The VIA festival was a really good time last year in its initial incarnation. Pittsburgh was clearly ready for something big, and people responded to many different types of music and visual art combined over the course of the festival. The monthly events the VIA folks have done since then (including Omar-S and many more) have really helped build up the energy in the city, along with some of the other stalwart promoters in the city stepping up their games.
This year, the festival is going to be even crazier. Featuring ISM-relevent acts such as Underground Resistance live as Interstellar Fugitives, Blondes, Protect-U, Donato Dozzy, Tim Sweeney, East Liberty Quarters, Dam-Funk, and more, there honestly isn’t even anything in Pittsburgh’s history that can compare to this.
It’s crazy to think about UR playing live in my city. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them twice before, both times in Detroit, in 2004 and 2005. Each was amongst the best live electronic music shows I’ve ever seen. They rarely play live anywhere, much less in the US, so this should be an insanely special night.
It also makes me happy to see Blondes and Protect-U return, as their first appearances here at the Altered States party I do with my man Matt McDermott were amongst the wildest things I’ve seen go down here, in a tiny house party setting no less. Seeing these guys kill it on a biggest stage should be really sweet! Also, the sick video artist Aurora Halal (whom you might recognize from doing videos for Beautiful Swimmers and more) will be doing projections during both of their sets.
In a departure from the one location with many rooms approach of last year, this year a decentralized approach is being taken, with parties taking place in various locations spread across the east end of town. Some parties will be 18+, some end early, some go till very late.
While the bulk of the festivities go down from next Thursday October 6 thru Saturday October 8th, the Sunday after that (October 16th) will be a special one. The Wrap Party for VIA takes place at Shadow Lounge in East Liberty and it features Dam-Funk headlining with support by Smooth Tutors as well as debut live performances by my homies East Liberty Quarters and my group Pittsburgh Track Authority! We’ve been working and practicing to bring the tunes we’ve crafted in the studio to life in an interesting and interactive way, and I’m really looking forward to being able to bang it out!
So this promises to be a very special couple weeks for me in many ways. I will report back on how things go, but if you’re in the region, this is certainly one of the best opportunities you’ll have to check out the kind of things we’re doing here in Pittsburgh. We’ve been working hard at building shit up for a long, long time, and seeing shit like this go down makes it all worthwhile! See you on the dancefloor!
5 Comments
Been working since January on this. Still can’t wrap my brain around the fact that it’s a few days away. LET’S DO IT!
aT least i was there for the war years. Enjoy this brother. yinz deserve it!
looks like Pittsburgh is the place to be right now, wish i could check this festival out.
so who comes out when UR plays?
Rad Tom! Have a blast dude.