popwreckoning

A road trip with all the girls to see a show; what better way to spend a Friday night? That’s precisely what I did last week and every painful cent of gas money was worth it.

We arrived at the Firebird with what couldn’t have been more perfect timing. We walked in, paid our dues, settled into the crowd, and the show began. There was a large crowd which both bands deserved: The Antlers hadn’t been through St. Louis in quite some time, and the opening band Little Scream was an enjoyable forty minutes of music, not just a time waster that a lot of openers can be. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, the trio was reminiscent of female-fronted Company of Thieves mixed with the distorted vocals of Karen O. from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. I was digging it. They kept the crowd entertained, and with more than just music alone. The drummer recited celebrity birthdays and deaths in between songs. Definitely a first. Maybe a little strange, but hey, it made the band memorable.

The crowd packed in tighter and I somehow found myself right up front by the time The Antlers started their set. Sweet! The heavenly choir of angels – I mean The Antlers – opened with “Parentheses” from their new album Burst Apart and it was absolutely gorgeous. There was no introduction, no “how ya doin’ St. Louis,” just music. And I couldn’t have asked for anything better. They transitioned right into Kettering from 2009 release Hospice before taking a little break for banter about mustaches. Next was a string of five new songs which all ran together into one long symphony. The entire crowd seemed to be in a trance. I had seen The Antlers once before (the previous summer at Lollapalooza) but nothing even comes close to the experience of a small, intimate setting like the one I was experiencing. It was all I could do to not close my eyes and get lost in the depths of my thoughts for the rest of the set. And they played a lengthy one too; ten songs, with an encore of three for a total of an hour and twenty minutes of ethereal melodies.

With Hospice being such a heavy and dense album, one would think that The Antlers’ live shows would be a drag. It’s really quite the opposite though, and Burst Apart, while still somewhat mellow and somber, is on the lighter side and has its jammable moments. In the words of a Metro Chicago tweet, “FYI, I’m probably gonna cry-dance at The Antlers’ show.”

Set list:

Parentheses
Kettering
No Widows
I Don’t Want Love
French Exit
Rolled Together
Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
Bear
Hounds
Putting The Dog To Sleep

Two
Corsicana
Wake

www.littlescream.com
www.antlersmusic.com

Songs For Joplin started as an idea to help a tragedy-stricken town. By pursuing his interest in both music and social media, Zach Becker began to accumulate interest in a music sampler to benefit relief efforts. The idea gained momentum with the help of Twitter as a friend of his, singer-songwriter Derek Webb retweeted Becker’s original request asking musicians to donate songs. The response was overwhelming and in a matter of days, Becker and friends had a name for their project as well as an album of songs to back it. The album includes many local St. Louis artists (Union Tree Review, Sleepy Kitty, Beth Bombara) as well as others from Nashville and Los Angeles. It was released on Noisetrade on June 3 and has already achieved over 400 downloads and $1300 in donations, placing it in the top ten most popular downloads.

The day before the album released, Zach was interviewed by local news blog the Riverfront Times, garnering even more interest in an already rapidly growing idea. Album artwork was made, as were promotional designs and a website thanks to St. Louis design studio Rampant Creative Group. Fliers were printed and would be passed out at the coming Riverfront Times Music Showcase.

“Social media has played a huge role in the success of this little idea, and we ask that you help us maintain that momentum by tweeting and sharing this with your friends. With the album now available for download, we are all excited to see how successful it is as a means of getting money into the hands of those who can help the people of Joplin. All profits from the album downloads will be given to the Heart of Missouri United Way, in order to help relief efforts through their “United for Joplin” campaign. With your help, Songs for #Joplin can be a success. Please donate and download the album, and help to rebuild a community.”

Visit www.songsforjoplin.com for more information.

Download the album directly from Noisetrade here: www.noisetrade.com/songsforjoplin

St. Louis favorites Ludo head out for a summer tour with 20+ dates including both the east and west coast. The tour, called Space Dracula’s Basketball Expo, will also include Sparks The Rescue, Tommy and the High Pilots, Stamps (featuring Bob from The Hush Sound) and select dates with Without A Face.

Check out tour dates here: www.ludosummertour.com

And watch the video below:

Sacremento’s legendary nu-metal experimental rockers Deftones are currently on tour with the Dillinger Escape Plan.

