Lots of the old school venues in the city have closed (*sniffle*)
Mr. Roboto Project books a lot of indie bands. It's small and apparently not too well heated. Haven't been there, but it's run by a collective. Google for more info.
31st St Pub is in Bloomfield, near the best record store in the city (Paul's CDs). Saw a few bands like Ghost and Karl Hendricks Trio and Don Caballero there back in the day.
Mr. Small's is apparently the place to be these days -- it's a little outside of the city, but most of the punk rock/whatever the kids listen to shows go through here. It's a converted church. Dale Crover of the Melvins says that it's the coolest place he's ever played.
― ng, Saturday, 5 March 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)
Because I've been stationed in Japan the last couple of years, I haven't been able to spend enough time in my hometown to be up-to-date on the club scene. It seems like a lot has changed over the past few years. The 31st Street Pub (
http://www.31stpub.com/newstuff/home.html) seems to still be running strong as a venue for garage rock and metal. I've seen a lot of quality shows there, including some local favorites (Frampton Brothers, Cynics, Modey Lemon, Ultimatics, Silver Tongued Devil) and fairly well-known touring bands (Supersuckers, Cobra Verde, Makers, New Bomb Turks, Fleshtones, Chargers Street Gang). Another good garage rock club is Gooski's on Polish Hill (
http://www.digitalcity.com/pittsburgh/entertainment/venue.adp?vid=31215). Club Cafe on the South Side (
http://www.clubcafelive.com/) gets quieter shows, but it's a nice venue.
What sort of act are you trying to book? If you are looking for an opening act, I could probably suggest a good local band or two.
― John Fredland (jfredland), Saturday, 5 March 2005 11:38 (twenty years ago)
the Rex- the best mid-size venue left. old movie house turned venue.
they've been steady adding lighting and bettering they're sound. stage's kinda small, but decent enough for a 5 piece to fit on.
i love this place for 2 reasons, WIDE open, balcony and easy as hell to get to and very visible.
Club Cafe- REALLY tiny, but nice. mini-stage is almost too small to fit more than a 3 piece on. nice setting, but it's almost all seating.
31st St.- good for smaller bands (3/4) but the sound's always been an issue. Deaf Jef (RIP) used to run it, but i don't know who's doing it these days. nice open place, but still pretty tight.
Mr. Small's- HUGE! church turned venue, they've done it up right, though. sound's pretty incredible, but STILL don't have liquor license, so, get yr 'commemorative' cup and they 'give' away beer in it! still, nice place despite NO PARKING. i think they may have a curfew due to being IN a neighborhood.
Brew House 101 Space- i've seen some awesome shows here! great art house with performance space. they've been cutting the space in half, though. BYOB, which's fine by me.
Modern Formations Art Gallery- tiny little place, gallery obviously. no smoke/drink inside. very little stage, no lights, not too much on sound. but atmosphere a-plenty. in a not-so-hot location (ie-semighetto)
Garfield Artworks- same as above but more space
the Eye- might be the above as i've only been there once. but anything Manny Feinberg's name is attached to be way wary of. he's a douche.
roboto-never been to.
Attack Space- in Garfield (notice a trend here, yeah, it's called let's get some cheap real estate!) again, big place, little sound, little lights, but big enough that it just might not matter. typically, a dance place, but they've been known to have bands.
there's another art-space type place i'm forgetting. wanna say mattress factory...
oh,
Warhol has a great performance space, dunno about how hard it is to book there. plus, drinky poos. great lighting, you can show films behind you ifn' ya want. great sound.
and that may be it...
― eedd, Saturday, 5 March 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)