Category Archives: Weekly Events

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.

Peepsburgh Banjo Club

A little Easter treat.  Every Wednesday evening is Banjo Night at the Elks Club on the North Side (the Elks club is the big building across from the Giant Eagle).  Admission is free and from 8-11 pm – live banjo music.  (You can read more about Banjo Night from PopCity Media and Everything Better Pittsburgh)

This peeps display was sitting on the table in the back of the room.  I am not sure who created it – if you know, please leave a comment so we can give them credit.  If you haven’t been to banjo night yet, yes there is a disco ball over the stage.

Speaking of peeps… The Washington Post runs an annual Peeps Diorama Contest.  This years winner is “Twinkie: Rest in Peeps”

Happy Easter!  Hope you have a lovely day celebrating with your friends and family.

Lebowski Bash @ Arsenal Lanes with DJ Swank Cat

The Big Lebowski
Image by Sleeper Cell via Flickr

As if a Sunday evening of bowling at Arsenal Lanes wasn’t great enough…

The every popular DJ Swank Cat is bring the Summer of Swank to Sunday night.

Sunday, July 26, 2009 – 9pm – Lebowski Bash2009 – Arsenal’s Tribute to The Big Lebowski.  Lebowski tunes and bowling prize giveaways!

The Trib recently profiled DJ Swank Cat – this is my favorite question and answer from the article.

Q: What is one of the weirdest things that has happened while performing?

A: Printable? Hmm … because of technology, I’ll play a song and everyone will get out their cell phones, whether it’s an iPhone or one of the other phones that can interpret what the song is and then tell them what the song is. So it’s funny. I’ll be playing and all of a sudden all these hands will come up holding these glowing phones trying to figure out what the song is. And more often than not, it won’t show up on the phones, which is great.

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Party in Market Square – Stay and Play Every Friday

Many years ago back in the days before digital photography (check out the comment on this message board from 1999) there was a weekly party in Market Square – “M-Squared” and I am told, it was good. Well the good times are back. PUMP (the group for anyone young and young thinking in Pittsburgh) has been hard at work to bring the party back to Market Square. Stay & Play Fridays are designed to get you to stay downtown and play, every Friday evening in Market Square. Every Friday, May 23rd – August 1st, 5:00pm – 9:00pm

This Friday:

5:00pm-6:30pm – CK9 and the Old E Allstars
6:30pm-7:30pm – Strangeway
7:30pm-9:00pm – The Takeover UK

Click here for more info and a complete schedule of bands and events.

classic car nite at the drive-in!

The Drifters Car Club is sponsoring Classic Car Nite, Every Saturday Night, at the Twin HiWay Drive-In (www.twinhiwaydrivein.com) in Robinson Twp. Just like the good ole days, bring your classic ride (pre 65) and your better half and watch a movie under the stars! Visit www.drifterscc.com and print out a coupon good for $1.00 off a hot food item in the snack bar. Tell Jerry –  The Drifters sent ya!

oldschooldrivein.jpg