The anchor of course is still The Fox. One of the greatest landmarks in St. Louis and we can likely never be grateful enough for the rehabilitation of that building, great shows, beautiful facility, nice mix of entertainment there. There is of course Powell Symphony Hall which I believe I was taken to once in grade school but other than that can voice no familiarity. Jazz at the Bistro has soldiered bravely down there for years but with the addition of Kota, the new Dooleys and the City Diner there is some momentum being gathered. Additionally on the southeastern portion of the area, there is Plush, Field House, Triumph, The Moto-Museum, Hotel Ignacio and Vitos. It is still dead to the north but heading west you have KETC, and the new home of KWMU and now KDHX is moving in next to the park. Directly south is the anchor of SLU. It is starting to look solid.
So we did not have anything to do on Saturday night other than a forced invitation to go get drunk on a porch in Glendale which my wife was not enamored with. I had read in the paper and then heard on KWMU about the American Music Showcase. 6 band in 5 venues. Strauss Park kicked it off with the Thin Dimes. Strauss Park is the little triangle across from the FOX bordered by Jazz St. Louis nd that big ass Baptist Church. We were able to buy our wrist bands for 10 bucks each. There were about 40-50 people in the park around 7:30 and we were able to grab a table at Jazz at the Bistro and have a little diner while the Thin Dimes did a nice country set with electric and acoustic and a nice female vocalist. It was a little loud. Some people rode up on bikes and some people came with dogs and there was a nice mix of people. The food was also good at the Bistro. Urban Chestnut had a little stand giving away some samples with your admission and selling a few local brews.
We moved from there to a place I had never noticed before, the Hotel Ignacio. I do not know what the rooms look like but they appear to be affiliated with (connected to? owned by?) the Trimph Grill/Moto Museum people. We grabbed a cocktail at the hotel bar and found a cushy lobby chair to share and had the most pleasant surprise of the night with Beth Bombara. She has a sweet voice and a nice little combo with a bass player and another guy who plays lap steel and then occasionally picks up the trombone to play a little as well and together.... a sweet sound. I bought one of her Eps and will definitely go see her play again. High point of the night. Support local music, blah, blah, blah.
The Thin Dimes in the park at twighlight.
From there we walked up to Vitos and passed on the band playing outdoors there... no seating, before ending the night at Dooleys to see the Bottoms Up Blues Gang. Everybody loves these guys. I did not. Dooleys basement seemed like it had potential to be a nice venue but... we had a drink and bailed. Still, it was an awesome night.
Soo... Grand Center, big potential. Go out and check it out. You also should check out the Thin Dimes and Beth Bombara. Good music that makes you smile... it don't get much better.
This was a strong message from Dooley's bathroom.
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