We have something else to celebrate this Independence Day: a new Beyoncé song.
The iconic singer released “Morning Dew (Donk),” a sultry, ‘90s-coded R&B track, Saturday morning with no warning.
It’s a special Fourth of July holiday gift to her fans, according to a news release about the song — and Queen Bey’s first piece of new music in two years.
The single starts the clock on a 60-day countdown to the singer’s 45th birthday and the reissue of B’Day, her hit sophomore album that first dropped 20 years ago, on Sept. 4, 2006.
Sorry, BeyHive, no word on Act III, the highly anticipated, unnamed, and unreleased final chapter of Beyoncé’s three-part album project. The Today show reported that fans shouldn’t expect any sort of Act III announcement this week.
Act II, aka Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé’s award-winning foray into country music, was another example of the singer’s use of the Fourth of July holiday as a means to explore and challenge themes surrounding American identity, especially the Black and Southern experience. Last year, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter D.C. tour stop took place on the Fourth of July.
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The show highlighted Black empowerment as Beyoncé opened the show wrapped in a large American flag, just a few miles from the U.S. Capitol.
While it’s not the Act III fans have been waiting for, “Morning Dew (Donk)” is an exciting new portfolio addition.
It was written by Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, The-Dream and Darius Dixon, and produced by Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams. The song features Williams’ signature four-count producer tag.
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at a star-packed ceremony.
The super-secretive buildup to the nuptials culminated when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done.
The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead opting for Swift’s brother to serve as her man of honor and Kelce’s brother, longtime Eagles great Jason Kelce, serving as his best man, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine said in an email.
The bride and groom’s outfits were designed by Christian Dior Haute Couture and its designer Jonathan Anderson with shoes custom-made by Christian Louboutin. She wore Cartier jewelry.
The wedding between the superstar singer and NFL star took place as fans and spectators gathered outside MSG in the blistering heat, eager to be part of the occasion, even though the event was almost entirely hidden.
The long anticipated union of sports and song brought hype to new heights at a venue made more for historic NBA games and bucket-list concerts.
Singer Camila Cabello, actors Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, and Jason Sudeikis, and model Karlie Kloss were among those who arrived. Running back Kareem Hunt was among Kelce’s Chiefs teammates in attendance. Seattle Seahawks receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, NFL announcer Joe Buck, and Jenny Han, author of the The Summer I Turned Pretty series, also entered the arena.
In a culture obsessed with famous couplings, it may be the apex celebrity wedding, with perhaps only royal unions getting more attention. Holding such a ceremony in a huge, iconic space that sits at the center of the U.S. media universe while keeping all the details secret made for a surreal scene, but it was a mix of hype and hush that is not out of character for Swift.
An Associated Press camera outside the arena showed a long line of black SUVs dropping off wedding-goers in tuxedos and evening gowns, surrounded by New Yorkers in shorts and Swifties amassing for the occasion.
Celebrities, athletes, and friends were posting on social media about getting ready or about to leave for a black-tie event, including Brandon Borders, producer of the New Heights podcast starring Kelce and his brother Jason; Beau Allen, a retired defensive lineman for the Eagles; and actress Jessica Chastain.
There was a notable lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, after reports that phones would not be allowed. Rain began falling soon after the marriage was announced.
Weddings have been a constant subject in Swift’s songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 adds to the drama. It would also be a first marriage for the 36-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swift’s early hits.
Sandler, star of The Wedding Singer and many other hit comedies, can’t have been high on anyone’s betting list for who would marry the couple, though he’s become an increasingly warm and paternal cultural figure with age. The email announcing the marriage described him as “a friend” of the couple. Kelce was one of the many athletes who appeared in Sandler’s recent sequel Happy Gilmore 2.
Outside the arena, some frazzled tourists joked that it was a bad weekend to visit as they navigated strict road and sidewalk closures, but others appeared happy to sneak a peak at the spectacle. Police cut off most access where guests were being dropped off, but a few patrons gathered in nearby businesses and peered out windows.
Diana Warshavsky, who lives in New York, decided to head over to MSG on Friday to celebrate Swift and Kelce’s wedding with fellow Swifties and “send her good vibes.”
“We’re relatively the same age, I’m a year older than her and I just got married this year as well,” Warshavsky said. “I’m just so happy for her.”
The relationship of the pop star and the football player has continued to thrill and fascinate millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — ever since the pair first started dating in 2023.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday defended the city’s upcoming July Fourth concert, a seven-hour outdoor spectacle featuring performances from Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, The Roots, and more, amid concerns over the nearly 100-degree forecast and revelations that the event will cost taxpayers millions more than in years past.
The city has dealt with high temperatures before and has battle-tested personnel and protocols prepared for the evening, Parker told reporters at a news conference in front of the stage at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.
She also addressed the detractors head on.
“I do not apologize to anyone about making sure that the city of Philadelphia, as the sixth-largest city in the nation, the birthplace of democracy, we were going to have a celebration that is fitting to and for our historical significance and prominence,” Parker said. “One that could be seen, respected, and honored, not just in our city and commonwealth and nation but in the world.”
Parker described the concert as the largest July Fourth concert in the city’s history. For an occasion as momentous as the nation’s 250th anniversary in the city that bills itself the birthplace of America, Parker said Philadelphia must rise to the occasion and prove it can achieve ambitious undertakings.
Parker said her administration scaled up the experience, including moving the stage back to accommodate an estimated 300,000 concertgoers, and made the stage larger.
“We won’t get a second chance to do this over again, Philadelphia,” Parker said. “We only turn 250 years old once in a lifetime.”
Ground crews set up speakers on the stage on Wednesday in preparation for the July 4 concert expected to draw thousands to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Parker recalled feeling the mounting pressure to prove Philadelphia could rise to the occasion of honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary shortly after the start of her tenure as mayor.
“‘Philadelphia lacks ambition. They’re thinking too small. We need a leader. Where is the legacy project?’” Parker recalled from the discourse of the time. “The critics were right. Philadelphia, as the birthplace, we couldn’t do what every other city was doing. We couldn’t just do something that was average, something that was mediocre. What we did had to be a reflection of this moment and our history.”
