Lemuria show moved to Mr. Roboto Project
The Mr. Roboto Project posted on its Facebook page this afternoon that the Lemuria show that had been scheduled for next Tuesday at the Smiling Moose has been moved to Roboto. Lemuria’s publicist confirmed to our freelance writer Zach Brendza that the show had changed venues, but did not indicate why. If we hear more…
Listen Up! playlist: stream this week’s issue
Spotify playlist of artists covered in this week’s CP.
Local African dance and drum ensemble presents “Black Nativity” for 25th season
Video by Ashley Murray The Shona Sharif African Dance and Drum Ensemble opened its 25th season of the Langston Hughes’ gospel show Black Nativity this past weekend. The ensemble has been giving the gospel musical an African-roots treatment since it began. The late Shona Sharif attended Howard University during a cultural revolution in the 1960s,…
Full interview: Stephen Kellogg
Stephen Kellogg talks fundraising, politics and the holidays in this uncut interview.
YouTube celeb Tyler Oakley brings his PJs to Town
Oakley discusses his current tour and what’s to come
They Might Be Giants, Kevin Devine among new concert announcements
Tuesday afternoon is my time to bring you new concert announcements for local venues, so without further ado: Coming to Mr. Small’s: Galactic, playing Wed., March 25 ($22-25, on sale Friday); Coal Chamber (still around!), playing with Filter, Combichrist and American Head Charge Mon., April 6 ($30-32), and They Might Be Giants Thu., April 16…
Final Week for L’Hotel at the Public
This entertaining world-premiere production asks, what if some famous residents of a famous Paris cemetery spent the afterlife as fellow lodgers at a grand hotel? And what if some of them were egos like Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Victor Hugo and Sarah Bernhardt? Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Public Theater Deanne Lorette (as Sarah Bernhardt) and…
Lynn Cullen Live 12/09/14
Video Archive McDonald’s sales down by 4%. California and it’s water consumption: do we pay less for water than we should? Rolling Stone continues to botch their reporting on the “Jackie” case. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
MP3 Monday: Tarra Layne
This week we’re featuring Southern pop-rock singer Tarra Layne’s track, “Cherry Moonshine.” The foot-stomping song is belted out by Layne in a style that has been aptly dubbed “funktry” for its southern twang smoothly mixed with contemporary rock. [Download link expired]
Talk Tomorrow on Making Art About Palestine and Israel
Two local arts groups that have struggled with controversy while presenting art about the decades-old conflict host a talk tomorrow at The Mattress Factory. Difficult Work, hosted by the Mattress Factory and Conflict Kitchen, is “a panel disucssion about the challenges of making, supporting and presenting art about Palestine, Israel and the U.S.” The panelists…
New Open-Mic Night in Millvale Continues Tonight
The Millvale M*A*S*H — “Musician, Artist & Storyteller Hub” — is an open-mic night for artists in any genre. The monthly series at the Millvale Community Library continues tonight, with a featured reading by local short-story writer Cindy McKay. The open mic follows. The series is co-hosted by the library, Brandt Street Press and The…
Lynn Cullen Live 12/08/14
Video Archive A caller comes to the rescue for Lynn’s fish. Peduto goes undercover in the city. Gas leak sickens Furries, thought maybe to be set on purpose. Protesters continue peacefully. Vanessa German impresses Bill Clinton. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer…
Free Community Concerts on Sunday, Thursday
OvreArts is offering two performances of its holiday concert of all new works, with choir and string quartet. The concerts feature the Voces Solis choir and the Musetta String Quartet, conducted by Ryan A. Keeling. The first performance is at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, at The Church of the Epiphany, in the Hill District. The…
Earth Quaker Action Team to protest PNC Bank Saturday over mountaintop mining
Members of the Earth Quaker Action Team will protest in Pittsburgh on Saturday as part of a 12-state action against PNC Bank’s support of mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). MTR is a form of strip-mining practiced in West Virginia and elsewhere. The process lops off the tops of mountains to get the coal beneath; dislodged…
Small Press Pittsburgh Holiday Book Sale on Sunday
Features indie booksellers, small presses
Lynn Cullen Live 12/05/14
Video Archive Lenzi Sheible of Fund Texas Choice is on the show today, talking about reproductive rights and her foundation’s role in Texas. To donate, go to fundtexaschoice.org/donate. Protests for Eric Garner continue in cities across the country. Peter Pan Live gets a good panning by Slate and by Lynn. Audio Only Archive Listen to…
Local hip-hop talent performs at Rex Theatre this Saturday
This Saturday, December 6th, the Rex Theater is hosting a show with some of the top local hip-hop talent, dubbed “Pittsburgh Affair.” The event features artists Hardo, Boaz, Devin Miles, and the 58’s. Hardo, nicknamed for his raw lyrics, has been a Pittsburgh staple since returning to the scene in 2012 after a year-long incarceration.…
Protesters take to Pittsburgh streets in wake of police violence
Video by Ashley Murray Last week after a grand jury decided not to indict a police officer who shot and killed Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown, local protesters held a peaceful demonstration at the Federal Building in Downtown Pittsburgh. In the days since and in the wake of other recent events involving police brutality, the…
Mine Factory Show Opens Saturday
