Category Archives: Music

Git Aht! – Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while detoxing your body of the Tryptophan…)

Friday, November 24
Good Friday Wine Tasting, 5:30 p.m., The Warhol, North Shore Side
warhol_wine_bottle It’s the last Friday of them month and that means wine and cheese at the Warhol. It’s a delightfully tasteful and refined way to start your weekend, although, let’s be honest – our weekend started Wednesday night, and then kinda paused for turkey and a nap yesterday, and will now kick back in. Sample four wines provided by Big Burrito, and mix it up with cheeses, fruits, nuts, and other assorted trappings of a wine tasting. Reservations are ok, but walk-ins are also welcome.

I’m not really big on wine tastings (as the people at a wine and cheese party I went to last night can attest. I was all like “Yo, where’s the American individually-wrapped processed cheesefood slices? Where’s the Velveeta? Where’s that 5 pound block of government cheese they gave us when I was a kid?”), but I do know what I like. I like wine that gets me toasty. That’s good wine. Beyond that, I’m a philistine.

Reel Big Fish, 7:00 p.m.,Mr. Smalls Funhahse, Milvale
lightupnightThe “Third Wave Ska Band” makes a stop at Mr. Smalls for an all ages show tonight. They were recently dropped by their label, which for most bands is a bad thing, but they were hoping for it for a long time, working to get out of it, get back to what they want to do, which involves starting off tunes with a trombone version of the Imperial Death March from Star Wars. They’re known for awesome covers at their live shows, including a fantastic version of A-Ha’s “Take on me” which was featured in the movie “BASEketball”. Like to hear it? Here it is:

Soulcialism, 10:00 p.m., The White Eagle, Sahsside
soulcialismAnother monthly (mostly) event, Soulcialism powers up the turntables and loads them full of the best in sixties and seventies Northern Soul music tonight at the White Eagle. Cheap drinks, great music, and lots of dancing make for a great event. No cover makes it even better. Work off the stuffing with dancing, and see if that cute girl wants to teach you the mashed potato or the bony marony.Saturday, November 25
Celebrate The Season Parade, 9:00 a.m., Dahntahn

bbjones
No, the other one.

Macy’s picks up the Kaufmann’s tradition and throws a party to get you to shop at their store out of the goodness of their hearts and to “Celebrate The Season”. I’m assuming this means the holidays and not deer season, but I’ve ben wrong before, so, y’know. Wear orange just in case.

A bunch of people I’ve never heard of will be there, but so will Jim Kelly, East Brady’s pride and joy, and Mayor Luke too. Don’t forget to drink if he mentions “moving forward“, even if it’s just to get the parade moving, um, forward. Still counts.

Motorpsychos, 8:00 p.m., RPMs, Bridgeville
RPMs dahn Bridgeville is a bit of a haul, but this is probably worth it based on band name alone. Buning Earth and The Cosmosonics are there too. Burning Earth are the headliners, I think, but c’mon. Motorpsychos. So, all right, maybe that’s not your cup of tea, so…

Don Aliquo and Mark Perna, 8:30, Gypsy Cafe, Sahsside
Don plays woodwinds, Mark plays keyboards and together they solve crimes while getting into one zany situation after another! It’s the “Reed And Ivory” show!

Actually, no, I think they’re just going to play jazz in a really cool setting, the Gypsy Cafe, an intimate place down at the corner of Bingham and 14th. But it would be cool if they solved crimes too. Admit it. It would.

Sunday, November 26
Dvorak’s “New World Symphony”, 2:30 p.m., Heinz Hall, Dahntahn
page_bowDvorak’s Symphony No. 9, to be precise, but hey, who am I to quibble with pop culture? This is his most popular work, influenced by his trips to America in the late 1800s, and he based it largely on Native American music and African American spirituals, at least according to wikipedia where I just looked it up. I remember playing this in high school orchestra, I think. I always hoped that one day I’d show up to orchestra practice and the director would hand out the sheet music to “Kashmir” by Zeppelin, but it never happened. Would’ve been way cool though, if a bit repetitive, but then again, what’s Bolero, fer chrissakes?

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Got an event planned? Would you like a whole flock of yinzers with disposable income to show up? Let Git Aht know by sending the electronic mail to gitaht@gmail.com.

