Concert Review: Allison Weiss + Mitten + Donora @ Thunderbird Café / 01.14.2012

Catching up on weeks-old shows. Mitten put out a catchy and lovely EP last year called See You Bye. I really liked it and was kinda surprised by how much I did, and wrote that in this review here for DUL. I've managed to see Allison Weiss four or five times here in town over the last couple of years, and I saw that they were touring together this winter and stopping here at the Thunderbird, hooray! And they're playing with Donora, even better!

I emailed the ladies of Mitten to set up an interview a couple of days before the show, and had plans to meet up with them and AW for some pizza before the gig, but unfortunately they got delayed on the road. We ended up just meeting at the venue after soundcheck and right before they played. (That's their soundcheck in the photo on the left, with AW internetting and Hugh snapping photos.) I had a quick conversation with Joanna and Maia about their current tour and their plans for future recording. What struck me was how much god damn fun they were having. In the most pleasant way possible, I could hardly get a word in! They cracked jokes left and right, smiled constantly, jabbed at each other and told tour anecdotes, and were genuinely outgoing and bubbly the whole time. The best kind of interview, really, but darn hard to transcribe (especially with the background noise by the pool table there) so I'm working on that and it'll hopefully be done next week.

My friends and I sat at the table at the front of the balcony, which is an optimal viewpoint at the Thunderbird, I gotta say, but it kinda sucks for sound if there are lots of people at the bar up there. If people are respectful and pay attention, it is outstanding for sound, right up in the middle of the sonic spaces, but if everyone is really chatty, like this night … well, it can be really frustrating. I had trouble hearing banter, and some of the quieter moments of Mitten's music—which are some of the best parts of their music, really!—got a little blurred and almost drowned out. Fuckin' ay. Overall, they played great and seemed to have a good time, regardless, and there were a couple of folks up front dancing and singing along, so I'm glad for that. It's just too bad that our location wasn't the best and there was a big group of us so moving up to the front of the stage wasn't gonna work.

This trend kinda continued into Allison Weiss' set. She blasted through a bunch of new songs, and the usual old faves—"I Was An Island", "Fingers Crossed", "You + Me + Alcohol"—and her downtempo cover of Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend", which is gorgeous. Having just seen her play in December at Point Park, there wasn't much new to talk about. She played well, was her usually friendly self on stage, and the crowd down at the stage level was really into it. Mitten came back onstage to play a song or two at the end, too; that was fun.

Donora came in and rocked the house, as usually. It became clear as the night went on that most people were there to see Donora and were kinda waiting through the first two sets to see them. That irked me a little. As much as I love local bands and am glad to see when they become increasingly popular, I don't like seeing this dynamic at shows where it's like you can completely forget about the fact that people are standing on stage playing songs for your entertainment and you're just talking to your friends like they don't exist. It's fine to not like bands and not want to pay attention, but just do it somewhere else. Go downstairs to the bar. Go outside. Play a game of tic tac toe. Whatever it is. It's just really annoying to everyone else trying to watch and listen when they have to fight through your idle chit-chat.

Local music notes, April 2011: The Slow Reel, MOIP, The Cynics, Brooke Annibale, Lohio, Nik & the Central Plains

It's impossible to stay in tune with all of the goings-on of the Pgh music scene, I gotta say, but when I find some good and/or interesting stuff, I like to share it with you. So here are some good and/or interesting songs, albums, events, etc. from the very recent past and the very near future.

• The Slow Reel / new single: "We Get Along" b/w "Ain't It Something"

  
  I've caught these guys (and gals) live a couple times around town and have always enjoyed their jams. A recent interview over on Pgh Music Report has singer/bassist Rob describing their sound as "original songs with a classic rock vibe" and that is pretty much perfect. I can definitely hear a carful of youngsters singin' along to "We Get Along" as it blasts from their car radio on a cross country road trip in 1973. Or something like that. Stream the songs below and head to their Bandcamp page to download 'em for FREE.
  
  The Slow Reel: Facebook, Bandcamp

• Meeting of Important People / vinyl release of debut album

  
  I like this band. A lot. I won't belabor that and will get to the point: their debut, self-titled album that came out on CD/digital in the Spring of 2009 is now available on vinyl! The fine folks at Pittsburgh's own Get Hip Recordings had the sharp eye to do this and MOIP's blend of garage rock/pop will fit perfectly in their catalog. I bet these tracks will sound super souped-up on wax, and they've even updated the cover art, opting for a b&w photo of the trio staring you down, with the band name in brightly-colored block lettering. Snazzy. You can find this LP at some record shops around town (I spotted copies at Desolation Row and Mind Cure last weekend, in fact) or you can order direct from the band via their website. They're having an "official" release show at the Thunderbird on May 7, too. Here's their "famous" video for Track 1 from that album, "Brittney Lane Don't Care":
  
  Meeting of Important People: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, Last.fm

