Sonic Pit Weekly: Black Keys, Cat Power, Green Day, Arianne Grande, Don McLean and more

This week on Pittsburgh stages: “Weird Al” gets bigger and weirder, Cat Power revisits “The Greatest,” Everclear takes requests and The Black Keys squeeze into AE.

New Music Friday has Ariana Grande finding signs of life in “Petal,” Shaboozey heading west for an outlaw tale and Green Day soundtracking its own road-trip comedy.

Tuesday

Rolo Tomassi (Preserving Underground, New Kensington): The British experimental metal band makes Preserving one of just four stops on a short U.S. run built around its Post. Festival 2026 appearance in Indianapolis. Led by siblings Eva Korman and James Spence, Rolo Tomassi can turn from dream-pop calm to mathcore chaos without much warning. The band recently returned with the “In the Echo of All Dreams” EP. Pittsburgh’s Guillermo Guillotine opens.

Pearl & the Oysters (Spirit Lodge, Lawrenceville): French-American duo Juliette Davis and Joachim Polack bring their sunny, space-age pop to Spirit behind “Monkey Mind,” released in June on Stones Throw. Produced by Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, Father John Misty), the album wraps anxiety about politics and the 2025 Los Angeles fires in lounge-pop, jazz and tropical grooves. Pittsburgh electronic-pop band Chariot Fade opens.

Thursday

Cat Power (Mr. Smalls Theatre, Munhall): Chan Marshall marks the 20th anniversary of “The Greatest,” the smoky Southern-soul album she recorded in Memphis with such Hi Records veterans as Teenie Hodges and Steve Potts. She will perform the record in full, including “Living Proof,” “Could We” and the title track. The celebration also produced “Redux,” a three-song EP featuring new treatments of “Could We,” James Brown’s “Try Me” and Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Mr. Smalls

Amy Grant (Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall, Munhall): The six-time Grammy winner arrives with “The Me That Remains,” her first album of original songs in 13 years. Released in May, it finds the contemporary Christian-pop star reflecting on faith, family, mortality and her recovery from the 2022 bicycle accident that left her with a traumatic brain injury. Expect the new material to share the evening with such ’80s and ’90s favorites as “Baby Baby,” “Every Heartbeat” and “That’s What Love Is For.”

Tiffany (Jergel’s, Warrendale): Nearly four decades after singing “I Think We’re Alone Now” in shopping malls across America, Tiffany is still working the ’80s-pop circuit — and received a fresh boost when the song surfaced in the final season of “Stranger Things.” She has since expanded her résumé with the “Pop Life” cookbook and a dance remix of “I Like the Rain.” Pittsburgh rock bands Stereo Scandal and Mimic open.

Friday

Don McLean (South Park Amphitheater): If Don McLean performed only “American Pie,” it would occupy roughly one-tenth of his allotted stage time. Fortunately, the 80-year-old singer-songwriter also has “Vincent,” “And I Love You So,” “Castles in the Air” and “Crying,” his 1981 Roy Orbison cover that topped the British chart. The Songwriters Hall of Famer brings his traveling history lesson to the county’s free Friday night series.

Shannon Shaw Band (Bottlerocket Social Hall, Allentown): Shaw steps away from Shannon and the Clams for the Wet Hot American Summer Tour, showcasing the booming, bruised voice she brought to her Dan Auerbach-produced solo album, “Shannon in Nashville.” Sharing the bill is Australian singer-songwriter Georgia Maq, formerly of the acclaimed indie-punk trio Camp Cope.

Lilly Hiatt (Club Cafe, South Side): Lilly Hiatt arrives with “Forever,” an album that pushed the Nashville singer-songwriter further from Americana and into the scruffy guitar rock of ’90s college radio. Produced by her husband, Coley Hinson, it found Hiatt writing about marriage, identity and figuring out what to keep as life changes around her. Gallop Gallop Gallop opens.

Saturday

“Weird Al” Yankovic (The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown): After spending one tour digging out obscure originals, “Weird Al” is back to the hits, costumes and video-screen spectacle on the Bigger & Weirder Tour. The production puts him in front of an eight-piece band for “Eat It,” “Amish Paradise,” “White & Nerdy,” the polka medleys and a few fan favorites making their live debuts. Opening is Puddles Pity Party, the towering, golden-voiced sad clown pop.

Everclear (Jergel’s): Art Alexakis and the latest edition of Everclear return to Jergel’s with the ’90s alternative-radio run that included “Santa Monica,” “Everything to Everyone,” “Father of Mine” and “Wonderful.” The band is touring under the Lucky 7 banner, allowing fans to vote seven deeper cuts into the set alongside the required hits. Youngstown power-rock trio Turbo Lovers, touring behind “Working Blue,” and West Virginia’s Motorcycle Drive By open the rescheduled show.

