The city’s outdoor riverfront venues have always been situated along the south and north shores, whether it be the successful Stage AE or the former Amphitheater at Station Square, with its great view and steady flow of trains.
Other than Point State Park, however, there wasn’t much open real estate for music in the Downtown triangle — except for those bands at Picklesburgh, Light Up Night or the Three Rivers Arts Festival that played in the tree-lined Allegheny Overlook along Fort Duquesne Boulevard.
While attending those events, maybe you wondered: Couldn’t this be a regular thing?
Now it is.
This weekend, Allegheny Overlook — “The AO,” for short — begins a seasonlong program of live music, theater, dance and comedy.
“We were kind of smitten with [the Overlook] coming out of Picklesburgh and Light Up Night,” says Jeremy Waldrup, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. “The thought was like, ‘Hey, could this be something?’ We're looking for ways to bring folks back into Downtown, and we see this as an opportunity to do it.”
The PDP stages a grand opening this weekend for its new vision of the space, which holds about 1,000 people. It includes the pop-up stage with seating in front; picnic tables and rocking chairs; a beer garden installation from the Braddock-based Brew Gentlemen; and food served from a vintage Greyhound bus and provided by a rotating group of Downtown restaurants, starting with Blue Sparrow. On the next block, there’s a recreation area with basketball hoops, badminton courts and more.
It all resides on “Pathway to Joy,” a colorful street mural that Pittsburgh artist Janel Young created for the Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Kicking it off Thursday night in jubilant style is Jim Donovan & the Sun King Warriors, the rhythmic roots-rock outfit led by the former drummer of Rusted Root. In the opening slot is Elias Khouri, the guitar prodigy whose band blends funk, soul and rock.
It will be the third full-band gig for the Sun King Warriors since the pandemic began, and they’ll have Rob James of The Clarks sitting in on guitar.
“I'm just glad there's an organization that's committed to bringing people back Downtown and bringing some vibrancy to the area, beyond what's already there,” Donovan says.
“I can remember coming Downtown in the ’80s, and it was nothing like it is now. I remember at the time not feeling safe to walk down there, and now one of my daughters lives down there. I'm there all the time, and there's a nice feeling I get being right by the river. It just feels good, feels peaceful there.
“We're glad to contribute to that. I'm really tickled that they thought of us.”
The Friday headliner is Bindley Hardware Co., the self-described Rust Belt Americana band led by singer-songwriter Jon Bindley. They will be joined by West Virginia rocker William Matheny, from the band The Paranoid Style.
Saturday is a hip-hop/R&B night with Jordan Montgomery, rapper-singer and founder of Driving While Black Records, joined by 1Hood’s Brittney Chantele and Cam Chambers. R&B/neosoul singer Sierra Sellers opens that show.
Varied programming
Through mid-September, The AO will be programmed by Pittsburgh Public Theater, Mr. Smalls, Arcade Comedy, Drusky Entertainment, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Driving While Black Records, MCG Jazz, Women Who Rock, Moondog’s, Blues Society of Western PA and the Office of Public Art.
“Arts and culture played such a significant role in the development of Downtown for the last 40 years,” Waldrup says, “but we still don't have that critical mass of live music. There has been some traction, and then, of course, the pandemic happens and everything kind of stops.
“But we saw this as a really great way to provide an opportunity to partner with cultural organizations, get artists and musicians back to doing gigs, and create a really interesting public space in Downtown.”
They will be announcing a full list of free events for The AO in coming days. Some of those will be ticketed in the front and free in the back.
So far, there are two ticketed events. The first is a Drusky Entertainment concert on July 7 with LA pop-rock band Fitz & the Tantrums, which was moved from the Starlight Drive-In in Butler. Flyspace Productions will roll in a larger stage for that event.
“[Drusky] reached out and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for a home for this concert. Do you think it would work there?’ And we’re like, ‘Yeah, let's do it,’” Waldrup says. “So, it's kind of I guess the one big show that's planned in the space right now, and there could be others.”
The other ticketed event is an Arcade Comedy show Aug. 13-14 with comedian Myq Kaplan, who has had specials on Comedy Central and Netflix.
At a time when many Downtown offices are empty, the AO events will bring people into the city, where, Waldrup hopes, they’ll support Downtown businesses. He’s seen those sorts of pop-up venues in other cities, including Detroit and Philadelphia.
“We've certainly looked at lessons from other cities with this ‘temporary tactical urbanism,’ as it's called in our field — creating temporary public spaces.
“The Three Rivers Festival received rave reviews for the riverside stage in the Allegheny Overlook. People were very pleased. They were sitting in shade, great view, super easy to access. We open up the space on Thursday to the public, and then we're going to learn a lot in the next several months about how this works.”
The Thursday concert begins at 5 p.m., and the Friday and Saturday shows start at 6 p.m.
The Allegheny Overlook venue was developed by the PDP with support from the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Duquesne Light, Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority, Flyspace Productions, Riverlife and the Office of Public Art.
First Published: June 22, 2021, 12:26 p.m.