immersing oneself in Midlake, but only if time begins in 1647 and ends in 1974.
Pat Martino Trio Thursday, December 5, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. @ Jazz at the Bistro - $15-$33 By Ryan Wasoba From this 2010 preview: In one of the most inspirational and bizarre tales in music history, Pat Martino experienced severe amnesia after undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm in the early '80s. With no recollection of his career, the jazz guitarist could have viewed his blank slate as an opportunity for a personal renaissance. Instead, he retaught himself his craft by transcribing and analyzing his own recordings. In the 30 years since, countless other musicians have educated themselves by the same method, delving into Martino's skewed harmonic phrasing like it's the Gospel of Pat. The respect is justified: Martino is one of few jazz guitarists to transcend the instrument's inherent clunkiness and rise to a level of fluidity usually known only to trumpet players and saxophonists, all the while staying comfortably inside -- and pushing -- the boundaries of hard bop.
