Last night Joseph Arthur played an intimate set at LiquidSundays.com. Joseph Arthur has been one of my favorite artists for nearly ten years. It was the fourth time I’ve seen him live in concert and by far one of my favorite shows to date. Joseph incorporates live looping into his sets where he creates layers and layers of interesting vocal and instrument samples. This creates an amazing and unique concert experience. He also created a large painting while performing on stage. He typically only incorporates art into his shows at venues where he already has a close relationship. So this was an unexpected but appreciated addition to the show. He finished the concert by performing an impromptu acoustic encore while sitting on the merch table surrounded by family and fans.

All photos © geekstar.com:

Each year, the Mattress Factory’s Urban Garden Party becomes the talk of the town as more than 1,000 attendees turn out to help support the museum’s mission with one heck of a fundraising party!

SUMMER IN THE CITY: THE 2010 URBAN GARDEN PARTY
Friday, June 18, 2010
7:00 PM (VIP Pre-Party at 6:00 PM)
The Mattress Factory is located at 500 Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh’s North Side

Geekstar.com is part of the Urban Garden Party Street team. Please help me reach my ticket sale quota by ordering from the link posted below. Support the arts in Pittsburgh! Thanks so much!

TICKETS: BUY TICKETS HERE

http://urbangardenparty-geekstar.eventbrite.com

As the Mattress Factory’s primary annual fund raising event, the Garden Party is vital to the organization’s programming and has helped the museum push the artistic envelope for more than three decades.

London based DJ collective Eclectic Method will be headlining from 9 PM till 11 PM. You have to love these guys because they made a video collage of robots set to their music! I love robots!

Eclectic Method – Robots from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

The night will also include DJ Omar Abdul, Artist Tim Kaulen & Sean Derry. There will be skateboards from Mr. Smalls Funhouse just like it’s 1988 all over again!

For one night only, many of Pittsburgh’s best restaurants and bars will come together to offer an amazing selection of delectable edibles and liberating libations. Their donations in support of the Mattress Factory are included in the cost of your ticket to the Urban Garden Party.

Food and beverages for the Urban Garden Party generously donated by:

TICKETS: BUY TICKETS HERE

http://urbangardenparty-geekstar.eventbrite.com

Midlake was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this band play live. There were four guitarists on stage at all time which created a layered ethereal sound. I was very impressed by the talent among all the band members. Pretty much every musician played multiple instruments from flutes, to recorders, to keyboards, to percussion. There were always a minimum of two musicians singing at one time to create the harmony that is Midlake’s unique throwback sound. Anyways, check out the video below to get a taste of the concert. I only had my little point and shoot camera but here are a few photos from Monday’s show. I definitely recommend seeing Midlake if you have the opportunity. I was actually very surprised that show wasn’t more packed. I’m not sure if it was due to a lack of advertising or lack of radio airplay on local indie stations. I thought it was a shame more people didn’t come out to the concert. They were that good.

Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker star in the futuristic Sci-Fi thriller, “Repo Men”. A large corporation called, The Union, sells mechanical body organs to needy patients at a HUGE mark-up. Once a patient defaults on payment, well the Repo Men come to collect…the organ. This film appears to be gritty, gory, and possibly mixed with a little black comedy. The film opens in theaters this April. However, Geekstar has free passes for a premiere on Tuesday, March 19 at the Pittsburgh Mills. Email sarah {at} geekstar.com if interested.

View the trailer here: http://www.repomenarecoming.com/

]]> http://geekstar.com/2010/02/26/repo-men/feed/ 0 http://geekstar.com/2010/02/10/january-escape-photos/ http://geekstar.com/2010/02/10/january-escape-photos/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:57:46 +0000 geekstar http://geekstar.com/?p=813

I just arrived back in Pittsburgh where I was greeted by way too much snow! Here are a few of my favorite photos from last week’s vacation getaway where I fortunately missed round 1 of the blizzard.

Chalk Outline Party, Olympus Mons, Blindsider

Where: Lava Lounge, 2204 E Carson Street, Pittsburgh 15203
When: Thursday, November 12
Time: 9 PM
Price: $5 (21 and over show)

My friend Jeremy just informed me that his band, Chalk Outline Party, is having a reunion show next month at Lava Lounge. I never had the opportunity to see them before they broke up and I still regret not doing so. Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to their reunion show.

