There’s something odd about the Millvale Music Festival: It doesn’t seem to go very well in even years.
Granted, it’s a small sample size along Grant Avenue.
To recap: The grassroots event got off to a beautiful start in 2017 with more than 120 acts taking over the hilly, tight-knit neighborhood that houses Mr. Smalls. All set for its big expansion, the festival was packed and running smoothly in 2018 until an early afternoon thunderstorm knocked out power to about half of the stages.
It bounced back on a nice day in 2019 with more than 200 acts on two dozen stages.
And then, in 2020, of course, nothing. Millvale tried to persevere through the pandemic by pushing the event from May to August, but state coronavirus restrictions would not allow this type of gathering.
Even with concerns about the delta variant, 2021 could be another bounce-back year for the festival, which was set for May and will now happen this weekend.
“This is the fourth date for the fourth Millvale Music Festival,” organizer Paul Bossung says with a laugh.
It will feature approximately 250 regional acts at 24 venues, about half of them outdoors, and also do its biggest Friday night opening event yet with 50 acts on 13 stages, including the SOS Pgh (Save Our Stages Pittsburgh) Showcase at the Funhouse at Mr. Smalls with the Granati Brothers, Liz Berlin, Chip and The Charge-Ups, Half Wheel, GutterRich, The Cheats, Murder For Girls, Middle Finger Punk and Royal Honey.
Among the more well-known acts at MMF are Gene the Werewolf, The Weird Paul Rock Band, Chip and the Charge-Ups, Sierra Sellers, Elias Khouri, Dinosoul, The Wire Riots, Misaligned Mind and Normal Creatures (formerly Sikes and the New Violence).
“We played it as Sikes and the New Violence a few years ago, but we only got to play maybe three songs before the rain shut down our stage for the day,” says Normal Creatures frontman Brian Sikes Howe. “It's the same stage we're playing this year so we're hoping for the best weatherwise.”
This will be the band’s first Pittsburgh show since 2019.
There will be a spoken word showcase at the Funhouse at Mr. Smalls from 2 to 4 p.m., followed by a comedy showcase from 5 to 7 p.m.
They’ve also expanded into two artist districts — Art on Sedgwick and the newly added Art on Butler — with a combined 33 artists.
What made the planning for 2021 easier, according to Bossung, is that they were ready to go in 2020.
“We were supposed to be in May of 2020, so whenever they started shutting down in March and April, we were most of the way in the planning, whereas [the Deutschtown Music Festival] was late July, so they were probably a good bit further out on planning. So, I totally understood why they kind of immediately just said, ‘OK, we're canceling.’ We kind of just hung in there because a lot of the work was done.”
For the most part, people going this weekend will see the festival they would have seen in 2020.
“We did ask all the bands to resubmit just because we knew things were changing and bands would disappear or not be available,” Bossung says. “Everybody who was booked last year got priority, but we did sort of have to go back and rebook everything. There were so many bands that just went off the map.”
“We definitely had some issues, especially with youth bands,” says Sarah Kremer, who focused on the booking. “A lot of the adult bands were still able to schedule time during COVID or they've been playing long enough that they could pick it right back up. But we had a definite drop in our youth bands that applied because they weren't able to get together for practices and stuff with COVID going on.”
The venues, meanwhile, are ready to roll.
“All the bar owners and different venues, they're anxious to have business, so they're all excited,” Bossung says. “There's been very little apprehension.
“I think for the patrons, it's going to be interesting to see what are they comfortable with. Are we going to have 200 people crammed into a small bar? I know that happened in the past. I don't know if there will be enough people to be comfortable doing that this year.”
Bussong suggests checking out The Whisper Nest, a new spot replacing Happy Day at 313 North Ave. with no jukebox, no TVs.
“It’s strictly vinyl and they’ve built an awesome stage and sound system, so they’ll be a new music venue hopefully picking up some of the slack for ones we’ve lost across town.”
That stage has a lineup that includes Murder for Girls, Gator Shakes, The Homiside and Stone Cold Killer.
“The festival has a special place in my heart as Chip & The Charge-Ups played our first show ever there in 2018,” says Chip Dominick. “The community vibe of MMF is a truly special thing. We’ve been looking forward to this year’s edition.... It very well could be the show of the year for us!”
“Just excited to people watch and hear live music,” says Donny Donovan of Dinosoul. “I’m very glad that shows are happening again and that people are connecting, expressing, and living.”
