December 19, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27 The Pageant, St. Louis Calling all Floyd fans ... The holidays in St. Louis mean the return of an annual musical tradition known as El Monstero y los Masked Avengers. El Monstero is a week-long tribute to Pink Floyd made up of some of the most notorious members of the St. Louis music scene including brainchild and former Stir bassist Kevin Gagnepain and his band-mate in Stir and Joe Dirt, drummer John Pessoni among others. I caught up with Gagnepain earlier this week for a quick interview before the annual El Monstero shows, celebrating their 10thanniversary this year. How did El Monstero get started? Whose idea was it? When we started doing the show, Stir was on tour. We would always try to get home for Christmas, so that was the best time to get everyone together. I'm not sure, but I think the first year might have actually been on Thanksgiving weekend at Mississippi Nights. The show came out of a Stir side project. We were in between records, waiting to go on tour, so we decided to start a cover band to make a little dough and keep our chops up. We didn't want it to be "Stir" because by this point we were signed to Capitol and didn't want to downplay our image in St. Louis. We got our friend Mark Quinn to sing, and Andy, Brad and I backed him up. We ended every show with the second half of Dark Side of the Moon. People seemed toreally dig it, so we decided to put together an entire show of Pink Floyd music. Over the years, as the show as grown, we have grown the production into something very special and unique. It has become not only a holiday tradition for the people involved with the show, but for many folks and their families in the St. Louis area. What is the meaning of the name? When we were on tour with Stir, our sound guy (who is still the sound engineer for El Monstero y los Masked Avengers) used to get a sharpie marker and write "El Monstero was here" in everydressing room of every club we played in. It was kind of an inside joke. I added the "y los Masked Avengers" when we started the cover band with Mark. We used to wear Lone Ranger masks to make it seem like we were trying to hide our identity. It was great to hear how the St. Louis rumor mill spun reasons for us wearing the masks. It really helped build some hype about the band. What are your favorite Floyd songs to play? For me it's "Hey You." I love playing the fretless bass solos. Crowd favorites are always "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," "Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2," and "Wish You Were Here," so those are great to play because we really connect with the audience. Anything else you'd like people to know about the show? Get there early - we always have a few tricks up our sleeve. | Amy Burger
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