Pittsburgh, PA

Make sure you head out to the Pub tonight to check out some really great bands, which I can sincerely say each one is equally good and you won’t be disappointed. And yes, I’m biased since I’m friends with most of them, but still! And I have to add that the Main Events are the best joke band Pittsburgh has had to offer for a long time. They’re a lot of fun!

Also, don’t forget about the I Made It craft show Saturday from 12-5 at the Brewhouse (check my previous post for details), or the Janus Film Festival, which ends this weekend (again, see my previous post for more info).

And then Saturday evening, head out to Bellevue to check out the results from the 24 Hr Creative Marathon, which is also going to be a great time. And I’m not just saying that because Buddy Nutt will be performing, who if you don’t already know who he is, shame on you.

Regardless of the music being performed, the art is definitely worth checking out. The last Creative Marathon was quite successful and a lot of work ended up being sold. I’m definitely going to bring some money with me this time.

I plan on making it out to all the above mentioned events, so it’s going to be a busy weekend as usual; expensive if I buy artwork and crafts, but fun. Can’t wait!

Pittsburgh, Gito Gito Hustler, Radio Beats, Shut outs, Main Events, 31st Street Pub, I Made It, South Side, crafts, music, Janus Film Festival, Creative Marathon, Bellevue, art, Buddy Nutt

This is the third I Made It event and like before, should not be missed!

The market will include approximately 50 vendors, who will be selling all kinds of crafts, accessories, clothing, home decor and a whole bunch of other interesting items! I can’t wait to see what all this market has to offer; I love this sort of thing.

I Made It will be held from 12-5 Saturday at the Brewhouse at 2100 Mary Street in the South Side.

For more information on the event, check out their Myspace.

Pittsburgh, I Made It, crafts, Brew House, South Side, vendors, market, handmade, diy

Yeah, I know it’s still a couple of days away, but I wanted to make sure I gave everyone ample warning in case they were interested and needed to get a costume together. I would definitely be doing this if I didn’t have to work. Boo on that, cause zombies rule!

The It’s Alive Show has posted a schedule:
7:00 PM - All Zombies report to The Tiki Lounge or The Smiling Moose on East Carson Street
Take your pick, look at their websites to help you decide. Apply make up if you haven’t already. Practice saying “Braaaiiinnnss….need braaaiiinnnnssss”.

7:30 PM - Begin Walk.
Zombies exit and shamble about for a period of one hour. Eat, drink, explore the shops, but when on the street you must stay in Zombie Mode.

8:30 PM - Zombies Disperse.
The Zombie Walk is over. But wait! There’s more…

The cast from It’s Alive, Pittsburgh’s own Horror Host TV show will be appearing at The Rex Theater (1602 E. Carson Street) after the walk.

Showtime will be 9:00 PM

Festivities at The Rex will include:
-Filming of the It’s Alive Halloween Show
-The Comedy Stylings of Stiffy The Dead Clown
-Live bands and much more!

Tickets will be $10.00 at the door

No advance ticket sales so don’t be late!
The Rex show is an over 21 event. The Zombie Walk is all ages.

For more information go to the It’s Alive Show’s website.

horror, zombies, South Side, Pittsburgh, It’s Alive Show, The Rex

This Saturday from 8-12am, WYEP will be hosting a “Rock the Block” party and I highly suggest you don’t miss this!!

There will be live music featuring Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing), Teddy Thompson, and The Hiders with DJ Subq spinning.

There will also be a silent auction where you can grab merchandise from musicians, such as the Decemberists, Lily Allen, Patti Smith, Ray Lamontagne, Brandi Carlile, The Kooks, Aimee Mann, Barenaked Ladies, The Cat Empire, Ben Harper, Iggy Pop, Citizen Cope, John Doe, Andrew Bird, Lindsey Buckingham, Lucinda Williams, Son Volt, The Hold Steady, Peter Buck, They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds, and American Music Club.

