If Jalen Brunson, who just won the NBA championship for the New York Knicks, and Shane Gillis, who broke two Guinness World Records for a one-night-only comedy show at Lincoln Financial Field, weren’t already having a good year — they’re now gracing the stage of Saturday Night Live’s 52nd season.
Brunson, who is known to many locals as the Villanova superstar who brought home two NCAA national championships to the Philadelphia-adjacent school, will host the season premiere on Sept. 26 with girl pop group Katseye as musical guest.
Gillis, a comedian from Mechanicsburg, Pa., who got his start in Philadelphia, will host episode three on Oct. 10 alongside Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía. Gillis cocreated the West Chester-filmed Netflix series Tires, and was at one point hired and fired from SNL.
SNL is charging forward after more than a half century in the American cultural zeitgeist, bringing celebs into 30 Rockefeller to flub, break, and laugh through the jokes.
Pennsylvania showed up in a big way last season, too, with Quakertown’s Sabrina Carpenter, Downingtown’s Miles Teller, and West Philadelphia’s Colman Domingo (the latter of whom was honored by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on July 4).
Joining the first slate of episodes, announced on Wednesday, are actress Dakota Johnson with Baltimore rockers Turnstile on Oct. 3. Inde Navarrette, a breakout star from indie horror film Obsession, will host on Halloween, with Gracie Abrams as musical guest.
SNL’s 52nd season will premiere Sept. 26 at 11:30 p.m. Philadelphia time on NBC. Stream episodes the day after they air on Peacock.
NBC Sports Philadelphia is losing an Eagles legend.
Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback known to most fans simply as “Jaws,” announced on social media he is cutting back his broadcast work and leaving the network’s Eagles pre- and postgame coverage after four seasons.
“It’s been a great run!” Jaworski wrote. “Thank you all, and Go Birds!”
NBC Sports Philadelphia isn’t planning on filling Jaworski’s empty seat. Michael Barkann will return as host of the network’s pre- and postgame coverage, joined by Barrett Brooks, Reuben Frank, and former Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant.
“There are certain people in this businesses who are irreplaceable, and Jaws is one of those people,” said Alexandra Matcham, the vice president of content for NBC Sports Philadelphia. “You don’t replace a person who was a pioneer in the NFL broadcast world, and we have no intention of doing so.”
Jaworski was hired by NBC Sports Philadelphia in 2022 to help fill the void left by Ray Didinger’s retirement and the departure of former Eagles defender Seth Joyner. Prior to that, Jaworski spent 27 years at ESPN as an announcer and analyst, including a five-year stint on Monday Night Football.
It was also Jaworski who helped lead the Eagles to the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in 1980 under Hall of Fame head coach Dick Vermeil. Jaworski spent 15 years as a quarterback in the NFL, 10 with the Birds, and his 99-yard touchdown pass to Mike Quick during the 1985 season remains tied for the longest in NFL history.
Outside of the NFL, Jaworski was the owner of the Philadelphia Soul, the city’s Arena Football League franchise, until the league shuttered in 2019. He also manages golf courses in South Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania.
He chose the latter, a decision he initially regretted before leaning on the media savviness he picked up during his16-year career with the Birds.
“I actually wanted to wait, but man, I was so tired of that question being asked all the time, so that just got me,” Graham said. But he landed on the announcement helping him, because it got fans interested to “tune in” and hear him explain why.
So begins Graham’s transition from Eagles legend and two-time Super Bowl champ to a budding media career talking about football.
After being injured during the 2024 season, Graham, 38, still felt like he had a little gas in the tank. So when the Eagles called him up last season, he was ready to unretire and get back on the field to “finish the season clean.”
Graham went into this offseason hopeful he might jump back into football. He stayed in contact with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and was even prepared to participate in training camp to be properly prepared if the Birds needed him. But the stars didn’t align.
“It didn’t work out like that because [Roseman] got the team he needed,” Graham said. “So in my mind, I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I’m going to be done.’”
In hindsight, it’s been something of a relief. Now Graham can focus his efforts on a budding media career that will start off with the second season of his Unblocked podcast and joining PHLY for postgame coverage of Eagles games.
“Last year, I was one foot in, one foot out, because I thought there was an opportunity for me to go back and play,” Graham said. “This year I didn’t want that feeling so I can work in the media space how I worked in football. Otherwise I’m doing myself a disservice.”
Learning on WIP and late-night 6abc hits
Brandon Graham hosted a weekly show on 94.1 WIP for nine seasons alongside former host Howard Eskin. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Graham’s interest in the media began during his playing days, where he’d listen back and critique interviews he gave with reporters. It didn’t take long for his engaging personality to win over the press, who began offering him more opportunities to jump on the air.
