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  • Philly’s airport is the worst again, and the Eagles go back to school | Weekly Report Card

    Philly’s airport is the worst again, and the Eagles go back to school | Weekly Report Card

    The Eagles go back (and give back) to school: A+

    Apparently, being an Eagle now comes with homework.

    On Tuesday, Jalen Hurts showed up at Northeast High with $600,000 for air-conditioning, while Jalyx Hunt headed to Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls to announce three scholarships and an endowment.

    Not a bad day for Philly schools. Hurts got involved three years ago after seeing a TV report that Philly schools were closing because they were too hot. He has since helped bring down the number of school with out AC, but 52 schools still lack full air-conditioning. His response this week: “Let’s get it to zero.”

    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as he appears at a rally in the auditorium at Northeast High School Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026 to give the school $600k for an air conditioning system. With him onstage in the auditorium Northeast principal Andrew Lukov, School Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr. and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Hunt, meanwhile, has basically been adopted by Little Flower. What started with a fundraiser for its basketball team during his rookie year has turned into basketball-game visits, Little Flower sweatshirts on Eagles road trips, and hundreds of students he calls his “little sisters.”

    Philadelphia asks a lot of its Eagles — win football games, mainly. Air-condition the schools and help pay kids’ tuitions weren’t technically on the list, but please, keep going.

    “Love Awaits You” artwork by Philadelphia artist Terrance Woolford in the Terminal B Baggage Claim at Philadelphia International Airport on Nov. 9, 2025. The artist is known for using recycled, trash-picked objects as a source of inspiration.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Stop bullying our airport: B

    For the sixth year in a row, Philadelphia International Airport finished dead last among similarly sized airports in J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction survey.

    The terminals are old. The waiting areas are cramped. There isn’t enough natural light. Even the people from J.D. Power basically said PHL needs a new building.

    But last? Again? This is where Philadelphia must become defensive about an airport we complain about constantly ourselves.

    PHL is easy to get around in without boarding some weird little airport train. And have these people eaten there lately? We’ve got Middle Child, Federal Donuts, Oyster House, and Elixr. The lounges are legitimately good, there’s local art everywhere, and you can find places for your dog to pee. Kiki Aranita made this entire case last year when PHL got snubbed from another airport ranking.

    Yes, PHL needs work, and nearly $2 billion in upgrades are underway. But outsiders calling our airport the worst? Only we get to say that.

    Sue’s Produce Market, 114 South 18th Street in Philadelphia on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Rittenhouse shows up for Sue’s: A

    Philadelphia is very good at mourning the places we love after they close, but this time, Rittenhouse is trying something different: keeping one open.

    Sue’s Produce Market has been part of the neighborhood in one form or another since 1976, when Sue Shin started selling fruit from a cart at 18th and Walnut. Now, after falling behind on rent, the family-owned market needs $40,000 to avoid eviction.

    The neighborhood apparently heard that as a challenge. A GoFundMe has already raised more than $25,000, with hundreds of people chipping in. Rittenhouse Row is rallying businesses, and Her Place Supper Club is planning an entire Korean-inspired dinner next month, with the proceeds going to Sue’s.

    It makes sense once you hear how this place operates. Tina Shin, 63, gets up at 2 a.m. to make the kimchi and kimbap before spending the day behind the register. People have been buying their fruit and groceries from this family for generations, and Rittenhouse clearly can’t imagine 18th Street without Sue’s.

    Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler throws during the first inning of the Philadelphia Phillies game agains the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Phillies, please start hitting: C

    Here we go again. The Phillies are approaching October, the pitching is doing its part, and everyone in Philadelphia is once again staring at a very expensive lineup and asking: Are you guys going to hit or what?

    Jesús Luzardo is on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. The bullpen is an adventure. The defense and baserunning have provided their usual opportunities to yell at the television. And yet, the Phillies still have enough starting pitching to win. Zack Wheeler reminded everyone of that Wednesday, throwing seven scoreless innings against Washington.

    The offense responded by drawing 13 walks, leaving 13 runners on base and scoring three runs. It was the most Phillies way imaginable to win 3-0.

    Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, and Luis Arraez are making a combined $111.2 million this season. Nobody expects all six to be hot every night. But Phillies fans have watched some version of this movie for four straight Octobers: great pitching, enough chances, and a lineup that suddenly forgets how to score when the games matter most.

    By the time you read this, maybe the bats have woken up (please!). Because the Phillies have the pitching to make another October run, it would just be nice if the guys holding the bats came along this time.

    Philly’s 57-year-old typo: A

    Philadelphia has a typo carved into a monument outside the Art Museum, and after 57 years, somebody is asking whether we should fix it, reported Billy Penn. Absolutely not.

