Apples in Stereo
[02.12.2007]
Assembly of Dust
[02.04.2007]
The Hackensaw Boys
[01.27.2007]
Paul Luc
[01.20.2007]
Local Honey / Slim Cessna
[01.13.2007]
Bob Seger
[12.14.2006]
Skinks / Rahim / Transcontinental Booze Hounds
[11.25.2006]
The Big Sleep
[11.18.2006]
Local Honey / The Izzys
[11.10.2006]
Cloud Cult
[11.07.2006]
Grand Buffet / Magnolia Electric Co
[10.31.2006]
Norman Nardini
[10.28.2006]
Wilco
[10.20.2006]
Wilco
[10.18.2006]
Kid Congo Powers
[10.12.2006]
Dave Alvin
[09.23.2006]
Wolfmother
[09.22.2006]
Mountain Goats
[09.20.2006]
World Party
[08.27.2006]
Gil Mantera's Party Dream
[08.16.2006]
Whiskey Daredevils / Local Honey
[08.11.2006]
The Silver Jews
[07.28.2006]
The Bottle Rockets / Marah
[07.27.2006]
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
[07.15.2006]
Alejandro Escovedo
[07.10.2006]
Cat Power
[07.09.2006]
Life In Bed / The Transcontinental Booze Hounds
[07.07.2006]
Violent Femmes
[07.01.2006]
Guitar Zack Wiesinger / Pittsburgh Pirates Loss # 54
[06.30.2006]
The Black Crowes \ Robert Randolph \ The Drive-By Truckers
[06.25.2006]
Pearl Jam
[06.23.2006]
The Octopus Project \ Black Moth Super Rainbow \ Amoeba Knievel
[06.19.2006]
The Bottle Rockets
[06.14.2006]
Govt.
Mule / Local Honey / Wil E. Tri
[06.08.2006]
Tehran Iran
[06.03.2006]
Astronautalis
[05.25.2006]
Grand Buffet / Cobalt Black
[05.19.2006]
Phil
Boyd w/Manny Theiner & Weird Paul / The Codetalkers feat. Col. Bruce
Hampton
[05.15.2006]
The
Four Seasons Boys
[05.11.2006]
The
Supersuckers
[05.02.2006]
The Breakup Society
[04.28.2006]
The Four Seasons Boys / The
Gris Gris
[04.19.2006]
Rhett Miller & The Believers
[04.14.2006]
Good Brother Earl
[04.08.2006]
Slim Cessna's Auto Club
[04.03.2006]
"Guitar" Zack Wiesinger
[03.25.2006]
The Minus 5 / The Silos
[03.24.2006]
The Mendoza Line / Great Lake Swimmers
[03.12.2006]
Dave Alvin
[03.10.2006]
Apollo Sunshine
[03.07.2006]
Lyle Lovett / John Hiatt / Joe Ely
/ Guy Clark
[02.14.2006]
Marah
[02.12.2006]
Marah / Slim Cessna's Auto
Club
[11.12.2005]
Ted Leo + Pharmacists / Sharon
Jones and the Dap-Kings
[11.08.2005]
The National
[11.02.2005]
Modey Lemon
[10.07.2005]
Gang of Four
[10.04.2005]
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
[09.24.2005]
Thunderbirds Are Now!
[09.22.2005]
The Walkmen
[09.17.05]
Circle
[09.15.05]
Akron/Family, Great Lake Swimmers
[09.05.05]
Los Lobos
[08.21.05]
Grand Buffet, Magnolia Electric
Co.
[08.20.05]
Joe Ely
[08.19.05]
Solomon Burke
[08.14.05]
Billie Joe Shaver
[08.11.05]
Robert
Randolph & The Family Band
[08.07.05]
Oneida
[08.06.05]
Richard
Buckner
[07.13.05]
NYC Road Trip
[07.08.05]
Stars
[06.23.05]
Aimee
Mann
[06.19.05]
Bobbie
"Blue" Bland, Michael Penn, Erin McKeown, OPEK, The Mavens
[06.18.05]
The
Holmes Brothers
[06.15.05]
Drive-By
Truckers, Deep Purple
[06.11.05]
Los
Lonely Boys, Martin Sexton
[06.10.05]
Marah
[06.08.05]
Brant Bjork & The Bros.
[06.03.05]
Railroad
Earth
[05.20.05]
Andrew
Bird
[05.17.05]
Ryan
Adams & The Cardinals
[05.13.05]
Rosavelt
[05.12.05]
Green
Day
[04.23.05]
The
Shins
[04.15.05]
Bonnie
"Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney
[04.14.05]
The
Beakup Society, Whiskey Daredevils
[03.25.05]
Apollo
Sunshine
[03.12.05]
From The Jayhawks: Gary Louris
and Mark Olson
[03.11.05]
Clem Snide, Archer Prewitt
[03.07.05]
Norman
Nardini
[03.04.05]
The SPUDS, Norman Nardini
[02.18.05]
The Comas
[02.15.05]
Tarbox Ramblers
[02.12.05]
Black Tie Revue
[01.28.05]
Elvismas, Shade
[01.08.2005]
Chalk Outline Party, Comrad
[12.18.2004]
One Star Hotel
[12.10.2004]
Ted Leo + Pharmacists
[12.03.2004]
Thanksgiving Eve / The Italian
Club / Blairsville, Pa
Sue Foley
[11.20.2004]
The Whiskey Daredevils
[11.19.2004]
The Arcade Fire, The Cynics
[11.15.2004]
Steelers v. Patriots
[10.31.2004]
Mike Watt
[10.21.2004]
Magnolia Electric
Co.