Parker’s news conference came hours after The Inquirer reported online that this year’s July Fourth concert will cost taxpayers millions more than in years past because the mayor’s administration hired ESM Productions, a for-profit company, to put on the annual show. For years, the concert has been produced by Welcome America, a nonprofit established by the city.
The Inquirer reported that the city is set to pay ESM $15.5 million to put on the show, and that last year’s iteration of the Welcome America concert cost the organization about $3 million.
Parker defended ESM and its founder, Scott Mirkin, as “the gold standard in planning large-scale global events, not just in America but across the world.” And she vowed that the city would produce a “fiscal impact report” after the event to account for how much money the city spent on this year’s festivities.
Mayor of Philadelphia Cherelle L. Parker speaks during a news conference under a tent Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Philadelphia, outlining public safety and transportation plans ahead of a July 4 concert expected to draw thousands to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
She also noted that former Mayor Jim Kenney put his own stamp on the annual July Fourth concert when he took office in 2016 — and took some heat for it. The Roots had headlined the concert since 2009, but Kenney’s administration went a different direction and The Roots were sidelined.
Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson didn’t mince words at the time, writing on Facebook that the decision was “arrogance in the HIGHEST order courtesy of your new leader.”
When Parker took office, she knew she wanted the spotlight back on the beloved local hip-hop group.
“I’m proud to have The Roots back home,” Parker said.
In terms of weather and safety, the city has proven this summer that it can host large-scale events in the heat seamlessly, said Philadelphia Police CommissionerKevin J. Bethel.
The city has already hosted five World Cup games, which have gone off without a hitch, Bethel said. For the July Fourth event, the department will be executing one of its largest deployments since the papal visit in 2015. That will include hundreds of officers across Center City and many more at the stadium and along the Parkway.
“I want everybody to come and have a good time. Don’t mess up the party,” Bethel said.
In order to keep people cool, the city will run 40 air-conditioned cooling centers, 150 pools and spray grounds, enhanced homeless service outreach, and extra fire department medics, said Dominick Mireles, Philadelphia’s deputy managing director for community safety. Along the Parkway, there will be misting fans and shade structures, he added.
Parker said she’s confident every Philadelphian interested in participating will be able to do so safely and will look back on the day fondly.
“I want people to remember where they were when America turned 250 years old and what we did here in the place when it all happened,” Parker said.
This is the America’s 250th birthday and July 4 edition of This Week in Philly Music. Free music is all around, starting with The Roots, Jill Scott, Meek Mill, Will Smith, Jazzy Jeff, and more on the Ben Franklin Parkway. And tours featuring Molly Tuttle and Daniel Donato, Paul Simon, and Sarah McLachlan, and Allison Russell are also coming through town.
Thursday, July 2
Molly Tuttle & Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country
Two terrific country-flavored guitarists and bandleaders team up on the co-headlining bill. Guitarist and banjo picker Tuttle is touring behind her fifth album, So Long Little Miss Sunshine, which leans into country-pop and rock without leaving bluegrass behind. The 12-song set, largely cowritten with fiancé Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, includes a cover of Icona Pop’s ”I Love It.”
Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country plays Heuser Park in King of Prussia on Thursday with Molly Tuttle on a co-headlining tour.Jason Stoltzfus
Donato is an electric guitar hero who was born in Atlantic City and moved to Nashville when he was 7. The author of The New Master of the Telecaster: Pathways to Dynamic Solos combines an affection for honky-tonk with Grateful Dead expansiveness. 6 p.m. Heuser Park, 694 West Beidler Road, King of Prussia, risingsunpresents.com/heuser-park/
Salute to Service with Queen Latifah
This free show has been pushed back to an 8 p.m. start to lessen the effects of the extreme heat. Along with rapper, actor, and singer Queen Latifah, it features the United States Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus and Miss America 2026 Cassie Donegan.
The Bug Club
Welsh indie pop duo the Bug Club consists of songwriter Sam Willmet and Tilly Harris. They’ve released three albums on Seattle’s Sub-Pop label since 2024, and the most recent, Every Single Muscle, overflows with infectious energy and Welsh pride. Columbus, Ohio, family band Golomb, which records for Philly label No Quarter, opens. 8 p.m., Ukie Club, 847 N. Franklin St., 43333collective.com
Pissed Jeans
Allentown-born and Philly-based hard core punk band Pissed Jeans has been raising a ruckus for two decades, reaching back to the band’s 2005 debut, Shallow, through 2024’s raging Half-Divorced. The Matt Korvette-fronted band is playing a free show by the Delaware River waterfront. 6 p.m., Spruce Street Harbor Park, 301 S. Columbus Blvd., 4333Collective.com
Ursula Rucker will perform as part of the Red, White, & Blue To-Do.Courtesy of Ursula Rucker
Red, White, & Blue To-Do
When the Continental Congress announced its independence from Britain on July 2, 1776, John Adams predicted that would be the day that future Americans would celebrate “with pomp and parade.” The Red, White and Blue To-Do will make good on that prediction with free events all throughout the historic district.
The musical component is wide ranging and meant to reflect a multicultural American mosaic. Puerto Rican Bomba band Los Bomberos de la Calle and a Balkan brass outfit play the National Constitution Center. Americana folk singer-songwriter Sug Daniels will sing in Elfreth’s Alley. Rob Curto’s Brazilian band Forró for All will perform at the Weitzman Museum of National Jewish History, and hip-hop poet Ursula Rucker will be joined by Miles Orion at Arch Street Meeting House. Times vary, Philadelphia Historic District, visitphilly.com
Friday, July 3
Pop on Independence with Idina Menzel
The Broadway star of Rent, Wicked, Frozen, If/Then, and last year’s Redwood will sing with the Philly Pops in a rare (for her) orchestral concert. “It’s the most glorious experience, just standing up there in front of 80-some musicians and performing with them,” she told my colleague Rosa Cartagena. “There’s nothing like it.” This concert has also been pushed back to a later start due to the heat. 8 p.m., Independence Mall, 615 Chestnut St., july4thphilly.com
Christina Aguilera will headline the One Philly: Unity Concert for America, with Jill Scott, The Roots, Seal, Will Smith & Jazzy Jeff, and more.Courtesy of the Artist
Saturday, July 4
One Philly: Unity Concert for America
With France vs. Paraguay in the World Cup in South Philly and this seven-hour free show on the Ben Franklin Parkway, July 4 is an unprecedented day in Philadelphia for outsized events.
