Pittsburgh musicians lift their voices for virtual concerts to save local stages
There will be an encore to the single released earlier this month.
Western Pennsylvania musicians recorded “SOS 2020,” a song inspired by the Save Our Stages movement to help struggling music venues. It’s a mixture of rock, punk and heavy metal.
Next up on the playlist will be a concert series.
“The song is doing well, that we decided to do this concert series,” said Anthony “Rocky” Lamonde, producer and Oakland native who lives in Swissvale. “I talked with the bands who recorded the song and they were all in for this concert series.”
For four consecutive Thursdays from Jan. 28 through Feb. 18, three local bands will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. The music will be live streamed at N Stuff Music in Blawnox. There will also be video on demand content.
The series is available for $10 with access to watch on demand for a year. The purchase of one concert is $3 to only be viewable on that day. Purchase tickets here.
Proceeds benefit National Independent Venue Association.
Lamonde said the pandemic has been devastating to a lot of people in music from the musicians to the stage crew to the venues that host the bands. Many haven’t performed since March.
“They are really hurting,” he said. “They are missing seeing other people and performing live.”
They certainly are, agreed Tammy Wallace, of Plum, is a vocalist and guitarist for Murder for Girls. She said the shutdown of the music industry “affects all of us,” and she is happy to help support the cause. She describes the band as “punk garage rock.” They will perform Feb. 18.
Todd Porter, of Lawrenceville, is a vocalist for The Cheats. The band will be performing the first Thursday. He said they miss playing live and traveling to other states to be on stage.
He describes the music as punk rock and roll.
“I hope this concert series does well,” Porter said. “If every band promotes the concert then that should hopefully create a large online audience. We all miss playing and seeing everyone, especially our die-hard fans.”
“We call care about each other,” Wallace said. “The music community in Pittsburgh is a pretty big one. A lot of people know each other through music. We can’t wait to play live in-person concerts again. That’s why we are doing this because we want those venues to still be around when we can perform live again.”
She said some of the usual spots for local performers haven’t survived.
“This series hopefully will help draw some attention because musicians and music venues still need it,” she said.
Part of the entertainment will include interviews Lamonde did with those people who work behind-the-scenes to bring the music to the live stage. Lamonde said the plan is to continue the concert series and add other genres such as blues, jazz and rap.
“Musicians are all connected,” he said. “Many are friends of friends. They are a family. I want to try and put faces to the many people affected by this pandemic from the soundmen who lost work to the people who set up the stage to the people driving the bus to the breweries who make the beer for the bar at the venue.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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