Halsey, Billy Corgan, Phish highlight June's top concerts in Pittsburgh
Concert season is in full swing in Pittsburgh, with pop stars, alternative rockers and jam bands alike playing big shows this month, in addition to free concerts (Three Rivers Arts Festival, the WYEP Summer Music Festival and the Allegheny County concert series) and more. Here’s a look at the top shows coming to the Pittsburgh region in June:
Top concerts
June 14: Halsey, Sir Chloe, flowerovlove at the Pavilion at Star Lake
Pop singer Halsey brings her For My Last Trick tour to the Pittsburgh area for her first stop here since a 2017 show at PPG Paints Arena on her hopeless fountain kingdom tour.
Halsey released the concept album “The Great Impersonator” in October, her first since revealing her lupus diagnosis in 2022.
“I have definitely evolved a lot in the past 10 or so years,” she told American Songwriter. “I try to take the pressure off of myself, and just make things that speak to me and sit right with my soul. I appreciate the live element of music more and more every year, because it’s truly my favorite part.”
June 23: Billy Corgan and the Machines of God, Return to Dust at Roxian Theatre
Billy Corgan will be taking a dive into the Smashing Pumpkins catalog in a tour that should appeal to the band’s hardcore fans.
Corgan formed this new band to play deeper cuts from the Smashing Pumpkins’ 30-year-old “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and 2000’s “Machina/The Machines of God” and “Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music” on this tour. The tour will hit much more intimate venues than the Pumpkins would typically play — they were at PNC Park last year on Green Day’s tour, for example.
“We’re definitely doing some of the singles. The show would not flow well without them,” Corgan told Rolling Stone. “I would say that I’m doing a more personalized version of the records based on what I want to say today. I’ve chosen those songs that are most resonant with what I want to say. And certainly ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ and ‘1979’ and ‘Muzzle’ are part of that vision. But because of the size of the venues, I don’t feel any pressure to play hits. If I’m playing them, I feel like it’s part of the show I want to make.”
Read more: Billy Corgan on why he formed a new band to play Smashing Pumpkins deep cuts
June 24: Phish at Petersen Events Center
Despite winning the fan vote, the veteran jam band Phish did not make the cut this year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Phish has long lived on the outskirts of the music business, with a devoted fanbase that embraces the band’s epic live shows and lengthy improvisations.
“I remember after we got signed to Elektra, around ’93. We were developing this crowd that was nuts for the band, in our own self-supporting bubble,” singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio told The New Yorker. “I went into the label’s office with this record, ‘Rift,’ and the A&R rep said, ‘It’s not just that I hate this music. I don’t just hate it — I refuse to work this record.’ And then they handed me the new Frank Black record, the one with ‘Los Angeles.’ And they said, ‘Go home and listen to this if you want to hear what cool music sounds like.’ I was, like, ‘Look, we all love the Pixies. But what do you want me to do with that?’ It represented this fear. Like, we are so out of step with what’s cool and what’s happening.”
Read more: After 40 years, Phish isn’t seeking resolution
Sold-out shows
June 13: Jack’s Mannequin at Stage AE
Started as a side project by Something Corporate singer Andrew McMahon, Jack’s Mannequin is marking its 20th anniversary with its MFEO tour.
June 20: Megan Moroney, Sadie McLayne at Stage AE
Rising country star Megan Moroney is touring in support of her sophomore album from 2024, “Am I Okay?” — with this show sold out since September.
Other notable shows
June 3: Dylanology Live featuring Joan Osborne, Anders Osborne, Gail Ann Dorsey, Cindy Cashdollar, Will Bryant, Lee Falco at Carnegie Library Lecture Hall (Joan Osborne celebrating ‘legendary’ works of Bob Dylan with Dylanology Live tour)
June 3: Vampire Weekend at Stage AE
June 5: Trace Adkins at Timber Rock Amphitheater
June 6: Jon Pardi at Petersen Events Center
June 7: Mt. Joy at Stage AE
June 8: Three Rivers Arts Festival: Suzanne Vega, Lisa Loeb at 15th Street Plaza, Strip District
June 12: Slightly Stoopid, Iration, Little Stranger at Stage AE
June 13: Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore at the Pavilion at Star Lake
June 14: Alabama, Jamey Johnson at Pittsburgh Brewing Company
June 14: Less Than Jake, The Suicide Machines, Fishbone, Bite Me Bambi at Stage AE
June 18: Big Country, Tommy Tutone, Gene Loves Jezebel, Bow Wow Wow at Jergel’s
June 20: The Allman Betts Band, Mattie Schell at Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
June 21: WYEP Summer Music Festival: Sammy Rae & the Friends, Fantastic Cat, Dehd, Jack Swing, Colatura at Schenley Plaza
June 22: The Gaslight Anthem at Roxian Theatre
June 26: Avril Lavigne, Simple Plan, We the Kings at the Pavilion at Star Lake
June 27: Bret Michaels at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows
June 27: The Disco Biscuits at Stage AE
June 28: Stone Temple Pilot at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows
June 28: Taco and Tequila Festival: Lil Jon, Chingy, Petey Pablo, Trick Daddy, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Twista at EQT Park
June 30: The Floacist featuring Maddix at City Winery Pittsburgh
Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.
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