The headliner of the One Philly concert — this year produced by Philly’s ESM Productions, rather than Wawa Welcome America — is not from Philly. It’s Christina Aguilera. The Pittsburgher and former teen star is an intriguing Independence Day headliner at a time when American identity is being contested. She’s the daughter of an Ecuadorian immigrant father and has released two Spanish-language albums, including 2022’s Aguilera.
British singer Seal and rising New York family band Infinity Song are the other nonlocal acts. Other than that, it’s all Philly.
The rest — Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, Meek Mill, Beanie Sigel, and the State Property crew and Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge — will be backed by The Roots, whose drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, is credited as an executive producer of the event. Wanda Sykes hosts, and Gillie Da King & Wallo 267 will be on hand. Special guests are expected and fireworks go off around midnight. Free, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, july4philly.com
Freedom Festival with the Commodores
The Camden alternative to Philly’s 250th birthday celebration is a more low-key affair with the Commodores, the 1970s funk-soul and easy listening band once led by Lionel Richie, who’s been gone since 1982 (though he will be playing Xfinity Mobile Arena on July 16 with Earth, Wind & Fire). Cofounder William “WAK” King still leads the band, and he will funk it up with “Machine Gun” and “Brock House” before the fireworks go off. 6:30 p.m., Wiggins Waterfront Park, 2 Riverside Drive, Camden, america250.org
Paul Simon performs during “A Quiet Celebration” shows at the Academy of Music in June 2025.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Sunday, July 5
Paul Simon
Paul Simon had planned to play three shows on his “A Quiet Celebration” tour at the Academy of Music last year, but the last two were canceled due to his bad back. Now, he’ll return and once again begin with his 33-minute-long 2023 album Seven Psalms in its entirety, followed by a lengthy greatest hit and deep cuts set. 8 p.m., TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann, 52nd and Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org
Jason Newsted & the Chophouse
Jason Newsted spent 15 years in Metallica, playing bass in the biggest metal band in the world from 1986 to 2001. He’s on his first-ever tour with the Chophouse Band, with whom he promises to weave rock, country, and bluegrass with metal. 7:30 p.m., 118 North, 118 N. Wayne Ave, Wayne, 118NorthWayne.com
Allison Russell opens for Sarah McLachlan at the Highmark Mann on Tuesday.Dana Trippe
Tuesday, July 7
Sarah McLachlan & Allison Russell
Lilith Fair founder and “Building A Mystery” hitmaker McLachlan returned with Better Broken, her first album in nine years, in 2025. She’s joined by Russell, the Montreal-raised songwriter who raised her profile with 2020’s stunning Outside Child, and is a member of the Our Native Daughters supergroup. Russell’s third album, In the Hour of Chaos, which features guests including Norah Jones, Brittney Spencer, and Delco’s Devon Gilfillian, is due July 10. 8 p.m., TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann, 52nd and Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org
Madison Beer
Madison Beer first gained notice at the age of 13 in 2012, when Justin Bieber posted a link to her cover of Etta James’ “At Last.” The pop singer is enjoying her biggest success with singles like “Yes Baby” and “Bittersweet” from her new Locket. Thuy and Lulu Simon open. 7:30 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com
Sarah McLachlan poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)Matt Licari
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a later start time for the concert, which organizers changed due to the extreme heat advisory this week.
Broadway legend Idina Menzel has lived in Los Angeles for years now, but she still loves an East Coast audience — especially in Philly.
“They’re my vibe. I’ve got a lot of friends and family down there. They understand my humor,” said Menzel, who lives in Encino with her husband, actor Aaron Lohr, her 16-year-old son, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, and their dog, Gino.
“I just really feel like I’m very authentic when I’m on the stage with them, and we have a great time.”
The star singer behind unforgettable characters in Wicked, Rent, and Frozen, Menzel returns to Philadelphia on July 3 to perform her biggest hits from musicals and beyond, joining the Philly Pops for a free concert on Independence Mall.
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve done an orchestra show,” said Menzel, who last year starred in the Broadway musical Redwood, about a mother grieving the sudden loss of her son and finding solace in a redwood forest.
“It’s the most glorious experience, just standing up there in front of 80 some musicians and performing with them … there’s nothing like it.”
At Independence Mall, she’ll likely sing her popular hits, like “Defying Gravity,” “Take Me or Leave Me,” and “Let It Go,” as well as songs from her own discography, with some familiar arrangements and some new ones she created recently.
Outside of touring, the Tony Award-winner is no stranger to the city: As a New Yorker, Menzel has visited often before. In college, she once spent a Christmas in town with two New York University roommates from Philadelphia.
There’s one thing she loves to do whenever she stops in Philly — run up the Art Museum steps.
“I make it a point to, with my son, because he’s such an athlete. We run the steps. I call them the Rocky steps,” she said.
Performing as part of Wawa Welcome America’s Semiquincentennial celebrations leading up to July 4, Menzel joins a long list of celebrities coming to Philadelphia for the national birthday bash. If there’s one song from her history that she thinks Philly audiences — and Americans overall — need to hear right now, that would be “No Day But Today.”
“Rent was my very first professional show, and it’s one of my favorite songs from that show. For me, it’s kind of like a mantra, and whenever I sing it, audiences truly come together,” she said. “It’s more about gratitude and community. People coming together, not taking things for granted, and really embracing the moment.”
It’s a message that will likely resonate with Philadelphians — even if Menzel is a diehard Knicks fan.
Idina Menzel will headline Pops on Independence in Philadelphia at Sixth & Market Streets on the Independence Concert Series Stage at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 3.
Jamaaladeen Tacuma isn’t particularly interested in dwelling on the fact that he has just turned 70. It may be one of the few things the veteran bassist, with a seemingly limitless capacity for fascination, isn’t interested in.
“I was always the kind of person that looked ahead,” Tacuma said. “I like to say, ‘What am I going to be doing in the future? How will I be thinking in the future?’”
He marked his June 13 birthday not with old friends, but performing at South,leading a never-before-assembled, multigenerational quintet with Pulitzer-winning drummer Tyshawn Sorey, saxophonist and Snacktime cofounder Yesseh Furaha-Ali, guitarist Keyanna Hutchinson, and pianist Yoichi Uzeki.
On July 18, he’ll celebrate the release of a new all-star album with 102-year-old saxophonist Marshall Allen at Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey. Two months later, he’ll be back at South with Quantum Blues, an unlikely quartet teaming him with longtime Pharoah Sanders guitarist Tisziji Munoz, Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun, and former Late Show with David Letterman keyboardist Paul Shaffer.
Jamaaladeen Tacuma on stage at South. The bassist celebrated his 70th birthday at the club in a quartet featuring drummer Tyshawn Sorey.Sound Evidence
But it’s not just music that captures his imagination. Before settling in for our interview in May at a Mexican restaurant on Passyunk, Tacuma was gushing about his recent viewings of vintage films from Japan’s Toho studio, giant monster movies like the original Godzilla and The Mysterians.
The lunch, he said, evoked memories of a visit to Mexico City, where he learned of the country’s lucha libre wrestling tradition. This, in turn, prompted the recording of an upcoming album, Bajo Libre.
That sort of thing happens constantly with Tacuma, who has a Zelig-like ability to find himself in unexpected musical situations.
On a recent trip to London, he was being shown around by drummer Sean Noonan, a frequent collaborator. While passing though the Liverpool Street tube station, his ear was caught by the guitar playing of a young busker. He immediately tasked Noonan with finding a studio and enlisted the 18-year-old guitarist, Michael Asukyle, to record an impromptu album he called Mind the Outsiders, which was released last February.
Jamaaladeen Tacuma on stage with the Wiggles in Boston’s Wang Theater in 2023, where he presented band member Tsehay Hawkins with a special DiPinto bass.Sound Evidence
After taking his grandson to see the Australian children’s group the Wiggles a few years ago, he bumped into the band over breakfast at Sabrina’s Cafe the next morning. By the time he got home, they’d invited him into the studio to write and record the song “Play the Bass Guitar.”
He’s since joined them on stage and on television, and plans to reunite with the band this summer at the Miller Theater.
Tacuma’s friendship with Rolling Stones drummer Steve Jordan — they met, he recalls, copresenting an award to the Red Hot Chili Peppers — led to an eight-year gig in the house band for the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s annual gala fundraiser, where he’s played with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, and Bob Weir.
Almost in spite of his compulsion to move perpetually forward, Tacuma’s 70th birthday year has occasioned a number of opportunities for revisiting the past, as well.
In January, the bassist returned to the Norris Apartments housing project, where he grew up as Rudy McDaniel.
Joined by a group of local singers and musicians, many of whom he’d known since his early days in North Philly, he presented his “The Dream Then & Now” suite, dedicated to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As Lawrence “Weas” Newton recited the civil rights leader’s words, Tacuma struck up a funk groove in the complex’s community center, a poster board nearby displaying photos of him playing in the same room as a teenager.
Bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma on stage with vocalist Lawrence “Weas” Newton in January at the Norris Homes Community Center.Adam Shanker
“It was surreal,” Tacuma said with a laugh. “Weas and I grew up in the area. We used to play ball in the basketball courts right next door. A lot of groups came from that area, like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the Stylistics, McFadden and Whitehead, Brenda & the Tabulations. And the Uptown Theater was right around the corner, so I saw everybody there whenever those shows would come to town — the Temptations, James Brown.”
The neighborhood not only nurtured Tacuma’s passion for music but also inculcated his love of fashion.
“If folks had money, they would go downtown and go to Boyds,” he explained. “But for the most part, we would go to the Avenue, Germantown and Lehigh. There you had all the stores, like Leo’s or Al Schaeffer’s Red Carpet Room.”
Tacuma later borrowed the name of one of those shops for his boutique, the Redd Carpet Room. There he sells the finds he brings home from his travels; he can often be found at flea markets and vintage shops in the hours prior to a performance.
“I don’t take bass guitars on tour anymore,” he said. “I just bring a suitcase to fill with clothes. I’m serious about helping guys look a bit better.”
Bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma wipes away tears after he was presented with the 2018 Benny Golson Award by the mayor at City Hall on March 29, 2018. TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
A month after his MLK Day performance, Tacuma played the Sons d’Hiver festival in Paris, where he revisited the hotel that had become the home base for Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time band 50 years earlier, during Tacuma’s first tour of Europe.
“We were supposed to go to Paris for two weeks, and we wound up staying for three months,” he recalled. “I hadn’t been back to that place since that time. The same family owned it. We had lunch right next door, at the same restaurant where Ornette and I used to have lunch, sitting at the same table. It brought back a lot of memories.”
Coleman played a foundational role in Tacuma’s musical life. After high school, he received a scholarship to attend Berklee School of Music but declined.
“Because I wanted to be a musician that played on the road.”
Instead of college, he joined organist Charles Earland’s band but was fired after a year. He moved home, wondering what to do next, until a week later he received a call to audition for Coleman’s band.
Tacuma gives an impromptu solo performance in the Mayor’s Reception Room on March 29, 2018.TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
“I learned so many things from Ornette,” he said. “As a bandleader, he wasn’t dictatorial, but he knew what he wanted and he knew how to extract that from the members of the band. Also there was a seriousness about sound, the idea that if you really, truly hear something different, then you should express it. You don’t have to follow a trend.”
Those are lessons that Tacuma has carried with him over a remarkably diverse and unpredictable career spanning more than half a century. He has collaborated not just with a staggering variety of musicians but with visual artists, filmmakers, architects, and scientists.