Git Aht! – Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while conceding gracefully…)

Friday, November 10
40 Under 40, 6:00 p.m., Piatt Place, Dahntahn

l_p
Tastefully attired, says I

The annual listing of the city’s young movers and shakers was published a little while ago, and while we don’t like tooting our own horn (Hey! If I could do that I’d never leave the house!) we do have reason to be proud. (And don’t give me that crap about “Pride goeth before the Fall”, ’cause it’s been fall for like, weeks now. Hell, we’re coming up on Winter already.)

You see, iheartpgh.com’s own Lindsay Patross got selected as one of these young people with vision, and rightfully so. She works hard at promoting Pittsburgh and it’s surrounding environs, and she does a pretty good job of it, with the notable exception of letting me write stuff around here, but every hero has their tragic flaw, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s not so bad. Plus, she’s putting together a nice little second income source from the swear jar since I’ve been hanging around the luxuriously-appointed home office perched high atop the Gulf Building downtown.

The 40 Under 40 people (PUMP, WQED, and Pittsburgh Magazine) always throw a bash to celebrate, and this year it’s downtown at Piatt Place, where, for a small fee, you can hobnob with the elite. Like, for instance, Host Chris Heinz, or as he is often referred to by the young Progressive women in town, “McDreamy 57.” (No, I’m not sure what the 57 stands for. Maybe it’s his AOL screen name or something.) But your admission gets you complimentary food and drink, entertainment, prizes, and admission to the exclusive after-party at Trilogy, where all the truly big deals will go down. Quite frankly, the price of admission might be justified by seeing honorees Mayor John “Intimidatingly Tall” Fetterman of Braddock chatting with Maria “Beautiful, Petite and Way Smarter Than You” Simbra, KDKA’s brilliant medical reporter.

I offered to be Lindsay’s escort for the evening and haven’t heard back, which isn’t really surprising because there aren’t many people more Hoi and Polloi than I. This is a meeting of the Hoity and Toity, and while I greatly enjoy hobnobbing with the elite, they often look at me with that confused dog sort of thing, tilting the head slightly sideways while dropping the eyebrows, and then promptly calling security over to find out exactly how I got in.

The English Beat, 8:00 p.m., Rex Theater, Sahsside
Rudy, a message to you – go see this show.

English Beat was in town this summer playing one of the festivals. Some friends of mine made the show and said it was tremendous. If you missed it, you get a do-over as the Beat brings the ska back to town for an indoor show at the Rex, along with Specials guitarist Lynval Golding. Because of this, they’re incorporating Specials tunes into the set, so that’s reason enough to go right there. Hopefully, there won’t be too much fighting on the dance floor.
Saturday, November 11
Meet The Scientist, 1:00 p.m., Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Oakland
“What about the mollusks?” comes the cry from the rooftops. “We need to know about the life of mollusks!” they say, haunting me in my dreams, these demanding knowledge-seekers. “What mollusk is this?” they ask when they atop me in the street when I’m on my way to a happy hour. And do I deliver? Indeed, I do.

This week’s winner of the prestigious “Git Aht Award For Most Esoteric Event Ever” is this “Meet The Scientist” gig up at the Carnegie. See, they run these things every second Saturday, and this month is “Life In The Leaf Litter” starring Dr. Timothy A. Pearce, Curator, Section of Mollusks. How’s that for a job title?

Ok, look, there are people who care about this sort of thing, right? From the release: “Do you have a mystery mollusk specimen that you’ve been wondering about? Bring it to the Museum, and Dr. Pearce will help to shed some light on your critter!”

You got that? You can take your mollusk up there and have them identify it! Exclamation points!

Now stop bothering me with all this mollusk talk until the next Guinness Oyster Fest down at Mullaney’s.

Podcamp Pittsburgh, All Day. Pittsburgh Filmmakers
podcamppgh062This is like Woodstock for geeks. Join many important people as they discuss how to blog, how to podcast, and “new media monetization” which I think means something like “How can I make money in my pajamas or sitting in a coffee shop?”

A lot of people (upwards of 200) will be at this thing, including a whole host of people from the Pittsburgh flickr photographers group, a bunch of local bloggers, Justin K (no, I’m not even gonna try to spell it) from the Something To Be Desired crew, and many, many others. It’s a real loose kind of affair, so show up, see what interests you, and go from there. It’s free.

Lindsay covered this much better the other day.

