In a wide-ranging, lengthy, and intriguingly-transparent pitch for support on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, Foam proprietor Mic Boshans has made a case that his venue is a needed portion of the STL cultural nightlife scene. And that, without community help, it won’t be able to continue in its present form. The post breaks down recent efforts to right the venue’s finances, at a time when local bars and restaurants of various stripes have a felt a pinch in revenue. Foam’s already reduced hours, dispatching with its daytime coffee service and going dark on evenings when no event has been booked, though a slate of booked dates is set through mid-spring.
A subtext to the story is also the fact that Cherokee’s been adding and subtracting nighttime businesses at a certain clip lately, including the departure of Foam’s immediate neighbor, VISTA Ramen. Boshans’ post notes this factor, among others, in making the case for an infusion of capital.
SLM sent out a simple question to roughly 20 folks who have played the room of late, variations on: What does the room mean, and why is it important to our town?
Though primarily known as a music venue, Foam has hosted lots of other events, including a dose of comedy. Before we hear from a variety of musicians who have played the venue, a moment to hear from two comedy showrunners:
Ken Warner, Coffee Break: "Foam has the potential to attract a really diverse crowd, which is what I wanted when I began my comedy showcase, Coffee Break, there. The staff, especially Mic, was incredibly helpful with all aspects of helping to make the show work, even though I inevitably forgot something there after every single show I did. Not only helpful, they are completely hands-off with whatever you want to do, which is really important and rare in the creative field. Though the main stage area at Foam is relatively small, it can be adapted for a variety of purposes, and I thought comedy worked very well there, especially when there was a large crowd. Unfortunately my dream of putting on a live stage adaptation of My Dinner with Andre at Foam with my friend Stryker Spurlock never came to fruition when I realized it was nearly impossible for me to memorize nearly two hours of dialogue while also performing it, having had no training in acting whatsoever. If I ever do have the time for that adaptation, though, I’ll be damned if I don’t have it at Foam."
Jeremy Hellwig, Sorry, Please Continue: "The first local standup showcase I ever saw was at Foam, back in 2012 when Kris Wernowsky was running a show there. Venues like Foam are very important for building up a comedy scene. It’s a perfect place to try out a new idea and learn how to run and promote a show. The staff is so supportive, it’s in a cool neighborhood, and it’s not too big or too small. That’s why I recommended the space when Amy Milton and Milly Naeger started No Straight White Guys. Foam and the Cherokee community really embraced that show and those two were able to do something special and unique. We did Sorry, Please Continue at Foam for years, eventually switching to another venue where it was easier to set up our recording equipment for the podcast. I felt bad about leaving the venue without a recurring comedy night, so when I heard Ken Warner wanted to start a standup show, I made the case for Foam. Now that Coffee Break has moved to The Monocle, I guess it’s time for someone to step up with another show. If any newer comics are thinking about starting a show, you can’t do much better than Foam.
"A couple other cool things about Foam: they do multiple shows a night, which sometimes made scheduling more difficult but often resulted in musicians and their fans coming to our shows and vice versa. Also, one time I put on a Christmas show there to raise money for charity, and I just now realized that was the first time each of the members of my sketch group Fatal Bus Accident played weird characters on a show together. We didn’t form our group until a year or so later, but that night was apparently where it all started."
And now some words from musicians:
Melinda Cooper, Town Cars (and former bar manager at Foam): "It's one of a handful of St. Louis institutions that you'd be hard-pressed to find anything like in another city. [Matt] Stuttler's spot-on booking grabs, mixed with Mic's model of the business/DIY space mash-up keep Foam pliable enough to welcome a truly incredible variety of musicians, poets, comedians, vendors, etc. Especially in the past four or so years, the staff there has worked hard to consistently roll out top-notch events, bring in acts from all over the world who would otherwise have skipped STL over, while also serving the community in which it exists. The possibility of Foam closing its doors is the possibility of another great loss for the fellow businesses of Cherokee, as well as our city altogether."
