Fragile Porcelain Mice at Pop's. Photo by Thomas Crone
It’s been a tradition of sorts, a season-long arrival of rock concerts during the winter holiday season. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know about this annual arrival of local-centric shows, especially if you’re a recent immigrant to our town. But if you’re, say, 35–50 and grew up admiring the St. Louis music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, then you’d best have a reasonable knowledge of these annual tricks and treats.
This year, the biggest shows, of course, are being thrown by the recently resurgent The Urge, who’ve linked themselves to their longtime-supporting radio station The Point. At the last Pointfest of the ’11 season, the band headlined the Verizon Amphitheatre, after years away, and have catapulted themselves into multiple, sold-out shows at the Pageant. That venue’s also been the recent home to two of the bigger bands of the ’80s/’90s, The Unconscious and Pale Divine; the first group has been giving off-on holiday shows for the past decade, while Pale Divine reunited the last two years. This year, though, both bands are taking the season off, though fans will surely see them again, at some point, or another. (Or, at least, so goes the wish.)
Those kingpins aside, plenty of groups with ties to a truly rich period in local rock culture will headline shows at all the usual venues this season. And with apologies to any acts left out, we’ll highlight a few of the key gigs that deserve attention. (While counting down the days to a rumored Judge Nothing reunion in the first-half of 2012. That, people, will be the locally tied gig of the early year.)
The Painkillers with The Lettuce Heads, Wednesday, November 23, Llywellyn’s Pub in Webster Groves
Getting together this spring for the first time in over two decades, The Painkillers continue their year-long celebration with their third set of the 2011, all coinciding with the Euclid Records CD re-release of their self-titled, cassette-only release, augmented by over a dozen previously unreleased cuts. (And for which, in the interests of disclosure, this writer penned liner notes.) While original songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Jeff Barbush is still much-missed, the remaining, rock-solid members have found a sympathetic cohort in Sean Garcia, a longtime local player and songwriter who’s handling a good chunk of the lead vocals, while adding guitar parts that are hyper-sympathetic to Barbush’s own. Playing on their Webster Groves turf (on the night before the big WGHS Turkey Day game, no less), the Painkillers will be playing to an audience of contemporaries no doubt, adding some new originals to their time-tested, classic pop songs. Smart popsters, themselves, The Lettuce Heads open the set with one of their occasional gigs, full of songwriting hooks and honeyed harmonies.
Celery, Thursday, November 24, The Firebird
After parting ways for all of the usual (and very valid) reasons, the friendships between Celery’s members eventually allowed the group to begin an occasional reunion process in late 2008. Expanding to a four-piece, with all four key members from the group’s past playing a role, the appeal of Celery lies in the band’s somewhat wacky, high-energy stage aesthetic, combined with material that weds hummable hooks to some serious volume. After a bunch of shows following their initial comeback, they’ve slowed that train way down, so this one’s got extra inducement for fans. This gig had a ton of extra potential with the addition of a Vinyl reunion as well, though that ‘90s-era hard rock group was forced to drop off the bill after guitarist Brian Klenke was caught in LA with insurmountable work and band commitments. They hope to reunite for a 2012 show.
Secret Cajun Band with the Murder City Players, Saturday, November 26, Cicero's
Though never achieving the same breakthrough success as The Urge and MU330, bands like Orange Tree and the Secret Cajun Band made St. Louis a place to see local ska on a regular basis throughout the ‘90s. While this gig will please fans of the group, the band’s Myspace updates those unaware that sax player/vocalist Erik “Skip” Rogers passed away earlier this year, bringing some gravity to a set that’ll otherwise have a ton of high energy. Also on the card are the Murder City Players, whose fusion of ska and reggae has been a consistent force for good in St. Louis for more than two decades. Playing intermittently, this veteran group is as steady as they come, with the dual vocal interplay of Prince Phillip and Mark Condelliere always a highlight. Bringing a new voice to the local ska circuit is Samuriot, who open.
Fragile Porcelain Mice, Friday, December 16, Pop’s Nightclub
Fragile have taken a hiatus or two before, as band members took time away for baby-making or developing new bands and projects. But their Thanksgiving show was an almost-annual event of the highest order, as the post-punk group played to a longtime core of super-fans, familiar with the act since their arrival on the scene in the early ‘90s. But Westport Playhouse always seemed too constricting and the Lucas School House was just too darned nice. At Pop’s, the sons of Belleville are in their element, playing a big room, with a big space in front of the stage; there, fans will undoubtedly toss themselves about like missiles during signature cuts like “Concept of Grief,” and “More Cop Shows.” While it’s not a T-Day show exactly, it comes at just the right time for fans who’ve missed this group’s one-of-a-kind sound. Celebrating 20 years together, this anniversary show should percolate just shy of boil from the opening songs to the covers-sprinkled encore, with frontman Scott Randall controlling the temperature with his peculiar set of mad scientist skills. Longtime Springfield, Ill., cohorts NIL8 aptly open the show.
The Retros, Antimation and Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost, Friday, December 23, Off Broadway
After a good bit of time, the long-discussed, previously-unreleased Retros album, Inner City Rockers: The Retros, 1979 becomes a reality with this release show; in fact, it’s a double-release, as BDR Records will not only bring this one to life, but also the Frustrated Conversation 7-inch from the late Dear John. Bob Chekoudjian of The Retros will be performing with the support of Bunnygrunt, along with other local players, while contemporaries Antimation return for another reunion show of their own. Bob Reuter, no stranger to the St. Louis stages of the 1970s, kicks off the evening with his newest lineup, Alley Ghost, featuring players who, well, weren’t born when all this fuss was originally happening. But the joys of intergenerational shows like this occur both on-stage and in the audience, where original-era fans get to reminisce while the youngsters get some education in how things used to be. And they used to be pretty damned great, actually. This gig’s a real keeper.
Kristeenyoung, Friday, December 23, Cicero's
In the days of the original, lamented Cicero’s Basement Bar, Kristeen Young fronted groups like Nov. 9th and WaterWorks, class bands that didn’t break free from regional bonds. Long since a solo performer, the redubbed Kristeenyoung’s recently been: producing the first videos of her career; engaging in month-long residencies in cities like London and LA; while also rekindling a working relationship with the famed Morrissey, with whom she’s been sharing stages during the latter half of 2011. Though she’s got a deep catalog, expect this show to be peppered with a good dose of material from her recent, seven-song concept EP, V the Volcanic, showcasing the winning lead track, “Fantastic Failure.”
MU330, Saturday, December 31, The Firebird
Playing a New Year’s Eve show is a bold step for a group’s that’s been on hiatus for the best part of the last three or four years, with an early 2011 show at the Firebird a sweaty good time, according all in attendance. This gig’s putting together the band’s classic, “Press”-era lineup, which brings back vocalist John Kavanaugh, who was supplanted in that role by ever-smiling guitarist Dan Potthast for much of the group’s history. Though the band produced a variety of albums over the years, the ska group’s calling card was, and always will be, a live show that rivals any local band of the past two decades. Propelled by the nimble horn section of Rob Bell and Gerry Lundquist, and the fun-rocket rhythm section of Chris Diebold and Theodore Moll, MU330 have always been able to coerce wallflowers into the pit, where the band’s up-tempo, local hits like “Hoosier Love” feel as danceable as ever.
