And I don't just want to go to Red Lobster. Instead...
Here's the idea: put on a big-ass charity concert/party/happening in Pittsburgh featuring Brad and his many talented musical collaborators, friends, and family. Think Stop Making Sense or The Last Waltz, but without a storied musical career leading up to the show.
A rotating cast of characters will play some fun-as-hell covers as well as some original tunes from people's respective bands sprinkled in. But this will involve everyone present; it's less a formal concert and more a communal experience. The vision I have in my head is sorta hard to describe.
I plan on continuing my lifelong tradition of spending my actual birthday in the Outer Banks. So the concert date will be:
Since people will be coming in from out of town, I'd love to make the most of it. I'm still figuring out the details, but there will be events and get-togethers around the concert. And maybe we can even do a little web nerd meetup or something around this whole shindig so people can write this off as a business expense hahaha.
The concert will be held at Mr. Smalls Theatre in the Millvale neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The 800-person venue is a beautiful converted church that holds a special place in my heart. I had an unpaid internship (nice one, Brad) back in college that made me revaluate a potential career in the music industry. So this show be a fun full-circle moment.
I'm extremely blessed to have such enormously-talented family and friends. Some of these friends are/were professional musicians: signed to record labels, recording albums, touring the world, doing it! And then there are my friends and family who are incredibly talented musicians — especially the love of my life Melissa! — who love playing music for the joy of it.
This show will bring my college band, Dangus Kahn and the Tornadoes, back together for the first time in over 15 years. And Glass House, my high school band featuring my brother Ian and cousin Taylor, will also be on stage.
For one night only, this delicious jambalaya of over 20 talented musicians will lead a big ol' party that will involve everyone in attendance. This has never happened before and likely will never happen again, so this will be quite the experience! Here's who's in so far:
| Person | Instruments | Band | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Frost | Bass, Vocals | Dangus Kahn and the Tornadoes, Glass House, Frost Frost | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Melissa Frost | Keyboards, Vocals | Frost Frost | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Ian Frost | Drums, Percussion | Frost Frost, Glass House | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Will Schneider | Guitar, Vocals, Keybaords | Dangus Kahn and the Tornadoes | Nashville, TN |
| Aaron Spring | Saxophone, Keyboards | Dangus Kahn and the Tornadoes | Charlottesville, VA |
| Taylor Vactor | Guitar | Glass House, Senita Family Band | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Alex Vactor | Guitar | Senita Family Band | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Jessi Hall | Vocals | Bethan | Dallas, TX |
| Daniel Hall | Guitar, Drums | Bethan | Dallas, TX |
| Rebecca Garza-Bortman | Vocals | Love Jerks | Los Angeles, CA |
| Brian Garza | Vocals | Love Jerks, Scissors For Lefty | Los Angeles, CA |
| Jeff Robbins | Guitar, Vocals | Orbit | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Josh Sager | Guitar, Vocals | Josh Sager | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Kevin Coyle | Guitar | Manchester, UK | |
| Seth Casana | Vocals | Midnight Spaghetti and the Chocolate G-Strings, Elby Brass | Fredericksburg, VA |
| Jessie Rupert | Vocals | Bodies Of Water | Austin, TX |
| Dave Rupert | Bass | Austin, TX | |
| Chris Coyier | Banjo | Bend, OR | |
| Danny Lannon | Vocals | Vacances | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Matt D Smith | Guitar | Athens, GA | |
| Fraser Bierwirth | Lights and effects | Brooklyn, NY | |
| Berry Breene | Vocals | Berry Breene, Her Ladyship | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Eric Williams | Vocals | The Eskalators | New York, NY |
| Wen-Jay Ying | Violin, Vocals | The Eskalators | New York, NY |
| Joe Senita | Guitar | Senita Family Band | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Jeremy Keith | Mandolin | Salter Cane | Brighton, UK |
| Terra Ferderber | Vocals | Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Dan Mall | Keyboards | Philadelphia, PA | |
| Emily Mall | Vocals | Philadelphia, PA | |
| Adam Argyle | Guitar | Seattle, WA | |
| Gwenn Gate | Keyboards | Pittsburgh, PA |
I'm extending the invite to all the beautiful people I've met throughout the many chapters of my life: from Oil City to JMU to NYC to Pittsburgh to all of my web-related adventures.
I'd also love to open it up to everyone, especially considering the fact this will be a charity event. Through some glitch in the matrix, I've somehow amassed a large following in my own little corner of the universe. I have fans! They take pictures with me! It's all pretty fucking surreal! So I'm confident that with the right promotion we can gather a sizeable crowd for the show.
100% of the proceeds of the event will go to two causes that are near and dear to me.
Project Healthy Minds is a non-profit working to confront the world's mental health crisis. It's been a privilige to be involved with them as they're doing really important work.
NextStep Pittsburgh is a spinal injury rehabilitation center my cousin Claire is helping open. Claire has been paralyzed since she was 14, and has busted her ass for the last decade to help get a spinal cord injury rehabilitation center opened in Pittsburgh. I'm hoping to support her mission.
The short answer: because we can.
We've all just been through some rough years, and my family has endured some serious shit. We've emerged on the other side with a profound sense of gratitude and love and purpose. Wielding this new perspective, I want an unabashed celebration of life, of joy, of fun, of friendship, of family, of music, of creativity, of expression. I want an excuse to get all my loved ones together and have a blast. I want an excuse for people to dress to the nines and let it all hang out. I want an excuse to play music with the people I love. I want an excuse to rock people's faces off. It's been a while since we've gotten to do something like this:
I've also come to the realization that we can do whatever the fuck we want to do with our lives. There's no rule against throwing a giant one-night-only concert/party/happening featuring an amorphous super group of talented friends and family who have never played music together before. You can think of an idea like this and then just, like, do it. So that's what I'm doing!
There's a reason I'm planning this a year in advance. It's gonna require a lot of planning, coordination, and effort. But I'm sharing this so far in advance in hopes that you can save the date and make it to the party! Just put "Big party/concert in Pittsburgh on August 17th, 2024" on your calendars now.
Behind the scenes, we'll be taking care of logistics like:
Excited? I hope so. I know I am! There's a lot more to come so stay tuned.
I'd love for you to join us at the event! Tickets will be 20 bucks and the event should be live on Mr. Small's website soon. But in the meantime, you can RSVP here: