Dave Matthews Band
PNC Music Pavilion
July 22, 2014

• Photo by Jeff Hahne
• Dave Matthews Band

The 90-minute electric set had plenty of fan-favorite rarities including "You Never Know," "The Song that Jane Likes" and "Minarets."

Slideshow Dave Matthews Band at PNC Music Pavilion, 7/22/14

10 slides

Dave Matthews Band at PNC Music Pavilion, 7/22/14

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Set 1
Satellite
Ants Marching
Stolen Away on 55th & 3rd
So Damn Lucky
Loving Wings
What Would You Say
Snow Outside
Two Step

Set 2
Still Water (Partial)
Minarets
One Sweet World
Rooftop
Save Me
You Never Know
The Song That Jane Likes
Jimi Thing
Why I Am
If Only
Warehouse
The Riff
Granny
Grey Street

Encore
The Space Between
Still Water (Partial)
Don't Drink the Water

Justin Timberlake
Time Warner Cable Arena
July 12, 2014

• Photo by Jeff Hahne
• Justin Timberlake

So, while I was walking into Time Warner Cable Arena for his concert, my only thought was, "I bet he puts on a good show." Nearly two-and-a-half hours later, I still had no plans to buy his music and my initial thought was wrong. The guy puts on a fantastically entertaining concert.

Unlike many people in the packed downtown arena, I wasn't singing or dancing for the duration of the 28-song set. But just like everyone in the place I couldn't take my eyes off of the show. And that's what it was — a show. From start to finish, Timberlake keeps those in attendance fixated on everything he does. From dancing and running across the expansive stage, from playing a piano or keyboards or acoustic guitar to asking the crowd to sing along — put plain and simple, the guy's a star.

Beck, Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger
Uptown Amphitheatre
July 11, 2014

• Photo by Jeff Hahne
• Beck

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I didn't read any recent reviews and, given his latest album's folk-rock sobriety and a spinal injury that kept him off the road for years, I was prepared for something a bit low key. I figured I'd see the 44-year-old taking it easy with an acoustic guitar and focusing on his newest release, this year's stunning Morning Phase.

But all preconceived notions were thrown out from the first notes of "Devil's Haircut." Beck sang with a bounce in his step, shaked and shimmied his way around the stage and generally looked like he was having a great time without hesitation.

Lindsey Stirling
The Fillmore
June 27, 2014

• Photo by Jeff Hahne
• Lindsey Stirling

It was one somber moment in a concert that was focused on its high-energy output, EDM-infused performance and, of course, plenty of dancing. Stirling, who first found fame on the America's Got Talent stage in 2010, has since made a name for herself as the "dancing violinist" combining her talent as a classical violinist with her passion for dancing.

Bloc Party w/ IO Echo
The Fillmore
Jan. 15, 2013

Anyone at the Fillmore last night might have thought British indie-rock band Bloc Party has a new single out called "Charlotte." Thanks to singer Kele Okereke's constant references, no one forgot what city we live in. I don't think I've heard any band address the town it was performing in more frequently.

Oh, and the show? It was solid. Plenty of the tight, tangled, angular art-rock guitar riffage Bloc Party cribbed from Gang of Four, and lots of pouty, Cure-ish vocals with the occasional Morrissey-like falsetto sweep - but without the mopey theatrics. And the band hit all the right notes and covered all the bases, from the old ("This Modern World," "Helicopter") to the new ("Octopus").

Check out some photos and the setlist below.

Madonna
Time Warner Cable Arena
Nov. 15, 2012

• Photo by Jeff Hahne

Sure, she flashed that ass. But nothing about the current MDNA Tour is wholesale gratuitous. Nothing is all that surprising, either, if you've kept up with news of Madonna's other stops on the tour, which kicked off in Tel Aviv this past May.

In one of several disturbing but exhilarating sequences, a hard and defeated-looking Madonna lay at the edge of a massive stage that extended halfway across the arena floor - the same place that two months ago saw chipper, smartly dressed Democratic delegates cheering the nomination of President Barack Obama. Clad in an all-black stripper's outfit, complete with thong and shiny stilettos, Madonna crawled and slithered about the floor in an ominous sendup of her notorious early performance of "Like a Virgin" at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. Taunting audience members gathered at the lip of the stage, slightly disheveled but revealing a still-firm bum and muscular arms and legs, she sang - slowly, menacingly, in a minor key and over somber orchestration - a radically reworked "Virgin."

Madonna was begging for money; she wanted cash, she said - dollars, big dollars. And she was getting it. As hundreds of bills showered the stage, she slithered about, completely decontextualizing her old "Material Girl" persona as she gathered up each one. "If you're going to look at the crack of my ass," she spat, "you better raise some cash."

The goal of the sequence - which came more than halfway into a two-hour show that ran from the dark violence of "Gang Bang" to the exuberance of her full-chorus treatment of "Like a Prayer" - was to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York City, the town that gave Madonna her start more than 30 years ago. But she wasn't going to just place donation buckets in the arena lobby. No, Madonna was going to do it Madonna's way - theatrically, provocatively, uncomfortably, in a scenario that was designed to polarize the audience.

Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Neighborhood Theatre
Nov. 2, 2012

Robinson, with his full greying beard, clearly relishes his new group and its laid-back vibe that combines elements of classic rock in the vein of the Tulsa, Okla., sound that bred musicians like Leon Russell and stoner-fried jams in the spirit of the Grateful Dead.

The hour-and-15-minute first set got started with the rollicking, "Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go" as the band scattered a mix of songs from each of its two albums along with the sporadic cover. The first set included the Dead's "Bertha" and a sped-up, country-rock rendition of Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes."