Ben Folds and the Symphony

So this actually took place about a week ago, but it was quite possibly the greatest thing I have ever seen...or heard. Ben Folds joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on the Heinz Hall stage on Friday, May 25th for the greatest show Pittsburgh could possibly use as it's opener to the summer season.

I was accompanied by MJ, Eric and Eric's roommate, Alex, for this fabulous evening and had the absolute best time being taken back to my glory days of junior year in high school when I first fell in love with Ben Folds. His amazing and strikingly unique voice filled the theater and the talent of the PSO was the perfect addition to bring his songs to their greatest potential. While they played songs from Ben's solo albums, Rockin' the Suburbs, Songs for Silverman and Way to Normal; he also led the PSO in a few songs from his Whatever and Ever Amen album from his time with Ben Folds Five. All of which, made for an overwhelmingly beautiful sounding evening.

Ben Folds, picture from City Paper.

What I loved most about the concert was that there was a great mix in the audience. Most were Ben Folds fans, but there were plenty of PSO regulars there as well which made for some interesting reactions since if you know Ben, you know he's got a bit of a potty mouth. I also loved the lighting going on throughout the show, since it was a seated concert, there wasn't much to actually watch so the beautiful lighting effects brought a great extra element to the songs and the show overall. Basically this whole show just reeked of talent.

Even the audience had talent this evening, with Ben leading us all in signing a four part harmony during the song Not the Same. Only Ben Folds could take center stage and make a professional orchestra sound beautiful with thousands of amateur singers in the audience. I actually stopped singing to just listen to it all going on and the sound of it all was too great for words.

Ben also offered the audience a secret email to receive a free track off of his upcoming album coming out this fall with Ben Folds Five and of course, by audience request, he "rocked this bitch" by making up on the spot his Pittsburgh song for our entertainment. Rock this Bitch is a song that Ben makes up on the spot, when someone from the audience yells it during a break between shows. He tells the orchestra which chords to play and when and how to play them and then sings along with fun facts that he has picked up from his time in the city in which he is performing. Below is the video of it happening live, thanks to someone who was also at this event, enjoy it and be sure to see Ben with PSO the next time he makes his way to the city of bridges!

Fashion Forward Fridays: Meet Eric!

Alright ladies, feast your eyes on...my brotha! Now I understand that some of you might consider this cheating, but trust me, I went out in search for a fashionista during the afternoon and literally all of the people that I would have normally stopped were either on their cell phones or getting on a bus. So knowing that I was headed out with some friends, I didn't worry about it since I knew I'd be able to find someone.

Sorry so blurry: here be my bro looking stylish.

I however didn't think that, that person would be my own brother! To be honest (and probably a little embarrassing) I've been picking out clothes for Eric for most of our lives. Not that he had a choice in the matter! When your little sister, has a big mouth and is a fashion diva, the smart thing to do is just to go along with it. However, in the past couple years, Eric has taken his style over for himself and has mixed inspiration for outfits from everywhere to create what could easily be considered, clean-hipster. And I approve!

Since Eric has a low-key lifestyle, he shops mainly at Target, JCPenney's and thrift stores. H also has a habit of raiding our dad's closet for some quality flannel. He's also influenced by some of his favorite bands: think Mumford and Sons for a visual. But what I like best about Eric's style is that it's true to him. He advises other fashionisto's to simply be their selves when getting ready but to consider what does look good on them and their body type. With this outfit, I love the mixing of patterns. I love when guys are able to cross plaid and stripes, to mix and match with pieces to create a different kind of layering effect than we ladies do. And I must admit I am proud to see that Eric has a love for cardigans and mixing patterns as well as what I like to call "old-man shoes." Also known as boat shoes.

Close-up: check out the pattern mixing.

Now for all you people who think I've cheated the last two weeks with using my boyfriend MJ and now Eric, well, you folks can deal. Sorry that two of my favorite men are such great dressers. Tell your men to up the ante! Use tips from MJ or Eric for which kind of style to create for your man if you want their style to change. Whether it's classy-business like my MJ, clean-hipster like brother Eric or anywhere in between, men's fashion is on the rise, so encourage the men in your lives to get them in style!

