Life is a cabaret, says Jeannette Community Band
Expanding its entertainment format for a night, the Jeannette Community Band will hold a cabaret-style concert at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Jeannette American Legion. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., says Sherrie Wood, band secretary. In a departure from the band’s typical concert performances, the audience will be...
Met Opera starts regular Sunday matinees, breaking tradition
NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Opera began regular Sunday-afternoon staged performances for the first time in its 136-year history with Puccini’s “Turandot” in an effort to boost ticket sales and revenue. Some in the audience wore tuxedos and evening gowns, others wore jeans and sneakers. There was even a man...
Dan + Shay to play Pittsburgh on 1st headlining arena tourVideo
Grammy-winning Dan + Shay — Wexford native Dan Smyers and musical partner Shay Mooney — will head out in 2020 on their first headlining arena tour, stopping at PPG Paints Arena in September. The 35-plus date tour, presented by AEG Presents, kicks off on March 6, 2020, at Bridgestone Arena...
Westmoreland Symphony opens 51st season with ‘Russian Masters’
The Westmoreland Symphony is tuning up for the new season, including hiring a handful of new string players, to open with a splash by performing three of the most popular Russian composers. “For me, Russian music is among the most colorful, most dramatic and the most challenging of all the...
Ginger Baker, Cream’s volatile drummer, dies at 80
LONDON — Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive British musician who was best known for his time with the power trio Cream, died Sunday at age 80, his family said. Baker wielded his blues power and jazz technique to help break open popular music and become one of the world’s...
Gabby Barrett marries ‘American Idol’ sweetheart Cade Foehner
Gabby Barrett got hitched this weekend to her “American Idol” sweetheart, Cade Foehner. According to People, Barrett and Foehner said “I do” in Garrison, Texas, on Saturday in front of 100 guests at wedding and event venue Union Springs. Barrett, from Munhall, and Foehner, 23, of Shelbyville, Texas, met on...
Rapper Gucci Mane gets deal for luxury line with Gucci
It’s safe to say Gucci Mane’s stage name is (finally) paying off. Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane recently announced that he is hooking up with high-end clothes brand Gucci for a new collection. The revelation comes after celebrities and others criticized the company in February after it reportedly released a $890...
Taylor Swift doesn’t recognize her own song during ‘Tonight Show’ gameVideo
Taylor Swift drew a blank (space) when it came to naming a song close to her: one of her own. Swift was on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday in advance of her “Saturday Night Live” performance this week. While on the show, she played the “Name That...
The Clarks inspire Washington brewer’s ‘Wheat Penny’ beerVideo
When they released “Penny on the Floor” in 1991, The Clarks probably never imagined that — 28 years later — the song would inspire a new beer. The band has teamed up with The Washington Brewing Co. for Wheat Penny, a German-style hefeweizen beer that will be introduced during an...
‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ gets box set after 10 years
LOS ANGELES — A small-batch box set of film, music and memorabilia will be released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” the movie that captured Jackson’s final concert rehearsals before his death. Only 1,000 numbered copies will be made of the set that is available...
Chance The Rapper revives ‘SNL’ character for NHL season’s start
Hockey fans are ready to “do that hockey” and so is Chance The Rapper. With the NHL kicking off the 2019-20 season Wednesday, the league posted a video of Lazlo Holmes, Chance’s infamous “Saturday Night Live” character, interviewing the Vegas Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault. Among figuring out the proper pronunciation...
KISS to rock for sharks, fans under the seaVideo
Having played nearly every corner of the Earth in a nearly 50-year career, the rock band KISS is taking its show to a new place — under the sea, where they will perform for great white sharks and eight fans separated from them by a small submarine. As part of...
Being ‘b-b-b-bad’ has been good for blues-rocker George Thorogood
Sometimes it’s good to be bad. Bad to the bone, that is. The 1982 song by that name sure paid off for George Thorogood and The Destroyers, who will play Greensburg’s Palace Theatre on Oct. 10, despite never making the charts. “Bad to the Bone” gained popularity when the video...
With her ‘Head Above Water,’ Avril Lavigne heads to Pittsburgh still a bit ‘Complicated’Video
Following a five-year break, Avril Lavigne is back on tour, taking her sixth studio album, “Head Above Water,” out on the road, including a planned Pittsburgh stop. Lavigne, 35, first drew attention in 2002 while a teenager with the hit singles and videos “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi” from the album...
PSO Pops pays tribute to ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin
Just over a year after Aretha Franklin died, the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops will open its season with a tribute to the American icon. Her voice was unforgettable and irresistible, but it was the conviction and style with which she used it that made her performances speak to everyone. “When it...
Split Stage celebrates 50 years of The Who’s ‘Tommy’Video
Split Stage Productions co-founders Rob Jessup and Nate Newell are among the “Tommy” faithful who couldn’t let the 50th anniversary of British rock band The Who’s famous rock opera album go by without recognizing the band and its music. Worldwide celebrations have honored the half-century milestone of “Tommy,” which was...
Phil Collins livens up PPG Paints Arena
British singer/musician Phil Collins has been entertaining and inspiring fans for 50 years. Those who have admired him over the years for his talent and endurance can take solace in the title of his current tour: “Phil Collins: Still Not Dead Yet, Live!” It’s not an extensive tour – only...
3 charged with providing drugs that killed Mac Miller
LOS ANGELES — Three men arrested during the investigation into rapper Mac Miller’s deadly overdose last year have now been charged with providing the drugs that killed him, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday. A grand jury indictment that was unsealed in Los Angeles accuses the men of conspiring and distributing cocaine...
Placido Domingo resigns as general director of LA Opera
SAN FRANCISCO — Opera star Placido Domingo resigned Wednesday as general director of the Los Angeles Opera and withdrew from future performances at the company following multiple allegations of sexual harassment reported by The Associated Press. “I hold Los Angeles Opera very dearly to my heart and count my work...
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s former house for sale in Seattle
The home where Kurt Cobain killed himself is on the market. Listed for $7.5 million, the Queen Anne-style home in the Denny Blaine neighborhood of Seattle, was the scene of the Nirvana singer’s death in 1994, reported SeattlePI. According to the listing by realtor Ewing & Clark, the home was...
Garth Brooks to receive Gershwin Prize for Popular SongVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country music superstar Garth Brooks has more than just friends in low places. The Library of Congress said Wednesday the Grammy winner will receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in March 2020. Previous recipients include Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Carole King and Willie...
Baldwin native will perform with Navy jazz ensemble in HempfieldVideo
As part of the Navy’s signature outreach program, Baldwin native Shawn Purcell will have a chance to perform in the Pittsburgh area for the second time as a member of the U.S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble. The group will play an Oct. 23 concert at Hempfield Area High School....
Saint Vincent concert series guest adds storytelling to music
Pianist, composer and storyteller Jeanne Cotter will perform Oct. 19 as part of the Saint Vincent College Concert Series. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center in the Robert S. Carey Student Center on the Unity campus. Cotter, a singer-songwriter and liturgical composer, has performed...
Christian band MercyMe set for Pittsburgh stop on 25th anniversary tourVideo
MercyMe’s current tour may be billed as a 25th anniversary outing, but the popular Christian rock-pop band isn’t being all that nostalgic when it comes to the choice of songs in the set list. “We actually had that discussion early on about kind of how much looking back we wanted...
Metallica’s James Hetfield returns to rehab, band postpones tour
Metallica has posponed its upcoming tour as James Hetfield addresses his addiction issues. The band announced Friday it would not play its Australia and New Zealand dates as its frontman / guitarist “had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again.” “As most of you probably know,...
