Author: Dan DeLuca

By the time Bruno Mars got around to singing “It Will Rain” at Lincoln Financial Field on Tuesday, the storm had already passed.

Mars was running late during the first of two back-to-back nights on his “The Romantic Tour,” as he put a meteorological metaphor to music during a piano medley of hits — but through no fault of his own.

Earlier in what turned out to be a wildly entertaining evening with Mars and his high-stepping band the Hooligans — complete with a six-song interlude from Silk Sonic, Mars and Anderson .Paak’s soul and funk supergroup — the South Philly skies opened up.

Sadly, severe weather lit up the night in advance of the fireworks that popped off during Mars’ performance and put the kibosh on the planned opening set by Raye, the British vocalist whose presence made the tour one of the most tantalizing bills of the summer.

Raye was only able to make it through one song — “Beware. The South London Lover Boy,” from her new album This Music May Contain Hope — before a PA announcement urged audience members to flee open seated areas and shelter in place.

A two-hour delay followed, and Raye never returned. That meant fans missed the chance to check out one of the breakthrough talents of the year, hear her hit “Where Is My Husband!” and speculate that she might be on the way to finding him, if internet rumors about dating actor Michael B. Jordan turn out to be true.

Those who spent the interlude seated in stairwells or shopping for “I ❤️ Bruno Mars” merch didn’t seem too let down by that disappointment, however.

The sold-out crowd was a wide-ranging-in-age gathering of Black, white, Asian, and Latino fans of the Hawaiian entertainer of Filipino, Spanish, Askenazi Jewish, and Puerto Rican descent. That was the most genuinely diverse audience I’ve seen this year.

Before Tuesday, Mars — whose given name is Peter Hernandez and was nicknamed Bruno by his percussionist father who thought that, as a toddler, he looked like wrestler Bruno Sammartino — had last performed in Philadelphia in 2018.

That eight-year wait ended a few minutes before 10 p.m., which was only an hour or so later than he was originally supposed to hit the stage, since Raye had been excised from the itinerary.

The show began with a video of Mars praying in church, beseeching the Lord to help him accomplish something well within his abilities — “give my band and I the power and strength to give this city a show they’ll never forget. Amen.”

With that, Mars crossed himself on screen and put on a white cowboy hat and picked up a red rose. As Ennio Morricone-style spaghetti western music played, he materialized in the flesh on stage, ready for romance.

He opened with “Risk It All,” a heart-on-its-sleeve bolero from The Romantic album punctuated by mariachi horns that played a like a vow to a lover — or an audience — to earn their devotion.

“It’s crazy, but it’s true,” he sang. “There’s nothing I won’t do.”

For the next two hours, the lifelong song and dance man — who was 6 years old when he played an Elvis impersonator in Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992 — pretty much made good on that promise.

Backed by a 10-piece band that included Mars’ brother Eric Hernandez on drums and Cuban musician Daniel Rodriguez on percussion, Mars, 40, was every bit the seasoned entertainer. He was an old-school crowd-pleaser with a Little Richard mustache who puts on a boundlessly energetic, tightly disciplined show.

Over the course of the 25-song evening — packed with hits, though he didn’t get to some like “APT.,” his 2024 smash with K-pop singer Rosé — Mars played guitar and congas as well as piano.

Mars is also a nimble dancer, leading the way with a band whose members stay in step with him in loose, limber rhythm. Their movement felt relaxed, without any of the lockstep vibe that can make pop spectacle choreography seem like a militaristic exercise.

The early part of the show drew heavily from The Romantic album, which leaned into Latin rhythm, starting with “Cha Cha Cha,” the second song of the night. By the croony third number, “On My Soul,” fireworks were already going off overhead.

“Perm,” from 2026’s 24K Magic, punched up the James Brown funk. And the high point of the first section of the show came when Mars followed The Romantic ballad “Why You Wanna Fight?” by rolling a vintage red Cadillac convertible on stage and sitting on the hood while covering the Chi-Lites’ 1972 “Oh Girl” and Marvin Gaye’s 1973 “Let’s Get It On.”

