THREE RIVERS 45th arts festival achieves goal of diversity through creativity

Alternative rock bands have been added to the mix of folk and country.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
PITTSBURGH -- Based on its event calendar, the 45th annual Three Rivers Arts Festival makes good on its mission statement of reflecting artistic and cultural diversity through visual and performing arts.
Running from Friday through June 20, it boasts 17 days of free events that celebrate dance, visual and performance art as well as music from local and national acts. More than 1,000 artists will participate in exhibitions, markets and concerts in or around areas along Penn Avenue in the Golden Triangle area.
The affordable ticket price and wide range of creative endeavors makes for a union of die-hard and casual fans to experience a multitude of art forms.
Similar to last year, the Three Rivers Arts Fest's musical lineup is impressive. Though past events focused on folk and alternative country, there was a noticeable swing to include critically-acclaimed alternative rock bands into the mix.
Several spots on the 2004 schedule display this broadened musical scope that should, in turn, expose other artistic efforts to a younger crowd.
What's back
At the top of the list is the return of Wilco, which came forth from the ashes of the No Depression movement's Uncle Tupelo and then proceeded to defy expectations and redefine itself with each new record.
The band's last release, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," leaned toward experimental song structures, yet it became not only the group's highest charting release, but it also reached the top of a number of year-end best-of lists on both sides of the Atlantic. It's highly likely that Wilco will preview selections from its forthcoming album, "A Ghost Is Born" (due June 22), when it plays at 7 p.m. Sunday on the Symphony Stage.
A major coup for the festival is a performance by Patti Smith & amp; Band. Her inclusion is fitting since Smith's work has constantly brought together the cerebral (her love of poetry) with the primal -- the power and force that is rock 'n' roll.
Although her roots rest in the punk movement's earliest days in 1970s New York, Smith always showed that her aims go beyond three chords and speedy riffs. She's touring behind her first album in four years, "Trampin'" and plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the WYEP Festival Stage.
Other highlights include the avant-jazz of Medeski, Martin and Wood, who return to the festival, blues served by James Blood Ulmer, a touch of hip-hop and rock by Citizen Cope, singer-songwriter sounds by John Wesley Harding and Mindy Smith and the intriguing international flavors by Angelique Kidjo.