    The Eli Kirk Price Fountain, installed in 1969, honors the man whose “wisdom and dedication were responsible for the developement of the parkway and art museum.” Yes, developement.

    The best part is that the Association for Public Art dug up a photo from the fountain’s 1969 unveiling showing men literally pointing at the mistake. The inscription approved two years earlier had “development” spelled correctly, but somewhere between paper and stone, an extra “e” slipped in.

    Monument companies say fixing it would probably mean replacing the entire stone and it would be costly. So at this point, fixing the typo would be the mistake. Millions of people have walked past that fountain on their way to run up the Rocky Steps, and almost nobody noticed. Now it has a story.

    The Lobster francese at the Bomb Bomb Bar in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. .Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Bomb Bomb gets a Best of: B-

    Philadelphia has apparently reached the point where having only one of the best restaurants in America feels like a slight.

    The New York Times released its annual best-restaurants list this week, and just one Philly spot made it: Bomb Bomb Bar, the nearly 90-year-old South Philly tavern that chef Joey Baldino took over and reopened last year.

    Philly spent years demanding the rest of the country recognize how good our food scene is. Now we have Michelin stars, James Beard Awards, and enough national acclaim that one restaurant on the Times list suddenly feels stingy. We got two last year and three in 2023!

    Bomb Bomb is a pretty great one, though. Baldino took a neighborhood bar that dates to 1936 — and was literally bombed twice in its early days — and made it better without scrubbing away what made people love it.

    Congratulations to Bomb Bomb, and the rest of Philly will try to cope with the snub.

  • Mike Bowe, popular longtime radio disc jockey, has died at 76

    Mike Bowe, popular longtime radio disc jockey, has died at 76

    Mike Bowe, 76, of Audubon, Camden County, longtime local disc jockey and popular radio show host at WMGK, WPEN, WHAT and other stations, Army veteran, devoted Phillies fan, and proud son of Gloucester City, died Monday, Sept. 14, of complications from cancer at his home.

    Mr. Bowe enjoyed music and socializing as a teen at Gloucester Catholic High School, and was skilled at chatting with people about their favorite songs and other interests. So he was a natural fit later as a radio show host and disc jockey for more than 40 years in studios and at remote appearances, dance parties, charitable fundraisers, and other events.

    “I like to think I communicate with people,” he told the Courier-Post in 1987. “I think I can relate the same way to somebody whether he’s on Ninth Street in South Philly or at a bank in Center City.”

    Fellow DJ Chris McCoy said. “He had something intangible. He made you feel like he knew you, and you knew him.”

    Using what his fans and colleagues described as a “calming and smooth voice” and “velvet intonations,” Mr. Bowe hosted music shows at WMGK from 1977 through the early 2000s, at KISS 100 in the 1990s, and at WPEN and WHAT between 2000 and 2011. Colleagues called him “loyal, dedicated, witty” in online tributes, and praised his “down to earth and friendly style.”

    They credited him with making WMGK’s Saturday Night ’70s show a hit in the mid-1990s. “He was the very foundation of that success,” McCoy said.

    Listeners called him “truly a master of this craft,” “one of the best ever,” and “a memorable radio legend.” He worked after 2011 at other local stations and iRadioPhilly.com.

    He teamed up with other popular DJs on morning, afternoon, and evening shifts, interviewed performers, took phone calls from listeners, and broadcast from Phillies games and charitable benefits. In 1989, he dressed up as George Washington to cross the Delaware River when the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge was finally reopened after repairs.

    He liked to air remotely from his favorite clubs and pubs, and ride shuttle buses with listeners to concerts. He also worked DJ dance party gigs at nightclubs, holiday parades, and private events in Philadelphia and South Jersey.

    Mr. Bowe appeared often in The Inquirer and Daily News, including in 1987 (above) and 1989 (below.)Newspapers.com

    His favorite song was “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)” by his favorite group, the Four Tops. “He knew Philadelphia from A to Z,” McCoy said. “He brought a smile to your face.”

    Mr. Bowe served three years in the Army, 11 months and 11 days in Vietnam in 1968-69, and earned several medals and service stars, and an achievement badge. Fellow DJ Sue Serio said online that she enjoyed annual Veterans Day lunches with Mr. Bowe, “a treasured tradition that we never took for granted.”

    One day, a former WMGK colleague said online, Mr. Bowe took him to Mr. Bowe’s favorite three local landmarks: the Melrose Diner in South Philadelphia, Mel’s Italian restaurant in Bala Cynwyd, and the pool table at the VFW in Gloucester City.