An early break was with 94.1 WIP, a gig that transformed from him calling in on Tuesdays to hosting his own weekly show during the season at Chickie’s & Pete’s alongside former host Howard Eskin.
Learning on the job also meant sometimes wading in controversy. He was forced to walk back comments he made about then-teammates Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown in 2024. Graham was injured at the time and based his remarks on a video of Brown speaking, something he’s since learned to approach with caution.
“It was an emotional time and I should have been patient,” Graham said. “But I felt like it helped us a little bit, too, because we ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.”
Graham also got some early reps on 6abc during the 2015 season. After Sunday Eagles games, Graham would drive to the station’s studios on City Avenue to join the 11 p.m. edition of Action News and talk Birds with Ducis Rodgers.
“Boy, that was a grind,” Graham said.
In 2024, Graham participated in the NFL’s broadcast boot camp, which allows players to experience what it’s like working on a studio show or calling games. Graham said the experience was enlightening, and helped him land appearances on ESPN and the NFL Network.
“At ESPN, I went through what they call the car wash, when you appear on all the different shows,” Graham said. “They ended up liking me, and I got put on Good Morning Football before I went back to play … I expect I’ll do more of that.”
Joining PHLY and learning to criticize his former teammates
Brandon Graham is entering his second season hosting the “Unblocked” podcast for PHLY.PHLY
Graham is entering his second NFL season with PHLY, the digital start up that began in Denver in 2015 and expanded to Philly in 2023 as part of the ALLCITY Network.
The network took notice of Graham’s abilities during a July 2025 interview on the Exciting Mics podcast, hosted by Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean and former Birds safety Reed Blankenship (who signed with the Houston Texans in March). Graham said parent companyALLCITY made him a strong proposal, and within a few weeks he launched his Unblocked podcast, co-hosted by Bo Wulf.
“BG brings an incredible depth of knowledge and an understanding of the game, but what truly sets him apart is his authenticity and infectious energy,” said Todd Berman, PHLY’s general manager.
This year Graham is expanding his duties beyond Unblocked to include co-hosting PHLY’s crowded postgame coverage alongside Wulf, Fran Duffy, Brandon Lee Gowton, and former Inquirer reporter EJ Smith.
Graham won’t appear after every Eagles game — he’ll rotate with former Eagles defender and Super Bowl champ Vinny Curry. But his appearances will place Graham in the potentially awkward position of having to criticize his former teammates.
ButGraham isn’t too concerned. As a player, he understood the media had their own job to do, even during his first few seasons with the Eagles when “Philly people were really bashing me.”
“Everybody’s takes are different. Some people do it for clickbait just to get people to click on your show,” Graham said. “I’m going to be honest and tell viewers the truth … It will be challenging, because sometimes there’s certain stuff you can’t just beat around.”
While he’s entering the season hopeful about a future in the sports media machine, he’s open to different paths, including public speaking. For now, Graham’s happy to have a manageable schedule where he works a few days a week, spends time with his family, and has the freedom to explore different interests.
“Who knows what the media stuff will do,” Graham said, “But I’m trying to get this golf game right, too.”
The Philadelphia band fronted by songwriter Adam Granduciel has released its first new music in five years.
The band’s new single, “Who’s That,” is a synth-heavy slow-building rock song that starts off big and only gets bigger as it builds to a powerful crescendo, War on Drugs-style.
Recorded at Granduciel’s studio in a warehouse in Burbank, Calif., the song features the Drugs leader playing nine instruments in a typically layered, meticulous arrangement.
The “Who’s That” recording includes band members Dave Hartley, Eliza Hardy Jones, Jon Natchez, and Anthony LaMarca, with the latter playing drums rather than the band’s usual drummer, Charlie Hall or sometime studio contributor Patrick Berkery.
The song arrives with a video directed by Max Flick that features Granduciel walking the streets of Burbank on a dark night of the soul. At one point, a newspaper blows into his face. At another, he picks up a guitar out of a trash bin and plays a solo.
“‘Who’s That’ was written in 10 minutes somewhere between first coffee and school drop-off,” Granduciel said in a statement.
“Itʼs a song about trying to love yourself despite things we canʼt always control, like the anxiety, depression, and self-doubt that may stand in the way of living the life we truly desire.”
“There’s a lion hangin on my neck, I can tame it, but he might break free,” Granduciel sings. “Who’s that? It’s only my depression, baby.”
