Underneath the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s SPACE Gallery, there was once a nightclub. Pegasus Lounge was a fixture of the Pittsburgh gay scene in the ‘80s. Since then, many have lamented the decline of Pittsburgh’s nightlife. Gone are Shadow Lounge, Club Zoo, Electric Banana, and Syria Mosque.
Even among contemporary venues, there’s more bad news than good news. Cattivo, a dance club and former lesbian bar, is closing this year. Club Café, a staple of the South Side’s music venue scene, also announced its closure at the end of 2024. But the experimental music, dance club, and rave scenes do still exist. They’re just largely underground, and, well, most ravers don’t tend to talk to the press.
Downtown Gallery Crawl to Mix Dance Club Vibes with Culinary Delights
Over the summer of 2024, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust partnered with several DJs and performers from that underground scene for their Summer Downtown Gallery Crawl. The upstairs floor of the Wood Street Galleries transformed into a sweaty, red-lit club, full of both gallerygoers from the crawl and fans of DETOUR, the headliner for the night.
The bill also featured slowdanger, an experimental dance duo, and musicians Gladstone Deluxe, Davis Galvin, and Gusto. These were all names familiar to people in the noise, experimental, and electronic music scene, but less so to ordinary attendees of the Gallery Crawl.
Tricia Burmeister, a member of the arts community and an information scientist, attended the DETOUR party over the summer. She spoke of its ingenuity as a way for the Trust to branch out. “I loved experiencing the energy and creativity of the electronic music scene in the context of a gallery space,” she told TABLE. “It’s been a while since anyone has done something like this at Wood Street. The way Detour transformed the space with a combination of music, dance and visuals was unique and exhilarating.”
Eat, Drink, and be Merry
Following the success of the prior downtown gallery crawl, the Trust has another club night planned for the upcoming October 25 event. This time, however, there’s a food and beverage component. While the summer crawl leaned into the club-party atmosphere, this fall’s veers more into cozy cocktails and light bites along with music and dance.
Sometimes late nights, the lack of a detailed food and beverage program beyond shots of fireball or chips from 24-hour-deli, and an exclusive-seeming “cool” factor keep people away from dance music events. Foodprep, a local DJ mix series and the host of the next dance night at the Trust’s downtown gallery crawl, aims to change that with Fusion: Nourishing Experiments in Food and Sound.
The event will feature live sets from local talent, performances by Montreal-based DJ Ramzilla, food as performance by Jennifer Shin and Laurie Trok, craft cocktails by Cecil Usher of Mindful Hospitality Group, and a multi-sensory visual transformation by media artists Ma’Xin.
“Wood Street Galleries has long been a hub for cutting-edge and time-based media art, and our recent focus on experimental music programming builds on this legacy. By engaging a broad spectrum of artists working at the forefront of sound and music, the gallery seeks to expand its exploration of contemporary media,” Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Director of Galleries and Public Art Anastasia James told TABLE.
Beyond this dance night, James has also booked Lima-based DJ María Chavez for a show on October 10 and hopes to do more music programming. “This programming shift is designed to offer new experiences for local audiences, enriching the community with innovative sound-based exhibitions within the gallery setting,” she said.
Lexie Dobell Wants to Work with Pittsburgh’s Culinary and Music Scenes
Lexie Dobell, who performs under the name Lexcd, is the curator behind Foodprep. She said about the project, “I’m trying to push locally what I perceive as a trend towards alternative music events. Pittsburgh’s underground music community has a pretty ambitious scene for its size, but it runs up against limited space. I think it only makes sense that we experiment with the format, galleries, wellness events, shows at tea bars, et cetera to see what else is possible here.”
Two of the formats Dobell references are Bantha Tea Bar’s Open Improvisation Lab and the sound series events that exist at Signal Sauna and Bad Sauna. It speaks to the uniqueness of Pittsburgh’s music scene that people are attending shows at a sauna.
“I hope the local Pittsburgh scene can feel the possibilities of experimenting with cross-medium events and how fun they can be. Not every art exhibition needs to have food or music as an after-thought,” she added. “And not every dance event needs to be centered around late hours or alcohol. It can be even more fun when those artists are in-conversation which is something we worked towards with this event.”
Whether you’re a seasoned club kid or just want to enjoy a craft cocktail with some ambient music, give Fusion a try this fall at the Gallery Crawl.
Fusion will begin at 8PM at the Wood Street Galleries (601 Wood Street). 21+, tickets $10 available at the door and for advance purchase on Resident Advisor. Each ticket includes food; drinks sold separately.
Story by Emma Riva
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