[10.14.2004]
The Mendoza
Line
[10.09.2004]
The Black Keys
[10.07.2004]
The Secret Machines
[10.06.2004]
The Fiery
Furnaces, Charles Bissell (The Wrens)
[09.23.2004] |
The SPUDS, Norman Nardini
/ 02.18.2005
The Starlight
Lounge, Moondog's / Blawnox, PA
 My
God. Are we Pittsburghers so jaded that a night of The SPUDS and Norman
Nardini side by side doesn’t even warrant a mention? Shame on us.
While the youngsters are out seeing shitty bands at the “rock competition”
or saving up for the next Clarks show the real deals are getting it done,
quite drunkenly, on a Friday night in Blawnox. Held at sister clubs the
Starlight Lounge and Moondog’s, the Rodney Dangerfields of the Pittsburgh
music scene together provided a yinzer nirvana that I’ve yet to
come down from.
I’d been trying to make a Norm
show for months now with dreams of a cheap mill-bar-hopping ramble through the
Monongahela Valley at any one of his twice-weekly backwater gigs. But wifey
had thwarted my attempts at the realization that she’d be driving my drunken
ass around. She also has some strange inclination towards classing things up
from time to time. Tonight wasn’t much different but with nothing else
to do she agreed and would later realize the error of her ways as the Iron flowed
like the waters of the swollen Allegheny and The SPUDS and Norm put on a show
for the ages.
After a beer at Bob’s
Garage our first stop was the Starlight Lounge for The SPUDS aka Special*People*Under*Doctors*Supervision.
My first experience with this band took place with a random stop into
the BBT on a Thanksgiving eve, on which they have traditionally played
a show for years. Feeling like I’d stepped into the twilight zone,
I wondered, “who were these old guys in boxers playing this raucous
music. And how was it that most of the crowd, young and old, knew enough
of their songs to sing along, while the singer prowled patron’s
tables helping himself to others’ beer.” Since then I’ve
experienced a number of shows and they have yet to disappoint.
These Kings of Lawrenceville
have an arsenal of witty songs and we were treated to some favorites as
we settled on our stools at the bar with the show already underway. “Nietche
Says” was followed by “Bruno’s Song” (“I
wanna be like Bruno Sammartino”) which then gave way to the stupidest
of all fabricated bar traditions, the Guinness Toast. Thankfully the official
toast was preceded by The SPUDS version of the Irish National Anthem:
“We drink, we drink, we beat our wives.” We were then treated
to cake for the guitarist’s birthday. Shortly after this a bathroom
break for the drummer turned into a 30-minute news and social commentary
by singer Mark Lewandowski. While drinking a beer and looking at the t.v.
above his head: “Look. He’s got Jimmy
Ecker. He must be guilty” and “Arlen Specter’s kids
don’t go to a cyber
school.” “Specter’s kids are probably 40,”
yelled someone in the audience. He then assumed the crooner’s stance,
leaning over the bar with a microphone in one hand and a drink in the
other occasionally interrupting his banter with refrains of Ray LaMontagne’s
“I was saaaved by a woman.” By the time the band started up
again he was sitting at the bar and decided to sing the first song from
his stool before getting up for a seasonal rendition of “Permanent
Lent.”
The played their last song at around
12:30 and the healthy crowd of around 30 were all smiles. Wifey wanted to back
out on the less than a block stroll over to Moondog’s for Norm but I convinced
her as well as our stool mate that it would be worth it. We somehow walked out
of there with most of the band’s catalogue, with wifey getting a CD for
knowing the area code of Alaska and our new friend handing us two tapes he won
that were already in his collection.
At Moondog’s, the crowd
was disappointly sparse as we took a table while Norm and his two band
mates tore through “Burnin’ Up.” I kept telling wifey
that these were the real Pittsburgh
All-Stars tonight and Norm must have been feeling my vibe as he launched
into a humorous diatribe about why he isn’t played on WYEP.
Wifey and I were in stitches and the next 45 minutes would be more stand-up
than music. Norman is taken for granted around here and it’s a shame
because he is just an entertainment machine. Read some of the gig recaps
on his website
and you’ll see what I mean. So we’ll be seeing Norm again
in a couple of weeks as he’s slated to play on the second level
of a sports bar that appears to be populated with Abercrombie & Fitch
college students.
It helps being just a short jaunt from home but I wouldn’t miss
it for the world.
|
