Heinz Hall Hosts Lake Street Dive; Pittsburgh Ballet Has ‘Spring Mix’ at Benedum (Sat., 4/11/26)

1) Lake Street Dive members met while students at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music. They named their band after a dive-bar-rich street in Minneapolis, former bandmate Mike Olson’s hometown. Their sound has touches of pop, Americana, jazz, and soul. For proof of their cross-genre appeal, check out 2016’s Side Pony, their fifth LP. It debuted at the top of three Billboard album charts—Rock, Folk, and Alternative. “Call Off Your Dogs,” a song from that album, moves in many musical directions and features a music video filmed at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Another top hit for Lake Street Dive is Bad Self Portraits from their 2014 album of the same name. Keyboardist Akie Bermiss joined the band in 2017. Lead singer Rachel Price has a lovely soul, pop voice which is one of the reasons for Lake Street Dive’s success, as well as helping her forge a successful solo career. The band played the inaugural Maple House Festival at Hartwood Acres a few years ago. The group’s latest LP is Good Together, which was released in 2024. Sold out. Heinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (C.M., R.H.)

SPRING MIX (program of short ballets). Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Through April 12. 

2) The time is at hand, we hope, when the dreaded “wintry mix” will vanish from weather forecasts. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre celebrates the season with a bouquet of four sprightly dances. Bundled under the title Spring Mix, they mingle contemporary pieces with the classical. Choreographer Mark Godden’s thrilling “Angels in the Architecture”—presented for the first time in Pittsburgh—is danced to Aaron Copland’s music from Appalachian Spring. Also on the bill are an untitled new short ballet from Garrett Smith, Barak Marshall’s rocking “Monger,” and a new staging by Adam W. McKinney of the pas de deux from Swan Lake. Plan to hear music from sources as diverse as Verdi and Balkan Beat Box. PBT’s Spring Mix unfolds in the theater of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 980 Liberty Ave., Cultural District. (M.V.) 

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