Artists who work intimately with perhaps the most basic of media are the focus of I Just Want the Paper. The group show, curated by Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, Kareema Thomas and Sean Beauford, opens with a reception at this Point Breeze gallery. The exihibit features work by seven artists, including Darrell S. Kinsel, Stephani Martinez, Suzanne…
Lynn Cullen Live 12/04/14
Video Archive Grand jury does not send the Garner case to trial. Friendship is telling the truth. Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art causes a hubub. Callers come through and Celine makes a mistake. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
CMU Art School Open House This Friday
Event includes art sale
Close to Home gets intimate
CLOSE TO HOME continues through Jan. 10. Silver Eye Center for Photography 1015 E. Carson St. South Side. 412-431-1810 or silvereye.org If clearly distinguished from journalism, images of human subjects that characterize their plight — be it disease, poverty or hopeless monotony — have a difficult place in contemporary photography. Critics sigh deeply, then groan about…
A review of Craig Bernier’s story collection Your Life Idyllic
Your Life Idyllic By Craig Bernier Black Lawrence Press, 170 pages, $14.95 To say there’s nothing fancy about Craig Bernier’s debut short-story collection Your Life Idyllic is neither praise nor pejorative. It’s practically a quantitative assessment. With rare exceptions, these pieces, ranging from good to excellent, are straightforwardly constructed, plainly written stories about regular people…
Novelist Richard Ford, foreign-policy expert Robert Kaplan and mystery writer Jeffrey Siger visit
“It is, of course, the bouquet of large-scale home repair and re-hab. Fresh-cut lumber, clean, white PVC, the lye-sniff of Sakrete, stinging sealants, sweet tar paper, and denatured spirits. … To my nose — once practiced in these things — nothing smells of ruin as fragrantly as the first attempts at rescue.” So says Richard…
Don Wentworth’s new collection of brief poems explores the transitoriness of life
In this bustling commercial world, it wouldn’t hurt to think that haiku-like poems might add meditative moments to short attention spans. In the case of Don Wentworth, poems of few lines have been his sweet spot for decades. A senior staff librarian for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and editor and founder of Lilliput Review, Wentworth…
The Babadook
If, like me, you’re weary of the current round of domestic horror franchises, such as Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring, which trot out predictable spooks, scares and lazy plotting, you might find relief with this new indie Australian film from Jennifer Kent. And by “relief,” I mean a thoughtful creepiness and a story that openly…
Jingle Bell Rocks
Filmmaker Mitchell Kezin follows his own obsession with Christmas music (his gateway disc was “The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot”) into an amusing round-up of holiday tunes; a cultural history of contemporary Christmas songs (from Elvis to “Back Door Santa”); and the vinyl junkies who collect the often-sneered-at music. Kezin checks in with some…
Film Kitchen
This month’s installment of the series for local and independent artists ranges from a cop-movie spoof to experimental work. The spoof is “Shadows of the Shield,” local improv troupe Hustlebot’s entry in the 48-Hour Film Project. The fast-paced, seven-minute comedy (complete with power-ballad theme song) teams an inept film crew with an undercover detective. Film…
For musicians, age can be an obstacle
Zack Keim would seem to have a head start on the garage-rock competition. His band, The Nox Boys, has already released its debut LP on Get Hip Records, toured the East Coast and has sold out Pittsburgh venues — and he’s only 17. But that last part can sometimes be more of an obstacle than…
Hugh Twyman wraps up his yearlong concert series with a big lineup
HUGHSHOWS LIVE AT EIDE’S FINALE 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., Dec. 13 Eide’s Entertainment 1121 Penn Ave. Strip District. Free. All ages 412-261-0900 HUGHSHOWS SECRET SANTAPALOOZA. 8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 19. Kollar Club 3226 Jane St. South Side $15-20 After shepherding 61 local bands for a year-long monthly concert series, Hugh Twyman is ready for more.…
Citizenfour
Condensed, the story of Edward Snowden and his trove of top-secret NSA documents has plenty of potboiler elements: exotic locales, international journalists, code names and secret signals transmitted via Rubik’s Cube. All true, but Laura Poitras’ documentary Citizenfour adopts a more serious, and one might say, less exciting, fly-on-the-wall approach. Filmmaker Poitras was among those…
Critics’ Picks, Dec. 4-10
[INDIE ROCK] + FRI., DEC. 5 He’s our neighbor from just north, and a onetime Pitt student, so it’s little wonder we see Demos Papadimas pretty often around here. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out of your way to catch the stellar songwriter from (gasp!) Cleveland or thereabouts. Tonight, he’s joined by local…
New Releases
Donora Ha Ha Heart (Rostrum Records) donoramusic.com On its third release, Donora stays hip while retaining the high-energy pop sensibility that has made it a local (and to some extent national) favorite since the band formed in the late ’00s. Even for a band that has always seemed best suited to a confetti-filled environment, Ha…
Short List: December 3 – 9
SPOTLIGHT: Thu., Dec. 4 — Stage Holiday performance season begins in earnest this week, heavy on old favorites but with some new wrinkles. Fresh takes on old standbys include Bricolage’s Midnight Radio production of It’s a Wonderful Life (Dec. 4-20). Five actors tackle this radio-style stage adaptation of the film classic, with live sound effects…
Did a security firm hired by the city go too far to gather info on Jordan Miles?
