Mike Palm stories, Page 15
Def Leppard, Hozier, Chris Stapleton highlight July’s top Pittsburgh concerts
PNC Park will host its first stadium show of the year when British rockers Def Leppard invade the North Shore again, while two near-capacity crowds at Star Lake will make it another busy month of shows in the Pittsburgh area. Top shows July 12: Chris Stapleton, Marcus King, Nikki Lane...
Eyes Set to Kill celebrates 15 years of ‘Reach’ in New Kensington showVideo
The surprisingly light crowd for Eyes Set to Kill’s first Pittsburgh area appearance in six years didn’t diminish the performance put on by the melodic metalcore band. Currently celebrating 15 years of their debut album “Reach” — although it was technically released on Feb. 19, 2008 — Eyes Set To...
WDVE’s Randy Baumann releasing ‘Wanderin Fool’ album; The Damnwells write ode to Pittsburgh
WDVE morning host Randy Baumann is releasing his first album in more than 20 years this week, and he said it worked out better than he could have hoped. “Wanderin Fool,” which features an all-star cast of Pittsburgh musicians, will be available on all streaming platforms Thursday. “I’ve done so...
Laufey concert review: Icelandic jazz-pop star thrills in 2nd night with Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Icelandic jazz-pop singer Laufey might only be 25 years old, but her songs of love, hope, betrayal and heartache evoke an era much older that, without feeling dated. In a show lasting about an hour and 45 minutes Tuesday, Laufey (pronounced lay-vay) teamed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for a...
Baroness bassist Nick Jost talks touring, danceable metal and more ahead of Pittsburgh showVideo
As metal band Baroness gets closer to the end of its U.S. tour, bassist Nick Jost said one of the worst aspects of being on the road might be the actual roads. “You have no privacy and no sleep. We’re in a pretty bumpy vehicle on some pretty bumpy American...
The Get Up Kids’ Jim Suptic on Four Chord Music Fest, the ’emo’ genre and Thundergong!Video
The Get Up Kids will be playing their first show in three months with their appearance Sunday at the Four Chord Music Festival in Pittsburgh, but guitarist Jim Suptic wasn’t worried about any rust. “It’ll be fine,” he said with a laugh. “Some of these songs we’ve played literally tens...
Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram on not believing the hype, his blues education and more ahead of Pittsburgh concertVideo
At the tender age of 25, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has already been heralded as the future of blues music. That could lead to high expectations for the Mississippi native, who already has one Grammy win (best contemporary blues album for 2021’s “662”) and two other nominations. That goes along with...
Review: Lionel Richie revisits classic 1980s hits in Pittsburgh concertVideo
Lionel Richie, who’s sold more than 125 million albums worldwide along with earning four Grammys, an Oscar and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, doesn’t have anything left to prove. Yet Richie, who already holds a job as a judge on “American Idol,” is traveling the...
Review: Robert Plant, Alison Krauss revisit Led Zeppelin classics, their hits in Pittsburgh showVideo
When Robert Plant and Alison Krauss strolled on stage Saturday night, they met in the middle and held hands briefly. For much of the rest of the night, their voices intertwined just as easily. The music luminaries — Plant is the former singer of Led Zeppelin and Krauss is a...
Grammy-winning Lucinda Williams talks about stroke recovery, looking back and more ahead of Pittsburgh concertVideo
Some days are more frustrating than others for Lucinda Williams as she continues her recovery from a 2020 stroke. Earlier this week, the three-time Grammy winner was sitting on her tour bus admiring the beautiful weather through the window, but she longed for more. “I just want to be able...
‘The biggest thing’: The Vindys singer Jackie Popovec on opening for Pat Benatar
The room right next to Jackie Popovec’s kitchen is supposed to be the dining room. But with guitars on the wall, other instruments and amps scattered about and freshly arrived merch nearby, the singer of The Vindys just laughs off the room’s transition. “Loading our stuff in and out of...
AJR’s Ryan and Jack Met discuss arena shows, getting vulnerable and much more ahead of Pittsburgh showVideo
In the course of just six years, the indie pop band AJR has gone from playing the Club at Stage AE to headlining PPG Paints Arena on their Pittsburgh stops. And that’s always been the band’s ultimate ambition. “It’s been really incredible. It’s been really the goal of the band...
