GeekStar.com

MC Lars with Geekstar.com and ThoughtfulRiot.com.
Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh PA, 12/13/08

Check out the Sarah (Geekstar) shout out!

MC Frontalot with ThoughtfulRiot.com and Geekstar.com! Guest YT Cracker!
Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh PA 12/13/08

All photos © 2008 geekstar.com.

YT Cracker & MC FrontaLot © geekstar.com

MC Lars © geekstar.com

This past Saturday, I attended the MC FrontaLot, MC Lars, and YT Cracker show at Garfield Artworks in Pittsburgh. Garfield Artworks is a local art gallery that showcases local artists and hosts local and national indie shows. Geekstar.com was invited by girlie.com to cover this concert. Geekstar covering Nerdcore is an obvious fit.

I had never seen any of these artists perform live previously, so I was very excited to attend such a nerdolicious event. I came armed with my Canon XSI digital SLR camera and Flip Mino video camera. The following photos document the night.

MC FrontaLot is one of the most energetic and intense performers I have ever seen. I am such a hip hop fan and also a geek at heart. Seeing the king of nerdcore live was such a treat! FrontaLot entertained the audience with his brand of rhymes that features such topic as unattainable goth girls and Star Wars convention shenanigans. FrontaLot donned a flashlight on his head which only accentuated his robotic dance moves. Althought he is very much a white boy, FrontaLot definitely had moves and could rhyme.

I am now officially a MC Lars fan. Here is why:

1. I love all things pop culture. So does Lars.
2. The entire set was illustrated with a corresponding video backdrop. Video design at it’s finest with girls in stirrup pants, Spock, Carmen San Diego (she has really bad morals), Weird Al, and more… Lars told me he uses settings on his IPod to sync the video to his rhymes. Photos synced beautifully to his performance. (Note: have to look into this set-up…)
3. Inciting a mosh pit of geeks that was somewhat violent to “Hot Topic is not Punk”. Classic.
(I haven’t been in a mosh pit since 1996 or as my friend James says, “199sick”.  At that time, they were hard core kids. Not magic lovers. hmmm…)

MORE PHOTOS FOLLOW…

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NERDCORE!

What is NERDCORE? Nerdcore, also geeksta rap (get it?), is hip hop that deals with important nerd issues such as programming, code, star wars, science, gaming, politics, math, science ficition, and many other geeky pursuits.

Pittsburgh is being graced by none other than MC FrontaLot this Saturday night at Garfield Artworks for a nerdcoreapalooza of sorts. The night will include Building Better Bombs, Seawhores, MC Lars, YT Cracker, and MC Frontalot.

MC FrontaLot photo credit: Sean McPharlin

Garfield Artworks
Time: 7 PM
Price: $10/door (Advanced tickets $8: Eide’s Entertainment, Paul’s CDs, Wicked Discs, Dave’s Music Mine, Slacker, and The Exchange Squirrel Hill)
Bands: Building Better Bombs, Seawhores, MC FrontaLot, MC Lars, YT Cracker

I love MC FrontaLot for rhymes like this - sample from Indier than Thou:

Delving deep into my letterbox when I discovered
fan mail for MC Front. It kind of hovered
before my vision. I made a decision to open it up.
It said, “Yo, Frontalot, you suck!”
Whew! I was worried for a second that I’d started to earn love,
seeing all my indie points burned up.
Next you know, I’m meeting pop stars in stretched cars,
doing the soundtrack for the Wendy’s tie-in with Jar Jar,
paying rent on time, owning things,
suing Napster with my best friend Sting.
It’s like a nightmare (yep), ‘cause that ain’t nerdcore (nope).
Yes, I’m indier than thou within my nerdcore flow.
And if you’re slow on the uptake, I’ll lay it out:
hipsterism is a religion to which you got to be devout.
Must be seen as in between unpopular and hated
or else get excommunicated.

After experiencing Indier than Thou again, I really feel like heading over to Brillobox…

Official Urban Dictionary definition of Indier than Thou: click here!

