Show Review - Eggy 6/18/25 Pittsburgh, PA

30-Minute Shatter

The summer leg of Eggy’s “Here and How Tour” rolled into Pittsburgh last night for an intimate Wednesday show at Thunderbird Music Hall, where the band proceeded to throw down a pair of near 30-minute jams amidst an absolutely flawless second set – marking possibly the best show I’ve seen from them yet.

The night began with a breezy “Here and Now,” easing into the night with a brief high-energy jam before tapping “Apology” next. Guitarist Jake Brownstein went for some wah riffing as keyboardist Dani Battat laid down some synth-infused piano underneath, propelling things to a great major-mode peak.

“Hux (Wit’ It)” offered our first extended jam of the night, drummer Alex Bailey pounding into the improv while Brownstein and Battat sparred overtop. Infusing more synth pads underneath his electric piano, Battat moved into a textural approach for a while as bassist Mike Goodman buoyed the jam into an anthemic space. Brownstein’s riffs came close to “Down with Disease” as the energy peaked, Bailey’s whirlwind fills driving the quartet to a massive peak.

Moving from there, Bailey pushed the pace into a more driving motif, Battat soaring on piano and organ while Brownstein worked several different melodic ideas. Speeding up even more, Brownstein switched to a chord-based approach deep in the groove as Battat’s Moog Model D synth entered the fray with searing leads, taking over the forefront of the space while guitar faded into the back a little bit.

While the synth twisted and turned, the rest of the band engaged in some communicative sharing of ideas, linking up on various hits and builds to keep the energy high. The euphoric vibe continued through the return to “Hux” proper, wrapping up a strong 18 minutes that set the tone early for what was to come.

The funky “One Stop Shop” emerged next to keep the flow of the set going nicely ahead of a gorgeous cool-down with “Paper Bed,” performed for just the second time ever after its debut last fall in Colorado.

To close out the first set, Eggy debuted their take on Tina Turner’s “The Best” with Bailey at the helm on vocals. This wasn’t just any debut, however, as the band called out Pittsburgh fans Alex and Erin in the balcony for a really sweet mid-song proposal, the positive and joyful vibe of the show so far even further elevated.

When the band re-emerged for the second set, two things were clear: all four of them were in amazing spirits and having a ball, AND they meant business for the remainder of the show. In the 15 Eggy show’s I’ve seen so far, I think this emerges at the top of the pile in terms of setlist flow and improvisation – just jaw-dropping stuff.

“Shatter” led things off and quickly departed into extended improvisational territory with some aggressive Brownstein play. Bailey stuck to a relatively restrained beat as first to give guitar and piano space for interplay, Goodman right underneath with some pulsating work of his own.

Transitioning into some tense, thumping play next, Bailey hammered rhythmic tom work and rolled things into a big build, Brownstein searing into a minor-key release, giving a respite from the build yet refusing to let go of his hypnotic tension-building. Battat’s aggressive piano work was also right at the front of things, meshing together into a minute or so of this kind of jam.

Breaking from there, Bailey dropped back into a tom-heavy groove as Brownstein continued his gritty play with Battat making the switch to clav. Goodman anchored things viciously as the quartet dropped as one into a heavy dub groove, Battat going to some pitch-bent synth lines as Brownstein and Bailey locked in on the groove hits. The Nord Stage synth patch pushed things forward as Brownstein’s chords seemed to slide this way and that, matched by some lightning-fast fills from Bailey on his various percussion accessories.

Battat moved into some chords rather than leads as Brownstein began to move back forward, the two musicians circling each other as some of the intensity of the jam lessened. Transitioning into a lighter space, the band gently tapped out some rhythms as Bailey turned on his delay effects, drawn-out drum sounds coming in reverse as the groove went full reggae.

Bailey began to gradually speed up with some well-timed taps on the snare rims, Battat and Brownstein going into some more spacey effects and textures, building some hypnotic swells. From there, a brief step back to transition into the next section featured some Moog swells from Battat as Bailey began to build up the energy with hard-hitting kick drum and some e-drum effects.

Brownstein’s signature move for a couple years now has been his use of the wild, digital sounds on the Chase Bliss Mood pedal – and we got the full treatment in the next section, laser beam-like guitar lines bouncing across every corner of the room as the rest of the band laid into the jam underneath. It was borderline cacophonous, yet so locked in together as only Eggy is capable of.