• The Cynics / new LP: Spinning Wheel Motel

  
  While we're on the Get Hip topic ... label founders Gregg Kostelich and Michael Kastelic are the guitarist and singer, respectively, of garage rock legends The Cynics. It's a cryin' shame how little recognition they seem to get here in the U.S., since word on the street is that they are huge in Europe and yet I saw them a couple weeks ago at a little old place like the 31st Street Pub here in Pittsburgh and it wasn't even full there. What gives?! Anyway, they seem to have an endless supply of deliciously-rockin' 60s psych rock freakouts up their sleeves, and here's another album full of 'em. It's officially out sometime in May (more info here) and in the meantime you can watch the trippy video for Track 1, "I Need More":
  
  The Cynics: Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm

• Brooke Annibale / new album: Silence Worth Breaking

  
  Thanks to a successful Kickstarter project last Fall, Brooke Annibale's third album is now out in the world, and if you hold your hand to your ear, you just may hear some strains of her lovely voice and the lush instrumentation with lots of strings just floating along the breeze ... or you could go buy the album and hear it in all of its full and beautiful detail! For all of the beauty of the songs, though, it's the lyrics that have really kept my attention, especially on "Yours and Mine". So touching. Stream the album below and check out some upcoming shows, too.
  Silence Worth Breaking - "First Listen" by brookeannibale
  Brooke Annibale: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Last.fm

• Lohio / new single: "You've Got Your Fight"

  
  
  These guys have really grown on me, and their Family Tree EP was one of my faves last year. This single came out in March (and was picked up by Paste Magazine!) and shows an interesting, newish style, with some bouncy keys and shouted vocals and little glimmers of feedback on the guitars. It's hard to pinpoint individual influences on the sound, but suffice it to say I really like this new track. Stream it below and enjoy:
  
  Lohio: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, Last.fm
  

• Nik & the Central Plains / new album: Walk on Beaches / CD release shows

  
  Their first, self-titled, album came out just about a year ago, but these guys are already back with more. An article published yesterday in the Tribune-Review has Nik calling that album just a "collection of songs", but they are great, catchy folk-rock songs, at that. I have yet to hear any of the new record, save for whatever they've played at their live shows over the last coupl of months, but I'm sure it will be awesome. They're hosting two CD release shows at the Thunderbird Cafe this weekend; check out my post over on Draw Us Lines for full details on those shows (and many others, in fact!). I'll be at the Saturday show. In the meantime, check out some video I took at their show at Howlers on January 14:
  
  Nik & the Central Plains: Website, Facebook, Last.fm
  (On a related note, I just found this cover version of their song "You're The Blues" by Pittsburghers Boca Chica. Cool!)

So that's what I've found lately. Have any other interesting local songs, albums, events, etc. to share? Let me know about 'em!

Concert review: Meeting of Important People

Meeting of Important People
Saturday July 24, 2010 at Thunderbird Cafe
with Leigh, Paul

This was truly "an evening with MOIP". The local trio played an expansive set of songs-- both originals and covers--including an acoustic session in the middle and completely reaffirmed everything I enjoy about their music and live show. Their songs cover a fairly wide range of subgenres within the pop/rock realm, and individual songs can showcase several of those at the same time. It was particularly nice to see them strip down their sound for the acoustic songs and not lose any of the essential elements of their songcrafting skills. They even played a few covers of other local bands (Lohio and Boca Chica, from what I remember, maybe others).

This was my first time at the Thunderbird, actually. The front bar area had a bunch of stools, a few small tables, and a billiards table and jukebox off in a separate section. There was a decent tap and bottle selection, too, and not too expensive. I'll be looking out for more shows there in the future. The music stage was up a small set of stairs and set off against a painted brick background. Facing that, up another half stairwell, was a section of chairs and tables but that was already completely full of people by the time we got there. Also, it was absolutely pouring out and Leigh and I had walked there from the bus stop at Penn & Main, so we were completely soaked. I think my shoes and socks were still soggy when we left!

We ended up watching most of the show standing towards the middle/back of the area on the stage level, which was a good vantage point for me, at least. They played all of the songs on the new EP, most from the previous self-titled album, a few standard covers they've played at live shows before, and some new (to me) covers. All in all, it was an incredible display of musicianship and stage presence. I will always see these guys play when I can. I was sad to miss their show at the Andy Warhol museum the following week since I was out of town, but they are playing a show at the Brillobox on September 4th!

And shhhh you can download the new EP on their Bandcamp page. In the meantime, their "record label" Authentik Artists (which actually only controls the digital realm, interestingly, leaving CDs and vinyl to the band) has managed to get the new album featured on Spinner Magazine's New Releases page and on the iTunes main page! Fucking awesome! Hope this gives them some much deserved national exposure.

One last anecdote: they gave out free CD copies of the Quit Music EP at the show and I took one and put it in my shorts pocket on the way home and promptly ran that pair thru the laundry without noticing the CD was in it!? The nice CD sleeve was totally ruined, but the CD itself is still good.


Manny Theiner article in the Post-Gazette about the band
Album review by Speed of Pgh Sound
Interview with lead singer Josh in the City Paper
Review of the Warhol museum show the next week by Draw Us Lines