Photo via artist Facebook
Shady Bug performs at Foam on Saturday in support of Floral Print and Carmel Liburdi.
Leave the show recommendations to us and we'll leave the weed jokes to you in the comments section below.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11
Concert For Kids: A Night Benefiting Southside Early Childhood Center w/ A Bientot, After11, The Sneaker Bombs, Marie and the Americans
7:30 p.m. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $10. 314-833-3929.
The Southside Early Childhood Center aims to impart a sense of love for learning by offering an elastic curriculum shaped by the pre-K students themselves. Apt that the lineup for such a benefit would be expansive, featuring the pop-rock of Marie and the Americans, A Bientot's distinct brand of punk, the Sneaker Bombs' mix of covers and originals, and the massive variety of After11. As if the cause alone wasn't enough to grab a few of your hard-earned dollars, there will be raffles for Cardinals tix, gear and, of course, a basket of booze.
The Educated Guess
8:30 p.m. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-498-6989.
By Christian Schaeffer
Charlie Brumley is a man given to grandiosity. For the last ten years, he has continued to tinker with the components of his band the Educated Guess, taking it from a piano-driven roots-rock quartet to a Spector-indebted pocket symphony with more than a dozen members. As he has augmented his band with strings, horns and female back-up singers, Brumley has turned his songwriting toward the Brill Building style of songcraft, exploring many tangles of love in a three-minute pop song. The band’s latest, Guess Again, sees its digital release at this weekend’s show.
Weedeater w/ Beitthemeans, the Maness Brothers, The Gorge
7 p.m. Fubar Saint Louis, 3108 Locust Street. $15-$18. 314-289-9050.
Not that Weedeater was the first to be called stoner metal, but its formation in the late '90s did follow closely behind Sleep and Kyuss. The local lineup on hand shows just how much the band's influence has stretched into other genres with the blues-leaning Maness Brothers and the proggy Gorge taking less-than-subtle cues. Overall, this is a multi-faceted night with one major component shared between all the bands: an oppressive level of volume.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 12
Blue Lotus Label Revue w/ Roland Johnson, Gene Jackson, Renee Smith, Everett Dean, Devon Cahill, Honeybaked and the Choice Cuts. DJ Hal Greens
8 p.m. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue. $10. 314-498-6989.
By Roy Kasten
From How Blue Lotus Label Is Redefining the St. Louis Sound:
On August 12, Blue Lotus will host a label revue at Off Broadway. Johnson and Jackson will get the opportunity to perform together, and they'll be joined by Renee Smith, who is also recording for the label, as well as rockabilly crooner Everett Dean, Devon Cahill (formerly of Letter to Memphis) and Honeybaked and the Choice Cuts, led by Daniel Hamm, who recently returned to his native St. Louis from Portland, Oregon. Along with working on albums for Smith and Hamm, Niehaus plans to record R&B singer Charisse "Swan" Sauls and already has seven songs written with Jackson for a follow-up to 1963. The two are also looking to write for other artists as well.
Melvins w/ Spotlights
8 p.m. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Avenue. $20-$25. 314-833-3929.
Sure, the Melvins get a torrent of genres and labels thrown at them — grunge, stoner metal and noise rock to name a few — but the band is able to embody all of them equally. If past shows are any indication, expect a few swerves and, if we're at all lucky, cuts from side A of Houdini. King Buzzo and company might be the only group to successfully steal songs in lieu of "playing a cover." Does that seem absurd? You must not have heard the band's rendition of "Youth Of America" by the Wipers.
Shady Bug w/ Floral Print, Carmel Liburdi, ICSITC, Cobysharesmusic
8:30 p.m. Foam, 3359 South Jefferson Avenue. $5-$10. 314-772-2100.
By Christian Schaeffer
From Dubb Nubb's Hannah Rainey Branches Out with New Band Shady Bug:
Together, the quartet makes tight, tuneful rock songs that push Rainey's voice past the soft, gentle confines of Dubb Nubb. Rainey mentions some touchstones that helped inspire her new direction — Mac Demarco, fellow St. Louis native Angel Olsen — but much of the charm, for Rainey and for the listener, comes through the casual, unfussy comfort that the band deploys in creating these songs.
Tab Benoit w/ The Jeremiah Johnson Band
6 p.m. Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Avenue. $20-$25. 314-775-0775.
Proximity can be key, especially when the artist in question soaks up his environment and cannot help but sweat it out in the music. Tab Benoit is one such guitarist who, after spending his teen years in ramshackle music joints in Louisiana, has evolved with a guitar attached to the hip. Nevermind that his fingers seem custom fit for the fretboard or that his voice was shaped by the warm, humid climate down south. This show continues a fast-growing trend at Atomic Cowboy of packed, sold out shindigs. Arriving on time isn't just a suggestion, it's a necessity.
Tunic w/ CCDS - Death Squad, Fragile Farm
9 p.m. The Sinkhole, 7423 South Broadway. $5.
Canada noise-rock outfit Tunic feeds sordid bass riffs to a succinct set of tom-heavy beats. A scraggly six-string stretches over the top, lending a dissonant rip to songs that feel visceral without the overt aggression present in most metal bands. This trio's noise-rock is the real deal, owing parts of its DNA to Shellac and side B of Black Flag's My War without ripping off either overtly. The whole band feels like it plays with every muscle tightened and strained only to collectively release for brief moments of space and clarity. Ear plugs, above all else, are highly recommended.
Wax Fang
7 p.m. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street. $12-$13. 314-535-0353.
The crew of Wax Fang slowed somewhat following a huge surge in the late aughts punctuated by several stints with My Morning Jacket. With the release of this year's Victory Laps, the band banks on what seems like a new direction to build momentum. And while that might be a surprise for fans of 2014's The Astronaut, lapsed fans will consider the sound a return to form for Wax Fang, who has always played a spastic blend of genres.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 13
New Pornographers w/ Ought
8 p.m. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Boulevard. $30. 314-726-6161.
"Indie-rock darlings" was a term coined not for bands "like" the New Pornographers but for the actual New Pornographers. The Canadian power-pop juggernaut started at the tail end of the first big indie rock boom (you know, when indie ceased to become a shortened version of independent), and while the band could have faded as an ill-fated hanger-on, it proceeded to release four albums in the span of seven years — all with near-universal critical acclaim. Even if you're not a fan of the band, chances are that you've heard its music in films, commercials and TV shows.
