A biker DJ at the Bikes, Blues n Brews concert event.
This Saturday saw the return of the Bikes, Blues n Brews concert series at Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, PA. This concert series was a popular part of the park's reopening two summers ago but for some reason was discontinued last summer. I was glad to see the concert series return and Saturday was a pretty good indication of what is to come. The series features regional touring bands of a generally higher quality than the average local band in the Western Pennsylvania area and tends to feature tribute bands to older rock legends (Alice Cooper, Van Halen, ZZ Top, etc.) I'm not sure why they use the word blues in the title for the series other than the great alliteration because there are rarely blues bands featured. The target audience for this concert series is bikers and they were out in pretty impressive force on Saturday. The first band to play was called Metal, Inc. from Youngstown, Ohio and they lived up to their name playing a pretty standard assortment of pop-metal over the course of the afternoon. In this video you can see the guitarists' do the mandatory simultaneous head bob while covering Iron Maiden.
The second band on the bill was called Midnight Express. I assume the name comes from the an affection for the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover of the song and not from the Leadbelly original as this band specializes in 70's album rock. Musically this band was superior to Metal, Inc. and did a good job of covering the usual album rock suspects. In this video they do a credible job of covering Boston, which isn't the easiest thing to do. I left about halfway through Midnight Express' set as I was feeling the lingering effects from MSG poisoning from some food I ate the night before. A third band, Jackie, was scheduled for the Beach Club bar later on this night but I had to forgo that experience. Although I wish there was a little more blues featured in this concert series I do think it a solid addition to the events at Conneaut Lake Park and will build attendance as the summer progresses.
Friday night was one of the first nights of decent weather we have had in months so even though there were no major musical events scheduled, it seemed like a good time to hit downtown Pittsburgh. First I went to the street party that is usually given by the Pittsburgh Pirates on 6th Street before each baseball game. I have no interest in sitting through a baseball game but I am always up for a good street party. A section of the street was cordoned off for alcohol sales and a band was place in a tent in the center of this area. I honestly don't remember the name of this band but that might be just as well as they are not very good although enthusiastic and at least they are dressed appropriately.
My next stop was the Backstage Bar in Theatre Square. This is a small bar connected to a theater that is used for small musicals and revues. The bar generally features jazz during Happy Hour only so as not to conflict with the theater next door. The band performing this evening featured some smooth jazz, maybe a little too smooth for my taste, but they were still entertaining.
The band featured below was playing in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel next to a bar called Andy's (in honor of Andrew Carnegie). I had never heard of this bar or hotel before and just happened to be walking by when I heard them so this was a pleasant surprise. I don't have a video of it but later the singer was wandering all over the lobby interacting with people and generally making a nuisance of herself. (By the way, this hotel is beautiful. I wish I could afford to stay at it someday.)
I chose to end the evening by giving NOLA on the Square a second chance. This visit was far more successful than the last. I had the Shrimp and Grits which were very good although not as good as some I had had in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The musical act this night was The Olga Watkins band. They bill themselves as a blues band although they are closer to R&B/pop in my opinion. However, this video show them interpreting an old blues classic, Stormy Monday. You will notice in the background that they opened up the windows on the front of the restaurant and this gave the place a much more open feel. In all this was an eclectic but fairly successful night of music searching in Pittsburgh.
This isn't Harper but another gentleman playing a didgeridoo.
Most people in this area seem unaware of it but the original Quaker Steak and Lube hosts blues bands every Monday night. Actually the bands usually play in the faux Irish bar Tulley's which is across the parking lot from the actual Lube. Generally they have local or regional bands play but on occasion they will book a national act that happens to be wandering through the region. I suspect even national acts are happy to get a gig on a Monday night which is probably one reason why the Lube has chosen this night. Last night Blind Pig recording artist Harper stopped by the Lube and put on a great show in the Thunder Alley section of the main restaurant (Tulley's was hosting a private function). Harper is probably the most unusual blues artist I have ever seen. First, he is Australian. Second, his primary instrument is a didgeridoo. According to Wikipedia, the most reliable source on the earth, a didgeridoo "is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia at least 1,500 years ago and is still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". I actually ran into Harper at the bar before the first set began and had an interesting discussion with him. He currently lives in Michigan and his entire band is from the Detroit or Flint areas of that state. He had a gig in Del Ray Beach, Florida the night before and had spent the night and most of the day driving up to Pennsylvania. This annoyed him primarily because he had recently been arrested for a DUI in Michigan and he wasn't quite sure if he could drive his van legally. He was also annoyed with the United States' obsession about drinking and driving because apparently drinking and driving is a common occurrence in Australia. His final statement to me before chugging his 32 ounce beer and finishing his setup was, "If you want to be poor. Be a musician." Probably true. As entertaining as Harper's conversation was, his music was even better. In addition to his expertise on the didgeridoo he is also an excellent harmonica player and a very smooth and soulful singer-his singing voice sounding nothing like his speaking voice. This first clip is an example of his harmonica playing and singing. (Harper is singing in this clip. It is hard to see because he tends to cup the harmonica in front of his mouth.)
This second clip features Harper on the infamous didgeridoo. I like the way he incorporates the instrument into the overall blues sound of the song. It is not an instrument that I would like to hear every night but I enjoyed hearing Harper play it and I thought the band in general was excellent.
Cranberry Township has to be one of the most boring places in the world and yet I find myself there a lot because it is the closest place with a decent book store, a movie theater and restaurants with edible food. In Western Pennsylvania this constitutes culture. In any event, I started out my day yesterday with no agenda to see bands but found myself trapped in the North Park Lounge for a few hours waiting out a violent rainstorm that hit the area. North Park Lounge has new owners and they have done a good job of remodeling the place, particularly the modular trailer in the back lot that serves as an outdoor bar. They opened up the front of the "trailer" and they cleaned up the rather moldy interior. And to their credit, they still have bands on Saturday night even though they sequester them to the far end of the bar and close off doors so the rest of the patrons won't be bothered. I'd be insulted if I was a band playing this place but I guess beggars can't be choosers given the state of live music in Western Pennsylvania. The first band I saw was named Acoustic Jammage. I had never heard of them and was encouraged during their warm-up to hear them play some power blues songs. And they did play a Stevie Ray Vaughn song early in their set but then wandered off into pop-country (?) and jam band territory. I have to say the most annoying thing about this band was their one light which you can see behind the bassist. It's bad enough that this place offers no stage and no lights for their bands but then this band brings a light which merely makes it harder to see them or anything else clearly. The horrendous lighting screwed up the look of this video as you can see. (Another amusing thing you will notice in this video is a bathroom sign placed behind the band. Yes, there is a bathroom back there and periodically you will see people walk past the band to relieve themselves. Classy.)
After a sleepy 40 minutes Acoustic Jammage announced that they were going to have their friends play a set. I figured they were just going to sit in but a completely different band began to set up. Thankfully they used the same drum set but it still took a good 20 minutes for this band to get organized. It became apparent fairly quickly that we were privileged to watch The Tar Benders have a rehearsal and by the looks of it, one of their first. I did record this song which has some competent blues noodling by the lead guitarist but I made a run for it shortly after this while the rainfall was still relatively mild. All in all a depressing example of the state of live music in this area.
Many people don't know this but Pittsburgh has a rich jazz history that has largely been decimated by urban renewal of the former jazz district and a general neglect of the city's musical heritage by its residents. At one time or another significant jazz artists like George Benson, Art Blakey, Billy Eckstine and Billy May all called Pittsburgh home. Jazz still survives in Pittsburgh although it has become increasingly difficult to find. I still mourn the loss of Dowe's on 9th, the best jazz venue in Pittsburgh for many years. On this night I decided to discover what kind of jazz was available on an overcast Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh. I headed for Villa on the Southside of Pittsburgh because I saw on their website that Etta Cox, a frequent performer at Dowe's on 9th, would be performing there at Happy Hour. I apparently didn't pay enough attention to the website because I missed the part about a women's business networking event proceeding the performance. After an hour of exchanging cards and handshakes with a large group of middle aged business women I got to hear Etta sing for the first time in years. She was in fairly good voice although she covered three Carole King songs in less than an hour which I thought was an odd choice. The song in this video is not a Carole King song. You can hear the business women chattering in the background.
I left the South Side to head for NOLA at Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. NOLA is the new New Orleans themed restaurant in Pittsburgh. First I must say that I thought the food was very disappointing. Since eating there I have read several online reviews of the food at NOLA which were all very positive. Either I am crazy or none of these people have ever left Pittsburgh. The food wasn't inedible but resembled nothing I have ever ate in New Orleans on my many visits. However, I am willing to give them another try later this summer in hopes I just came by on a bad night. As a music venue NOLA is merely okay. The band is jammed up against the front window with no stage and no real sight lines available to the rest of the club. The band was guitarist Colter Harper and friends. They were interesting although a bit low-key for a New Orleans themed bar/restaurant.
From NOLA I ventured to Little E's, a cute little second story jazz club on Liberty Avenue. This place has an odd set-up in that the bar is at the very rear of the club, far away from the band. However, I have found out that if you plop yourself down on one of the couches right in front of the stage nobody seems to mind. The band this night was the Duke Hunter Band although, as is common with jazz, a variety of random musicians popped up on the bandstand to sing or play an instrument. The first video is a charming song in the samba/jazz vocal tradition and the second video was later in the night and features what I think is a bass clarinet. I guess the positive outcome of this night of jazz is the discovery that this genre of music is still available in Pittsburgh and in fact every venue I went to on this Wednesday evening had a healthy crowd.
