Some of the city’s most talented artists have moved on to bigger, better things and no longer live here, sad to say.
The good news is that they love to come back for the holidays.
On New Year’s Eve, Pittsburghers get to reconnect with Lyndsey Smith, the powerful soul belter who left for New Orleans in 2019.
“The Goddaughter of Soul” was back to play Highmark First Night Pittsburgh in 2021 and the Three Rivers Arts Festival last year. On Sunday, she returns to headline the event at 10:45 p.m. just prior to the rise of the Future of Pittsburgh Ball and fireworks. She will be on the stage at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Stanwix Street, following sets by reggae-rockers The Flow Band and the Zuzu African Acrobats.
Smith climaxes a six-hour family-friendly event, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, that will also include dance, theater, visual arts, magic, hands-on and the giant puppet parade.
“Coming back for New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest honors of my career,” Smith says. “There is truly no place like home. To know that I have left such a big impression on my city that they want me to perform on one of, if not the biggest night of the year in Pittsburgh, is the most humbling and beautiful feelings.”
Smith, a Jersey Shore native, spent a dozen years in Pittsburgh, most of them fronting Lyndsey Smith and the Soul Distribution before going to the Big Easy, where she hooked up with a pair of funk bands — Water Seed and then The Crooked Vines — along with the neosoul/R&B band Roccadile.
“I still perform with The Crooked Vines,” she says. “We are in a transitional phase at the moment, but made and released some amazing music this year. Change is always good. One of the stand-out experiences this year was getting the opportunity to perform in Jazz Ascona in Ascona, Switzerland, for an entire week with Roccadile. I also got the opportunity to perform with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for multiple performances. It feels great to make some major strides in my new home, New Orleans.”
At First Night, she will reunite with five members of Soul Distribution — Spencer Geer, Stacey Price-Randolph, Kiki Sherman, Dennis Garner, and Joe Badaczewski — along with guest musicians Claude Flowers, Glyn Lloyd and Rick Matt.
“Soul Distribution never broke up but transitioned to new phases in our lives — some of us relocating, a couple marriages, some babies,” she says. “It will be amazing being on stage with them. We’re playing a lot of our crowd favorites, but touching on some from each genre, guaranteeing fun for every age group from the boppers to the TikTok’ers and everyone in between. And of course a lot of soul.”
Public art showcase
The evening will include the unveiling of a new public art work — The Firetree Project, presented by Dollar Bank — which is “a 24-foot-tall steel sculpture that looks like it was lifted from a fairytale,” according to a news release.
“Firetree infuses the excitement of fire into a playful, thought-provoking sculpture that challenges our global community to achieve the extraordinary,” noted artist Duncan MacDiarmid. Guests can interact with the work by touching it, activating bells within the sculpture, and appreciating its impressive scale, remarkable detail, global symbolism, and hand-worked polished copper.
While visiting the sculpture in the Backyard at 8th & Penn, guests can enjoy entertainment from School of Rock, finalists of the annual SING-OFF Competition and more.
The Lounge at the Greer Cabaret will host an intimate performance from jazz great Dwayne Dolphin.
The New Year’s Eve Parade, along Penn Avenue between the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and 6th Street at 8 p.m., will feature giant puppets from Studio Capezzuti. It will be followed by elected officials and special guests cutting the ribbon for the Clemente Bridge & Three Sisters Bridges Celebration, marking the reopening of the Clemente Bridge and the official launch of a new lighting project on the popular Downtown bridges.
While all events are free and open to everyone, the First Night Friends VIP Experience, for $50, allows access to the First Night Friends Lounge inside the O’Reilly Theater lobby for complimentary food, beverages and entertainment. Full info at TrustArts.org/FirstNightPGH.
First Night schedule
Main Events
6-6:15 p.m.: Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks at Highmark Stage
6:05-6:10 p.m.: PRIME Sing-Off Winner at Highmark Stage.
