Rex Theater, Pittsburgh, PA One of the most unexpected--and unexpectedly great--shows of this year has be seeing Tony Clifton. Before the show, I had no idea what to expect; was this going to be a lame cash-in? Was the joke going to be on the small audience for attending? Regardless, of the answer I didn't want to miss this one. Clifton, as you may be aware, was a character created by the late performance-art comedian Andy Kaufman. Clifton was partially a satire of a D-list Vegas-style lounge singer with somewhat of a drinking problem and an even greater politeness problem. The character had little in the way of social graces, and was sure to offend nearly everyone in whatever room he happened to be in (those not in on the joke, at least). But Clifton was primarily another tool for Kaufman to act as agent provocateur both on stage and on TV. In the early days, no one knew Clifton was a Kaufman character and in his appearances audiences and those sharing the stage with Clifton were...
City Winery, Pittsburgh, PA.... EXTC is basically an XTC cover band, made somewhat legit due to the presence of former XTC drummer Terry Chambers. The show was a lot of fun, especially hearing any XTC songs performed live with a whiff of authenticity.
Benedum Center, Pittsburgh, PA..... With a Morrissey concert, one always wonders whether it will take place at all--given Morrissey's well-documented history of shows cancelled at the last minute. So it was concerning when several recent of his concerts had to be scrapped due to credible death threats on the former Smiths frontman. But, it turned out not to be a concern and the show went on as scheduled. Morrissey was in fine voice but I had some issues with the setlist. Towards the end of the main set, I thought it's got to be bangers all the way down, but I was disappointed. Some deeper cuts, but more problematically, midtempo songs that didn't get the energy up except for the hardest-core of Moz-heads. There were a lot of people heading to the exits early, and my daughter (first time seeing him live) said to me at one point, "The music for each song sounds good but once he starts singing, they all sound the same." The last time I saw Morrissey , while a showcas...
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