Sunday, November 12
World Champion Piper!, 7:30 p.m., Kresge Hall, CMU
axe This isn’t just a performance of the pipes, it’s a performance by the WORLD CHAMPION piper. Lemme say it another way – there isn’t a finer piper in the world, and it’s been proven by competition. I remember because I put up a dime on it and I lost because I took Angus MacTeagle plus the points, and he was soundly thrashed by Alasdair Gillies, your WORLD CHAMPION piper, who also happens to be Director of Bagpipe Music at CMU. He recently resigned his post as Pipe Major of the Army Training Regiment at Glencorse Barracks in Edinburgh to take the gig here, so it must be special. I mean, would you ever resign something that had Pipe Major in the title? I wouldn’t.

Hey, bonus points if you can get him to play “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” on the bagpipes.

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Got an event planned? Would you like a whole flock of yinzers with disposable income to show up? Let Git Aht know by sending the electronic mail to gitaht@gmail.com.

Git Aht! – Things To Do This Weekend

(Quick Note: I’m involved with lawyers this week, for various and sundry reasons, and because it lies outside his jurisdiction, His Honor can’t help. Whatever, Git Aht’ll be slightly truncated this go ’round. I realize how much people will enjoy that. All right, get on with it…)

(Things to do while keeping your mouth shut for like 6 more days, dude, seriously, just 6 more days…)

Friday, November 3
Seeing Red, 7:00 p.m., 5151 Gallery, Friendship-ish
So red is associated with anger, passion, danger and the Kansas City Chiefs. Three of those four will be prominent in this show which opens at the 5151 tonight, and as you should all be well aware by now, art openings usually involve food and drink, tonight provided by Bella Roma and East End Brewing. So there’s that. Plus, all proceeds from any sales go towards charity, which we’re greatly behind here at Git Aht, especially if said charity is, y’know, Git Aht. But oddly, none of the artists decided to throw me a couple bucks. Which is good, probably, because we’d just spend it on cocktails.

What’s the show about, you may ask? (Or you may not, and I’m ok with that, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.) Artists were invited to expound upon the theme of “Red” and use it to express their feelings on all manner of issues contemporary, but it ends up focusing on – guess what? Politics! ‘Tis the season, after all. Speaking of which…

Lemme get Swifty for a second and make a Modest Proposal: nobody can spend any money on campaigns ever. How’s that? If you want to run for office, you and your opponents get X amount of donated time on television, X amount of donated time on radio, and X amount of donated inches (huh-huh-huh… I said “inches“) in print. No friggin’ junk mail, no friggin’ telemarketing. And everything has to be proven facts backed up with documentation, not hearsay or puffery. Just a thought.

And to complete the Swiftitude – if that doesn’t work, we eat them. Who’s with me? Anyone? No? Ok, then. Never mind.

Unblurred, 6:00 p.m., Union Project, Friendship-ish
The Union Project honors one of their own with an evening of stained glass restoration demonstrations, The Olga Watkins Trio, appetizers and drinks. Union Project’s a good gig, a good thing, a good place. Plus, they host Rib Cook Offs. Ribs.

Brazilian Night, 10:00 p.m., Shadow Lounge, ‘Sliberty
“How many’s a Brazilian? That’s like a lot, right?”

Afro-Brazilian percussion descends upon Shadow Lounge tonight with Nation Beat performing. Special guest percussionist (being a drummer in a former life, I love the Latin Percussion) Jorge Martins joins the band, but won’t be allowed to smoke inside the building. Nobody is, but that’s ok. The fresh air’ll do ya good.

Saturday, November 4
Three Rivers Film Festival, All Day, Various Venues
The Three Rivers Film Festival opened Wednesday and continues for a couple weeks. Most of these will be films you’ve never heard of, unless you’re like, a total film nerd like my friends Mike and Brian, who dig the artsy and the fartsy. You know what I’m talking about – purple cows falling out of the sky for no reason, nonsensical plots, and sometimes, y’know, not the best actors in the world. But you come across some gems every once in a while, and the Fest is no exception. Check out the full schedule by clicking the link type thing above.

Guinness Oyster Festival, Noon. Mullaney’s Harp & Fiddle, The Strip
oysters
Oysters. And Chocolate. And Guinness. And a Baby Boom next July/August.

Bands all day, oysters served in every was imaginable, and Guinness. This is so big, it’ll be inside the restaurant and outside in a tent. Don’t worry about the cold, you’ll be looped and horny and won’t care.

Sunday, November 5
Bark In The Park, 9:00 a.m., Animal Friends, North Hills
Jimmy Krenn lends his talents to AF for a variety of events including a pledge walk fundraiser, canine demonstrations, food, live music, and the chance to meet your next pet, who will love you unconditionally and then poop on your floor. There ‘s metaphor for marriage there, I think, but I’m not sure. It’s early and I’ve gotta go get ready to deal with lawyers.