    “Mike was a gift to Gloucester City and to the Delaware Valley professionally and as a man,” longtime friend Patrick Healey said. Longtime friend F. Emmett Fitzpatrick III said: “He prized honesty of character above all else.”

    Mr. Bowe, right above, was an avid Phillies fan. Below, he worked morning, afternoon, and evening shifts in the studio.F. Emmett Fitzpatrick III

    Mr. Bowe’s niece, Debra Ann Leblang, said: “He lived the ultimate American dream.”

    Michael Joseph Bowe was born Nov. 4, 1949, in Gloucester City. He graduated from Gloucester Catholic in 1967, studied broadcasting in Minnesota, and worked his way through the radio ranks in South Jersey and Philadelphia.

    When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    He married Debbie Durso in 1985, and they lived in Audubon. Where one of them went, family and friends all said, the other followed.

    “They were partners, companions, and best friends,” his family said in a tribute. His wife died in June.

    Mr. Bowe and his wife, Debbie, married in 1985. Where one of them went, family and friends all said, the other followed. F. Emmett Fitzpatrick III

    Off the air, Mr. Bowe played softball and enjoyed visits to Atlantic City and Brigantine. He was a Sunday morning usher at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and belonged to the Townsend C. Young VFW post.

    He used to take dates to Jim’s Pizzeria in Gloucester City, and he told The Inquirer in 1994 that he enjoyed the place’s acerbic camaraderie. “Gloucester’s always been like that,” he said. “People love it. It’s a sarcastic, get-under-your-skin kind of thing. You don’t even get to order your own food.”

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    His family said: “He was funny, quick-witted, sentimental, outspoken, and unforgettable. He carried his South Jersey roots with him wherever life took him.”

    In addition to his niece, Mr. Bowe is survived by a sister, a brother, and other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.

    Visitation with the family is to be from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the McCann-Healey Funeral Home, 851 Monmouth St., Gloucester City, N.J. 08030. Funeral services are to be at 11 a.m. at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 350 Province Line Rd., Wrightstown, N.J. 08562.

    Donations in his name may be made to the Wounded Warriors Project, Box 758516, Topeka, Kan. 66675; and St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, 426 Monmouth St., Gloucester City, N.J. 08030.

    Off the air, Mr. Bowe played softball and enjoyed visits to Atlantic City and Brigantine.F. Emmett Fitzpatrick III
  • Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast has a new memoir

    Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast has a new memoir

    Crying in H Mart, the first book by Michelle Zauner of Philly-born band Japanese Breakfast, was a memoir published in 2021 that mourned the death of her mother, Chongmi, and explored her own Korean identity through food. It was a runaway bestseller.

    The book, whose titular Asian grocery store is in Elkins Park, turned the indie songwriter and bandleader into a literary sensation. It spent 67 weeks on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list and 43 more on the paperback list.

    Now, Zauner has announced a second memoir, Thank You for Your Suffering, which will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in April.

    The book chronicles the year that Zauner — who was born in Eugene, Ore., and graduated from Bryn Mawr College, before starting her Philly bands Little Big League and Japanese Breakfast — spent living in South Korea, learning the language, and connecting more deeply with her mother’s family.

    The cover to Michelle Zauner’s new memoir, “Thank You for Your Suffering.”Alfred A. Knopf

    As she explained it in an interview in Elle, the book’s title comes from a phrase she initially heard in a hair salon in Seoul. Gosaeng haesseoyo is a colloquial expression that Koreans use to mean “good job” but literally translates to English as “you suffered.”

    Michelle Zauner of Philly’s Japanese Breakfast has a new memoir born of grief and a new album full of joy

    “So much of the book is about working really hard,” Zauner told Elle. “I was just so hungry and scared of not doing a good job. I think part of that was this strange psychological feeling after my mom died, of wanting to be this perfect daughter that I wish I could have been when she was alive.”

    Zauner’s most recent Japanese Breakfast album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), came out in the spring of 2025.

    This July, she and the band, including husband Peter Bradley, played the Highmark Mann, opening for Death Cab for Cutie. Zauner, pregnant with her first child, is due to give birth in the coming weeks.

    Michelle Zauner. Her new memoir “Thank You for Your Suffering,” will be published in April.Pak Bae
  • Philadelphia Ballet cuts the ribbon on its new N. Broad St. building

    Philadelphia Ballet cuts the ribbon on its new N. Broad St. building

    Years in the making, after a series of fits and starts that included both a premature groundbreaking and a real one, Philadelphia Ballet’s sparkling new headquarters on North Broad Street officially opened Friday morning.

