Elvis Costello cancels Pittsburgh Heinz Hall show in solidarity with PSO strikers
Those who don’t regularly attend Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concerts may not have given much thought to the ongoing PSO strike. But, with the announcement today that Elvis Costello has canceled his Nov. 1 appearance at Heinz Hall, the orchestra’s home base, the strike may have more resonance for rock n roll fans. Costello released the…
Allentown business district capitalizes on South Hills tunnel detour
Allentown business owners, employees and residents hope South Hills tunnel detour will draw attention to their business district
Listen Up! Oct. 19
Every Wednesday, we make a Spotify playlist containing tracks from artists mentioned in the current music section. Give it a listen below:
Young Preservationists Association to highlight top 10 historic Pittsburgh structures in need of help
Pittsburgh group is bringing awareness to historic buildings so it can preserve them.
New Pocket-Sized Long-Form Journalism Series From Pittsburgh-based Creative Nonfiction
Series launches “Fruitland,” a story of pop-music archaeology
Labor organizers rally in Pittsburgh for Boss’s Day
Labor activists rallied on Boss’s Day in Pittsburgh yesterday to call for better wages and working conditions.
Final performances of ‘Hand to God’ at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre
Four performances remain for this hit comedy about a kid and his demonic puppet
MP3 …Tuesday???: Blue Soul Ten
This week’s MP3 comes from Blue Soul Ten, a project of composer/producer Claye Greene which blends jazz, soul and electronica. Stream or download the chill-wave-y track “Daydream,” from the new record The Fearless Warrior, below, and learn more about Blue Soul Ten here. This download link has expired, sorry!
Chelsea Clinton takes on women’s, LGBT issues at campaign event in Pittsburgh
Chelsea Clinton tackles women’s and LGBT issues along with education at today’s Pittsburgh appearance.
The Iroquois White Corn Project and Conflict Kitchen work together to bring light to indigenous peoples’ cuisine and history.
A story of American culture you probably didn’t learn in history class, told through food.
New initiative to increase walker safety is drawing ire of pedestrian advocates
The campaign was created to remind pedestrians to stay safe on Downtown streets, but advocates say it reinforces victim-blaming stereotypes.
Pittsburgh makeup artist recreates presidential nominees Clinton and Trump
Pittsburgh makeup artist recreated Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s looks to lessen the tension this election season.
Sen. Pat Toomey mocked on Jimmy Kimmel for non-position on Trump
Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey is the only senator up for re-election who has not taken a solid position on Donald Trump.
Tomorrow is deadline to contribute to Pittsburgh’s Museum of Broken Relationships
Internationally touring museum seeks mementos of failed relationships
Lynn Cullen 10/14/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Women come forward with their stories of assault. Michelle Obama gives moving speech in New Hampshire. A new news network? The hierarchy of Trump’s children. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio…
Associated Artists of Pittsburgh opens new-members’ show Saturday
Exhibit features 65 works by 35 artists
Switchfoot at Stage AE: Snap a photo, see the unity
If you snapped a photo of Foreman and Thiessen singing together on that one mic, both with big smiles, that would be a frame that could represent the rest of the show.
Lynn Cullen Live 10/13/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize in Literature. More women come forward about Trump sexual assaults. A horrifying campaign story. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
Talking donuts, DIY punk and old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll with Seratones front woman AJ Haynes
THE SERATONES with THE WHATFORS 8 p.m. Thu., Oct. 13. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $12-14. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com In the middle of talking about what inspires the lyrics she writes, AJ Haynes gets sidetracked. “I really love metered poetry and formal verse,” she says, as her band, The Seratones, drive from…
A retrospective gives Alison Knowles her due
ALISON KNOWLES continues through Oct. 24. Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-622-3131 or cmoa.org Last year, in the New York Times Style Magazine, was a piece profiling “a very small sampling of the female artists now in their 70s, 80s and 90s we should have known about decades ago.” One of the…
Tie games may be the worst thing ever
The ultimate indignity of the Pirates’ frustrating 2016 season was getting swept at home by the hated St. Louis Cardinals. It was an inglorious ending to a forgettable campaign. Maybe worse was the penultimate indignity of tying the Cubs in the series before that. Yes, the Pirates finished the season 0-3-1 down the stretch. The…
American Honey
American Honey Directed by Andrea Arnold Stars Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough Starts Fri., Oct. 14. AMC Loews Waterfront “We explore America. We party. It’s cool.” That casual invitation from a cute guy with tattoos, funny pants and a rat tail is enough to convince teenage Star to leave her dysfunctional family and join…
