3/18 fell on St Patrick's day weekend which is basically the super bowl of amateur drinking in the south side

Assuming you mean the weekend of the 8th, I'd recommend hitting Halo Varga at Cobra beforehand. Most people going to Hot Mass don't show up til 12 or 1, plus Cobra is a pretty cool vibe. (https://www.showclix.com/event/longturn-presents-halo-varga)

Jellyfish also spinning on the 7th at Bottlerocket if you end up getting in on Friday. I was there last week for one of Huny's parties and it was a lot of fun! Never had a bad time at one of Jellyfish's gigs, always queer joy (https://www.instagram.com/jellyfishpgh/)

They've got one at Victory Pointe, it's right by the Mario Kart machines in the back iirc