Disturbed and Three Days Grace Play PPG Paints Arena; Mr. Smalls Hosts Lucero; ‘Tubman’ at AWC (Wed., 2/20/19)

1) Disturbed, a heavy metal band rising out of Chicago, Illinois in the mid-nineties, has seven studio albums, five of which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. The latest release from the group was 2018’s Evolution. Lead vocalist David Draiman says the group has been heavily influenced by classic metal bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, and Pantera. Disturbed even has a mascot called The Guy, that over the years has morphed into more of a Marvel Comics-looking character. The band has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice in the categories of Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Rock Performance. And in 2006 they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Rock Artist of the Year. You can experience Disturbed at PPG Paints Arena. Also on the bill is Three Days Grace. 7:30 p.m. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. 

Disturbed in concert in 2016. (photo: Stefan Brending and Wikipedia)

2) Lucero is a country-punk outfit, which formed in Memphis in 1998. 2015’s All a Man Should Do was the band’s first album to include a cover song, “I’m in Love with a Girl” by Big Star. Jody Stephens, the last surviving original member of Big Star, sings backing vocals. 2018’s Among the Ghosts is Lucero’s latest album. Paul Luc (pronounced “Luke”), a Pittsburgh-based indie singer-songwriter, opens the show at Mr. Smalls. Luc released Bad Seed in 2018. Songs from Bad Seed include the cathartic opener, “Restless Mind.” 8 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. (CM)

Harriet Tubman meant business. This photo is undated; the new play ‘Tubman’ imagines her in the present.

3) Harriet Tubman had powers that seemed otherworldly. Escaping from slavery in the antebellum South, she returned to lead many more daring escapes—outwitting pursuers, defying the odds, crediting her success to divine guidance. In the Civil War, she co-led a Union Army raid that liberated entire plantations. Now there is a one-woman play that literally places her in another world. Tubman, by Lacresha Berry, imagines the 1800s heroine in today’s Harlem, asking how she’d respond to current racial issues. Berry, a New York theater artist, performs Tubman at the August Wilson Center. Today (1 p.m.) and tomorrow (8 p.m.). 980 Liberty Ave., Cultural District. (MV)

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