Photographer Jon Gitchoff caught up with the show during its St. Louis stop at the Pageant and shares these photos chronicling the event:

Deftones

The Dillinger Escape Plan

For a long time, it seemed like St. Louis was only going to purport its stereotype of being a rap and hip hop town. Nelly was the most recognizable act from this gateway city. If a music fan wanted to listen to some indier acts, they’d have to traverse to Chicago or even Kansas City. Bands seemed to skip by this place unless they were of amphitheatre magnitude, and without anyone to step up and organize an event to draw these smaller indie acts, St. Louis seemed helpless as to how to change this.

But the people started speaking up – showing their musical tastes to be more diverse than just Top 40 radio. And guess what? The city answered. Slowly there has been a trend where these smaller rising bands and even more established, but not-quite-amphitheatre-status groups started visiting the Lou. And then the biggest boost: this year, St. Louis was presented with the first (hopefully annual) LouFest.

LouFest, a two-day music festival in the beautiful Forest Park, featured over 18 acts this past weekend with Canada collective Broken Social Scene headlining Saturday and the band crush of many, She & Him, on Sunday. Though the line-up seemed to focus more on indie folk or garage rock, it found its diversity in other ways: Jeff Tweedy and Built to Spill brought a classic touch, while Fruit Bats and So Many Dynamos brought a newer touch. Carolina Chocolate Drops gave a bit of a musical history lesson, while Gentleman Auction House, Kim Massie and others showed the range of local talents.

Bottle Rockets had the honor of being the first band to play at the first LouFest. Though their set was rocking for this established act, the crowd was sparse that early in the day. People were either trying to beat the heat or the steep ticket prices (lower cost is the number one suggestion for the 2nd LouFest!) because the crowd didn’t start filling out until around 5 p.m. Which is a shame because some of the best bands of the whole festival played that early afternoon.

Stephaniesid‘s music seemed to be unfamiliar to most everyone, but by the end of her set she had made everyone feel like old friends. She had a bit of a country alt rock thing but with the adornment of little, almost jazzy, freestyle yelps. This woman knows how to own a stage – she danced with the decorative drapings, sang her heart out and even got the crowd to singalong and participate, which wasn’t easy in that heat.

St. Louis’ own So Many Dynamos took over the blue stage after Stephaniesid and they had surprises in store for their hometown crowd. The boys invited out the Funky Brass Butt Band to amp up their set.

Adam Reichmann on the yellow stage had a harder time finding an audience for his slower jams, not to say he and his band were bad, but at least in this setting, the music and jokes fell flat.

But Titus Andronicus didn’t have any trouble finding enthusiasm for their brand of punk indie rock. Perhaps it was the contagious smile of violinist/guitarist Alexi Crawford or the New Jersey quips or catchy lyrics of frontman Patrick Stickles, but this was one of the best performances of the entire festival and that was evident by the crowd’s reaction.

That energy was set to carry over into Lucero’s set, but unfortunately the lead singer was ill and they had to call things short despite an admirable effort to play a rocking set even with his weary voice. St. Louis understands, but come back soon?

Word is that when LouFest organizers put out a survey to see what bands the city wanted them to bring – the number one response was Airborne Toxic Event. This is the viola-wielding, piano beating band that brought radio “Sometime Around Midnight” with a hushed intro that grows into a screaming, guitars blazing end. Yeah, they’re undoubtably good, but the number one request for the fest? Turns out Airborne Toxic Event had never played St. Louis in their 370 or so shows since their inception. So they were well overdue for an appearance. The band must have been feeling a little guilty for their extended performance absence and they spoiled St. Louis by debuting a bunch of new songs, which feature the same dynamic drive that powers their radio hits. You won’t have to worry about sophomore slump with this band.

Built to Spill as classic indie rock staples drew a huge crowd not just from LouFest attendees, but also from bands curious to see live one of their primary influences.

Broken Social Scene swamped the stage with their many collective members trading off vocals and instruments. There really couldn’t have been a better headliner for the night. Brass, double drums, great harmonies and tons of energy from staple Kevin Drew. While most bands save their big stunts for a big set closer, Drew showed by the second song that they weren’t holding anything back; he jumped off the stage and was embracing the audience. If you’ve never had the chance to experience this band live, you must. Their recordings don’t do the live show justice.

Sunday’s bands would have to really pull out all the stops to top what was delivered Saturday.

Since Sunday is the lord’s day, the bluesy, soulful voice of St. Louis’ miss Kim Massie delivered a special Gospel set to start the day before Magnolia Summer and then one of the more buzzed about bands: Carolina Chocolate Drops. They’re perhaps best known for their cover of “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” but the americana trio is more than just a novelty cover. Though the instruments are untraditional to what the typical guitar-based band, this act is all about the traditions: water jugs, fiddle and banjo. It was a fun lesson for what really is American’s musical history. But, of course, the fun cover made this set perfect.

