June 13, 2007
Slamming at RAC
Oh, it's been a while now! My Loop Rat days are almost 20 years past. Time has seperated me from all those afternoons spent hanging out at Bob Putnam's 20th Century Books, the Varsity Theatre and smaller versions of Cicero's, Streetside and Vintage Vinyl. A big part of the scene in the dawn of the '90s was the Wabash Triangle Cafe, a funky joint located on the geographical footprint that's now the Pageant. In a time when the Loop absolutely died at the intersection of Delmar and Skinker, the Wabash was the first business to test the eastern side of the Loop.
Run by Calvin Case - who'd often be the only worker on duty, bartending, flipping burgers and cracking wise simultaneously - this was one seriously odd spot, with a mix of entertainment that included sad-sack songwriters, energetic punks like the young Fragile Porcelain Mice and more slam-style poets than you could count.
We're alerted to an event this week that celebrates that group, along with their slamming followers. Compliments of David Dandridge:
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What: Up from the Ashes: Poets of the Wabash Triangle Cafe
When: Saturday, June 16th, 2007 Doors: 7:30pm Show: 8pm
Where: The Regional Arts Commission 6128 Delmar (East of the Loop )
Cost: Suggested Donation $5.00. No one will be turned away, so bring your broke ass on down.
See some of the best of the old school and new school St. Louis performance poets from the Wabash Triangle Cafe all the way to the 2007 St. Louis Slam Team: Hari Sky Campbell, Margeau Steinau, Paul Stewart, Maria Guadalupe Massey, Linda Lawson Mixon, John Newmark and more. Hosted by David Wraith and filmed for the upcoming documentary "The Roof is on Fire."