Sunday’s Loud & Proud Music Festival, which will take place outdoors at the Ormsby Avenue Cafe in the city hilltop neighborhood of Mount Oliver, is described as “LGBTQ+ friendly.”
Is it ever.
The organizers have put together not only a big and diverse “genre-fluid” lineup of LGBTQ+ performers — folk punk, hip-hop, grunge, dance pop — but also a slate of craft vendors and a food truck.
And all proceeds from tickets — $12 in advance, $15 day of show — will go to the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, which aims to improve the health of LGBTQ+ and HIV communities in Western Pennsylvania by addressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s social determinants of health.
Candrika Rice says that her band Lylyth most enjoys benefit shows like this. “They always mean a little bit more, with people rallying together for a cause.” She and her bandmates actually were planning a festival like this in 2023, when they were invited to emcee the Pride benefit concert for Trans YOUniting organized by Sommelier, a local band that’s quite into using its music to uplift causes, including Literacy Pittsburgh.
That dark pop band’s vocalist and bassist, J. Trafford, offered to temporarily fill in as a Lylyth guitarist, and together, the two of them “developed a deeper connection through music and community building,” he says, “and we’re very excited to present our first event together.”
In addition to their queer-led bands, performers are to include Bryce Bowyn, Odd Atrocity, Sherry CD-ROM, King Blue Heron, K9Diet, Rhythm of the Night Fusion Band, V.V.itch, Casey Catone, Kumanji Johnson and Pwuppy (with a DJ set). The halftime act is drag artist King Perka Sexxx.
Vendors include Paintboxe (paintings and drawings), Oh Are Press (screenprints), Brick Body Kids (vintage clothing), Pup 444 (linocut prints/patches and more), YarnHubCo (crochet accessories and clothing), Bunnymailz (jewelry), Di.Sable.Ed Crafts (beads, embroidery, mixed media), The Infernal Family (charms and divination) and Caesium Tea (jewelry, stickers, pins, prints). Elle Free will be live painting at the event and that painting will be raffled off with proceeds going to Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation.
Plant-based food will be provided by the Catatouille food truck, the owners of which have committed to donating a portion of their sales to Hugh Lane, as well.
Trafford says that “the fact that the event is entirely community-based, for a positive cause, makes a difference. ALL of the artists and event staff [contributing their time and talents for free] have been active and enthusiastic participants in the lead-up to June 2, so it’s been easy to look forward with a great sense of eager anticipation.”
This is one of many activities across the region that are part of Pride Month, celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer pride. Pittsburgh Pride on Friday launches a three-day main schedule including national performers and the annual parade: https://pittsburghpride.com/eventschedule. (Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents’ Sue Kerr has compiled a list of events beyond Pittsburgh and beyond June, too: https://www.pghlesbian.com/2024/05/pennsylvania-adjacent-pride-events-2024).
Loud & Proud is purposefully grassroots and hyper local. On the night before, Saturday, at a Pride Kickoff Basement Party that Rice is hosting at her DIY venue The Rose Bowl, attendees can purchase a Gumlock Records “Loud & Proud” compilation CD, including additional LGBTQ+ and ally acts, which also will be available at the fest and via Bandcamp. And again, those proceeds will go to Hugh Lane.
“This array of talent is not to be missed!” says Trafford, noting that the fest will happen rain or shine, is open to all people of all ages from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, and will be, in Rice’s words, “The first of many!”
Ormsby Avenue Cafe is located at 402 Ormsby Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15210 — in the city neighborhood of Mount Oliver at the border of the borough of Mount Oliver. Tickets can be purchased via Venmo at https://venmo.com/sommelierpgh.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
