Pittsburgh's Can't Miss Concerts in May
This month's lineup includes Ry X, Raffi and Laura Marling.
photo courtesy of Ry X
May 13/ “Dawn,” the debut solo effort from hirsute Australian musician Ry X, is an album with an aura. Although the album can tend toward the simple and sparse, Ry X’s otherworldly voice and some carefully chosen crescendos build an album that enrapts the listener. His performance for the Sound Series at The Andy Warhol Museum will take place in the vaulted lobby, a perfect setting for this enveloping sound. (117 Sandusky St., North Shore; 412/237-8300, warhol.org)
photo by Ken burke
May 7/ If you feel touched by a fog of existential malaise hanging above your head, perhaps the best solution is a return to more innocent times. Let Raffi, celebrating 40 years of recording, guide you to the comfort of a simpler place — a place with bananaphones, baby belugas and watermelons growing down by the bay in tangles that will make you forget, if just for a moment, any weight you carry. (Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall; 412/462-3444, librarymusichall.com)
May 11/ It’s the folk artist’s imperative to draw taut the sinews between lore and feeling without sounding dated or trite. Laura Marling pulls it off in spades. Her latest release, “Semper Femina,” is a deft and lovely contemplation of femaleness across a soundscape that is somehow both delicate and heavy, with inventive instrumentation that should make her live show a delight. (Rex Theater, 1602 E. Carson St., South Side; 412/381-6811, rex.greyareaprod.com)
May 25/ Summer is heating up in Burgettstown with a big-billed, lean-slicked trap party. Future, riding a particularly prolific wave after dropping two albums a week apart earlier this year, is joined by Migos, who consumed audiences and ruled the radio with the infectious single “Bad and Boujee” earlier this year, as well as up-and-comers Tory Lanez and Kodak Black. What a time to be alive. (KeyBank Pavilion, 665 Pennsylvania 18, Burgettstown; 724/947-7400, livenation.com)
Maybird — Club Cafe, clubcafelive.com May 1
Travis Scott — Stage AE, promowestlive.com May 2
Luke Pell — Jergel’s, jergels.com May 4
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — Club Cafe, clubcafelive.com May 5
An Evening with Nancy and Beth — Mr. Smalls, mrsmalls.com May 6
photo courtesy shutterstock
Indigo Girls — Carnegie Lecture Hall, indigogirls.com May 7
Old 97’s — Mr. Smalls, mrsmalls.com May 9
Kikagaku Moyo — Spirit, spiritpgh.com May 10
San Fermin — The Andy Warhol Museum, warhol.org May 11
Mastodon with Eagles of Death Metal — Stage AE, promowestlive.com May 12
photo courtesy shutterstock
Neil Sedaka — Heinz Hall, pittsburghsymphony.org May 12-14
Andy Shauf — Club Cafe, clubcafelive.com May 15
Vallis Alps — Spirit, spiritpgh.com May 16
Meat Puppets — Mr. Smalls, mrsmalls.com May 17
Coheed and Cambria — Stage AE, promowestlive.com May 18
Romantic Brahms — Heinz Hall, pittsburghsymphony.org May 19-21
Chance the Rapper — PPG Paints Arena, ppgpaintsarena.com May 20
R. Kelly — Benedum Center, trustarts.org May 20
Mac DeMarco — Mr. Smalls, mrsmalls.com May 22
Mumford & Sons — KeyBank Pavilion, burgettstownpavilion.net May 24
Nightlands — The Andy Warhol Museum, warhol.org May 26
Franz Ferdinand — Stage AE, promowestlive.com May 27
Old Crow Medicine Show Performing Blonde on Blonde — Stage AE, promowestlive.com May 30
Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers — Club Cafe, clubcafelive.com May 31
