Maybe all it took was the completion of Arts Landing in Downtown Pittsburgh to break the bad-weather curse for the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival.
The weather was immaculate for Friday’s festival opening. As rock band Broom wrapped up their set at about 7 p.m. with a cover of The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” on the stage at Arts Landing, blankets and camp chairs dotted the verdant lawn at the new Arts Festival home. Revelers in shorts and sunglasses milled around, grabbing refreshments and enjoying the magic of a sunny summer night. The smell of barbecue smoke and fresh greenery wafted across the Allegheny River-bolstered breeze.
But the promise of the first night of the Arts Festival’s headliner was imminent: hit alt-rock band the Spin Doctors were soon to take the stage as the sun began to dip toward the western horizon. The band saw big success in the 1990s with hits including “Two Princes” and “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” and their laid-back-but-funky style was perfect for a June evening outdoors.
The four-piece band took the shaded stage promptly at 7:30 p.m. to an enthusiastic and growing audience. And they kicked off the night for a perfect tune for the occasion: the very old-fashioned “Rock n Roll Heaven,” a jam that even references rock pioneer Chuck Berry. Lead singer Chris Barron may have forgotten the lyrics halfway through the second verse, but he quickly recovered.
The band may be nearing 40 years of history in their rearview, but they’re as dynamic as ever. Barron bopped around the stage as the other members took their turns with solos, especially Eric Schenkman with his fuzzy, fiery guitar.
They showed off their range with the groovy songs “Traction Blues” and “She Stands Alone,” with Jack Daley’s bass making itself heard under the growls of Schenkman’s guitar and Barron’s unusual vocal phrasing.
They kicked it up a notch with the incendiary “Lady Kerosene,” the red stage lights flaring as the quick tempo practically made Daley’s bass smoke. But those reds turned azure as they started “the first song off our first album,” the highly creative “Jimmy Olson’s Blues.”
After the slower doo-wop tune “The Heart of the Highway,” where Barron showed off some great vocal prowess, the frontman yelled, “My name is Chris Barron and I love cats! And dogs. But I’m really a cat guy.”
He even had an extended conversation with an audience member about their cats. It was, in fact, adorable.
To introduce the next song, he started, “Anyone out there know what love is? To give yourself over to another person? … This song isn’t about any of that … It’s called ‘Big Fat Funky Booty.’ ”
It was funky. At the end, Barron added on the button “The Spin Doctors, body positive since 1988!”
Following that with “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong,” a song with the classic fast-talking, vividly painted lyrics and thundering drums that make the band stand out, was brilliant. Schenkman’s guitar really was the cherry on top of a perfect song.
Before the mellow and melancholy “How Could You Want Him,” Barron wished the crowd a happy Pride, and the stage lights shone rainbow colors.
He also expressed some strong opinions on artificial intelligence. “More parks, no data centers!” he shouted to the deafening applause from the crowd.
In fact, several times he talked about how impressed he was that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust had built this park, expressly for the sake of public good — and public art.
Now, covers have a place in every concert. But the Spin Doctors attempted the truly impossible by launching into a version of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” While their rendition was incredibly enjoyable, nothing can ever live up to the Purple One himself, totally slaying that song — in the rain, no less! — at Super Bowl XLI. Still, Barron took the song as an opportunity for audience participation, coaxing the crowd into louder and louder sing-alongs of the song’s final “ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh”s.
After the grungy “Still a Gorilla,” they powered through their biggest hit, “Two Princes,” dropping out the music entirely to let the audience sing “just go ahead now” over and over.
“My name is Chris Barron, and I still believe a better world is possible!” the singer announced, seemingly ready to call it a night.
But they delivered one more bop: “Refrigerator Car” once again leaned more rock than their normal funk, but its unusual 9:8 time signature and impassioned lyrics gave both Barron and drummer Aaron Comess room to have free range over the song.
If the teeming crowd by the end of the Spin Doctors’ set was any indication, the first day of the Arts Festival at its new home was a roaring, rocking success. It’ll be exciting to see how the rest of these two weekends will go.