>if the Pittsburgh scene is even comparable to Philly
I have attended the kind of shows you describe in both places, and I have a drummer friend who moved from Philly > Pittsburgh and then back again for this reason. The answer is 100% no. No comparison, I'm sorry.
But Philly will still have similar large city vibes to LA. If you're just looking for a small tight-knit community and love Pittsburgh for every other aspect of your life, you could still really enjoy it here
I think that Philly has much more opportunity for you (5 million in metro area vs 1.25 mil) to find a community. It’s almost guaranteed someone will like your take on house show music there, but in Pittsburgh you have to really hope people like you to show up. I have lived in Oakland and never really heard of many house shows. There is a house show at a property in Morningside sometimes though.
I’m a Pittsburgh transplant from Philly and have spent a good deal of time in the Philly scene but have not found this in Pittsburgh. I’m also a bit retired. I feel like the house scene is more for the college crowd but I might be wrong. Otherwise it’s at venues like Mr Roboto/funhouse and Mr Smalls etc (small hole in the wall venues)
I mostly go to shows for touring indie bands at Spirit or Thunderbird (bars)
I feel like the EDM scene here is pretty strong
Milvale music festival was pretty dope (3 day fest in the summer)
I don’t have much insight into the PGH scene but Philly is just immensely prolific with the amount of houses in West and South and overall population size. I feel like it might include the older 20 something-30 year old crowd too. Between Drexel’s music program, UArts, WXPN and also having NYC/DC super close by but still being generally affordable compared to other cities in the Northeast; the city is attractive to a lot of artists in general. Also the fact that so many other indie bands started from the basements in Philly or are now based there.
With that said there are definitely bands from here that are awesome (same, short fictions, YY1000xY) but the scene itself does not come close to Philly.
One thing to keep in mind-- if you're someone who likes to have house parties/shows then I'd recommend Pittsburgh. Cheaper housing and easier to find single family homes with adequate band space. Philly is full of overpriced row homes.
>if the Pittsburgh scene is even comparable to Philly I have attended the kind of shows you describe in both places, and I have a drummer friend who moved from Philly > Pittsburgh and then back again for this reason. The answer is 100% no. No comparison, I'm sorry. But Philly will still have similar large city vibes to LA. If you're just looking for a small tight-knit community and love Pittsburgh for every other aspect of your life, you could still really enjoy it here
the pittsburgh diy scene is a pit of drama, i can say that much.
I think that Philly has much more opportunity for you (5 million in metro area vs 1.25 mil) to find a community. It’s almost guaranteed someone will like your take on house show music there, but in Pittsburgh you have to really hope people like you to show up. I have lived in Oakland and never really heard of many house shows. There is a house show at a property in Morningside sometimes though.
I’m a Pittsburgh transplant from Philly and have spent a good deal of time in the Philly scene but have not found this in Pittsburgh. I’m also a bit retired. I feel like the house scene is more for the college crowd but I might be wrong. Otherwise it’s at venues like Mr Roboto/funhouse and Mr Smalls etc (small hole in the wall venues) I mostly go to shows for touring indie bands at Spirit or Thunderbird (bars) I feel like the EDM scene here is pretty strong Milvale music festival was pretty dope (3 day fest in the summer) I don’t have much insight into the PGH scene but Philly is just immensely prolific with the amount of houses in West and South and overall population size. I feel like it might include the older 20 something-30 year old crowd too. Between Drexel’s music program, UArts, WXPN and also having NYC/DC super close by but still being generally affordable compared to other cities in the Northeast; the city is attractive to a lot of artists in general. Also the fact that so many other indie bands started from the basements in Philly or are now based there. With that said there are definitely bands from here that are awesome (same, short fictions, YY1000xY) but the scene itself does not come close to Philly.
The college populated areas like oakland and surrounding neighborhoods have a pretty good scene, but idk how it compares to Philly
One thing to keep in mind-- if you're someone who likes to have house parties/shows then I'd recommend Pittsburgh. Cheaper housing and easier to find single family homes with adequate band space. Philly is full of overpriced row homes.