Tom Green Performs at Pittsburgh Improv; Tool, Incubus, and The Neighbourhood in Area Concerts (Fri., 11/8/19)

1) If you came of age in the late ’90s and had cable in your home, you probably remember Tom Green humping a dead moose by the side of the road and sneaking a cow’s head into his sleeping parents’ bed. Green’s wildly popular MTV show invented the prank comedy genre that’s been the lifeblood of network shows like “Punk’d” and “Jackass.” Fame based on infamy is hard to maintain, and Green couldn’t readily pull stunts on an unsuspecting public while on magazine covers. Green has built a mini-empire of podcasts and other online media and has a respected stand-up career. He also has a namesake beer, a milk stout brewed by Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company. Green was a contestant on “Celebrity Big Brother 2” this year. Additionally in 2019 the Canadian native became a U.S. citizen. Green’s three-day stint at the Improv starts today. 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. 166 E. Bridge St., Homestead. (EC, RH)

The contemplative, serious side of Tom Green.

The contemplative, serious side of Tom Green.

2) Tool released its first album in 13 years: Fear Inoculum. Some tracks top 10 minutes, but the prog-rock arrangements are captivating, so they feel more like a medley of two or three different tunes. The mysterious alt-metal quartet has always shied from the spotlight. The band members rarely appear in their music videos. In fact, most of their videos opt strictly for stop-motion animation. They were also one of the last streaming holdouts, but you can now find all their music on services such as Spotify. Vocalist Maynard James Keenan, who also fronts A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, often performs wearing Kabuki masks, wigs, or other guises. Tool formed in Los Angeles in 1990. The group’s first album was 1993’s Undertow. 10,000 Days, their previous album, was released in 2006. Tool comes to PPG Paints Arena. Killing Joke opens. 7 p.m. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. (CM)

3) Incubus have been a mainstay on alternative-rock radio for a long time, and the band must be feeling reflective. The quintet is on its 20 Years of Make Yourself and Beyond Tour. The tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of Make Yourself, Incubus’s third album and a commercial watershed for the group. The album went double-platinum and spawned three singles, each of which charted on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart in the top three. “Drive” also made it to no. 9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Incubus formed in 1991 in Calabasas, California. Their sound runs the gamut of rock to hip hop, and member Chris Kilmore plays both turntables and keyboards. Make Yourself was also their first album to feature Kilmore. 2017’s 8 is their eighth and latest album. Incubus performs at Heinz Hall. The show is sold out. 8 p.m. 600 Penn Ave., Cultural District. (CM)

4) The Neighbourhood’s stop at Stage AE will be Pittsburgh’s chance to see the band not only live but also in color. The quintet is committed to pairing its moody music with a monochrome aesthetic, going so far as to refuse to play “The Late Show with David Letterman” until the producers agreed to shoot the performance in black and white. That performance, by the way, was of the group’s breakthrough single, “Sweater Weather.” Despite drawing heavily from rap, the single appeared on many an alternative radio station. It comes from the band’s 2013 debut album, I Love You, which was followed by 2015’s Wiped Out! Also, don’t let the “u” in the name fool you. They’re not British. Rather, the members hail from Newbury Park, California, near Los Angeles. The Neighbourhood’s new, self-titled album was released in 2018. To keep things simple, the band sometimes stylizes its name as THE NBHD. Slow Hollows and Claud open. Doors open 7 p.m. 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore. (CM)

Donna the Buffalo.

5) Donna the Buffalo, a band that plays across the musical genres of folk, rock, country, bluegrass, and zydeco, hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York. The songwriting heart of the band is composed of Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins, both of whom perform vocals and are multi-instrumentalists. They even have a “Funky Side.” Donna the Buffalo is one of the founding/host bands for the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance and additionally the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival. Followers of the band are known collectively as “The Herd.” The band got its name when the musicians mis-heard a friend suggesting the name Dawn of the Buffalo. In 2018 The Buffalo released a new studio album, Dance in the Street, with noted producer/ engineer Rob Fraboni. Jenn Wertz Band and Tiger Maple String Band open for Donna the Buffalo at the Roxian Theatre, 7:30 p.m. 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. (RH)

6) Representing a few areas of culture we don’t often see converge, The Devil Wears Prada is a Christian melodic metalcore band named after a chick-lit novel. They’ve worked hard to earn the respect of the metalcore world. (With their name and religiosity, they had to.) “Sailor’s Prayer” is a good example of their music. The Dayton, Ohio-based musicians visit here on a global tour in support of their new album The Act.  Opening are Norma Jean, and Gideon. 8 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. (EC, RH)

7) David Allan Coe has been called one of the few true outlaws in the outlaw country genre. The Ohio-born singer-songwriter honed his chops while spending many of his early years in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. His debut album was 1970’s Penitentiary Blues. Since then, Coe has blazed through the country/rock world in a long career marked by outrageous (but not really destructive) onstage stunts, 42 studio albums, a bunch more other-type albums (plus a few books), raunchy humor, and songs with the quality called “attitude”—most notably “Take This Job and Shove It.”  Coe, now 80 and too ornery to retire, visits Jergel’s Rhythm Grille with special guests the Andy Davis Band. 8 p.m. 285 Northgate Dr., Warrendale. (MV)

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Rick Handler

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