Is “Who’s That” the first song from a forthcoming War On Drugs album, which would be the band’s first since 2021’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore?
No word on that yet. The group is going out on a fall tour, though, which begins with two semi-local dates.
On Sept. 18, the Drugs are playing the Queen in Wilmington. That is followed by a gig the next night on the Asbury Park beach at the Sea.Hear.Now festival on a bill that headlined by Mumford & Sons and also includes the Offspring, Chaka Khan, and Shaggy, among others.
The artwork for The War On Drugs’ new song “Who’s That.”Courtesy of the Artist
Since I Don’t Live Here Anymore, The War On Drugs put out a live album, Live Drugs Again, in 2024. Granduciel also produced two standout releases: British singer Sam Fender’s People Watching, which won the prestigious Mercury Prize last year, and Always Been, the Delaware- and Philly-connected solo album by Craig Finn of the Hold Steady.
Last holiday season, The War on Drugs, who were founded in Fishtown in the mid-2000s and won a best rock album Grammy in 2018 for A Deeper Understanding, played a three-night A Drugcember to Remember stand at Johnny Brenda’s. The shows benefited Philly public schools and included guests such as Finn, Joe Walsh, and Kurt Vile.
Sandy McNeal came to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on a mission that belied the beauty of a September morning that was as splendid as it gets in Philadelphia: She was aiming to prevent a “funeral.”
McNeal, 69, and several hundred other protesters, chanting “Hey Drex! Save T-Rex,” gathered at the landmark building on Logan Square to demand that Drexel, the academy board, the state — somebody — find a way to prevent the closure of the museum, scheduled for Sept. 30.
They came armed with signs reading “Save Our Saurs” and “Drexel Destroys Dinos?”
Staff look down as people come out to rally, speak out, and support the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Protest organizer Sarah McAnulty told the decidedly intergenerational crowd, made up of children and a whole lot of former children, that the academy, whose roots date to January 1812 — when Charles Darwin had not yet turned 3 — “brought an understanding of the vast array of Earth’s life to Philadelphia.”
The museum “must remain open to the public,” she declared.
“Philadelphia should be ashamed,” said McNeal, who lives in Delaware County and whose daughter is a marine biologist. For her, the museum’s closing would be akin to a “funeral.”
As for the city government’s possible role, Councilmember Nina Ahmad said she and her colleagues were as surprised as everyone else by the announced closing.
City Council member Nina Ahmad, speaks in front of folks rallying outside the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“Why haven’t we heard about it? Why haven’t they come to us? We are the legislative body,” she told the crowd. Drexel and museum officials have said a dramatic drop in visitors since the COVID-19 pandemic and Drexel’s budget issues drove the closure decision.
They have said that the collections would be maintained and the academy’s research would continue at a different location, but that the public museum, housed in a commodious building that opened in 1876 during the city’s centennial celebration, would be closed and eventually sold.
The phrase “Academy of Natural Sciences” first appeared in the March 1812 minutes of a group of Philadelphia naturalists who had begun meeting two months earlier at the home of druggist John Speakman at Second and Market Streets, according to a 1909 history. It was a year more well-known for wars and the likes of Napoleon and Andrew Jackson, but founder Speakman found like-minded citizens in the Quaker City.
The academy, whose participants included William Bartram, son of legendary botanist John Bartram, would grow into one of the nation’s most significant research centers, and the museum would become a popular public attraction, known for its dinosaur exhibits and dioramas, a vehicle for awing adults and piquing the interest of children in natural history.
Ryan Sumner-lee, 10, poses for a photo holding a sign she made of her experiences here at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Having bunked a few hours of school, 10-year-old Ryan Sumner-lee was among those who made it to the protest Tuesday.
“It’s the place that taught me I want to be a rock scientist, a paleontologist,” the fifth grader said. Aware of the closing plans, she begged her mother to take her to the demonstration.
“She wanted to come,” said her mother, Tammy Sumner. “I am just the driver. She gives me hope” for future generations.
Ross Bradley, 36, who brought his 6-year-old and 2-year-old to the protest, said he could not imagine a situation in which kids would not get to learn about science in their own city.
“I have a lot of anxiety about the climate and raising young kids in an uncertain future,” Bradley said. “Having this place, where they can get invested about the future, it’s vital for them to not just feel hopeless about the planet.”
Braxton Huminski, 3, is wearing a costume to show his support for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pa.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Daryl Stoner, 67, a retired physician from Chestnut Hill, said she brought her children to the museum once a week when they were in elementary school. The closure means an “invaluable resource” will soon be lost.
