Concert Reviews category, Page 2
Jon Batiste delivers spiritual moment of music inside (and outside) Heinz Hall
Not a whole lot of performances at Heinz Hall end with spectators, sousaphones, melodicas and percussion instruments spilling out onto Penn Avenue. Then again, not a whole lot of performers are Jon Batiste. Batiste has cemented his place in the modern American music pantheon, with nearly 20 Grammy Award nominations...
Rickie Lee Jones and Patty Griffin bring coffeehouse vibes to Carnegie Music Hall
Pittsburgh’s folk music fans are having a banner week. On Thursday night, the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland hosted an excellent one-two punch of women in folk, Rickie Lee Jones and Patty Griffin. With going on a combined century of experience, half a dozen Grammy Awards and 27 studio albums,...
Mumford & Sons put the ‘rock’ in ‘folk rock’ at PPG Paints Arena
Many would say that Mumford & Sons heralded the rebirth of popular folk rock in the early 2010s, and deservedly so. The much-loved and acclaimed British band fronted by Marcus Mumford strummed their way to seveal No. 1 records and an Album of the Year Grammy Award in 2013 for...
Psychedelic Furs bring it back to the ’80s at the Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland
I’ll admit that I wasn’t alive for the 1980s, but some music can make you feel nostalgic for things you’ve never experienced. So it was with the Psychedelic Furs at Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland on Wednesday night. The new wave band joyfully served up their ’80s hits in a...
Classic lineup of Biohazard opens Divided We Fall tour in New KensingtonVideo
Hardcore legends Biohazard may have had to abbreviate their Divided We Fall tour, but it kicked off in energetic fashion Friday night. The Brooklyn veterans reunited their classic lineup a few years back, and they’re releasing “Divided We Fall” — their first album in 13 years — on Oct. 17....
Lorde rules in her 1st Pittsburgh show at the Petersen Events Center
When it strode onto the scene in 2013, the pop song “Royals” defiantly took over the Billboard Hot 100 and changed the face of that decade’s popular music. New Zealand artist Lorde won two Grammys as a result of the song’s rule, an incredible feat considering she was still in...
Metal masters Alice Cooper, Judas Priest rock PittsburghVideo
A pair of bands with more than 100 years combined experience showed no signs of slowing down Wednesday night. In a double bill at the Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, shock rocker Alice Cooper and heavy metal pioneers Judas Priest put on a full display of entertaining rock in...
Twenty One Pilots put on a spectacle at Star Lake
Fresh off scoring a brand new No. 1 album on Billboard’s charts, rock-rap-pop-duo Twenty One Pilots brought a blowout of a show to The Pavilion at Star Lake on Sunday night. The Columbus, Ohio, pair was nearly literally on fire during the intense two-hour show, which felt like it was...
Morrissey’s 1st Pittsburgh show in 12 years taps into Smiths catalog, solo careerVideo
Before Morrissey started his first Pittsburgh show in a dozen years, the famed Smiths singer acknowledged the absence, and it quickly seemed like no time had passed. “I’ve returned to continue a conversation that you and I were having 12 years ago,” Morrissey said, “and off we go.” With that,...
Lucy Dacus takes fans on an emotional rollercoaster ride at the Benedum Center
Building a concert setlist is an art in itself. By no means has every touring act perfected it. There’s a lot of balance involved: upbeat and downbeat songs, ballads and party anthems, deep cuts and crowd pleasers all have to find their place. Indie rock singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus displayed many...
Progressive metal band Dream Theater brings heavy theatricality to the Benedum Center
A metal band may seem like an odd fit in a setting like Downtown Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center, typically home to musicals and ballets. But Dream Theater — shaped and honed by four decades of recording and performing — provided plenty of theatricality to match the stage at Thursday night’s concert....
Blink-182 rocks 1st day of Four Chord Music FestivalVideo
In Blink-182’s song “Turpentine,” co-lead singers Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus join their voices together to belt out “What If I’m not like the others?” For any of the thousands of pop-punk/emo fans gathered Saturday at Four Chord Music Festival, they found plenty of kindred spirits as they sang, bounced...
