Faster Pussycat headlined a packed show on Sunday evening at the Crafthouse Stage & Grill in the south hills of Pittsburgh, PA. The night began with a quick set from The Lonely Ones who hail from Columbus, Ohio.
The Lonely Ones are fronted by Marty McCoy on bass and lead vocals with Jymmy Tolland on guitar and Tristan Woodruff on drums. With the show starting promptly at 6:30 pm, I sadly missed most of their set, but enjoyed the few songs that I caught. I even got a little laugh out of their sing-along finale which teased at Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” While I will say that it is probably the most overplayed song on classic rock radio locally, I’ve never heard the song performed live (aside from a Led Zeppelin tribute show). So, when I heard those familiar notes, I couldn’t get that ‘no stairway’ sign from Wayne’s World out of my head.
Up next were The Rumours, a rock band based out of Waterloo, Iowa delivering a high-caliber mix of rock and punk led by two kick-ass girls in red bikini tops, who were loaded with ink and armed with loud guitars and big attitudes. The girls are Carli Foxx on guitar and Ela Rose on bass, and they are joined by Clint Wheelman on drums. The Rumours may just be the ‘hottest three-some you’ll ever see’.
Bringing an even bigger crowd and more attitude were the legendary Supersuckers , who hit the stage next. Supersuckers are another trio featuring Eddie Spaghetti on vocals and bass, Marty Chandler on guitar and drummer Christopher von Streicher. The band was interrupted during their set by a crazy fan who breached the stage…oh, wait, not to worry it just turned out to be be Danny “Slim Tender” Nordahl from Faster Pussycat sporting a Supersuckers t-shirt who was giving Marty some love and joining the band for “Pretty Fucked Up”. Naturally, the crowd all knew that cut, because Danny regularly covers the song with Faster Pussycat.
We were definitely craving a performance from Faster Pussycat and the size of the crowd confirmed that it was not just us. We were thrilled to see frontman Taime Downe doing well and back on stage and our thoughts are with him as he continues to move forward with such a tragic loss earlier this year. He was joined by guitarist Sam Bam Kolton and Kiran Robertson, Slim Tender on bass, and Chad Stewart on drums and vocals.
The band kicked things off with the 2025 single “Motorbike” and the 1987 classic “Don’t Change that Song,” later including another new (er) pandemic-era single “Like a Ghost” along with covers of Carly Simon’s “Your So Vain” and Betty Blowtorch‘s “Shut Up And F#ck” intp the mix of sleazy favorites like “Babylon” and “Bathroom Wall” to great applause.
Before the evening ended, we made a video and took some photos counting down to another Monsters of Rock Cruise, which kicks off out of Miami on April 12th, but we sure hope we won’t have to wait that long until we catch another show. There are a handful of remaining dates listed below for those who missed this.
Remaining Tour Dates:
6/24- Buffalo Iron Works- Buffalo, NY
6/25- The Lost Horizon- Syracuse, NY
6/26- Koto Asian Fusion- Lowell, MA
6/27- Racket NYC- New York, NY
6/28- Phantom Power- Millersville, PA
6/29- Ember Music Hall- Richmond, VA
Review and photos by Kara Uhrlen for The Pure Rock Shop. Posted on 6/24/2025
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