“If we’re trying to get our kids active and off their phones, what’s better than bringing them down, walking them through the halls, and showing them things that have been there for eons.
“We can’t afford to lose it for future generations,” Stoner said. “It’s horrendous that our city would lose this.”
Three weeks, over 330 shows, across 100 venues throughout Philadelphia. That’s right, it’s September and time for the annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival. The festival runs from Sept. 8-27, and we know choosing among the number of shows can be a little overwhelming.
So we reached out to artists involved to get some suggestions on what to see and how best to navigate the festival.
“We are taking all five Twilight movies and attempting to perform them in one hour; it’s the definition of our ‘low-stakes, high-fun’ mentality,” Edwards says of the show, which plays at the Hamilton Family Arts Center on Sept. 25 and 26.
Theatre Contra’s “The Whole F**king Twilight Saga…in 60 Minutes.” “We are taking all five ‘Twilight’ movies and attempting to perform them in one hour,” said codirector Bryant Edwards.Courtesy of Andrew Watring
A piece of advice for someone checking out Fringe for the first time
Try NEW things. The shows are much more affordable than “traditional” theater, and every performance is filled with so much heart. It really is the best time to push your boundaries and experience art you may not have considered in the past. And don’t forget to tell your friends about anything you see!
Nichole Canuso
Founder and artistic director of Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths, presenting Lunar Retreat, an interactive, multisensory performance, playing at the Pearlstein Gallery Sept. 9-22.
Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths’ “Lunar Retreat” is an interactive, multisensory performance at Fringe Fest 2026.Theo Cote
A piece of advice for someone checking out Fringe for the first time
Take a risk! Check out a show or a venue that you’ve never heard of before. The city is bursting with creativity.
Rose Jarboe
Artistic director of the Bearded Ladies, which is presenting Priority Hoarding: A Retrospectacle. Jarboe describes it as “a large-scale immersive art installation and an unasked-for retrospective of the first 16 years of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.”
“Whether you know us well or just wandered in off the street, we’re exploring themes of legacy, grief, and owning our own queer history while we’re still around, so there’s something for everyone,” she said.
Rose Jarboe, artistic director of the Bearded Ladies, says “Priority Hoarding: A Retrospectacle” is “a large-scale immersive art installation and an unasked-for retrospective of the first 16 years of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.”Courtesy of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret
It’s on view from Sept. 10-27, with live events called “Now Hoarding: An In-flight Entertainment Series” scheduled on Sept. 12, 19, and 26.
What Fringe shows are you most excited to see?
Dickie Dickie Dicky Donnie by BETTY (MK Tuomanen, Shelby Richardson, Paul Kruse) (Sept. 9-20, Asian Arts Initiative Third Floor)
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha by Julia Masli (Sept. 10-13, the Proscenium at the Drake)
A piece of advice for someone checking out Fringe for the first time:
Pace yourself, drink water, and talk to the artists. If you loved what you saw or even if you only loved one part of it, tell them. A little encouragement pays dividends along the way. See how you can be involved. I hear Fringe is looking for volunteers.
Julia Masli, whose “ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha” is playing as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2026.Holly Revell
Andrew Watring
Associate artistic director at People’s Light. This is Watring’s first Fringe as a performer. They are presenting their interactive solo-show The Adoption Game! with Upstream Performance Collaborative. It runs Sept. 25-27 at the Asian Arts Initiative Third Floor.
What Fringe show are you most excited to see?
Lunar Retreat by Nichole Canuso | Branching Paths. (Sept. 9-22, The Pearlstein Gallery)
A piece of advice for someone checking out Fringe for the first time:
See everything! While it’s fun to go to the show that everyone is seeing, it’s also so worthwhile to be in an audience of five people seeing something that you’d never experience otherwise. Fringe is the theatrical equivalent of a streaming service … start flipping through and turning on as many options as you can.
Andrew Watring is associate artistic director os People’s Light. This is their first Fringe as a performer where they are presenting their interactive solo-show “The Adoption Game!” with Upstream Performance Collaborative.Courtesy of Andrew Watring
David Brick
Cofounder of Headlong Dance Theater, Brick is making his return to performance in The Holy Fool. The Ninth Planet show also features his daughter Zephyr Saffron Brick. It runs from Sept. 10-19 at the Gym at Impact Services.