When asked to take a moment to look back over it all, even he has to marvel.
“I think I’ve looked into the future so much,” he concluded, “that I have a lot of stuff now to look back on. I feel blessed that the creator has given me all this.”
NEW YORK — David Clayton-Thomas, the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose husky, high-strung tenor on “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die,” and other hits helped make the so-called “brass rock” band among the most popular acts of the late 1960s, has died at age 84.
Spokesperson Eric Alper said that Mr. Clayton-Thomas died “peacefully” Wednesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Alper did not cite a specific cause.
Mr. Clayton-Thomas was a onetime street fighter and petty thief from Canada who briefly became a rock superstar, the front man of a nine-member group that sold millions of records and won two Grammys for Blood, Sweat & Tears, which beat out the Beatles’Abbey Road for best album of 1969. Calling out amid a jazzy parade of horns, keyboards, and percussion, Mr. Clayton-Thomas’ urgent shout was a signature voice of the era, preaching love on the Motown cover “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a lasting legacy on Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die,” and a cool head on his own “Spinning Wheel.” Meanwhile, Blood, Sweat & Tears helped inspire a wave of horn-led bands, among them Chicago, the Electric Flag, and Ten Wheel Drive.
“A lot of the guys [in Blood, Sweat & Tears] would play a Broadway show matinee, then go up to Harlem and play Latin music or R&B and funk at night, or come down to the Village and play pure jazz the next night,” Mr. Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com in 2023. “I was just a blues player: give me three chords and I’ve got a song.”
At its peak, Blood, Sweat & Tears’ appeal was so broad it helped lead to the band’s downfall.
Hip enough to perform at the 1969 Woodstock festival, where they were among the highest paid acts, they also were known enough to the establishment to tour Eastern Europe the following year on behalf of the State Department. When Mr. Clayton-Thomas and other band members denounced the Communist regimes on the other side of the Cold War, Rolling Stone’s David Felton wrote that “the State Department got its money worth.” Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.
The band had practical reasons for going along with the government: Mr. Clayton-Thomas, who had allegedly wielded a gun at his girlfriend, had been denied a green card and faced deportation. But after topping the charts in 1970 with the album Blood, Sweat & Tears 3, their appeal soon faded. A burned out Mr. Clayton-Thomas left the group in 1972, and neither he nor the remaining musicians ever regained their old stature. Blood, Sweat & Tears would continue recording over the next few years, and even briefly reunited with Mr. Clayton-Thomas, who went on to release more than a dozen solo albums and tour on his own for decades.
Mr. Clayton-Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. “Spinning Wheel,” covered by everyone from James Brown to TV star Barbara Eden, was voted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame a decade later.
Mr. Clayton-Thomas is survived by his daughters, Ashleigh Clayton-Thomas and Christine Graham.
Up from the streets
Born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, and raised near Toronto and Ottawa, he was the son of a Canadian World War II veteran and of a pianist-entertainer who helped inspire her son’s interest in music. Thomsett was lucky to have the chance. He fought violently with his father, was living in the streets by his mid-teens and by age 20 was serving time in a reformatory for vagrancy, assault and other crimes.
An old guitar, left behind by a fellow inmate, changed his life. He taught himself to play and began spending extensive time in the early 1960s around Toronto’s Yonge Street music “strip,” where peers included the American rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, a mentor to Robbie Robertson and other future members of the Band and a guide for Thomsett early in his career.
Anxious to reinvent himself, he changed his last name to Clayton-Thomas while leading his own groups. In the mid-60s, he released such albums as Sings Like It Is and had a hit single with the anti-war rocker “Brainwashed.” He would also befriend a rising star, Joni Mitchell, whose childlike “Circle Game” helped inspire “Spinning Wheel,” and the venerable John Lee Hooker, who would indirectly contribute to Mr. Clayton-Thomas’ breakthrough in the U.S.
America beckons
Hooker had encouraged Mr. Clayton-Thomas to move to New York, where the American bluesman had an engagement at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. When Hooker unexpectedly departed for a tour of Europe, club owner Howard Solomon needed a replacement and recruited Mr. Clayton-Thomas.
“So I played him a couple songs on the guitar,” Mr. Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. “He said, ‘Do you have a band?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and went out into Greenwich Village looking for anybody carrying a guitar case or even looking like a musician, and we put together a little band and we opened there that night. We ended up staying there for several months.”
Around the same time, session man-producer Al Kooper was looking to a form jazz-rock group and was joined by such musicians as guitarist Steve Katz, drummer Bobby Colomby, and horn players Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss. They called themselves Blood, Sweat & Tears, releasing the debut album Child Is Father to the Man early in 1968. Although praised by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner as “a fine, exemplary group,” members were torn between those allied with Kooper and those who thought his vocals too weak to attract a substantial audience.
By the end of the year, Kooper and others had departed, and the band was seeking a new singer. After Judy Collins saw Mr. Clayton-Thomas perform, she recommended him to Colomby.
“I got home and just a couple of days later, Bobby Colomby called me up and said, ‘Hey, Kooper’s gone. We got four guys left out of the nine. And we still got a record contract with Columbia. Do you want to come down and try out for the band?”’ Mr. Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. ”I said, ‘You’re damn right.’ I knew [bassist] Jim Fielder real well and I knew they were superb musicians. So I was on the next plane. We had a rehearsal that afternoon, an audition, and it was instant magic. We just knew right off the bat.”
In 2020, the Philadelphia DJ and producer — then a newly hired computer music professor at University of California, San Diego — created a course called “Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music.”
The popular class honors “people of color who pioneered groundbreaking genres within electronic music,” citing innovators like Sun Ra, Flying Lotus, and Philadelphia poet Moor Mother. Featured guests have included Herbie Hancock, Questlove, and Nile Rodgers.
It has also grown into a music festival: Britt has presented Blacktronika events in New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and Durham, N.C. And now, as part of ArtPhilly’s festival What Now: 2026, Britt has curated the series “Blacktronika: Philadelphia Now and Then.” It is supported with a $50,000 grant.
