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World Party Lives

Dumbing_up_cdThis has nothing to do with coffee, panini, or anything remotely associated with the shop.  It's just that we're excited that one of our favorite bands, World Party, is back from the (almost literally) dead. 

On Friday, Rich was looking through the paper and saw an ad for Mr. Small's upcoming acts which featured a familiar photo of a schnauzer from the band's now six-year old Dumbing Up CD and couldn't believe the good fortune of having them finally come to Pittsburgh. 

Karl_wallinger_photo_by_david_barnumWe first learned of Karl Wallinger iwhen he was bassist/keyboardist for the Waterboys in the mid-80s.  In 1986 Karl launched World Party, and Rich saw them in one of their first stateside performances, at Toad's Place in New Haven in 1987. 

Between 1987 and 2000, Karl and World Party had several hits over five albums, including "Ship of Fools", "Way Down Now", "Message In a Box", "Is It Like Today" and "She's The One", which was a much bigger hit for Robbie Williams.  Beyond the hits there were few songs on any of their CDs that were skip-overs.  Almost everything the band laid down was worth a listen.

Turns out Karl had himself an aneurisym while on tour in 2002 and had been more or less reclused until making an appearance at this year's SxSW.

He's now back on tour and will be in Pittsburgh at Mr. Smalls on Sunday, August 27, for an acoustic set of his hits, fan favorites and new material.

Welcome back, Karl. 

Btw, Karl, if you're reading this, since the Pittsburgh show is a Sunday show, how about stopping by early afternoon for acoustic renditions of "When the Rainbow Comes" and "Love Street"?  And anything else you feel like playing ;-)

June 19, 2006 |

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  • Hey there... if you're looking for our physical store, we closed as of November 15, 2011. The space is under new ownership as Orbis Caffe, still serving delicious coffee and food with great service. We hope you'll give them a try. For info on Melanie and Rich, follow @aldo_mel or @richwesterfield or visit accidentalroaster.com.
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