Wilderado’s Max Rainer on new album ‘Talker,’ music business, moreVideo
With indie folk band Wilderado about to launch a headlining summer tour this week, frontman Max Rainer managed to describe his life and the weather in Tulsa, Oklahoma, all at once. “Well, it’s literally the calm before the storm,” Rainer said Monday. “It’s storming outside; it’s about to. It’s all...
Caroline Jones interview: Zac Brown Band member discusses touring as new mom, solo career and more ahead of Pittsburgh showVideo
Balancing life as a new mother and a member of the Zac Brown Band is going surprisingly well for Caroline Jones. Stadium shows on Kenny Chesney’s The Sun Goes Down tour, co-headlined with the Zac Brown Band, are usually scheduled over weekends. So that means Jones can bring her 6-month-old...
Video premiere: Pittsburgh-born Antoniette Costa releases ‘Pitupatter’ video, announces albumVideo
About three years ago, Antoniette Costa started to feel “very off,” with headaches and a lot of weight loss, ultimately leading to a diagnosis of a brain tumor. The Pittsburgh native first received medication as treatment, but a subsequent episode in New York, where she partially lost her vision, led...
Nicki Minaj bringing Pink Friday 2 tour to PittsburghVideo
Nicki Minaj is returning to Pittsburgh as a part of her Pink Friday 2 world tour. The chart-topping rapper will play PPG Paints Arena on Sept. 6 on the tour’s second night. Minaj released “Pink Friday 2,” her fifth studio album, in 2023, spawning hits like “Super Freaky Girl” and...
Kenny Chesney, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, Tyler Childers highlight top Pittsburgh concerts in June
The first stadium show of the summer is scheduled for this month, as Kenny Chesney returns for his 12th show at Acrisure Stadium. Other shows on the horizon include the former singer of Led Zeppelin, a fast-rising country singer and several Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acts. Top concerts...
Pittsburgh’s top summer concerts include 3 stadium events, sold-out Star Lake shows
Pittsburgh may have lost what was slated to be a huge music festival when Sudden Little Thrills abruptly announced its cancellation last week, but there are still plenty of big shows in the region. The summer concert season unofficially kicks off Wednesday with Noah Kahan’s sold-out show opening the Pavilion...
Christian metal band P.O.D. drops the boom in Pittsburgh area concertVideo
The venue for P.O.D.’s show Tuesday night could not have been more fitting, as the veteran Christian metal band played New Kensington’s Preserving Underground, a former church converted into a concert hall. With stained glass windows behind and to the left of the stage, P.O.D.’s stop on their I Got...
Heart’s Ann Wilson on reuniting with sister, music business and Led Zeppelin ahead of Pittsburgh concertVideo
After several years of strained relationships, a physical altercation in the family and separate solo tours, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson are back together as Heart. ”Well, there’s no explaining why somebody wants to do music. It’s just, when you want to do it, you want to do it,” Ann...
Sleep Token’s talent can’t be masked in sold-out Pittsburgh concert
While Sleep Token’s masks are a key part of their identity, their anonymity may be gone soon enough if they keep putting on strong performances as they did Sunday night in Pittsburgh. In a show that sold out the Petersen Events Center months ago, the British rockers continued on their...
Greta Van Fleet deliver classic, arena rock spectacle in Pittsburgh concert
Greta Van Fleet frontman Josh Kiszka fittingly sang a brief line from “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” — the theme song from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” — in the band’s concert Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. For fans of classic rock, it was a beautiful day in the neighborhood as...
Former Kyuss singer John Garcia on his day job, reunion talk and the desertVideo
As far as John Garcia is concerned, living a “normal” life is just fine with him, with the biggest angst getting his 14-year-old son to make his bed. “You know, I hate to really admit it, but my life is boring, which is exactly the way I want it to...
Empire State Bastard guitarist Mike Vennart on the band’s origin, touring, Twitter and moreVideo
Guitarist Mike Vennart traces the beginnings of extreme metal band Empire State Bastard to about 12 years ago. “It was sort of a mythical sort of joke band — everybody goes through this stoned idiot phase of let’s pretend we’ve got a band but never actually do anything — and...
Childish Gambino drops surprise album, announces world tour with Pittsburgh stopVideo
A day after the surprise release of an album, hip-hop artist Childish Gambino announced a world tour that includes a show in Pittsburgh. Gambino, the stage name of actor Donald Glover, will bring The New World tour to PPG Paints Arena on Aug. 20. The new album “Atavista” is, according...