Performers at the Beaded Ladies Cabaret’s Bastille Dance in 2018. The 2026 Fringe production “Priority Hoarding” is, per its artistic director, “retrospective of the first 16 years of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.”Albert Lee
A piece of advice for someone checking out Fringe for the first time:
The best experimental work blows pixie dust on the hidden mechanisms of the world. It makes visible things that the culture has not acknowledged or reached consensus on, [things] that are not already digested and content-delivered to you in a thousand ways. With that in mind, see anything that seems to tickle your interest and if it’s great, enjoy! But if it’s not automatically wonderful on first blush, take some time to think about what may be trying to be born from the vast unknown and let [that] thinking be the treasure you take home. Feel free to despise the work you see but understand why. That is a gift as well.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Oh wait, it’s a … Batmobile?
A replica of the 1989 Batmobile briefly bottlenecked Market Street early Saturday morning, social media posts showed.
The Tim Burton-era ride came out of the Batcave for what appeared to be a South Asian wedding near Loews Philadelphia. The newlyweds, guests, and gawking passersby were spotted taking pictures with the armored roadster.
“I’ve seen elephants, camels and even Mummers in Indian wedding processions in Philly, but this is a first,” blogger @phillychitchat wrote on Instagram. That post had nearly 5,600 likes as of about 2:20 p.m.
It wasn’t immediately known who the couple was or why they included Batman’s iconic car in their nuptials. The replica car rental company, DeloreanRental.com, could not be reached Saturday afternoon for comment.
Indian weddings are notoriously lavish and involved, often taking place across days and requiring multiple intricate outfits, Sachdev said. She described the festivities as “organized chaos.”
“The idea of weddings in South Asian culture is really not about individuality,” Sachdev said. “It’s about families and families coming together.”
But perhaps the Batmobile was a way to infuse the bride and groom’s wants or interests into the celebration, she posited. For example, at her own wedding more than a decade ago, Sachdev and her husband rode away in a then-novel Tesla; at her cousin’s wedding in Salt Lake City, the couple took off in a hot air balloon.
Regardless, as @phillychitchat said, “Never a dull moment in Center City.”
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour” had its grand finale at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly this spring.
That May 30 concert — originally scheduled for earlier in the month but moved due to a scheduling conflict with a Sixers playoff game — was the culmination of a tour built around “Streets of Minneapolis,” the anti-ICE protest song Springsteen penned after the deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti at the hands of U.S. immigration and border enforcement officers.
Now, the Philadelphia show is going to be a concert film titled Land of Hope and Dreams (Philadelphia Freedom Cut), which will begin streaming on YouTube on Wednesday.
As of Saturday afternoon, Springsteen had not officially announced the film or any details surrounding it via his social media or a news release. But a trailer for the film appeared on the Bruce Springsteen.net website on Friday afternoon, labeled “Streaming September 9.”
The Philadelphia show began with a speech, as did all the shows on the tour, which opened in Minneapolis in March and played to sold-out arenas across the country, as well as one stadium date, at Nationals Park in D.C.
Bruce Springsteen and members of the E Street band perform during their “Land of Hope & Dreams” tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 30, 2026. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
In it, Springsteen called President Donald Trump’s administration “corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous.” Trump, in response, has called the Jersey rocker “dumb as a rock” and “not a talented guy,” among other insults.
In The Inquirer’s review of the May 30 show, I called the show “a thrilling, sharply-focused marathon that played like an unabashedly partisan spirit-lifting revival meeting — and sounded astoundingly good in a cavernous sports arena — as the band roared through a standard Springsteen-length three-hour show that included 27 songs and several spoken interludes.”
The show, with guitarist Tom Morello guesting on several songs, featured covers of Edwin Starr’s “War,” the Clash’s “Clampdown,” and Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom,” as well as Springsteen’s own protest songs, such as “American Skin (41 Shots).”
Watch the trailer, which begins with Springsteen stating the obvious — “It is great to be in Philadelphia” — below.
Music triggers memory. So, the long gone Philly venue that inevitably came to my mind during Kacey Musgraves’ “Middle of Nowhere” tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly on Friday was the Valley Forge Music Fair.
My head is spinning just thinking about it.
Why? Because just as was the case at the Devon venue where I saw legends like George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Ray Charles, Musgraves staged her show in support of a superb new return-to-country album giving her tour its name in the round.
And not only in the round, but also — just as at the Music Fair, which closed in 1996 and was located on a site where home improvement retailer Floor & Decor now stands — with a spinning stage.
Listening to Musgraves’ music can be mildly trippy . Going back to “Follow Your Arrow,” from her 2013 debut Same Trailer, Different Park, the East Texas native who uses @SpaceyKacey as a social media handle has espoused a you-do-you philosophy.
