The Pittsburgh region had a packed concert calendar in 2024, full of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, stadium shows and dozens of sold-out shows.
TribLive covered more than 80 shows in 2024, so here’s a look back at our writers’ top shows of the year, notable moments and more:
Mike Palm’s Top 5
Green Day (Sept. 1, PNC Park): The punk veterans looked right at home in the stadium setting, blasting through two full albums — “Dookie” and “American Idiot” — over the course of two and a half hours.
Jack White (Aug. 29, Mr. Smalls Theatre): In a show announced just two days before it took place, the ever-intriguing Jack White ripped through 90 minutes of raw, bluesy rock consisting of songs from his solo career as well as The White Stripes and the Raconteurs in a jam-packed venue.
Tyler Childers (June 30, Pavilion at Star Lake):Tyler Childers doesn’t quite fit into the contemporary country music scene, but his authenticity and stirring vocals powered a performance encompassing bluegrass, honky tonk, roots rock and more in a sold-out show.
Lainey Wilson (Oct. 26, Petersen Events Center):Lainey Wilson demonstrated why she was named this year’s Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, effortlessly shifting between serious and playful — like when she returned for an encore wearing the Steelers jersey of her boyfriend, Devlin “Duck” Hodges.
The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis (May 6, Club Cafe): Bolstered by the rhythm section of post-hardcore legends Fugazi, the Messthetics with saxophonist James Brandon Lewis masterfully blended punk rock with jazz in an intimate setting.
Alexis Papalia’s Top 5
Childish Gambino (Aug. 20, PPG Paints Arena): Saying one last farewell to his Childish Gambino persona, Donald Glover put on an electrifying show. Not only were his singing and rapping phenomenal through a set list that spanned his career, he used lighting, lasers and screens to wow the crowd visually.
Chris Stapleton (July 12, Pavilion at Star Lake): The country/blues singer/songwriter blazed in a pure show of musical force, using his soulful voice and world-class guitar skills to make a perfect summer night show.
Stevie Wonder (Oct. 8, PPG Paints Arena): In a tour that was meant to spread love and unity, the R&B legend spoke candidly and made the arena feel intimate. He played many of his most well-known songs — “Signed, Sealed Delivered” and “I Wish” among them — and it’s clear that even at 74, Stevie’s still got it.
Bruce Springsteen (Aug. 15 and 18, PPG Paints Arena): Speaking of musical legends who can still put on a show, Springsteen played two nights in Pittsburgh, performing big, brassy tunes such as “The E Street Shuffle” and stripped-down songs including “Atlantic City” with equal panache.
Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service (May 2, Petersen Events Center): This tour celebrated the 20th anniversary of Death Cab’s album “Transatlanticism” and The Postal Service’s “Give Up.” Ben Gibbard — frontman for both acts — performed a double set of the two albums, transitioning seamlessly from the dark indie rock of Death Cab to the bright electropop of The Postal Service.
More top shows
A number of other TribLive writers covered shows this year, so here’s a look at their top picks:
Chappell Roan (April 5, Stage AE): Amid a sea of pink cowboy hats, boots and sparkles, Chappell Roan performed her spunky “Midwest Princess” tour in Pittsburgh, featuring fan-favorite tunes like “Pink Pony Club,” “HOT TO GO!,” “Femininomenon” and her latest hit, “Good Luck, Babe!” (Megan Swift)
Chappell Roan leads the audience in the dance to her hit song “HOT TO GO!”
