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…
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.
Hello, world. No new posts yesterday or this morning, sorry about that — I’ve got a ton of stuff partly written but life and work keep getting in the way of finishing anything! Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, please enjoy this guide to a couple must-see shows taking place in Pittsburgh tonight and tomorrow night! Continue reading
Hey out there in Iron City land! Trick-or-Treat cancelled or postponed in your neighborhood and now you’ve got nothing to do tonight? Why not try this on for size…
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of All Ages, the Valley of Steel blog is pleased to present your OFFICIAL GUIDE to what’s happening in the city of Pittsburgh tonight!
Yeah, yeah, it’s Wednesday. Well, that’s just one of the reasons the Burgh is perpetually named among America’s most livable cities: there is such a vibrant night-life that there is something going on all the time!
Okay I might be exaggerating just a little bit, but there honestly are a few interesting shows happening tonight that you may like to check out. I’ve got all the relevant information for you right here.
Happy Friday everyone!
Isn’t it so weird how time works? Or, our perception of time, anyway…
I mean, it feels like this week has been dragging on forever — like it seemed that the weekend would never get here (and now it’s just a few hours away!) But then, looking at the bigger picture, it feels like this year has been flying by. Like, it doesn’t seem like it should be September already, and here we are approaching the END of September!
And as of tomorrow, it’ll officially turn from summer to fall — which is fine with me, because I’m so sick of hot weather anyway, but my point is, time just seems to keep slipping away so fast… unless you’re stuck at work, that is.
Anyway, since summer’s basically over now, the schedule of local shows seems to have gotten a little bit lighter — but there’s still plenty of chances to get out there and rock out! (Or, to thieve the slogan from local printers Commonwealth Press on their new NHL-related tees, “Rock aht with your lock aht”!)
Yes, folks, it’s finally here: the instrumental metal machine that is Solarburn is unleashing its brand-new debut album 13 (pictured below)! Come on out to Howlers to party with the band, and pick up a CD or one of their newly-designed t-shirts! Also joining in the festivities are local metalheads Sistered (hear ’em here) and Embers to Ashes.
This show also comes with a 100% face melt guarantee. If for any reason your face is not completely melted by the end of the show, simply approach any of the bands involved so we can promptly tell you to go fuck yourself….guaranteed!
RSVP here.
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If you head down to the Pub Saturday night, you’ll be in for a rip-roaring, hard-rocking, beer-guzzling good time. Or something like that. Join local bands Motorpsychos and VⒺⒼA in giving a warm welcome to our Ohio neighbors Black Plastic Caskets in their first-ever Pittsburgh performance!
You can RSVP and get more details on the show here and here.
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Click image to make more bigger
Please note the venue and time change for this show! The poster says Ironworks but the show has been moved to The Smiling Moose! And the doors will be opening at five rather than six as previously reported. Also, Dethlehem was originally scheduled to perform, but due to the changes and the time constraints, they opted to drop off the billing for the evening. (Don’t worry, there will be some Dethlehem news coming your way in the very near future…)
Anyway, the show is being held upstairs, and it is an ALL AGES event, although there is a full-service bar in the lower level of the Moose. Check out some big (and semi-big) names, as they swarm their way through Pittsburgh!
Seriously, that’s a tough question. Must-see shows don’t come around all that often, and even less frequently on a Monday night… but by some strange, freak-of-nature coincidence, there will be two of them taking place in town tonight!
Here are the details for each of them, and then — I dunno, you can flip a coin or something:
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Appearing tonight at Roboto are a pair of bands visiting our fine city from Minneapolis! Neither one (apparently) believes in using Facebook, but you can check out False‘s self-titled LP of angry black metal at the Gilead Media Bandcamp page (here) and Bellow‘s self-titled EP of atmospheric doom on their own Bandcamp page (here — download for free, or pay whatever you like!). Kicking things off will be Egality from Derry, PA, and Wrought Iron from Pittsburgh!
RSVP for this event here.
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Chicagoan black/doom metal band The Atlas Moth‘s An Ache for the Distance (Profound Lore Records) made countless year-end best-of lists in 2011. You can listen to the album here, then you can hear the band tonight at the Moose! Featuring the much-hyped local hard rock supergroup Supervoid as well as the Burgh’s prog-metal darlings Falling Upward.
PS: The poster shown here is an old image; the date was changed since then, so disregard where it says “Sunday” — honestly, the show is tonight (Monday)!
RSVP for this show here.
Well folks, it’s finally here — the show everyone’s been talking about all summer long! You can catch the epic melodic doom majesty of While Heaven Wept in their only headlining appearance (as they prepare to join Cormorant and Primordial for a string of dates, beginning tomorrow night — more info here)!
A couple of heavy hitters in the local scene (Argus and Vermithrax) will be kicking things off tonight, so you won’t want to miss this one!
Allure of the Earth – While Heaven Wept, Argus, Vermithrax video flyer from Jim Pitulski on Vimeo.
Looking for something to do tonight? Head out to the Pub to catch Ripple Music recording artist Devil to Pay, coming to visit from Indianapolis. Joining them will be locals Iron Crown and Argus (be sure to get there early, as Argus says they’re taking the stage first, and dusting off a few songs they haven’t played live in a long time — or ever, in some cases!)
More details and RSVP here or here.
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Another great band from Indiana (these guys are from Fort Wayne) are also coming to Pittsburgh tonight: horror punkers Lurking Corpses. They’re making an appearance at Howlers, alongside local punk rockers Mud City Manglers, and opening the festivities with some Pittsburgh-style death metal will be Abysme (whom you might remember from the Iron Atrocity V.1 compilation).
More information and RSVP here.
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How’s this for a fun Friday night? The Moose will be full of heavy rock ‘n roll craziness as FFITPL take the stage (of course you remember them, from when I reviewed their self-titled CD earlier this year, right?), with two other local bands, German Shepherd, and the newly-formed Supervoid. Best of all, the whole thing is absolutely FREE!!
More information and RSVP here.
Valley of Steel 