    Ballet leaders and other officials formed a kind of corps de ballet to cut a ribbon in front of the building’s main entrance on Wood Street. A miniperformance by actual dancers in the new black box theater followed, featuring an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes.

    A number of dignitaries were on hand with celebratory words; State Sen. Nikil Saval spoke particularly eloquently about dance and the place of the arts in a “thriving city.”

    But it was Louise H. Reed, the stalwart ballet supporter who has seen the company through thick and thin over several decades, who perhaps put it best.

    “It’s a miracle,” she said after walking into the building lobby lined with paintings of dancers captured in roles from Giselle, The Prodigal Son, and other works.

    The Philadelphia Ballet Center for Dance on North Broad St.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The new facility doubles the ballet’s space for rehearsing — including a studio that matches the size of the stage of the Academy of Music, where it often performs — as well as allows for roomier quarters for the school, wardrobe shop, offices and a music library.

    “It’s providing everything the dancers and the school needs as well as a way for us to invite people into our home,” said ballet CEO Shelly Power. “That’s our mantra, really making this for the community. This opens a whole new chapter for us, something we couldn’t do before because we didn’t have enough space.”

    Leaders say the new facility brings Philadelphia Ballet up to the standards enjoyed by other major American dance companies — a boast heretofore elusive.

    Cutting the ribbon, from left: ballet artistic director Angel Corella; current ballet board chairman David F. Hoffman; ballet CEO Shelly Power; State Rep. Mary Isaacson; State Sen. Nikil Saval; Philadelphia cultural chief Val Gay; and Victoria B. Mars, the ballet’s next board chairperson.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    “Our dancers and our staff have a building, a space, that matches the quality of the organization,” said Victoria B. Mars, a major donor to the project and, as of the end of this month, the ballet’s new board chairperson. “What they were in before was, I would have used the word kind of unacceptable, for the quality of the company we have. So now we finally have a space where everyone can flourish and everyone can feel that they are supported, that they have the tools they need to perform at their highest level.”

    The building may be up, but the work isn’t done. About $36 million has been raised toward the $50 million project (whose budget includes not just construction but also costs like financing and outfitting the building).

    The ballet’s development department has been expanded and “over the next year will be working really hard to finish this project off. Hopefully donors will see the impact it has on the city and company and the school,” said Power.

    The arrival of the five-story 43,000-square-foot building allowed for the renovation of the ballet’s other building set back from Broad Street. That older structure, which will primarily house the school, has been joined with the new one, giving the group a total of 58,000 square feet.

    The company is also entering a new era of leadership. It now has Mars, who follows David F. Hoffman, who headed the board for 13 years. She is former chairperson and director of the board of Mars, one of the largest family-owned corporations in the U.S., whose products include M&Ms, Cheez-Its, Pop-Tarts, Snickers, Life Savers and other snack items, as well as pet food and pet care services.

    Philadelphia Ballet artistic director Angel Corella being interviewed outside of the company’s new building Friday.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    Mars, 69 — the great-granddaughter of Mars founder Frank C. Mars — said in an interview this week that she was introduced to Philadelphia’s ballet company about a dozen years ago after being seated next to Angel Corella at a dinner party around the time he became artistic director.

    “I was inspired by his vision, I was inspired by his commitment and passion for transforming the Philadelphia Ballet into a quality organization that we could all be proud of. And I’ve watched that transition. When I now go to the ballet and when I bring my friends to the ballet, I am proud and inspired by what is being performed.”

    Every performance, Mars says, “impresses me, amazes me, and so that passion that Angel has and had at that point in time is what inspired me and has kept me connected.”

    Mars — who studied ballet as a child in Paris, holds degrees from Yale and the Wharton School and lives in the Philadelphia area — said that among her goals was increasing philanthropic support for the company.

    “I’m talking about everything from government funding to corporate support to contributed revenue coming from foundations, individuals — all the pieces that support the arts.”

    The ballet has received $6.7 million in money for the new building from the state.

    Members of the Philadelphia Ballet performed an excerpt from George Balanchine’s ‘Stars and Stripes’ in the black box theater of the ballet’s new building after Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    Part of Philadelphia Ballet’s pitch to funders is the idea of the building as more than a factory for dancers. The group is still planning its slate of public events, but already has scheduled a series of talks about dance; performances to introduce children and families to classical ballet; and master classes for high school students to create their own dance works.

    The building also provides space to woo philanthropists by giving them close-up encounters with the art form. Beyond the artistic connection, a significant enticement awaits potential donors. The ballet’s building currently has a generic placeholder name, the Philadelphia Ballet Center for Dance, while it stumps for a gift that would involve a naming opportunity.