Sunday

Ne-Yo/Akon (The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown): Two of the voices that ruled mid-2000s radio join forces on the Nights Like This Tour, built around Ne-Yo’s “So Sick,” “Closer” and “Miss Independent” and Akon’s “Lonely,” “Smack That” and “Right Now (Na Na Na).” Rather than the standard opener-headliner arrangement, the R&B stars share the production for a throwback parade of slow jams, dance-floor hits and songs they wrote or produced for other artists.

The Black Keys (Stage AE, North Shore): The Black Keys have rediscovered their prolific streak. Just months after 2025’s “No Rain, No Flowers,” Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney returned in May with “Peaches!,” a raw, blues-heavy record led by their cover of Earl Hooker’s “You Got to Lose.” The Peaches ’N Kream Tour mixes those songs with the Akron duo’s garage-blues staples, from “Thickfreakness” to “Gold on the Ceiling.” Atlanta blues-soul singer and guitarist Eddie 9V opens.

The Wood Brothers (Hartwood Acres, Hampton): The Wood Brothers bring their nimble blend of folk, blues, jazz and gospel to Hartwood behind “Puff of Smoke,” the trio’s ninth studio album. Guitarist Oliver Wood, bassist Chris Wood and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix are also celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut, “Ways Not to Lose.” New Orleans singer-songwriter and keyboardist Ric Robertson opens the free show.

Richard Marx (Palace Theatre, Greensburg): Marx had his first seven singles reach the Top 5, a run that included “Hold On to the Nights,” “Satisfied,” “Right Here Waiting” and “Should’ve Known Better.” His latest record, “After Hours,” takes a sharp turn into Great American Songbook territory, mixing standards and new songs with guests Rod Stewart, Kenny G and Chris Botti. Whether the show goes full supper club or sticks to the hits, Marx has plenty of both.

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY

Ariana Grande, “Petal”: Grande’s eighth album, executive-produced with longtime collaborator Ilya, takes its title from the idea of something “full of life” growing through cold, hard circumstances. It follows 2024’s “Eternal Sunshine” and was advanced by the Max Martin/Ilya collaboration “Hate That I Made You Love Me.”

Green Day and Various Artists, “NIMRODS — The Soundtrack”: The 30-song companion to Green Day’s upcoming road-trip comedy combines 22 career-spanning favorites with unreleased live recordings and the new song “I’m Never Gonna R.I.P.” The soundtrack also features Green Day covers and other tracks by Analog Dogs, the Paradox, McKenna Grace and Ultra Q. The film, inspired by the band’s early touring misadventures, opens Aug. 14.

Shaboozey, “The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales”: The “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” singer follows his breakthrough with a Western concept album centered on Cherie Lee, an outlaw pulled into a story of revenge, redemption and romance following the death of Sheriff Lee. Jamie Foxx narrates the album trailer, while Ciara Miller portrays Cherie in the video for “Cowgirl.” It was also advanced by the fatalistic “Born to Die.”

Alice Cooper, “The Studio Albums 1975-1978”: The five-disc set collects Cooper’s first four solo albums — “Welcome to My Nightmare,” “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell,” “Lace and Whiskey” and “From the Inside” — along with “Bonus Misdemeanors,” a seven-track rarities disc featuring single edits, “No Tricks” with Betty Wright and “Road Rats.” It will be issued on five CDs and as a Rhino-exclusive five-LP set.

Cautious Clay, “The Hours: High Noon”: The singer-songwriter completes the time-of-day trilogy he began with “The Hours: Morning” and “The Hours: Night.” Designed as a sonic midpoint between those records, “High Noon” adds reggae and downtempo elements to his alternative R&B while addressing mismatched and open relationships. The opening single, “Green Screen (1PM),” rides a reggae beat while treating life as a blank canvas.

Dead Meadow, “Foundlings”: The psychedelic-rock trio digs through more than two decades of archives for seven unreleased songs, outtakes and tribute recordings dating from 2002 to 2024. Along with the six-minute “Lost to Light,” it includes versions of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” and Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” and features late bassist Steve Kille throughout.

Five Finger Death Punch, “Legacy”: The Las Vegas metal band marks its 20th anniversary with its 10th studio album and first without longtime producer Kevin Churko since its debut. Produced by Drew Fulk, the 10-song set includes “Nails in the Coffin,” “Eye of the Storm” and the militant first single “De Oppresso Liber.” The digital version arrives now, with CD, vinyl and cassette editions following Sept. 18.

Tucker Wetmore, “Sunburn Mixtape”: The ACM New Male Artist of the Year packages three recent summer singles — “Who Told You That,” “Sunburn” and “Proving Me Right” — with the new songs “Crazy to Yourself,” “98%” and “YOURS.” The six-song stopgap follows his 2025 debut, “What Not To,” and arrives as Wetmore prepares to bring his Brunette World Tour to Stage AE on Sept. 20.