Admission is free. More details at millvalemusic.org/2021-lineup-schedule.
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SCHEDULES FOR BIGGER VENUES
FRIDAY
Gap Park
7 p.m.: The Wire Riots
8 p.m.: Working Breed
9 p.m.: Big Blitz
10 p.m.: Elias Khouri
Mr. Smalls Theatre
400 Lincoln Ave.
7:40 p.m.: Sierra Sellers
8:40 p.m.: Royce
9:40 p.m.: KELS
10:40 p.m.: TK KAVI And The Kavilry
Mr. Smalls Butler St.
7 p.m.: Zachary Lee's Interstate Daydream
8 p.m.: Dan Bubien and the Delta Struts
9 p.m.: Old Game
SATURDAY
Gap Park
2 p.m.: Byron Nash
3 p.m.: Chip & The Charge Ups
4 p.m. Bad Custer
5 p.m.: Normal Creatures
6 p.m.: Smokey Bellows
7 p.m.: Guitar Zack with Misaligned Mind
8 p.m.: Black Ridge
9 p.m.: Gene the Werewolf
Mr. Smalls Theatre
4 p.m.: Soulios
4:45 p.m.: Plasmid
5:30 p.m.: FUBAR
6:15 p.m.: Rocky Dennis Face
7 p.m.: iNCO FIdO
7:45 p.m.: City Escape Artist
8:30 p.m.: Crooked Cobras
9:15 p.m.: [expletive] yeah, dinosaurs!
10 p.m.: The Filthy Lowdown
10:45 p.m.: Children of October
11:30 p.m.: Latecomer
Strange Roots
501 E. Ohio St.
2:20 p.m.: Warehouse 11
3:20 p.m.: DiLisio
4:20 p.m.: Catatoneya
5:20 p.m.: God's Green Apples
6:20 p.m.: Modern Fossils
7:20 p.m: Steel Mill Rising
8:20 p.m.: Royal Honey
Double L
307 Grant Ave.
1 p.m. GutterRich
2 p.m. Dayshift
3 p.m. Starlings
4 p.m. Strange Monsters
5 p.m. The Optimists
6 p.m. Cape Cod
7 p.m. Glam Hand
8 p.m. Orange Mammoth
9 p.m. The Quiet Loud
10 p.m. The Vics
11 p.m. Essential Machine
Midnight: Bikini Islands
Lumberjaxes
2 Sedgwick St.
12:20 p.m.: Skye Light
1:20 p.m.: The Bleepy Things
2:20 p.m.: Playgrounds
3:20 p.m.: Dumplings
4:20 p.m.: Herbivore
5:20 p.m.: The Weird Paul Rock Band
6:20 p.m.: There You Are
7:20 p.m.: Gallo Locknez
8:20 p.m.: Island Bwoy Big Stacks Entertainment
Whisper Nest
313 North Ave.
3 p.m.: The Slobberknockers
4 p.m.: Murder for Girls
5 p.m.: Gator Shakes
6 p.m.: Father Flamethrower
7 p.m.: Aqua Dementia
8 p.m.: The Richard Move
9 p.m.: The Homisides
10 p.m.: Stone Cold Killer
11 p.m.: Wax Brain
Grist House
10 E. Sherman St.
2:20 p.m.: Rebel Revolver
3:20 p.m. The Lo-Fi Project
4:20 p.m.: The Sun Champs
5:20 p.m.. Slam Band And Sam
6:20 p.m.: Flubdub
7:20 p.m..: TrailHeads
8:20 p.m.: Juvenile Characteristics
Sedgwick St. Art District
12:20 p,m.: Shadyside Brass
1:20pm: King Fez
2:20 p.m.: Ten Thousand Dollars Cash
3:20 p.m.: The Goodfoots
4:20 p,m.: Keystone Vibe
5:20pm.: Different Places In Space
6:20pm.: Global Groove Alliance
7:20pm.: Black Cat Moan
8:20 p.m.: The Argonauts
Gardens Main Stage
1 p.m.: Dirty Old Mill
2 p.m.: The Mixus Brothers
3 p.m.: The Shameless Hex
4 p.m.: Hellyinz
5 p.m.: Ezra's Authentic Snake Elixir
6 p.m.: Mark Steiner and the Men of Manville
7 p.m.: Madeline Jo
8 p.m.: Sweaty Already String Band
First Published: August 3, 2021, 12:30 p.m.
Updated: August 3, 2021, 3:47 p.m.