Gentleman Auction House was another act representing St. Louis. Two drummers, two keyboardists and the enrichment of brass. St. Louis bands aren’t afraid to break out a little pomp to boost the volume of their sets.

Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons continued the trend of delivering feel good Americana songs, unfortunately, with such stand up acts before them, they didn’t stand out quite as much as they usually would have.

Fruit Bats continued the festival’s trend of delivering feel good folk music over on the Yellow Stage. It was a bit more lively than the preceding set and got people moving.

Alejandro Escovedo was an artist that I hadn’t really heard, but had heard a lot about. Everything from “classic” to “best guitarist” ever were some of the excited boasts I had heard. However, while the music was good, it was too laid back to really take a grip. Perhaps Alejandro was just a little overhyped.

Jeff Tweedy might be St. Louis’ favorite son. Actually, earlier that day, the mayor had proclaimed that day “Jeff Tweedy Day,” to which Tweedy responded in true rebellious son fashion, “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.” The Wilco front man appeared without his usual band mates, but that didn’t stop him from performing the Wilco hits with his acoustic guitar. This set really was a treat for the Tweedy/Wilco fan, but for first time listeners, they might have had a hard time getting into – be patient, keep giving the music a chance and start with Wilco recordings before returning to the solo stuff would be my advice to those people.

Jeff Tweedy

She & Him closed off the weekend, but honestly, I could have done with an encore performance from Broken Social Scene. Sure Zooey is the band crush of many, but she didn’t really engage with the audience. M. Ward tried and I have to admit, I liked his songs about more for their rocking edge. I really enjoyed the cover of “Roll Over Beethoven,” that they closed with. But with how much praise this indie duo gets, I have to say that it was a bit of a letdown to see them deliver their set with lackluster energy and then short the audience of 20 minutes of performance with an early departure. Bring back BSS, please!

Though I found some of the 2nd day a bit more dry in the quality of performance, LouFest still did a great job and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for next year.

St. Louis’ debut music festival, LouFest, is this weekend in Central Field at Forest Park. So what can you expect from the green friendly fest?

First off, if you procrastinated buying tickets, they have not sold out yet. You can get them without hidden service fees here. It’s $64 for two day passes and $38 for single day passes. Kids 10 and under are free with a ticketed adult (there’s even a kids stage and activity area!). Single day passes are not allowed re-entry. Another warning: it’s cash only at the box office should you wait.

Now like many other outdoor fests, Loufests has some rules. No flags, coolers, glass, food, laser pointers, pets, professional cameras, weapons or oversized umbrellas. However, you can bring in a sealed bottle of water (up to one liter), non-professional cameras, blankets and folding chairs.

Don’t sweat that they’re not letting you bring in food. LouFest has a “Nosh Pit,” a fun area of local foods that are even vegan and vegetarian friendly. They’ll have everything from the standard burgers and brats to the more unique options of sushi and crepes. Check out the full list of food and vendors here.

Another cool thing about LouFest? They got the Metro to add an additional stop at the fest and extend service for August 28-29. Just be sure to take the #3 Forest Park Shuttle.

Also, don’t be sure to miss out on the sweet after-parties. Honestly, what is a fest without an after-party? Some amazing DJs will be kicking it at the Gramophone Saturday night, so join Hey Champ and AcidKids celebration of LouFest and London Calling. Go here to buy tickets – they’re $8 in advanace and $10 at the door. Doors open at 9 p.m.

Then on Sunday, head to the Flamingo Bowl as DJ Clockwork spins with DJ TrashTalk, Nick O and more. There will also be art, an auction and prizes. Cover is $5. Head here to learn more.

Finally, the most important thing about LouFest: the music! Check out these videos below from some of the acts that you must not miss!

