NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2026
I’ve been a huge fan of the Cannons‘ smooth dance music since 2022 when Fever Dream, their third studio album, was about to be released. There never seems to be a bad time to listen to their grooves unless you just want to go to sleep. Then again, the dreamy vocals might make you think you’re dancing in your sleep! We covered their Toronto show in September 2023, and while it was a great show, I did feel that the backing track often overrode singer Michelle Joy’s vocals, making it more like a lip-synched show. With the release of their latest record Everything Glows just two weeks ago, I was ready to see Cannons again to hear those new tracks in a live setting. Currently in the midst of a co-headlining tour, called the Afterglow Tour, with electronic duo Bob Moses, they made a stop at Stage AE in Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 11th.
The audience was not quite what I had expected. It seemed to be mostly composed of Gen X and older Millennials, not who you’d expect at a dance/EDM party. Perhaps it’s the retro sound of Cannons or maybe those who partied in the clubs when Bob Moses first came onto the scene with “Tearing Me Up” in 2015. Either way, the venue was still filling up when the opener came on.
The opener was local indie rocker James the Seventh (aka Bethany Latham), a ballet dancer turned musician when she suffered a major injury in 2020. The name derived from a private family joke because her father was the sixth in a line of sons called James. Her outfit felt a bit like half 80s glam with the wide shoulders and half metal, with chains hanging down. With guitar in hand, playing to a recorded musical track, I think she would have benefited with having a full band with her but openers in the current musical environment may not have that luxury. Her tongue-in-cheek lyrics, while coming straight from her experiences, was interesting in an all-ages show. I did see at least one six/seven year old girl there with her family, listening to James the Seventh sing “Pity Fuck” and “Mind Your (fucking) Business”. While expressive and high energy, she wasn’t able to elicit a significant reaction from the older crowd who were waiting to see the headliners. I’ll definitely check out more of her music in the meantime.
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When Cannons took the stage, there was one noticeable change: Paul Davis was not on drums. On the previous tour, he played keyboards/bass and had been on drums during earlier stops on the Afterglow Tour. However, he was missing completely from this show and the band didn’t acknowledge it, to our surprise.
NOTE: Cannons just released a communication that Paul was in an accident in Dallas last week, resulting in a brain bleed, and had emergency brain surgery on April 12th. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him next tour!
One addition to this tour was Jade Fink on bass and she was a lot of fun, bouncing around with a smile on her face. Ryan Clapham took his place on guitar, sporting a white Stratocaster. Vocalist Michelle Joy was the center of attention as expected and well deserved. Cannons kicked off their set with “Loving You”, the first single from their 2023 album Heartbeat Highway, then “Starlight” from Everything Glows, and “Hurricane” from Fever Dream, rounding out singles from each of their last three studio albums. Michelle was not dancing nearly as much she did on their previous tour perhaps, unlike that tour, Joy was definitely singing live at this show! Cannons fans were evident in the crowd as everyone was dancing and singing along. One huge fan also took the opportunity to give Michelle a rose!
The set was a nice mix of older hits and songs from their latest album, making sure to keep the fans happy. My personal favorite “Bright Lights” came pretty early in the set. Michelle used mostly one microphone, although she also had what looked like a blues harmonica mic on a stand which she used on certain songs. I’m not certain what effects that second mic provided but it certainly was an interesting change of pace, although it did block her face when she used it.
While Michelle was distinctly singing live during this show, she wasn’t always on pitch. She’s always said that she was never classically trained as a singer, and although that can be pitch corrected on a record during production, it’s harder to do live unless they use AutoTune. Nevertheless, I was happy she sang live and would trade that for a lip-synched show any day. Before Cannons closed out their show with “Fire”, the song that put Cannons on map, Michelle asked everyone to sing it if they knew it and the crowd obliged! “Fire, on fire, on fire” reverberated through the venue! What a great way to end their set!
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I must admit I didn’t know much about Bob Moses before this show. Just a brief search showed producer/DJ Jimmy Vallance and guitarist/vocalist Tom Howie standing side by side behind synths/DJ equipment. That didn’t see that interesting to me but real life turned out different, to my pleasant surprise. Yes, Vallance was standing behind his rig but Howie stood separate with his guitar. In the back were the rhythm section, Julio Tavares on bass and Joe Zizzo on drums. As expected with an electronic band, it was a high energy set and the crowd, having just caught their breath during the break between Cannons and Bob Moses were once again dancing up a storm! Oddly enough, the highlight for me was when they did a cover of “Closer” by NIN. How does “I want to fuck you like an animal” make you want to dance? I don’t know but it worked! They closed out their much-too-short set with “Blink”, the final track from their latest record of the same name.
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