The Southwest Philly-raised artist, who founded the Ovum Recordings label with then musical partner Josh Wink, and created the Philly house and soul music project Sylk 130 in the 1990s, has a full week worth of musical history lessons in store for his hometown.
‘Illuminate just Philly’
“This is different from any other Blacktronika festival,” said Britt, 58, speaking via Zoom from the UC San Diego campus. “At all of the other Blacktronika events, I fly people in from all over the world,” said the DJ, who was born King James Britt. “For this one, I wanted to illuminate just Philly.”
King Britt is the curator for ArtPhilly’s “Blacktronika: Philadelphia Now and Then,” taking place for seven consecutive nights starting June 23.B
Britt’s personal connection to Philadelphia’s Afrofuturism goes back to when his mother, who was friendly with members of the Arkestra, would take him to rehearsals at the Sun Ra house in Germantown.
“I didn’t understand the music when I was a kid,” he said. “But I loved the costumes.”
The band members were all dressed in colorful space-age outfits.
A Central High School graduate, Britt was studying marketing at Temple when he dropped out as his career took off.
Working with Wink under the name E-Culture, the duo had an international deep house hit with “Tribal Confusion” in 1990, when Britt was the dance music buyer at the Tower Records store on South Street. He toured as DJ for the Grammy-winning hip-hop group Digable Planets early that decade and teamed with Wink for a long-running series at Fluid nightclub called “The Womb.”
Britt never thought of himself as an educator until an ex-girlfriend and his daughter, Summer Sloane-Britt, now an art professor at Occidental College, urged him to apply for the post at UC San Diego in 2019.
DJ King Britt at Filo’s downstairs club, 408 S. Second St., in 2000.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
He did a Skype job interview while in Portugal for a gig, and though he doesn’t have an undergraduate degree, got hired on the basis of a lifetime of experience.
“My CV was 40 pages long,” he said. “It was crazy.”
Shortly after moving from Philly to Southern California, Britt realized that “no one was talking about Chicago house, Detroit techno, drum & bass, dub. Ninety percent of the dance music we listen to is rooted in Black culture. But the pedagogy was nonexistent. So I created Blacktronika.”
The course debuted with 20 students the first week of the COVID-19 lockdown, with guests including Greg Tate, the critic who Britt calls “my mentor.” Tate died in 2021; his seminal book Flyboy in the Buttermilk has just been reissued on Questlove’s AUWA imprint.
Now, Britt has 420 students for his virtual Blacktronika class. Interviews with guests like George Clinton, Patrice Rushen, and the Arkestra’s Allen and Knoel Scott are archived at Blacktronika.com.
He cited drummer Earl Young’s “development of the four-on-the-floor rhythmic approach that became foundational to Disco and later House music” and Dexter Wansel “expanding the sonic palette of Philadelphia International Records.”
The prof, who is working on a Blacktronika book, gives props to “the turntablism of Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff,” plus gangsta rap pioneer Schoolly D, as well as The Roots and their keyboard player James Poyser.
A homecoming
It was ArtPhilly cofounder Bill Adair who brought in Britt, says Tania Isaac, a curatorial director of the fest. Britt “is singular in terms of what he represents,” said Isaac. “Artists who are from Philly, whose work is grounded in Philly, but are global. We’re able to support artists coming home.”
Britt’s series kicks off at Fishtown cocktail lounge Margolis on Tuesday, spotlighting TastyTreats, the party hosted by Stacey “Flygirrl” Wilson. DJs Mike Nyce and Yameen Allworld will be joined by a just-announced special guest: DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Wednesday night’s Johnny Brenda’s showcase was designed as a tribute to Wansel, the songwriter and producer whose groundbreaking synth-centric album Life on Mars was released in 1976.
Wansel was scheduled to join a Philly all-star band with Black Buttafly on keys, Anthony Tidd on bass, Tim Motzer on guitar, Elliot Levin on sax, and singers Lady Alma and Tonja Dixon. Poet Ursula Rucker was also on the bill.
Wansel died last month at 75, so the inaugural Blacktronika Icon Award will be presented posthumously to his son, producer Pop Wansel. Black Music Month founder Dyana Williams will host.
On Sunday at Silk City, Tracey Moore of Jazzyfatnastees hosts a tribute to Black Lily, the neo-soul incubator that helped birth the careers of Jill Scott, John Legend, and others. That band will include many Wansel tribute players, plus punk rock skateboarder and drummer Chuck Treece.
Dozia Blakey and King Britt in Philadelphia in 1992. Britt, now a music professor at the University of California, San Diego, has curated the ArtPhilly festival “Blacktronika: Philadelphia Now and Then,” taking place over seven consecutive nights starting June 23, at venues throughout the city, including Margolis, Johnny Brenda’s, Kung Fu Necktie, Silk City, and ARS Nova Workshop at Solar Myth.Mpozi Tolbert
Britt will perform on Monday, when he’ll DJ and be joined by guests at Silk City, paying homage to Back2Basics, the party that blended DJs with instrumentation, which he created with Dozia Blakey in 1990.
And “Philadelphia Now and Then” is only part one of Britt’s plan to bring Blacktronika back to his hometown.
In November 2027, he’ll partner with the African American Museum in Philadelphia for “Tangible: Blacktronika Artifacts and Archives,” an exhibit funded by a $360,000 grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. That will be accompanied by a second Britt-curated Blacktronika festival, which he says will include artists “from all over the world.”
But before he brings the world to Philadelphia, “Philadelphia Now and Then” will first tell the story of how Blacktronika blossomed in his hometown.
“It’s important to honor all the parties that were pushing the sonics, the sound of electronic Blackness in Philly,” Britt said. “From Philly, born in Philly, all the musicians are Philly. Everything’s Philly.”
King Britt’s “Blacktronika: Philadelphia Now and Then” takes place daily from Tuesday, June 23, to Monday, June 29, at venues across the city. Information at artphilly.org.
Summer music is here in earnest, and the majority of the concerts on this curated list of highlights in a jam-packed season are happening outdoors.
