Billy Bob Thornton at Vintage Vinyl, 8/7/08
Billy Bob Thornton and his band, The Boxmasters, played two songs, drank a few PBR's and hung out with fans on Thursday night during an in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl, all after drinking beer at the St. Louis Cardinals game earlier in the day.
By Nick Lucchesi
The Boxmasters performing "That Mountain." Thornton sings vocals for the group and appeared very comfortable with the crowd, wearing Local 359 Pipefitters (Charleston, South Carolina) shirt, white flared jeans and cowboy boots.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Fans filed in past the modern rock section to hear the sounds of the Boxmasters, a band that harkens to the sound of the 1960s.
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By Nick Maxey
During the performance, at least one fan yelled out the name of Halle Berry and held a PBR high in the air. Here, he holds up a lighter. The two stars appeared in a steamy sex scene in Monster's Ball together.
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By Nick Lucchesi
By 5 p.m., about 60 fans and filed in to Vintage Vinyl.
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By Nick Lucchesi
A Billy Bob fan. With this shirt for for the Billy Bob Thornton-Sean William Scott comedy, Mr. Woodcock.
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By Nick Lucchesi
"We just spent all day at the ballgame so we might be a little loose on stage!" No worries, Billy.
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By Nick Lucchesi
The Boxmasters performing "Build Your Own Prison." After the song, Thornton commented, "that's how you know you're in St. Louis, a beautiful girl just handed me a PBR." He sang the rest of the set with an aluminum Bud Light bottle in one hand and a PBR can in the other.
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By Nick Lucchesi
For $33 and change, customers could buy the Boxmasters self-titled LP. Fans who wanted an autograph after the band's two-song set had to purchase the CD or LP. Read an
interview with Thornton here.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Some people presented bizarre bits of memorabilia, including this fanciful St. Louis Cardinals hat. Thornton is an avid Cardinals fan and threw out of the first pitch at the day game on Thursday. "The Game," a song on the Boxmasters' record mentions the team.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Rod and Judy Wiethop of Effingham, Illinois, wait for the Boxmasters to perform. Rod looks over a DVD copy of Bandits, the 2001 Barry Levinson film starring Thornton and Bruce Willis.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Josie Davitz of Troy, Illinois, met Thornton in an airport, where she had a photo taken. He signed it for her Thursday.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Billy gets chatty before the performance. The band had attend the St. Louis Cardinals game earlier on Thursday and admittedly were a little tipsy. This resulted in a lot of whooping from the front row.
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By Nick Lucchesi
That's our Billy!
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By Nick Lucchesi
Hey here's a picture of me and some woman in an airport!
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By Nick Lucchesi
"Just so you know, the management wanted to let your know, there's a special on Al Di Meola records."
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By Nick Lucchesi
The in-store performance lasted about 20 minutes, as the Boxmasters performed "Build Your Own Prison" and "That Mountain."
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By Nick Lucchesi
The Boxmasters perform on Thursday, August 7, at Vintage Vinyl in University City, Missouri. The band would later perform at Bottleneck Blues Bar at the Ameristar Casino.
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By Nick Lucchesi
Thornton puffs on a full flavor "yellow" American Spirit cigarette, shortly after the band finished its performance.
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By Nick Lucchesi
The autograph-and-photo line formed quickly after the set was finished.
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