HughShows Blog has featured thousands of original live band photos and has conducted over 1000 musician interviews (including Brian Wilson, Mavis Staples, and Bruce Hornsby) since starting. With the original ‘First/Last’ questionnaire, you get a sense of where the musician has come from and where they are going with their artistic expression.
“Combining a densely layered three‐guitar attack with raw, nervy vocals, Mittenfields have drawn comparisons to some of the best indie rock acts of the 1990s. Far from an exercise in pure nostalgia, however, the DC‐based ensemble has crafted its own unique sound combining elements of indie rock, shoegaze and noise pop. Singer/bassist Dave Mann formed Mittenfields in 2008 with guitarist Sam Sherwood…
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I was really excited to see this band. They released one of my favorite albums of last year and the set they put on didn’t disappoint. I have been fortunate to have seen a string of great sets within the last couple of weeks and this ranks near the top. Super cool guys to boo which always goes a long way for me in my overall appreciate of a band and their music…
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I have never seen Lambchop and couldn’t even recall the last time they were here. I casually like the band and scored a photo pass figuring to hit up some of their set before the excellent WOODS gig in Garfield. As the band came on, I noticed that the stage lights were low. Did I say low? I meant altogether off!?! I knew the pictures …
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Viking Moses (AKA Brendon Massei) has just been added to the Deer Tick show going down Monday. According to his PR Rep, Viking Moses ‘discovered’ Deer Tick back in 2005 and brought them on the road for their first tour. The show on the 23rd at Rex Theater marks the first time Viking Moses and Deer Tick will share a bill since 2009. Should be a good time for sure. His latest album…
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Courtesy of the awesome people at Drusky Entertainment, I have a pair of tickets to this show…
read more ➜The Right Now Thunderbird Cafe Friday, April 20, 2012 Larryville “There are only so many times you can take back that cheating lover or accept excuses from a lazy scrub. It’s easier said than done, but one soul band is taking a stand. The Right Now isn’t going to take it anymore. The Right Now […]
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Shooting for WYEP, I wasn’t all that familiar with the band. Playing the first night of their tour, the band’s droning, psychedelic rock is definitely right up my alley so all is good. Hanging in the back, I noticed more than a few fans blissfully rocking their head to the slow churn of the jams. Do people still drop acid at shows? Kind of makes me think so.
My itinerary was to g..
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The Belle Brigade are playing Pittsburgh tomorrow night! They are opening for Good Old War, along with Family of the Year at Smalls. Tickets can be scored here. I have been waiting very patiently for siblings Ethan and Barbara Gruska to play Pittsburgh ever since discovering their wonderful music through their debut album released…
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This show was great. Being a huge fan since their first stop in town, I was jazzed they were playing the more spacious room of Smalls. The new songs sounded better live than on record IMO and the older tunes were rearranged to add a vibrancy to the material. Throw in getting a shout out from the stage and what’s not to love? Top 5 of the year contender for sure…
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The Big Sleep are a rock duo from Brooklyn who’s latest album ‘Nature Experiments‘ was released on Frenchkiss Records earlier this year. They are touring behind it this Spring, playing shows with Fang Island and stop in Pittsburgh tomorrow night at Brillobox. My boy has two tickets to give away here. Sonya and Danny were nice enough to take some time to participate in this edition of First/Last…
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Courtesy of the cool people at Drusky Entertainment, I have a pair of tickets to this show. To enter, email me at hughshows@comcast.net with the subject line Squeeze and the name of the person who will bring I.D. to will call the night of the all-ages concert, good for two passes. This contest runs till Friday, April 20, 2012 when the winner will be randomly chosen and contacted. Good luck…
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World Party’s 1990 album Goodbye Jumbo is firmly established in my Top 5 favorite albums of All-Time. Being a long time fan, I am amazed at the just released box set ‘Arkeology‘ which arrived and I immediately tore into yesterday. Comprising 5 discs of all previously unreleased original tunes, demos, live tracks and b-sides, this is a WP fan’s wet dream. Incredible…
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“These United States has announced the release of its forthcoming self-titled album, out on June 12th with United Interests. Written and recorded throughout 2011 with 20 outside musical collaborators from coast to coast, the s/t release is aptly named serving as a culmination of bandleader Jesse Elliott‘s geographical aspirations. The band will support the album on a run of Midwest and…
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I have featured the band here before with frontman Dean Tartaglia’s First/Last segment back in January. Dean wanted to let me know that the band is playing in Pittsburgh tonight and a local house gig tomorrow. They also just dropped a sweet new video which you can check out below…
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“The Color Bars started out as three mildly autistic doorknobs with nothing but a swimming pool full of pureed television sets and a petri dish full of bone cells from the spine of Joseph Stalin. After 4 or 6 years, they had grown into a 35 year old skydiving instruction business with a robust hazelnut aroma and sympathetic after-taste…
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Arriving early as I usually do, I found Julianna already set up and sitting by herself. She was very nice and among other topics, we talked about the media’s perceptions of her and her music and how she herself perceives it. It’s always cool to find out from the musician themselves different aspects of the industry that they ultimately really can’t control. She then played to a full and attentive room. By ‘room’ I mean a cafeteria that turned out wasn’t the awful space it seemed to be before she began. Very cool little set to see…
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There was nothing like ‘Pittsburgh Indie Music Love’ circa 2005. I was introduced to many amazing bands around then that has made me the musical fanatic I am now. I am what you call an ‘Old Head’ for a reason. I was at and reporting about shows while many of today’s fans were listening to Shins CDs in their dorm rooms. Case in point, Dios Malos. Putting…
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Shooting for WYEP introduces me to many artists I would have never gone to on my own. This show was sold out and I was kind of taken back at the number of kids, little kids, mainly girls who were at or a little older than my daughter’s age. Kind of strange in that both Kimya’s and opener YHB’ss ongs had…
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Opening for Dr. Dog, two very different bands. Any reader of this blog knows my long time endearment to the Harlan’s laid back blues rock vibe. Purling Hiss on the other hand came out wailing and screeching, not bad at all mind you, just a little out of sorts with the other bands on the bill…
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Two local bands setting up and soundchecking as they open for No Age. Triggers is a fav of mine but The Lopez …
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