I am currently a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. It’s true, when I’m anywhere except Pittsburgh, I’m a Patriots fan or I suppose, a bigger Red Sox fan than anything else, but it’s tough to not be in Pittsburgh and be a Steelers fan. They just (pardon the cliche) bleed black ‘n’ gold. I saw a woman this morning walking to the office carrying a Steelers PURSE. The hotel staff at the Hilton that I’m staying at (they put me up in the fancy last night) are wearing Steelers garb. I’m sad that I’ll be leaving for Erie (no offense) tomorrow, the day before the Steelers play in the Superbowl.
Anyhow, I am 95% enamored with Pittsburgh so far. People are super nice, there is a ton of culture out here, BUT the parking meters cost $2/hr. That’s 7.5 minutes a quarter, which is kind of ridiculous, but I’m not going to use this blog as a pulpit for my cheapness.
The show last night went great! I played at Starbucks for the students of Point Park University. Every single person I met was incredibly nice and warm, and genuinely interesting. I had a student opener, Adam, who played a finger picked classical guitar, but played folk tunes and read poetry. My set was OK. I’d give it a B. I was tense for some reason. There were probably 25 people and two TV cameras (from the school’s TV station) but everyone was quiet and respectful and I tried to keep things loose but I said a couple stupid things (as I tend to do) but over all it was a great show. I got a good amount of email list sign-ups and I hope to return in the future!
My wonderful hosts invited me out after the show (it was the 21st birthday of Kayla, the student who booked me) and we went to this bar, where we were BY FAR the youngest people there. We saw a doo-wop a capella quintet (I hope I got the order right) and hung out with a bunch of people who were much older than us but we had a great time.
What an awesome night.
I’m playing tourist as best as I can today. It’ll be tough. It’s pretty snowy out there. I’ve seen snow every day so far this tour, which is a drag but I look forward to going out to the South Side of Pittsburgh and just walking around in the snow. Hopefully it won’t be too detrimental.
I’m going to check into the next hotel at 3 and chill out for a bit. I have work to do on the road and I’ve done a good job staying on top of it. Still, I haven’t had much time to vege-out. I’m definitely sleeping in tonight.
I’m doing work for another hour than heading out to get a sandwich at Primanti Brothers, which I am told is a Pittsburgh institution. I’ll be the judge of that.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Sounds like you’re having fun out there. I really need to take in Pittsburgh myself one day, since i’ve only “been through” the city. I’d like to hit up more of PA when i get the chance, i liked what i saw driving through it.
For the record, the Steelers are my pick for Sunday. Love ‘em or hate ‘em…i thikn they’re the better of the two. Of course, i picked the Pats last year…er, let’s not revist that…
Glad to hear the shows are going well. Can’t wait to take in a few myself in the near future. Stay warm and safe in those snowy conditions, and enjoy the rest of the tour.