Besides those featured below, there are still more: like Coltrane 100: Legacy featuring Ravi Coltrane with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Highmark Mann on July 22, or Ed Sheeran on Sept. 19 and AC/DC on Sept. 29, both at Lincoln Financial Field.
Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan throws a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs in 2024 in Boston. Kahan plays Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on June 26. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)Michael Dwyer
Noah Kahan
June 26, Citizens Bank Park
Noah Kahan broke through big-time with his 2022 album Stick Season, which the Vermont songwriter, who grew up on a tree farm, described as “a love letter to New England.” His new The Great Divide, produced with Gabe Simon and the National’s Aaron Dessner, is even huger. New Jersey’s Gigi Perez and Wayne’s Annabelle Dinda open. mlb.com/phillies/noah-kahan
River Roads Music Festival
June 27, Heuser Park
Dar Williams’ River Roads Music Festival has found a home in Heuser Park, the King of Prussia space that accommodates crowds larger than the nearby Concerts Under the Stars series (which has choice shows with Nasir Dickerson’s Coltrane tribute July 11, Preservation Hall Jazz Band on July 23, and Joan Osborne on Aug. 7). Williams co-headlines River Roads with 10,000 Maniacs, and the bill includes English punk-folk firebrand Billy Bragg and superb songwriter Amythyst Kiah. risingsunpresents.com
Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
All summer
The lineup at the Camden amphitheater with a lawn’s eye view of Center City spans genres. Hardy’s “The Country! Country! Tour!” is June 27, Dave Matthews Band’s two-night stand is July 10-11, and Tim McGraw plays July 23. Fresh from the Roots Picnic, Kehlani is Aug. 26, Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show” arrives Aug. 28-29, and TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue team up Sept. 13. FreedomMortgagePavilion.com
DJ Jazzy Jeff during the second day of the Roots Picnic on May 31 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
One Philly: Unity Concert For America
July 4, Ben Franklin Parkway
Pittsburgh-raised Christina Aguilera tops the bill of the free 250th birthday party concert, and British pop star Seal and New York family band Infinity Song are toward the bottom. Otherwise, it’s an all-Philly affair with Jill Scott, plus the Roots performing and serving as a backup band for Will Smith. Then there’s DJ Jazzy Jeff, State Property, Kathy Sledge, and more. phila.gov
Paul Simon was supposed to play three shows on his “A Quiet Celebration” tour at the Academy of Music last year, but the final two were canceled due to his bad back. Now he’s back, in a larger space, and, as always, with a stellar band. highmarkmann.org
Patti LaBelle performs during the “Victory at Sea” concert at the Temple Performing Arts Center in 2025. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Patti LaBelle
July 9, Dell Music Center
The highlight of the Dell season is this America 250 concert with hometown hero LaBelle, who will be joined by Chester, Pa., Grammy-winning R&B singer Avery Sunshine. The Isley Brothers on Aug. 6 are also standouts on the old school R&B and hip-hop calendar. DellMusicCenter.com
Camden County Concerts
All summer, Cooper River Park, Haddon Lake Park, and Wiggins Park
Across the river on the Jersey side, multiple concert series feature national and local acts. The Haddon Lake Park Sundown Music Series has Delco native Devon Gilfillian on June 24 and Young Gun Silver Fox on Aug. 12. Cooper River Park presents Color Me Badd July 9, and Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band on July 16. And Wiggins Park has Will Calhoun celebrating Miles Davis on Aug. 24. They’re all free. camdencounty.com
Megan Moroney performing in Nashville in 2025. The country singer will headline Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly in July. John Shearer / Getty Images
Megan Moroney
July 11, Xfinity Mobile Arena
The country songwriter, with sharp words for foolhardy dudes, is on her first arena tour behind her album Cloud 9. The presence of Musgraves and Ed Sheeran on the album shows how big a star Moroney has become. XfinityMobileArena.com
Todd Rundgren
July 11-12, Keswick Theatre
Upper Darby’s own reluctant Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is playing the hits. The “Damned If I Do” tour is subtitled “The Fan-Favorite Classics Return.” So get ready to “bang on the drum all day.” KeswickTheatre.com
Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts
All summer
Acts hitting the under-the-gazebo stage on the Main Line include Shovels & Rope on July 12, John Gorka on July 24, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams with Mutlu on July 31, and Mdou Moctar on Sept. 11. brynmawrtwlightconcerts.com
Bob Dylan
July 14, TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann
The world’s greatest living songwriter, who turned 85 this year, has been pulling surprises out of his hat of late, playing long-neglected songs like “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.” Jimmie Vaughan & the Tilt-A-Whirl Band and Brittney Spencer are also on the bill. highmarkmann.org
Lionel Richie at Union Transfer on March 29, 2025. Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
Ben Gibbard and Death Cab For Cutie sparkled at the NonCommvention this spring. The band is touring behind their excellent new I Built You a Tower, with Philly proud Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast opening. HighmarkMann.org
Pavement will headline Connor Barwin’s Make The World Better Concert Weekend on Friday July 24 at the Dell Music Center.Courtesy of the Artist
Make The World Better Concert Weekend
July 24-25, Dell Music Center
After a year at FDR Park, former Eagle Connor Barwin’s fundraising event for his MTWB Foundation is back at the Dell. The Strawberry Mansion weekend’s bang-bang lineup features Pavement and Ratboys followed by Kurt Vile and the Violators with They Are Gutting A Body of Water and Twisted Teens. r5productions.com
Jill Scott is playing on the Ben Franklin Parkway on July Fourth and has four shows at the Met Philly later that month.Kennedi Carter
Jill Scott
July 24-25, and July 27 and July 29, The Met Philly
Multiple concerts will bring music to the Delaware River waterfront. Wild Pink plays July 23, Spirit of the Beehive is July 24, Snacktime plays Aug. 14. The 502s are Aug. 1, Ripe is Aug. 29, and Folk Bitch Trio is Sept. 26. delawareriverwaterfront.com
Morgan Wallen
July 31-Aug. 1, Lincoln Financial Field