He paired those with his own “Please Me” (alas, without duet partner Cardi B.) and stood on the hood for his hip-hop soul banger “That’s What I Like.”

The two-hour show was briskly paced, making the Foo Fighters’ three-hour endurance test last month at the Linc seem flabby in comparison.

The transition to the middle segment as Silk Sonic with .Paak — who had warmed up the crowd earlier as DJ Pee. Wee — was marked by a video introduction by master of funk Bootsy Collins.

.Paak started behind the drum kit, before coming out front wearing shades and a glittering jacket that matched Mars’, to join the singing, dancing, and finger-snapping troupe.

The six-song interlude culminated in the creamy slow jam “Leave the Door Open.” which gave both .Paak and Mars ample opportunity to fall on their knees to please the audience. It also made for some winningly playful competition between the two to see who could best win over South Philly hearts.

First, .Paak gave Birds fans a “Go Eagles!” shout-out, unabashedly flapped his wings and even added that his father came from Philadelphia. Mars shook his head in mock dismay that .Paak would stoop so low to pander, and then one-upped him, albeit with geographical inaccuracy, proclaiming that his “next baby mama” would come from “the great state of Philadelphia!”

After .Paak’s exit, Mars poured on the hits, from the perfect pop of “Marry You,” which ended with him kissing the neck of his guitar, to the piano medley that began with “It Will Rain” and included “Talking to the Moon,” “Grenade,” and “When I Was Your Man.”

“The Romantic Tour” is aptly named. Every song is a love song.

Mars is eminently likable on stage and his music is so well-crafted and crisply performed that you don’t really mind, for example, that his “Just the Way You Are,” is even more platitudinous than Billy Joel’s song of the same name.

By the time “Uptown Funk” came around to close out the show, and Mars declared “I got to kiss myself, I’m so pretty,” and that he’s “smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy,” it was hard to disagree.

It was a pleasure to spend a few hours with such a world-class entertainer, even on a thunderstorm-soaked South Philly summer night.

Bruno Mars’ “The Romantic Tour” with Raye and DJ Pee. Wee at Lincoln Financial Field, 7 p.m. Sept. 2, lincolnfinancialfield.com

It’s a Philly Music Fest tradition.

The nonprofit, “Our Genre Is Philly” festival that celebrates its 10th anniversary in October, has made a habit of holding back the name of a mystery headliner whose identity can’t be announced until the artist is done playing another previously booked show in the Philadelphia market.

Surprise headliners in recent years that PMF founder Greg Seltzer has brought into the cozy confines of Ardmore Music Hall have included Mt. Joy, Waxahatchee, and, last year, Dr. Dog.

This year, it’s Gregory Alan Isakov, the singer-songwriter who was born in South Africa and raised in Philadelphia.

Isakov now lives on a farm he owns outside Boulder, Colo., where he grows organic salad greens and root vegetables — and records roots music songs, like those on his 2023 album Apaloosa Bones, in his home studio.

The announcement of Isakov’s PMF shows — which will feature openers Cailoa on Oct. 12 and Madi Diaz on Oct. 13 — couldn’t be made until he was done playing with the Philly Pops at the Highmark Mann on Friday night. He also was scheduled to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York state on Saturday.

This year’s PMF performers — who will raise money for Philly music education organizations including Rock to the Future, Settlement Music School, Beyond the Bars, and Key of She — include Mo Lowda and the Humble, RJD2, Wax Jaw, Sweet Pill, Owen Stewart, Roberta Faceplant, Sug Daniels, Marietta, the Dillinger Escape Plan, and Immanuel Wilkins.

The fest includes nine showcases in six clubs over seven nights. Tickets to each event are sold separately, and available now for Isakov and all other shows at phillymusicfest.com.

The Bacon Brothers haven’t lived in Philadelphia for decades, but the music duo’s 215 credentials are impeccable.

Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael are sons of teacher Ruth Hilda Bacon and architect-city planner Edmund Bacon, who directed the design of Independence Mall and Penn’s Landing and was known as “the Father of Modern Philadelphia.”

