Joker posters, new Rave Ami, Dignam’s Sinead & Shane adventure and more
If you’re nostalgic for the days of Joker Productions shows and never ripped a flyer from a pole or a shop window, here’s your chance to get one — though it’s not cheap. Joker founder Jon Rinaldo has launched an online store with new prints of the original masters from such shows as AFI, Blink-182, Bad Religion, Dashboard Confessional, Danzig, De La Soul, Dropkick Murphys, Misfits, John Mayer, Marilyn Manson and Public Enemy.
“People have been asking me for years if I would have the posters for sale at some point,” Rinaldo says. “These past concerts hold a lot of significance in the Pittsburgh market. Some were an artist’s first major appearance in the market as well.”
He’s opened the store with 40 numbered print posters and 20 more are on the way, starting at $50 and running to $500.
You can find them at jokerproductionspgh.com.
Dignam in NYC
Mark Dignam, the folk musician who brought his talents to Pittsburgh direct from the streets of Dublin in 2000, was part of the star-studded lineup of Sinead & Shane at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 20.
The singer-songwriter joined Billy Bragg, Glen Hansard (The Frames and “Once”), Dropkick Murphys, Eugene Hütz (Gogol Bordello), Cat Power, Craig Finn (The Hold Steady), John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Imelda May, Josh Ritter, Roisin Waters (Sinead O’Connor’s daughter) and more in paying tribute to music icons Sinead O’Connor (who died at 56 in July) and Shane MacGowan (who died at 65 in November).
As The Independent described the threehour concert, “Occasionally the wide divergence between the two songwriter’s voices — MacGowan the raucous vagabond and O’Connor a more serene, piercing narrator — led to a sense of whiplash from song-to-song.”
“It was so important for me to be there,” Dignam told the PG. “I had a need to be in that room, to pay my small tribute to Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan, our two sadly departed titans of the Irish music world. I’m not sure if others can fully understand that they were more than just singers of songs; for the Irish they were deep parts of the culture. They were some of the brightest, most important threads in our societal and artistic fabric. The Ireland I align with tries its best to turn up for those who pass, but this was even bigger than that for me. Again, I had to be there.
“I can’t thank my old friend Glen Hansard enough for bringing me along to the show but then literally dragging me onto the stage and up to the center mic to sing a verse of Dirty‘ Old Town’ with him. I looked around in awe at some of my musical heroes standing close by: Eugene Hũtz of Gogol Bordello, David Gray, Steve Earle, Amanda Palmer, Imelda May and of course Billy Bragg and more ... Billy followed myself and Glen down to the Scratcher Bar in the East Village where we sang songs and played Irish tunes into the amused morning hours.”
Rave on
Rave Ami is four years beyond its sophomore album “All Great Bands Break Up” and still happily together.
The trio that calls itself “the loudest rock ’n roll band in Pittsburgh” for pretty good reason just returned with “No Arc,” a fourth album that, per its label, playfully describes the rather flat curve of its career.
“No Arc” is the followup to 2021’s “Let It Be,” which allowed for a British invasion and a gaggle of guest collaborators, some with horns, into its fuzzy, grungy and aggressive indie-psych sound.
On “No Arc,” Rave Ami hits the gas on the propulsive opener “Ave Atque Vale” and barely lets up through nine songs over 39 minutes, due in part to the clattering drum work of Evan Meindl behind bellowing singer-guitarist Joe Praksti and bassist Pat O’Toole.
While Rave Ami is rattling your ears, the trio is also delivering the hooks, particularly on the synthy New Wave-infected single “Waiting Room Boogie” and “Glimmer Twins,” a slice of noisy, melodic Britpop.
“‘Let It Be’ was a culmination of 10 years of playing and recording together,” Praksti said in a statement. “It marked the end of the cycle our first two records set in motion, and with that came the heightened level of maturity we needed to spur on the opportunity for ‘No Arc’ to be born. This record is a natural next step for us, and it feels, like the lyrical content, very transitional.”
The album release show is at 8 p.m. Friday at Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall with Sleeping Witch & Saturn, The Zells and Justin Bennett & the Debtors. Admission is $12; thunderbirdmusichall.com.
Dichro on Distortion
Distortion Productions, the label run by Pittsburgh industrial artist Jim Semonik, has signed Dichro, led by Peter Guellard. Formerly of Mace and The Hellfire Club, Guellard is the bassist for Venus in Furs.
In April 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guellard assembled some friends to create a virtual cover of the traditional song “Man of Constant Sorrow” in an industrial style.
It led to the formation of Dichro, which debuted that August with a cover and artful music video of Dead Can Dance’s “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove.”
Guellard is joined by guitarist Dirk Miller (Rusted Root, Uprooted), drummer/ percussionist Tracey Whorton (Venus In Furs, Jenn Wertz Band) and singer-songwriter-dancer Charmaine Evonne.
Dichro, who is recording at The Church Recording Studio and Psychotribe Studio, will release their debut album “Stained Glass” in August. They’ve already teased it with the single “One Lane Bridge.”
The band describes its sound as “anthemic darkwave sound with elements of goth, ethereal, industrial and pop.”
Semonik said in a statement, “I used to see Pete’s old bands play around Pittsburgh when I was still in my teens, so it’s as much a treat for me as it is for everyone else.”