Author Archives: Ian

About Ian

When his childhood dreams of being a paleontologist in Jurassic Park fizzled out, Ian turned to writing. He likes hoops, Pens hockey, the Sax Guy on Roberto Clemente Bridge, and breakfast at DeLuca's in the Strip.

Weekend Music Events: Where You Should Be and When

So there are a ton of exciting things happening music and concert-wise this weekend through the Three Rivers Arts Festival starting Friday, June 7th as well as the start of the “Weather Permitting” concert series this Sunday, June 9th. Here’s a chronological list of all the bands coming by day and time of performance as well as what stage they will be performing on.

Three Rivers Arts Festival: 

Because there are multiple stages, you may find this map to be helpful.

Friday June 7th: 

12:00pm-1:00pm Indie pop rock band Jd Eicher and the Goodnights will be playing on the Dollar Bank Stage

Acousticafe, “Pittsburgh’s Best new singer/songwriters”, will be performing on the Second Stage at Gateway Center from 5:00pm-7:00pm

Jazz band Poogie Bell will be playing from 5:30pm-9:00pm in Katz Plaza

And the River City Brass Band will play at Point Stage Park  from 5:00pm-6:00 pm

6:15pm- 6:55pm Happy, dance music from Donora also on the Dollar Bank Stage

7:30pm-9:00pm The Headliner for Friday night is California-native, indie folk rock band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

English: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros ...

English: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros performing at Lollapalooza Chile Español: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros tocando en Lollapalooza Chile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Known for the popular singles “Home”,  “Janglin”, and “40 Day Dream” from their debut album Up from Below, as well as songs from last year’s follow-up album Here,  Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros will cap off the evening on the Dollar Bank Stage. The band will also be releasing a self-titled third album set to release on July 23rd. As a side note lead singer Alex Ebert is also the lead singer of Ima Robot, the group responsible for the awesome theme song of the popular USA network series Suits. 

All fan-hood aside, I digress from the rest of the weekend music happenings.

Saturday June 8th: 

Arts Greenhouse Collective, a local hip hop education program, will school you with original beats and rhymes while performing from 12:00pm-12:30pm as well as 2:00pm-2:30pm on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone.

Soundwaves Steel Band will be performing from 12:30pm-1:00pm as well as 1:30pm-2:00pm also on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone

The Unknown String Band, “folk-grass pickin’ partners” from Pittsburgh will be on the Second Stage at Gateway Center from 1:00pm-2:00pm

The Shelf Life String Band, a bluegrass string quintet, will be performing from 3:00pm-4:00pm and from 5:00pm-5:45pm on the Second Stage at Gateway Center

YMCA Lighthouse Music Crew & Step Team, which features youth hip-hop and step routine, will perform on the  Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone from 3:00pm-4:00pm

The Arts Festival will feature a ton of other great bluegrass bands on Saturday. Starting with the Allegheny Drifters from 2:00pm-3:00pm on the Dollar Bank Stage.

Great American Taxi will be bringing bluegrass infused rock Americana to the Dollar Bank Stage from 6:00 pm-7:15pm

Saturday night will cap off with bluegrass and American music legend Ralph Stanley, who will also be performing on the Dollar Bank Stage from 7:30pm-9:00pm

Sunday June 9th:

Acousticafe will play a second show from 1:00pm-5:00pm on the Second Stage at Gateway Center

AcoustiKids (a branch off of Acousticafe) will perform a show for children on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone from 2:00pm-4:00pm

WYEP Re(imagiNATION) Showcase will be, well, showcasing some of Pittsburgh’s emerging teen musicians from 4:00pm-6:00pm on the Family Stage at Giant Eagle Creativity Zone

Big With Seed, an 8-piece “groove-laden rock” band, will perform from 1:00pm-2:30pm on the Dollar Bank Stage

Sleep Experiments will be bringing “ambient dream pop” to the Dollar Bank Stage from 3:00pm-4:00pm

The Deceptions will perform a rock, folk, Americana fusion from 4:30pm-5:30pm  on the Dollar Bank Stage

Grand Piano, a 6-piece local rock band, will perform on the Dollar Bank Stage from 6:00pm-7:00pm

And the first weekend of Arts Fest Music will cap off with Cello Fury featuring Joy Ike and Scott Blasey of the Clarks, this one-night only collaboration will perform from 7:30pm-9:00pm on the Dollar Bank Stage

WEATHER PERMITTING CONCERT SERIES BEGINNING JUNE 9TH:Weather Permitting Concert Series June 9th Poster

Starting June 9th Shadyside Nursery will be hosting a concert series in collaboration with Fukuda and Pandemic titled “Weather Permitting PGH.” Together they’re bringing a great mix of music, relaxation, food, drink, and summer fun every Sunday evening from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm. The concert series is called Weather Permitting and it boasts a “chilled out, relaxed, bring a blanket and some wine, nurse the hangover, bring the kids” environment.