With your admission price comes the privilege of sampling foods from restaurants, such as Abruzzi’s, big Burrito Restaurant Group, Bistro 19, Bigelow Grill and Alchemy, Café Allegro, Café Du Jour, Carson City Saloon, Ciao Baby, East End Food Co-Op, Eat n’ Park, Enrico’s Tazza D’Oro, Gypsy Café, Harris Grill, The Library, Lucca Ristorante, Mantini’s Wood Fired, Pino’s Mediterranean Bistro, Piper’s Pub, Point Brugge Café, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and UUBU 6. As well as beverages from Penn Brewery.

Who could ask for more?

Admission is $35 and if you’re willing to spend the extra cash, VIP is $100, which includes food catered by Bistro 19 and a private performance by Teddy Thompson.

The event will be taking place at their broadcasting center/Bedford Square in the South Side. For directions, google or mapquest 67 Bedford Square, 15203 or go to their website to see their map.

All of this information was taking directly from WYEP’s website. Please go there for further details, such as parking, what to wear, etc.

WYEP has always been my favorite radio station, so hopefully I’ll see ya there!

Pittsburgh, South Side, WYEP, radio, Rock the Block, Teddy Thompson, Mike Doughty, the Hiders, DJ Subq, music, Penn Brewery

Since everyone likes lists, I thought of another one. What is your favorite place to get a hamburger in/around Pittsburgh? I find that not everyone can get this right. To have a good hamburger it must be cooked to order, be made from good meat, and have just the right seasoning. Here are my top three burgers:

1. Rocky’s II (Mckees Rocks) – This place has amazing food and great service. Get the double cheeseburger with bacon at your own risk. It puts Wendy’s Baconator to shame.
2. Fat Head’s (South Side) – I know it sounds like I am obsessed with this place but I can’t help it. I have been never been disappointed when I go here. You can’t go wrong with good beer and a burger.
3. The Sharp Edge (Crafton and East Liberty) – Belgium Beer and a Bacon Cheese Burger is what heaven is like for me. I usually get the “Sharp Burger” since it’s cheap and comes with crispy bacon.

Like last time, let me know your top three and why you like them. I enjoy reading about new places.

Wendy’s Baconator, Pittsburgh, The Sharp Edge, Bacon Cheese Burger, South Side, East Liberty, S Liberty, Crafton, Bacon, McKees Rocks, Best Hamburger in Pittsburgh

There has been a lot of bad news about the South Side lately, so I would like to be a little more positive. Since there are a lot of bars on Carson, I would like to know your top 3 favorite bar hops. I will start you off with mine.

1.) Dee’s Cafe – This was where I had my first beer (I didn’t drink till I was 22), it was an ice cold PBR (only $1). I still like going to this place because it’s big and comfortable. It can get a little smoky at times, but I get over it.
2.) Fat Head’s – If I feel like eating great food and spending a little money on some good beer, this is the place I go. Yes there beer is pricey, but their food is cheap for what you get. So it’s a good place to start off your night.
3.) Pipers Pub – I have only been here a few times, but every time I go its amazing. If you’re walking past this place and you see a folk band playing, stop in. Trust me, it will be the best time you have all night.

So that is my top 3 bars on the South Side. Leave a comment sharing your own; make sure you let us know why you like them too.

South Side, Pittsburgh, Dees Cafe, Fat Heads, Pipers Pub, PBR, Pabst, cheap food, Bar hopping

One of the great benefits of writing this blog is that I can promote any event/anyone I like and this post is all about supporting my friend’s bands, well minus Lucinda Williams, although I wish she was my friend!

This weekend brings a lot of good music to Pittsburgh, starting with the ever popular local, turned national band, Black Tie Revue.
They’re playing a free show tonight at the Smiling Moose at 10pm with Philadelphia’s the Teeth and Ohio’s Men of Gentle Birth. The band has really emerged as one of the most successful bands coming out of Pittsburgh in the past couple of years. They’ve been getting a lot of press coverage and played at the SXSW festival in Austin this past March. I couldn’t be happier for them and I’m not just saying that because I know the keyboardist and think he’s one of the best ultimate frisbee players ever!
If you’ve never heard of Black Tie Revue or want to check out some of their new songs, make sure you go to their website and/or Myspace to listen and buy their new album!

