HughShows Secret Santapalooza III at Kollar John Slovak Club

HughShows  Secret Santapalooza III
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Kollar John Slovak Club, South Side, Pittsburgh PA

Wreck Loose +Andre Costello

Review and Photos by Lisa Sikon

This was the third year for the Secret Santapalooza featuring local indie bands. This event was amazing, it was like being invited to a great Christmas party with all your favorite local bands performing. Hugh Twyman arranges this show and this year it was held at the cozy Kollar Slovak Club in the South Side of Pittsburgh. The bands will perform short sets with some of their own material, some Christmas tunes or a cover of one of the other bands song with the catch that- the cover will be a secret. It was truly a unique and entertaining evening.

The lineup this year is pretty impressive: Paul Luc, Chet Vincent and the Big Bend, Chrome Moses, Meeting of Important People, Wreck Loose, Andre Costello and the Cool Minors, Ghost Guts, Grand Piano and Clinton Clegg. Paul Luc started off the evening paired with Jessie Brenner.

Paul Luc

They performed a few of Paul's songs then did a great cover of "Tumbleweed" which is an Andre Costello song.  Paul Luc is one of my favorite artists, he has a great rapport with the audience and his songs have such wonderful lyrics. Chet Vincent was next up on the lineup, he did a fun set with a few odd Christmas songs thrown into the mix. Chrome Moses came up on stage next and they really impressed me. I was not familiar with this band but they will be on my radar from now on. I really loved the voice of Joe Piacquadio, such a soulful sound. Meeting of Important People came onto the stage.  It's been a busy year for MOIP, they released a new album earlier in the year, Troika, and it's gotten a lot of rave reviews. They played "Fifty Bucks" and "All Rode Off Together" from the album as well as a cover of Father Christmas. MIOP is definitely a crowd pleaser and they always put out a high energy performance.  Wreck Loose came up next and started with an interesting twist- all the band members played different instruments than what they usually play. Definitely fun

Chrome Mose

to watch and it showed the scope of these artists. On top of some of their own songs, they played a cover of MOIP's "Fifty Bucks" inviting Josh Verbanets to come up on stage to sing the song again. They also invited Andre Costello and the Cool Minors up to do a cover of NSA. I loved the collaboration and was great to watch. There were a lot of highlights in the evening, Clinton Clegg being one of them, he just has such a powerful voice and sings with such emotion, he is always a pleasure to listen and watch.

Throughout the evening, Hugh Twyman was on stage introducing the bands and even did a song or two. Hugh gets this one of a kind show together every year and it is just spectacular.  It 's great to see the bands interact with one another and support one another during the show as well as blow off a little steam. Most of the other band members were present throughout the crowd and often were called onstage to join in with another band.  I think this show was a treasure and hope it continues because it was just fun to see the bands interact with one another and also go outside the box and showcase their talents. I'm glad I had the opportunity to witness this event and will definitely be looking forward to the show next year.

 

http://www.hughshows.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/hughshowsxmas
https://www.facebook.com/lucmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/chetvincentandthebigbend/
https://www.facebook.com/ChromeMosesBand/
https://www.facebook.com/meetingofimportantpeople/
https://www.facebook.com/wrecklooseband/
https://www.facebook.com/costelloandthecoolminors/
https://www.facebook.com/ghostgutsss/
https://www.facebook.com/GrandPianoMusic/
https://www.facebook.com/thecommonheartband/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kollar-John-Slovak-Society/113567478665180?fref=ts
- More at UnRatedMagazine.com