

Local hardcore and metal pioneers Code Orange nominated for Grammy
Code Orange is first Pittsburgh rock band nominated for a Grammy.
Lt. Gov. candidate Aryanna Berringer says she’s lived the life of the forgotten constituents she wants to help
The Democratic Party activist from Westmoreland County feels her experience is necessary in the state’s second highest office.
Lynn Cullen Live – 11/28/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
MP3 Monday: Soft Gondola
Download or stream new music from Soft Gondola, for free, now, here
Lynn Cullen Live – 11/27/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
Lynn Cullen Live – 11/22/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
New Local Release: A Very Misra Christmas
A Very Misra Christmas Various artists Misra Records www.misrarecords.com At a certain point while listening to Misra Records’ new holiday compilation record, A Very Misra Christmas, I realized I had no idea which songs were originals and which were covers. To be fair, I have little-to-no knowledge of Christmas music outside of the Top 40…
Love’s Labor’s Won at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
LOVE’S LABOR’S WON continues through Dec. 2. CMU School of Drama at Philip Chosky Theater, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $10-34. 412-268-2407 or drama.cmu.edu Long story short: At the end of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, four men learn that they must wait a year to join their beloveds. Turns out they waited a lot longer. Fast-forward…
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Directed by Martin McDonagh Starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell Perhaps unsurprisingly, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri opens on the three titular billboards, abandoned along a two-laner in the hills and shrouded in fog. But soon, a station wagon slams to a halt before them, and a woman fixes…
Critics’ Pick: Buy Nothing Day at Roboto
[ALT BLACK FRIDAY] + FRI., NOV. 23 Nothing is more emblematic of America’s love of capitalism than Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving tradition of buying pounds of clothes and electronics at a mild discount. People have started fighting the trend, partly because it encourages stampede-on-the-Serengeti levels of chaos. If you wanna stay away from the mall…
Coco
We are in a period of reckoning like never before for Hollywood and its audience. Every day, there are new allegations of various degrees of heinousness against previously revered celebrities. Fortunately, this latest Disney-Pixar animated creation, directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, is the perfect antidote. Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez), a young Mexican…
Critics’ Pick: PINE at Black Forge Coffee House
[EMO] + SAT., NOV. 25 I saw a tweet recently about how no show should have more than three acts, but hey, the more the merrier! Or in this case, the more the emo-ier. Tonight at Black Forge Coffee House, PINE brings its emo punk tunes all the way down from Ottawa. PINE is joined…
Last Flag Flying
Since there have been wars, there have been old soldiers, gathering years later to kick around their shared glory days of combat as only they can. It’s a popular trope for narrative works, easily providing drama, pathos, nostalgia, comedy and, often, an historical critique. Richard Linklater’s new film inhabits this niche and takes stock of…
Critics’ Pick: Kamasi Washington
[JAZZ] + MON., NOV. 27 Jazz genius Kamasi Washington is definitely cooler than me or you could ever aspire to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth basking in his glow. He wears regal tunics, carries an even more regal cane, and commands the saxophone like an extra limb. His 2017 album Harmony of…
Bitter Ends Luncheonette opens in Bloomfield
Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette 4613 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 412-450-0229 website Open the door to Bitter Ends Luncheonette, in the location of the former Bloomfield Sandwich Shop, and inside you’ll find a cozy little room with mint-green tiling and kitschy decor. To the left is the kitchen, the register and a host of tempting…
Justice League
Dramatically speaking, superheroes require supervillains. This is why, perhaps unfortunately, you don’t often see caped marvels thwarting homelessness, everyday bigotry or mortgage foreclosures. Yet those are three of the social ills that the opening scenes of Justice League blame on the death of Superman (as depicted in last year’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice).…
Veggie Tikka Masala
I spent some time in India when I was a teenager. My food experience from that trip is one of several encounters that inspired my Blue Sparrow food truck. Our street-food menu pulls influences from around the world to create unique dishes, each with a story, that inspire customers to try the next thing on…
The Pittsburgh region has been great at getting people insurance under the Affordable Care Act. But will that success continue?
When the Affordable Care Act became law and implementation was set to begin in 2013, Southwestern Pennsylvania was basically on its own. Federal assistance was virtually nonexistent, says Karen Feinstein, head of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation of Pittsburgh. Federal officials sent neither canvassers to teach people how to sign up for health insurance through the…
Big Sandy flies into Pittsburgh Dec. 5 on Rev. Horton Heat’s Holiday Hayride
BIG SANDY at REV. HORTON HEAT’S HOLIDAY HAYRIDE 8 p.m. Tue., Dec. 5. Jergel’s, 285 Northgate Drive, Warrendale. $33-49. 724 799-8333 or jergels.com There is no shortage of musicians who spent their early lives involved in crime but were able to clean up their acts thanks to music. For Robert “Big Sandy” Williams, it was the other way…
Dad’s Pub & Grub, in Monroeville, offers a fun, relaxed place for the whole family
Dad’s Pub & Grub 4320 Northern Pike, Pittsburgh, PA 412-856-5666 website Friday nights fall into two categories: “Bring on the weekend!” or “Wind down the week.” At some point, most of us slip gradually from one to the other. And for those for whom it matters, we can tell you that Dad’s Pub & Grub…
Eggnog: The Ultimate Holiday Indulgence
Eggnog is a decidedly dangerous drink. It’s based on raw eggs, which makes most people (other than Rocky) a bit squeamish. Coming in at more than 400 calories a cup, it’s also a danger to your waistline. And the sneaky-strong alcohol content can get you into trouble: Each holiday season, Elmo & Patsy annoyingly remind…
Byron Nash blends art and business as a member of Co-CREATE’s Business Ignition Program Cohort
Byron Nash is an incredibly busy man who has had a big year. Among his many accomplishments is having his band, Plan B, open for Wiz Khalifa at Pittsburgh’s Thrival Music Festival. In addition to being a gifted guitarist making music with Plan B, he’s a solo artist who writes music for commercial placement. He…
Two Hearted Ale, Bell’s Brewery
No matter the season or type of beer you prefer, I’d encourage you to try a draft of Bell’s Two Hearted. It’s light without being watery and delivers the bitterness of the hops without overdoing it. It’s a solid drinking beer in the right ABV range so that having more than one is a-OK. Recommended…
Savage Love
I’m a twentysomething straight woman. About a month ago, I had a really vivid dream in which I was at a party and engaging with a guy I had just met. We were seriously flirting. Then my fiancé showed up — my real, flesh-and-blood, sleeping-next-to-me fiancé — who we’ll call G. In the dream, I…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: fl.2 vs. Smallman Galley
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste both drinks and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and using #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to…
Why can’t local homeowners include “green” attributes in real-estate listings?