The Sneedville, Tenn., country superstar’s South Philly weekend on his “Still The Problem” tour teams him with Brooks & Dunn on his first night at the Linc. Night two looks more enticing, with Ella Langley, whose Dandelion is the biggest country album of 2026. LincolnFinancialField.com
Dinner Party
Aug. 2, Heuser Park
Dinner Party, the supergroup that features adventurous jazz-funk-soul-hip-hop hyphenate Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and Terrace Martin, have all of one date listed on their 2026 calendar. It’s in King of Prussia, with Digable Planets opening. RisingSunPresents.com/heuser-park
Lyle Lovett performs at the Lansdowne Theater on March 12.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Lyle Lovett & Esperanza Spalding
Aug. 4-6 and Aug. 25-26, City Winery
Two of the coolest, coziest indoor gigs of the summer. Lyle Lovett plays solo and tells tales in a three-night “Songs & Stories” stand. Then Esperanza Spalding, the jazz bassist and composer, plays two nights with her full band. citywinery.com/philadlelphia
Silvana Estrada plays Longwood Gardens on Aug. 13.Jesus Soto Fuentes
Arooj Aftab & Silvana Estrada
July 29 & Aug. 13, Longwood Gardens
World class global music-making women coming to Chester County. Arooj Aftab is a Pakistani American composer whose transporting 2024 album Night Reign features Chocolate Genius, Kaki King, and Philadelphians Moor Mother and Cautious Clay. Silvana Estrada, who grew up in rural Mexico, shines on Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, a luminous mixture of folk, jazz, and traditional Mexican musical forms. longwoodgardens.org
Jon Batiste performs at the Met in Philadelphia on Oct. 30, 2025.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Jon Batiste
Aug. 14, Highmark Mann
Jon Batiste’s joyous show at the Met Philly last fall ended with New Orleans’ second line parade out of the theater and onto Poplar Street. The bandleader will bring the life-affirming spirit of his 2025 album Big Money to Fairmount Park. HighmarkMann.org
Philadelphia Folk Festival
Aug. 14-16, Old Pool Farm
The storied Philly Folk Fest returns for its 63rd year with a lineup that includes progressive bluegrass innovator Sam Bush, tough-minded songwriter Mary Gauthier, brilliantly witty tunesmith Robbie Fulks, blue guitar wiz Eddie 9V, folk troubadour Tom Rush, and Philly’s the Tisburys. John Flynn will perform and emcee. FolkFest.org.
Mannequin Pussy’s Marisa Dabice performs at Union Transfer in 2024. The Philly band is scheduled to open for the Foo Fighters this summer.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Foo Fighters
Aug. 13, Lincoln Financial Field
The “Take Cover” tour brings Dave Grohl’s stadium rock band to the Linc behind the new Your Favorite Toy. It’s the band’s first time here with new drummer Ilan Rubin, who replaced Josh Freese, who briefly replaced Taylor Hawkins after his death in 2022. Openers are Queens of the Stone Age and Philly punks Mannequin Pussy, getting a deserved spot on the big stage. LincolnFinancialField.com
Rush
Aug. 21 & 23, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Rush fans are over the moon about the reunion of the Canadian prog-rock group. Core members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are back, with Loren Gold on keyboards and more importantly, new drummer Anika Nilles, who has won universal praise for taking on the daunting task of stepping in for Neil Peart, who died in 2020. XfinityMobileArena.com
Bruno Mars in Las Vegas on “Bruno Mars Day.” (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)Steve Marcus
Bruno Mars
Sept. 1-2, Lincoln Financial Field
The hits never stop coming for Bruno Mars, from “Just The Way You Are” in 2010 to his “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga and “APT” with Rosé in 2024. Fabulous British vocalist Raye opens, as does DJ Pee .Wee, who is Mars’ Silk Sonic partner Anderson .Paak in disguise. LincolnFinancialField.com
Kacey Musgraves
Sept. 4, Xfinity Mobile Arena
The Texas singer has circled back to her country roots on her self-reflecting new album Middle of Nowhere, which features collabs with Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, and Philadelphia-raised singer Gregory Alan Isakov. XfinityMobileArena.com
Charli xcx performs during the Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Saturday, June 28, 2025. She opens her ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour in Philadelphia on Sept. 11. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)Scott A Garfitt
Charli XCX
Sept. 11, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Charli XCX is covering all the bases with her new album Music, Fashion, Film, which represents those realms with contributions from John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese. (Yes, really.) She opens her tour for the album, which drops July 24, in Philly. XfinityMobileArena.com
Angine de Poitrine plays Underground Arts on Sept. 16.Constantin Monfilliette
Angine de Poitrine
Sept. 16, Underground Arts
The masked Canadian math-rockers who hide their identities but not their musical prowess, are doing a UA basement show before returning to play Franklin Music Hall on Nov. 20. UndergroundArts.org
The WXPN-FM (88.5) weekend at Wiggins Park in Camden features headliners Dawes, Little Feat, Portugal. The Man, plus S.G. Goodman, Te Vista, Cyril Neville playing the Grateful Dead, Madison Cunningham, Sierra Hull, Rebirth Brass Band, and more. xpn.org/xpnfest
The 2000s pop-rock sensations the All-American Rejects are taking over the main stage at the FIFA Fan Festival next month.
Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the organizers of FIFA Fan Festival, announced that Micah Palace, the East Coast Spanglish rapper; and All-American Rejects will be the next major concert series to take place at Lemon Hill this summer.
Micah Palace, who launched his career with the single “No Sabo” in 2024, is finding even more popularity among soccer fans as he promotes his song “Rodeo” as a World Cup anthem on Instagram and TikTok. Palace will perform at Lemon Hill on Friday, June 26, at 6 p.m.
All-American Rejects, a band whose songs “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret” couldn’t be escaped in 2005, is bringing their catchy earworms to Lemon Hill on Monday, July 13, at 7 p.m.
Throughout the 39-day World Cup festival, music artists and performers will grace the stage. Already, global pop sensation Luis Fonsi headlined opening night on June 11, and Ecuadorian singer Johann Vera performed before the Ecuador vs. Ivory Coast match on June 14. More performances will continue to be announced as the festival progresses, organizers said.
