The Armadillos

Cattivo, Arsenal Lanes & Hambone’s

February 21
6 p.m. – 2 a.m.

No, we’re not suggesting you attend a formal dance. As the temps return (we hope!) to double digits, it’s time to emerge out of hibernation and rock out at The Snow Ball, a one-night showcase of local music and comedy jam-packed into eight hours. Cure your cabin fever with a lineup of local musical luminaries spanning an encyclopedia of genres—from singer-songwriters and punk rock to hillbilly honkytonk.

For its third annual edition, the homegrown winter music extravaganza is expanding to include three Lawrenceville venues. The festival’s hub is Cattivo on 44th St., where both stages will feature full lineups.

Featured on the upstairs stage at Cattivo will be: Park Plan, Union Rye, Good Thing, Vertigo Go, Graveyard Chorus, Jeremy Caywood & The Way of Life, Working Breed, Stone Cold Killer and Nameless in August. The downstairs stage will host Them Labs, Molly Alphabet, The Hi-Frequencies, Devin Moses & The Saved, LoFi Delphi, Chrome Moses, Proper People, Sun Hound and Misaligned Mind.

The live music continues at everyone’s favorite place to “rock and bowl,” Arsenal Lanes right nearby on Butler, which will present concerts from 9 p.m. to midnight. Crystal Lee Morgan will host music in the lounge, with sets by Morgan Erina, Aaron Jones, Bill Jasper, Charmaine Evonne and Joe Towarsky. Rocking out in the lanes will be host Don Strange & The Doosh Bears, along with With The Neffs, The Me Toos and Roulette Waves.

Added this year is entertainment on The Snow Ball’s comedy stage at cozy Hambone’s, also on Butler. Stepping up to the mic there will be WDVE’s Bill Crawford, Unplanned Comedy Pittsburgh, the Justin and Jerome Experience, Day Bracey, Mike Sasson and Ed Bailey.

At the helm of the hyper-local festival is the Burgh’s king of kitsch, Michael “Zombo” Devine, known nationally for his DJing and novelty products. Co-curated with Mary Jo Coll, who books bands at Hambone’s and Howler’s, The Snow Ball is the sister event to Zombo’s signature summer festival, the Rock All Night Tour (R.A.N.T.)—which draws some 5,000 people to Lawrenceville every August.

Admission is $10 at Cattivo, free at Arsenal Lanes and $5 at Hambone’s. The Snow Ball is open to ages 21 and up. Tickets are available at the door.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.