Concert Reviews category, Page 3
Review: Pop-soul singer Teddy Swims’ career keeps getting bigger, just like his Pittsburgh crowdsVideo
The career of pop-soul singer Teddy Swims has come a long way in five years, going from posting YouTube covers in 2019 and 2020 to a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist this year. At Pittsburgh’s Stage AE, those achievements can be measured in feet. Swims played the Club at...
The Lumineers brighten up Star Lake with career-spanning set
In a field of flowing skirts and flower crowns, Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, the two-man group that is The Lumineers, lit up the night sky at the Pavilion at Star Lake during their Automatic World Tour performance Wednesday night. As the sun set on the audience, The Lumineers started...
311 jams their way into July at Stage AE
Summer is here (whether we like the way it arrived or not), and that means more than just scorching temperatures. There are also pool parties, long drives with the windows down and lazy, sunny afternoons to look forward to. And, of course, summer jams to soundtrack it all. Few bands...
Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan dives deep into band’s catalog in Pittsburgh showVideo
If Billy Corgan wants to go out and explore some lesser-known Smashing Pumpkins tracks, that’s fully his right. Corgan, after all, is the singer/guitarist as well as the primary songwriter for the psychedelic, fuzz-laden band that broke big with hits like “Cherub Rock,” “Disarm” and “Today” as alternative rock exploded...
Lisa Loeb, Suzanne Vega rock Three Rivers Arts Festival despite the weather
The longstanding Three Rivers Arts Festival always attracts top-tier musical talent, and another year is in the books after this weekend. That being said, next year’s festival organizers might consider some kind of prayer circle or ritual to appease whatever weather god cursed this event long ago. As is tradition,...
George Strait and Chris Stapleton put on a Texas-sized show at Acrisure Stadium
First and foremost, I have a bone to pick with Mother Nature. As one very talented man asked onstage at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night, “Why you gotta be so cold?” This often being the time of year when the region’s country fans flock to the North Shore for a...
Peter Hook & the Light shine brightly with Joy Division, New Order songs in Pittsburgh showVideo
Forgive New Order fans if they took the lyric “I used to think that the day would never come” from 1987’s “True Faith” and applied it to the chances of the band ever playing Pittsburgh again. It has been almost 38 years and counting since the seminal post-punk/dance rock band...
Post Malone and Jelly Roll fire up PNC Park
In the past few years, the Billboard charts have seen a new — or maybe old — phenomenon that’s changed things up. Where hip-hop and electropop once hung around the top 10, country has begun a steady campaign of domination. Acts like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Shaboozey have broken...
Barry Manilow says a fond farewell to Pittsburgh
It takes a true showman like Barry Manilow to say goodbye in style. The soft-rock singer and songwriter has sent more than 50 songs into the Adult Alternative Top 40 since the mid-1970s — and amassed an impressive number of “Fanilows” in the process. Even if Manilow’s tunes aren’t your...
Sessanta V2.0 brings A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus to PittsburghVideo
Much like the reds, whites and rosés bottled at his Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards in Arizona, Maynard James Keenan is aging like a fine wine. The enigmatic singer, who fronts progressive metal giants Tool as well as A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, launched Sessanta — which means 60 in...
Folk legend Bruce Cockburn gives uplifting performance at City Winery
Canada has produced some truly great folk singers, from Joni Mitchell to Neil Young to Gordon Lightfoot. But there’s a name that belongs on that list that isn’t as commonly known: Bruce Cockburn. While he did have a couple of hits in the U.S. — namely “Wondering Where The Lions...
Pearl Jam shows off impressive versatility in sold-out Pittsburgh concertVideo
Is there any rock band, playing at the arena level, that is more versatile than Pearl Jam? The veteran Seattle rockers – who have moved far beyond their grunge days – continued to make their case in a sold-out show Friday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Visiting the...
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass blow the house down at the Byham
At 90 years old, Herb Alpert is still going strong. “My sister is 98 years old,” he said to the applause of the sold-out crowd at the Byham Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh at Monday night’s show. “She said, ‘Why are the world are you doing this?’ I’ll tell you the...
