Robert E. Matonis (January 12, 1953 – July 27, 2023), better known as Beatle Bob, was an American dancer and a well-known figure in the St. Louis, Missouri music scene.
[1][3] In 1966, while at Mount Providence, Matonis and fellow pupil Ed Zachow established a rock & roll newsletter entitled U.S. - the United Saviours.
[1] After Mount Providence, Matonis attended Augustinian Academy in South St. Louis, and then Southwest High School, graduating in 1971.
[1] Matonis first adopted "Beatle Bob" as a nickname in 1980, when he began contributing to the now-defunct music magazine Jet Lag.
[1][5][3] According to one local musician, Matonis came to be considered a tastemaker, and his attendance at a concert meant that the band in question was "cool".
[9] Matonis claimed to have been to at least one live show every night since Christmas Eve 1996,[5] and seen over 10,000 bands over the last decade,[citation needed] which he chronicled in a "dance diary".
[citation needed] He introduced Camper van Beethoven and The Flaming Lips at Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival in Lawrence, Kansas in June 2006.
[citation needed] On August 3, 2007, Matonis was seen at the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago, Illinois, dancing onstage with The Polyphonic Spree and introducing a Mississippi band, Colour Revolt.
[citation needed] He also introduced the Sam Roberts Band onstage on August 4, 2007, and spent their set dancing offstage.
[11] Matonis cited the James Brown & the Famous Flames concert at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis on April 21, 1968, as his all-time favorite.
[4][3] On January 23, 2023, Matonis announced on social media that due to the effects of ALS, his concert streak would be coming to an end.
[citation needed] Beatle Bob and his dancing are featured in the video for "My Kind of Soldier" by Guided By Voices,[14][15] and in Lit's DVD "All Access".
[1] A profile for local public radio station KWMU described it as "the most awkward, yet intense version of the "white man dance" you've ever seen".
Robert Schneider of The Apples in Stereo said that "in a business that breeds pretension, it's heartwarming to see someone respond so honestly to the music".
[1] Some concert-goers also found his frenetic dancing disruptive and selfish; a website was set up by a local music fan, beatlebobsitdown.com, for other audience members to post complaints about Matonis.