What’s poppin’ in the concert venues
We may not break records like we did in the summer of ’23 — Ms. Swift is overseas — but there is no shortage of live music to keep you both busy and broke.
The North Shore stadiums will be a little quieter than usual with just three shows on the books so far: a Def Leppard/Journey co-headline, the return of hero/villain Kenny Chesney and a pop-punk sandwich of Green Day and Rancid with Smashing Pumpkins in between.
The Pavilion at Star Lake checks in with 27 shows, including a handful — Noah Kahan, Chris Stapleton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jason Aldean — that you should probably get on the parkway for now. Kahan is among the first-time headliners there, along with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Tyler Childers, Hozier, Imagine Dragons and Cage the Elephant.
PPG Paints Arena gets the long-awaited return of Lionel Richie, the Pittsburgh debut (believe it or not) of J.Lo, plus the Springsteen shows we lost last year when the Boss had stomach trouble.
Stage AE has some hot pairings — Social Distortion/Bad Religion, Primus/Coheed and Cambria, Rival Sons/Clutch, Lamb of God/Mastodon — and new faces like Chappell Roan and Oliver Anthony, plus Flaming Lips playing its classic “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” album.
Sorry to bury the lede here, but among the biggest developments are the deletion of WonderWorks Music Festival (the ticketed event at Hartwood Acres) and the addition of the Sudden Little Thrills Music Festival, under the direction of the Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival managers. It will be held at Hazelwood Green and where it will be headlined by SZA, The Killers and Wiz Khalifa.
Another big shift come with the movement of the pop-punk Four Chord Festival from Wild Things Park to the more convenient and atmospheric Carrie Furnace in Rankin.
Here’s a list of the summer’s shows so far, roughly in order of the scale of the venue.
Acrisure Stadium
North Shore; ticketmaster.com. June 1: Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band/Megan Moroney/Uncle Kracker
PNC Park
North Shore; ticketmaster.com
July 27: Def Leppard/Journey/Steve Miller Band
Sept. 1: Green Day/The Smashing Pumpkins/Rancid/The Linda Lindas
The Pavilion at Star Lake
Burgettstown; ticketmaster.com May 29: Noah Kahan
June 15: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss/ JD McPherson
June 19: New Kids on the Block/Paula Abdul/DJ Jazzy Jeff
June 29: Hootie & the Blowfish/Collective Soul/Edwin McCain
June 30: Tyler Childers/S.G. Goodman/ Adeem the Artist
July 2: Red Hot Chili Peppers/Kid Cudi July 9: Third Eye Blind/Yellowcard July 10: Barbie The Movie: In Concert July 12: Chris Stapleton/Marcus King/ Nikki Lane
July 13: Bret Michaels/Chris Janson/ Don Felder/Lou Gramm/Dee Snider July 20: Sam Hunt
July 29: Hozier
July 31: Styx/Foreigner/John Waite Aug. 2: Dan + Shay
Aug. 3: Creed/3 Doors Down/Finger Eleven
Aug. 7: Slipknot/Knocked Loose Aug. 10: Jason Aldean/Lauren Alaina/ Chase Matthew/Austin Snell/Dee Jay Silver Aug. 14: Imagine Dragons
Aug. 16: Kidz Bop Live
Aug. 17: Tedeschi Trucks Band/Margo Price
Aug. 20: The Doobie Brothers
Aug. 29: Cage the Elephant/Young The Giant/Bakar
Sept. 3: Rob Zombie/Alice Cooper/Ministry/Filter
Sept. 7: James Taylor & His All-Star Band
Sept. 12: Falling in Reverse
Sept. 10: Staind/Breaking Benjamin/ Lakeview
Sept. 14: Outlaw Music Festival with Willie Nelson/Bob Dylan/John Mellencamp/Southern Avenue
Sept. 18: Pitbull/T-Pain
PPG Paints Arena
Uptown; ticketmaster.com.
May 15: NF
May 18: Greta Van Fleet/Geese
May 23: Heart/Cheap Trick
June 16: Lionel Richie/Earth Wind & Fire
June 25: AJR/mxmtoon/Almost Monday
July 30: Jennifer Lopez
Aug. 15 & 18: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Sept. 10: Jeff Lynne’s ELO
Sept. 20: Aerosmith/Teddy Swims
Stage AE (Outdoor)
North Shore; axs.com.