And guys - have fun with your looks! Don't think that it's just a girl thing to love clothes and caring about the way you look. Let's shake it up, Pittsburgh! Time to show GQ wrong!

An Andy Warhol Musical

Ever have such a fabulous night out that once you get home you just want to go out again? Tonight is one of those nights for me. I'm sitting in my bedroom, next to one of the huge windows that shows the most wonderful view of downtown, in my cute (and super cheap) Saks Fifth Ave. dress, wanting to go back out. I have two reasons for this wanting to stay out feeling...1) my beautiful and always a great time friend, Lindsay and 2) City Theatre's production of POP! a new Musical by Maggie-Kate Coleman and Anna K. Jacobs.

POP! a Musical at City Theatre from May 5th through the 27th

POP! is about the Pittsburgh-bred artist, Andy Warhol, and is based around the summer of 1968 event that almost killed him. Who shot Andy Warhol is the question this brilliant musical asks over and over again. While the answer can easily be found out, either by looking on Wikipedia or taking an art history class (which is how I know), is never really told straight out in the musical.

Andy Warhol, one of my absolute favorite artists, is portrayed by one of my absolute favorite actors, Anthony Rapp. You might know of Anthony from his most recognized appearance in the renown musical, RENT, as Mark. I was so star-struck the moment the show started and Anthony appeared on stage and remained so throughout the show, because of how absolutely phenomenal he is as an actor and singer, but especially in this role.

Anthony Rapp & Andy Warhol's picture: CityPaper's Heather Mull photo

But I knew that Anthony would be fabulous. What I didn't know is how outstanding the rest of the cast would be as well. Each one was perfectly cast for this show, I could not imagine their parts being done by anyone else. I loved that three members of the cast where, like Warhol, Pittsburgers. Paul Victor (Ondine) and Courtney Bassett (Edie) are recent Point Park graduates and Jesse Carrey-Beaver (Gerard) is a current CMU senior. These three young, local actors were so amazing. They were joined by Alyse Alan Louis (Valerie), Bria Walker (Viva) and Brian Charles Rooney (Candy Darling), also all amazing.

Alyse does every feminist proud as Valerie Solanas, who is known most for writing the S.C.U.M. Manifesto and basically being a super man-hater. Anyway, Alyse is a little fireball on stage and had my attention every time she took center stage with her huge voice. Bria was the perfect Viva and during the song The Last Laugh, I wanted to shout "get it girl," but obviously that wouldn't be proper for a theater-goer so I just clapped, but she was so fierce and very reminiscent of Jennifer Hudson. And finally I learned my lesson to always read the program before the show starts because Brian, who played trans-woman, Candy Darling, had me guessing the entire show. But regardless of which gender, Brian was also a perfect pick for this cast.

The amazing cast: Post Gazette's Lake Fong photo

Besides just the amazing talent of the cast, the set was also beautiful and used remakes of many of Warhol's work to create "The Factory" were he created his pieces, hung out and was ultimately shot. Every bit of this show screamed fabulous. Some of my favorite parts were; the mocking of some expressionist artists, Paper Doll, Screen Test, Retrospective and the Big Gun song. Paper Doll was a beautiful song sung by Edie that could have easily brought tears to anyone. Screen Test was another beautiful song that involved the entire cast and remade parts of Warhol's Screen Test film where he simply filmed people he knew sitting in front of the camera, saying nothing. Retrospective was a song of just Warhol, giving the audience the first real look inside the mind of the artist. Those two pieces, really did bring a couple tears to my eyes they were so beautiful. However, on the total opposite side of emotion, Big Gun was the most hilarious and well-played song of the entire show, very ball-busting and full of girl power.