It seemed innocuous enough. Wearing a dark-blue tank top and backward baseball cap, Jordan Miles is raising his arms up to his head and flexing his biceps, grinning through a patchy beard and mustache. His father, grasping a cup in his left hand, is standing in the background in an identical stance. They’re posing for…
Stuff We Like
Western Pennsylvania Model Railroad Museum. Don’t miss the seasonal treat at this Gibsonia museum dedicated to depicting the region’s railroad heritage. The 40-by-100-foot display of the tracks that span from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., is only made public during the holiday show, held Friday through Sunday, through Jan. 11. www.wpmrm.org Weldin’s Wishes The old J.R.…
Ferguson Perspective: ‘Darren Wilson isn’t an anomaly; neither is the killing of Michael Brown’
Black bodies being fed to the system Black American, dead or in prison Love of the murderers never the victims Dead kids can’t beg your forgiveness The above lines are from a song I wrote a few days after an unarmed, 18-year-old Michael Brown — a week away from attending college — was shot and…
Bistro 9101
Bistro 9101 9101 Perry Highway McCandless 412-318-4871 Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.-midnight; Sat. 4 p.m.-midnight; Sun. 4-8 p.m. Prices: Appetizers, salads and sandwiches $6-14; entrees $17-29 Liquor: Full bar The bistro is, originally, a French concept: a modest restaurant, possibly even in the home of a boardinghouse-keeper, serving simple, home-style meals at…
More than thirty years after The Fonz, Henry Winkler is still cruising along
Steel City Con 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri., Dec. 5; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat., Dec. 6; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun., Dec. 7. Monroeville Convention Center 209 Mall Blvd. Monroeville steelcitycon.com There is no denying that it’s hard to separate Henry Winkler from his most famous character — Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli on Happy Days. But…
It’s Beaujolais Nouveau time again
The holidays are here and with them, this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau vintage. The young, fruity French wine hits markets the third Thursday of every November, rung in worldwide by celebrations and tastings. I attended an event hosted by Dreadnought Wines at East Liberty’s Cloak Room. Although it lacked such historically wild antics as wine baths,…
Savage Love
I have been insecure about the way my vagina looks for as long as I can remember. When I was young, I would fantasize about the day I would grow pubic hair long enough to cover its unsightliness. That day never came, and I was left with an enormous insecurity about it. My labia minora…
Harris Grill and East End Brewing celebrate 10 years, with a joint fundraising dinner
The restaurant that’s locally famous for handing out baskets of free bacon every Tuesday is turning 10. “Some people give away pretzels and potato chips. We give away meat.” says Rodney Swartz, one of four Harris Grill owners. To celebrate, Harris Grill is joining forces with East End Brewing Company, another local institution that is…
Lynn Cullen Live 12/03/14
Video Archive Lynn’s house won’t make the cover of “Good Housekeeping”. The infamous parakeet has flown off, hopefully to warmer climates. Florida makes it a crime to feed the homeless. Nordic and European countries provide free higher education to their citizens…and some Americans! Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new…
Gotham
Dad, the city is littered with color our drawers are filled with heirlooms and everything of consequence so that you might be proud the same is as was: one hand washes the other, muscles contract with indifference, and the worst in us keeps wheels turning we are relocated east of eden, east of everywhere —…
