Tag Archives: Altar Bar

Person or Persons Unknown: Six Questions with Solarburn Bassist Tony Thomas

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Person or Persons Unknown

 

Six Questions with Solarburn Bassist Tony Thomas

by Asya Yanyo

 

    
The first step is admitting it, right? So here goes… “Hello, my name is Asya, and I am addicted to Solarburn.”  I have seen them numerous times, and will again soon; I had their CD in the CD changer in my car for a record 12 weeks straight, and for a long time it was the band that I would talk about every chance I got. It’s not as if I wish to be cured of my addiction or anything; in fact I’ve decided to just own it, and I am perfectly willing to help others get addicted too.

This pretty much is THE band for me, the band that opened up a whole new level of musical enjoyment in my life, and the band that I shamelessly promote every chance I get, quite like I am doing right now. Yes, if you haven’t seen them yet, you’re honestly missing (in my humble opinion) one of the BEST things about Pittsburgh! But you can fix that April 2nd when they open for Otep at the Altar Bar.

They are three of the nicest and most genuinely no-BS guys I have ever met in my life, and these dudes can shred like nobody’s business. So how did I just pick one of them for Person or Persons Unknown? As hard as it was (and honestly it WAS hard, because I am lucky enough to actually be friends with [guitarist] Mike [Stains], [drummer] Russ [Tompkins], and [bassist] Tony [Thomas]), I ended up choosing the person I connected with immediately in the beginning, at the first show at I ever saw Solarburn play — way back in August of last year. Immediately, I felt that Tony was more than just an awesome bass player, but that he also a had deep knowledge of music, which I respected and connected with. As you’ll see from this interview, that is definitely the case.

 
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The Top Ten Shows I’ve Seen This Year: A Supplemental Video Guide

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This was me on Christmas Eve. In a couple hours, this'll most likely be me again.

This was me on Christmas Eve. In a couple hours, this’ll most likely be me again.

 
Good afternoon, Dear Readers, and a Happy Fucking New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the collection of top-ten lists I published yesterday!

Before we finally put 2012 to bed, though, here’s a quick supplemental post to go along with my personal contribution to that conglomerate of lists. I’m calling it…

 

The Top Ten Shows I’ve Seen This Year:

A Supplemental Video Guide

 
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The Huge List of 2012 Year-End Lists!

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Well, friends, here we find ourselves in the waning moments of 2012. It’s been an interesting, eventful year that’s had lots of high and low points — a ton of excellent new music has been released and quite a few brand-new bands have emerged that I’d fully expect to be making some serious waves in the near future.

One of the best things about 2012, for me personally, was that I found myself (and my wife) going to lots more shows than in recent years, and as a result I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of new people — as well as starting to take a way more active role in the local music scene.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a suggestion from one of those people I’ve gotten to know in the past year (I won’t say who — he said he preferred not to be given credit for the idea, although I will say that it’s somebody who contributed to this). The idea was to collect top-ten lists from various folks in the Pittsburgh metal community.

So I put out an open invitation for any musicians or other people who are involved in the scene in some way — I was looking for anything, whether it was the traditional “Top Ten Albums” or something totally off-the-wall like someone’s ten favorite sandwiches they ate during the year. Really, the only rules were that it had to be a list, and involve something from 2012.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (29 November 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

Texan Psychobillies Reverend Horton Heat

with The Cheats, Ben Dumm and the Deviants, The Turbosonics

 

at the Altar Bar

1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Thursday 29 November 2012 | 7:30PM (6:30 Doors) | $17 ADV / $20 at Door | 21+ only

 
With a history dating back nearly three decades now, the legendary country/punk/rock trio Reverend Horton Heat nevertheless seem to have no intention of slowing down their nearly nonstop touring schedule.

In fact, the band (who just recently signed with Victory Records) have tourdates scheduled all over the country, nearly every night for at least the next three-and-a-half months (see the full list here).