Carolina Chocolate Drops – “Hit Em Up Style” cover:

So Many Dynamos – “Search Party”

Airborne Toxic Event – “Sometime Around Midnight”

Fruit Bats – “The Ruminant Band”

Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) – “Fake Plastic Trees”

Broken Social Scene – “Cause = Time”

Schedule:
Saturday
12 p.m.    Bottle Rockets
1 p.m.       Stephaniesid
2 p.m.       So Many Dynamos
3 p.m.       Adam Reichmann
4 p.m.       Titus Andronicus
5 p.m.        Lucero
6 p.m.        Airborne Toxic Event
7 p.m.        Built to Spill
8:30 p.m. Broken Social Scene

Sunday
12 p.m.      Kim Massie (special Gospel set)
1 p.m.         Magnolia Summer
2 p.m.         Carolina Chocolate Drops
3 p.m.         Gentleman Auction House
4 p.m.         Corey Chisel & the Wandering Sons
5 p.m.         Fruit Bats
6 p.m.         Alejandro Escovedo
7 p.m.        Jeff Tweedy
8:30 p.m. She & Him

It’s been nearly a year since “(500) Days of Summer” was in theaters with a soundtrack introducing a then little-known-Australian-band to America. The Temper Trap‘s “Sweet Disposition” was a stand out track with its soaring melodies and harmonies: it was a fitting title for such a beautiful and not to sound cliche, but “sweet” sounding track.

Throw in some radio play and an album filled with more fantastic and rich, harmonious tracks and the Temper Trap was ready for an American takeover. But can the live show live up to the high standards set forth by the recordings? Well, if you’re in the United States, you might be running out of time to find out.

The Temper Trap has two shows left in Missouri, followed by a performance at Bonnaroo, before they leave the States and go abroad. On Tuesday, June 8, they’ll be playing the Crossroads in Kansas City with Warpaint. Then on Thursday, they’ll be at the Pageant in Saint Louis.  These are there last stateside headlining gigs, though they will appear June 10 at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn.

If you can’t make it to these last two shows, the band will be back briefly in August to appear at Lollapalooza and to play a mini-tour in Denver, Seattle and Portland.

Head to the thetempertrap.com for tickets and more information. You can check out “Sweet Disposition” live below:

Rock trio Muse has canceled and rescheduled dates on their upcoming fall tour due to the expected arrival of a new member of the Muse family.

Bassist Chris Wolstenholme and his wife Kelly are expecting a child in November. Consequentially, the band has canceled the November 2nd show in Kansas City, MO and the November 3rd show in St. Louis, MO. The November 5th show in Columbus, Ohio will now be October 12 and the November 6th show in Cincinnati will be moved up to October 11.

Tickets previously purchased for the Ohio show will be honored at the new dates. Refunds for canceled/rescheduled shows can be obtained at point of purchase.

New tour schedule:

With a band name derived from Chopin and songs inspired by the poetry of T. S. Eliot, Cameron Matthews is more than your average guy with a guitar. Though his true musical origins are a bit more humble than some of the biographies circulating on his web sites, the result is fairly epic: intelligent and refreshing songwriting from his band, Bear Ceuse.

Below, Matthews dishes on the challenges of being a rising Midwest musician and he describes the shape of indie rock music in a city known for its rappers. Read on.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How are you today?
Cameron Matthews, Bear Ceuse: I’m good. It looks like you have a Kansas City number.
B: Yes. I’m in Lawrence, Kan.
CM: Cool. I like Kansas City and Lawrence very, very much. It’s my second home.
B: I have to admit that I don’t know St. Louis as well as I could living this close.
CM: Eh, there’s not much here.

B: Let’s start at the beginning. I was trying to do some research on you online, but there are mainly these “epic” background stories (in one story he went on a man journey in the wilderness in another EMTs saved him form the brink of death). What’s the true story?
CM: The true story?
B: Yeah. How did you really get involved with music? I’m assuming you are, in fact, from a small Missouri town and the flood of 93 probably did effect you.

CM: I am from Washington, Missouri, which is a town of about 13,000 people. I feel like the town was built around a Walmart and then people from outer laying towns just sort of started coming in and it got a little bigger. It’s still pretty small. There’s two high schools. I went to the Catholic school. I didn’t really get into music seriously until I got into college. I was very serious in high school, but I was a very different artist then. I wouldn’t classify myself as an artist then.
B: Like marching band stuff?
CM: I…I don’t even want to tell you my influences back then. It just makes me look bad, I swear. I was in a band that played around town a lot and played a lot of cover songs. We did a couple of really terrible originals. Basically, my motivation was to get paid and to show people that this is my job and this is what I do. I sort of got burned out on it after about two years. Once there were eight people in my band, I realized I was doing the wrong thing. I started focusing more on songwriting senior year of high school. I didn’t really want to go to college. I wanted to move to Nashville and pursue a career in music, but I”m really glad I didn’t do that because I didn’t know a goddamn thing. So I went to SLU. I graduated in three years. I work in a pizza place now. That’s my background story, sort of.

