El Monstero, The Definitive Pink Floyd Tribute Experience, features some of the most talented musicians and singers of the St. Louis music scene. On lead vocals is Mark Thomas Quinn (of Joe Dirt and Celebration Day), joined on stage by guitarist Jimmy Griffin (of the Incurables and Celebration Day), guitarist Bryan Greene (of the Wyld Stallyns), bassist Kevin Gagnepain (of Stir, Shooting With Annie and Joe Dirt), percussionist John Pessoni (of Stir, the Urge and Joe Dirt), keyboardist Bill Reiter (of the Urge), and keyboardist Jake Elking (of Buz). Saxophonist Dave Farver (of Superjam and King of Pain) rounds out the group with standout backup vocalists Ermine Cannon, Tandra Williams and Melinda (Mindy) Mierek. El Monstero began performing in 1999 and has grown into both a holiday and summer tradition for fans of Pink Floyd in St. Louis and around the Midwest. The band spares no expense to create a visual and audio experience to compliment the depth of the music of Pink Floyd.
Flip through the gallery for 10 Things You Might Not Know About El Monstero!
The 1st El Monstero show was at Mississippi Nights in November of 1999 and played to about 900 people
El Monstero’s front of house engineer, Tim Kresko, inadvertently named the band by writing “El Monstero Was Here” in dressing rooms across the country while touring as Stir’s FOHE in the late 90s
The band used a circular trampoline in the early days as a screen to show the Wizard of Oz during Dark Side of the Moon. The “screen” was actually the keyboard player’s kid’s trampoline
Lead guitarist Jimmy Griffin was born at Travis Air Force Base in California in 1968
Mark Quinn's paternal cousin, Charlie Allen Martin, was the drummer / back-up singer in Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band from 1974-77
The ladies of El Monstero (Mindy, Ermine and Tandra) have been singing together in church since 1998. This was one year before the first show, but it took several years before they all became members of El Monstero
In 2001, Capitol / EMI let El Monstero borrow Pink Floyd’s giant inflatable pig that had been living on the roof of the Capitol Tower in Hollywood to announce the release of Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd. The pig was trucked to St. Louis and inflated behind the Pageant to greet fans as they lined up for the holiday shows
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is a huge El Monstero fan and declared "El Monstero Day in the City of St. Louis" on the eve of the band's 15th anniversary shows
Frank Shaw, a long-time tech of the band, suffered a heart attack just hours before the show at Art Hill but was resuscitated and saved by the pyro guy and the caterer, Kevin Paglusch (L) and Bill Mahler (R)
In 2013, El Monstero sold more tickets in St. Louis than any other artist (app. 23,000)