That song is the foundation of Musgraves’ arena-sized following, and her significant role in making country cool for younger audiences who might be turned off by too much twang or homilies about small towns, pickup trucks, and beer.
Instead, Musgraves opened the door wide to the LGBTQ community on “Follow Your Arrow,” which was the penultimate song in a sparkling, consistently pleasing set. The song suggests fans “kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls, if that’s something you’re into” and advises taking a toke or two “when the straight and narrow gets a little too straight.”
No weed smoke was sniffable from where I sat. But the sense of strange things happening was nonetheless in the air; with the stage and video screen above encircling it moving clockwise, then abruptly moving in the opposite direction.
Kacey Musgraves performing in Chicago in August. The country crossover star brought her “Middle of Nowhere” tour to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia on Friday.Charles Reagan
Also notably odd was the faux roadhouse building constructed behind the stage from which Musgraves made her initial entrance, walking through the crowd over a floor strewn with hay. It remained otherwise unused.
More memorable was how Musgraves chose to present “Rhinestoned,” a terrific tune about stepping out behind the roadhouse for a smoke in hopes of taking the sting out of a breakup.
“Is every one having a good time?” she asked, adding coyly: “Would you go so far to say you are having a ball?” With that, a double disco ball appeared over in the anatomically correct shape of a pair of testicles.
Conveniently, the mirrored object was built with space for Musgraves to take a seat within it as she was lifted above the stage. “The is my grandma’s favorite part of the show,” she quipped, then rather remarkably managed to maintain the emotional thrust of the song, singing “Ooh, let’s put a little sparkle on / Ooh, until the heartache and sadness is gone.”
The moving stage and aerial scrotum made for clever — dare I say ballsy? — strategy by an artist who is more mellowed out than dynamic in performance.
“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC — the Australian hard rock vets who will be across the street at the Linc on Sept. 29 — played during the entrance countdown.
Nothing nearly so raucous followed in the 22-song set to come, as Musgraves was backed by a subtle and understated band that included steel guitar and accordion, spicing up a Tex-Mex vibe in songs like “Uncertain, Texas” and the Texas Tornados cover “(Hey Baby) ¿Que Pasó?”
But if Musgraves is somewhat of a static performer — she moved with such deliberation that her hair never seemed to move beneath her black cowboy hat — that’s OK, because her fans aren’t coming to see the sort of aerobic display expected at most outsized pop concerts.
Instead — and refreshingly — it’s all about the songs. Musgraves’ strength is in her writing, which is sharply focused in Middle of Nowhere tunes like “Horses and Divorces” and “Loneliest Girl” that settle contentedly into mid-30s singledom and convey the satisfaction of making peace with oneself as middle age approaches.
Musgraves’ crossover from country to pop was highly successful — 2018’s Golden Hourwas named Grammy album of the year. But Middle of Nowhere is as satisfying as it is in part because after wandering away from the music she grew up on, it feels like a homecoming.
“The bones of country music are really in my heart,” she said, while thanking her fans for a decade plus of loyalty. “Whenever you strip it down to its beautiful basic form, it’s a genre that is built on stories about real people, and just real hearts, real life stuff. And that’s what inspires me the most.”
Two unexpected things happened — or didn’t — over the course of the evening.
First, after singing a spooky “I Believe In Ghosts” — about cowardly guys and Irish goodbyes — Musgraves broke out in a snippet of “Here Comes the Sixers,” the snappy theme song of the team for whom LeBron James will soon be dribbling on the very spot she was standing.
“I don’t know why I know this song,” she said, before leading the crowd in a “10, 9, 8 … 76ers,” singalong, confessing that “I don’t know [much] about sports.” (Turns out, she has a history with the song — though why is a mystery — as my colleague Emily Bloch explained in 2024.)
Second, the show included no tribute to Dolly Parton, or even mention of the beloved country great who died last month. In her first two shows after Parton’s death, in Boston and in New York, Musgraves sang her own “Rainbow” plus a Parton cover — “Here You Come Again” one night, “9 to 5” the other.
“It’s already hard to navigate these times right now and when we lose a matriarch like that,” Musgraves said of Parton during the first of her two shows at Madison Square Garden. “It’s the closest thing we’ve ever had to royalty … I definitely would not be able to stand up here and do what I do if it hadn’t been for Dolly Parton.”
During her second show in New York last week, however, Musgraves cut the Parton tribute, as she did again in Philly on Friday night.