Go to this! One of my friends, well actually two are in the Main Events and it’s bound to get crazy! Listen to them on their Myspace. The Fitt has one too here and so does Federale. Show starts at 10pm Saturday at the 31st Street Pub.

Like I said, Lucinda Williams is not my friend, but she has been one of my favorite musicians ever since I can remember. She has some of the greatest, most thought provoking lyrics and her voice isn’t half bad either, despite what some people might say!
She is playing at the Byham Saturday at 8pm and although I can’t afford to go, I sincerely hope she gains some new fans in Pittsburgh this weekend. Go to her Myspace to listen to some of her new songs or buy the album on her website.

If your music tastes favor electronic music and dj’s, instead of power pop and alt-country and whatever craziness goes on at the Pub, make sure you check out Shy Fx and a whole bunch of other djs/electronic music at the Chinatown Inn Saturday night starting at 9pm.

For more details, go to 1337’s website.

And lastly, as I previously mentioned, the 13th Annual Pittsburgh Blues Festival held at Hartwood Acres starts today and continues into Sunday.

It’s a good weekend for shows, so check out at least one of them please! I’ll be at Black Tie Revue, the show at the Pub and Shy FX if anyone cares.

Pittsburgh, music, Lucinda Williams, Byham, Black Tie Revue, Smiling Moose, the Teeth, Men of Gentle Birth, Main Events, Forbidden 5, The Fitt, federale, 31st Street Pub, Shy FX, Chinatown Inn, djs, downtown, South Side, local bands, Hartwood Acres, Blues Festival

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is sponsoring a series of Neighborhood Forums, the first of which will be held in the North Side tonight. There will be information about the initiative, Neighborhoods First Agenda and there will be input from the Mayor on the current conditions and future of the community. There will be a series of ten community conversations throughout Pittsburgh neighborhoods in the coming months.

For any readers who live in the city of Pittsburgh, you might want to participate in one of the following forums:

July 19 – North Side
August 1 – Downtown, North Shore & Strip
August 29 – Southside Flats, Slopes, Hilltop, Mt. Washington & Duquesne Heights
September 5 – Upper East End (Lawrenceville, Morningside, Garfield, Friendship, Bloomfield, Highland Park)
September 19 – 31st Ward, Hazelwood, Glen Hazel
September 24 – West Pittsburgh
October 24 – East End (East Liberty, Larimer, Lincoln Lemington, Homewood, Brushton and East Hills)
November 7 – Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Greenfield, Swisshelm Park, Point Breeze, Regent Square
December 5 - South Hills (Brookline, Beechview, Banksville, Overbrook, Carrick)
December TBD – Oakland, Hill and Uptown

These forums will be listed in the “community events” calendars of the Post-Gazette and Tribune Review ahead of time.

Thursday, July 19th
6:30 -7:30 pm
Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at The Priory
614 Pressley Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

For more information contact:
Jennifer Watson
Neighborhood Initiatives Coordinator
Office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
412-255-4765
Jennifer.Watson@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

The following information was taken from the websites of the Post-Gazette and Progress Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, neighborhood forum, Luke Ravenstahl, mayor, North Side, downtown, North Shore, South Side, South Hills, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Oakland, Point Breeze, Strip District, Mt. Washington, Duquesne, Upper East End, East End, Hill district, Hazelwood

Pittsburgh Council today unanimously, approved legislation to limit bars on South Side’s East Carson Street. This is good news to people who live on the historic street and are tired of the all the bars popping up.

Here is an except form the article in the Post Gazette:

“The legislation allows only one liquor license per 50,000 square feet of any local neighborhood commercial district larger than 2 million square feet. That would apply only to East Carson Street on the South Side, Butler Street in Lawrenceville and Penn Avenue in Bloomfield and Garfield.”

In the article it says that Carson St. is past the saturation point, which is clearly true. That’s about the only business on that street. In the past few months I have seen a lot of the shops down there close up. The pet store and the guitar store are just some of the places that have left.

