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...
Breaking Benjamin and Flyleaf singers rock out acoustically at Roxian Theatre
How much fun it must be to front a platinum-selling rock band, make longtime friends with other rock vocalists and then go out on tour to play music and laugh together. Such are the current lives of Benjamin Burnley, the founding member and lead singer of Breaking Benjamin, and Lacey...
Wiz Khalifa brings good vibes only to hometown show at Star Lake
When it comes to rap, Pittsburgh may not be Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta, but we do pretty well for ourselves. That was evident on Saturday night, when hometown rapper Wiz Khalifa came through to play the Pavilion at Star Lake on his Good Vibes Only Tour. Along for...
Review: Guitarist Ace Frehley dives into Kiss history in Pittsburgh area show
Ace Frehley didn’t rock and roll all night on Friday, with the former Kiss guitarist’s show at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale ending shortly before 11 p.m. But “The Spaceman” showed why countless guitar players derived inspiration from his Kiss heyday, as he and his band took a dive into...
Review: Pantera opens Heaviest Tour of the Summer in Pittsburgh
Touted as the Heaviest Tour of the Summer, Tuesday night’s Pantera/Amon Amarth/SNAFU show at the Pavilion at Star Lake more than lived up to the billing. Pantera opened their tour at Star Lake, getting in several days of rehearsals at the venue after earlier opening shows for Metallica, festival appearances...
Spin Doctors, Gin Blossoms and Blues Traveler rock it old school at Pittsburgh Brewing Co.
On Sunday night, Pittsburgh Brewing Co. in Creighton got a lineup that would’ve completely packed Star Lake in 1995. You can just imagine a sea of tie-dye-clad hacky-sackers rocking out to three of the moment’s hottest bands. Considering it’s 30 years later, the bill of Spin Doctors, Gin Blossoms and...
Review: Pop-soul singer Teddy Swims’ career keeps getting bigger, just like his Pittsburgh crowds
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 show
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 show
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 Pittsburgh
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 concert
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 Pittsburgh
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 concert
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...
