A guide to the Pittonkatonk Youth Showcase // Very Local Pittsburgh – learn more about how Pittonkatonk has helped to facilitate collaborations between bands and high-school students.
If you like some of the stories from Very Local Pittsburgh that I’ve linked to above, I hope you will take a moment to like and follow Very Local Pittsburgh on Facebook and follow @VeryLocalPGH on Twitter and Instagram. We share very Pittsburgh stories there every day.
Last month, on a cold, Monday morning I was driving to work and heard a catchy tune on 90.5 WYEP. The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” by Chicano Batman has been stuck in my head and even earned a spot on my everyday Spotify playlist. WYEP featured this song as part of new music Monday, timely as Chicano Batman released a new album, Freedom isn’t Free, at the beginning of March. The Los Angeles based band is now on tour with a stop in Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at James Street Gastropub.
The song “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” is the kind of catchy tune that you want to hear on a Monday morning or an afternoon of running errands. Both the name of the song and the word Batman stuck with me. I think I associate Batman with Pittsburgh and thanks to @WYEPplayed it was easy for me to find the name of the song later that afternoon.
The quartet have been getting a lot of press since the release of their new album:
While I do love Pittsburgh, I will admit that I have quite a crush on the city of Los Angeles. I’ve had the good fortune of making a few visits there of the past decade or so and I am always eager to go back. Los Angeles has a bit of reputation from its Hollywood side, but if you look past the movie stars facade, the city has a grit and authenticity that reminds me a little bit of Pittsburgh.
Not only am I a fan of the Chicano Batman sound, I am also a huge fan of the style. Who doesn’t love a ruffled tuxedo shirt? The band commented on this fashion choice last week in Rolling Stone (Chicano Batman is on the RS list of “10 Artists You Need to Know” for March 2017):
They Say: What about those tuxes? “The Temptations, Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, Los Freddy’s and all these bands from Venezuela and Latin America were rocking them on the covers of their records in the Sixties and Seventies, so that’s definitely an inspiration,” says frontman Bardo Martinez. “Our bassist, Eduardo [Arenas], was the one who actually suggested, ‘Hey, let’s get suited and booted!’ He threw it down. We’re all aesthetically on that boat, but he’s the one who actually stepped into the vintage shop – and it was a stroke of luck that what he bought fit everybody in the band. Off the rack, man! It’s been 10 years, brother, and we’ve gone through a few of them. We try to keep it classic, man; we try to keep it polyester.”
On April 2, for the very affordable Pittsburgh price of $15 you can listen to Chicano Batman live at the James Street Gastropub.
Chicano Batman w/ 79.5 & SadGirl
Sunday, April 2, 2017
7pm
James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy Tickets $12-$15 Facebook Event
It’s June! It’s raining in Pittsburgh. Which means it is time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Last year I was so looking forward to seeing Benjamin Booker perform and he was on stage for all of 5 minutes before a torrential downpour that lasted the rest of the evening.
Here is the line up for the main stage for the 2016 Three Rivers Arts festival (this is the big stage in Point State Park aka the Dollar Bank Main Stage).
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 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:
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:
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.
Night Of The Living Dead
Friday 5p
Senator John Heinz History Center, Strip District
This classic, locally-made 1968 horror movie is the terrifying take of a group of people trapped in a rural farmhouse who are attacked by unnamed “living dead” monsters. Ghostly attire is encouraged but not required. More info: (412) 454-6000
Manor At Midnight Oscar Classics: Chinatown Saturday Midnight
Manor Theatre, Squirrel Hill
The Manor Theatre ends their midnight Oscar run with 1974’s Chinatown, a searing murder mystery directed by Roman Polanski, starring Jack Nicholson as an LA private eye on the trail of some very unsavory characters. More info: http://www.manorpgh.com/img/ManoratMIdnightOscar.pdf
It’s June! It’s raining in Pittsburgh. Which means it is time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Last year I was so looking forward to seeing Benjamin Booker perform and he was on stage for all of 5 minutes before a torrential downpour that lasted the rest of the evening.
