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The rapper Frzy onstage at Heinz Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony on Wednesday, Nov. 8
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First Night Pittsburgh: Frzy, fireworks and more fun ways to ring in the new year

JMilteer Photography

First Night Pittsburgh: Frzy, fireworks and more fun ways to ring in the new year

This won’t be the first First Night for Frzy.

The Pittsburgh rapper did it once before, performing live on the roof of the Highmark Building with the New Year’s Eve ball.

“It was like this cool dream come true to be the big performer,” he says.

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Sadly, there was one thing missing: a live audience. It was 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so the performance was one of those virtual experiences for people at home.

On Tuesday, it’s the real thing. Frzy is set to headline Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2025 on the stage at Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street.

“I'm getting the opportunity to actually do it the way that it was planned to do,” the rapper says, “to do it with the fireworks and the thousands of people that come out. It's gonna give me a chance to really interact with them.”

First Night, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, will feature a mix of free outdoor events and some ticketed indoor ones. Outside, there’s the parade, an Ice Maze, crafts for kids, a family rave, a Sing-Off Competition and two fireworks displays.

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Inside, there will be a tribute to Ray Charles with the Roger Humphries Band, a drag show, standup comedy and Zuzu African Acrobats.

Frzy time

This time last year, Frzy was doing what few rappers have ever done: perform live with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall. Billed as “The Glorious Succession of Frzy,” it was a concert, conducted by Moon Doh, presenting orchestrated works coinciding with the release of his double album “Popularity vs. Success.”

Prior to that, the East Liberty native born Harvey Daniels had won an Emmy Award for his hip-hop version of Mr. Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” a collaboration with WQED-TV. He’d also broken the Guinness World Record for longest freestyle rap, at 31 hours (a record that has since been broken, by a British school teacher, at 39 hours, 37 minutes).

For Frzy, this year’s highlight was speaking at a TEDxPittsburgh talk in September at the Foerster Student Service Center on the North Side.

“It was a really, really big moment for me,” he says. “I grew up on TEDtalk. So, being a rapper, to be able to talk about how my brain works and everything, it was really amazing.”

He had also performed in Philadelphia to celebrate Pennsylvania’s 250th birthday, recorded with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and jumped into the political realm hyping for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

And he stays busy on a daily basis with “Feelin’ Frzy”, his nightly show on 100.7 Star and on the Audacy app.

“I really get a chance to do different things,” he says. “I always do a part of the show where I talk about what it's like being a celebrity, the way I feel about social media, different things going on in the world, funny stories. I'm a big nerd, so I definitely break down my nerd stuff all the time and talk about new movies coming out.”

On Tuesday, Frzy will play an 80-minute set of songs, including his new singles “You Ain’t Got No Money” and “Not Going Back.”

He will be joined on stage by his band and a cast of fellow hip-hop artists including Gallo Locknez, The Faculty, DJ Solo Dolo, Mychole Starr, Rachel Mracna, Lailonny Morris, Megan Paullet, Harley Dyse and Bird.

“I'm bringing in some special guests to come on stage and help out, some well-known local artists that have been building a name for themselves,” he says. “It's gonna give them an opportunity to kind of introduce themselves to the city, the next generation of Pittsburgh artists. I'm gonna premiere some stuff there, too, so I'm gonna make it a big celebration. It's gonna be a party, man. It's a Frzy concert to help bring in the new year, so I'm gonna make sure I don't disappoint. I got something for everybody.”

Free Outdoor Events

Highmark Stage (Liberty and Stanwix)

6-6:15 p.m.: GBU Life Sing-Off Winner

6:30-7:30 p.m.: Family Rave featuring DJ Todd Griffin of Next Level Productions

8:30-9:30 p.m.: Pittsburgh hip-hop artist Nay Hundo

10:45 p.m.-12:05 a.m.: Frzy, followed by The Future of Pittsburgh Ball rise and fireworks.

 

Backyard @ 8th & Penn

6-11 p.m.: Ice Maze by Ice Creations: The maze is back for the third time at the Giant Eagle Foundation Backyard.