Kacey Musgraves new album is “Middle of Nowhere.”Kelly Christine Sutton
It was a disappointing missed opportunity for a collective expression of grief, but perhaps Musgraves feels the pain too keenly to revisit it night after night. Instead, she stuck to the set list closing the show with a lively cover of George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live In Texas,” complete with a Lone Star State flag hung from the rafters.
Flatland Cavalry, the Lubbock, Texas, country sextet, opened the show with an agreeable mix of fiddle and steel guitar tunes punched up with a rock and roll backbeat. Singing songs from its new album Work of Heart, the band displayed the influence of fellow Texans Strait and Robert Earl Keen.
Leader Cleto Cordero got the crowd’s attention by claiming he’s always been an Eagles fan despite growing up in Cowboys country, and the band delivered a tasteful cover of Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light.”
But as well as they went over, there was one clear reminder that the band were second fiddle on the bill: The stage didn’t spin for them.
A manicured hand holding a cheesesteak, a hoagie, or an iron skillet filled with scrapple. Now imagine that on a hoodie or T-shirt. Add to that the beloved moniker “Philly Jawn” printed on the back in Philadelphia Phillies-style print and I’m hooked.
I may be a born and bred New Yorker, but after living here for 23 years, I’m a total Philly Jawn.
This latest sartorial homage to Philly food is a collaboration between interior designer Sheila Bridges and food writer, producer, and media entrepreneur Stephen Satterfield.
Sheila Bridges X COMOCO T-shirts featuring a Philly cheesesteak, are part of a limited-edition collaboration between interior designer Sheila Bridges and Stephen Satterfield, best known for the Netfix documentary on African American food, “High on the Hog.”Elizabeth Wellington
Earlier this year Bridges partnered with Walmart on a Philly-centric collection of tableware featuring her iconic Harlem Toille de Juoy print. Satterfield is best known for Netflix’s Peabody and NAACP award-winning series High on the Hog. Its first season featured Philadelphia food and Black catering families including Robert Bogle.
The Sheila Bridges X COMOCO T-shirts and hoodies are available in six foodie styles. In addition to the cheesesteak, hoagie, and scrapple designs are a soft pretzel, a rainbow water ice, and a hot dog.
Black tees feature hands raising hoagies, cheesesteaks, and hot dogs to a clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds. To me, it depicts the heavenly experience of biting into a yummy hoagie, cheesesteak, or hotdog.
“Because of the 250th, I was in this very Philly mindset,” said Bridges, Bill Clinton and author Tom Clancy’s interior decorator, who is calling Philly home these days.
The back of Sheila Bridges X COMOCO T-shirts inspired by iconic Philadelphia food. The shirts are part of a limited-edition collaboration between interior designer Sheila Bridges and Stephen Satterfield, best known for the Netfix documentary on African American food, “High on the Hog.”Elizabeth Wellington
“I love Philly food,” she said. “Every time I’m in town, I’m always looking for a soft pretzel with mustard or a cheesesteak.”
One of Bridges’ in-house artists nailed the illustrations. The shirts were produced by COMOCO Cotton, Satterfield’s apparel brand that uses cotton grown by Black-owned family farms in the South.
“I love how all of the cotton in our products is fully traceable from seed to garment,” Bridges said.
So do I.
Sheila Bridges X COMOCO Cotton’s limited-edition Philly-centric shirts are available online at SheilaBridges.com. Hoodies are $100. T-shirts are $85. Sizes: S, M, L, XL, and 2XL
— Elizabeth Wellington
A childhood anime favorite in 4K
Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988) is one of my favorite films ever. I watched a grainy pirated copy of it from an USB drive a friend lent me on my laptop screen and was spellbound by the hand-drawn animated frames. The film, based on the manga of the same name, is set in the dystopian faraway year of 2019 where Tokyo is in ruins following sudden destruction in 1988. It is plagued with protests, unemployment, corruption, and an overwhelming sense of decay and anger.
The action of the film unfolds when Shōtarō Kaneda’s bike gang, the Capsules, races against a rival gang in the midst of a rally that quickly escalates and becomes disruptive. In the middle of the action, Kaneda’s best friend Tetsuo Shima clashes with an otherworldly esper and gains supernatural powers, the same powers possessed by Akira who caused 1988’s wreckage. What follows is a tale of Shima developing superhuman strength and a destructive rage that consumes much of the city. The army and the police fail to manipulate Shima into submission.
It is a cyberpunk action film; so yes, there’s blood, death, several crashes, splintering glass, and never-ending dystopic vistas. The excellent score draws heavily from traditional Japanese and Indonesian styles and is composed by Shōji Yamashiro.