The weekly outdoor concert will take place every Sunday through the rest of summer and is looking to bring in a diverse audience through, for lack of a better word, a diverse collection of musical groups, food vendors/trucks and children’s activities.

Admission is $10, which includes a complimentary beverage with proof of ID. Kids get in free, again this weekly event is family friendly. Shadyside Nursery is located on 510 Maryland Avenue (at the corner of Ellsworth Ave.) This looks like a great event if you’re looking to experience something a little different each week.

This Sunday’s Performers Include:

Lungs Face Feet, a local 8 piece brass, accordion, percussion band. They’re great fun as evidenced here:

Check out them out on Facebook.

Sunday will also feature Taluna, a Mediterranean folk/”Spacefolk” band from Italy.

Listen to more Taluna on their website.

Phew, that’s a lot to digest (and that’s not another strange band name, don’t worry). See you out there this weekend, I’ll be cutting it up at a few of these shows. Check back each week for more weekend music updates.

Pens Game Day: Bar Specials Around Town

With all the trouble and conflict of interest in drinking Samuel Adams in this Eastern Conference Finals match-up against the Boston Bruins, I thought it’d be a good idea to provide some possible options of places to watch the Pens game for tonight, Friday night’s game, and future game nights (Pens in 6, of course).

Samuel Adams BanSo here’s a quick list of some good places and where they’re located that have some great specials for game nights:

Primanti Bros– All Suburban Location Primanti Bros offer $1.00 drafts and $1.00 pizza slices for dine-in customers during all Penguin games. Plus there’s also the chance to get some free cheese fries through their twitter promotion, “Twitter Fries.” So if you haven’t already follow Primanti Bros and get your hands on some free fries.

Buckhead Saloon in Station Square is offering private Pens parties to watch the game on one of their four large projectors or multiple flat screen televisions. Reservations guarantee a free Miller Lite pitcher plus $2 20 oz. Miller Lite drafts (4 person minimum). You can register for a reservation here.

The Blind Pig Tavern- 2210 East Carson Street in the South Side is offering 16 oz. Labatt Blue during the games for only $2.50.

Carson City Saloon-1401 East Carson Street also in the South Side offers a rooftop deck along with “the best game time specials in the ‘Burgh.”

Smiling Moose- Another South Side bar offering drink specials for the game (surprised?), the Smiling Moose is starting a $2 Labatt Blue pint special along with special food offers when the puck drops on their 180″ projector screen. Reservations are also available.

James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy  on 422 Foreland St. is also offering a projector screen for live game action along with $2 Labatts.

Red Beard’s Bar and Grill- There are two locations for this place, the original at 201 Shiloh Street (Mt. Washington), and the new location Downtown on Sixth Street. They’re both offering pretty much the same special for the games which is $2 Off any Starter & $2 Miller Lite Bottles. However the Downtown location offers $3 Miller Lite drafts instead of $2 bottles.

Hough’s Taproom and Brewpub at 563 Greenfield Ave. will also offer a $3 20 oz. Labatt Blue offer with wing specials as well.

I’m sure there are tons of other specials that I missed so if you know of any others feel free to comment here or share on our twitter or facebook page. But for now if you’re thirsty (particularly for Miller Lite or Labatt Blue in the South Side)  and looking to head somewhere to watch the Pens game tonight give one of these places a shot. Hopefully there will be plenty of reasons to have a celebratory drink tonight unlike the first two games in this series. Let’s Go Pens!

