Tiffany Pieces Of Me tour Oaks Theater, Oakmont, Pa. November 8, 2019

Reviewed by Michael Rampa

If you are a child of the Eighties and a friend asked you to go to a hard-rocking retro show, you may think of a power trio like The Police or Rush, maybe a hair metal band.  Then you arrive at the venue and on the marquee, it says “Tiffany.” There is only one, you think. Could it be? It turns out that the former pop icon is now a face-melting rock siren in the highest order. The crowd in Oakmont, Pa. witnessed an impromptu backline setup and sound check as the guitarist explained; “We were in Rhode Island last night and drove 12 hours to get here. This is the first time we’ve done a soundcheck in front of an audience. Tiffany wasn’t feeling well but we’re all here now. That’s the kind of rock star Tiffany is.”

She would make that abundantly clear over the next 90 minutes with the crowd on its collective feet for the entirety. She strode confidently on stage clad in black and opened with the sassy and sexy “Beautiful” from the new album. She channeled her influences from Stevie Nicks, Ann Wilson, Pat Benatar, and even Robert Plant. Some may not know that she learned to be a songwriter in Nashville. The title track “Pieces Of Me” has the familiar infectious groove of “Jolene,” but the guitar has a lot more teeth. Coupled with her high-octane vocals, she made the song feel like it could have been a Janis Joplin original.  The setlist featured mostly cuts from the new album, each of which rocked harder than the other. Midway she took a deep dive into her 10-disc catalog. Anyone remember “Color Of Silence?” Where is Team Tiff? she quipped before firing off “Butterfly” and King Of Lies” from the nearly 20-year-old album

Fittingly, she tipped her cap to one of the greatest bands of all time with a cover of The Beatles, “I Saw Her Standing There.” (in this case {“him”}

Of course, she closed with her career-maker “I Think We’re Alone Now” and proved she can still rock her signature heel slide with the youthful exuberance from her appearance on “Star Search” 30 years ago.

There is an entire generation who grew up with Tiffany the pop star. They are all around 50 years old now.  These fans will see this as a stunning transformation. The many youngsters at this show singing every word to songs from the new album are growing up with Tiffany the Rock star as their jumping-off point.  And it looks like they’re going to be in for a heck of a ride.