B: While at SLU, you entered an MTV competition.
CM: Yes.
B: And you won.
CM: Yes. When I was a freshman I entered the MTVU Best Music on Campus Competition and I got a call from this guy named Jeff at MTVU and he didn’t tell me I had won. He just wanted to know more information about me and he made me very nervous. I had never played that big of a show before. A week later, I found out that I had won. They flew me down to Austin and I opened for the Shins and a couple other bands. It was pretty awesome and pretty incredible.
B: Has that helped out with your music and launch your career? I know you’ve done a lot of college circuit showcases.
CM: Yeah. It, on a resume, musically, when trying to talk to people, it helps. But after I played the show, I didn’t play again for awhile. I sort of had a…not a writer’s block, but I went in a completely different direction. When I played that show, I played songs that I don’t even recognize anymore, but that I don’t even identify with anymore. I’m glad that happened that early in my career because I know I’m at a very different place right now and I’m at a different part of my life. I was kind of lost after I did the show because I had gone from playing little coffee shops a couple times a month to playing this giant showcase with the Shins. I didn’t know where to go then. After that I was a little upset because I felt like I had bolted myself too much in one direction and I wasn’t playing another show like that where I was playing with 5,000 people sitting in front of me. I just started focusing on school and I was doing the music thing, but decided to sort of take a break for awhile. By the time I was a junior…er a sophomore, actually, I started writing a new album and that summer we recorded it. The summer after we recorded that first EP, Bear Ceuse, that’s when I changed my name, etc, etc.

B: Where does the name Bear Ceuse come from?
CM: Berceuse is a French word for a night song or a lullaby. I thought it was funny. My girlfriend was flipping through one of her cello books and it was Chopin. Actually, a couple of different classical composers had different berceuse. It’s actually a style or a type of song. So I split the French word into two English words – ceuse being not English at all, but bear is. I thought it would be funny to make it my band’s name.
B: It fits well with the epic faux biography you have up on your site with the going into the wilderness with fish. It’s a better story then my guesses. I looked it up and all I could find was a small French town named Ceuse and I figured you did some study abroad.
CM: I’ve never studied abroad. I left the country only a few times and they were all when I was very young and don’t remember it. I barely know any French. I thought it was ironic. The people that know me think it is funny. I’m a goofball. I like to pretend certain things, but I”ll tell people like you the truth.

B: Thanks for the truth. You were an English major in college. Does that play into your songwriting process?
CM: It did for awhile. I was very focused on writing about literature for a long time and it still plays heavily in a couple different influences. I think that poetry, itself, is almost a higher art than music. Music, right now, can get bogged down by all these different types of aesthetics and poetry is very stripped down. Whenever you write a good poem, you know it. Whenever you read a good poem, you know it. There’s no hiding in poetry. I practiced and practiced poetry for a long and I became a student of poetry. I started with the beats with Kerouac and Ginsberg. I didn’t really like Ginsberg, but I liked William Carlos Williams. I started with exercises like that. I liked Ezra Pound and older stuff like John Dunne. I started compiling lots of poems by different people and studying them on my own and trying to relay them to songwriting. I think sonically that the sound of poems are very important. That’s the part I think I am good at. The words, the lyrics, of a poem, I’ll be working on my entire life. So yes, being an English major influenced me heavily.

B: So what are you working on right now? I know you’ve done several EPs. Some of which are still up for free download. Any plans for a full-length or tour plans?
CM: Currently, my bass player, Chris, he does all our recording. Anything that I’ve done in the past two or three years of good quality, he’s done. He just moved into a new house and we’re putting up sheet rock to sound proof a room in his house and start recording again. I don’t have any plans to record a full-length right now just because my first solo album that I did is 15 songs and it is all over the place. I realized what a band idea that was several months after I released it and I don’t think that a full-length is as important as it used to be. I’ll probably do a 9 or 10 song maximum from now on for albums because each song is supposed to convey an idea and each album is supposed to convey an overall idea and I’m just not good at that. I’m just not good at focusing, so the shorter amount on EPs that I release, anywhere from three to nine songs, I should be pretty good at honing in on what an EP is all about. That’s going to be model for awhile.

B: How about touring plans?
CM: We just played in New York at Arlene’s grocery and it went really well. We’ll probably start going to Chicago and Kansas City and Louisville and maybe Omaha within the next couple of months. We want to get out there and we just have enough money to go certain places once or twice a month. I don’t have a tour schedule or anything, but we will be making it to Kansas City and those other cities I just mentioned within the next couple of months.