7-7:30 p.m.: SING-OFF Finalists at Giant Eagle Backyard @ 8th & Penn
8-8:30 p.m.: New Year's Eve Parade throughout the Cultural District
8:45-9 p.m.: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the Clemente Bridge and Three Sisters Bridges Celebration at Fort Duquesne Boulevard & 6th Street @ Cultural District
10:45-11:59 p.m.: Lyndsey Smith on Highmark Stage
11:55-11:59 p.m.: The Future of Pittsburgh Grand Finale on Highmark Stage
More entertainment
6-8 and 8:30-9 p.m.: O'Ryan the O'Mazing: Totally Lit Juggling Show at multiple locations.
6-11 p.m.: Betty Boop, Popeye, and Friends: Cartoon classics from the legendary Fleischer Studios, 1924-1937, at Harris Theater
6:30-7 and 8:30-9 p.m.: Sword Dancing: Tadashi performs Japanese sword dancing, combining martial arts and modern dance at Trust Arts Education Center, Peirce Studio | Lower
6:30-9:30 p.m.: Street Magic with Mr. Messado and the Harmon Brothers at Liberty Magic
6:30-7, 7:30-8, 10-10:30 p.m.: Zuzu African Acrobats at Trust Arts Education Center, Peirce Studio
6:30-8 and 8:30-10 p.m.: Dwayne Dolphin jazz at Greer Cabaret Theater
7:15, 9:15 and 10:45 p.m.: Alumni Theater Company: Original music and poetry at Trust Arts Education Center
7:30-8 p.m.: School of Rock at South Hills at Giant Eagle Backyard @ 8th & Penn @ Cultural District
8:30-9:30 p.m.: The Flow Band reggae at Highmark Stage
7-8, 8:30-9:30 p.m.: Giggles the Clown at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place
8:30-10:30 p.m.: Starry Messenger at Giant Eagle Backyard @ 8th & Penn @ Cultural District
10-11 p.m.: Magic with Mr. Messado at Greer Cabaret Theater
Activities
6-10 p.m.
- Moonshot Museum: Send a Message to the Moon & more at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place 1st Floor Lobby
- Public Art in the Cultural District: Art installations and beautification projects
- Rainbow Fish Craft with Children's & Bridge Theater at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place: Make your own Rainbow Fish craft. 1st Floor Lobby
- Steel City LUG: Build your own LEGO creation in Steel City LUG's Glow Zone at Byham Theater
- Laurel Highlands Council, Boy Scouts of America Girl, Troop 9109 at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place
- Rainbow Fish Set with Citiparks in Benedum Lot
- Year of the Dragon: Glasses Making at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place 1st Floor Lobby
- Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media at Colorful Creations: Make a colorful holiday creation at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place
6:30-10:30 p.m.
- Guided Tour of the Benedum Center
- Byham Theater Tours
7-8 and 8:30-9:30 p.m.
- Caricature Artist Vince Ornato at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place
- Tarot Card Readings with Elizabeth Kivowitz, Crystal Noel Jalil, Dr. Amber Epps, and Pamela at Benedum Center
- Caricature Artist Sam Thong at Highmark Fifth Avenue Place
Exhibits
6-10 p.m.
- Firetree Project: Unveiling of interactive, steel and copper sculpture at Giant Eagle Backyard @ 8th & Penn
- Jenson Leonard: Workflow (Experience Jenson Leonard’s Workflow exhibition that centers on a titular film that explores the velocity and momentum of Blackness as it relates to the philosophical concept of acceleration) at Wood Street Galleries
6-11 p.m.
- Belgrade Raw: Flashbacks. Public art photography installation by the collective Belgrade Raw.
- Zach Brown: Death of a Lunar Cult at 707 Gallery: Twelve new paintings that reference the different epochs and shifts from lunar to solar worship throughout history
First Published: December 27, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: December 27, 2023, 6:34 p.m.
