June suffers from an embarrassment of great shows. If you wanted to you could see Tame Impala, My Morning Jacket, Jessica Hernandez, Taylor Swift, Wire, Andrew WK and The War on Drugs on back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back nights.
(Did I mention we’re giving away two tickets to see Tame Impala? Details are at the bottom of the post.)
Also happening: Three Rivers Arts Festival begins June 6. Don’t miss easy breezy pop quintet Alvvays’ first-ever Pittsburgh performance June 7, nor fiery bluesman Benjamin Booker June 14. The full schedule is available on the Cultural Trust website.
And then there’s this British band called the “Rolling Stones” stopping through town…
Wednesday, June 3. 8 p.m.
Stage AE (indoors) – 400 North Shore Drive
$25
Aussie psychedelic rock band Tame Impala make their first Pittsburgh performance a month before the release of Currents, their hotly anticipated follow-up to 2012’s sensational Lonerism. From the few new tracks released so far, it sounds like band leader Kevin Parker is evolving toward a danceable, disco-influenced sound, sort of like Daft Punk did in 2013 with Random Access Memories. I think this new album will cross over and put them into the same level of global super-stardom that Daft Punk occupies. Listen to new track “Let it Happen” and then scroll to the bottom of this post to enter to win two tickets to this performance.
Thursday, June 4. 8 p.m.
Stage AE (outdoors) – 400 North Shore Drive
$38.50
If a show is going to cost over $40 with taxes and fees, it better be worth it. Fortunately, My Morning Jacket’s sets are legendary. Last time Jim James & co. played Stage AE, in 2012, they ended with a six-song encore filled with more blistering guitar solos than At Fillmore East. They’re touring in support of new album The Waterfall. I don’t think it’s anywhere close to Z, my pick for best MMJ album, but it cements their status as one of the most consistently innovative rock bands in America today.
Saturday, June 6. 8 p.m.
Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead – 510 East 10th Ave, Munhall
$25
Don’t be shocked if I Love You, Honeybear becomes your favorite new album: it’s lushly orchestrated, meticulously arranged and simply a joy to listen to. Father Jon Misty (J. Tillman) used to drum for Fleet Foxes. His first solo album, on Sub Pop, Fear Fun, came out in 2012. Honeybear picks up right where Fear Fun left off. Tillman can sing with the fervor of a revivalist preacher and his lyricism and wordplay are second to none. It will be a treat to witness him perform in the stately, century-old Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead.
Sunday, June 7. 8 p.m.
Mr. Smalls – 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale
$20
While it’s been a while since Pink Flag, Wire can still make great music. Their new, self-titled album had one critic say that it proves that Wire is still “one of the most inventive and exciting bands around.” Don’t miss this rare performance by the post-punk legends, whose influence on subsequent generations of bands is incalculable.
Flogging Molly and Gogol Bordello w/ Mariachi el Bronx
Friday, June 12. 7 p.m.
Stage AE (outdoors) – 400 North Shore Drive
$38.50
Punk rock comes in three different flavors for this one, none of them vanilla. Start the party with Mariachi el Bronx, LA hardcore band The Bronx’s mariachi themed side-project that’s been taking up more and more of the band’s time. Gypsy-punk pioneers Gogol Bordello are next, followed by Flogging Molly, neither of whom need an introduction. There won’t be another show all summer as fun or as raucous as this one.
Friday, June 19. 9 p.m.
Club Cafe – 56-58 South 12th Street
$18 (21+)
Experimental band Man Man, from Philadelphia, visited Pittsburgh last year as openers for Brand New at Stage AE. Now back as headliners, this is the perfect type of show for a venue like Club Cafe. Cram a piano, some horns and a bunch of singers onto that tiny stage and let them blow the roof off of the place. No word yet on a follow-up to their most popular album to date, 2013’s On Oni Pond, so expect to hear at least a few new tunes in the mix.
Saturday, June 20. 8 p.m.
Altar Bar – 1620 Penn Ave.
$17
What better way to rally against the bloat and excess of stadium rock than to skip the Stones and instead catch seminal So-Cal punk band Adolescents. Formed in 1980, this is the band’s third or fourth reunion, depending upon who’s counting. The band’s two founders, Tony Cadena (vocals) and Steve Soto (bass), are still in the fold. Joining them on tour is another ’80s punk band from Southern California, The Weirdos; veteran Pittsburgh punk band The Cheats; and newer local hardcore act Dead Batteries.
Saturday, June 20. 8 p.m.
Cattivo – 146 44th St.
$10 (21+)
“You know, they say if it’s too loud, you’re too old.”
“Huh?”
There aren’t many bands that get louder than A Place To Bury Strangers. Since their debut LP in 2007, the New York noise rock band has shared the stage with everyone from Nine Inch Nails to MGMT. They are currently touring in support of a new album, Transfixiation, that, according to Punk News, finds APTBS sounding “as dangerous as their live show indicates.” You’re liable to hear this one across the river in Millvale.
Wednesday, June 24. 8 p.m.
Stage AE (indoors) – 400 North Shore Drive
$25
People like to call Action Bronson the white Rick Ross because, well, they’re both big, bearded, tattooed rappers. What’s far more uncanny — and frankly, quite baffling — is the fact that he sounds so much like Ghostface Killah. And did you know Bam Bam has his own Anthony Bourdain-style food and travel show on Vice? It’s called F***, That’s Delicious. Watching him talk prosciutto with Mario Batali is nothing short of absurd. Here’s some of his music:
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Tuesday, June 30. 8 p.m.
Stage AE (indoors) – 400 North Shore Drive
$27.50
OK, so I know I just said that Flogging Molly will be the most fun of any concert this summer, so we’ll just say that Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes will be a close second. The neo-folk, pseudo-hippie collective left an imprint in the mind of Pittsburgh fans when they opened Three Rivers Arts Festival in June of 2013. They haven’t released a new album since that same month, but expect to hear some new songs at this performance.
Deep Cuts:
- Lou Barlow and Sebadoh rock Brillobox June 3.
- Detroit rock, pop and R&B: Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas play Club Cafe June 5.
- Andrew WK has a pair of SOLD-OUT pizza party shows at the Roboto Project June 7 and 8.
- The War on Drugs played Altar Bar last March in support of their award-winning album, Lost in the Dream. Now Adam Granduciel & co. return to a bigger crowd at Stage AE June 9.
- Steve Miller Band, w/ Don Felder of the Eagles, play the inaugural concert at Highmark Stadium June 14.
- Chicago garage-rock four-piece Twin Peaks perform at Brillobox June 17, 10 months after a raucous set at Roboto.
- Local artist, jazz singer and former Warhol classmate Betty Douglas performs at The Andy Warhol Museum June 19, in connection with the exhibition Pearlstein, Warhol, Cantor: From Pittsburgh to New York.
- Irish rock band, Girl Band, which is actually made up of all boys, plays Brillobox June 23.
- We just wrote about Misra Records relocating to Pittsburgh. Catch one of their top acts, Great Lake Swimmers, at Club Cafe June 25.
- DMX gon’ give it to ya June 27 at Mr. Smalls.