Gooski’s, Polish Hill, Pittsburgh
Ribbon Awarded: Solid Second
I’d heard plenty about Gooski’s before I walked in, and like any place people bother talking about, I figured the stories were a mix of truth and half-truth. What follows won’t settle any of that. It’s one night, seen by somebody with zero history in the neighborhood. Take it as a snapshot.
Here’s where I’ll start: the reputation holds. Whatever anyone thinks of the place or the people behind it, Gooski’s is a straight-up punk bar, for good and bad. It’s an old-ass neighborhood dive that looks and smells like an old-ass neighborhood dive, and the graffiti outnumbers the bare wall by something like fifty to one.
The Room
The crowd was a nice mix of people, and it got along well. I was there six hours and saw zero conflict. The atmosphere is anarchic enough that you start to wonder whether anybody’s running a business here, right up until you reach the bar. The rules are posted, the bartenders get straight to it, and drinks move.
The stage area is compact, but it’s a good room. Load-in is probably miserable, but load-in is miserable everywhere, and a small room doesn’t call for a wall of gear anyway.
Sound was meh. It’s a punk bar, so I wasn’t expecting a recital hall. The trouble through the night traced back to a damaged mic cord that got found before the main band played. The first band played under a nasty feedback loop and still put on an entertaining set. They were surf bands, so vocals barely mattered. When David from Daikaiju told the tech (paraphrasing here, since I could see it but couldn’t hear it) “We don’t sing or talk onstage, so you can just turn that off,” the problem was technically solved. The tech tracked it down and fixed it anyway before they went on. That was probably the bars sharpest bit of professionalism the whole evening.
The Other Side
With the amount of talk about the owner’s politics and personality, I expected a tight business ship across the board. It isn’t one. The place runs because a good scene surrounds it.
On a night busy enough that the kitchen could have funded its month, they shut it down and went drinks only. The menu is wings, cheese sticks, and pierogies. Perfect high turnover food. I really wanted a Polish Hill bar pierogi.
I’ve seen better door collection at high school garage shows. I’d be surprised if half the crowd paid, and I heard three different prices as people came through. Maybe it was a sliding scale that night. I couldn’t tell.
Doors opened on time, and the first band was out front waiting for someone to tell them what to do when I got there early. Then setup stretched punk-rock time to ridiculous lengths, and the first band went on a little over two hours past the listed start.
ALSO: fix the ventilation. It’s a small room with bands and bodies in it. For a venue, airflow sits right behind sound.
The Pit
This was my first exposure to this part of town’s scene, and it was a good one. The pit was active as hell. The floor was wet with beer, plenty of people went down, and folks kept helping each other up and letting each other dance. It was a glorious night for guitar music and moshing.
The Decision
As a customer: about 85% positive. The missing pierogi is the dent.
As a show: about 90%, carried by the bands’ skill and a tech who hustled. The bar did its best to drag it down with sketchy equipment and disorganization.
Ribbon Awarded: Solid Second
Gooski’s isn’t close enough to me that I’ll likely be hanging out there regularly. But if a band I want to see is playing there, I won’t hesitate to go. It’s a good room for it.
