We’re covering a lot of ground with this weeks’ hot tickets in Pittsburgh, both geographically — from Sewickley all the way to Greensburg — and categorically, with comedy, movies, theater and ancient weaponry. (No, really: We’ve got ancient weaponry.)
Get Hot Tickets for Shows and Performances Around Pittsburgh June 15-22
Daniel Tosh
Monday, June 15, Byham Theater
In a much different era of comedy on television, Daniel Tosh was the host of a show that seemed to give a glimpse of the future. In TOSH.0, the comedian commented on the emerging field of viral videos and online clips, spinning a format developed in the E! Network’s Talk Soup for the first wave of viewers who grew up with the internet. (The show also deliberately toed the line in terms of good taste, with many jokes not holding up today — or then.) It was a preview of the growing dominance of internet culture. Tosh, however, has always been a stand-up comic first and foremost. See him in two shows at the Byham Theater.
Ghost at the Lindsay Theater’s Summer Series
Tuesday, June 16, Lindsay Theater
The Lindsay Theater picks a crowd-pleasing theme for each year’s summer throwback series. This year, Gen-Xers and Elder Millennials can rejoice: It’s time for Nine on ’90s, a series celebrating the closing decade of the 20th century. On Tuesday the 16th (and again on Sunday the 28th), it’s Ghost, the Demi Moore-Patrick Swayze romance that made us all consider romance beyond the veil — and also gave a lot of people complicated feelings about clay. Later this summer, return for the likes of Jurassic Park, Boyz N the Hood, Basic Instinct, Thelma & Louise and more.
Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul
Wednesday, June 17, Harris Theater
Downtown’s Harris Theater has become a go-to destination for music documentaries, a genre that rarely gets time on the big screen — but contains treasures for the curious. On Wednesday, catch a one-night-only screening of Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul, an intimate portrait of the iconic southern rocker (and onetime husband of Cher); the film is directed by James Keach, who has also directed documentary looks at Glen Campbell, David Crosby and Linda Ronstadt.
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord
Thursday, June 18, Also Runs Select Nights June 12-28, barebones productions
You never know who’s on the other side of a Ouija board. Is it a demon? The spirit of a departed love one? No one at all? Notorious narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar? The teen characters in Our Dear Dead Drug Lord are wholly convinced that it’s the latter. As their fixation on the villain beyond the veil deepens in Alexis Scheer’s acclaimed play, eternal questions — of adolescent suggestibility as well as mythmaking, not necessarily of life and death — will rise. barebones productions will stage the show at their intimate Braddock theater.
Green Beacon Gallery Benefit Show
Friday, June 19, Green Beacon Gallery
I have two good reasons to point you to this concert in Greensburg. First and foremost: It’s a benefit for the Green Beacon Gallery, a music venue, event space as well as art gallery that’s in search of a new location; your attendance helps maintain Green Beacon as a space for art and artists in Westmoreland County. Second: I just saw one of the bands on the bill, Hemlock for Socrates, and I was blown away. With a dreamy, occasionally ominous sound on the border between industrial techno and gothic pop, they’re instantly one of my favorite Pittsburgh-based bands. Check them out with a bunch of other bands — and also help a good cause in the process.
Annual Atlatl Competition
Saturday, June 20, Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village
The atlatl is an ancient spear-throwing tool that allows the user to take a sharpened stick and just absolutely launch it ridiculously far into the distance. (That was a technical description, obviously.) Each year, participants from the World Atlatl Association gather at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Avella, to offer pointers — and guests are free to try their hand at the traditional implement, aiming at far-off targets. This year’s event is also paired with a special group tour of the Rockshelter itself, the oldest confirmed site of human habitation in the country; the tour, set for 10 a.m., will be led by Dr. Diane Beynon Landers, who in 1974 was among the original excavation team at the site.
Yacht Rocket
Sunday, June 21, Hartwood Acres
If you haven’t been to the free concert series at Hartwood Acres in a while, here’s a smooth way to sail back to the picturesque venue. Yacht Rocket, a Pittsburgh-based cover band specializing in the increasingly beloved soft-rock subgenre, will lead their 10-piece outfit to Hartwood for an evening of favorite yacht rock tunes — and even a few originals, likely including their Pittsburgh Penguins tribute Boys of Winter.
Plus, check out our events calendar for other happenings this week and beyond!
Story by Sean Collier
Featured Photo by Duane Rieder
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