Local boys Punchline will be celebrating the release of their latest album, 'Delightfully Pleased,' on August 13 at Diesel in the South Side. Joined by other Pittsburgh favorites The Spacepimps, Spontaneo and The I Drive, this show will undoubtedly be nothing less than an exciting display of what the Steel City rock scene has to offer. 

Forming over ten years ago, this is the sixth release for Punchline. Between juggling band members and record labels, the quartet has teamed up with Modern Short Stories and TDR Records to put out an album that the band seems to be very excited about. “We did what we know best - we wrote a heartfelt, upbeat, rockin’ ‘pop-punk’ album,” said bassist Chris Fafalios in an blog post earlier this month. “And I am damn excited about that.” It’s no surprise they will be holding the show at Diesel, since the band plays there quite often, including a show this past November while on tour with Hawthorne Heights.

John Vesley relied on himself to make it in the music industry and it sure paid off. Under the name Secondhand Serenade, he has released three studio albums, including this year’s 'Hear Me Now.' The single "Fall For You" hit number eight on the US Top 100 and went platinum in 2008. Not bad for a guy from California who was selling albums via mail order just five years ago. 

In 2005, he recorded his debut, 'Awake,' in Ontario and distributed it via mail and PayPal. He eventually got the music on to iTunes and sold over 15,000 copies himself. He was then signed to Glassnote Records, named the number three Best Myspace Artist and released the follow-up, 'Awake.'

Hailing from Maryland and taking their name from the title of an Ernest Hemmingway novel, one can predict what to expect from quartet The Dangerous Summer: honesty and quality. In what is described as a record that highlights those aspects that current music lacks, their debut record, 'Reach for the Sun,' is described as “a polished and wise debut brimming with a poise that belies the band’s years.”

Heading out on their first headlining tour, the band has decided to take the opportunity to play the entire record front to back before moving onto a new album. AJ Perdomo, Cody Payne, Bryan Czap and Tyler Minsberg had a rough reality check moving from packed houses in their hometown to bars in NYC that had only five people in the audience. Since releasing their album on Hopeless Records, though, their following has certainly pushed them to new heights. 

John Mayer visits the ‘Burgh next Sunday, on August 1st, at the First Niagara Pavilion.  (Yes, I still want to call it the Post-Gazette, too, but that’s show biz.)  I’ve seen some good shows there in the past—the name change can’t have made that much of a difference.  

Mayer is one of those artists whose place in the pop culture often eclipses the art itself.  That’s a dangerous place for an artist—people will form opinions about the individual (based on what the press reports) without ever viewing the painting, reading the book, watching the movie, hearing the music.  I remember when this happened to me, back in the early 90’s, when Nirvana was suddenly everywhere—before I ever had a chance to hear their music, I was already tired of them.  

I guess I would say that I have a personal relationship with The Juliana Theory; not just because of the music, but in that the bands begins started in my hometown. In fact, their first gig was at Saint Vincent College, my old alma mater.

The late 90’s and early 2000’s were an interesting time for music. Radio stations that weren’t churning out the ever-growing number of boy bands and bubblegum pop were veering towards a genre of music being sold (and later marketed) as “emo.” With the advent and commercialization of all things emo, the term has become somewhat laughable in recent years, but back when bands like Jimmy Eat World were all over the airwaves, it was more about the music, and less about the “fashion” and side swept hair. This same thing almost always happens across genres; similar to Armani selling flannel shirts for $250 at the height of Nirvana’s world takeover.