The Three Rivers Arts Festival opened yesterday. Lots of people are planning on coming down to see the art, but come between 11am and 2pm from today through June 14th and you can help create it. Muralist Kim Beck has begun stenciling an 850-foot mural underneath the Fort Duquesne Bridge and is ready for volunteers to help fill in the “paint by number” with black, white and gray paint.
Looking at her Tumblr, you can see that Kim Beck (previously featured on I Heart PGH) has a fascination with the mundane and ephemeral aspects of the urban landscape, like billboards, sky writing and plastic security fencing. She carries that idea forward here with the mural that depicts common, hardy, native plants. In other words, weeds. I like the project because it works at different scales; up close I think it will read as almost abstract because of how large the plants will be, and from the other side of the river it will be cool to see weeds sprouting at the foot of the city.
If you miss the window to help with the mural, you should still stop by and see some of the items on display. Riverlife has partnered with the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Institute of Architects to showcase past proposals by young architects on how to better utilize “urban voids”. The proposals were submissions to the Young Architects Studio Competition over the last few years, which was created as a way for young architects to express themselves and be involved in Design Pittsburgh, an annual event held by the AIA to celebrate architecture and give awards for design. The exhibit will last all summer, and Riverlife is planning events in the outdoor exhibit for every Wednesday through the end of August. Stay tuned for more details on those events as they become available. The mural and gallery are collectively known as #tbd, so follow Riverlife on Twitter, search that hashtag or just keep reading I Heart PGH.
So come down and create some art of your own, this weekend or any day until the Arts Festival closes on June 14th. Between 11am and 2pm you can help paint a mural under the Fort Duquesne Bridge. If you’re walking, it’s most easily accessed by walking towards the Point fountain and turning right after walking under the bridge. When you hit the Allegheny River, walk upstream until you see people with brushes and rollers. See you there.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at PGH Arts Fest Friday, June 7
Pittsburgh was treated to some West Coast music flavor the past few days as multiple Los Angeles-based bands made their way through the ‘Burgh. Starting with last Friday night’s 2013 Arts Fest Music featured act Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
The ten-member troupe made their way onto the Dollar Bank Stage at the Point to a roaring crowd. While past Arts Fest shows have been relaxed and inviting for audience members to sit and relax on the lawn, leading up to the Edward Sharpe show the area quickly filled and became a standing-room-only affair.
But that didn’t stop the fun, positive atmosphere as lead singer Alex Ebert belted through the opening song “40 Day Dream.” Before long the whole crowd was clapping and singing along as Ebert and fellow singer Jade Castrinos encouraged everyone to dance and scream (“if they wanted to”) through the stomp-tastic “If You Wanna.” The warm evening and open venue complemented the band’s sound, as every song was clear, audible, and well-performed.
At one point Ebert leapt into the crowd, disappearing in the sea of people while his voice still echoed on stage. The band kept the crowd involved the entire show, even pulling one lucky audience member on stage to sing a song and participate in a stage dive. The set-list seemed spontaneous, as Ebert would ask the crowd for suggestions or look to the rest of the band for next song ideas. The enthusiastic crowd was also treated to a sneak peek at the band’s upcoming third, self-titled album with the song “Better Days,” the video for which was published yesterday. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros closed out the show with the hit single “Home” as well as “Om Nashi Me” in front of light patterns that resembled stars in the night sky. Audience members were given the opportunity to tell their own stories in the interlude of “Home,” as Ebert and Castrino passed their microphones around.
After finishing up, Ebert reluctantly told the crowd that there “will be no coming back out,” due to a time limit (which it seemed they had already exceeded anyways).
“Talk to your City,” Ebert proclaimed, “Pay more taxes!”
No thank you, Mr. Ebert, I’d much rather pay nothing to enjoy a fantastic evening of music.
Full set list:
Jade Castrinos of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Fellow L.A. natives Ex Cops opened for Local Natives, and actually held their own. Like most openers, the band got the crowd into them through the assurance that the main act was coming up after them, asking the crowd if they were excited. The evening started like an awkward middle school dance as the crowd was not entirely sure what to make of this five-piece rock band. But as the evening went on, heads indeed were bobbing while knees jumped up and down to the swinging, catchy grooves of this unique band who did a proper job of priming the crowd without upstaging the main act.
The Local Natives, also from Los Angeles, rocked to an ecstatic crowd at Stage AE on the North Shore. The four-person group is just beginning their Summer/Fall tour and Pittsburgh is just the seventh stop. With the buzz from their sold-out Spring tour (and Coachella performance) for their sophomore album Hummingbird hanging in the air, the Local Natives really delivered to the enthusiastic Stage AE crowd.
The Local Natives have been getting attention since 2010’s Gorilla Manor (ironically at one time they were the opening act for Edward Sharpe), and for good reason. The combination of strong vocals and vocal harmonization as well as diversity in sounds (from slower, passionate songs, to fast-paced stompers) give the Local Natives a really unique sound, one that has been dubbed “a prominent, assured voice of contemporary Los Angeles rock…a transformational arrival” by the Los Angeles Times as well as “indie rock’s next great hope” by Entertainment Weekly.
The group wasted little time between songs, powering through the set list as each song brought even louder cheers from the jumpy, dancing crowd. Stage AE suited the Local Natives well as it was large enough to let out their big sound, but small enough to allow some intimacy with the crowd. The band made things fun, swapping instruments and vocal duties and at times even playing multiple instruments at once. Lead singer Kelcey Ayer (who played keyboards, a drum, and picked up a guitar at times) expressed appreciation for the passionate crowd, admitting the last time they were in Pittsburgh was roughly 5 years ago to a crowd of about twenty or so people at an art gallery. Needless to say they’ve come a long way in a short amount of time and the enthusiastic support from the crowd could have suggested that the band members were “local natives” (ouch, too much?) of the Pittsburgh area.
Local Natives performing at Stage AE in Pittsburgh
The Local Natives finished up their main set as the cheers of the crowd rang out in harmony with the final guitar strum while the packed audience cried for more. They came out for an encore, appreciative of the strong support.
Tentative set list for Local Natives (it’s one they’ve used recently, but I’m not sure if it exactly matches Monday night’s show-feel free to comment with any corrections).
Main:
Black Spot
Breakers
Wide Eyes
You & Me
Ceilings
Local Natives performing at Stage AE North Shore
Heavy Feet
World News
Columbia
Warning Sign
Who Knows, Who Cares
Bowery
Encore:
Three Months
Airplanes
Sun Hands
Local Natives recently performed on Letterman, and guitarist/keyboardist/singer Ryan Hahn just did a full interview with Pittsburgh’s 91.3fm WYEP.
Between Friday night’s Arts Fest-ivities (see what I did there?) and Monday night’s show, it was the largest collection of square-framed glasses, mustaches, rolled pant legs, and tossle hats in June I’d seen in one place (my own Ray-Bans and unkept facial hair included). And to be honest, all jokes aside, it was welcomed– a friendly, positive, fun-loving crowd which can only bring other great acts through Pittsburgh.
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.
