Josh Groban to Sing at Consol Center (CPs 11/2/13)

1) While still in high school, Josh Groban rose to fame after pinch-hitting for an ill Andrea Bocelli on a duet with Celine Dion at the 1998 Grammys. Since then, he’s put a youthful, shaggy face on orchestral pop, becoming a sort of a cross of Elton John and Tony Bennett for a new generation. And he has a sense of humor; we love his sung renditions of Kanye West’s tweets on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Groban is at the Consol Energy Center today and we hope the venue isn’t too imposing for him to break out some Kanye musings. We’d love to hear, “Fur pillows are hard to actually sleep on” or “Man, whatever happened to my antique fish tank?” 8 p.m. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown.

2) An under-recognized thing about Pitt: The university is a hub of jazz culture, offering a PhD in Jazz Studies and hosting the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame in its student union. (Yep, freshmen, that’s what that collection of plaques with the old people’s faces on them is.) Pitt’s jazziness reaches a crescendo every fall with the Annual Pitt Jazz Seminar. Events are held across the school and city all week but the marquee shindig is tonight’s gala concert featuring Geri Allen at the Carnegie Music Hall. Allen is a singer/pianist with a dizzying list of credits as a leader and side woman and, starting in 2014, she’ll be the head of Pitt’s mighty jazz program. 8 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

3) In the late ’90s, rave music spread across the U.S. and disappeared as quickly as Hanson or that Blair Witch Project sequel. Still, around the globe, people kept huddling into dank clubs and writhing to the point of exhaustion to rapid-fire beats. In Israel, the duo Infected Mushroom came up with a throbbing form of trance, set to elaborate, seemingly seizure-inducing visuals. Tonight, their Fungusamongus Tour is coming to Stage AE for a show with fellow ravers Datsik, Funtcase, Antiserum X Mayhem and RSK. Check to see if your glow sticks and adult baby costume are still in the attic. 8 p.m. 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore.

4) For a small group of believers, the truth about UFOs is still out there. Today, they’ll converge at Westmoreland County Community College to compare notes for the all-day Pittsburgh Area MUFON Conference (MUFON being the Mutual UFO Network). Among today’s speakers are an abduction researcher, a documentary filmmaker with an interest in crop circles, the host of the Lake Erie UFO Tour, and a dude who once ran a hotline where people could report their sightings. Feel free to probe any of them—for information, that is. 8:30 a.m. 145 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood.

5) It often seems that Lawrenceville has more art studios than Brooklyn has pizza joints. Throughout today, 17 of them will hold open houses for the Lawrenceville Artists Studio Tour. Find out how Linda Price-Sneddon plots her landscapes featuring video projection, or learn about woodcut prints from Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, or peek into 15 other creation stations. (Click on the link for a map.) 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Lawrenceville.

Share on Social Media