The Home Team brought The Crucible of Life II Tour to the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks, PA on September 19, 2026. The city showed up and packed the venue for the band’s first headline show in Pittsburgh. I saw The Home Team earlier this year open for Bilmuri, and I was thrilled to finally attend a headline show.
As the name of the tour would suggest, The Home Team performed every song off of The Crucible of Life album as well as some of their other hits. “Turn You Off” was the song that kicked off the show and energy for the night. The entire band gives 100% on stage, constantly dancing and even spinning throughout every song. Everyone in the crowd matched this energy as there was moshing and tons of crowd surfers — some even being children which I thought was adorable.
Singer, Brian Butcher, mentioned about halfway through the set that he had been having some issues with his voice recently but that he’d rather “cough blood than cancel or cut a show short” which surprised because Butcher’s voice sounded flawless to me. He continued to push through and sing the entirety of all songs on the setlist.
At one point, the show had to be stopped due to an altercation going on in the crowd. Once security and police escorted a couple of people out of the crowd and venue, the band came back on stage and said all that they ask is that the audience treat everyone with respect. I appreciated them leaving the stage to let venue security take care of the issue, and I appreciated even more Butcher making the statement to treat everyone courteously. Concerts are a haven for fun and letting loose, and there is no need for the aggressive behavior that seemed to be occurring.
A sign was posted in the venue with a QR code stating to vote for a song to be added to the setlist. When I went to vote, I saw the two options were “Slow Bloom” and “Move It or Lose It.” I was immediately torn as these are two of my favorite songs, and I was ecstatic when Butcher mentioned that they decided they were just going to perform both. Another song I was pumped to hear was “Watching All Your Friends Get Rich” because I remembered it being infectious when I saw The Home Team open for Bilmuri. It was just as fun as I remembered, and the entire crowd was jumping and going nuts.
The Home Team has quickly become one of my favorite bands, and I was incredibly lucky to get to see their first headline show in Pittsburgh. I hope they continue to come back, and if they do, I will absolutely be in attendance. Check below to see a gallery of photos from the show!
