It’s in the rhythm section: Pitt’s Jazz Seminar concert
Geri Allen put together a night of world-class jazz, both entertaining and challenging.
Lynn Cullen Live 11/4/14
Video Archive Rest in peace, Tom Magliozzi, the infectious voice of Click on Car Talk. Former reality stars run for office. UPMC and Highmark continue to waste money and time fighting it out and ignoring those they claim to be helping. “Medicalizing” childhood with ADHD diagnosis on the rise. More Americans parents show concern their…
Circus hits town Wednesday; equestrian ringmaster talks circus life
In advance of Ringling Bros.’ annual visit, ringmaster Andre McClain talks about his family’s heritage as African-American cowboys and more. Danielle Fox has the interview in Program Notes.
Circus hits town Wednesday; equestrian ringmaster talks circus life
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey make their annual visit, this time with ringmaster and African-American cowboy Andre McClain.
MP3 Monday: Paddy the Wanderer
Photo Courtesy of Jayme Jennings Happy Monday… This week’s MP3 comes from Paddy The Wanderer, a four-piece indie garage-rock group. The track, “Worldwide,” is off of their brand-new album, The Mastery of Space. The band will celebrate a release show at Howlers Nov. 22, along with LoFi Delphi, also releasing an album. [Download link expired]
Lynn Cullen Live 11/3/14
Video Archive Lynn returns after a harrowing bout of appendicitis and battling the health care system. Have hospitals lost sight of patient care and opted instead for a bottom line? Research trumps care while Western PA hospital announce a 6 fold increase in staff reductions this year. Post Gazette refuses to endorse a candidate in…
Palermo Stone documentary shows indie journey through A3C
Short Youtube documentary follows Palermo Stone’s trip to the Atlanta festival
David Bazan and the Passenger String Quartet perform at Club Café
Photo courtesy of JUCO David Bazan and the Passenger String Quartet will be performing at Club Café on November 2nd. Bazan, the figure behind critically acclaimed indie band Pedro the Lion, released 2014’s Songs for Level Ground as a powerful follow-up to the well-respected Curse Your Branches and Strange Negotiations. Now he’s teamed up with…
Sing-Off Competition seeks student vocalists
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is looking for youths in grades 6-12 for its annual competition linked to First Night. Danielle Fox has more in Program Notes.
Sing-Off Competition seeks student vocalists
Winner of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s fifth annual Sing-Off Competition will perform during Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2015
Aviary Bus Tour to Eagle Migration is Saturday
The National Aviary hosts Eagles at the Front, a day-long bus tour to observe the annual fall migration of golden eagles. The site is the Allegheny Front Hawk Watch, located east of Pittsburgh on a hill high above the Bedford Valley (near Center City, in Bedford County). The tour is led by National Aviary ornithologist…
Music video premieres galore today in Pittsburgh
Ray Dawn and 1,2,3 both have new videos over on our music blog.
