For the second year in a row, my husband and I decided to attend Pittsburgh's First Night with another one of our couple-friends on New Year's Eve. For those of you who are unfamiliar, First Night is an all-ages event held downtown on New Year's Eve, culminating with our version of the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball Drop. Because we're Yinzers and thus have to do everything our own way, our ball goes up, instead of dropping.
The city shuts down most of Penn Avenue downtown and puts up fire barrels on the street corners to keep you warm as you wander around and look at the events. This year was relatively warm (in the 30s), but a light snow/rain was falling the whole time, making it seem somehow colder than last year's below-zero windchill. The majority of the events are inside, but you do spend a good deal of the evening outside traveling between exhibits.
At last year's event, we'd been back in Pittsburgh for just over two months, and the excitement that I felt wandering around First Night was just electric: I was finally back with my people, back on the correct coast and in the proper time zone. Every time I heard a Yinzer accent or saw Steeler hats and jackets my heart jumped a little. Even the sound of the sax guy who can't play "Here We Go Steelers" in tune brought a tear to my eye. I was home.
So this year, being fully re-citizened to the 'Burgh, and now even being a homeowner within the city limits, I wasn't expecting the same kind of feeling. I was looking forward to the night, but I wasn't planning on feeling extra alive or hopeful or anything like that.
So thanks, my city and my neighbors, for continuing to surprise me :)
We started the night off with dinner at the Sonoma Grille. Neither of us had been before, and being the Central Coast wine country fanatics that we are, we were really excited to check it out. It was absolutely worth the price. I swear to you, the meal was an entire experience. If you go, I highly recommend getting the tapas platter, just so you can check out a variety of delicious flavors in small portions. And the wine? We picked a Paso Robles bottle that was so delicious we're planning on visiting the winery when we're in the area next month on vacation.
With that excellent start to the night, it was off to take in as much as we could of what the city had to offer. Probably my only complaint about First Night is that there is just SO much to see that unless you are very quick and working on a pre-determined schedule, it's basically impossible to see everything you want to see. I'll just touch on a few of the things we loved.
The Pillow Project's Present. Perfect. Tense. The Pillow Project is a dance company headed by Pearlann Porter, who is one of the most incredible choreographers of the present moment. I'm a little biased, maybe, because I used to take her class at Point Park, but her style is so innovative and the way her pieces have been experimenting with light recently is just fascinating to me (we also took in her piece in December at Dance Alloy, The Itch of the Key, which was incredible). This performance featured a male and female dancer behind the glass window of an otherwise-empty shop, dancing and interacting around two squares of light. It was set to Radiohead and Adele songs, and just very creative and enjoyable.
The Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. We made a point of stopping here after a tasty snack last year, and we were not disappointed at all. They had several different soups to choose from, hot chocolate and apple cider, and my personal favorite, brownies. This year's brownies had peanut butter icing with cashews. Sweet and salty and delicious, and only $1.50. I love that place.
WYEP Studios - Good Night, States. As I'm highly allergic to hipsters (those eight months we lived on the border of Lawrenceville were very tough on me), I'd been kind of avoiding ever seeing the Good Night, States, despite the good press they get locally. I guess I just assumed they were 'one of those hipster bands' whose crowd at a show makes me want to avoid the bar at all costs. However, the couple we were with wanted to check them out, so I decided to give them a chance. I was honestly pleasantly surprised. They've got a great sound, which is very catchy and not bored or whiny. Lots of instruments, but all of them have a unique sound and contribute to the songs. They reminded me a lot of one of my favorite little acts, Norfolk and Western. I could tell that these were actually talented musicians, and I think we will definitely check them out again around town.
Fireworks. I seriously wanted to do an all-fireworks blog. The way we Yinzers love our fireworks is something almost fanatical. The fireworks were set off between Fifth Avenue Place and the old Hornes building, and it was a little scary in those tight quarters, but still cool.
Overall, we had a great time. We didn't get to check out as much stuff as we would have liked to just because of time constraints, but the things we saw were really neat. I know it's a year away, but I really recommend everyone checking out First Night 2011 at the end of December.
And now, it's off to tend to the little red dog and get some sleep before my weekend of work begins. Here are a few parting pictures from First Night:
a resolution sculpture titled "Welcome Love" by Kyle Fischer, woven with ribbons of people's New Year's resolutions
Penn Avenue is closed down to traffic so First Night attendees can walk up and down the street
fireworks above the old Hornes building at the start of the new year
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