Last Friday I traveled to Pittsburgh to cross a band off of my must see concert list. The venue was located in an area of the city called South Side.

Before heading to the show we stopped for dinner. We had no plans on where we were going to eat and randomly decided on The Brik Room. The food was surprisingly very good. I started with a Cucumber Basil Martini. Usually I go for the beer but this sounded to good to pass up. For dinner I had the Chicken Pesto & Sundried Tomato Sandwich and Sean had the Ground Steak & Briskett Burger. Both were excellent.

Club Cafe was the name of the venue. From what I read online the venue was small with an intimate atmosphere. When we got inside I was surprised at just how small it was. Club Cafe is a small bar with a stage and a few tables. I couldn’t believe I was about to see one of my favorite bands, Bell X1 in this small venue.

The opening act for the night was Jarrod Gorbel. I enjoyed Jarrod’s performance. He didn’t have a band or any additional backup singers. It was just Jarrod and his guitar. His music is somewhat mellow but I thought he was good. He’s definitely worth checking out.

Bell X1 took the stage around 9:00. Incase you don’t know, Bell X1 is an Irish Rock Band. They are the Irish band with the most airplay in Ireland. The band became known in the U.S. when one of their songs was played in an episode of the O.C. Bell X1 is currently on tour promoting their fifth album.

Everything about the show was fantastic. The venue was perfect, the sound system was amazing and the band was even better than I was expecting. I feel lucky to have seen Bell X1 in such a small venue. It didn’t really matter to me which songs they chose to play, I’m a fan of every song the band has. The setlist included “Flame”, “Eve the Apple of my Eye”, “The Great Defector”, “Alphabet Soup”, and my favorite “I’ll See Your Heart and Raise You Mine”.

My only complaint about the show was that the encore was only one song. I wish they would of played a few more songs, I didn’t want the show to end. At the end of the night th band mentioned they will be back to Club Cafe in the fall. I’ll be there!