Pittsburgh music scene: Reviews of Avenged Sevenfold, KK's Priest, JP Saxe; Merce Lemon's new single; Indigo Girls doc
A quick look at a few recent shows in Pittsburgh, plus a local singer is ready to release a new single and an acclaimed documentary will screen here in April.
Avenged Sevenfold at PPG Paints Arena
It’s been 10 years since veteran heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold played Pittsburgh. And singer M. Shadows knew it.
“It’s been a while, huh? You guys remember our last show here? I’ve been hearing from you (expletives) for years,” he said Monday night with a laugh before recounting their last stop here. That would have been the Mayhem Festival on July 26, 2014, when their set was shortened because of lightning.
There was no threat of lightning this time, with the show held at PPG Paints Arena. Instead, Avenged Sevenfold unleashed thunderous metal riffs and drumming on their Life Is But A Dream tour stop here.
Songs that drew the biggest responses were “Hail to the King,” “Bat Country” and “Nightmare.” Lead guitarist Synyster Gates and rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance teamed up for multiple dual guitar solos in the show, with southpaw Vengeance on the left shoulder to shoulder with Gates on the right.
But the band wasn’t content to rest on its hits, as they busted out deep cuts like “Roman Sky,” “Save Me” and “Blinded in Chains,” which hadn’t been played since 2006 before this leg of the tour.
They also played five songs from their newest album, last year’s long-awaited “Life Is But a Dream…” Shadows started the show in a black ski mask, seated in a chair, as the calm flipped to chaos on their opener, “Game Over.” “We Love You” featured thunderous bass, with a Slayer-like thrashy part before ending with softly with chanting/unusual vocalizations.
They closed with “Cosmic,” another song from the 2023 album, as the band showcased their ambition to evolve and experiment, with fitting lyrics of “From all that was before, we shut another door, but not a last goodbye.”
.@TheOfficialA7X live in Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/SLg5riV0lU
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) March 26, 2024
Multi-genre performer Poppy played a 45-minute set with songs like “Bloodmoney,” “Church Outfit” and “Concrete.” With just a guitarist and drummer, the stage looked huge for the trio and didn’t seem as appropriate as the Roxian Theatre did on her co-headlining tour with Pvris last year. Metal DJ Sullivan King started the show with 45 loud minutes of his own tracks and metal remixes, along with pyro, highly unusual for an opening act.
KK’s Priest at Stage AE
K.K. Downing brought the classic metal of Judas Priest alongside new songs with his band, KK’s Priest, on March 17 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh.
Downing and fellow guitarist A.J. Mills traded solos — all on a Flying V guitar, of course — throughout the night, as the band tore through Judas Priest classics like “Breaking the Law” and “Victim of Changes.”
New songs — like “Hellfire Thunderbolt” and “One More Shot At Glory” — fit right in, with singer Tim “Ripper” Owens hitting the high notes just like he did in his time as Rob Halford’s replacement in Judas Priest.
L.A. Guns delivered a solid dose of sleaze metal, while Burning Witches opened the show, with singer Laura Guldemond strolling through the crowd, posing for selfies with the audience as she sang.
JP Saxe at Mr. Smalls
Canadian singer/songwriter JP Saxe put on a set lasting nearly two hours, full of sincerity, honesty and heartache, on March 11 at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale.
Saxe, who gained fame with his 2019 song “If The World Was Ending,” was touring in support of his new album, “A Grey Area.”
After the crowd offered up suggestions, Saxe turned out a Pittsburgh-based verse for his “Fear & Intuition” on the spot, managing to rhyme pierogies with diabetes.
Here’s the Pittsburgh update, spur of the moment, of “Fear & Intuition” by @jpsaxe pic.twitter.com/OZSDyglV9W
— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) March 12, 2024
Read more: JP Saxe interview: Singer/songwriter on internet conspiracy theories, new music and oversharing
Merce Lemon’s new single
Pittsburgh indie rocker Merce Lemon will release her first original single of the year, “Will You Do Me a Kindness,” on Wednesday.
According to Lemon, the song is “a collage of moments, lines, and feelings I had gathered over the months. The title comes from a quote I heard in the YouTube video of the crass ‘Winnebago Man’ and the rest kind of spilled out from there. It is a song close to my heart, the inescapable loneliness we feel as humans, the little things we notice when we are alone, the fear yet desire to give ourselves wholly to another.”
The song starts gently before building — with lyrics like “And I get lonely I admit, comes in waves and then it quit, like a kiss, that missed my lips” — and climbing to an aching guitar solo.
Lemon has several upcoming local appearances, including opening for Water From Your Eyes (May 1 at Bottlerocket Social Hall) and Babehoven (May 17 at Club Cafe).
Indigo Girls documentary
A documentary looking at the career of folk icons Indigo Girls will screen next month in Pittsburgh.
“Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All,” which premiered last year at Sundance, will be screened April 10 at the Harris Theater, Downtown.
The movie documents the nearly 40-year career of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, who “battled misogyny, homophobia and a harsh cultural climate chastising them for not fitting into a female pop star mold.” Indigo Girls received a boost last year from the appearance of their hit “Closer to Fine” in the “Barbie” movie.
“Festival audiences have embraced and celebrated this story of Amy and Emily, and now we get to bring this film to fans in theaters all over the country,” director Alexandria Bombach said. “A film about community should be seen in community.”
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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