    “I was inspired by a story, by a person, by a passion,” says Mars. “The building now enables us to bring people into that space and hopefully inspire them in the same way that I was inspired.”

  • Here’s what we know about Ed Sheeran’s tour stop at the Linc: Planned protests, late start, no openers announced

    Here’s what we know about Ed Sheeran’s tour stop at the Linc: Planned protests, late start, no openers announced

    Is the Ed Sheeran concert scheduled for Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field going to go on?

    As of Friday afternoon, it appears that it is. But later than initially announced.

    The start time for the concert, initially advertised at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate openers has now moved to 8 p.m., per the concert listing on the ticket resale site Ticketmaster.

    The enormously popular British singer-songwriter’s Loop Tour has been in crisis since earlier this week when rapper Macklemore was dropped as an opener over pro-Palestinian comments he made during two shows at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4 and 5. He performed his 2024 song “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University, showing footage from the war in Gaza and shouting out “Free Palestine.”

    Macklemore was dropped from the tour under pressure from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft by promoters Messina Touring Group, who told Rolling Stone that several venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”

    Those venues include Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., which Kraft owns, and Lincoln Financial Field, where Sheeran’s tour is scheduled to resume on Saturday.

    All of Sheeran’s opening acts — Finneas, Danish pop artist Lukas Graham, Irish band Beoga, and Irish singer Aaron Rowe — have since quit in solidarity with Macklemore.

    Given the late start, it is unlikely that any opening acts will be added to the Philadelphia stop. The least expensive tickets on the resale site which were priced at $91 on Thursday were available at $66.30 on Friday afternoon.

    Ed Sheeran performs during filming for the Graham Norton Show, at BBC Studioworks 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane, in London, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, to be aired on BBC One on Friday evening. (Jas Lehal/PA via AP)Jas Lehal

    “Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave [Sheeran] an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” Macklemore’s Monday social media post reads.

    In a statement obtained by USA Today Sports, Kraft acknowledged his decision that Macklemore’s “participation in the Sept. 25 and 26 concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”

    “Too many lives have been lost, and there has been too much suffering,” he wrote, “but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.”

    The Linc is owned by the city, but its day-to-day functions and events are managed by the Eagles. This week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the respective owners of the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons decided to not host the Sheeran concert if Macklemore was not removed from the bill, and that “Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie would soon reach the same conclusion, as the owners traded phone calls and prepared to address the situation.”

    The Eagles did not respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment on whether Lurie played any role in the decision to drop Macklemore. The Philadelphia mayor’s office and Messina Touring Group did not respond to requests for comments either.

    On Tuesday, Sheeran took to social media to say that he was in touch with venue owners, promoters, and activists to “find a mutual resolution for all.”

    He respects Macklemore’s “strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,” he said, but found it hard to “build bridges” with venue owners and promoters because of the way the rapper “conveyed part of his message” during his shows at MetLife.

    Not removing Macklemore, Messina representatives said in a Monday statement, would “result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

    Local grassroots organizations have spoken out in protest of Macklemore’s removal from the tour lineup.

    The local office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, published an open letter on Wednesday to the Philadelphia Eagles, City of Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Group, and other groups.

    The group criticized the decision to remove Macklemore from the “Loop Tour,” calling it a violation of free speech.

    “This is about more than one artist or one concert,” the organization stated. “It raises serious questions about free expression, public accountability, and whether advocacy for Palestinian human rights can become grounds for exclusion from a major venue operating on publicly owned property.”

    FILE – Macklemore performs at Austin City Limits Live during the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas on March 17, 2023. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File)Jack Plunkett

    The group has submitted a right-to-know form with the state’s office of open records, requesting information about which party told the Messina Touring Group that Macklemore was no longer able to perform.

    A coalition of pro-Palestinian protesters announced Friday they will rally outside the South Philly stadium an hour before Sheeran’s concert.

    Adi Chattopadhyay, a West Philly resident who intends to participate in the demonstration, said the protest is to combat the silencing of pro-Palestinian advocacy and the suppression of freedom of speech.

    The rally, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, will include speakers from Writers Against the War on Gaza, the Boycott Cooknsolo Coalition, and Shut Down Day & Zimmermann, according to a statement.

    New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft watches warm ups prior to the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)David Zalubowski

    Regarding the expected protests in South Philly on Saturday, Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Tanya Little said in a statement: “As with all large events at the stadium complex, the Philadelphia Police Department is working closely with venue and event organizers to help ensure the safety of concertgoers, employees, and neighborhood residents.”

    “PPD routinely monitors large events and assesses staffing needs to ensure an appropriate police presence. The Department will continue to monitor the event and make any necessary adjustments based on public safety needs.”

