Andrea Bocelli, Chappell Roan, Tim McGraw highlight April’s top Pittsburgh concerts
The Pittsburgh concert scene is heating up in April, with at least 10 sold-out shows already. The calendar includes one of the biggest current stars in classical music, a rising pop music star and one of country’s biggest names. Here’s a look at the most notable concerts slated for the...
Colter Harper hosting book launch for ‘Jazz in the Hill’
Colter Harper’s book “Jazz in the Hill” explores the musical genre through the lens of conversation and community as a catalyst for change. Harper provides a direct look at the dialogue between musicians and listeners, as well as the connection between the community and its people. At a book release...
Fall Out Boy deliver arena-sized emo spectacle in Pittsburgh show
Two of the three covers Fall Out Boy chose for their show in Pittsburgh could not have been more appropriate. Late in their set Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena, the emo titans channeled the stadium rock energy of Queen with “Don’t Stop Me Now” and then Blur’s “Song 2,”...
Late singer-songwriter Bob Corbin’s daughter Jess Corbin releases CD
Instead of following in her father’s footsteps in the country music genre, Jess Corbin wanted to create her own musical path. “I had always thought, ‘That is what my dad did,’” said Corbin, whose dad Bob co-founded the Corbin/Hanner band. “But I decided to give it a try.” That attempt...
Thrash metal veterans Artillery blasting through area on 40th anniversary tourVideo
Artillery, a Danish thrash band that formed in 1982, remains underrated and underappreciated when it comes to other bands from that era. With riff after blazing riff, Artillery’s early sound fit right in alongside thrash pioneers like Metallica and Megadeth. Artillery released three unrelenting albums — “Fear of Tomorrow” in...
‘Indian Idol’ puts vocal talents on display at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills
Much like America’s televised version, Pittsburgh had its own “Indian Idol” on March 9, with singers displaying their talents at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills. The competition’s winner was Tarun Sharma, a vocalist and composer from Squirrel Hill. The event raised $4,000 to a local and international charity, and...
Musicians perform in Marshall to benefit Highmark Caring Place
One of the more distinctive musical instruments in the Pittsburgh area gets plenty of mileage. Jeff Schiller’s 6-foot-tall upright bass, customized with a unique multicolored design, gets regular workouts when he performs with any of his half-dozen regular bands. “I had my bass custom painted to show the family tree...
Pittsburgh music scene: Reviews of Avenged Sevenfold, KK’s Priest, JP Saxe; Merce Lemon’s new single; Indigo Girls docVideo
A quick look at a few recent shows in Pittsburgh, plus a local singer is ready to release a new single and an acclaimed documentary will screen here in April. Avenged Sevenfold at PPG Paints Arena It’s been 10 years since veteran heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold played Pittsburgh. And...
Bruce Springsteen becomes first international songwriter made a fellow of Britain’s Ivors Academy
LONDON — Bruce Springsteen is the first international songwriter to be named a fellow of The Ivors Academy, the U.K’s professional association of music creators. The American icon was announced as the next recipient of the 80-year old Academy’s highest honor Tuesday, in recognition of the impact his career has...
Barenaked Ladies set to play Rivers Casino this fall
Barenaked Ladies will bring their In Flight Tour 2024 to the Rivers Casino on the North Shore on Sept. 27. They will be appearing with special guest Toad the Wet Sprocket. The Barenaked Ladies’ best-known hits are “If I Had $1,000,000,” “One Week,” “Pinch Me” and “The Big Bang Theory...
Bayside singer Anthony Raneri on the punk band’s new album, unusual release cycle and songwriting stylesVideo
Bayside, a veteran punk rock band out of New York, changed things up with their latest album, “There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive.” The new album, scheduled for an April 5 release date, will combine 2022’s “The Red EP” and 2023’s “The Blue EP” with an additional five more...
Solar eclipses show up across the entertainment spectrum
From the birth of a carnivorous houseplant to a time traveler using the knowledge of modern science to his advantage, the phenomenon of the solar eclipse has played a role across the pop culture spectrum from cinema to song and beyond. Here are a few examples. ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’...
