Playing "half - staff" - Pittsburgh gets a gold star!

I haven't slept a wink.

These late nights and early drives are really starting to wear me thin. A few more shows left and then sweet home Chicago. Anyways, Pittsburgh rocks. Last night we played at Cappy's Cafe, in Pittsburgh. Cappy's cafe is not accustomed to having electric acts but they were really cool and helped us fit into the cafe so we could perfrom as an electric act. We played super quiet which was a really cool challenge. We now have coined that as playing "half - staff". Trying to have energy and still sing/play quiet is like trying not to .... when you are really excited. It is the smallest stage/area we have ever performed and I had to do kung fu dogding to avoid getting slammed in the face by Kevin's bass.

The crowd was similar to what the crowd would be if we were playing in the Chicago neighborhood Andersonville. Very well dressed, polite, and kind people. After the first few songs I was getting the impression that they really were not digging Reverie. To my surprise after the set I discovered that I was, thankfully, way wrong. Cappy's is a place were friends go to drink, eat, and talk. Since we were able to play at a relatively quiet volume a lot of the clientele continued having their conversations. This would leave a musician to believe that there is no interest coming from the crowd. I have now learned that this cannot be assumed.
People can be digging you enough to drop a $50 dollar bill into your tip jar, buy a CD and have their backs turned the whole time.

Note to self: Do not alter your performance energy if you "think" that people are not into it. Stick to playing music, not crowd analytics.


After our set many of the cafe patrons came and greeted us with warm welcome and deposited money into our tip jar. We ended up selling a couple records and meeting some really kind folks. Two of the gentlemen that we met were Pat Clark, a local music advocate, whom is devoted to the Pittsburgh independent scene. We were fascinated with his accomplishments and dedication to distressed areas of Pittsburgh and their music community. We were also accompanied by Shadyside's councilman, whom also is a big supporter of the music scene. Very great insight about Pittsburgh. Thank you.

The scene in Pittsburgh from what we gathered is strong and growing because of extra effort being put in by local musicians to continue feeding the scene. I find it interesting that we are finding a lot of the same uneasiness with music scenes in other cities like the ones we have in Chicago. Chicago Noise Machine is part of a national movement. A lot of cities are conscience on making sure that they are centralizing their finest. Very inspiring.

We made many new friends in Pittsburgh. They are similar to Chicagoans... easy going and loud. Sarah, Meadow, Jason, Pat, Brian, Clair and Bill were some of the people that we met during our 18 hour visit to Pittsburgh. Thank you for your insights and hospitality.

I have to say that Pittsburgh gets a gold star.

Tip: Make sure you have 3 people looking at the same map. Pittsburgh is quite confusing to navigate around. In fact every city we have been through in the East is one way streets that run on angles and turn around. Very confusing! :)


Stephen Francis

We hope to make it back soon.