El Monstero Tickets

El Monstero
Made up of musicians from the St. Louis (MO) music scene, El Monstero Y Los Masked Avengers is a Pink Floyd tribute band. Since 1999 this local tribute has ballooned into a holiday tradition that brings out thousands of fans and spans multiple nights at the Pageant.

2008 will mark the 10th year of celebrating the music of Pink Floyd and it is one of the highlights of the year for everyone involved at the Pageant Nightclub in St. Louise.

El Monstero is comprised of Mark Thomas Quinn (lead vocals/guitar/lap steel guitar), Jimmy Griffin (lead vocals/guitar), Kevin Gagnepain (bass/vocals), Bryan Greene (electric and acoustic guitar), John Pessoni (drums/vocals), Bill Reiter (keyboard/vocals), Jake Elking (keyboard), Dave Farver (saxophone), Ermine Cannon, Tandra Williams, and Mindy Mierek (vocals).

All of the musicians are St. Louis natives and most have been in bands that were signed to major labels. El Monstero is a brainchild of bassist Kevin Gagnepain, who was also the member of another acclaimed rock band called Stir formed in 1994. Other members included childhood friends, lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Schmidt and drummer Brad Booker.

After heir showcase at the 1995 South By Southwest festival, they were signed by Aware Records and released their self-titled debut. Though it was rather low budget, but it received some airplay. Eventually signing with Capitol Records, Stir produced a more focused, radio-friendly follow-up with 2000's Holy Dogs.

Stir made a name for themselves through their extensive touring and glossy power-pop. However, the band unofficially broke up in 2005, shortly after Andy and Kevin played an acoustic concert on 11/26 at The Pageant in St. Louis, in support of a local musicians showcase. During that hiatus, several Stir members established themselves in new musical efforts as solo artists or with new bands.

During that time Kevin and John started playing as a bar cover band ending up playing Dark Side of the Moon, every night. At some point during that year they decided to put together a whole night of Pink Floyd. Now they are fully established as a Pink Floyd tribute show entitled Wish You Were Here under the name El Monstero Y Los Masked Avengers.

Their first appearance was a single night, sold out show at Mississippi Nights in 1999. By 2007 the show spanned 5 nights at The Pageant in St Louise. Through 2005, Schmidt participated in this as well, but he has not been involved for the last two years.

The usual schedule is 2 to 4 shows which take place at The Pageant in St. Louis during the week leading up to Christmas. Due to popular demand, local Pink Floyd tribute band El Monstero Y Los Masked Avengers added a fifth show in 2007 and a sisxth one has also been added to this years holiday schedule.

Formed in 1965, Pink Floyd was one of rock's most successful acts, having sold 73.5 million albums in the US alone. It comprised of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Roger Keith Syd Barrett, bassist/vocalist Roger Waters, keyboardist/pianist Richard Wright, and drummer Nick Mason. The group is also believed to have sold an estimated 175 to 200 million albums worldwide.

Their early combination of music and visuals set the standard for subsequent rock tours on both sides of the Atlantic. Pink Floyd is renowned for their lavish stage shows, combining over-the-top visual experiences with their music to create a show in which the performers themselves are almost secondary.

In their early days, Pink Floyd were among the first bands to use a dedicated traveling light show in conjunction with their performances, projecting slides, film clips, pyrotechnics (exploding flashpots and the exploding gong and fireworks) and psychedelic patterns onto a large circular screen (dubbed Mr. Screen).

Their massively successful 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon, went on to sell over 35 million copies worldwide and still sells around 250,000 copies a year, more than any other album of the 70s. Although the album hit #2 in U.K., it managed to become the band's first #1 on U.S. charts, a huge improvement over the last albums.

The critically-acclaimed album stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for an unprecedented 741 weeks (including 591 consecutive weeks from 1973 to 1988), the world record, and making it one of the top-selling albums of all time. On 16 November 2005 Pink Floyd were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, by Pete Townshend.

The crowds at their concerts, exuberant in their approval, always enthused over every minute of the dazzling pyrotechnics, the mesmerising light show with the famous gold lasers (reportedly having atom-splitting capabilities), the rotating globe spewing light on the crowd.

Following that tradition, El Monstero also hires the best sound, lighting, visual, wardrobe and set designers in the St. Louis area. All this has helped them to develop a massive loyal fan base. The band utilizes pyrotechnics, lasers, actors, dancers and aerial artists to create a complete visual and audio experience to compliment the depth of the music of Pink Floyd.

The nearly three hour production focuses on the Gilmore/Waters era of Pink Floyd, featuring songs off of the albums: Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Over the years, as the show as grown, the band has 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. Every year they have added a few other tricks to the show like a light/laser show. According to them, this year's light show is the biggest they have ever used, more pyro, multiple lasers and a few other surprises!