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Across the river, I found a home, place where not everyone may know my name, but where they all share the same obsessive love affair with the same music I do.
After months of being coaxed into attending some shows at Pittsburgh's smaller venues for a change, I made it a point to catch the loaded line-up of Mud City Manglers, Argus, Carousel, and the headliners, Chicago's High Spirits, and it was an experience that rivaled a religious awakening.
I must have struck up conversations with at least 5 people simply over the vintage Scorpions t-shirt I had on, and this was before I got into the concert venue itself!
Adjacent to the the bar, the stage is anterior to the ex-storefront, meaning bands can get their equipment in and out through the back of the stage onto the sidewalk without having to navigate narrow corridors. And until the glass gets fogged up, one can watch the concert from outside, window shopping for rock if you will.
The sound was tremendous, the camaraderie was unmatched, and the loud, sultry, voltaic fun had was staggering, all underneath a quilt of old t-shirts within a humble dive that for too long I dismissed.
New friendships were formed, older ones reinforced, brains were rattled, spines tingled when familiar songs began their strains -- for several hours I was in my Avalon, my Valhalla, my element.
I had a more enjoyable concert experience here than I have at ones held at much bigger, state-of-the-art facilities. No fireworks, light, fog, or stage props were necessary.
It was Saturday night alchemy.
It was Howlers, and I need to be here more often. A friend of mine lives just around the corner. How privileged he is...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVxwr13hVus
Bring Bourdain here and win him over.
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