B: I’m kind of dunce when it comes to St. Louis music. I know Nelly and now I know you are from there. What is considered more of the indie scene there? What are the indie venues?
CM: Ok. Here’s the thing about St. Louis music, and keep half of this…when I talk about “old people” keep it off the record because not everybody agrees with me on this, but if it sounds good, go ahead and use it. There’s a scene in town called the Chippewa Chapel crowd.  They’re all 35-60 years old. Maybe some of them are older. They sort of have a dominance over the town. They’ve been here for a very long time, they know everyone in local radio, they know everyone at the RFT–the Riverfront Times–who also own the Pitch in Kansas City. They’re both owned by the Village Voice. They have this little monopoly going on where they their own fanbase and they release their own records. Not all the records are good. It is hard to break into an “indie” scene in St. Louis because it doesn’t really exist for my age group. I’m 21 and when you are in a smaller town where there’s an older scene already established, you can’t break into it. There’s no possible way. There’s this weird competition between bands here to play venues. Indie venues include the Firebird, the Biliken club at SlU, Off Broadway, the Pageant which is like your guys’ Granada. Cicero’s is indie, but it’s not very cool. There’s a place called LEMP Art Center. It’s very different than any venue you could go to in St. Louis or anywhere in general. It’s kind of the birthplace of noise music. It’s kind of a sanctuary for indie rock and indie folk or anything weird that comes from all over the United States. It is a very little place and they sell nothing but tickets to the show. Sometimes very few people are there and sometimes the whole place is packed. It’s just this room where you go in and you play with one lamp on and it is incredible. I play my best shows there when I play acoustic. That’s the scene that I consider here. I could name drop a few artists?

B: Yeah. It would be cool to hear some of the younger artists’ names.
CM: There’s this girl here named Amanda Kofron who is one the best singers I’ve ever heard and maybe one of the best singers in this entire town. I can’t spell it, but she’s great. A folk-rustic sounding. We have a St. Louisian in Kansas City now named Matt Dill. Have you heard of him?
B: I don’t think I have.
CM: Matt Dill is one of the best artists I’ve ever heard. He got a bunch of St. Louis artists together and he booked at a little gelattoria that we all used to play at and then I took his job when he moved to Kansas City. We have a handful of people that will play the same shows here. Matt plays folk combined with experimental noise music. It’s so cool. His newest album called Lila Rasa, I’ve never really heard anything like it: the mixture is so cool. He’s on a collective label out of Chicago with another a Kansas City kid, Doby Watson. Have you heard of Doby?
B: No. Maybe I know more of the Lawrence kids.
CM: Manipulator Alligator? There’s a couple of them. They’re all really good. I love the Kansas City scene. I go there all the time because my girlfriend’s family is there. Kansas City’s cool. I’d love to do Lawrence more, but it is very difficult to play Lawrence. It looks like you need a label to play there for the venues I’ve looked up.
B: The clubs all have promoters they go through for booking.
CM: They’re real serious. I like that, but they’re not really taking a gamble on bands. They want to know for sure that they can bring out a crowd. Oh have you heard of the Radical Sons?
B: Yeah.
CM: Ben Goldstein plays with them and is from here. They live in New York now. My cousin, Nick, is the guitar player for the Radical Sons. Nick plays on the new Bear Ceuse EP, too. He’s all over that thing and is very good. Another band is Via Dove. Another is Art Majors. Also check out a very good friend of mine named Raphael Maurice, you can find him attached to the Bear Ceuse MySpace. He is a mixture of the Replacements, My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses and his own thing. He’s in a band called Miles of Wire that was popular in St. Louis a few years ago. He’s like the smartest person I’ve ever met and his music is phenomenal. So that’s the St. Louis scene.

B: Awesome. I have a lot of music to check out and catch up on. Well, let’s wrap it up here. Great answers. Thanks so much.
CM: Thank you.

Kings of Leon, currently on a run of headlining the biggest festivals throughout the states, announced a headlining tour to carry throughout the end of October which featured an excellent headlining performance on day 1 of Austin City Limits when they were joined by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, but PopWreckoning was lucky enough to catch up with them before ACL. In regards to their St. Louis show, their show presence and abilities continue to grow as they become one of the bigger names in rock today. They showcased material both new and old for thousands of screaming St. Louisans who packed the Scottrade Center. Photos below.

Kings of Leon: website | myspace