Eide’s Entertainment
Second Saturdays through December 13
1- 5 p.m.
Support local music, and a great Pittsburgh cause, at one of the city’s newest live concert series.
HughShows Live, a free family-friendly monthly concert series featuring local bands performing live at Downtown-based Eide’s Entertainment, runs every second Saturday of the month through December 13th. Next up for HughShows Live, marking the series’ sixth installment on Saturday, June 14th, is a lineup featuring The Hawkeyes, Molly Alphabet and Triggers.
The eclectic series marks a milestone for the local Pittsburgh music blog, HughShows, run by prolific photographer Hugh Twyman, who this year is celebrating 10 years “covering the indie music scene one photo at a time.” If you are a regular audience member or performer within Pittsburgh’s local music scene, you have undoubtedly seen Hugh somewhere near the stage, 35mm camera in hand, capturing the energy and excitement of a band performing live. Since 2004, Hugh has documented some 1,200 bands, including 235 performances in 2011 alone.
Teaming up with Jay Vega of The Wilderness Recording Studio, located in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh, HughShows welcomes three or four local bands for afternoon concerts that are free and open to all ages. The refreshing and welcoming series is designed to feature an eclectic mix of bands that typically would not have the opportunity to share the same stage. In addition, the series’ semi-acoustic format allows musicians to include special guests and experiment with unique arrangements.
Launched in January 2014, the series also has a charitable mission: attendees are encouraged to bring new school supplies, such as pencils, pocket folders, rulers and flash drives, to donate on-site to the Homeless Children’s Education Fund’s Gear For Grades Backpack Drive. To date, HughShows Live has collected three large boxes of new school supplies for the effort.
On his daily music blog, Twyman runs a Q&A dubbed First/Last, where he asks musicians to share stories about the first concert they ever attended and their favorite album. In 2012 alone, the blog added more than 300 posts, including Q&As with such legendary artists as Brian Wilson, Mavis Staples, Bruce Hornsby and The Lumineers.
On Saturday, September 13th, HughShows Live presents a varied lineup featuring indie pop band City Steps, along with teen garage wonders The Nox Boys, post-rock act amplifiers and the honky-tonk folk rock group, Grand Piano.
The series culminates on Saturday, December 13th, with a special concert at Eide’s featuring many of Twyman’s favorite Pittsburgh songwriters performing one-of-a kind sets that will likely not be repeated anytime soon. Running from noon to 6 p.m., the unique afternoon of Pittsburgh music will feature songwriters who normally front a band playing 15- minute solo acoustic sets within an open mic format. Some acts are expected to perform as duos or trios, and the lineup is likely to be confined in mid-October. Stay tuned for updates about the event, including lineup surprises and perhaps a one-off reunion or two.
HughShows Live runs through December 13, 2014.
