Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena is preparing to host big ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s bands like AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Disturbed, and Daughtry. With this nostalgic throwback to early rock dating back to 50 years ago, you might not know who these bands even are.
Australian band AC/DC was founded in 1973 and consisted of lead guitarist Angus Young, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young (older brother of Angus), vocalist Dave Evans, bassist Larry Van Kriedit, and drummer Colin Burgess.
This band made their way to fame with their first hit single, “Highway to Hell” soon after they produced, “Back In Black” and countless other popular songs.
Some songs you might recognize are, “Thunderstruck,” “D.T.,” “Shoot to Thrill,” “Let There Be Rock,” and a more recent song “Witch’s Spell,” which came out in 2020.
The only original member alive is Angus Young who will be performing on May 8 in Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena for their “Power Up Tour.”
Pearl Jam will be playing at the PPG Paints Arena on May 16 and 18 on their “Dark Matter U.S. Tour.” Almost all the original members will be performing on this tour, minus former drummers Dave Krusen, Jack Irons, Matt Chamberlain, and Dave Abbruzzese.
The members playing this year include lead vocalist Eddie Vender, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament, lead guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Matt Cameron.
Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 and quickly became popular because of their classic rock meets seventies heavy metal and hardcore punk sound. Their debut single, “Alive” was a big hit, and was included on their first studio album, “Ten” released in 1991. While they weren’t exactly an overnight sensation, they still became popular fairly fast.
Some familiar songs you might know by Pearl Jam could be “Black,” “Alive,” “Better Man,” “Last Kiss,” “Just Breathe,” “Once,” “Release,” “Wash,” and “Off He Goes.” These are just a few of their biggest hits.
The 1994 band “Disturbed” played at PPG Paints Arena on April 5. If you had the opportunity to go then you had gotten to see band members guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, lead vocalist David Draiman and bassist John Moyer.
Disturbed had a slow rise to fame with their first hit single, “Stupify,” released in the 2000s as the first single on their debut album, “The Sickness.” Another hit single from that album is “Down With the Sickness. ” These two singles made their album quite popular.
Some songs by Disturbed you might recognize are, “Ten Thousand Fists”, “Stricken”, “Prayer,” “Asylum,” “Indestructible,” “I Will Not Break,” and “Inside the Fire.” One of the openers of Disturbed is Daughtry, who is lesser known, but not to be discounted. Some of their biggest songs include “Home”, “Waiting for Superman,” “It’s Not Over,” “Feels Like Tonight,” “No Surprise,” and “Over You.”
Whether or not you enjoy or even know these bands they are not small artists to be visiting Centre County. At least now you have a conversation starter for your parents who might have been diehard fans of any of these bands back in their day.
