Live: Puddles Pity Party @ Carnegie Library Music Hall
Puddles Pity Party is a commanding presence. He stands at 6'8" feet tall, clad in a white and black clown suit with white makeup and a small crown with a “P,” and remains completely silent — except for when he sings.
On Friday night, Puddles brought his Pity Party and Puddles Cuddles to Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Library Music Hall, delighting fans with his vocal takes on everything from classic rock songs to modern pop while incorporating comedy and audience participation.
Puddles began the evening with somber “The Sound of Silence” and continued with other well-known tracks spanning decades, including “I Want You to Want Me,” “Desperados Under the Eaves,” “Space Oddity,” and “Chandelier,” the song that wowed the judges of America’s Got Talent in 2017 and earned him a spot on the competition. He also included some of his signature “smoosh-ups,” or combinations of songs, with “Folsom Prison Blues/Pinball Wizard,” “Telephone Line/Hello,” and “Under Pressure/Let It Go.”
Comedy and audience participation were interspersed throughout, with running gags involving a large wad of chewing gum and Puddles’ love of actor Kevin Costner and spectators being brought up onstage, usually to aid Puddles in some way. One man led the crowd in a karaoke rendition of “All By Myself,” a woman was called upon (twice) to “play” a cardboard guitar, and a man was brought up (also twice) to whisper, “If you build it, he will come,” in the hopes of summoning Costner himself.
While some may not see the appeal in a concert composed entirely of cover songs, the joy of Puddles Pity Party is in simply listening and wondering what he’ll sing next and how he’ll make the song his own. His voice is both beautiful and powerful, with a delivery that can be soft and gentle or intense, made all the more impressive live. His performances are a delight and not to be missed.