    Staff reporter Maggie Prosser contributed to this article.

  • Duncan Sheik, Tony- and Grammy-winning ‘Spring Awakening’ composer and pop star, dies at 56

    Duncan Sheik, Tony- and Grammy-winning ‘Spring Awakening’ composer and pop star, dies at 56

    NEW YORK — Duncan Sheik, the Tony- and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who crafted the music for “Spring Awakening,” has died. He was 56.

    Sheik died Thursday from organ failure, his mother Suzanne Sheik told The New York Times. The Associated Press emailed his representatives for comment.

    Sheik had been best known for his lasting radio hit “Barely Breathing” when he turned his sights on Broadway with “Spring Awakening,” resulting in the envelope-pushing show that musicalized teenage angst.

    “With the exception of our director, we are all kind of Broadway outsiders. We wanted to shake things up a bit. And we just set out to make this really cool piece of theater,” Sheik told The Associated Press in 2007, as the show swept Tony nominations.

    Sheik also tackled musicals based on “American Psycho” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Barely Breathing” spent 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 16. But he was probably best known for “Spring Awakening,” which ran for over 860 performances on Broadway starting in 2006.

    ‘Spring Awakening’ roused a new side of Sheik — and Broadway

    The musical — adapted from a 19th-century play by German playwright Frank Wedekind, with music by Sheik and lyrics by playwright Steven Sater — is frank in its portrayals of incest, abortion and suicide. It’s intended partly as a warning that teens need good information about sex to avoid tragic mistakes.

    “I don’t mean to be disrespectful to more traditional theater composers,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. “I love Stephen Sondheim. But it’s my mission to make sure that the theater is paying attention to what the rest of the world is listening to.”

    Sheik and Sater were practicing Buddhists who met while chanting. They were collaborating on Sheik’s third album, “Phantom Moon,” when Sater mentioned he was working on a new production. Neither had ever written a musical before.

    “I said to Steven, ‘I’m happy to do this musical, but I only want to do it if the music in the play is the kind that I and my peers can get behind stylistically and relate to and enjoy,’” Sheik recalled to the AP in 2006.

    They made a pact: They’d retain the provincial, 19th-century Germany setting but with, as Sater put it, “the characters breaking into pop-contemporary when they sing.”

    “Spring Awakening” won eight Tony Awards, including for best musical, as well as the Grammy for best musical show album.

    “Sheik’s music, spare in its simple orchestrations, lush in the lapping reach of its seductive choruses, embodies the shadowy air of longing that infuses the show, the excitement shading into fear, the joy that comes with a chaser of despair,” The New York Times said in its review.

    The show is beloved in the musical theater community for breaking ground in terms of staging and content, alongside the likes of “Rent” and “Hamilton.” It returned to Broadway in 2015 in a well-received production by Deaf West Theatre. An off-Broadway version is slated to open this fall.

    The cast of the original show was loaded with breakthrough actors like Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele, Lilli Cooper, Jennifer Damiano, Gideon Glick, John Gallagher Jr., Lauren Pritchard and Krysta Rodriguez, who have each gone on to fame in TV, film and stage. Groff would go on to earn a Tony with “Merrily We Roll Along,” and Michele became a superstar with “Glee.”

    Sheik blended musical theater with pop music

    Sheik next channeled the music he heard getting past the velvet ropes of trendy, late-1980s Manhattan clubs for a Broadway adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel “American Psycho.”

    The 1991 novel — later made into a 2000 movie starring Christian Bale — chronicles a homicidal New York yuppie named Patrick Bateman who is obsessed with high-end clothes and beauty products even as he slashes his way through Manhattan. Sheik, who also supplied lyrics, recalled only getting halfway through the book before throwing it across the room as a Brown University student.

    For one standout song, “You Are What You Wear,” he reached out to old girlfriends to ask a question: What were you really into wearing in the late ’80s? He put the answers in the tune about high fashion: “Chanel, Gaultier, or Giorgio Armani/Moschino, Alaïa, or Norma Kamali/Should I rock/The Betsey Johnson/Or stick with classic/Comme des Garçons?”

    “Duncan is really a genius and an intellectual and brings something both uniquely his but importantly of this period to the stage,” producer Jesse Singer told the AP at the time.

    Because Bateman, played onstage by Benjamin Walker, fancies himself a bit of a music critic — spewing mostly inane ruminations about Phil Collins and Huey Lewis and the News — Sheik also peppered his score with sly reworkings of “In the Air Tonight” and “Hip to Be Square.”