“It’s like the YMCA but harder,” she said @TribLIVEpic.twitter.com/QDf0Qtx12e
— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) April 6, 2024
Noah Kahan (May 29, Pavilion at Star Lake): Kicking off the Pavilion at Star Lake’s 2024 concert season with a sold-out show, Noah Kahan’s We’ll All Be Here Forever North American tour show featured hits like “Northern Attitude” and “Stick Season” accompanied with fake snow and fall leaves raining down on adoring fans. (Haley Daugherty)
Drake (Feb. 16-17, PPG Paints Arena): For the It’s All A Blur Tour-Big As the What? show, Drake and J. Cole performed fan-favorite songs like Drake’s “Find Your Love” and J. Cole’s “No Role Modelz,” culminating in collaborative tracks such as “First Person Shooter.” In hindsight, the tour felt like the calm before the storm of a rap beef that initially involved J. Cole, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. J. Cole gracefully apologized and exited the feud, which went on to dominate hip-hop for the rest of the year. (Shaylah Brown)
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Dweezil Zappa (Aug. 21, The Roxian): Frank Zappa continues to maintain a devoted following more than three decades after his death, and son Dweezil, accompanied by fellow top-notch musicians, ably carries on Dad’s legacy, a daunting task considering the complexity of many of Frank’s compositions. (Harry Funk)
Superlative awards
Up close and personal: Living Colour frontman Corey Glover sang “Cult of Personality” from the balcony of the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, while Bad Wolves singer Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz hit the floor at Preserving Underground on their cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” with fans draped on him. But The Jesus Lizard singer David Yow gets top props for singing two songs while crowd surfing at Stage AE. (MP)
Biggest pleasant surprise:Rick Springfield, who proved that he’s much more than the ’80s heartthrob who gave the world “Jessie’s Girl” on Oct. 19 at Rivers Casino. (AP)
Still has it: Alice Cooper, 76, put on an entertaining, highly theatric show as part of a double bill with Rob Zombie. And former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant remains a music luminary, as he showed in a show with bluegrass virtuoso Alison Krauss. Honorable mentions here to K.K. Downing, the former Judas Priest guitarist, who brought his K.K.’s Priest to Stage AE, and British metal stalwarts Iron Maiden, who rocked PPG Paints Arena. (MP)
Best banter:Ben Folds at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, who took song requests by paper airplane and told lots of great jokes and stories while thinking on his feet. (AP)
Thinking on the fly: Soulful singer JP Saxe took suggestions from the crowd to put together a Pittsburgh-themed verse on his “Fear & Intuition,” managing to rhyme pierogies with diabetes. (MP)
Openers who left me wanting more: Local band Push at Nov. 30 Nick’s Fat City reunion at Stage AE; Megan Moroney, who served as the first opener for Kenny Chesney at Acrisure Stadium on June 1 (and already has a sold-out engagement at Stage AE on June 20, 2025). (AP)
Opener I’d like to see as a headliner: Die Spitz, an all-female punk band from Texas, swapped instruments in a high-energy spot opening for Sleater-Kinney. (MP)
Heartfelt hometown moments:Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers made everyone feel like family at their May 25 Bottlerocket Social Hall show, messing around with each other and telling stories from decades in the Pittsburgh music scene. On Aug. 2, pop country stars Dan Shay took the stage at Star Lake, and it was an emotional show for Dan Smyers, a Wexford native. (AP)
Local standout: Thick and sludgy, Spotlights unleashed their brand of heavy, atmospheric music while opening for The Jesus Lizard. (MP)
Battle of the masked bands: Three of the most prominent masked metal bands hit Pittsburgh this year, with Slipknot marking the 25th anniversary of their self-titled album, Sleep Token selling out (very quickly, as a matter of fact) their show at Petersen Events Enter and Gwar dousing the crowd with buckets of blood as they’ve done for 40 years. (MP)
Most “meh”:Kane Brown has some catchy country hits, but with a set time of only 75 minutes and a somewhat by-the-books performance, his March 29 show at PPG Paints Arena was one of the year’s least memorable for me. (AP)
Missing out: Life and other work responsibilities happen, but these are the shows I’m kicking myself for missing (in alphabetical order): Artillery, Chevelle, Exodus, Gorilla Biscuits, Helmet, Mclusky and Seether. (Not to mention Better Lovers, where singer Greg Puciato jumped from the balcony at Mr. Smalls Theatre into the crowd.) (MP)