Dropping into a danceable jam from there, the band pushed forward into a higher-energy section as the Mood delays continued to swirl. Battat laid into alternating electric piano chords and Moog swells at Goodman charged right into the drum pocket, grooving smoothly with his fluid playing.

Brownstein initiated a modulation from there into a new major key, things returning to a more grounded jam as some of the more outrageous effects died away. Battat began to build some blissful chords, Brownstein immediately latching on and beginning to work a repeated motif into their interplay. Cymbal crashes elevated the energy more as the band headed for a huge peak, exploding into a burst of joy as they rode the cresting wave of the music. The delay-soaked guitar leads ascended things as Battat’s blended piano/electric piano brought a cool extra dimension to things as his other hand worked soaring organ.

Returning to the anthemic “Down with Disease”-adjacent licks from earlier, Brownstein confidently led the rest of the band through a peak that could have easily been the end of the jam – but instead, they went through some more winding tension-builds for one final, COLOSSAL explosion of energy.

Moving into a brief contemplative space from there, the band quieted right down for the transition into “Figure It Out,” the beautiful cool-down ballad eventually giving way to more jamming by way of a thumping, gritty beat thanks to distorted guitar and clav. Building to a new peak from there, the band blew through several minutes of whirlwind blistering play – getting to that kind of jam in almost record time from a slow song – before riding the energy right into Paul McCartney’s “Coming Up.”

The set’s second tentpole jam began with some mind-reading between all four members, a quick turn through ebb-and-flow jamming getting buoyed by Brownstein into a driving zone as Bailey kept up the disco vibe of the cover. Continuing in that vein for a while, the groove was pumping and the bass was thumping through the first peak.

Dropping on a dime into some dark and dissonant play, Battat threw a warbly and destabilizing effect onto his organ as Bailey charged into a punishing tom-heavy beat. Brownstein threw in a smooth “Shatter” tease as things progressed, Bailey now avoiding the dance beat that could easily have slipped back in to keep things fresh.

Yet another whirlwind peak came in, Goodman emphasizing the builds beautifully from the low end as thick guitar leads screamed in overtop with more “Shatter” licks, hinting at the return to the song that wasn’t set to come back for a while yet.

Moving into a new dark space, Battat sparkled up and down his piano, layering the bright synth back underneath as a beautiful contrast to the dirty guitar playing. Bailey completely dropped out for a few seconds to allow a new theme to take hold, then coming back in with some well-timed hits and a driving beat. Brownstein pushed things into a full-band “Crazy Train” tease (huge smiles from all four), Bailey using this as an opportunity to go nuts on some fills before Brownstein pulled them out into a renewed peak zone.

A fresh stop/start segment ensued between Bailey and Brownstein while Battat continued to lay down organ melodies, building another frenzied release of energy before quieting once again.

After the chaos of the preceding few minutes, Eggy took a musical breather of sorts by sitting in a calming major-key zone, the swirling and beautiful melodies eventually giving way to a Battat solo piano interlude, which he used to weave in the beginning of “Tom Corn Walker.”

Known for its goofy narration and shenanigans, this one has to be heard to truly be understood – it contains a slinky, jazzy rendition of “Sweet Home Alabama,” some “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” quotes, “Smile” teases, and some of the most genuine smiles I’ve ever seen from an entire band all at once.

Closing the set with the ending of “Shatter,” everyone in the room went absolutely nuts as the band walked off for the encore break, basking in the glow of what had just unfolded in front of us.

Ripping into “Boom Or Bust” for the encore, this was not just a typical emphatic closer on the show as we got another heavy dose of dark jamming – including a fun reference to one of the band’s vocal warmups – and teases of “The Other One” amid the pounding drum work from Bailey.

Eggy tour continues tonight in Cincinnati where they have an opening set for The String Cheese Incident before continuing their trek out west. Last night was only the second headlining date of this summer run, and if this kind of playing (coupled with the near-30 minute “Atomic Age” from the weekend in Asbury Park) is any indication of what the rest will look like, you do NOT want to miss a single thing this band is doing right now.

Watch live tonight from the Andrew J. Brady Music Center at 6:30PM ET exclusively with a nugs All Access subscription.