As much as I hate government regulation I can definitely see where this is coming from. If the town I lived in was getting overrun with bars, I would be upset too.

Pittsburgh Council, Pittsburgh, Southside, Carson St, bars, goverment regulation, Lawrenceville, Penn Avenue, Bloomfield, Garfield

This past Monday, Pittsburgh’s graffiti task force set up a panel discussion on what to do about the increasing annoyance of graffiti in the South Side area. The task force is getting more attention after they arrested MFONE a couple of months ago, whom because of their arrest, is facing up to $500,000 worth of damages. They, as well as other Pittsburghers, feel that his arrest will set a precedent for graffiti artists that are caught and will help to deter the crime in the first place.

Yeah right.

I don’t really want to get into why I used to wish these kinds of arrests happened more often, but I will say that my opinion has changed. As soon as I stopped being the girlfriend of one, I started to see it as less of a problem; at least in my life. I didn’t have to worry about him getting arrested or hurt anymore and no one was personally tagging my property, so no worries for me.

Now, I can see how it effects other people…mostly residents who are sick of having their property destroyed. However, my problem isn’t with all of the graffiti artists, it’s just with the really crappy ones. The good ones add something to a building or a sign or whatever; the bad ones make everything look worse than it already is. Yuck.

Now I’m not advocating doing this at all, because of course I like to stay out of jail, but I thought this was a good idea for some:

Go to Design Crack’s website for more details on what to do with the report card.

If you want to check out the original article that inspired this post, go to the Trib’s website here.

graffiti, South Side, Pittsburgh, report card, art, street art

Every Wednesday I try to pickup the latest City Paper to see what going on around town. I was looking for something to do tonight and came across this in their music listings:

Excuses Bar & Grill - Legendary Hucklebucks, The Holy Hand Grenade. Fri., May 25. 2526 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh (South Side), 412/431-4090.

I have never been to “Excuses”; all I know about it is that there is always a lot of motorcycles parked out front. Anyway, I was checking out their MySpace and it looks like they have 24 beers on tap and decent food. I don’t know why I haven’t gone to this place sooner.

I really like the Hucklebucks, it’s been years since I seen them. They were a lot of fun and you can help but dance. I think rockabilly as that effect on people. I don’t know anything about the other band, but I do like the name. So I think this would be a good time to check this place out, since I already know I’m going to enjoy the music.

Wednesday, Excuses Bar & Grill, Legendary Hucklebucks, E. Carson St., motorcycles, 24 beers on tap, decent food, rockabilly, music

This is my first restaurant review so please bear with me. It’s going to take a few before I get a system down. All I know is what I feel is important for a good restaurant experience: atmosphere, cleanness, staff, food, and price.

The first place I am going to review is the Iguana Grill, it’s located in the Southside across the street from Jack’s. The atmosphere was nice; the walls were a gray color with simple wall mounted lighting. The bar is small but there are plenty of tables, so finding a seat is not a problem. I would like to say that this is one of the cleaner bar/restaurants on this end of the Southside. The wait staff was also impressive; as soon as you sit down they’re asking you what you would like to drink. They have plenty of beers on tap and in bottles, so finding your favorite drink will not be difficult.

Looking at their menu you will notice that they are one of those Mexican/American hybrids. If you’re looking for real Mexican food this is not the place for you. I got the Chicken Burrito, and it was amazing. The portion was huge and it also came with corn and refried beans. I couldn’t finish it all so I had to take a doggie bag home with me.

The price was just right. You could easily feed two people under $20 (not including beer) and have some leftovers for lunch the next day. I can’t wait to eat there again. I am not even a fan of Mexican food and this place wowed me.

Score: Atmosphere (3.5), Cleanness (4.0), Staff (4.0), Food (4.0),
Price (4.5), Overall (4.0)

Closing Comments: Before you go, make sure you check out their website for their specials. They have one every day of the week. Also, on Fridays and Saturdays you have to be 21 and over, even if you’re just eating.

restaurant review, Southside, beers, Mexican, food, Pittsburgh, Bar, 21 and over, drink specials