The venue is a well marked venue located on Manchester Avenue just within the The Grove neighborhood with good signage and ample off street FREE parking that I felt safe leaving my car. It is a non-smoking venue although the do have a nice covered back patio that suffices for that. The staff from the doorman to the bartender to the audio engineer were a quite affable. Seating was plentiful from the bar, to cocktail tables, to some slightly elevated cozy booths and couch areas. The dance floor was old school, wooden, and of decent size for quite a few to shake their tail feathers. One point I would make is that a pair of Etymotic in ear plugs or even the cheaper foam ones would stand you well as the sound is quite loud on the dance floor. For all of you drinkers: the beer selection was pretty darn impressive, the mixed drinks were tasty to boot, as to the hit to your pocket book...everything was priced very economically. My one tip would be that the 2 main speaker stacks could come somehow be hung or mounted from the ceiling which in my humble opinion would dramatically improve the overall acoustics. All in all, a nice overall package that lets you get a mere foot from the artist you are attending. I was reminded of the many great clubs that many of us were first exposed to music in.
The crowd last night could have been attended a bit better from my perspective but it was Ash Wednesday night in St. Louis, cold, misting, and threatening potential late night snow which when combined tend to keep your average St. Louis fan cozy and warm in their home. To that, all I can say is that you missed a great performance.
New Orleans' native Glen David Andrews comes from another of those many great family's with a wonderful tradition in all things music. You might recognize the name as he is Trombone Shorty's cousin. He was playing the trombone and on vocals with his mostly native NOLA band backing him up on trumpet, skins, guitar, stand up bass, and keys with the occasional vocals. The music ranged from Earl King to the Jackson Five so this was a Nawlin's brass band that has the chops to occasionally break free from that great style to play funk, r & b, and what I am sure were a couple of their our tunes. Glen as the band leader had the chops to get the sedentary, at least in the beginning, audience up and shaking their collective bootys. He and his band are well worth keeping track off as they have the talent, vibe, and cross-cultural appeal that is so important in moving forward.
It was nice to see several familiar faces as well as meet several very friendly club patrons. The Regional Arts Commission, KDHX, and the Washington University graduate school of Fine Arts were represented. Ladies and gentlemen, it was a pleasure..see you soon. :-)
Note to the wise: the club will be celebrating it's 3rd anniversary with a Southern roots and soul band by the name of Uncle Lucius who hail from Texas this Friday. The cover is nominal and a portion of the proceeds go to benefit our local musical treasure....KDHX 88.1 FM! So get your butts out there and go see and hear some live music this week.
Namaste,
Mati :-D
Disclosure: I was not paid to write this review. My tickets were comp'ed by KDHX. I do on occasion volunteer as a live audio engineer for KDHX. This was prepared and sent using the Blogaway Android client from my Samsung G1 smartphone.
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