I’ll do my best to update this as events warrant, but that’s all for right now. The state rests.

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Got an event planned? Would you like a whole flock of yinzers with disposable income to show up? Let Git Aht know by sending the electronic mail to gitaht@gmail.com.

Git Aht! – Things To Do This Weekend

(Things to do while teaching Evgeni Malkin english…)

Friday, October 27
Exposure: Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., Club Havana, Shadyside
Fri 7:00 p.m., Club Havana, Shadyside
Exposure, October 2006The monthly photography opening goes in a slightly different direction this go round as they showcase the talents of multiple photographers, all of whom are expected to have a solo show of their own in the upcoming year. Celebrating it’s one year anniversary, this show will include the work of six very talented shooters, some professional, some amateur, all wonderfully gifted, each with their own distinct style and eye. The opening will, as always, have music provided by DJs Walter and Disco Dan.

The photographers include Renee Rosensteel (a Git Aht favorite, see “Juggling In Afghanistan” on that link), Kimberly Reed (featured at The Tasting a few weeks back), Emily Baehr, William Millberry, Bob Kubiak and Soumya Simanta.

Plus, there’ll be booze. ‘Nuff said.

Cocktails & Costumes, 5:00 p.m., Buckhead Saloon, Station Square
CysticFibrosis-AbgDrinking For A Cause â„¢ hits strong at the Buckhead Saloon with this Happy Hour for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Costumes are encouraged, but not required, but, y’know… It’s the weekend before Halloween, right? Dress up. Costumes are easy. For instance, you could dress up as Dennis Regan, and simply not show up. That’d be fun, yeah?

Later on the same night at Buckhead, they’re hosting Devil’s Night, which is weird, because I didn’t think something like that could be hosted per se. I’m not sure if they’ll be providing cars to overturn and set fire to, in true Detroit fashion, (word up D Town!) or if it’ll be more subdued, like, they’ll hand out bags of popcorn to throw at windows, (Note: use the unpopped, ’cause it doesn’t work as well otherwise. Aerodynamics and suchlike.) or if they’ll organize some sort of “ring the doorbell and run” contest, or maybe a “throw eggs at the mean dude’s house who never gave us our football back after it went into his yard, that prick” competition.

Yeah, that was a good time when we, as 10 year olds, bought three dozen eggs on the 30th of October at the local Italian store. The lady working there didn’t look at us odd at all when we said, “yeah, we’re baking a really big cake. Thanks.”

Frank Black, 8:00 p.m., Mr Smalls Funhahse, Millvale
Black Francis A lot of times, the tag “Legendary Frontman” is sorta tossed around in an effort to pump up someone’s status when they embark on a solo career, and the “legendary” part is suspect. Here, however, it’s truly applicable. Frank Black was the frontman for the Pixies, and their influence is still felt on alt rock radio, which I think we have here in Pittsburgh. Lemme check, though…

Yeah, ok, ‘YEP. Right, they’d be good to go to. And the college stations, of course, if you happen to be within range and the wind’s blowing in the right direction and the religious stations’ repeaters aren’t interfering with the signal…

So Black Francis comes to Mr Smalls, which is turning out to be the go to venue for good solid rock & roll these days. He’ll be playing tracks from his new album, “Fast Man Raider Man“. Reid Paley opens.

Saturday, October 28
Creeps I Know, 4:00 p.m., Digging Pitt Gallery, Larryville
mensagroupDigging Pitt gallery throws open the door in what’s termed a “Call For Artists”. Normally, this is a sort of invitation to bring your work and show it, or at least, bring it to the attention of the gallery owner in the hope that they’ll show it, thereby getting you a sale and maybe keeping your old lady off your back for another month. (“Whaddya want from me? I’m selling stuff! Get off my back!”) In this case, it’s an open call for artists to come tell a scary story, which, I dunno, could be good, but could also be along the lines of “but when I opened the gesso, it was the color of blooooood!!!!” or something...

Wait, sorry… It’s actually supposed to be specifically about “creeps”, not just tales of art horror. “Creepiest boss,” “creepiest blind date,” etc… Chances are good my name’ll be brought up then, but really, that pit in the basement is just there for decoration, and as an homage to Buffalo Bill. Put the f**king lotion in the basket!

