ELO, Heart among week’s best shows
Here’s a look at some of the most anticipated concerts in Pittsburgh this week:
TUESDAY
Lake Street Dive: The band led by jazz- soul singer Rachael Price formed back in 2004 while attending the New England Conservatory of Music and rose to fame in 2013 with a little help from producer T Bone Burnett. LSD headlines Stage AE, North Shore, touring behind sixth album “Free Yourself Up,” which bassist Bridget Kearney said “is about empowering yourself, emboldening yourself, no matter what’s going wrong.” In the opening slot is Yola, a British country/ roots singer produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, who’s proved to have good taste in young singers. 7: 30 p. m. doors. $ 29.50-$ 33; ticketmaster. com.
THURSDAY
Jeff Lynne’s ELO: The band has one last show on its North American tour, and it’s here at PPG Paints Arena, Uptown. Last year, the ’ 70s hitmakers behind such classics as “Evil Woman,” “Strange Magic” and “Don’t Bring Me Down” launched their first North American tour since 1981. This will be their first trip to Pittsburgh since that ’ 81 tour, when they played the Civic Arena with Hall & Oates. Variety said of a recent show, “The ELO catalog speaks for itself … and it was a glorious thing to behold … in a 19- song set that reprised the closest thing to truly Beatle- level pop the 1970s had to offer.” Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, opens at 8 p. m. Tickets are $ 47-$ 142; ticketmaster. com.
Heart: Ugh, two great classicrock shows on the same night. Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have reunited for their first tour together in three years. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, which dates back to 1973, began its run of hits with the 1975 debut “Dreamboat Annie,” which included the classics “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man.” Heart’s success through the ’ 70s and ’ 80s continued with “Barracuda,” “Straight On,” “These Dreams,” “Alone” and more. “Love Alive” is an all- femalefronted bill with fellow Rock and Rock Hall of Famers Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and soul/ blues belter Elle King. “I think this year is a good year to show the collective impact of some powerful women in music,” Nancy Wilson said in a statement. “We would usually steer clear of the female- centric concept, but in the light of current events it seems like the right statement at the right time.” KeyBank Pavilion, Burgettstown, at 7 p. m. Tickets are $ 16-$ 350; ticketmaster. com.
FRIDAY
Florida Georgia Line/ Dan + Shay: It will be the tale of two duos when FGL and D+ S turn up at KeyBank Pavilion, Burgettstown, on the Can’t Say I Ain’t Country tour. Neither duo is country in the old- school sense of the word. FGL, the team of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, broke out in 2012 with the blockbuster country- pop single “Cruise” and continued to top the country charts with singles like “This Is How We Roll,” “Dirt” and “H. O. L. Y.” This tour supports the group’s newly released fourth album, “Can’t Say I Ain’t Country,” which Hubbard described to “Entertainment Tonight” as “an FGL take on kind of what we grew up on, ’ 90s country.” Dan + Shay, made up of Pittsburgh native Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, won their first Grammy earlier this year for the poppy, chart- topping “Tequila,” which has been streamed 700 million times, and followed that with three ACM Awards. The song stemmed from the duo’s selftitled third album, which topped the country charts and landed at No. 6 on the Hot 100. Also on the bill are Morgan Wallen and Hardy. It begins at 7 p. m. Tickets are $ 74-$ 122; ticketmaster. com.
Kirk Franklin: The Texas- born gospel star, a 14time Grammy winner, brings his message of faith to the Byham Theater, Downtown, on a tour supporting the new album “Long Live Love.” Franklin’s career was an immediate success, starting with the debut album, “Kirk Franklin & The Family,” which spent two years on the Gospel chart. He won his first Grammy for the 1996 follow- up “Whatcha Lookin’ 4.” Over the years, he’s collaborated with everyone from Whitney Houston to R. Kelly to U2 to Kanye West. Speaking of the tour, he told the Philadelphia Tribune, “I’m gonna give them every Kirk Franklin that they ever came to love. ... I’m going to give them every era of my career plus the new music. I want people to know that it’s going to be worth their while. It’s going to be an amazing time.” It begins at 8 p. m. Tickets start at $ 45.75; trustarts. org.
