LAVELLA-BLOG!

Pittsburgh PA, Day 6: My last day in Da Burg started by wrapping things up in Herminie before heading back to the big city with my boy Spahr, who has been my main hometown host since the early 90’s. There was a quick trip to see Bill Boichel and a mandatory stop at Primanti Bros. for a quick bite before hitting The Tiki Lounge, where Spahr DJ’s every Wednesday night. This place has been open for a few years now, and I gotta say it is quite spectacular. If it was located in the Bay Area, or anywhere in California for that matter, there would be lines around the block to get in anytime it was open. But this is Pittsburgh, PA we are talking about here, so the only way to guarantee a good crowd anywhere at anytime is that ol’ Pixburgh stand by: metal night.

We let everyone I hadn’t seen yet know I’d be there, but the actual turn out was way beyond any expectation I had, the biggest surprise being artist and former Half Life singer Jeff Lamm driving in the whole way from Ohio, where he is now a proud member of the Akron Police Dept. Then guitarist Vince Curtis stopped in after practicing with a new band he’s doing with ‘Burg legend Sam Matthews (Whereabouts, Radio Hanoi, 96 Tears, The Bats, Bbronk, etc.) so it ended up being a mini Half Life reunion, the first time we’ve all been together since 2003. Our not-so-little drummer boy Damon was out on the road with his band Don Caballero, but the evening was beefed up by the presence of both our former roadies, Dan Allen and Brian Corley. So 5 out of the 6 of us that did the seemingly endless 1987 US tour together all in one place wasn’t too shabby if I say so myself. Of course if it wasn’t for meeting Tim Yohannan on that tour, I might never have moved to San Francisco in the first place, which brings this little tale full circle, ‘cause I’m heading back tomorrow. Bottoms up!