The Pixies and Spoon bring no-frills night of rock to Pittsburgh
Are you the type of person who goes to a concert hoping to hear 50 songs in one night? Well, you should have been at Stage AE on Friday. In the course of about four hours, three acts jetted their way through dozens of tunes with the efficiency of an...
Rilo Kiley bring reunion tour to Pittsburgh after long hiatusVideo
Rilo Kiley opened up a time capsule that took a sold-out Pittsburgh crowd back to the early 2000s. The long-absent indie rock band is back on the road for the first time in 17 years, with their Sometimes When You’re On You’re Really (Expletive) On tour making a stop Thursday...
Alabama Shakes are back and keep on rocking at Stage AE
There was a palpable sense of joy throughout Stage AE’s packed outdoor venue on Tuesday night among fans seeing a favorite band back together after nearly a decade. Alabama Shakes rose onto the scene like a rocket in the early 2010s, a retro-styled band with a fresh sound and the...
Jerry Cantrell blends Alice in Chains past, solo present in Pittsburgh concertVideo
Jerry Cantrell offered a minor apology while toasting the crowd after Saturday night’s show at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks. “We know it wasn’t perfect, but that’s (expletive) rock ‘n’ roll,” Cantrell said, while raising a non-alcoholic beer bottle. The flaws, if you want to call them that, were...
Jessica Simpson delivers soaring set at Women Who Rock benefit concert
On Friday night, a sold-out crowd assembled at Stage AE on the North Shore to raise money for women’s health — and to celebrate women in music. And Jessica Simpson’s return to music is certainly worth celebrating. The longtime pop star took an extended break from the studio and stage,...
Review: Gary Clark Jr. plays powerhouse guitar at Stage AE
It’s always great to hear some no-frills great music played live, and Gary Clark Jr. delivered just that on Tuesday night at Stage AE on the North Shore. Not only is Clark a terrific singer, songwriter and guitarist, he’s a Grammy Award winner in two different genres, showing a versatility...
Linkin Park enters new era with singer Emily Armstrong on From Zero tour stop in PittsburghVideo
If “the hardest part of ending is starting again” — a line from Linkin Park’s 2010 song “Waiting for the End” — then their most difficult moments may be in the past. The potential ending of the band came with the death of lead singer Chester Bennington by suicide in...
Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips make an oddly perfect pair at Stage AE
Some weird combinations just make sense once you experience them. Like peanut butter and pickles. Or like indie rock bands Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips. The two tried-and-true acts, along with opener Friko, proved to be a thrilling bill at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore on Saturday night,...
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts deliver classic hits in Pittsburgh show; Winger features Pittsburgh native on guitarVideo
Joan Jett must have felt right at home Friday night on the Iron City Stage. The newish concert venue, nestled between the Allegheny River and Pittsburgh Brewing Co.’s Creighton facility, with railroad tracks running behind that, apparently sparked some childhood memories for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. “I...
Wilco delivers an electrifying double set at Heinz Hall
In some ways, Downtown Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall is the perfect venue for indie rock band Wilco. With 30 years of experimentation, evolution and inspiration under their belt, the band could be the modern popular equivalent of classical music, in many ways. Fronted by singer and guitarist Jeff Tweedy, the sextet...
Nas flexes his legend status with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Nas is a legendary rapper for a reason. The New York-born MC has been rocking the mic for more than 30 years, easily cementing his place as one of the best rappers of all time. His first album, “Illmatic,” earned its spot at No. 44 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest...
Review: Rock band Live thunders through decades of discography at Rivers Casino
The past month has given the Pittsburgh area a chance to rock out with a whole buffet of 1990s bands. Lucky us. The latest entry in this summer of late-20th-century rock was Live, a band from York, Pa., with a handful of enigmatic alternative radio hits, many from their 1994...
Toto, Christopher Cross, Men At Work supply the love at Star Lake
On one of the summer’s hottest evenings, three musical acts came together to heat up the Pavilion at Star Lake even more. Men at Work, Christopher Cross and Toto all lit up the stage with great music. All three had hits in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and all...
