Robin Vote CD Release Party

Venue: The Shop at 4314 Main Street, Bloomfield 15224
Date: Saturday, February 19
Time: Doors open at 8 PM; Show starts at 8:30 PM
Price: $5 (All Ages and BYOB)

Who:
Robin Vote
Short film by Julie Sokolow
Accordion performance by Rick Kolling of Lungs, Face, Feet

Experience a Saturday evening filled with music, film and art highlighted by atmospheric lighting from one of Pittsburgh’s most unique photographers, Jae Roberto.

Flight School Fellow, Julie Sokolow, will open the evening with a daring and psychological mini-documentary video of local character, Christopher Ammons.

Robin Vote will play an extended set featuring many songs from their new thirteen song CD, invest in loss. Robin Vote has rocked Pittsburgh for the past three years in various configurations such as Dead Bird and Colin and the Shots. They have settled into a charmingly kinetic folk rock arrangement with classical adornments of the violin and piano. The band is fronted by Colin Baxter who is also known for playing with Anita Fix and performing as David Bowie at Brillobox.

Local video artists will be documenting this dynamic and theatrical performance which will later be transformed into a music video. Set design to be created by Robin Vote and various local Pittsburgh artists.

Rick Kolling will perform Cepillin’ on his accordion between acts. Anticipate a few spontaneous performances by local celebrities! There may possibly be a third act as well.

Rustling Autumn Leaves by robin vote

telephones by robin vote

I found this little gem while cleaning out an old video hard drive the other day. Yes, this is what happens when you and a couple of friends descend on downtown Pittsburgh during the annual Furry convention. Can’t make this stuff up!

So, after two years…I finally edited together a compilation of all things yinzer, South Side, and Superbowl Steelers from 2009! My friends and I watched the Superbowl at the Double Wide Grill and then joined thousands of Steeler fans on East Carson Street. Fortunately, I was armed with my Flip video camera to capture all the craziness. The following video is a compilation of the best clips from over 80 videos I took that night. I have to say, this was some of the best people watching I have ever experienced anywhere. It’s up there with the annual “Furry Convention” we crashed last summer. Speaking of which, I still need to get those photos posted…

All photos © 2009 geekstar.com.

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.

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

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.

Vowels Website: http://www.vowelsmusic.com

Vowels is Ryan Phipps with guest musicians Ethan Harrington, Stephen Tribou, Shawn Koschik, and Stacy Pomroy.

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.

The Baker Family Band Website: http://www.myspace.com/thebakersnc

Where: Lava Lounge, 2204 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh (South Side) 15203
When: 10 PM
Price: $5 (21+ show)

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

FACEBOOK INVITE CLICK HERE

Come to South Side…watch the game…then head to Lava!

Two of my great friends and favorite local musicians are on the bill: Ryan Phipps and Stephen Tribou.

Ryan has played in a variety of local bands that have created quite a local following including Thee Adora and Soulharmonic. At Lava, Ryan will be performing music he has written that can be described as a mixture of trip-hop and rock. Ryan combines vocals and live instruments over electronic loops he has written on his Apple computer.

Ryan played last month as ‘Vowels’ at Brillobox and the show created such a buzz. Tonight, guest musicians including Stacy from Thee Adora will be lending vocals and instruments on several of the songs.

Stephen is also a local artist and musician. He often shows his paintings at art events throughoug the city. Tribou is a dedicated fan of live looping. His shows are a lot of fun to watch as he creates real-time tracks (rhythms, vocals, instruments) and layers them to create a full rich sound. Tribou’s music is often dark and haunting and I particularly enjoy the songs where he mixes vocals with spacey keyboards and guitars. Stephen will also be accompanying Phipps on several songs.

Here is a little taste of what to expect:

vimeo Direktvideo link

The Baker Family Band is an indie rock and alternative country band from Asheville, North Carolina, which features musicians Stuart and Elizabeth Baker, Nathan Ribner, David Barrett, and former Salisburian Daniel Resner. Stuart writes the songs for the band, but all the members contribute to the arrangements. With influences such as Neil Young, Jeff Tweedy, Donovan, Sonic Youth and Bruce Springsteen, the band fuses country and rock n’ roll with indie rock and electronic music.

I love rock. I love alt country. I LOVE electronica. Can’t wait to see The Baker Family Band too!

Are you a fan of Twitter?

Follow Ryan and Stephen!

Ryan Phipps: @ryan_phipps

Stephen Tribou: @StephenTribou

Self plug: @geekstar

This past Sunday, Stephen Tribou and Dirk Miller from Rusted Root played a guest set at Discovery Urban Campus (Discovery Christian Church) in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Discovery meets at J. Verno Studios which is a photography and artist loft that hosts parties, art openings, and photo shoots.

Stephen Tribou is a talented painter and musician who plays locally throughout the city.

painting by Stephen Tribou

He performed several songs that were dark and moody in nature. Tribou often plays instrumental songs that fade from one song into another. This time, he added a layer of haunting vocals over live looping created with keyboards and guitars.

Stephen Tribou and Dirk Miller at Discovery Urban Campus:

Discovery South Side meets every Sunday night at 6:30 PM at J. Verno Studios.
J. Verno Studios, 3030 Jane Street Ext., Pittsburgh 15203. Plenty of street parking.

After the concert and service, we headed over to OTB Bicycle Cafe which happens to be my favorite bar in Pittsburgh. It is a bicycle themed cafe and bar that serves the most amazing food (love the vegan options!) and craft micro-brews. If you have been reading geekstar.com, then you know by now that I am a super fan! We packed out OTB from wall to wall!

View photos from the OTB Bicycle Cafe After Party here!

Stephen Tribou and Ryan Phipps (from Discovery) will be playing this coming Thursday June 4 at Lava Lounge in South Side.

This will be a fantastic show and a great way to kick off summer! Geekstar.com will be covering the show.

View the Lava Lounge Facebook Event Invite.

Website Links:

Stephen Tribou and The Vacant Sea

Dirk Miller and Rusted Root

Ryan Phipps Blog and Ryan Phipps Music 

Discovery Urban Campus, South Side

OTB (Over the Bar) Bicycle Cafe 

Lava Lounge