I’m such a fan of current bands that feature male baritone lead vocals such as the Editors and White Lies. Chalk Outline Party is in the same vein and they also unabashedly have influences from 80′s dark rock favorites such as Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen. Chalk Outline Party has their own unique sound and they don’t remind me of any other bands I’ve seen emerge from the Pittsburgh music scene as of late. The group consists of well-respected local musicians Aaron Jentzen on vocals and Brian Sproul and Jeremy Papay on guitars and drums.

I already have my calendar marked for next month’s reunion show which also features shoe-gazers Olympus Mons and modern rock from Blindsider.

This past Saturday was the annual South Side Zombie Walk. I happened to be at a party in South Side Saturday so I sneaked away for 20 minutes to find me some brains…er..uh..zombies! The Zombie Walk started at 8 PM in the evening. After the “walk”, word on the street was to look for Zombies…at Dee’s! Zombies at a punk rock, indie, dirty, cheep beer, dive bar…totally makes sense. Love it!

The following are zombies I encountered on Carson Street and at Dee’s. Enjoy!

People seriously went all out. If you didn’t have Zombie make-up, you could get zombie-fied at the Town Tavern.

These guys were great. They kept yelling that they were zombie squatters! After the photo, they asked my friend and I to buy them a six pack.

This was Tommy Chong’s zombie…or at least I think so.

Tommy Chong.

This zombie was wearing a “Job For A Cowboy” t-shirt. That band scares me.
I should have told them that Job For A Cowboy is having a meet-n-greet at Hot Topic. That is soooo not metal.

I met this zombie at Dee’s. That’s actually a punk rocker behind him. He seriously creeped me out with those green teeth. Oh, and what is up with the Japanese Star Wars T-shirt? He is a metal zombie with a geeky side.

These two zombie lovers were also at Dee’s drinking PBR out of a plastic pitcher. Seriously, look close and you can see the Pabst logo. What’s awesome is that this guy made me wait while he put on his “Elmo” head. Yes, he told me he was an Elmo Zombie.

When: Friday July 24, 2009
Where: Mr Smalls Funhouse, Pittsburgh, PA
Time: Doors at 7 pm; Show 8 pm
Price: $10

ZAO with special guests:

To Speak Of Wolves

Kamikabe

Drugdealer

Don’t miss ZAO this Friday night at Mr. Smalls. This may be your only chance to see ZAO perform live in 2009.

Zao is considered by many to be the founders of metalcore and their names translates to “Alive” in Greek. To date, Zao has completed ten full-length albums, three EPs, a two-disc DVD documentary and multiple concert tours, garnering a limited but global fanbase and earning critical praise in the process.

In January, 2006, ZAO traveled to Chicago to record their new album with one of their collective heroes, Steve Albini. He had recorded some of their favorite albums by Nirvana and Neurosis, to name a few. The making of “The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here” was documented for a limited edition DVD.

YouTube Direktvideo link

Recently, a friend and I decided to explore and hike McConnells Mills State Park which is about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. I decided to spend more time this year doing things I enjoy like hiking, biking, and cooking. So, a morning spent at the Mills was thoroughly enjoyed.McConnells Mills encompasses 2,546 acres that contain a scenic gorge, waterfalls, trails, over 69 species of wildflowers, and of course a mill. There are plenty of trails for hiking and exploring, rock climbing, bouldering, and picnicing. Back in the day, I spent quite a bit of time rock climbing and hiking the park. It was great to be back after a long hiatus.Next time, I wouldn’t mind exploring Brandywine Falls near Cleveland. I haven’t been to Cuyahogo Valley National Park yet and seems like it would be a fun day trip.

Here are some photos from our adventure:

Barn on the way into the park

The Mill

Covered bridge outside of the mill

Inside of the mill

Waterfall we discovered on our hike

Crazy little mushroom

This looks like a face! Jabba!

Do you see the frog?

There were all kinds of initials carved on this huge old tree

Snake Skin

Inside of the gorge – so cool!

I think this tree looks like a fu manchu!

So pretty

Lava Lounge • Pittsburgh • June 4, 2009

Bands:
Stephen Tribou and The Vacant Sea
Ryan Phipps of Vowels
The Baker Family Band

All photos © geekstar.com.

Stephen Tribou’s Website: http://www.myspace.com/thevacantsea