Ben Stegmann, Beauty Pageant: "It’s worth noting that while Foam’s legend comes from concerts, it had something more crucial: daytime hours. When it soft-opened in 2009, Foam was the only real safe space west of Jefferson, back when people warned you about wandering “that side” of Cherokee. You could get coffee—served, awkwardly, in a pint glass—and do homework, and it was never overcrowded. You could even buy a beer and drink it there, which was a crazy idea before the bar scene hit. But Foam was better than a bar: it was a community space that happened to serve microbrews. For us neighbors, it was no exaggeration to call Foam a second home. And still is. Foam intended to be the most flexible space on Cherokee, so the early years were a weird mix of art events, spoken word, and the occasional Cherokee Street Business Association meeting, which guaranteed a good shouting match. Foam was absolutely not a music venue at first: There was barely a stage, and no PA. Concerts only happened when we bugged the staff about it! The fact that, a few years later, you could bump into Paul McCartney’s kid there, or catch a morning solo set from Evan Parker, or see some stupid band overuse their own fog machine so that half the block turned hazy, attests to how comfortable people became there. How many touring bands now make a point to play St. Louis because of this place? We’ve lost count. Foam made sure they all had a home. And hopefully do for years to come."
Graeme Ronald, Remember Remember: "Foam was the first venue to give me a show in St. Louis and is still my favorite small venue in the city. Every show I've played or seen there has been a perfectly intimate experience, and it's amazing that such a small venue is able to attract indie acts of the type of status that you would often find at larger, commercial venues. The staff are awesome and their business ethic of giving 100 percent of the door money to the bands and sound engineers shows a empathy and solidarity with artists that is rare to find anywhere. I can't imagine Cherokee Street without it."
Brian McClelland, Whoa Thunder: "Against great odds, Mic and the crew at Foam have grown it into a solid musical and cultural arts center that has welcomed all kinds of artists, locally and nationwide, while maintaining some seriously legit and current politics and providing a safe space for those seeking emotional shelter—it's an irreplaceable Cherokee Street anchor."
Bob McMahon, Other People: "The best thing about Foam is that they’ll take a chance on anything. I don’t mean that they’ll book a wide variety of musical acts from any genre, some of which have niche appeal. They do that, but it’s only a fraction of what they’ll take. Comedy shows Sorry, Please Continue and Coffee Break started there. Brian McClelland first hosted his amazing karaoke parties at Foam and now does so all over town, though I always have the best time where it all began. Sometimes people screen films and discuss them. It’s also played host to serious discussions about abuse in the music community as well as an open forum where people could solicit the expertise of couples therapist Angela Skurtu from St. Louis Marriage Therapy.
"In a sense, Foam also took a chance on me as well as everyone else who signed up for its exceptional and much-missed open mics. Hosted by Langen Neubacher and Ellen Cook, these nights helped many a performer cut their teeth in the St. Louis music scene around the beginning of the decade. I’ll always be grateful for having that stage to hone my skills in front of supportive hosts who kept everything running smoothly. Everyone involved has moved past those open mics, but that spirit remains at Foam. They’ll not hesitate to book a new band or host a touring band scrambling to find something in town. And the small room breeds an intimate vibe that can be magical when a band is firing on all cylinders. I haven’t even talked about how great their cookies are!
"Foam sometimes runs shows differently than I would, but it would be a tremendous loss if it were to shut down. Its team cares about giving a voice to artists and it’s not afraid to book events that might not otherwise happen in its absence. Let’s not lose it."
One note from inside the current operation:
Matt Stuttler, booking/promotions/sound at Foam: "I was the first employee Mic hired when he took over the business. I was hired on to take care of the booking and also bartend/run sound. Foam has been an important place for me because it's allowed me to help bring in and coordinate many national acts that may have never came through St. Louis. Through the work and help of the DIY community, we've hosted so many extraordinary and stellar bands over the years.
"It's also important to mention that every show at Foam is all ages with no 'minor charge.' We also structure deals to maximize the amount a touring band can make, keeping our overhead low. It's a small, intimate spot and has been the location of many bands first shows in town. It's a room that locals can pack out for release shows.
"Beyond even just the staff and regulars, the community around Foam has been one of the most inclusive and supportive I've came across for independent artists/musicians. It's been cool to see the scene grow around Foam/Cherokee in the past four years I've been apart of it, and hope it will continue to do so."
