Wiz Khalifa to Headline New Hill District Venue’s First Show
Citizens Live at the Wylie is scheduled to open this fall.
AN ARTIST’S RENDERING OF CITIZENS LIVE AT THE WYLIE. IMAGE COURTESY LIVE NATION
One of Pittsburgh’s hometown heroes is returning to the city later this year.
Wiz Khalifa will headline the first show at Citizens Live at the Wylie on Oct. 2. The city’s newest music venue, operated by Live Nation, is located in the Lower Hill District and is scheduled to open this fall, just in time to welcome the Pittsburgh-raised rapper and a wide range of other acts spanning multiple genres.
“We’re thrilled to begin announcing the first shows coming to Citizens Live at the Wylie,” Tom Loudermilk, Live Nation’s Pittsburgh market president, says in a press release. “This is a special venue that will deliver unforgettable live music. It will bring an incredible mix of artists to the Lower Hill District, including Pittsburgh icons and artists who have never headlined here before.”
On Monday, Live Nation released the initial lineup for the venue’s opening season, which includes Khalifa; classic rock favorites such as Styx and Sting; a few comedians, Matt Matthews, Chelsea Handler and Aries Spears; and the R&B powerhouse Boys II Men. For a full list of upcoming performances, check out Live Nation’s website. And, be sure to check back in the next few weeks, as organizers say more shows will be added soon.
Citizens Live at the Wylie is part of Live Nation’s $1 billion effort to invest in U.S. music venues — an endeavor that the entertainment giant hopes will bolster America’s economic and cultural revival.
The Hill District venue will also honor the neighborhood’s cultural legacy and historic influence on Pittsburgh’s music scene with installations featuring imagery from the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Charles “Teenie” Harris archive. The Crawford Grill, the famed jazz club, was located about 10 blocks up Wylie Avenue, and the new venue will pay tribute to it with a mirrored piano on the ceiling, similar to one at the historic jazz institution
In a press release from Live Nation’s initial announcement last year, Marimba Milliones, executive director of the Hill Community Development Corporation, praised Live Nation for investing in the neighborhood.
“Live Nation not only worked in partnership with the CDC and the developer review panel, but they demonstrated the level of respect for the history that this site demands,” he said.
