Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Joe Walsh at PPG: Dawes Plays Three Rivers Arts Festival (Fri., 6/9/17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4iQDYDVNo

1) This show is a great opportunity to see two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members. Tom Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, are in, and Joe Walsh is in as a member of The Eagles. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rose to fame in the 1970s with hits “Breakdown,” “American Girl” and “Refugee.” The band has remained popular over the years with chart risers in every decade. One of my most compelling Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers moments was when they sang “I Won’t Back Down” during “America: A Tribute to Heroes” telethon shortly after the Twin Towers fell. Petty was a member of the 1980s supergroup The Traveling Wilburys. Also on the bill is Eagles member and highly successful solo artist Joe Walsh. He started out in Cleveland band The James Gang, gaining exposure with a few hits like the fast-paced rocker “Funk #49.” He joined The Eagles in 1975 and contributed to the classic album Hotel California and subsequent releases. Walsh also played in Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and had solo hits like “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Ordinary Average Guy.” He is ranked No. 54 on Rolling Stone’s 2015 list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. 7:30 p.m. PPG Paints Arena, 1001 Fifth Ave. Uptown. 

2) Dawes have opened for Irish singer-songwriter Hozier at Stage AE and headlined Mr. Smalls. But want to really grow your fanbase here? Then play a free featured concert at the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, which is exactly what Dawes are doing. An earlier, more post-punk incarnation of the Los Angeles quartet was called “Simon Dawes.” The moniker came from the middle names of members Blake Mills and Taylor Goldsmith. (When Mills left, the group dropped the “Simon.”) The band went in a folk rock direction and in 2009 recorded and released its debut album, North Hills. In 2014, members and brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith played on Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes. The album was based on uncovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the recording of material that eventually was released in 1975 on the album The Basement Tapes. Elvis Costello, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons, Rhiannon Giddens, and many others also contributed. Mills returned to produce Dawes’s latest album, 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die. 7:30 p.m. Dollar Bank Stage, Point State Park, Downtown. (EC, CM)

3) Audiences 15 years ago were captivated by the movie A Beautiful Mind, based on the true story of mathematician John Nash and his struggles with schizophrenia. But there is another dramatic work about higher math and mental illness that appeared at about the same time—and among those who’ve seen it, many consider David Auburn’s play Proof to be even better. Proof won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play is purely fictional, yet people in the math world say it paints a strikingly “true” picture of what that world is like. Also, pure fiction allows more freedom in story construction, and playwright Auburn has given Proof a rich, complex plot filled with twists and tension. It’d be a stretch to try to summarize the story here, so the pertinent news is: Little Lake Theatre is performing Proof. 500 Lakeside Dr., Canonsburg. 8 p.m. Performances through June 24. (MV)

4) The Pirates play the Miami Marlins in a 7:05 p.m. game. It’s also a Zambelli Fireworks night.  PNC Park, 115 Federal St., North Shore.

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