Femi Kuti, Goodie Mob highlight TRAF’s 2nd weekend
Two sons of legends. A slice of Dirty South. A member of the British rock royalty. That’s what’s on tap for the second and final weekend of the 63rd annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, happening this year in the heart of the Cultural District.
The Thursday night show is a touring package topped by The Devon Allman Project, the Southern blues-rock band led by the 49-year-old son of the late Gregg Allman.
Devon, who first started making waves in the early 2000s with jam band Honeytribe, is on the road with the funky Dirty Dozen Brass Band and soul-rocker Eric Krasno, a co-founder of both Soulive and Lettuce.
On Friday, it’s Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue Starring Los Straitjackets, which finds the British rock icon behind such songs as “Cruel to be Kind” and “(What’s So Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” backed by the Nashville surf-rock band in the Mexican wrestling masks.
While Kenny Chesney’s No Shoes Nation invades the North Shore on Saturday, TRAF goes hip-hop with an afternoon slate of Pittsburgh rappers — JM the Poet, Jordan Montgomery and Frzy — and a headlining set by the reunited Goodie Mob, the Atlantic crew that features singer CeeLo Green (also of Gnarls Barkley and “The Voice” fame).
TRAF 63 wraps with what should be an ecstatic dance party featuring Femi Kuti & Positive Force, led by the 59-year-old son of Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Femi started in 1979 as a saxophone player in Fela’s band and then in 1986 formed Positive Force, a 12-piece band that now features his own son, Made. The six-time Grammy-nominated Kuti is on his first North American tour in five years, supporting the album “Legacy +.”
The Arts Festival also features the Artist Market with more than 200 vendors, the Juried Art Exhibition, performances by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company and more.
THURSDAY
Dollar Bank Main Stage @ 9th Street 6 p.m.: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (bebop, funk)
6:30 p.m.: Eric Krasno & The Assembly (Grammy-winning guitarist, songwriter and producer)
8 p.m.: The Devon Allman Project (Southern blues band)
Backyard @ 8th Street
Noon: Alyssa Hankey (folk-rock)
5 p.m.: The Chad Sipes Stereo (rock)
Trust Arts Education Center @ Liberty Avenue
6 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program A, featuring “Order in the House,” “The Political Evolution of Butterbean the Youtube Star” and “The Janitor”
FRIDAY
Dollar Bank Main Stage @ 9th Street
6 p.m.: Tommy McLain + CC Adcock (Cajun, blues, zydeco and rock)
7:30 p.m.: Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock & Roll Revue Starring Los Straitjackets (power-pop, surf-rock)
Backyard @ 8th Street
Noon: Dejah Monea (soul)
5 p.m.: Tempo Noir with Lyndsey Smith (soul)
Trust Arts Education Center @ Liberty Avenue
6 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program B, featuring “Miles to Go,” “Musings Upon the Mending Wall” and “Inside My Hijab”
SATURDAY
Dollar Bank Main Stage @ 9th Street
2 p.m.: JM the Poet (rap)
4 p.m.: Jordan Montgomery (rap)
6 p.m.: Frzy (rap)
7:30 p.m.: Goodie Mob (rap)
Backyard @ 8th Street
9-11 p.m.: Late Night with UNION (Goodie Mob afterparty featuring DJ Big Phill, Blakk Steel, and DJ KB)
Noon-6 p.m.: Breaking Battle (dance
battle)
Acoustic Stage in EQT Plaza @ Liberty Avenue
1 p.m.: WYEP Reimagination Artists with CJ Johnson, Ashley Marina, and Marii 2X
3 p.m.: WYEP Reimagination Artists with Louisa C, 412Shxm, and The Glass Passenger
Trust Arts Education Center @ Liberty Avenue
3 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program A
6 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program B
SUNDAY
Dollar Bank Main Stage @ 9th Street
2 p.m.: Attack Theatre Company’s Curiosity: The Play Book (dance)
4 p.m.: DEMASKUS Theater Collective (personal testimonies and song)
6 p.m.: Co. Townes (psychedelic country & western)
7:30 p.m.: Femi Kuti & The Positive Force (Afrobeat)
Trust Arts Education Center @ Liberty Avenue
3 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program A
6 p.m.: Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company – Program B
Acoustic Stage in EQT Plaza @ Liberty Avenue
1 and 3 p.m.: The Ibeji Drum Ensemble (West African beats)
Backyard @ 8th Street
Noon: Na’Chelle Simone (singer-songwriter)
5 p.m.: Mani Bahia & The Mob (R&B/ soul)
ART
Juried Visual Arts Exhibition “___alachian [ah-LATCH-en]”: SPACE, 812 Liberty Ave. Noon to 8 p.m.
“Simply Devine: A Retrospective of Danny Devine”: Playful works created by the late Pittsburgh native. 820 Gallery @ Liberty Avenue. Noon-8 p.m.
“Little Girl Urn” by Shori Sims: American interdisciplinary artist whose “work is concerned with the construction of a feminist utopia as part of Black people’s vision for the future.” 707 Gallery @ Penn Avenue. Noon-8 p.m.
Strawberry Way Street Mural: Painting in Progress with Shane Pilster, Max Gonzales and Pittsburgh CAPA Students. Strawberry Way. Noon-8 p.m.
“Judah: Granite Building Exterior Art Series” by Curtis Reaves: Granite Building, 313 6th Ave. Photographic series on the exterior façade of a historic building. Noon-8 p.m.
“Checkpoint C,” from the Office for Public Art and RethinkVets: Audio installation exploring the military and civilian divide. The Backyard @ 8th Street. Noon to 9 p.m.
“Cinzia Campolese,” Interactive visual art installations and sculptures from the internationally recognized artist. Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood St. Noon to 8 p.m.
“Sparkly Clean” by Naomi Chambers: Bubble bath fun to celebrate Pittsburgh summer. The Backyard @ 8th Street. Noon-9 p.m.
“People We Love: Love and Empathy Begin as an Act of Imagination”: International video portrait project featuring people gazing at images of those they love. One Oxford Center. Noon-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
More: trustarts.org/TRAF.