6-11 p.m.: Steel City LUG: LEGO Ice Race

7-7:30 p.m.: GBU Life SING-OFF Finalists

9-9:20 p.m.: Geo Koryu Fire Dance, that includes Hawaiian Hula Kahiko dance

10-11 p.m.: DJ Todd Griffin

 

Penn Avenue

6 p.m.: Dollar Bank Children’s Fireworks (at Stanwix)

8-8:30 p.m.: New Year’s Eve Parade featuring giant puppets from Studio Capezzuti on Penn Avenue between the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and 6th Street.

 

Benedum Center lot (7th Street)

6-11 p.m.: AHN Family Zone with prizes and warm up.

 

Indoor Events

SPACE Gallery (812 Liberty Ave.)

6-10 p.m.: Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 110th Annual Exhibition, on the interplay between art and sports.

7-8 p.m., 8:30-9:30 p.m.: Caricature artists Sam Thong & Vince Ornato.

 

Highmark Fifth Avenue Place (120 Fifth Ave.)

6-10 p.m.: TeraBridges robotic club, Scouts of America, Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media crafts, Trust Arts Education crafts, Button Making with Dentons Cohen & Grigsby Children's Theater, face painting,

 

Benedum Center (237 7th St.)

6:30-8, 8:30-10:30 p.m.: Backstage Tours

6:30-8, 8:30-10 p.m.: Tarot Card Readings

 

Byham Theater (101 6th St.)

6:30 p.m.: Roger Humphries Celebrates the Music of Ray Charles: The Pittsburgh jazz legend and his Big Band salute the R&B/soul icon ($20).

10 p.m.: Ed & Day in the ‘Burgh: Comedians Ed Bailey and Day Bracey of the Emmy-nominated TV show “Ed & Day in The Burgh,” do an hour of stand-up comedy for older audiences ($15).

 

Trust Arts Education Center (805-807 Penn Ave.)

6:30-7 p.m., 7:30-8 p.m., 9-9:30 p.m., 10-10:30 p.m.: Zuzu African Acrobats: The acrobatic troupe from East Africa combines traditional African acrobatics, high-energy tumbling, balancing acts and humor ($10).

7-7:45 p.m., 9-9:45 p.m., 10:30-11:15 p.m.: Alumni Theater Company: A blend of original songs and spoken word ($10).

 

Greer Theater (655 Penn Ave.)

6:30-8, 8:30-10 p.m.: Phat Man Dee With Joe Hodges, Cliff Barnes, and Yoko Suzuki: Jazz cabaret ($20).

7 and 10 p.m.: Kierra Darshell’s Drag Show: Pittsburgh’s First Lady of Drag is joined by Phat Man Dee ($20).

 

Liberty Magic (811 Liberty Ave.)

Luis Carreon: A Glimpse of The Beast: One-man show of magic and comedy at (7:30-8 p.m., 8:30-9 p.m., 9:30-10 p.m., 10:30-11 p.m., $20).

 

Harris Theater (809 Liberty Ave.)

7-8:25, 8:30-9:55, 10-11:25 p.m.: Wild, Crazy, and Cool: United Productions of America cartoon shorts from the 1950s (free).

VIP

Visitors can also take advantage of the First Night Friends VIP Experience, allowing access to the First Night Friends Lounge, located inside the O’Reilly Theater lobby. A special “Freeze Pass” allows Friends to cut to the front of the line at the Ice Maze. The lounge will offer complimentary food, beverages, entertainment. Starts at $65 per adults / $45 per youth.

For more information: TrustArts.org/FirstNightPGH.

First Published: December 26, 2024, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: December 26, 2024, 1:25 p.m.

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The rapper Frzy onstage at Heinz Hall with the Pittsburgh Symphony on Wednesday, Nov. 8  (JMilteer Photography)
Zuzu African Acrobats are slated to entertain during First Night Pittsburgh.  (Courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust)
Roger Humphries will pay tribute to Ray Charles at First Night Pittsburgh.  (Courtesy of Roger Humphries)
Ed & Day will perform a comedy show at First Night Pittsburgh.  (Kristi Jan Hoover)
Rapper Frzy will headline Highmark First Night Pittsburgh.  (Courtesy of Frzy)
Frzy with the Pittsburgh Symphony at Heinz Hall.  ( JMilteer Photography)
JMilteer Photography
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