This weekend, the Hill’s delightful Pop’s Blue Moon celebrates a bit of a milestone. Throwing a street party on its home turf of the 5200 block of Pattison, Loyal Family’s booking an afternoon and evening’s-worth of entertainment for friends and fans of the long-running tavern on Saturday, May 18. Performances are scheduled from STL’s folksy The Lulus and Chicago’s Talking Heads tribute, the crowd-pleasing This Must Be the Band; acts will play from 4 to 11 p.m., and will complement street vendors and food.
As booker (and neighbor) Josh Grigaitis has moved many of his musical offerings to the much-larger 2720 Cherokee, the cozy Pop’s has seen less live music in recent months, but there’s still a pinch on the schedule. Even where there’s not a show, the room has its appeals, and we’re going to highlight 14 of them here, in honor of today’s date and the room’s 14th anniversary. We’ll segue, then in our list, with...
14. Eclectic live music: Since the earliest days, Pop’s has been booking live acts, with regular open mics and a stage (well, floor space) that’s been graced by dozens, likely hundreds, of local and touring bands. True jam bands, bluegrass and reggae groups have held forth on more nights than not, but there’s been a real commitment to a wide-range of St. Louis talent and small-draw touring acts on at the club, ever since Grigaitis began booking his own pop, owner Terry Grigaitis.
13. Nooks: For a venue this small, there’s still a chance to get lost in the corners of Pop’s, especially in the back room, where the action’s frequently found on busy, weekend nights. (Then, it serves as the venue’s smoking lounge.) It’s quaint inside Pop’s. Too small for your public-yet-clandestine affair, in all likelihood, but just big enough to get lost in public.
12. Pinball: Greeting you as walk in is a Big Indian pinball game, the kind of old-school fixture found throughout the space. You don’t see a ton of people playing it, but the game, itself, adds to the color. Speaking of which...
11. Decor: There are bars that seem natural in their skin. And the Blue Moon, with a host of fun, little doodads (from lava lamps to a myriad moons) has an unaffected feel, without ever feeling kitschy.
10. Art cars: The small assortment of art cars and RVs on the block are owned by members of the Blue Moon extended crew. And their presence adds a fun, funky element that any urban street worth its salt would love to have. Groovy, man.
9. Family: Most of the Grigaitis clan has done shifts at the bar, and there’s a tight-knit vibe to the work force, whether they’re a part of it through birth or marriage. And the longest-tenured workers feel like they’re in family, too, adopted through osmosis.
8. Neighborhood: When highways 70, 55 and 44 criss-crossed the terrain of St. Louis City, the results weren’t always pretty. Some neighborhoods all but disappeared, while others were halved or quartered. Pop’s drags a bit of The Hill’s culture across I-44, to the smaller, northern portion of the neighborhood, with a nearby bridge across Edwards providing the traffic lifeblood.
7. History: There are little nods to the neighborhood’s past all through Pop’s, from a bomb casing created in the neighborhood, to a painted flag that features the names of The Hill’s war dead. Look closely, and you’ll see decades pass by.
6. Blue Moon (the beer): Yes, a bar with this name does have Blue Moon on draft, never served without the customary orange wedge.
5. Encounters: A good city tavern allows for the intersection of strangers to occur and, at Pop’s, there’s at least a decent chance that you’ll wind up in conversation with someone down the bar, especially on afternoons when business is a bit lighter. Then, the discussions flow freely, on all the topics you might expect, and a few you wouldn’t. (Hint: if you grade papers and tell your neighbors that, they will understand your pain and leave you be; found this true just last week.)
4. Staff: Some bars are known for their battle-tested bar staffs, while others are known as the refuge of rookies. At Pop’s, there’s been a longtime mix of newbies and industry lifers behind the bar, which can mean a very different experience, depending on your night of visit. And neither’s the “right” option, as some of Pop’s less-experienced staffers have provided the most fun over the years.
3. Architecture: Pop’s has a residence attached and the bar itself, and extends outwards and towards the street. It’s a style that really hit a stride in our last century, when St. Louisans couldn’t get enough of city living, expanding their structures in every way possible.
2. Smoking: An inducement to some drinkers, a negative for others. We have to at least mention that the venue’s gone back-and-forth on the policy over the years. Today, it’s like this: you can smoke. But on weekends, when the crowd’s thickest and there’s more chance of live music, smokers are banished to the back nook. So you know.
1. Authenticity: If you’ve got visitors in from out of town, the smart ones will ask to have “real St. Louis experiences.” And part of that might be stopping for a sip. Our town’s blessed with a host of real, true corner tavern-type joints. And Pop’s is in the top tier of real, true, St. Louis bars, the kind of place that speaks to our culture without a hint of artifice.
