NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2026
On the heels of the release of his third solo studio album How Did I Get Here? (which debuted at number one on the UK album charts), former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson (aka Louis Troy Austin) has embarked on a huge tour across the Europe, North American, and Australia. On July 10th, his tour stopped at Stage AE Outdoors in Pittsburgh with special guests Picture Parlour and Beaches.
As the Stage AE staff came outside and announced to the hundreds of people waiting on line in the rain that heavy storms were expected to pass through and that everyone should take cover either in their cars or in the stadium next door, it became a bit questionable whether this evening’s show would go on as scheduled. But the heavy downpours never materialized and, although doors were delayed for twenty minutes, the sun magically appeared just as the opener, indie rockers Picture Parlour from Manchester, England, took the stage.
Because doors were delayed and the show started on time, people were still filing into the venue as the band kicked off their set with “Cielo Drive”, the first track off their debut studio album The Parlour (released in November 2025). When the band first took the stage, the first thing that struck me was the streak of blonde hair on lead vocalist/guitarist Katherine Parlour that reminded me of Michael Fitzpatrick from Fitz and the Tantrums! Accompanied by lead guitarist Ella Risi, bassist Kitty Fitz, and drummer Michael Nash tore through their set and had the venue rocking! Their sound is a throwback to old school 70s rock and roll and Katherine’s growly vocal style reminds me of Taylor Momsen of the Pretty Reckless. The mostly young female audience seemed distracted and detached and many weren’t able to appreciate the music unfolding before them. Their loss but I’m happy to have discovered another young rock band!
Click on photos to enlarge
Toronto based Beaches have come a long way since I first covered them at tiny venue in Buffalo, NY in 2022. When “Blame Brett” became a phenomenon in North America, propelling them to the forefront of indie pop/rock, they seemed to be everywhere and were soon playing arenas! After the release of their third studio album No Hard Feelings last August, they toured North America in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the EU/UK/Australia in Q1 2026. In support of Louis Tomlinson’s How Did I Get Here? Tour, they’re hoping to be get exposure to a whole new audience!
They kicked off their set with “Takes One to Know One”, the first single from their latest record, followed by “Did I Say Too Much” from the same record. Their set actually felt a bit like an abbreviated version of their No Hard Feelings Tour set with mostly songs from that album, just three from their breakout album Blame My-Ex, and nothing older. Lead singer/bassist Jordan Miller sounded great and the rest of the band, sister and guitarist Kylie Miller, guitarist Leandra Earl, and drummer Eliza Enman-McDaniel were in fine form, thoroughly enjoying their time on stage as usual. Unfortunately, as with Picture Parlour, the crowd was mostly dull, even on “Blame Brett”, with only a few Beaches fans dancing and singing along. After seeing Beaches mostly in Buffalo and Toronto, it felt odd to have an audience that was not going insane at a Beaches show. I guess when I thought they were “everywhere”, it was still mostly Canada.
Click on photos to enlarge
As the sun started to set, strobes and lasers presaged Louis Tomlinson’s approach to the stage. The percussion and guitar intro to “Lemonade” hit and the crowd went wild! While this song also didn’t make a dent in the US charts, it was definitely popular with the Louies and the production went all out right away with flashing light and even an explosion of confetti! What color was that confetti? Well, yellow like lemonade, of course! As the set progressed, I did wonder if Tomlinson was lip-syncing because the songs sounded a bit too clean and the vocals didn’t change whether he was singing directly into the mic or if he turned away. This thought was confirmed when he performed an acoustic version of “Defenceless”, where the vocals had a completely different “sound” than the earlier songs. There was a more hollow sound, more air, and he didn’t hit every note perfectly. I wonder why he would either sing to a track or use Auto-Tune Live since he doesn’t actually move around the stage much. Modern pop, I guess.
Nevertheless, the crowd was having a great time! The whole band (except the drummer) came down the runway and performed “Night Changes”, a One Direction song. I was surprised that Tomlinson didn’t move up and down the runway to give some love to fans lining the barricade. After three songs, the band moved back to the main stage. Tomlinson finally moved around back and forth across the stage for “Silver Tongues” and “The Observer”. For the finale “Palaces”, he came off the stage into the photo pit, thrilling his fans as he moved all around the barricades, not even pretending to sing at times. All I could hear from many fans was “Oh my God!! Oh my God!!”. Even with a nice twenty four song set, they could not get enough of their idol. Suffice to say they thoroughly enjoyed the show!