Scott Tady: Catch Pat Benatar & Smokey Robinson in a Pine Township backyard; Laufey shined

Pat Benatar will perform in a Pine Township backyard; so will Smokey Robinson.

Wrap your head around that A-list lineup for a moment, as I tell you tickets for this special July 26-27 event are available, starting as low as $195, at hm3independencefund.org.

This event, called Celebrity Care Fest, is touted as the area’s largest and most exciting charity extravaganza of summer.

"It's a kind of show that people might drive to The Hamptons to see, or go to Miami," said Pittsburgh's renowned concert promoter, Rich Engler. "But it's in Gibsonia."

Engler worked 18 months to put into place this North Hills shindig starring 2022 Rock Hall of Fame inductees Benatar and her guitar-slinging hubby Neil Giraldo, Motown legend Robinson, plus Pittsburgh blues-rockers Ghost Hounds with Beaver County's Joe Munroe on keyboards.

Engler's trucking in what he describes as "one of the biggest mobile stages known to man," to be set up in a natural grass amphitheater, with the hillside backdrop keeping the acoustics professional level.

Celebrity Care Fest concerts launched in 2014, and are produced and hosted by The HM3 Partners Independence Fund, a nonprofit charitable organization.

UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation is this year's beneficiary.

The music starts July 26, with Benatar and Giraldo, along with a special opening performance from New York City recording artist Queen V, who's opened for Bon Jovi, Twisted Sister and Billy Idol. Queen V, aka Veronica Stigeler, is married to Pittsburgh Steelers head coaching legend Bill Cowher, who's likely to be among the celebrities mingling among the crowd.

On July 27, Smokey Robinson and Ghost Hounds also will entertain.

Tickets can be purchased for either night or can be purchased as a two-night package. VIP tickets including an open bar sell for $355 and $485.

The July 27 ticket includes a free strolling dinner throughout the backyard grounds catered by Walnut Grill.

Engler estimates concert capacity at 2,000. There's free valet parking.

Celebrity Care Fest concerts previously included popular bands such as Kool & The Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, REO Speedwagon, Peter Frampton and Chicago.

The HM3 Partners Independence Fund board members have donated or raised more than $2 million for various charities.

Laufey was lovely

Laufey needs to be on your list of musical artists to know.

That's jazz-pop artist Laufey, the 25-year-old Icelandic-Chinese singer who drew nearly 7,000 fans to Heinz Hall this past Monday and Tuesday for performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

An audible gasp of delight from a largely teenage crowd greeted Laufey as she walked on stage opening night in a lovely teal dress.

Those fans stayed seated, quiet and enraptured by Laufey's 100-minute performance, which highlighted her pretty, smoothly shifting vocals and confessional, relatable lyrics

With the always-entertaining Moon Doh serving as maestro, the PSO's elegant strings and perfectly timed brass sass gave Laufey love songs like "While You Were Sleeping" and "Valentine" a proper emotional heft.

Early on, Laufey scored a point for independence with "Dreamer," a throwback jazz lounge song where she breezily declared, "No boy's gonna be so smart/as to try and pierce my porcelain heart/No boy's gonna kill the dreamer in me."

Her voice evoked a heartfelt vulnerability and wistfulness on numerous songs about unrequited love, as well as "Dear Soulmate" written about the ideal life partner she hopes to meet.

She introduced "Goddess" as a song about an ex-boyfriend who expected her to be as glamorous off-stage as she is on it.

A half-dozen songs in, Laufey grabbed a Gibson guitar, also later demonstrating her skills on cello and piano.

She admitted to flubbing a few words on "Magnolia," but skillfully brushed that off with a playful remark about enjoying improvisation, which is one of the hallmarks of jazz.

Fans cheered.

For the encore, Laufey at piano played "Misty."

Laufey added her autobiographical "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self," which she set up ruminating on her childhood where she felt like she never fit in with the other kids. Hailing from a classical music family ? including her mom, a violinist ? Laufey reminisced about how she'd often feel like the only youngster at symphony concerts, and how she dreamed of someday being an adult on stage performing with an orchestra as young people watched in the audience.

Sharing those memories aloud made it extra special at Heinz Hall, when "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self" got to the verse "Keep on going with your silly dream/Life is prettier than it may seem/One day, you'll be up on stage/Little girls will scream your name."

Right on cue, young Pittsburgh area fans screamed her name.

Brothers were great

There was a lot to like about the Brothers Osborne show June 20 at Stage AE, too.

Let's start with T.J. Osborne's thick, compelling baritone voice ? as solid as anyone's in country music ? painting a soundscape embellished by older brother John Osborne's beefy, bendy guitar riffs.

In their first Pittsburgh concert in five years, the reigning Country Music Association's Vocal Duo of The Year winners struck a fine balance between rocking and twanging.

Early set highlights including the funky psych-swamp of "Shoot Me Straight," and the romp-and-stomp beats of "Drank Like Hank." TJ's acoustic guitar plucking added a nice counterbalance to "A Little Bit Trouble" and "Break Mine."

A surprisingly sizable number of hands rose skyward when T.J. asked concertgoers how many were seeing their first Brothers Osborne show.

Fans responded warmly to Brothers Osborne's better-than-most cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down," which flowed seamlessly into a cathartic, comfortable-in-my-own skin mid-tempo treat "I'm Not for Everyone."

Refreshingly light on pandering country cliches, T.J., John and their backing band let their music do the talking, and it spoke eloquently in a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" where, indeed, every little thing seemed alright.

Brothers Osborne hit high gear with the barnyard stomp of "Rum" and a thumping "It Ain't My Fault" with fans clapping along to the beat.

Fans saw a great performance, though the turnout was a bit disappointing for what was scheduled to be an outdoor show at Stage AE's 5,500-capacity open-air setup. Moved indoors because of temperatures hitting the mid-90s, the crowd fell short of the 2,300-capacity indoor maximum.

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This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Catch Pat Benatar & Smokey Robinson in a Pine Township yard