Tucked deep within the southeast corner of Tower Grove South is the gritty and glittery Grey Fox Pub (3503 S Spring Ave), which serves as the corner bar for the numerous queer folks residing in the surrounding blocks—a decidedly less-gentrified part of the neighborhood some refer to as “Grey Fox Hills.” Later in the evening, the energy ramps up as a young, diverse crowd from hundreds of miles around fills the cabaret for vibrant, high-energy drag shows.
Manna Steticçc Highland hosts the popular Freaky Friday show.
“Grey Fox was the first venue I performed at in St. Louis, and I almost immediately fell in love,” Highland says. “For a first-timer, I’m sure it just feels like a run-of-the-mill dive bar, but to some of us it’s a place where you can go and really let loose and not feel judged by those around you. It’s a place to go if you don’t know what kind a time you’re looking for, but a time will be be had there for sure!”
Grey Fox Pub. Photo by Justin Lehman
This Saturday, the bar celebrates 36 years with a “Dog Days of Summer” celebration. “We’re proud to be the longest-running bar in the LGBTQIA+ community, and we’re looking forward to the years yet to come,” said General Manager Max Michael Klapp.
The celebration starts at 5 p.m. with a customer appreciation hour, followed by live music on the bamboo-lined patio from 6 to 10 p.m. A supersized rendition of Curios Chaos Drag Show begins at 10 p.m. The bar will be raising money for Care STL, a local rehoming organization and animal shelter, with a 50/50 raffle and prizes.
Klapp hopes that Saturday is a homecoming, but also an opportunity for new folks to visit. “We welcome any and all of our patrons, past and present, to come and participate in the festivities. We open at 2 p.m. for our wallflowers and social introverts who don’t like too big of a crowd, and we’re open until 1:30 a.m. for our party animals and night owls!”
Beloved bartender Terry Lewis, who worked there from 2007 to 2021, is planning to attend around 6 p.m. When asked for his thoughts on Grey Fox, Lewis said, “For me, it was the shows. I was so thankful to [owners] Rob and Jeff [Kerr] for letting me give performers their own shows. Many of them were just kids and nobody was going to give them a show, but I did that for them, and now I watch their success as they perform far and wide.”
Grey Fox certainly has been a springboard for many, and that stage has witnessed many memorable moments, from Ming Lee spraying herself and the audience with beer during an outrageous performance, to a group of visiting Pittsburgh rugby players doing a strip tease, and of course there was the night Michelle McCausland and Tumara Mahorning performed a really long number while friends secretly cleaned out McCausland’s dressing room for her clandestine exit.
The bar has had a great run, reinventing itself repeatedly along the way, and serving as a springboard for countless entertainers. Queer spaces are vanishing at a rapid clip. Let’s stop in to celebrate Grey Fox’s longevity.