Imagine experiencing all of that on a grainy .mov file on a laptop screen. But you don’t have to! A new 4K and IMAX restoration, distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, has been released with English subtitles and English dub. Watching it felt like I was watching the film for the first time.
The glass shimmers, the blood glows redder, and everything looks grander on the big screen. It is an epic for our times, and for any era where too many people suffer under the reckless might of men drunk on their own power.
The 4K restoration of “Akira” is playing in theaters across the region, including AMC Broadstreet 7, AMC Cherry Hill 24, and AMC Voorhees 16.
— Bedatri D. Choudhury
The new art installation, “Echoes Beyond the Stage,” was dedicated to the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts on July 31, 2026.Courtesy of Earl
As visitors walk along the gravel-covered trail on Georges Hill Drive, they see a series of 10-foot-long panels that are a part of Echoes Beyond the Stage. The new installation was developed by artists Nile Livingston and De’von Downes to commemorate 50 years since the Mann moved to its current West Fairmount Park location.
Livingston and Downes collaborated with Streets Dept founder Conrad Benner and Mural Arts Philadelphia to create artwork that reflects the amphitheater’s history, while illuminating the people, historic blocks, and other institutions that surround its borders.
The new art installation, “Echoes Beyond the Stage,” was dedicated to the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts on July 31, 2026.Courtesy of Earl
One mural references one of Aretha Franklin’s final performances at the Mann. Another highlights the century-old rowhouses that line the outside blocks, and others reflect the energy of past block parties, barbecues, and other activities brought to the community. Musical notes float from one panel to the next, showcasing the musical influences and memorable performances that have passed through time. Dancers, vocalists, DJs, and instrumentalists perform under purple, green, and amber-covered skies, while spectators watch from their amphitheater seats or windowsills.
While each panel differs in focus, they are bound by visual harmony. These works show Mann is not just a performance venue; it’s an essential part of the community and an integral piece of the city’s broader music history. And the best part? Visitors get a glimpse of it before stepping foot inside through the entrance gates.
The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts is at 5201 Parkside Ave., Phila.
— Earl Hopkins
Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough’ reimagined by Will Yip, Alex G., and … Elton John?!
What do Alex G., Will Yip, and Elton John have in common?
The Havertown indie songwriter, Grammy-winning Philly producer and studio owner, and “Philadelphia Freedom” British rock legend all have a hand in Never Enough: Versions, the new album that reimagines Never Enough, the 2025 album by Baltimore pop hardcore band Turnstile.
Turnstile’s “Never Enough” won a best rock album Grammy for the band and Philadelphia engineer-producer Will Yip. Now it has been reimagined as “Never Enough: Versions,” with new takes on the songs by Elton John, Alex G., Hayley Williams, Branden Woody, Panda Bear, Slayyyter, and more.Trevor Roberts
Never Enough was already one of the most-acclaimed rock albums of the decade. At this year’s Grammys, the Brendan Yates-fronted band’s “Birds” won for best metal performance. And Turnstile and Yip, the owner of South Philly’s Memory Music Studios, who engineered the album and assisted Yates in producing it, won prestigious best rock album trophies.
Now, the 14-song album has been expanded with 22 new tracks, with the original songs remixed, rearranged, and reinterpreted by a dazzling array of artists.
Will Yip in Studio 5 in his newly constructed studio, Memory Music Studios, South Philadelphia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. He won a Grammy for his work engineering and assisting with production on Turnstile’s “Never Enough” which has now been expanded as “Never Enough: Versions.”Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
The most mind-blowing presence is John, who turns “Seein’ Stars” into a proper song, and whose fame exponential outreaches that of his fellow Turnstile fans.
Those fans include Paramore singer Hayley Williams, who interprets “Ceilings”; boygenius’ Julien Baker, who teams with Sudanese Canadian poet Mustafa on an absolutely gorgeous “Time Is Happening”; jazz trumpeter Brandon Woody, who turns in a lovely instrumental “Dreaming”; and breakout electro-pop star Slayyyter, who soars on a high-flying “Birds.”
Both Baltimore club party MC Rod Lee and New York synth-pop songwriter Porches take on the Never Enough title track. Alex G. — whose full name is Alex Giannascoli and is also in music news for his score to Jane Schoenbrun’s movie Teenage Sex and Death and Camp Miasma — delivers an atmospheric, cinematic spin on “Magic Man,” which is also interpreted by Panda Bear of Animal Collective.
All in all, it’s a thoroughly impressive project that makes Turnstile seem like they might possibly be the coolest band in the world.
“Never Enough: Versions” is available to stream and purchase on music stores and platforms.
