Pittsburgh Underground Show at The School

Last night was our first show in a good while IN Pittsburgh (even though last week’s was just outside town in Glassport). The School on the North Side was our venue of choice this time around. It was much larger than last week’s venue. Nice size stage, kicking PA (Skyline supplied their own last week). I think I fell in love with this new place.

The show was being put together by Paul Hammond, who I was hooked up with by my CRAP partner, and had interviewed a few months back under his previous name, J.East. This was his brainstorm from the get go, and I know he put a lot of hard work on this show to make it happen.

First up was Shaky Shake, who was seconded by JP Smiley. I was looking forward to this guy for a while, and was happy to see his name on the bill. Smiley was a pleasant surprise. I thought I didn’t “look like a rapper”. This dude had chains on. I loved it! It was a very cool dynamic.

Next up was Most and Roo of Real Life Entertainment. Not my style, but it was great to add to the night’s variety.

The show’s organizer, Paul Hammond was up next with his solo set. He dropped ten minutes and debuted a lot of new material. You can check out Boom and Chosen1 online from him.

The Deadbeats hit the stage, and are Paul’s boys. I was amazed to find out this was their first show. I have to believe it’s “as a group” because these guys came hard and knew what they were doing up there. With any luck, we might be seeing them up at Sorgstock this year.

Next up was a last minute adition of our boy Justin, a friend’s cousin that wanted to get a chance to shine on stage. This kid is in his teens, and needs to get his comfort up, but he delivered his song pretty well for a first time. Welcome to the onstage addiction, friend!

Finally, after a quick 5 minute break, CRAP finally got on stage. Everyone was up front ready to witness, and I’m sure they were mostly new to what we were about, and as always, we never actually “fit in” on any show.

We just did our set from the week before, since our time was the same. But this week we were wireless and had a large stage to roam. Damn straight we took advantage. I don’t think I stopped moving for 20+ minutes of our set. We had the TP, and a high ceiling, and the loved it. MCK was right up there singing along (they must have memorized our set by now). Random people were running around with the “stoke monkey” head on again. I don’t even know who was the first guy that had it. The stage was riddled. We had a pop that surprised me after Cell Block 6. And of course, the big finish with Paul, MCK, and others, joining us on stage for Monkey Flings Poo. We had a lot of love, for sure!

Next up was Myztery N Sneek. These guys were more of a laid back feel. And had a lot of love. Might see them down the line, as well.

MCK was up last and brought a lot of energy, as expected. Jeff got involved during his favorite song, “Don’t Wanna Be” once again (check out last week’s remix here)

But altogether, it was a great show with some good vibes, and some new faces we got to see do their thing and connect with. April has brought us a lot of fortune. Two significant shows in our hometown, the new CRAP TV DVD was done, and some new connections on many levels are going to be great for the future. This is one of those nights where I loved being onstage and doing what I do. Much thanks to all the fans and artists that have shown us love over the last week!

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