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Photograph by Amy VanDonsel
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Photograph by Amy VanDonsel
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Photograph by Amy VanDonsel
Of course, there are very real, official ways of measuring this region, this funky metropolitan statistical area that we call St. Louis. Beyond the maps, though, are countless, tiny decisions that define how we look at one another, how we interact.
From South City to Smithton, Illinois, you drive about 35 minutes, arriving at a destination that’s a very different place than the point of departure. With an old-school main street, Smithton’s got that classic, southwestern Illinois feel, complete with some aged-to-perfection taverns on that main drag. Among them, Schmitty’s, which features a bit of an entertainment-plex vibe, including volleyball courts, TVs tuned to the Cardinals, murals of drinking lizards and a large, covered patio with bandstand.
On Friday night, the Dock Ellis Band was in the house, playing its customary, four-hours-straight set, with no breaks. (When members need a beer or bathroom pause, the others simply shuffle to new instruments and a the show don’t stop.) For this gig, the band was in the midst of a mini-tour, with a stop in northern Illinois slated for the next night, a drive to Peoria in the dead of night their immediate fate. After the weekend: time away from playing together, as guitarist and co-lead vocalist Justin Paul Brown’s already in Europe, on tour as part of Pokey LaFarge’s road crew.
About half the crowd at Schmitty’s came to enjoy the outdoors, their cigarettes, and Dock Ellis. They headed to that expanded, enclosed patio. A few took spins on the dance floor, waltzing in both boots and bare feet. You could’ve made a diagram of the Schmitty’s audience on Friday by using the number 33. Those over the age of 33 were outside, listening to the classic country covers and hilarious originals of Dock Ellis; those under the age of 33 were inside, laughing and partying to a hip-hop soundtrack. On one thing, though, everyone agreed: Stag Beer. If there was a hand gripping a drink within either half of Schmitty’s, that hand was holding the great uniter: Stag.
Moving through their extended set, the Dock Ellis frontmen, Brown and Jesse Irwin, sang of pregnant barflies and murderous truck drivers. The good people of Smithton applauded and laughed. One dropped a buck into the tip jar, then poured a glass from Irwin’s pitcher. Another decided that mid-song was best time to buy a t-shirt, engaging both singers in a protracted pricing conversations. Comedy just seems to follow this band around.
Ending a few minutes shy of midnight, the group began the process of packing up, in no super-rush to hit the road. There would be a couple hours of driving, a night at a hotel somewhere around Peoria, then a trip to a biker festival in Savanna, Illinois. Outside the bar, the bright, clean message board was still aglow. The Dock Ellis Band was in town. They came to do their job, and did it well. For those who traveled a couple blocks, it was probably a nice treat. For those who arrived after a half-hour’s journey, it was the perfect reason to seek out another corner of our region.
Smithton, we’ll be back. Hanging with the 33-and-up set in the great (and roofed) outdoors.
Schmitty’s, 102 North Main in Smithton, Illinois, 618-416-8145, schmittysbar.com.
