The forecast for Thursday (Apr. 17) promises spring, and I’m exceedingly excited to take in our first outdoor concert of the season over at Union Station. OK, so technically the stage is in a covered pavilion, but the roof is high enough that you’ll still feel the tantalizing, 70-degree caress of open air. (And maybe this time spring will stick around like it’s supposed to!)
Although we’re big fans of setting up a picnic on grass at outdoor concert venues, at this time of year the concrete patio on the west end of the downtown mall (called the South Plaza Lake Stage) will probably be more comfortable than any soggy patch of grass. As is typical with outdoor concerts, you can bring snacks and chairs and plan to camp out, as it were, for the duration, 5 to 8:30 p.m. The opening band is Klose’nuff (led by Mark Klose of K-Hits radio station, 96.3 FM), playing classic rock favorites. Then Heartsfield takes over, with its tagline “Rockin’ the Country,” and that pretty much describes what you’ll be hearing.
The Sounds at the Station series is every third Thursday from April to September, and the lineup posted online looks great. Next month’s show, Gentleman Auction House, is a great opportunity to see one of St. Louis’ hottest bands without paying a cover at a bar or buying concert tickets. And that sums up what I love so much about St. Louis’ open-air concert tradition — it seems every musician and band in the city is willing to play these shows, even if their next gig will be at a sold-out concert hall in New York City.
