New York has the subway; Chicago has the El; D.C. has the Metro; and all three have Uber, the quick, private car service. This makes partying into the wee hours a breeze. Pittsburgh, however, has always struggled when it comes to transportation past 2 a.m., or even midnight. But one new event may help alleviate party-hoppers' late-night travel limitations.
A-OK will be a Saturday-night party held at Cruze Bar, in the Strip District, on a yet-to-be-determined basis; the first event is Sat., Feb. 8. In Pittsburgh's underground dance scene, Saturday nights are also the home of the successful after-hours party Hot Mass. Connecting to that event has always been a bit of a chore, as it's located on Penn Avenue, on the edge of Downtown and the Strip District. A-OK, though, is just a short walk away.
Spearheading A-OK is Humanaut co-founder Aaron Clark, who was also instrumental in the creation of Hot Mass, as well as the bygone Out of Order party, a monthly Saturday-night event held at Belvedere's in Lawrenceville, which linked up to Hot Mass.
"Even when you had Out of Order at Belvedere's, you had that gap to get from one party to another," Clark says. "People have to figure out transportation to get there, and that's difficult.
"Now, someone can take a bus from anywhere in the city down to Cruze and they can take a bus home in the morning if they're out partying all night," Clark explains.
According to Clark, the transportation solution was almost a happy accident. Pittsburgh party-people are pretty accustomed to the strain and have always figured out ways to get wherever their favorite DJs are. More than anything, Cruze just felt right.
"It's a gay space. And we're going to blast it with insanely good dance music," Clark states. "That combo should weed out both the gay and straight assholes by default."
The launch of A-OK will feature the Detroit stylings of Rick Wilhite with opening support from hometown outfit Pittsburgh Track Authority. Hot Mass, slated for this particular night as an official Movement Electronic Music Festival pre-party, will feature Detroit-based techno DJ Daniel Bell.