Acclaimed Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini dies at age 82
ROME — Maurizio Pollini, a Grammy-winning Italian pianist who performed frequently at La Scala opera house in Milan, has died. He was 82. Pollini died on Saturday, La Scala said in a statement. The announcement didn’t specify a cause of death, but Pollini had been forced to cancel a concert...
Indie pop/rock band Daisy the Great discusses their formation, going viral and sequel songsVideo
With one semester left at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Kelley Dugan and Mina Walker started writing a musical about a fake band for fun. That musical — with pop stars being struck by lightning, masked singers and much more — will never see the light of day, but...
Washington, D.C.’s Origami Angel headlining Pittsburgh collective’s 17th birthday celebrationVideo
Origami Angel, a two-piece emo band out of Washington, D.C., is a strong supporter of local music scenes. They’ll be in Pittsburgh on Sunday to headline the 17th birthday bash for Don’t Let the Scene Go Down on Me, a music collective that’s been booking shows since 2007 and in...
Ben Folds, Los Lonely Boys among Three Rivers Arts Festival’s featured concerts
This year’s free featured concert lineup for the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival was announced Thursday. The festival, running May 31-June 9 in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, will feature singer-songwriter Ben Folds, seminal hip-hop groups the Sugarhill Gang and the Furious Five, among others. The main stage is moving to...
Community bands converge on Murrysville for free annual festival
A classic John Philip Sousa march. Variations on the “Scarborough Fair” theme. Music inspired by the “Lord of the Rings” books. Musicians from all over the Pittsburgh area will perform music from all over the map at the 18th annual Three Rivers Community Band Festival, set for April 6 in...
Andrea Bocelli interview: Famed Italian tenor on singing with his children, performing and faithVideo
Just weeks after a heartfelt father-son duet at the Academy Awards, famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will be performing in Pittsburgh. Bocelli, along with his son Matteo, performed an emotional version of “Time to Say Goodbye” at the Oscars, paying tribute to actors and musicians who died in 2023. That...
Country singer Jay Allen brings Night of Hope tour to Jergel’s in Warrendale
Country rock singer Jay Allen has seen the power of music first-hand. When the Iowa native’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, he said one thing that could bring back the woman who raised him was country music. The genre was a constant fixture in her pickup truck when Allen...
Tartan Day will celebrate all things Scottish at Bethel Presbyterian Church
When Pam Maniet greets visitors at Bethel Presbyterian Church on April 6, she will be emotional. It will be the first Tartan Day, a day to celebrate Scottish heritage, without her father, Angus MacDonald. He died Dec. 27. “I know I will have a knot in my stomach at the...
Tom McGreevy interview: Ducks Ltd. singer/guitarist on new ‘Harm’s Way’ album, jangle pop, nostalgiaVideo
Ducks Ltd., a jangle pop duo out of Toronto, recently released its second album, “Harm’s Way,” with the nine songs clocking in around a concise 27 minutes. The way Tom McGreevy sees it, keeping Ducks Ltd.’s songs to around three minutes puts the band in “good company” in a broad...
Jeff Lynne’s ELO farewell tour hitting Pittsburgh in SeptemberVideo
Jeff Lynne’s ELO is embarking on its final tour, which includes a stop in Pittsburgh. The classic rock band’s Over and Out tour will visit PPG Paints Arena on Sept. 10. Originally founded in 1970 as Electric Light Orchestra, the band has sold more than 50 million records worldwide on...
Cockney Rebel singer Steve Harley, who had a hit with ‘Make Me Smile,’ dies at 73Video
LONDON — British musician Steve Harley, whose glam-rock band Cockney Rebel had an enduring hit with the song “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me),” has died. He was 73. Harley’s family said Sunday he had “passed away peacefully at home, with his family by his side.” Harley said...
‘Luck of the Iris’: Donnie Iris and the Cruisers still know how to rockVideo
Attending a Rolling Stones concert is somewhat akin to looking through an ultra-powerful telescope and seeing light that has been traveling this direction practically since time began. In the context of rock ’n’ roll, Mick, Keith and company started wowing audiences just a few years after the genre’s advent. For...
Bryan Adams gives a performance ‘straight from the heart’ at PPG Paints Arena
Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams remembers the first time he ever played in Pittsburgh. “The first time I ever played in America properly, I opened for The Kinks here,” he recounted to the audience during his show Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. “I started when I was 15 but...