Free Pens Towel

The Pens Play Tomorrow: You Should Be at the FedEx Ground Fan Zone

The FedEx Ground Fan Zone outside of Consol Energy Center unveiled a new “big screen”  last week for the Penguin’s 2013 Stanley Cup playoff run. Since 2008, “Mario’s TV” (officially dubbed the Trib Total Media “Big Screen”) has been a great chance for fans who don’t have the opportunity to experience playoff hockey to come together, get rowdy, and support the Pens. It’s become a playoffs staple, and a great Pittsburgh tradition the past 5 years.

And now there’s even more to be excited about as the new screen is 11′ wider 6′ taller than before and boosts a high-resolution LED screen (now it’s 27′ by 15′). So if you’ve gone in the past and had trouble seeing, it shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I went last week for the Pens game 5 close-out victory over the Ottawa Senators and sat in the back row and had no issues seeing the screen.

 

The FedEx Ground Fan Zone is located on the corner of Centre Ave. and Mario Lemieux Place, where Mellon arena once stood (single tear).   It opens up 4 hours before game time for home games and 2 hours prior for road games. Tomorrow’s game starts at 8 p.m. and is at home, so for those who are uninterested in math the Fan Zone will be open at 4 p.m. There will be live performances, great promotions/giveaways, and general fanfare/merriment.

No grills, glass, or alcoholic beverages. Safety First!

Game 1 against the Bruins is tomorrow, Let’s Go Pens!

As an added bonus we were all given free towels. Props to my brother for the excellently timed Vine and shot of the Gulf Tower goal light.

AliJumps

Pittsburgh is “Awesome”: A $1000 Grant, Skydiving, and Supporting Haitian Families

This is quite the story of three local organizations supporting, networking, and helping each other out. It starts with Awesome Pittsburgh, a chapter of the Awesome Foundation which helps grant people, groups, or organizations catch-free money to help them put their brilliant ideas into action. Every month a new winner is announced. Awesome Pittsburgh wants “to hear your best ideas for making the Pittsburgh region stand out in the global economy, for connecting our communities, for celebrating art or technology, for making the community a better place to live, work, and play, or for simply surprising and delighting your fellow Pittsburghers.”

Applications for, well, awesome ideas can be completed online. The deadline for each application is the 1st of every month.

 

More information about Awesome Pittsburgh can be found on their website, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

 

Through Awesome Pittsburgh, Michelle Thom launched “60 Seconds of Pure Freedom,” which gives people the chance to sky dive and experience what Michelle calls “the epitome of freedom” who may not have had the opportunity otherwise. “60 Seconds of Pure Freedom” looks for deserving candidates of the community to be nominated and given the award of a tandem skydive.

Submit your nominations for the 60 Seconds of Pure Freedom Award at pure.freedom@rocketmail.com (the deadline for June is May 31).

 

AliJumpsNow Haitian Families First enters the picture. Haitian Families First is a non-profit aimed at fighting poverty by keeping Haitian families together through the provision of “holistic support to all members of the family, in ways that lead them toward sustainability”. The company was started by two Pittsburgh-native sisters, Jamie and Ali McMutrie.

As a fundraising effort for HFF, Jamie and Ali launched an Indiegogo campaign to help continue to raise money for families in Haiti. Ali has a tremendous fear of heights, but she planned to “conquer her fear for GOOD” while raising money and awareness for HFF and their cause and happened to perform the “Dive to Thrive” jump through 60 Seconds of Pure Freedom.

How awesome (pun INTENDED) that all of these local organizations came together and helped one another out for great, positive causes.

[as a side note, the Dive to Thrive video on Indiegogo was done by our friend Noah Purdy from Rustbelt Almanac]

Information Penn Brewery Microbrewer Fest 2013

17th Annual Microbrew Fest at Penn Brewery

This Saturday, June 1, Penn Brewery will host the 17th annual PA Microbrewers’ Fest. The beer fest will be held over two, three hour sessions from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature around 30 local brewers as well as live performances by the Flow Band and Big Leg Emma along with a food tent featuring Penn Brew food favorites like pulled pork sandwiches, grilled sausages, and hot kraut.

Information Penn Brewery Microbrewer Fest 2013Tickets are $45 each and can be purchased here or at the door on Saturday. If ordered online tickets must be picked up at roll call with photo I.D.

Parking locations: North Catholic Highschool, Sara Heinz Hall, and Schiller Academy parking lots located near the brewery.

Follow Penn Brewery on Twitter (@PennBrewery) for updates.

 

 

Penn Brewery on Urbanspoon