Three Pittsburgh-related fantasy-football options to spice up the season
Those who play fantasy football will be the first to tell you that playing the game helps you stay interested while watching every football game on the schedule in a particular week. And that’s true. When I started playing more than 20 years ago, I realized that I had to sit like a bump on…
The Girl on the Train
“I’m not the girl I used to be — I think people can see that on my face,” bemoans Rachel (Emily Blunt), whose daily routine is to ride the Metro North, sucking vodka from a water bottle, and peering into the lives of those who live near the tracks. She’s particularly obsessed with one young…
New Releases
The Hipsters Love and Violence [Self-released] www.thehipsters.com The Hipsters have been around for more than 30 years, but Love and Violence, their 12-track album self-released this summer, is technically their debut. They’ve been playing off and on through different lineups without a studio record since 1978, and according to their website, are now “professionals with…
Extreme Weather
This new Omnimax documentary profiles three sets of people either studying or battling the consequences of extreme weather. In Alaska, scientists take stock of glaciers that a warming planet is causing to disintegrate, contributing to rising sea levels. On the Great Plains, stormchasers track the destructive paths of tornados. And in California, firefighters cope with…
Savage Love
I’m 64 years young, a musician, chubby, full head of hair, no Viagra needed, no alcohol, I don’t mind if you drink, smoker, yes I am. I am also faithful, loyal and single for five years. No health issues, nada, zero, zilch. Not gay, not prejudiced against gays, pro-woman, Democrat, MASCULINE. Except I only like…
Shin Godzilla
Few monsters are as tough to put down as Godzilla, and this latest cinematic depiction of the sometime ocean-dweller, sometime city-stomper is simply more proof. Need further evidence? There are more than 30 Godzilla movies. Hideaki Anno’s contemporary recounting revisits the premise of 1954 original: A huge, mysterious lizard-like monster emerges from the sea and…
A photo essay from the Pens Oct. 1 preseason practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Inventor hopes his new game will replace cornhole in backyards and at tailgates across the country … or at least Pittsburgh
James Lomuscio, of Highland Park, was bored with standard tailgate games like cornhole. Even though they were easy and everyone knew how to play them, they didn’t leave a lot of room for creativity, he says. Either they were too simple or too boring. So he came up with a new game that, while easy…
Weird Pittsburgh: An app that identifies local stank, a rooster on the loose in the Hill, and a clown hunt in State College
As previously reported in this column, the national phenomenon of clown scares has come to Pennsylvania. In most instances, someone in clown garb reportedly appears briefly in public, causing alarm before vanishing. Recently, an off-duty New Castle police officer said two men dressed as clowns ran toward his car as he was driving, causing him…
Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season?
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
The Vandal in Lawrenceville offers an assortment of fusion cuisine in a casual setting
The Vandal 4306 Butler St., Lawrenceville. 412-251-0465 Hours: Wed.-Fri. breakfast 8-11 a.m.; lunch 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; dinner 5-9 p.m.; Sat. brunch 8 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner 5-9 p.m.; Sun. brunch 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Prices: $5-25 Liquor: BYOB While the The Vandal’s transgressive nomenclature may suggest a self-consciously edgy bar, don’t go looking for graffiti, urban decay or…
An indefatigable artist gets a retrospective
ESTHER PHILLIPS continues through Oct. 31. Borelli-Edwards Galleries, 3583 Butler St., Lawrenceville. begalleries.com There are probably a million ways to describe what’s known as The American Dream, but it usually goes something like this: Dream big, work hard and anything is possible. It’s beautiful, and a ridiculous lie, because it completely ignores something we all…
Under the new ownership of Lou Ickes and Janessa Walter, Brillobox retains its neighborhood vibe
For longtime bartenders Lou Ickes and Janessa Walter, buying the Brillobox wasn’t exactly the long-term plan. But when Ickes told owner Eric Stern (who is also his brother-in-law) that the two were thinking of moving on, Stern said, “If you leave, I’ll sell it.” A lot of soul-searching later, Ickes and Walter decided to take…
The River at Quantum Theatre
THE RIVER continues through Oct. 30. Quantum Theatre at Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 285 River Ave., Aspinwall. $18-51. 412-362-1713 or quantumtheatre.com Quantum Theatre’s production of Jez Butterworth’s The River is funny, romantic, poetic — and almost entirely unreviewable without spoilers. Yes, there’s a plot (of sorts), interactions between interesting characters, and allegorical discussions of fly-fishing as…
Forget gnomes for your garden — how about gnomes making your beer?
