Pitt student bands pack Atwood office building for ‘Live from Oakland’ concert

Eli Alfieri, founder of the live music project Post Genre, believes the community is entering “the next era of Oakland music.” The project held the second installment of its “Live From Oakland” concert series in an office building on Atwood Street last Saturday night. Local bands Heading North, Histrionic and Street Prophets performed 45-minute sets to an audience of about 50 people. Performers glowed under neon lights while attendees moshed and head-banged to the driving rock music of the bands. 

Post Genre and 8TRAK Entertainment created the concert through an ongoing partnership with Pittsburgh Innovation District, an Oakland economic development nonprofit. In the past, the PID sponsored Post Genre’s Oakland Block Party, an eight-hour outdoor concert featuring student bands like Pitter Patter, Moontown and Funky Lamp.

Alfieri, an Oakland resident, said Oakland’s local music scene has largely gone underground. He hopes that Post Genre’s collaboration with the PID will contribute to a “renaissance” of Oakland live music. 

“This music series is our first partnership with the PID to get some different types of indoor music shows,” Alfieri said. “Typically, if you want to see indoor live music in Oakland it’s in a basement, which is awesome, but this is a cool space because it’s a bit larger, it’s more comfortable, we can have good sound and lights.”

The organizers transformed the office space into a sound stage, equipped with lighting, sound and instruments. Mark Riggio, a sophomore audio engineering and jazz performance major at Duquesne University and founder of 8TRAK Entertainment, said he started setting up the venue nearly 12 hours before the 8 p.m. show. He said the Post Genre team is excited to show the breadth of the Oakland music scene through their shows.

“Putting a show on in a space like this is taking the same people you’ll find in the basements of Oakland listening to live music and proving that it’s not just a bunch of drunk kids partying,” Riggio said. “This is truly a community of people who are here for the music and people who love art.”

Riggio joined Ian Whitfield, a senior computer science major, and Liam Cunningham, a freshman physics major, for lighting and sound support. Cunningham said the intimate setting allows a deeper connection with the musicians. 

“I think there’s something about sitting down and listening to live, local art that isn’t big. Like, you aren’t going to a huge concert venue where you feel no connection to people on the stage. It’s almost like I’m in it. It feels like a community,” Cunningham said.

According to Adam Klenovich, a sophomore business major at the Community College of Allegheny County, there are a total of 15 people running each event. The team is entirely unpaid students, but Klenovich said they love the work.

“We’re getting the opportunity to build this into something that is bigger than all of us. That’s my motivation for doing this, I don’t get a paycheck to do this type of stuff — nobody gets paid,” Klenovich said. “It’s just with the hope of elevating these artists and getting this to something where we could actually pay artists a considerable amount of money.”

Frank Mileto, a sophomore music technology major at Community College of Allegheny County, performed at Post Genre’s first Atwood show in the same venue on Oct. 7 as the drummer of Pitt band Funky Lamp, one of the student bands that opened for COIN at Fall Fest. He said that while the Atwood show is a different environment than most Oakland shows, it’s a worthwhile change.

“It’s a really cool place to have — the sound is great, the turnout is great. It’s definitely the same energy [as house shows] but it feels like a more modern take on it. It’s just very alive, and you wouldn’t expect to see so much to come out of a city like this,” Mileto said.

Alfieri said the Oakland music scene is changing.

“You’re going to be a part of the next era of Oakland music and it’s really just about being a part of a live audience with a live band. They’re never going to play that song the same way ever again,” Alfieri said. “You’re going to get to see it and experience it with people who are never going to experience it again and you get to do that together. It’s just a great time to become a part of the scene here in Oakland.”