St. Louis is a music city. Its breadth and depth of genre alone will delight any music fan willing to pay a small cover charge to one of the region’s many venues.
At the inaugural Free 4 All music showcase in the Grand Center and Midtown neighborhoods last weekend, St. Louis’ music lovers were spoiled rotten. A hundred local acts with sonic range from hip-hop, indie rock, EDM, folk and root music were all given time to shine at no cost. Attendees of all walks of life flowed freely from venues like Sophie’s Artist Lounge and .ZACK for DJ and acoustic sets.
Music scene veterans like Bates at the Dark Room, Bruiser Queen at Sally’s Rooftop Garden & Terrace and Big Mike Aguirre fresh from his five-year stay in the Caribbean post-COVID lockdown did a solo set at the Urban Chestnut Biergarten. They shared stages with newer “so St. Louis” outfits like Glass Mattress — which Free 4 All co-founder Joe Hess highlighted on July’s St. Louis on the Air new music episode — and Soumir who is no stranger to the stage but recently started performing their own original music.
Putting on two full days of music across nine stages, making sure musicians are taken care of and audiences entertained is no easy feat — and Free 4 All organizers are already planning their return next year. Until then, showcase attendees have these pictures to relive a weekend full of music and community.
See photos from Free 4 All from St. Louis' Theo Welling and Mabel Suen:
