Summer lingers as fall pop music season gets underway, with outdoor shows still happening in Camden, South Philly, and Fairmount Park into early October. And then the calendar quickly fills up with indoor nights in arenas, theaters, and small clubs in Philadelphia and throughout the region.
Besides the Phoebe Bridgers, Johnny Blue Skies, Olivia Rodrigo, and Dojo Cat tours highlighted below, there are still more big names coming to Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jonas Brothers on Oct. 2, Teddy Swims on Oct. 10, and Sombr on Nov. 19.
The Met has Beck on Oct. 18, Rawayana on Nov. 1, and Orville Peck on Nov. 11, and the Fillmore has Chief Keef on Oct. 6, Horsegirl on Oct. 23, Yebba on Oct. 30, and the Menzingers on Nov. 20. Penn Live Arts shows at the Annenberg Center include TM Krishna on Oct. 15 and Bela Fleck on Nov. 15.
There are lots of choice dates in cozier venues. Laura Veirs and Karl Blau are at Nikki Lopez on Oct. 9; Mirah, Evan Greer, and Sad13 play PhilaMoca on Oct. 10; and Mannequin Pussy plays First Unitarian Church Oct. 28.
Laura Cantrell and Amy Rigby do Elkton Music Hall on Nov. 12, Marshall Crenshaw is with Sarah Borges and Eric Ambel at Sellersville Theater on Nov. 18, Strand of Oaks plays Johnny Brenda’s on Dec. 12 and 13, and Musiq Soulchild kicks off a four-night stand at City Winery on Dec. 17.
That aside, here’s your list of 30 shows not to miss.
Gorillaz
Sept. 27, Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Gorillaz co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s plan to make an album shaped by experiences visiting India took grief-stricken shape when both men’s fathers died within a week of each other. On The Mountain, the virtual band as usual employs many guests, including Anoushka Shankar, Black Thought, Asha Puthli, and Johnny Marr. It also features collaborations from Dennis Hopper and Bobby Womack who collaborated with the Gorillaz before their deaths. freedomortgagepavilion.com
Phoebe Bridgers
Sept. 28, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Three years after she sold out the Mann Center with her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers is bigger than ever. She stoked the ardor of her fan base with pop-up shows around the U.S. in the lead-up to the release of the moody, compelling, and intensely personal Lost Weekend, whose many guests include Havertown’s own Alex G. xfinitymobilearena.com
AC/DC
Sept. 29, Lincoln Financial Field
The last big blowout at the Linc this year — other than the Eagles putting a hurting on opponents — will be the final date on the Australian hard rock band’s “Power Up Tour.” The “Back in Black” band will be powering down after two and a half years on the road. Taylor Momsen’s the Pretty Reckless opens. lincolnfinancialfield.com
Public Image Ltd
Oct. 2, Union Transfer
The Sex Pistols is touring with Frank Carter cosplaying as Johnny Rotten, so John Lydon couldn’t resist hitting the road again with his other band, whose “This Is Not the Final Tour” arrives a week after the Pistols play the Fillmore. utphilly.com
beabadoobee
Oct. 2, Liacouras Center
Filipino and British songwriter Beatrice Lau’s “Powerlines Tour” is in support of her fourth album, Pylon, a bracing follow-up to 2024’s Rick Rubin-produced This Is How Tomorrow Moves. liacourascenter.com
Phish
Oct. 2-4, Boardwalk Hall
Phish comes in threes. Last year, the jam band’s troika of shows were at the Mann; the year before the Trey Anastasio-fronted quartet’s Mondegreen fest was in Dover, Del. This year, the band returns for indoor shows in Atlantic City, where it was last seen on the beach in 2022. boardwalkhall.com
Shaboozey
Oct. 6, Skyline Stage at Highmark Mann
Shaboozey played the Mann at the Roots Picnic in 2024, just as “Tipsy (A Bar Song)” was turning him onto a star. Now he’s back, behind The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other West Tales, his ambitious concept album that is also a comic book. highmarkmann.org
The Chicks
Oct. 7, Met Philly
Texas country trio the Chicks — singer Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire — is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Taking the Long Way. That 2006 album was the band’s first after it was essentially banned from country radio after Maines criticized then-President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. themetphilly.com
Sugar
Oct. 12-13, Union Transfer
Hüsker Dü cofounder Bob Mould has carried on a relentlessly rocking career with 14 uncompromising albums under his own name. But he hasn’t worked with Sugar, his power trio featuring bassist David Barber and drummer Malcolm Travis, since the mid-1990s. utphilly.com
Philly Music Fest
Oct. 12-18, various venues
The genre-spanning all-Philly showcase at independent venues kicks off with two nights of Gregory Alan Isakov at Ardmore Music Hall and concludes with Upper Darby-raised jazz sax star Immanuel Wilkins at Solar Myth. In between, attractions during the 10th anniversary of the fest include Sweet Pill, Owen Stewart, RJD2, Sug Daniels, Roberta Faceplant, and Mo Lowda & the Humble. phillymusicfest.com
Brennan Wedl
Oct. 13, Johnny Brenda’s
Minnesota-born singer Brennan Wedl — a former leader of queercore band Dazey & the Scouts — impressed as the opening act of the Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman tour that played the Met this year. Now she’s playing her first Philly headlining gig, behind her self-titled debut album, which was produced by Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and Brad Cook. johnnybrendas.com
Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds
Oct. 15, Xfinity Mobile Center
“I want to make America not suck again,” Sturgill Simpson sings on the frisky lead track of Mutiny For the Masses, the always-unpredictable maverick songwriter’s second album as Johnny Blue Skies that makes rebellious rock and roll, country-soul, and funk fun again. xfinitymobilearena.com
Pinhead Gunpowder
Oct. 16, First Unitarian Church
Big-name rock star in a tiny space: Pinhead Gunpowder is a Green Day side project of sorts. Along with Billie Joe Armstrong, the current version of the band includes Green Day touring guitarist Jason White. r5productions.com
Sienna Spiro
Oct. 17, the Fillmore
Powerhouse vocalist Sienna Spiro’s name rhymes with “pyro.” Sam Smith has called her “the voice of a generation.” The stylish 20-year-old “Die on the Hill” singer, who displays the influence of fellow throwback soul Brits like Amy Winehouse and Duffy, played the Foundry in March. She has since won raves at Coachella and Lollapalooza. She’s back at the Fillmore in October, but in the big room this time. thefillmorephilly.com
Mike D 5D
Oct. 19, Union Transfer
Beastie Boys’ Adam Horowitz and Mike Diamond have been largely inactive since the death of bandmate Adam Yauch in 2012. Now Diamond — aka Mike D — has returned with Thank You, a solo album of hip-hop electro punk. He’s touring backed by a band that includes his sons Skyler and Davis Diamond. utphilly.com
L7
Oct. 22, Brooklyn Bowl
L7 was a key player in the alt-rock late 1980s and early 1990s, and the grunge-adjacent all-female band was also a precursor to the riot-grrrl movement. The “Pretend We’re Dead” and “S— list” band fronted by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner is carrying on with its “Last Hurrah Tour” despite the loss of bassist Jennifer Finch, who died of brain cancer this year. Finch’s memoir, Shooting Up and Making Out, is due in January. brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia
Jesse Welles
Oct. 23, the Met
Jesse Welles’ resistance songs like “Join ICE” and “United Health” — along with whimsical ones such as “At the Zoo” — have fueled a steady growth in popularity. The self-styled Dylanesque folk singer has collaborated with Joan Baez and Philly’s Mt. Joy, with whom he did a pop-up show in June at Race Street Pier. themetphilly.com.