The fabulous show was topped off with a wonderful, small get-together for Seton Hill alumni and Lindsay and I loved being the youngest alums there. Representing the class of 2011 in style at an event is always easy to do for me and my girl. It was also fun to be able to interact with not just fellow former Griffins, but a few members of the cast as well. Too bad Anthony didn't make his way over to the party, or else the night would have been completely perfect. Sigh. Maybe next time. And since Lindsay and I plan on seeing the show again before it closes on May 27th, we still have a chance to meet him and of course, see another fabulous performance at the City Theatre!

Explosive Art Exhibit

The title of this exhibit alone got me excited to go see it, Girls 'N' Guns, by Rachel Nieborg and Ine Mulder is going on until June 10th at 709 Penn Avenue and to say the least, it is explosive. Go see it now.

Last week, after working at the Public Theater, I was able to take the block walk to 709 with Isaac to see the exhibit. I mostly wanted to see it because I didn't know what to expect, whether the art would just be exciting with a fun title, or if real guns would be involved. And both would be the correct answer.

Explosive photography by Rachel Nieborg and Ine Mulder now at 709 Penn Ave.

While the walls of the gallery were all painted bright red, the photographs were the ones that made bold statements. Each piece had a different arrangement of items, usually involving fish and mice, as well as things that could be found in the average kitchen, displayed on a table. Not too exciting so far, except that in each piece the action of something in the scene was shot, which made each one interesting to browse. Though most of the objects were everyday, some of them needed a closer look and Isaac didn't really appreciate the ones with mice, but I guess it's all just art in this space. On a postcard of the event that I picked up on the way out, it says that the exhibit is of "stop-action photographs" which is a great depiction of what this exhibit is.

I'd suggest that if you're in the area between now and mid-June that you go into 709 Penn to see this exhibit, it's one that really cannot be accurately described and really just must be seen in person so you can make your own assumptions about it and how artistic you think it is or isn't. Personally, I think it's great art because of the reaction Isaac and I had to each piece. Even if you're not into art, you might still want to check it out because you like to see stuff get blown up. Whatever your reason, it's worth seeing!

Fashion Forward Fridays: Meet MJ!

Sorry for the delay folks, but trust me, this one is worth it! Since I have started Fashion Forward Fridays, I've been asked over and over again when will I feature a guy. Especially since my effort is to show that Pittsburgh is a fashionable city, even though GQ named it the third-worst-dressed, and GQ's focus group is men, it's about time I show you a well dressed man.

"Every woman loves a well dressed man."

Truth be told, I base my view on whether or not I think a guy is dressed well on one man: my boyfriend, MJ. While I've talked about him before, it's never been based on his looks, but let me tell you, my boy knows how to dress. And luckily for me, I don't have to tell him what to wear or buy him certain clothes hoping he'll catch on. I'm a lucky girl and since I was going to be with him on Friday anyway, I thought there was no better time then to feature the best-dressed guy in the city.

Granted this outfit was worn for his Master's graduation night, trust me, MJ is never one to dress less than this on an average basis. It helps that he has an office job and a reason to dress nice everyday, but even when we're just going out for fast food, MJ always keeps his outfit top-notch. He says that while some musical artists, such as Usher, inspire some of his looks most of his inspiration comes from his personality. MJ likes to think and look high fashion but spend much less, which also shows he's thinking ahead career-wise while keeping within his just graduated budget.

MJ looking very GQ-worthy after graduation.

MJ also encourages other guys to push the limit with their fashion choices. Instead of just buying what they have always been told looks good or what they "should be" wearing, MJ says to mix it up by showing off bits of personality through what you wear, don't just play it safe. MJ's personality shows in this outfit by the obvious black on black business attire, paired with the pop of color in his tie and of course put over the edge with the white belt and Hot Topic suspenders. Personally knowing MJ, I know that he has recently fell in love with the dressed up suspender look and has them in hot pink and neon green as well and just goes to show that something quirky can still look great. So men, get out there, find something that fits your personality, something that makes you happy and pair it with classic pieces so that you're still within your company's dress code and make a statement. As GQ has pointed out, fashion is not just a woman's game anymore, so make your move, find what gives you the MJ edge on fashion and maybe you'll find an awesome girlfriend too!