New song and video: 1,2,3, “Darkly Through the Valley”
More Pittsburgh video action today: We just got this brand-new spooky video for a creepy new song from local creepy creepers 1,2,3. Just in time for Halloween, the song is “Darkly Through the Valley”; enjoy, and while you’re at it, read our feature on the band from earlier this year, when they released the epic…
New video from Ray Dawn: “Glorious”
It’s been a minute since we last got something new from Pittsburgh rapper (and onetime CP cover boy) Ray Dawn, but he’s been working quietly: He’s prepping for the release of a new album, Crucifix Powerbomb, produced by Jahlil Beats, the Philly-native producer who’s signed to Jay-Z’s label and has produced for some of the…
Pittsburgh’s ’80s funk band The Assignment gets new life from Internet interest
Bill and Kim Gandy are North Siders through and through: He grew up in Northview Heights, she in Spring Hill, they met at Perry High in the mid-’80s, played in a band together and eventually got married. They moved to Connecticut in 1996 “to try to start a normal life,” Bill explains — “but the…
Critics’ Picks, Oct. 30-Nov. 5
[DJ] + FRI., OCT. 31 Sure, there are 101 costume parties you could be attending tonight, but maybe a better bet is to hit up Round Corner Cantina for a top-notch DJ party instead. Yes, OK, people will probably be dressed up there, too … it’s a free country. The focus is on the music,…
New Releases
The Lampshades Numbskull Nothinghead (Self-released) A new full-length — the first in over five years — from the local garage-rock outfit. Superb songwriting informs the entire 13-track spread, which ranges from abrasive post-grunge to updated takes on classic pop songwriting. A fuzzy guitar tone and so-what vocal style tie the whole thing together tidily; this…
Animal-cruelty case highlights problems in state’s animal-protection statutes
Margo Cicci vividly remembers the visits she made in August to a Mount Lebanon house where more than 80 cats were left behind after their owner was evicted. A strong stench emanated from the home, and she found cats in traps left unattended for hours at a time. “The tenant was evicted and when she…
Boxed Up: Vote in City Paper‘s third annual ArtBox contest
On a normal Wednesday, you’d be hard-pressed to find our normally black City Paper boxes decorated with much more than our logo, a stray piece of gum and the occasional scribbled profanity. But in our selfless efforts to make our city even more beautiful than it already is, we are happy to present our third…
An exhibit showcases classic album covers by a forgotten local artist
THE ALBUM ART OF MOZELLE THOMPSON Fri., Nov. 7, through Sun., Nov. 30. (Opening receptions: 6-11 p.m. Fri., Nov. 7, and noon-6 p.m. Sat., Nov. 8.) Most Wanted Fine Art 5015 Penn Ave. Garfield 412-328-4737 or most-wantedfineart.com As fixations often do for record collectors, J. Malls’ obsession began with just one disc. Sifting through the…
Uplifting Experience: Artists use humor, creativity to raise breast-cancer awareness
Jugs. Knobs. Boobies. Titties. There are more than 100 slang words for a woman’s breasts in the English language. These descriptive words and a few others feature prominently in Amalgamation Art’s upcoming show — turning bras into art to raise money for breast-cancer awareness. “Breast cancer is an epidemic,” says Penny See, one of the…
Local novelist explores an infamous shooting
Michael Zimecki’s novel Death Sentences (Crime Wave Press) might be a little too real for some Pittsburghers. His fictional narrator draws heavily on the story of Richard Poplawski, who in 2009 shocked the city when he killed three Pittsburgh police officers responding to a call at his home in Stanton Heights. Death Sentences takes the…
Savage Love
My son is 15 going on 16, and he’s been experimenting with masturbation. At the moment, I pretty much just think fine, whatever, he’s a teenager, there’s very little I can do about it. So long as he doesn’t get porn-obsessed and start letting his grades slip, it’s fine. The issue is that, a few…
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Througline Theater
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT continues through Sat., Nov. 1. Throughline Theatre Company at the Grey Box Theatre 3595 Butler St. Lawrenceville $12-15 888-718-4253 or throughlinetheatre.org When examining betrayal, what is the appropriate punishment for the man who double-crossed one of history’s most revered figures? In the bowels of purgatory, this is the question…
When pink stinks: the questionable partnerships of the Komen Foundation
It’s October, the month we associate with trick-or-treaters dressed as monsters and pop-culture icons, days getting shorter, and pink ribbons adorning all sorts of things we can buy — shoes, cleaning products, food containers, booze, you name it. The pink ribbons are brought to you by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, founded in 1982…
SCarrie The Musical at Bricolage
