No question, the last year has been tough on Pittsburgh's collective psyche. Whether it's the city's financial woes that have attracted national attention of the undesirable kind, the brutal weather of January and February, or the fallen fortunes of the Penguins, Pirates and Steelers, it's been a while since we've been at the top of any positive list.
That changes next Tuesday, when Esquire magazine's April issue will announce that among the Top 10 cities that rock, Pittsburgh is No. 1.
Take that, Cleveland.
"The overarching idea about this is we didn't want to pick the same old cities," says Esquire associate editor Chris Berend, noting that New York City, Los Angeles or Austin, Texas, always cited for their scenes, weren't considered. "The idea there was that there were other cities that represent the majority of America that really might kind of be the next spring of something."
The article, written by Bryan Mealer, cites Rusted Root, Modey Lemon and The Clarks, Dave's Music Mine record store on the South Side, Mr. Small's Funhouse Theatre in Millvale and Jo Jo's Restaurant in the Strip District as evidence of Pittsburgh's thriving rock scene.
The only discordant note is a reference to Rusted Root's followers as "wayward Deadheads and chicks who smell."
Berend says Esquire staffers canvassed approximately 70 to 80 music writers and journalists, acquaintances and friends to compile the list. He credits Mealer, who Berend says fell in love with Pittsburgh three years go when he was here for the demolition of Three Rivers Stadium, for especially advocating the city's music scene.
"Between a couple editors here, the writer and everybody we knew, the same things kept on popping up," he says. "That's why Pittsburgh ended up on top. I think there's this affection for Pittsburgh that people kind of want to feel. I feel like it's an underdog."
The other cities listed, in order, are Denver; Minneapolis; Raleigh, N.C.; Gainesville, Fla.; Fresno, Calif.; Cincinnati; New Orleans; Phoenix/Tempe, Ariz.; and San Francisco.