Ashley McBryde
Oct. 24, Lansdowne Theater
Arkansas country songwriter Ashley McBryde has always leaned into rock and roll going back to her 2018 debut Girl Going Nowhere. But she really turns up the volume on the new Wild, which is a song cycle about a journey toward sobriety. thelansdownetheater.com
Allison Russell
Oct. 28, Colonial Theatre
Canadian-born and Nashville-based songwriter Allison Russell says her new album In The Hour Of Chaos, is about “connecting our hearts and voices in the same space in real time.” Its many guests include Brittany Spencer, Norah Jones, and Delco soul singer Devon Gilfillian. thecolonialtheatre.com
Afro Cuban All Stars
Oct. 30, Miller Theater
Juan de Marcos Gonzalez is a vocalist, impresario, and musician whose specialty is the Spanish tres guitar. He has been a key player in the Buena Vista Social Club. This tour continues the ongoing work of bringing Cuban music to the world. ensembleartsphilly.org
Vince Staples
Oct. 30, Franklin Music Hall
Long Beach, Calif., rapper Vince Staples is back on top of this game on Cry Baby, his pointedly political album that blends rock riffage and soulful funk into the mix. franklinmusichall.com
Built to Spill & Quasi
Oct. 30-31, Ardmore Music Hall
Doug Martsch is an indie rock guitar hero stretching back to Built to Spill’s 1993 debut Ultimate Alternative Wavers. These days, Martsch is joined by bassist Melanie Radford and drummer Teresa Esguera. Also on the bill is Quasi, the rollicking band of ex-spouses Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, formerly the drummer of Sleater-Kinney. ardmoremusichall.com
Geese
Nov. 8-9, Fillmore
Incredibly brilliant indie art-pop band or nefarious industry plant that owes its success to TikTok payola? The debate around Geese’s breakthrough as (almost) universally praised critics’ darlings is silly. After the band led by Cameron Winter — the subject of a forthcoming Paul Thomas Anderson concert film — played a super sold-out Union Transfer last year, it’s back with two shows in a larger space. thefillmorephilly.com
Ami Taf Ra & Kamasi Washington
Nov. 5, City Winery Philadelphia
Moroccan vocalist Ami Taf Ra collaborated with maximalist jazzman Washington on The Prophet and The Madman, her 2025 spiritual jazz debut that bears the influence of Sun Ra and mixes Arabic music with gospel and jazz. citywinery.com/philadelphia
The Hooters
Nov. 5-6, Keswick Theatre
Last year, the Hooters’ annual Keswick shows were introduced, as always, by Pierre Robert, the WMMR-FM (93.3) radio legend who died a few days later. This will be an emotional weekend for the longstanding Philly rock band and its fans. keswicktheatre.com
Daniel Villarreal
Nov. 6-7, Solar Myth
Panama-born drummer Daniel Villarreal made his name on the Chicago music scene with a mixture of jazz and funk and a range of Latin music styles. The now-Philly-based synthesist will lead a five-piece band in a two-night residency. arsnovaworkshop.com
Olivia Rodrigo
Nov. 7, Xfinity Mobile Arena
On “The Cure,” the second single from her third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Olivia Rodrigo repeats the words “I’m unraveled,” as she reels from a breakup. That lyric leads us to “The Unraveled Tour,” the second arena trek from the former Disney star who hosted her own all-woman Daisy Chain Fields festival in August. xfinitymobilearena.com
Low Cut Connie & Ben Vaughn
Nov. 20, Union Transfer
Two generations of Philly rock and rollers team up on this bill, which finishes off a leg of the tour for Low Cut Connie’s party plus protest album Livin In the USA. LCC’s Adam Weiner is a sweaty, over the top showman, while radio host-producer Vaughn — who has a new album, Magnetic East: The Deer Tick Sessions due in October — prefers an understated, semi-ironic approach. WXPN-FM 24 Hour Song Challenge winners the Flying Vees open. utphilly.com
Doja Cat
Nov. 29, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Rapper and singer Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini — otherwise known as Doja Cat — plays the penultimate show of a world tour that began in New Zealand last year in support of her disco-pop fifth album, Ma Vie. “Big Energy” Atlanta rapper Latto opens. xfinitymobilearena.com
Goosemas
Dec. 12-13, Boardwalk Hall
Every holiday season, the Connecticut-born yacht rock jam band throws a Christmas party. This year, it’s in Atlantic City. The show in support of the band’s new Big Modern! is a benefit for Western Sun Foundation, which supports grassroots nonprofit organizations. boardwalkhall.com
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