SCARRIE THE MUSICAL continues through Nov. 8 Bricolage Productions 937 Liberty Ave. Downtown $35 412-471-0999 or bricolagepgh.org Could this be a hit today: a tale tapping into the wish-fulfillment of practically every American teenager to trash the high school, the town and everybody who ever crossed him/her? Alas, in this century, children have been arrested…
Short List: October 29 – November 5
MAIN EVENT: Sat., Nov. 1 — Art In the 1960s, when Duane Michals was emerging as a photographer, the medium was essentially reality-based, from Ansel Adams’ epic landscapes to the street shooting of Garry Winogrand. What Michals started doing — telling made-up stories like “Death Comes to the Old Lady” in serial images, often with…
Queens of the Blues at New Horizon
QUEENS OF THE BLUES continues through Sun. Nov 2. Maker Theater 5950 Ellsworth Ave. Shadyside $20 412-431-0773 or newhorizontheater.org Queens of the Blues is a comic fantasy told through blues and gospel music, receiving its world premiere courtesy of New Horizon Theater. The characters are all figures from the history of the blues (including God,…
Stuff We Like
Currently in its third season on IFC, Comedy Bang Bang owes a huge debt to Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Scott Aukerman (formerly of Mr. Show) hosts this absurdist talk show, interviewing comedians like Patton Oswalt and Casey Wilson. Friday Night Football. The Steelers suck, but that doesn’t mean there’s still not great football to see. After the…
Internationally known troupe makes rock-infused Pittsburgh debut
Michael Clark Company performs come, been and gone 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 1 Byham Theater 101 Sixth St. Downtown $19-55 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org A one-time ballet prodigy, “beautiful boy” and heroin addict, Scottish dancer/choreographer Michael Clark created a Warhol-esque persona for himself in the 1980s. A cultural celebrity and iconoclast, Clark traded a promising mainstream…
Randita’s Organic Vegan Café
Randita’s Organic Vegan Café 210 W. Main St. Saxonburg. 724-822-8677. Second location coming soon to 207 Commercial Ave. Aspinwall. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; weekend dinners Fri.-Sat. 5-9 p.m. Prices: $4-8 Liquor: BYOB A visitor recently asked us if Pittsburgh has a distinctive local food. This gave us pause, because in some ways, our city…
Birdman, (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Birdman Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu Starts: Fri., Oct. 31 A man, sitting cross-legged in only underpants, floats in mid-air. A raspy disembodied voice says, “We don’t belong in this shithole.” The man is Riggan, the place is the dressing room at a New York theater, and the…
A new gluten-free brewery is already expanding
Aurochs Brewing Co. 8321 Ohio River Blvd. Emsworth. aurochsbrewing.com A friend of mine once said that all gluten-free beers taste like stamps. He was only half joking. Required to avoid beer’s traditional starchy backbones, a lot of brewers end up with something thin, acrid or just oddly off. Enter Aurochs Brewing. Founded in 2012 by…
John Wick
In David Leitch and Chad Stahelski’s stylishly produced actioner John Wick, revenge is a dish best served to one or two that quickly turns into an open-door, all-you-can-kill buffet. Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a retired hitman (nickname: “Boogeyman,” but in Russian, which sounds even more bad-ass), who quite naturally unpacks his weapons when a couple…
The Lomito food truck adds a storefront location in Bloomfield
For the past 16 months, the Lomito Truck has been rolling out Paraguayan street food to customers across the region. But on Sat., Nov. 1, owners Hoon Kim and Damon Dlubak will officially open the doors of Lomito’s sit-down restaurant in Bloomfield. The restaurant has been going through a soft opening for the past few…
Horns
After his girlfriend is murdered, suspicion falls on Ig (Daniel Radcliffe). He claims he didn’t do it, and sets out to prove it. Along the way, he gets drunk a lot and grows a set of devil horns (!), which prove to be a useful detecting tool. Alexandre Aja’s dark-comedy-mystery hybrid is adapted from Joe…
The Gathering Field reunites with a new album after a dozen years
THE GATHERING FIELD 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 8 Stage AE 400 North Shore Drive North Side $15 All ages 412-229-5483 or stageae.com It wasn’t a long, drawn-out process that led to one of the city’s most popular rock bands of the ’90s reuniting. Quite the opposite: The Gathering Field’s new start came to frontman Bill…
Pitt Jazz Seminar concert features Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding
44TH ANNUAL PITT JAZZ SEMINAR AND CONCERT Events run Wed., Oct. 29-Sat., Nov. 1. Concert 8 p.m. Sat., Nov 1 Carnegie Music Hall 4400 Forbes Ave. Oakland $25 All ages 412-624-4187 or music.pitt.edu/jazz-sem Last November, the 43rd Annual Pitt Jazz Seminar concert served as a tribute to Nathan Davis. The saxophonist launched the event and…