Early this year, Lucyna de Barbaro and Ayres Freitas completed the first newly constructed passive-house duplex within city limits. A passive house is so tightly sealed and well insulated that its heating and cooling system has the same electrical-power needs as a hairdryer. They moved into half of the Squirrel Hill duplex and listed the…
Critics’ Pick: Beach Slang at Cattivo
[PUNK] + MON., NOV. 27 Philly indie punk rockers Beach Slang make music for your glittery and chaotic teenage heart. The group’s most recent full album, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings, is exactly what it claims to be. The band followed that up with We Were Babies and We Were Dirtbags, a piano-driven LP…
After falling victim to revenge porn, former Pittsburgh news anchor Darieth Chisolm speaks up
The start of another year is often filled with hope and promise. But instead of turning over a new leaf, former television-news anchor Darieth Chisolm began 2017 living in a nightmare. Chisolm, who was a familiar presence on Pittsburgh-area televisions for more than a decade, had recently broken up with a boyfriend whom she had…
This week in Pittsburgh Sports History
Nov. 23, 1968 The Pitt Panthers lose to third-ranked Penn State 65-9. Despite the lopsided score, Pitt’s Harry Orszulak sets the school record for catches in a game with 16. Nov. 25. 1915 The Pitt Panthers beat Penn State, and coach Pop Warner wins his first national title. Nov. 25, 1979 The Steelers chalk up…
Chad VanGaalen performs at Pittsburgh’s Club Cafe Dec. 5
CHAD VANGAALEN 7 p.m. Tue., Dec. 5. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $12. clubcafelive.com Chad VanGaalen is a musician, animator and illustrator in addition to being a father and husband. During the days, he heads to the work space on his property in Calgary, Alberta, while his kids are at school and…
First weekend of WPIAL football championships is worth suffering through a cold, wet Pittsburgh Saturday
The worst kind of cold is a wet cold. The kind of uncomfortable weather where you wish the temperature would just drop a few degrees so it would snow instead of rain. Everything is damp, the rain won’t stop, and once your socks are wet, the day is ruined. It’s rare to have fun in…
In honor of the NFL’s return to TD celebrations, Pittsburgh City Paper releases its All-Showboat Team.
I am not a football purist. I’d rather see an unnecessary one-handed catch for the sole purpose of showboating than a fundamentally sound catch that looks routine. I’d rather see a quarterback scramble for 45 minutes and risk a huge sack to make a spectacular play than throw the ball out of bounds. I’d rather…
Street Angel: Superhero for a Day and The Other Einstein
Reviews of the first 50 pages of works by local authors. STREET ANGEL: SUPERHERO FOR A DAY. Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca’s Street Angel — a homeless, 4’11” skateboarding inner-city ninja named Jesse Sanchez — has come a long way since debuting more than a decade ago. An indie hit at first, she’s gotten big…
A new book and a redevelopment plan reframe the legacy of Downtown’s Kaufmann’s building
When I was a kid, my grandmother performed a minor feat of time travel, appropriately enough at the Tic Toc restaurant in the venerable Kaufmann’s Department Store, during a busy holiday-shopping day. Faced with a long line, she transported us 45 minutes into the future, to a moment when our table was available. Actually, she…
Short List: Nov 23-30
FREE EVENT: Mon., Nov. 27 – Advocacy According to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign, 102 transgender people have been killed in the U.S. over the past five years. And “almost half of transgender people have experienced some form of sexual violence,” says Grace Coleman, executive director of Pittsburgh’s Crisis Center North, which…
may you live in interesting times, at 937 Liberty
MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES continues through Dec. 2. Casey Droege Cultural Productions at 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. 512-552-3600 or trustarts.org may you live in interesting times, exhibited on the second-floor gallery of 937 Liberty Avenue, gathers a handful of new works by three locally based artists to “investigate visual thinking in the new…
The Old Man and the Old Moon at City Theatre
Certain experiences should be visceral, like eating steak, listening to blues, or watching plays. I can’t offer advice regarding the first two, but if you like deeply impassioned work, then PigPen Theatre Company is for you. The Old Man and the Old Moon (2012), at City Theatre, is called a musical folk tale, but the…