 

 
Appearing along with a handful of highly-respected local opening acts that range from punk rock to surf music, this is pretty much guaranteed to be a memorable night. Get more info on the show here, buy your tickets here, and don’t forget to RSVP here!

What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (21 November 2012)

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What’s up, readers! It’s Thanksgiving Eve, which around these parts is officially the BIGGEST party night of the year! That’s right, bigger than Saint Patrick’s Day, bigger than Cinco de Mayo, bigger even than New Year’s Eve.

Believe me, I spent enough of my younger years working overnight in a 24-hour convenience store — one that is famous for its “Made To Order” food, and in particular, one that was located in a small town where the ratio of bars to houses is practically one-to-one — so I’ve got enough empirical data to back up this claim.

Anyway, if you’re looking for somewhere to go tonight, I’ve got you covered. Just please be careful out there, and please be safe getting home! I’ve got lots of exciting new content planned for the near future, and you won’t want to miss any of it. (I know it seems like I’m making light of the situation, but seriously, go out and have a good time — but for your own sake and everyone else’s, just don’t be stupid, ok?)

Here we go…

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (20 November 2012)

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Hey folks, what’s up??

It’s Tuesday, but it’s also Thanksgiving week, so I know a bunch of you are off work or school this week (or you conveniently got real sick all of a sudden) — and for those of us who still DO have to work tomorrow, everyone knows we’re just going to slack off most of the day and then leave early anyhow, right?

Either way, if you’ll be around the Pittsburgh area tonight, you’ll have plenty of choices if you feel like getting your holiday celebrating started early!

Check it out:

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (13 November 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

EARTH

with special guests Eagle Twin and Stebmo

 

at the Altar Bar

1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Tuesday 13 November 2012 | 8:00pm (7:00 Doors) | $13 ADV / $15 at door | ALL AGES

 
Seattle’s Earth don’t exactly fit most people’s definitions of “metal” but they certainly are heavy. Whether it’s their earlier ambient drone-doom material or their more recent minimalist experimental jazz-inspired compositions, Dylan Carlson and company just seem to imbue everything they do with such gravity; theirs is a sound with an unfathomable depth.

You can experience it for yourself tonight, when the band decends upon Pittsburgh’s Altar Bar. Joining them on this northeastern U.S. leg of their fall tour are Salt Lake City sludge/drone band Eagle Twin, and Stebmo, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Steve Moore who has performed on record and onstage with a variety of other artists, including Earth, and their scions Sunn O))).

See more details about the show on the Drusky calendar, buy tickets from Ticketfly, then RSVP here and here.

What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (08-09-10 November 2012)

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Hello, friends. I hope you’re having a good week, and I hope you have a great weekend. If you don’t already have plans, there are all kinds of HUGE events going on over the next few days (including Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) and I bet you’d be really sad if you were to miss out on any of these things!

Say, hypothetically, if your sister-in-law was getting married this weekend, and even though your wife isn’t in the wedding itself, she’s still in charge of handling all the decorating and stuff — and so that means you got yourself volunteered to help with stuff too, which is going to basically occupy every waking moment of the next three days. Even though nobody really is excited about any of it because, hypothetically, everyone thinks that your sister-in-law is marrying the most worthless piece of shit who ever lived. If you found yourself stuck in a situation like that, I’d feel really bad for you because you’d be missing out on some serious awesomeness. Hypothetically.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (06 November 2012)

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Well, today is election day. But left or right, blue or red, fascism or anarchy… whatever, there’s one thing we can all agree on, which is that a kick-ass show with mind-numbingly loud music is just the right prescription for avoiding the endless analyzing and scrutinizing and prophesizing that will be happening on every tv station in the country this evening.

Unless you aren’t a Corrosion of Conformity fan for some crazy reason, in which case, fuck you for being unpatriotic and un-American.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (03 November 2012)

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Hey there. It’s Saturday afternoon. There’s some music-related stuff happening in Pittsburgh tonight. Read about it below, then go check it out. Pretend like I’m not lazy today and imagine some more clever words here.

 
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