After two years in development, Dancing Gnome Brewery opened on Oct. 1, in Sharpsburg. “Main Street has kept a lot of its cool main-street appeal. I think there’s so much potential,” says owner and brewer Andrew Witchey. Until recently, Witchey was the sole brewer, but as Dancing Gnome moved steadily toward opening day, he brought…
With Jaye Jayle, Young Widows frontman Evan Patterson swaps melodic aggression for menacing, slow-burning minimalism
JAYE JAYLE, THE WORKING POOR, LANDMARK TONGUES 9 p.m. Wed., Oct. 19. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $8. 412-621-4900 or brillobox.net A few years ago, Evan Patterson found himself spending a lot of time in New Mexico. His then-partner was in grad school in Santa Fe, and on frequent visits to see her, without a…
Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Corn Pudding Culture
My grandpa was raised in The Southern Hotel, a notorious resting place for the political elite of Kentucky who were in town for business at the state capitol in Frankfort. I like to imagine him like a small-town Eloise, running through the halls, causing chaos, and dining with mayors and governors, with plates piled high…
Pittsburgh Penguins Preview 2016
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Intimate Apparel at University of Pittsburgh Stages
INTIMATE APPAREL continues through Sun., Oct. 16. Henry Heymann Theatre, 4301 Fifth Ave., Oakland. $12-25. 412-624-7529 or play.pitt.edu Plays don’t come any more beautiful than Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel, now at University of Pittsburgh Stages. What an exquisite piece of playwriting this 2003 drama is; by turns heartbreaking and heart-lifting, Nottage has created a touching…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Meat & Potatoes vs. The Livermore
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste them both 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…
Pittsburgh indie-punk stalwart Laura Lee Burkhardt grows her project Rue into a full band
For the Pittsburgh-based band Rue, it’s time to break out of the bedroom. Beginning as the bedroom-recording project of Laura Lee Burkhardt in 2013, Rue is now a four-piece with big plans for the future, including a new single, a split 7-inch with the band Weller and a debut full-length. Burkhardt is a self-taught musician,…
Second-year Pittsburgh Penguins ready for the big next step
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Station 33 Firehouse Red
This Irish red ale is sweet on the nose with toasty malt flavors on the palate. Creamy, with hints of caramel, this beer is a beautiful deep-red color, and the perfect brew to sip on during fall. — Recommended by Celine Roberts, City Paper staff writer Firehouse Red is available on draft at North Country…
As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Diary of a Madman and “Poe’s Last Night” at Metropolis Theater
DIARY OF A MADMAN AND “POE’S LAST NIGHT” continues through Sun., Oct. 16. Metropolis Theater at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $15-30. madman2016.com A matched pair of solo shows interpreting 19th-century literary giants makes for a chewy evening of theater at the New Hazlett. Diary of a Madman and “Poe’s…
This old mill town turned tragedy into economic opportunity
In 2007, Millvale was hit by a disastrous flood. Girty’s Run, the creek that runs through the borough, swelled to mammoth proportions and engulfed the town’s main drag, Grant Avenue, and most of the business district. Millvale, like many small towns along one of Pittsburgh’s three rivers, had been declining for decades and the flooding…
Critics’ Picks, Oct. 13-19
[HALLOWEEN COVERS] + FRI., OCT. 14 – SAT., OCT. 15 For two nights, the annual Cat-tivo-Howl-O-Ween Bash will haunt Cattivo. Hear over a dozen cover sets including Brazilian Wax covering The Go-Go’s, Crooked Cobras tackling Spinal Tap and Love Dumpster crushing the B-52s. Wear a carefully crafted costume — there will be a Belle of…
A photo essay from the Penguins Oct. 5 preseason game against the Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
Robert Morris researcher Annette Förster weighs in on the torture debate
During a Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire this past February, Republican candidate Donald Trump said he supported the use of torture. “I would bring back waterboarding and I would bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding,” Trump said. Many chalk up Trump’s comments as just one of many outrageous statements…
Instead of owning up to what he’s done, Donald Trump doubles down on arrogance
Before I can write this week’s column, I have to get something off my chest. If Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broaddrick in 1978, then he deserves the harshest penalty available under the law. Quite frankly, that goes for any of the allegations against him. It’s also important for me to say that I believe Broaddrick…
Playboy of the Western World at Carnegie Mellon Drama
PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD continues through Sat., Oct. 15. Philip Chosky Theatre, 5000 Forbes Ave., CMU campus, Oakland. $10-33. 412-268-2407 or drama.cmu.edu If there is a shibboleth for American actors — at least since Brando debuted on Broadway in the late 1940s — it’s been their ability to convey accents, as well as non-native…
Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice
Navigation: As the Penguins embark on the franchise’s golden season, the focus is on silver Cups Pens winger Scott Wilson looking forward to a full season on the ice Can Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan avoid a Stanley Cup hangover in his second season? Five factors crucial to a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup repeat Second-year…
A conversation with Tig Notaro
TIG NOTARO 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 14. Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead, 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. $30-35. librarymusichall.com Tig Notaro’s stock in standup has risen steadily from the time she began frequenting open mics until the turbulent day in 2012 when she forged her magnum opus — a dark, heartfelt and hilarious performance delivered…
Short List: Oct. 12-18
SPOTLIGHT: Fri., Oct. 14 – Stage On Oct. 14, Alan Cumming hits town for not one but two appearances. That afternoon, at Carnegie Lecture Hall, Cumming joins City Theatre’s Tracy Brigden on stage to discuss You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams (Rizzoli), the acclaimed Scottish actor’s new book of photos and stories from life backstage, on…
