VIA ARTIST BANDCAMP
The Vigilettes announced on Facebook this week that their show on Saturday at Heavy Anchor will be the band's last.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10
Music and Performances by the Texas Room
7 p.m. Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Boulevard. Free. 314-754-1850.
In 2014, St. Louis producer Louis Wall founded the Texas Room as a recording resource for immigrant and refugee musicians who have relocated to the U.S. Less than two years later, Wall and company celebrated the release of Texas Room’s first major project: Non-Fiction, a collaborative album featuring 50-plus musicians with origins across five continents. Now the group is presenting a live performance of an audio exhibit that has accompanied Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma, an installation available in the Pulitzer galleries April 6 through August 11. Consider this event a closing reception of sorts, as musicians from across the world engage in a night of storytelling in their respective native languages.
Reaches w/ Ex Salis, JoAnn McNeil, Zak M
7 p.m. Beatnik Bob’s. 750 North Sixteenth Street. Free. 314-231-2489.
Reaches’ altered state of synth pop has been eroded by time. The body of work from the now New York-based Justin Randel can be traced back to the mid-aughts, when he performed psychedelic psalms under the name I Love You. And if that name seems familiar, it’s because Randel came through St. Louis on a regular basis when touring from his former hometown of Kansas City. His nomadic nature has brought asymmetrical dance songs across fourteen countries, and now he brings those askew beats back to the river city. Beatnik Bob’s is located inside the City Museum, so while the admission to this show is technically free, you’ll still have to pay for general admission to the building.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11
Byron Fest: A Benefit for the Lymphoma Society
7 p.m. The Heavy Anchor, 5226 Gravois Avenue. $10. 314-352-5226.
Every band on this bill has played its fair share of benefit shows, but few hit home like this one. CaveofswordS, Buttercup, Mammoth Piano, the Vigilettes and Pat Sajak Assassins perform a wide range of rock and pop in honor of the late Byron Jefferson, a longtime staple of the St. Louis music scene who passed away in July 2017 after a battle with lymphoma. Chris Ward brings levity to the stage as an irreverent emcee, reprising the comic wit that can be heard every Monday on loudQUIETloud, his show on 88.1 KDHX. Simply put, expect some of the best that St. Louis has to offer.
Discent Trio w/ Fragile Farm, Janet, Alex Cunningham
9 p.m. Flood Plain, 3151 Cherokee Street. $5 to $7.
Last time Chicago musician Bill Tucker came to town, he led a kinetic set of sinewy free-jazz with local drummer Alberto Patino. Tonight that duo expands with the help of bassist Alex Auby. They call themselves Discent Trio, a name that, according to Tucker, is the “third-person plural future active indicative of disco — hard ‘c.’” Sure, OK. Of special note on this show is local opener Fragile Farm, the solo endeavor of Glued guitarist Sean Ballard, who commands odd pop hymns with vocal leads that are both poignant and verbally pungent.
No Thanks w/ Ra Child, Body Leash
9 p.m. RKDE, 2847 Cherokee Street. $7. 314-669-9240.
The music that No Thanks makes is dark, and we’re not talking about metal where the heft is brought by how heavy and loud the band plays its songs. With this Omaha crew, the music has an implied weight where the gloomy riffs, played no louder than any other punk band, bring that sinking feeling all on their own. Most songs clock in right around two minutes, but that’s more than enough time for No Thanks to inject lead into its verbose brand of post-punk.