May 10: Social Distortion/Bad Religion June 2: Chappell Roan
June 5: Bleachers/Samia
June 7: Modest Mouse/Cat Power June 12: T-Pain/LaRussell/NandoSTL/ Young Ca$h
June 15: Excision
June 20: Brothers Osborne/Cadillac Three
June 21: Walker Hayes
June 22: The Clarks/Tiny Wars June 28: Oliver Anthony
June 30: The Beach Boys
July 1: The Kid Laroi
July 11: Train/Yacht Rock Revue July 14: Hawthorne Heights/Thursday/ Anberlin
June 18: O.A.R./Fitz and the Tantrums July 19: Jamey Johnson
July 20: The Flaming Lips
July 23: Mayday Parade/The Maine/ The Wonder Years/We the Kings/Real Friends
July 25: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band July 28: Halestorm/Hollywood Undead/ Fit For A King
July 29: Faye Webster
July 30: Lamb of God/Mastodon/Kerry King/Malevolence
July 31: Still Woozy
Aug. 8: Primus/Coheed and Cambria/ Fishbone
Aug. 9: Lindsey Stirling
Aug. 14: Sublime with Rome
Aug. 23: Koe Wetzel
Aug. 24: Mike.
Sept. 10: Rival Sons/Clutch/Fu Manchu Sept. 17: Dashboard Confessional/Boys Like Girls/Taylor Acorn
Sept. 18: Megadeth/Mudvayne/All That Remains
Stage AE (Indoor)
North Shore; axs.com.
May 12: Nothing More/Veil of Maya/ Sleep Theory
May 16: In Flames/Gatecreeper/Creeping Death
May 20: City and Colour
May 21: The String Cheese Incident May 28: Knocked Loose/Show Me The Body/Loathe/Speed
May 31: Natasha Bedingfield/Keke Palmer
July 8: The Used/Story of the Year/ Amira Elfeky
July 10: Jxdn
July 15: Charley Crockett
July 24: Taking Back Sunday/Citizen July 26: Scene Queen/Stand Atlantic/ Magnolia Park/The Home Team/Honey Revenge/Letdown
July 27: Guster
Aug. 2: Debbie Gibson
Aug. 7: Iration/Pepper
Aug. 11: The Struts/Barns Courtney Aug. 28: Women Who Rock with Melissa Etheridge
Sept. 4: Goth Babe/Ritt Momney Sept. 11: Descendents/Circle Jerks Sept. 12: In This Moment
Petersen Events Center
Oakland; ticketmaster.com.
May 19: Sleep Token/Empire State Bastard
Sept. 6: Meghan Trainor
Carrie Furnace
Rankin, FourChordMusicFestival.com. June 22: Four Chord Festival with A Day to Remember/The Story So Far/Senses Fail/State Champs/Four Year Strong/Microwave and more.
June 23: Four Chord Festival with The All-American Rejects/Something Corporate/Motion City Soundtrack/The Get Up Kids/Relient K/Taylor Acorn and more.
Hazelwood Green
Hazelwood; suddenlittlethrillsfestival.com,
Sept. 7: Sudden Little Thrills Festival with The Killers, Melanie Martinez, St. Vincent, Fletcher, Girl Talk, Crowded House and more.
Sept. 8: Sudden Little Thrills Festival with SZA, Wiz Khalifa, Omar Apollo, Yung Gravy, Hippo Campus, Juvenile, The Driver Era, Lupe Fiasco and more.
UPMC Events Center
Moon; upmceventscenter.com. Sept. 17: Sum 41/The Interrupters
Rivers Casino Event Center
North Shore; riverscasino.com/pittsburgh. May 17: Better Than Ezra
Hollywood Casino at the Meadows
Washington; hollywoodmeadows.com. June 14: Rodney Carrington
July 19: Ludacris
Aug. 10: Shaggy
Heinz Hall
Downtown, pittsburghsymphony.org. June 29: Monica
July 8: Norah Jones
July 28: Johnny Mathis
Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland
Oakland; warhol.org.