“Magic Landscape” paintings by Jane Callister, 4:00 p.m. Michael Berger Gallery, Point Breeze
ditkaI have no idea if Jane Callister knows any creeps. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever met her, so, y’know… there’s at least one that she hasn’t. This is the opening reception, but I’m not sure what all it entails. Chances are good that there will be wine. And some sort of snack type food. But really, go for the paintings. As yinz’re well aware, I know little, if anything, about “art”. But the few painting I sampled on the web site are all very good, they appeal to me, I love the bright colors, the abstraction. If I was made of money (instead of just being money, so money and I don’t even know it), I’d pick up a couple for the house, brighten this dump up a bit. Ok, when I say “house”, I of course mean “van, down by the river”.

The Erotic, Exotic Ball, 9:00p.m., Diesel, Sahsside
eebBilling itself as “Pittsburgh’s Sexiest Halloween Event”, the erotic exotic has a costume contest with big prizes. How big? How does one note in the key of G sound? How about one box of ziti? How about a dime?

(All right, fine… One thousand dollars. Happy?)

This brings up another thing – the trend in recent years of women using Halloween as a good reason to dress incredibly, umm, what’s the word I’m looking for here? Hmmm… Oh, right, yeah. Hot. I’m totally behind this trend, and I’d like to use the Bully Pulpit of a rambling, poorly-written blog entry to encourage it’s continuation.

I’m Git Aht, and I approve this message.

Sunday, October 29
Art Auction, 12:00 p.m., Concept Art Gallery, Regent Square
Ok, so, Sunday mornings, you can either hit the garage sales, the flea markets, or find the really good stuff at auctions. There’s a big one of those this weekend up ‘ere in the Square. The other thing is, there are a couple good places to grab brunch, maybe some time to stroll around the park, see what’s left of the fall colors. Besides, you’ll be well-rested, as you get back that hour of sleep you lost back in April.

This auction will feature Modern and Contemporary art, 19th c. Western PA art, antiques, Folk art, and Americana, as well as some great mid-century modern furniture and design. It’s actually running both Saturday and Sunday, but a post brunch/post walk in the park option gets this a Sunday spot.

Scavenger Hunt: Urban Hike, 12:30 p.m., Schenley Plaza, Oakland
urban_hike_logoThe Urban Hikers tackle what should be familiar ground for everybody, that is to say, Oakland, but this time, it’s for all the marbles. Or whatever the prize is. Marbles would be cool, if the bag had, like, a ton of good aggies, but I digress.

You should bring a digital camera and a cable to connect said camera to a computer. And good walking shoes. And a sunny disposition. And a moss-covered, three-handled family credenza. Ok, forget that last one, but the other things, yeah, those’d be a good idea.

Meet-up is at the benches lining the Forbes Avenue side of Schenley Plaza (across Forbes from the Cathedral of Learning). Price? Free, baby! Free!

Beethoven 5, 2:30 p.m., Heinz Hall, Dahntahn
notldNo, Charles Grodin has nothing to do with this. This is the “Dah Dah Dah DAAAHHHH” one. No lovable Saint Bernards or anything, unless someone happens to be walking one outside on Sixth street before you go in.

If that does happen, though, do me favor – scratch the dog on the head and say “WHOZAGOODBOYDEN?!?!? WHOOZZAT GOODBOY?!?! ARRRR-OOO-OOO!!!!”

Thanks.

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Got an event planned? Would you like a whole flock of yinzers with disposable income to show up? Let Git Aht know by sending the electronic mail to gitaht@gmail.com.

Git Aht! – “Thursday Is The New Friday” Edition

bootsyTonight, Brillobox, DJs J. Malls & Omar-Abdul crank up the funk-o-meter to 11. Why? Because it goes to 11, that’s why. The Big Throw Back party hits on a Thursday, and yeah, I know, there’s all this good TV on tonight. Like, umm.. What’s that show, the Friends show? With all the kids in New York? Yeah, that and the one with the doctors, umm, Rosemary Clooney’s nephew’s on it… Eh, whatever, look, dancing to funk and soul music is way better, and 4 out of 5 certified Doctors Of Funk agree. Wait, 4 out of 5? Hang on a second.

Ok, I had “a quiet word” with the fifth one and he’s come around to my way of thinking. Or rather, he will when he wakes up and they take the tube out. So now it’s 5 out of 5. The cost? 3 bucks at the door. It’s the best funk there is – it’s bargain funk. Funk you very much!