The Bacons grew up at 2117 Locust St. in a house previously owned by Leopold Stokowski during his early 20th-century tenure as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Their first-ever show was a one-off charity gig in 1995 at the Theatre of the Living Arts on South Street that they played at the urging of Kevin’s childhood friend Harry Spivak, whose family cofounded Electric Factory Concerts.

On Thursday and Friday, the Bacons play the SunnyBrook Ballroom in Pottstown on their “People of the World” tour, named after a 2025 duet between Michael Bacon and Philly singer Mare, recorded with producer Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo.

In 2013, the brothers teamed with author Sandra Boynton for “Philadelphia Chickens” from her children’s book of the same name. In 2023, the brothers’ single “Philly Thing” raised money for Kevin Bacon’s SixDegrees.org, which funds nonprofit charities. That same year, they were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame.

“Philly Thing” rhymes “Smokin’ Joe, touch of class, just like Teddy Pendergrass” and celebrates Philly music heroes: “Coltrane, LaBelle, Jill Scott, The Roots,” and “Boyz II Men in matching suits.”

Thirty-one years since their first show, Kevin, 67, and Michael, 76, an Emmy-winning film and composer and music professor who plays dozens of instruments, have released 12 albums, including the 2011 best-of Philadelphia Road.

This month, they joined a Zoom call from their homes in New York to reminisce about growing up in Center City and talk about their music, which they call “forosoco.”

“That’s a Kevin witticism for sure,” said Michael, of the invented shorthand for folk, rock, soul, and country which the brothers used as the title to their first album in 1997.

The brothers’ musical education began while living with four sisters in a crowded house, said Michael, who teaches music at Lehman College in New York.

Their parents loved music, Michael said. “World music, Odetta, the Weavers. They loved opera and classical music. No rock and roll, but our sisters would bring home all the 45s so we had that, too.”

“One of my favorite memories is that my mother had six kids in that little townhouse,” he said, “and she took in these two Mexican boys who were 12 and 14. One played violin and one played piano. They were living in an apartment in Center City. And they had dinner with us every night of the week.”

Kevin, too, got a music education from his family members.

“My brother and sister had a jug band, so I would sit on the steps and listen to them practice in our pretty disgusting basement,” he said.

Tastykake Jelly Krimpets and a Rittenhouse Square childhood

Michael, who is nine years older than Kevin, remembers Rittenhouse Square as “not a beautiful gentrified neighborhood when I grew up.” He recalled an unsupervised childhood; “It was: Go do what you need to do, be safe, get home for dinner.”

He would walk across Rittenhouse Square to his cello lesson at the Curtis Institute, often stopping to climb on Billy, the 1914 bronze statue by Albert Laessle that was moved to the Free Library and replaced with a replica in 2018. “It had a very pronounced backbone,” he recalls. “It was most uncomfortable.”

And sometimes, he would stick his hand into the mouth of Antoine-Louis Barye’s sculpture Lion Crushing a Serpent, which has stood in the square since 1892.

“It had giant teeth. Very scary.”

When in Philly, Kevin prioritizes looking at his favorite spot of the family home: the stoop.

“I spent so much time on that stoop. Just hoping to see something happen. We also played stoop ball, where you would throw the ball against the stoop and get singles or doubles, like a version of baseball, depending where the ball landed, which was basically out in the street.”

The future star of movies such as Diner (1982), Footloose (1984), Apollo 13 (1995), and The Woodsman (2004), in which he acted alongside his wife Kyra Sedgwick and Philly rapper Eve, made his first public performance in a preschool holiday pageant in the basement of the nearby First Unitarian Church.

When Kevin — who splits his time with Sedgwick in Manhattan and on their farm in Connecticut — is in his hometown, he likes to reenact a childhood ritual.

“I go to Wawa and get a Tastykake Jelly Krimpet,” he said. “The secret to eating a Jelly Krimpet is you delicately peel back the cookie dough, and extract a jelly ball. You actually hold the jelly ball in your hand, and pop it in your mouth. And then you can eat the rest of it.”