This is going to be a super fun show that is totally up geekstar’s alley! Rap, Rock, and Nerds Galore! I hear Podcamp Pittsburgh will representing too! Podcamp is all things social media and part of geekstar’s crew. How nerdier is that to have an entire audience of geeks at a nerdcore show? Heaven!

I’m also excited to see MC Lars. My good friend, Walt Ribiero, wrote some of the string arrangements on his new album. If you’re looking to learn music theory or play an instrument, you must check out Walt’s site at WaltRibeiro.net. Walt somehow posts daily instructional videos, but you’ll see…he is kind of full of energy.

Some MC FrontaLot reviews:

Miami New Times
“The beats are tight, the production is crisp, and most of the hooks are catchy pleasures that rattle around like “Loser”-era Beck.”

Time Out Chicago
“Frontalot, the bald and pasty San Franciscan who coined the term nerdcore, is the catchiest and funniest musical comedy act we’ve heard since Tenacious D.”

Engine Room Recordings in New York City is bringing yet another superb indie show to Pittsburgh this coming weekend. owry is a Brooklyn-based indie rock band with members originally hailing from Kansas, New Zealand, Australia, North Carolina and Canada. Originally emerging from New York City’s “anti-folk” scene.

They have been compared to such electro indie rock groups such as Mates of State and Grizzly Bear. Two bands of which Geekstar is a fan. I just saw Mates of State in San Diego opening for Santo Gold. Fantastic.

The show this weekend will be a lot of fun. Club Cafe is one of Pittsburgh’s best venues for great audio and an intimate setting. Local favorites, Round Black Ghosts, will be opening. Low Water will also be peforming. Just checked out their music at lowwatermusic.com - definitely looking forward to hearing their version of indie/dreamy/folky pop.

Saturday December 6

Doors: 10 PM

Club Cafe

Low Water and Round Black Ghosts and Lowry

$5 pre-sale, $7 door

21 and over

Read what people are saying:

“Lowry is one of those bands that is a music critic’s worst nightmare, and I mean that in the best way. Lowry has an unclassifiable sound that leads the listener reaching for comparisons that fade away a minute later. Yet, taken as a whole, Love Is Dead has a wonderful cohesiveness to it. Lowry often has a lo-fi, gentle yet lush sound. It is the type of sound that draws comparisons to Death Cab for Cutie and the Shins. Listen and you will find Americana, electronica, folk, and straight ahead pop. I haven’t even touched on the banjos, electric guitars, and other sound melanges that are meticulously crafted throughout the album. They ensure that little treasures are discovered upon each additional listen, of which there should be many.” - ATLANTA MUSIC GUIDE

“Lowry’s quietly strange brand of neo-folk music is akin to an ocean breeze stirring the hot, heavy summer air: It refreshes and delights, and leaves listeners smiling about the pleasant little surprises that await in life. Such a pleasing discovery is bound to unassumingly tuck itself away into one’s soul, to be remembered and treasured for a long time to come.” KATHERINE LATSHAW, ENCORE MAGAZINE—WILMINGTON/CAPE FEAR

Change is underway in Braddock as groups working with and within the community bring renewed energy to a town that many wrote off. Artists, social entrepreneurs, community organizers, urban homesteaders and others with a pioneering spirit are inspired by the town’s potential for grassroots urban renewal and are using the inherent energy in Braddock to fuel their creativity.

It is with this spirit that OBSCURAE  views the maligned town – turning a photographic eye towards the borough’s oft-overlooked beauty amidst the former grandeur and “urban blight” that Braddock has come to represent for many.

Curated by Braddock residents Jenny Fremlin and Jodi Morrison, with special guest curator John Ryan Brubaker, OBSCURAE pays homage to Braddock’s unique post industrial urban beauty. From the borough’s Victorian and industrial-era construction to particulars of its natural surroundings, each photograph captures a unique perspective of the town.

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I love this painting and want it for my house! Is that claire huxtable?

Love the tail!

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