Clutch: “It’ll be a rager,” Clutch frontman Neil Fallon said of this tour with Killswitch Engage. You can count on that. Clutch, from Germantown, Md., has been banging its heavy blues boogie stoner rock since 1991 and is hitting the road on another crushing album, “Book of Bad Decisions,” its 12th. There’s less boogie and more metalcore to Killswitch, which comes in advance of eighth album “Atonement,” due on Aug.
16. Also on the bill is Cro - Mags JM, which is the John Joseph/ Mackie Jayson version of the embattled New York hardcore band. Stage AE, North Shore, 6 p. m. doors. $ 29.50-$ 32; ticketmaster. com. Happy Together Tour: The ’ 60s package led by The Turtles celebrates its 10th anniversary with Chuck Negron ( of Three Dog Night), Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (“Young Girl”), The Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”), The Classics IV (“Spooky”) and The Cowsills (“Hair”). Palace Theatre, Greensburg. 8 p. m. $ 49-$ 69; thepalacetheatre.org. Tonic: The LA grunge band best known for the hit “If You Could Only See” plays a free show at the South Park Amphitheater with Anger the Ant at 7: 30 p. m.
FRIDAY- SATURDAY
AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival: The City Music Festival returns to Peoples Natural Gas Park in Johnstown with a two- stage lineup that includes Arizona poprock band Gin Blossoms (“Hey Jealousy”), New Orleans roots- rock band Cowboy Mouth, Philadelphia’s Ghost Light and Brownout presents Brown Sabbath, which features members of the Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma playing Black Sabbath covers. Also on the bill are Dale Watson, Red Baraat, Bill Kirchen ( from Commander Cody), Davina & the Vagabonds, National Park Radio, Sue Foley Band, The Plate Scrapers, Adler & Barath Blues Band, Jeff Perigo & Friends, Afro n’At, Essential Machine, Elias Khouri and Jeff Webb & the Delectable Sound. Two- day passes are $ 40, or $ 55 for an Oilhouse ( VIP) Pass, which includes access to the VIP Lounge and the site’s only full bar and indoor restrooms, as well as a special viewing area at the mainstage. Friday singleday tickets are $ 23, and Saturday single- day tickets are $ 35; floodcitymusic.com.
SATURDAY
Legendary Shack Shakers: JD Wilkes leads the band from Paducah, Ky., once called “a rockabilly version of the Sex Pistols,” into the Hard Rock Cafe, Station Square, for another wild night that gets to the roots of rock ’ n’ roll. Nox Boys frontman Zack Keim opens at 9 p. m. $ 15; ticketweb. com.
Ace Frehley: The Spaceman, who had the most successful of the four Kiss solo albums in 1978, brings a set heavy on Kiss material to the Palace Theatre, Greensburg. 8 p. m. $ 57.50 and $ 65, $ 5 additional at the door. thepalacetheatre.org.
SUNDAY
Bad Religion: The veteran LA political punks, last seen here at Highmark Stadium with NOFX doing all of “Suffer,” return for a theater gig at the Roxian in McKees Rocks, having just released “Age of Unreason,” their first album in six years — a long gap for a band with 17 records. Two things you can always count on with Bad Religion is that they’re always going to speak truth to power and they’re always going to sound just like Bad Religion. With The Lawrence Arms. 8 p. m. $ 35; roxianlive.com.
Guster: The jangly rock band from Boston has a fun history in Pittsburgh that includes the Station Square amphitheater show with Ben Folds, the snowy dumpster show on the North Side and the Three Rivers Arts Festival gig with guest singer Mayor Bill Peduto. Guster pops back in for another free show at Hartwood Acres, Hampton, supporting eighth album “Look Alive,” on which they surrounded their golden harmonies with “colder,” synthier sounds. 7: 30 p. m. Free.
UB40: Like the Cro- Mags, there are two versions of the British pop- reggae group best known for the hit “Red, Red Wine.” One of them features the two original singers, Ali Campbell and Astro. This one, on a 40th anniversary tour, is fronted by Ali’s brother Duncan Campbell with five original members of the group. They play Jergel’s, Marshall, at 8 p. m. $ 40-$ 42; jergels. com.