June 17: Little Feat/Los Lobos Aug. 26: Waxahatchee/Tre Burt
The Palace Theatre
Greensburg; thepalacetheatre.org. May 28: Joe Jackson
June 4: Keb’ Mo’/Phillip-Michael Scales June 7: Air Supply
June 18: Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks
July 21: Billy Bragg
July 28: Bowling for Soup/Eternal Boy/ Keep Flying
Mr. Smalls Theatre
Millvale; mrsmalls.com.
May 9-11: They Might Be Giants May 28: X Ambassadors/New West/ Rowan Drake
May 31: Porters/Feast on the Fallen/ Victims of Contagion
June 2: Lucero
June 8: Valleyview/Boy Wonders/Dizzier June 9: Wilderado/Flyte
June 14: Man Man
June 15: Kim Gordon
June 22: Ire/A Moment in Pompeii/Keltari
June 24: Baroness/Portrayal of Guilt/ Filth is Eternal
June 27: Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties/Future Teens/Maura Weaver
July 15: The Taxpayers/Crazy and the Brains/Apes of the State
July 28: The Crane Wives
July 29: Sleater-Kinney
Aug. 30: Built to Spill
Roxian Theatre
McKees Rocks; roxiantheatre.com. May 12: Thievery Corporation
May 16: The Amity Affliction/Currents/ Dying Wish/Mugshot
May 19: Tommy Emmanuel
May 28: Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls/Amigo the Devil and more. June 27: 6Lack
July 8: The Aquabats
July 20: Mammoth WVH
July 28: The Japanese House
Aug. 2: Lucky Dave
Aug. 21: Dweezil Zappa
Aug. 24: The Gaslight Anthem/Joyce Manor/Pinkshift
Sept. 3: Sarah Jarosz
Sept. 18: Spoon
Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
Homestead; librarymusichall.com.
Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
Warrendale; jergels.com.
May 11: Eric Gales
May 12: The Alarm/Gene Loves Jezebel/Dichro
May 20: CKY
May 23: Everclear/Truckstop/Turbo Lovers
May 28: Sebastian Bach
June 6: Firehouse
June 9: Lita Ford
June 13: Haley Reinhart
July 14: 10,000 Maniacs
July 30: Robert Jon & the Wreck Aug. 3: Tab Benoit
Aug. 7: Sugaray Rayford
Aug. 15: Midge Ure
Sept. 15: Atlanta Rhythm Section Sept. 16: Hoodoo Gurus
Crafthouse Stage & Grill
Whitehall; crafthousepgh.com. May 24: The Altered Egos June 10: Strung Out
June 25: The Spill Canvas July 9: The Supersuckers
City Winery Pittsburgh
Strip District; pittsburgh. citywinery.com.
May 14: Alan Doyle/Adam Baldwin May 24-25: Will Downing
May 28: Jill Sobule
June 11: Ravi Coltrane
June 12: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy June 18: Fred Wesley and the New JBs June 19: Trans-Canada Highwaymen June 27: Sheila E. and the E-Train July 7: Glenn Jones
July 10: Eliot Lewis
July 18: Martin Barre of Jethro Tull July 31: Lisa Loeb
Aug. 1-2: Chrisette Michele
Aug. 4: Karyn White
Aug. 18: Vivian Green
Aug. 19: Kris Allen
Aug. 20-21: Marc Cohn
Sept. 3: Steve Earle
Thunderbird Music Hall
Lawrenceville, thunderbirdmusichall.com.
May 14: Soen
May 18: Dead Poet Society
May 21: Symphony X
June 1: Big Wreck
June 14: Danielle Ponder
June 22: The Vindys
June 28: Ballyhoo!
June 30: Yonder Mountain String Band July 10: Uncle Lucius
July 13: Mates of State
Aug. 31: King Buzzo & Trevor Dunn/JD Pinkus
Spirit Hall
Lawrenceville; spiritpgh.com. May 16: Eyedress
May 18: Helmet/Cro-Mags
June 18: Protomartyr
June 25: Prince Daddy and The Hyena July 20: Redd Kross