1. Art

St. Louis Art Capsules

Malcolm Gay encapsulates the St. Louis art scene

By Malcolm Gay

Published: March 5, 2008

Opening Didi Dunphy: Playscape A sculpture exhibition that brings the playground into the gallery. An instructor at the University of Georgia, Dunphy calls her colorful creations...

2. B-Sides

Producer nonpareil Pharrell Williams is happy to be just one of the band again

By Dan Leroy

Published: March 5, 2008

Name a pop music A-lister, and he or she has either worked with Pharrell Williams or probably wants to. Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Madonna all...

3. Critics' Picks

The Fabulous Thunderbirds

8 p.m. Thursday, March 6. VooDoo Lounge at Harrah's Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights.

By Roy Kasten

Published: March 5, 2008

The Fabulous Thunderbirds circa 2008 may be a shadow of their former hit-making, ass-kicking, no-prisoner-taking selves, but they're not a pale, soulless shadow. Though only singer/songwriter/harmonica...

4. Critics' Picks

Von Bondies

7 p.m. Friday, March 7. Creepy Crawl, 3524 Washington Boulevard

By Jaime Lees

Published: March 5, 2008

The Von Bondies produced one superior, bliss-pop hit a few years ago: "C'Mon, C'Mon," a ringing, hook-filled tune that's jump-up-and-down-on-your-bed-in-your-underwear perfection....

5. Critics' Picks

Dropkick Murphys

8 p.m. Monday, March 10. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard

By Michael Alan Goldberg

Published: March 5, 2008

What do you call a fake stone in Ireland? A sham rock, of course.  What kind of bow can't be tied? A rainbow, of course. And what band that crosses Pogues-style folk-rock with...

6. Critics' Picks

Deer Tick

9 p.m. Tuesday, March 11. The Billiken Club, 20 North Grand Boulevard.

By Julie Seabaugh

Published: March 5, 2008

Now that singer/songwriter John McCauley (a.k.a. Deer Tick) has found two talented road warriors to complement his own vagabond existence, what was once essentially a one-man enterprise...

7. Critics' Picks

Tom Jones

7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 11. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St. Charles

By Julie Seabaugh

Published: March 5, 2008

Tom Jones is a timeless sex symbol. But it's not because of his prodigious swath of chest hair, the cascades of sweat, the Del Boca Vista Phase II tan, or even the swoon-inducing baritone...

8. Critics' Picks

Vic Chesnutt

8 p.m. Tuesday, March 11. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue

By Roy Kasten

Published: March 5, 2008

Although Vic Chesnutt has used a wheelchair since he was eighteen years old — a car wreck left the Georgia-born singer and songwriter a paraplegic — his imagination has...

9. Critics' Picks

Basia Bulat

9 p.m. Wednesday, March 12. The Bluebird, 2706 Olive Street

By John Vettese

Published: March 5, 2008

Think of Basia Bulat as a one-woman answer to Antony and the Johnsons. The Canadian songwriter's honeyed melodies and romantic melancholia on her debut, Oh, My Darling, echo New York's...

10. DVDish

Oscar-Starved

Into the Wild released on DVD

By Robert Wilonsky and Jordan Harper

Published: March 5, 2008

Into the Wild (Paramount) Sean Penn waited a good decade before adapting Jon Krakauer's book about Chris McCandless, who graduated college in 1990, then disappeared into the American...

11. Film

True or false, The Bank Job is too much fun to fact-check

By Robert Wilonsky

Published: March 5, 2008

"Based on a true story," brags The Bank Job before diving into the clear blue water of the Caribbean, where, in 1970, a topless woman frolics with two swimming mates — just another...

12. Game On

Thinning Crowds: It's always dead at The Club

By Chris Ward

Published: March 5, 2008

To all the gun-toting video-game bad guys out there: Please stop standing next to exploding barrels. Seriously now. Of the hundreds of places you could squat and shoot, you and your...

13. Gut Check

Lists Naughty, Lists Nice

Ian can recommend James Beard nominees Annie Gunn's, Atlas and Niche. But Missouri caviar? Not so much.

By Ian Froeb

Published: March 5, 2008

Saturday, March 1, was the opening of trout season in Missouri, which seems as good a time as any to mention that the state's Department of Health and Senior Services has released...

14. Homespun

One Lone Car

North, South, East & the Rest
(Uranus)

By Christian Schaeffer

Published: March 5, 2008

One Lone Car's latest full-length was recorded at Uranus Recording in Tempe, Arizona, the facility owned by Gin Blossoms frontman Robin Wilson. The connection is not tangential: The...

15. Keep It Down

Malcolm struggles to land canned squid

SABA Sisig Spicy Squid Bits

By Malcolm Gay

Published: March 5, 2008

While fishing for herring off the coast of Newfoundland one day in October 1873, Theophilus Piccott and his son, Tom, noticed what they imagined were the remains of a ship dismantled...

16. Letters

Readers question Ian's taste and tell us to leave glowsticks at home.

Published: March 5, 2008

Café, February 21, 2008 Fancy feast Monkey See, Monkey Do: Ian, nobody cares if you can tell herding dogs from work dogs, or if you're a cat fancier [Ian Froeb, "Curious Gorge"]....

17. Ask a Mexican

The Mexican explains why one set of godparents just isn't enough

Published: March 5, 2008

Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans have padrinos for everything? I never understood why, can you help me out?The Godfather Fan Dear Wab: Many gabachos have long wondered about the galaxy...

18. Music

Louder than Bombs: A Place to Bury Strangers brings the noise

By Shae Moseley

Published: March 5, 2008

Since several influential tastemaking blogs anointed A Place to Bury Strangers as "New York City's loudest band" last year, the buzz around its self-titled debut album has continued...

19. News Real

Seeing Red: Partners battle over a Wash. Ave. eatery's ownership

By Kristen Hinman

Published: March 5, 2008

Mortgage broker Kirk Apazeller says he is the rightful owner of Red, the six-month-old eatery on Washington Avenue. So does landscaper Derek Onstott. Apazeller says he designed the...

20. Stage

Stray Dog's 'night Mother is so good it hurts

By Paul Friswold

Published: March 5, 2008

Something deeply disturbing and improbably wonderful is happening at the Tower Grove Abbey. For 90 minutes a group of strangers sits quietly in the dark. At the end of the hour and...