Michael went to Central High School in Olney, but Kevin stayed closer to home, attending Masterman at 17th and Spring Garden for elementary school and then the experimental Parkway Program.

“I had classes at Drexel, the Academy of Natural Sciences, all over the place,” Kevin said, “I was also able to get out early and take acting classes elsewhere, which is what I really wanted.”

As a teenager, he acted at the Plays and Players Theatre on Delancey Street, was an apprentice at the Walnut Street Theatre, and took classes at Settlement Music School. He then headed to Bucknell University at 17 — and landed a role in Animal House two years later.

Eating out with belly dancers

Dining out with parents was a rare occurrence, the brothers said.

“I always like going out to dinner because we would go out literally twice a year,” said Kevin. “We would go to this place called Freddie’s on 21st and Chestnut that was in the basement. They had red and white tablecloths, and candles on the table. It seemed so exotic.”

The other Bacon family haunt was the Middle East, the Lebanese restaurant co-owned by Philadelphia City Councilman Jimmy Tayoun, that was originally in South Philly and later in Old City.

“I remember I loved it there, because they served rose water and the food was amazing,” Michael recalls.

“And they had belly dancers. One night in South Philly, my father took a $10 bill and put it in the belly dancer’s top,” he said with a laugh. “And that was the end for our mother, who was very Victorian. She didn’t like that. And we never went back.”

Michael, who is agnostic about cheesesteaks, just goes to “to the closest one,” when it comes to picking a spot. Kevin’s current favorite brunch spot is Sabrina’s Cafe on Callowhill.

“It is so good,” he said. “I sat at the counter there. I got a Mexican egg thing, huevos rancheros, I think.”

Kevin Bacon’s first band

Kevin has fond memories of perfect Philly days he spent at an alternative arts space in 1970s Germantown called Togetherness House, where he continued his education.

“I would take the bus,” said Kevin. “It was an abandoned space that kids had turned into a community center. They had drug counseling and draft counseling and people were forming bands. I went up there and I was a percussionist.”

He played in a band led by a vocalist named Chet Brown. “He was a great singer,” Bacon said of Brown, who still performs with the Last Thursday Band. “The name of the band was Chet Brown & Footloose.”

The name did not inspire the movie in which Bacon’s rebellious teen teaches a Midwestern town to dance to a Kenny Loggins song. But the experience “was inspirational for me in that I loved being in a band.”

Siblings without the rivalry

As bandmates, the Bacons seem free of sibling rivalry. On TikTok, the singer-guitarists have posted a series of covers by squabbling brother acts such as the Kinks’ “A Well Respected Man” and Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.”

Kevin and Michael appear puzzled as to why other musical siblings don’t get along as well as they do.

The title song of the duo’s most recent album, 2024’s Ballad of the Brothers, is a mythical tale about “two Philly boys” from Fishtown who travel to legendary Texas venue Gruene Hall with Eagles stickers on their station wagon.

That song has a “Devil Went Down to Georgia”-like country feel to it. But true to their “forosoco” approach, the album freely moves between genres.

“One of the things we’ve learned over the years,” Michael said, “is that we’re a songwriter’s band. We let the songs drive the arrangements.”

The model, he says, is the Band, who, in a career highlight, the Bacons once opened for at Carnegie Hall.

“They were just all over the place. A lot of harmonies, and some beautiful, beautiful pieces, and also some really rocking pieces. So we try to not limit ourselves as to what we consider our sound and let the stuff flow where it might.”

The Bacon Brothers with Kendal Conrad at SunnyBrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Road, Pottstown at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 and 21. souljoels.com

This week in Philly music features a Motown legend, a reunited prog-rock arena band, a country star turned yacht rock enthusiast, two terrific power-pop triple bills, and a two-night residency with one of the most acclaimed of contemporary jazz artists.

