If you needed of snapshot of Pittsburgh music with a visit to one gig, who would it be: Billy Price, Joe Grushecky, Roger Humphries, The Clarks, Anti-Flag?
CNN’s “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” went a different way, zooming in on Lady Beast, the local metal band fronted by Bloomfield native Deborah Levine. They were captured live at Gooski’s in Polish Hill during the crew’s June visit for the Pittsburgh episode which will air Sunday night.
“His crew hit up some people around town, kind of lining up some things,” Levine says, “and we have a very close friend who suggested us for local talent, and the producers went on our Facebook and YouTube pages and said, ‘Aw, dude, we gotta get these guys. This looks awesome.’ So, they hit me up and I said, ‘Of course, we’ll set up a show for friends and family.’ ”
Drummers, of course, are the backbone of metal bands, and Lady Beast wasn’t at full strength in that department.
“Our drummer [Adam Ramage] had just been in the hospital for a month with diverticulitis and it was his first show back with us,” Levine says. “He looks all skinny and weird. He wanted to a note like ‘I’m fine, I just got out of the hospital like literally two days before this.’”
Fortunately, they only played three songs for the gig. You might see Ms. Levine’s mom and dad in the front, “throwing the horns, pumping the fists, like they normally do a show.”
The place was packed, but one person missing was Bourdain himself.
“I was like, ‘Where is he, dudes?!’ Levine says. “They were like, ‘He’s not really into big crowds.’ If he got cornered there ... It’s just not a place where you can be chill.”
The Pittsburgh episode of “Parts Unknown” will air at 9 p.m. Sunday on CNN.
Lady Beast will release its latest album, “Vicious Breed,” on Nov. 17. You can catch the band at the Smiling Moose on the South Side at 9:30 p.m. Friday with Manilla Road and Legendry.
Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com
First Published: October 20, 2017, 2:52 p.m.