    “There’s definitely an art to be able to write a song that on one level is a pop song and one that also has to tell a story and keep an audience engaged in terms of a larger narrative arc,” Sheik told the AP in 2013. “When you’re writing a song for the theater, it has to accomplish all this other stuff. It has to work in tandem with all these other agendas and creative impulses.”

    The show, directed by Rupert Goold and with a story by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, made its premiere in 2013 in London. On Broadway in 2016, it bombed, lasting less than 90 performances.

    “We were all sort of worried that it might be too violent for people and it might seem too misogynist,” Sheik told the AP on the eve of the opening. “But, in fact, the truth is this piece is a critique of a certain way of thinking about things. So in truth it’s better to go all-in.”

    ‘Barely Breathing’ was nominated for a Grammy

    Growing up between South Carolina and New Jersey, Sheik learned guitar as a child and got his first synthesizer when he was 12. He was heavily influenced by Talk Talk, David Sylvian and Nick Drake. His self-titled debut album was released in 1996 and Rolling Stone gave it a four-star review, calling it “a defiant debut — beautiful and benevolent of spirit.”

    “Barely Breathing,” from that album, was nominated for best pop vocal performance in 1998 and would be kept alive on TV shows like “Glee” and “Girls.”

    Other projects include “Whisper House,” an album and musical — a ghost story that ran in 2010 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego — and “Legerdemain,” an album that explored the tension between art and commerce. His most recent album was 2022’s “Claptrap.”

    But for someone who had once been a total stranger to Broadway, he told AP in 2016 that he had a sense of mission.

    “I feel like it’s become my project to kind of drag different people who might not normally go to musical theater pieces to come see a piece of musical theater,” he said.

  • Where to watch Eagles games in Philly, from sports bars to giant screens

    Where to watch Eagles games in Philly, from sports bars to giant screens

    Football and the Eagles are back, and every week fans will be packed into tailgates, living rooms, and watering holes to watch the Birds’ potential path back to the Super Bowl.

    Philly has hundreds of spots to catch a game, from breweries with wall-size projectors to restaurants streaming the broadcast over the bar. Here are some of the top picks — big venues, sports bars, breweries, and restaurants — to help you plan your game day.

    Eagles fan Justin Ghee (right) gets in the face of his friend Packers fan Ronald Roberts when the Eagles sacked the Packers quarterback in the first half of the Eagles vs. Packers NFL playoff game. The friends were viewing the game at XFINITY Live! Philadelphia on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Both men are formerly from Philly, attended Howard University and now live in Washington, D.C.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Big venues, bigger screens

    Live! Casino

    Right next to the South Philadelphia sports complex is the fairly new Live! Casino and Hotel, with at least two venues located within the casino to watch the games. Take your pick between the 52-foot screen at Sports & Social, or Luk Fu, the casino’s pan-Asian restaurant with game-day specials.

    📍900 Packer Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148, 📞 833-472-5483, 🌐 philadelphia.livecasinohotel.com

    Stateside Live! (formerly Xfinity Live!)

    So close to the Linc that you can hear the stadium roar from the patio, Stateside Live! (formerly Xfinity Live!) has a 58-foot screen and dozens of TVs in its bars.

    📍1100 Pattison Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148, 📞 215-372-7000, 🌐 xfinitylive.com

    Rivers Casino

    Watch the Eagles play on a massive HD video wall at BetRivers Sportsbook inside Rivers Casino in Fishtown. Game-day beer specials and giveaways will be available, plus each game brings a chance for fans to win tickets to a forthcoming Eagles game.

    📍1001 N. Delaware Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 📞 877-477-3715, 🌐 riverscasino.com

    Craft Hall

    Craft Hall is a massive beer hall, with family- and pet-friendly fixtures, equipped with two projector screens and several TVs lining the walls playing every Eagles game. Enjoy $5 draft beers and $15 beer pitchers with under-$20 food specials, including wings and pizza.

    📍901 N. Delaware Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 📞 267-297-2072, 🌐 crafthallphilly.com

    Classmates from the Philadelphia area attending East Carolina University in North Carolina meet at Founding Fathers on South Street to watch the Eagles. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Sports bars and breweries

    Cavanaugh’s Headhouse & Rittenhouse

    Cavanaugh’s sports bars are some of the best venues to be at on game day, with locations in Rittenhouse and Headhouse Square off South Street. The Rittenhouse location will offer Bud Light in $5 cans and in $22 bottle buckets. Headhouse will have $4 draft Michelob Ultras and $20 buckets of Bud Light.

    📍421 S. Second St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147 / 1921 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 📞 215-928-9307 / 215-665-9500, 🌐 cavsheadhouse.com / cavsrittenhouse.com

    Founding Fathers

    South Street’s premier sports bar with TV-lined walls, an extensive bar-food menu, and a draft beer list that offers popular craft beers and local talent.