Thursday Aug. 20

Mon Laferte & Silvana Estrada

One of the coolest double bills of the summer, if not the entire year. Chilean Mexican singer and songwriter Mon Laferte mixes pop and alternative rock with cumbia, bolero, ranchera, and electronic music. And she does it with a dramatic flair that feels wholly her own. She’s also a visual artist and starred as Sally Bowles in Cabaret in Mexico City last year. Opening for Laferte on her “Femme Fatale” tour is Silvana Estrada whose Vendrán Suaves Lluvias is a luminous mixture of folk, jazz, and traditional Mexican musical forms. 8 p.m. Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

Marion Meadows

Smooth soprano sax player Marion Meadows’ story dates to the late 1980s, when Star Trek TV composer Jay Chattaway heard Meadows playing in Grand Central Station while the two were waiting for the same train. Chattaway introduced Meadows to pianist composer Bob James, who then helped Meadows kick off his career. His latest album is Just Doing Me, on New Jersey’s Shanachie label. He’s playing a John Coltrane tribute show with Gerald Veaskley as part of the Jazz Under the Stars series. 8 p.m., Presser Foundation Stage, the TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org

Friday Aug. 21

Gregory Alan Isakov

Horticulturalist-slash-musician: That’s a label you don’t hear too often. Gregory Alan Isakov, who plays guitar and owns a small farm in Colorado, makes simple, quiet, ruminative music that has earned him a growing audience. He’s been playing with big bands and orchestras lately, and this show is with the Philly Pops. 8 p.m., Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org

Kiwi Jr.

Canadian quartet Kiwi Jr. makes super-catchy guitar-pop music and its streak of excellence continues on its fourth album, Blowin’ Up, whose title may or may not be a predictor of an upcoming explosion in popularity. Who knows? But no matter what happens, you can say you saw the band early in its nascent stardom if you check out either of its two Friday shows. First, singer-guitarist Jeremy Gaudet and crew are playing Free at Noon. Then they’re headlining a triple bill in Fishtown that night with Philly’s own like-minded bands, 2nd Grade and Log Flume, opening. Noon, World Stage, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org and 8 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com

Masego

Jamaican-born multi-instrumentalist Masego — born Micah Davis — calls his R&B-based genre-fluid sound “traphouse jazz.” His newest, Fix Your Face, has a seductive, insinuating groove seasoned with his saxophone playing and assisted by guests that include Leon Thomas, Keyshia Cole, Buju Banton, and Philly neo-soul singer Musiq Soulchild. Lekan opens. 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

Friday Aug. 21 and Saturday Aug. 22

Diana Ross

Indomitable Motown queen Diana Ross is out on her “Diana in Motion” tour. She has plenty of hits to choose from, going back to the Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go” and “Someday We’ll Be Together” to solo songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Love Hangover,” and “I’m Coming Out,” which has become her signature song as well as an anthem of gay pride. 8 p.m. Friday, Ocean Resort, 500 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, theoceanac.com and 8 p.m. Saturday, Wind Creek Event Center, 77 Wind Creek Blvd., Bethlehem, Pa., windcreekeventcenter.com

Keith Urban

Keith Urban has gone yacht rock. The Australian country star’s new album, Flow State, includes 10 covers and one original: “We Go Back,” which features yacht rock godhead Michael McDonald and was cowritten by South Jersey-raised country artist Breland. Other guests include Little Big Town and John Mayer, and the song selection covers the soft-rock bases, from Walter Egan’s “Magnet and Steel” to Seals & Crofts “Summer Breeze” and Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us.” 8 p.m., Etess Arena at Hard Rock Live, 1000 Boardwalk, casino.hardrock.com/atlantic-city

Friday Aug. 21 and Sunday Aug. 23

Rush

Cynicism about Canadian prog-rockers Rush touring again, for the first time in 11 years and for the first time ever without virtuosic drummer Neil Peart, who died in 2020, has evaporated. That’s because Rush’s famously predominantly male audience, who so admired Peart’s technical proficiency, have found itself in awe of Anika Nilles, the woman who now sits on the Rush drum throne and has earned universal praise from fans. Nilles and bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson play two South Philly shows on their “Fifty Something Tour.” 8 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., xfinitymobilearena.com

