What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend: Skull Fest 5

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Ladies and gentlemen of the Pittsburgh region, it’s time to sew that Amebix patch back onto your shorts (you know, the one that almost got ripped off by some hardcore kid who kept trying to start a mosh pit the last time you went to a basement show), and make sure your Docs are laced up tight.  That’s right, Skull Fest — the annual celebration of all things punky and crusty — returns this weekend!

Dozens of bands — locals big and small, old and new, as well as several traveling from all over the country, and even a couple from Canada and Europe — are scheduled to perform at various locations all over Bloomfield, Polish Hill, and Lawrenceville all weekend long!

Everything kicks off this evening (Friday), so without any further delay, below you will find your schedule of events.  Each show is individually priced, but passes are still available which will give you access to everything happening on all three days; just visit the Skull Fest website to buy yours.  (Any tickets purchased now will be held at the door.)

 
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VOS Videography 2013: A Mid-Year Retrospective (Part 10)

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Belvederes Ultra-Dive (Lawrenceville / Pittsburgh, PA), 22 March 2013

 
This was quite an interesting show: as originally conceived, they were going to set up four bands in the four corners of the room, with the audience in the center. Each band would take turns playing one song at a time. Well, once they got all the equipment in there, they realized that there wouldn’t be much room for anyone to watch, so they changed it so that two bands would set up and play, and then the other two bands. At the end, both in the original line-up and in what eventually transpired, Oh Shit They’re Going to Kill Us played a set by themselves, up on the stage.

 
Come Holy Spirit – “Bywater”, followed by Flora Fauna – “Ithaca”

 
Liebestod followed by Nomad Queen

 
Oh Shit They’re Going to Kill Us – “Survival is a Dying Art” and “Combat Shock”

 

Slaves BC rehearsal space (Bellevue / Pittsburgh, PA), 24 March 2013

 
These guys were supposed to play a show on this particular evening, but due to faulty communication or some such thing, that ended up falling through. Not to be discouraged, the band adjourned to its basement rehearsal space, with everyone who’d showed up to see them…

 
“Everything Under the Sun” (B&W video)

 
“Everything Under the Sun (color video)

 
“Lucifer Bound”

 
“The Four Horsemen: Wild Hunt”

 
“Everything is Meaningless”

 
NAVIGATION
 
Part 1 (28 December – 18 January)
Part 2 (01 – 09 February)
Part 3 (16 February)
Part 4 (22 February)
Part 5 (23 February)
Part 6 (02 – 09 March)
Part 7 (10 March)
Part 8 (14 March)
Part 9 (16 March)
 
Part 11 (28 – 29 March)
Part 12 (02 – 11 April)
Part 13 (12 – 19 April)
Part 14 (20 – 26 April)
Part 15 (04 – 05 May)
Part 16 (11 – 17 May)
Part 17 (18 – 27 May)
Part 18 (31 May – 20 June)
Part 19 (23 – 30 June)

VOS Interview: Travesty Reunion Edition

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The past year or so has been quite an exciting time for classic Pittsburgh bands… for example, Derkéta finally got around to releasing their debut album; Dream Death had such a big response to their reunion show that they decided to do it a few more times; and hardcore/thrash legends Castle Blood followed suit last fall with a couple reunion shows of their own.

Well, here’s another one to add to the pile: after 25 years of broken-uppedness, Travesty — the hardcore/thrash band which included some of the members of Castle Blood during a couple years in which that band had gone dormant — is reassembling all of its original members for some local gigs, in addition to finally putting some of their classic material on tape!

Their first show together since 1988 is happening this Saturday — tomorrow night!! — so I had a little chat with a few of the band’s members this week, to find out more about Travesty, what they’re doing now, and what the future might bring…

 
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Meth Quarry Interview: Pittsburgh’s Grim Hardcore Assault!

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Folks, if you’ve had your ear to the ground over the past few months you might have noticed that there has been some rumbling coming out of the dark underworld of hardcore. There has been so much hype swirling around the crusty, grimy beast known as Meth Quarry lately, that the band has reached a nearly mythical status — without having played a single show yet!

But all of that is about to change, because these guys are finally ready to come crawling out of the dank cellar of Pittsburgh’s underground and expose the good people of the Steel City to their grim “dirge” hardcore style. Last weekend I met up with the quintet (guitarists Chris Smith and Kevin Hogue, bassist Aaron Kaczynski, vocalist Adam Joseph Bailey, and drummer Brandon “Fluffy” Baker) to talk about the story of the band’s formation and what sort of things they’ve got on the horizon — I joined them at one of their rehearsals, which took place in the basement of Kevin’s house, so when I say “crawling out of the cellar” I actually mean it literally…

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (03 November 2012)

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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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (02 November 2012)

Hello out there! It’s been quite a wet and wild week, but the end is finally in sight!

It’s Friday, and the weekend is nearly here — which of course brings with it plenty of opportunities to get out there and check out some shows, right? Of course it does.

And I’ve got some pretty good shit to share with you, happening tonight, right here in Pittsburgh! You might want to hold onto your hat…

 
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Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (20-21 July 2012)

Hey! Have you seen the new Iron Atrocity Vol.2 compilation? If you live in the Pittsburgh area, or if you live anywhere and just want to discover some amazing music — that’s totally FREE to download — then you need to go check it out right now!

After you’ve read that post and downloaded the compilation… seriously, do it… then come on back here because I’ve got some shows to tell you about for this Friday and Saturday!

 
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