AC/DC thunders through classics in Power Up tour stop in PittsburghVideo
If Thursday night proved to be AC/DC’s last concert in Pittsburgh, the hard rock legends went out with a bang … or make that a whole lotta bangs. The Australian rockers, making their first Pittsburgh appearance in more than 16 years, played a career-spanning show on their Power Up tour...
Everclear delivers a blast of ’90s nostalgia at Jergel’s
More than once at Saturday night’s sold-out Everclear show at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale, lead singer Art Alexakis asked the crowd, “Who wants to hear some ’90s alternative rock and roll?” And the response was overwhelming. It’s a reasonable question. Everclear hit their peak in the 1990s with hit...
Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways tour creates memorable night in Pittsburgh
Bob Dylan’s simple line of “I have no apologies to make” — from his song “I Contain Multitudes” — might have seemed an appropriate summation of his concert Monday night in Pittsburgh. Oft heralded as America’s greatest songwriter, Dylan did things his way in a sold-out show at the Benedum...
The Linda Lindas display youthful energy in sold-out Pittsburgh concertVideo
There aren’t many national bands that can promise the opportunity to buy shirts and records directly from their mothers at the merchandise booth. The Linda Lindas, however, can and did that Saturday night in an energetic, sold-out show at Spirit Hall in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Touring in support of their...
Ani DiFranco strums and sings through her trailblazing career at Roxian Theatre show
Singer-songwriter-musician-author-activist Ani DiFranco has been forging her own path since the age of 19, and after 35 years and 20 albums, she still looks like she loves getting onstage and sharing her music with the world. That was evident at her sold-out show Sunday night at the Roxian Theatre in...
Kelsea Ballerini’s PPG Paints show was worth the wait
Country star Kelsea Ballerini postponed her February show in Pittsburgh after contracting the flu, to the disappointment of fans. After the rescheduled show at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night, those patient fans left grinning — and the most infectious thing was the joy that she spread from the stage....
Spiritbox rides the wave of ‘Tsunami Sea’ in sold-out Pittsburgh concertVideo
Spiritbox’s Tsunami Sea tour proved to be aptly named, as the Canadian band unleashed wave after wave of crushing guitar and heavy-hitting metalcore Saturday night. The Grammy-nominated band played their first headline show in Pittsburgh, selling out the UPMC Events Center in Moon, on the strength of their “Tsunami Sea”...
Disturbed was on fire at celebratory PPG Paints Arena show
For a few strange years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a novel phenomenon hung around the Billboard charts. It was called “nu metal,” a dark infusion of alt-rock, hip-hop and heavy metal that made stars of acts like Limp Bizkit and Korn, at least for a while. Many...
Rufus Wainwright delivers intimate set at City Winery
Seasoned singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright delivered a short-but-sweet performance from his diverse catalog Saturday night at City Winery in the Strip District. Wainwright is modern-day folk-rock royalty, the son of American singer Loudon Wainwright III and French-Canadian folk singer Kate McGarrigle. Following in the footsteps of his parents, Rufus Wainwright has...
Poppy’s musical evolution continues in Pittsburgh concertVideo
The evolution of the musical artist known as Poppy continues, with Pittsburgh getting to see the latest iteration Saturday night. Poppy’s They’re All Around Us tour proved aptly named, as the lower floor at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks felt tightly packed, with the rest of the venue crowded,...
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats bring genre-bending retro fun to Petersen Events Center
Who said a Wednesday night isn’t a good time for a great concert? Not Nathaniel Rateliff who, along with the skill of his backing band The Night Sweats, served up a brisk-but-powerful 90-minute set of 22 songs at Petersen Events Center in Oakland. Rateliff is the pride of the Denver...
Shaggy with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra? More natural than you’d think
Yes, that Shaggy. Mr. Boombastic himself. The reggae musician of the 1990s and 2000s who advised anyone caught cheating red-handed to declare “it wasn’t me.” Probably the last musician you’d expect to get onstage in front of a whole symphony orchestra and perform for 90 minutes. Well, he did it....
