Jack’s Mannequin in Pittsburgh – June 13, 2025

Jack’s Mannequin made a stop in Pittsburgh Friday night as part of their first full tour in almost 10 years, celebrating the 20 year anniversary of their debut album, Everything in Transit. Led by front man Andrew McMahon (who you may know from his previous band, Something Corporate, or his solo project, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness), Jack’s Mannequin celebrated the anniversary by playing every song off the album, plus many other crowd favorites from later albums. They were joined by indie-folk artist Yoke Lore.

Yoke Lore

Adrian Galvin – who performs under the name Yoke Lore – opened the show with his backing band. Yoke Lore played banjo or guitar for a majority of his songs, engaging with the audience and dancing around on stage. Although his style of music and Jack’s Mannequin alt-rock/pop-punk genre did not seem immediately compatible, the crowd thoroughly enjoyed his performance and were dancing along for the majority of the set. He finished off with his best known song, “Beige,” which a good majority of the crowd knew and sang along to.

Jack’s Mannequin

Andrew McMahon has been involved in a number of different projects, and this time he was touring with many of the original members of his second band, Jack’s Mannequin. This tour was special for Andrew, as it celebrated the 20 year anniversary of the band’s debut album, but also the 20 year anniversary of his leukemia diagnosis and subsequent stem cell transplant from his sister. Their performance celebrated both milestones, as Andrew was very open and honest about the experience, detailing how some of the songs were difficult to perform as they reminded him of his bout with cancer. In between some songs, old photographs and videos from old Jack’s Mannequin performances flashed on the screens behind the band, which many of the older fans appreciated (and probably remembered attending some of those shows).

Their performance featured all 11 songs off the Everything in Transit, including lesser-played songs like “The Mixed Tape,” and “Miss Delaney,” and some of the 10th anniversary bonus tracks, like “Last Straw AZ.” Throughout most of the show, Andrew remained behind his staple piano, but made use of both microphones stationed at the piano to engage with the crowd while singing. He did step away from the piano a few times to further engage with the crowd, and jumped off the piano a few times in classic McMahon fashion. Most of the crowd – many of whom seemed to have been fans of his for at least 20 years – knew every word to every song, dancing and singing along to many songs they probably had not heard live for many years. Andrew is known to play “covers” of Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin songs while performing as part of his solo project, but hearing them as a Jack’s Mannequin show was very special to many of the fans.

As the band departed the stage before their encore, a video began playing on the screen, featuring Andrew (from 2005) talking about finishing the album and battling cancer and the successful stem cell transplant. The crowd listened to every word, and gave the band a raucous applause when they returned to the stage. The band finished off the night with one of Jack’s Mannequin’s most popular songs, “Dark Blue.” The show was an emotional reunion of friends – both on stage and in the crowd – as they celebrated 20 years of probably the most influential and important pieces of music in Andrew McMahon’s life.