Saturday Aug. 22

Chance the Rapper

A decade ago, Chance the Rapper was riding high, having followed up his 2013 breakthrough Acid Tap with the widely praised mixtape Coloring Book. That collection, which included collaborations with Saba, Lil Wayne, and 2Chainz, is the focus of a 10th anniversary tour. 8 p.m., Fillmore Philly, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com

Chime School / Hurry / Te Vista

A terrific triple bill of melodic power pop bands, headlined by San Francisco’s Chime School. It’s joined by Philly’s Hurry, which just got back from a tour of the UK in support of its excellent, new Zoned Out. Plus, South Jersey’s Te Vista is definitely a band to watch. What’s more: The show is at a South Philly typewriter shop! 8 p.m., Philly Typewriter, 1735 Passyunk Ave., r5productions.com

Monday Aug. 24

Will Calhoun

Drummer Will Calhoun is a two-time Grammy winner and member of Living Colour. That’s him you hear pounding the skins when the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber walks up to the plate to “The Cult of Personality.” Calhoun will lead an all-star band in this free show that celebrates the 100th anniversary birthday year of jazz giant Miles Davis, along the Delaware River. Free. 8 p.m., Roland Traynor River Stage at Wiggins Park, 2 Riverside Drive, Camden, camdencounty.org

Tuesday Aug. 25 and Wednesday Aug. 26

Esperanza Spalding

One of my favorite Grammy-watching moments of all time was back in 2011 when Esperanza Spalding was named best new artist, and Justin Bieber fans, who had no idea who the jazz bassist and composer was, lost their minds in outrage. (Amazingly, she also beat out Drake, Florence + the Machine, and Mumford & Sons.)

Since then, Spalding has always been up to something interesting, with projects like the 2021 album Songwrights Apothecary Lab, which was designed as healing music made after consultation with neuroscientists and music therapists. She followed that up with a live album with pianist Fred Hersch in 2023, and a team-up with octogenarian Brazilian musician Milton Nascimento in 2024. These shows will be career-spanning, with Spalding leading a trio with Matthew Stevens on guitar and Eric Doob on drums. 7:30 p.m., City Winery, 990 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia

Willie Nelson is on the road again — and this time, he’s bringing Neil Young with him.

Every summer since 2017 — with the exception of the COVID-19 shutdown year of 2020 — Nelson has brought his Outlaw Music Festival to the Philadelphia area, playing either the waterfront amphitheater in Camden or the Mann Center in Fairmount Park.

That streak ended this year, with Nelson cutting down on his touring schedule and eliminating many cities, including Philly, from the itinerary of the festival — which was founded in Scranton in 2016.

The lighter workload is certainly understandable: He’s 93!

But it turns out that the Red Headed Stranger isn’t skipping Philly after all. On Sept. 24, Willie Nelson & Family and Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts will play a coheadlining date at the Highmark Mann. Highly-touted Austin, Texas, teenage songwriter Ty Myers is also on the show.

The late-breaking booking seems like it came out of nowhere but makes perfect tour-routing sense. Young and Nelson, of course, play together each September at Farm Aid, the fundraising show that has taken place every year since 1985, when it was inspired by a Bob Dylan onstage remark at Live Aid in Philadelphia two months before.

This year, Farm Aid — with Nelson and Young joined by John Mellencamp, Margo Price, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Sierra Ferrell, Nathaniel Rateliff, and others — will take place Sept. 26 in Virginia Beach, Va. So the newly added Philly show qualifies as a warm-up of sorts, the first part of a Willie and Neil long weekend.

Young’s show with the Chrome Hearts — his backing band which includes Willie’s son Micah Nelson and organist Spooner Oldham of the celebrated soul music Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section — will be his first in the Philly area since his date with Crazy Horse at Camden’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in 2024.

It will also be Young’s first show at the Mann since 1988, when he played with his big band blues ensemble the Bluenotes on his “Sponsored by Nobody Tour.” The Canadian rocker, 80, also played the venue in 1987 with Crazy Horse and in 1985 with his countryfied band the International Harvesters.

Tickets go on sale via artist pre-sales at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19. The general on sale is Friday, Aug. 21 at 10 a.m. via ticketmaster.com.