Photo by Alize Tran
Gary Clark Jr. will perform at the Pageant on Sunday.
Voivod! Gary Clark Jr.! FemFest! Lobby Boxer's album release!
Do you know how hard it is to write amusing intro paragraphs for these show-pick posts twice a week, every week? You do not! You probably don't even read them, just skimming over to get to the shows. Boogers!
OUR FULL PICKS FOR THE WEEKEND ARE BELOW:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
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Never Shout Never w/ Metro Station 8 p.m., $20. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-3929. |
Alternative indie pop-rock band Never Shout Never (a.k.a. songwriter Christofer Drew and his fellow bandmates) has released more than 100 songs in the relatively short time that it has been a band. Last year, Drew delved into his back catalog and picked out a few fan favorites to re-record for Recycled Youth. A "re-imagining of nine previously released songs but recorded with entirely new styles and instrumentation to make them unique once again,” the album was the first installment of what Drew, whose wispy, high-pitched voice can silence a noisy crowd of punk rockers, has said will be a regular series. “We’ve been playing the music for so long, and we wanted to do something that was different and fun and kinda quirky,” Drew says. “We wanted to get back to our roots a little bit and get back to the folky vibe. We just have so many old songs, and we love them all and we still play them live.”
| Mvstermind w/ Najii Person, J'demul, Dj Nico 10 p.m., $5-$7. The Demo, 4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532. |
From the RFT Music archives: This is Muhammad Austin's time. Working for years in St. Louis' hip-hop scene as the solo artist Mvstermind Einstein and as part of his collective MME Austin has been on fire and is finally earning recognition and opportunities from outside of the Gateway City. Opening for rappers like Ab-Soul and playing major festivals in New York and Atlanta, Austin has been showcasing his smooth grooves and poignant lyrics that demonstrate his promise as an inventive, commercially viable artist. But his heart will never leave St. Louis — the man puts out quality videos and songs by the dozen, and his lyrical commentary on Ferguson has been eye-opening for many.
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Celebration Day: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin 8 p.m.; Feb. 27, 8 p.m., $22.50-$27. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. |
From the RFT Music archives: St. Louis is a town with an unwavering dedication to classic rock; if the phrase "KSHE Classic" means anything to you, you know what we mean. So it's no surprise that tribute bands dedicated to re-creating the work of rock & roll behemoths have become big business in town. El Monstero's annual Pink Floyd spectacular regularly sells out multiple nights at the Pageant, but Celebration Day's tribute to Led Zeppelin is proving to be big business as well. With a crew of local scene vets (including three El Monstero players), Celebration Day goes deep with the mystical, muscular hard rock that Led Zep perfected. And since Robert Plant has his heart set on genteel Americana these days, this is as close as we're gonna get to true Zep enlightenment.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27
4 Hands 4 Bands Chili Cook-off w/ Dibiase, Brother Lee & the Leather Jackals, The Ol' One Two, Hope and Therapy
| 8 p.m., $4. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. |
A scant $4 for four bands' worth of live music and all the chili you can handle? Plus beer? This one is an obvious no-brainer. PRO TIP: Proper public farting etiquette calls for the use of the "cropduster" technique in a situation such as this, so as to both deflect blame and dilute the overall unpleasantness of your ass. Hey, call it crude if you want; I'm just trying to help you out here.
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FemFest 2 8 p.m., $10. Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee St., St. Louis. |
Brought to you by the organizers of S.L.U.M. Fest is FemFest, a celebration of the deep well of female hip-hop talent from St. Louis and beyond. Sixteen MCs including Bates, TruthDoIt, Donesty, Mz. Tigga, Phenom Ionos, Cedes, Da Goddess, Yung Skitz, Rinaa Phoenix, Poetiq, Luh Shonda, G.A. Barz, Ai'scei Gold'n Babei, Draya, Redd Ali will perform, proving that rap is far from a man's world.
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Lobby Boxer Album Release Show w/ Early Worm, Bike Path, Daybringer 8 p.m., $5. The Demo, 4191 Manchester Ave, St. Louis, 314-833-5532. |
If you ask the young men in the peppy, dexterous emo trio Lobby Boxer to list their influences, you get a mish-mash of styles and bands that wouldn’t seem to sit easily together. In conversation, Zach Fendelman (guitar, lead vocals), Andrew Gurney (bass) and Max Sandza (drums) toss out nouns such as Sunny Day Real Estate, death-core, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Whitesnake. There might not be a clear line connecting those musical dots, but the band makes a compelling Venn diagram. Emo demands soul-baring histrionics; hair-metal may be emo’s machismo-soaked evil twin, but Lobby Boxer borrows liberally from that genre’s gear-locker of dramatic vocals and high-necked guitar solos. On Big Bucks, the band’s new album, the commonality is a lack of restraint, in both the band’s kitchen-sink approach and in the emotional weight of its performance.
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Phi w/ Marquise Knox, Big George Brock 7 p.m., free. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave, St. Louis, 314-345-9481. |
Excited for the impending grand opening of the National Blues Museum here in St. Louis? Soon you will be able to walk through the doors of blues history — on April 2, in fact — but in the meantime, those who just can't wait should be sure to head to the National Blues Museum Showcase at Ballpark Village. Admission is free, the talent is top-notch and you'll find yourself surrounded by like-minded blues fans. April can't come quickly enough.
Steve Aoki w/ Basscrooks, DJ Jwin, DJ SlantE
9 p.m., $25. Ameristar Casino, 1 Ameristar Blvd., St. Charles, 636-949-7777.
By Liz Ohanesian
From the RFT Music archives: Steve Aoki is no stranger to big productions. Back in 2009, when he landed his second Coachella gig, he wanted more than the standard DJ booth. He bought rafts and Supersoakers and hit up thrift stores to get brightly colored fabric that he and his pals could turn into cloaks. Then he commissioned an artist to make large boxes that lit up. "I spent more money than my guarantee," Aoki recalls. But the expense worked out for the DJ. Photos of him riding a raft above the crowd made it into press coverage of the event and spread online. Kanye West mentioned the raft to Aoki. It's fair to say that this event helped catapult Aoki into the upper echelons of EDM superstardom.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28
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Gary Clark Jr. 8 p.m., $33.50-$38.50. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, 314-726-6161. |
Guitar wizard Gary Clark Jr. has been kicking around the Austin scene ever since he picked up the instrument at the age of twelve, impressing the owner of Antone's music club — the same place that helped launch the careers of Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan — as a teenager. Since then Clark has seen a meteoric rise filled with critical acclaim and unlikely collaborations (everyone from Sheryl Crow to Alicia Keys to the Foo Fighters), all while staying, at his core, focused on the blues.
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Voivod w/ Vektor, Eight Bells, Black Fast 8 p.m., $22-$25. The Firebird, 2706 Olive St., St. Louis, 314-535-0353. |
For more than 30 years, Canada's Voivod has been pushing the limits of metal to strange and increasingly interesting places. Founded as a speed-metal act in 1982, the band has come to incorporate elements of thrash and progressive metal in the decades since, forming a blistering brew that is pleasing to head-bangers and music scholars alike. Along for the ride on this tour is Tempe, Arizona's Vektor, which honestly couldn't be a better fit. Formed in 2003 as part of the New Wave of Thrash Metal, Vektor combines light-speed riffs and impressive technicality with unconventional arrangements in a manner that would make its Canadian granddad band proud — there's no doubt that the former was a big influence on the latter. Rounding out the bill is Portland experimental rock act Eight Bells and local metal masters Black Fast, assuring a ripper of a show from start to finish.
