Scene 1: Everest
Outside: a cold, dark, damp, dreary night. February 24, 2020. St. Louis City, Missouri. Inside: a sold-out crowd at the concert venue Delmar Hall begin tossing paper airplanes while patiently awaiting the start of Saint Motel’s concert to begin. The lights go out. The crowd erupts. A wave of symphonic music fills the room. Frontman A/J Jackson appears from the side door next to the stage with only an oil lamp to lead his way. Donned in a winter parka he searches his way, calling for help, reaching the crowd. A voice (sounding a bit like James Earl Jones) over the speakers narrates Jackson’s journey — a man trapped on Mount Everest. Will he survive? The crowd waits. Then, the voice booms, “he’s alive!” Jackson bounds onto stage, tossing his coat aside revealing a smart, sleek, secret agent-style tux, while the band erupts into the catchy “Cold Cold Man.”
Find more photos from the St. Louis concert here: http://bit.ly/SMotel20cz
The act continues with “Diane Mozart,” “For Elise,” “Sweet Talk,” and before the lighthearted “Sisters” Jackson pauses to say, “Hello St. Louis. It’s been a minute. We love St. Louis. Last time we were right here 2 years ago.” He then asks everyone to meet their neighbors, “say hello to the person to your right,” as well as to sing along.
Scene 2: Military March
Jackson appears in military garb while the looming voice from above tells about an evil dictator before Jackson guides the crowd in a series of “Hey’s” which lead into the pulsing “Dictator.” This scene included “Puzzle Pieces” and a cover of Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started” (pause and wonder if this scene has a deeper meaning) and “Move.”
Scene 3: Space
A spaceship and a green alien open this scene. Jackson, this time decked out in a spacesuit, climbs into the spaceship which is then passed through the crowd. After Jackson leaves the ship he peels off the spacesuit, dramatically flinging it to one side eliciting many appreciative squeals from the audience before singing the slower, melodic, “Save Me.” Prior to “Born Again,” Jackson chats up the crowd, “Someone told me it’s a Monday night. That’s great. Hardest night to come to a show. Thank you.”
Scene 4: Band Biopic
This may also be referred to as the encore of “The Motion Picture Show Tour.” Highlighting new (“Van Horn”) and old (“My Type”) favorites, Saint Motel proves they are still as fresh and captivating as they’ve always been. The 1.5-hour show closes with a black stage and the now familiar voice declaring, “Tonight we were free, tonight we were beautiful.”
Look for Part 2 and Part 3 of Saint Motel’s THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK to be released in the near future.
Kolars (pronounced co-lars), also from L.A., opened the night with nearly 45-minutes of a little rockabilly, a little ’80s almost-new wave, a little rock, a little of, well, a lot. And if you look at their long list of influences from Elvis Presley and Little Richard to The Cure, Flaming Lips, The Bee Gees and more, you begin to hear the mix in their high energy, fun, glowing, flowing, glam songs. “Dizzy,” embodied a bit of what one might expect to hear during either the opening or closing credits in an ’80s classic John Hughes movie.
The duo sparkled not only with their mirrored outfits and instruments but with their sound while drummer Lauren Brown entranced the crowd with her ability to tap dance while drumming.
Find all the photos from the St. Louis concert here: http://bit.ly/SMotel20cz
Find out what’s coming to Delmar Hall next: https://www.delmarhall.com/calendars/