    📍1612 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146, 📞 267-519-0253, 🌐 foundingfathersbar.com

    Dock Street Brewery

    Philadelphia’s oldest craft brewery invites you to their Washington Avenue brewery and bar every game day to watch on their wall-size projectors alongside food and drink specials.

    📍2118 Washington Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146, 📞 215-337-3103, 🌐 dockstreetbeer.com

    Evil Genius Beer Co.

    This Fishtown taproom will treat you to Evil Genius’ celebrated classics and latest craft brews while watching the game on a 16-foot screen. Game-day specials include $42 beer towers and $45 Stateside buckets.

    📍1727 N. Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122, 📞 215-425-6820, 🌐 evilgeniusbeer.com

    Lucy’s Bar

    This Rittenhouse sports bar has a 16-foot screen and game-day deals, including a $40 appetizer platter stacked with wings, cheese curds, onion rings, and pretzels. Drinks include a $6 citywide (dubbed the “buddy system”) and $10 to $12 cocktails.

    📍1720 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 🌐 lucysphiladelphia.com

    Yards Brewing

    Philadelphia’s largest brewery is delivering specials every game day at its Spring Garden Street taproom, including $6 Trash Talks, an IPA made especially for the Eagles season.

    📍500 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123, 📞 215-525-0175, 🌐 yardsbrewing.com

    Libertee Grounds

    A block away from the Girard Avenue BSL station is an Asian-fusion sports bar with a curated craft beer list, several TVs playing the Eagles on game day, and a slew of specials: $1 Jell-O shots, $20 beer pitchers, $10 wings, and more.

    📍1600 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130, 📞 267-324-3487, 🌐 liberteegrounds.com

    The Bayou Bar & Grill

    Manayunk’s Bayou Bar & Grill has been playing every Eagles game for decades. Enjoy its festive atmosphere, and a weekly Eagles merchandise giveaway all season long.

    📍4245 Main St., #1602, Philadelphia, Pa. 19127, 📞 215-482-2560, 🌐 bayoubargrill.shop

    Independence Beer Garden

    A Center City open-air beer garden with every Eagles game projected onto a big screen along the wall, accompanied by domestic beers on tap, cocktails, and classic pub grub.

    📍100 S. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 📞 215-922-7100, 🌐 phlbeergarden.com

    Bar-Ly

    Chinatown’s premier sports bar, Bar-Ly carries a whopping 60 beers on tap with TVs and large screens lining the walls. It gets busy on game day, so call ahead to reserve a table.

    📍101 N. 11th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107, 📞 215-922-2688, 🌐 bar-ly.com

    The Rook

    Every Eagles game day at the Rook in Manayunk, fans can watch the game while taking advantage of the $12 domestic beer pitchers and a $12 “Philly Special” pulled pork sandwich, with broccoli rabe, roasted long hots, and provolone.

    📍4001 Cresson St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127, 📞 267-323-2906, 🌐 therookmanayunk.com

    Restaurants

    Jaffa Bar

    Jaffa Bar will be playing every Eagles game on the bar’s TVs and offering a bevy of game-day specials: $12 black lime pepper wings with herbed labneh; $2 raw bar items (oysters, New Jersey top neck clams, and shrimp cocktail), and $6 french fries with tehina ketchup. Plus, $9 specialty cocktails.

    📍1625 N. Howard St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19122, 📞 267-857-9944, 🌐 jaffabarphilly.com

    Positano Coast

    Aldo Lamberti’s Positano Coast in Old City will offer a rotating menu of specials, with games playing across the bar’s TVs.

    📍212 Walnut St., 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, 📞 215-238-0499, 🌐 positanocoast.net

    Patchwork

    Patchwork, nestled inside Rittenhouse’s Hyatt Centric, will play the Eagles games all season long, offering $10 citywide, $11 Super Lyte (Blue Chill), and $13 seasoned crinkle-cut fries.

    📍1620 Chancellor St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103, 📞 215-985-1234, 🌐 patchworkphilly.com

    Taqueria Amor

    Head to Taqueria Amor on Manayunk’s Main Street for every Eagles game to watch with sound on and $3 off beer pitchers.

    📍4410 Main St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127, 📞 267-331-5874, 🌐 taqueriaamor.com

  • 🍂 Best spots to peep leaves | Outdoorsy Newsletter

    🍂 Best spots to peep leaves | Outdoorsy Newsletter

    Autumn is knocking!

    This liminal space between summer and fall always feels like it has a little bit of everything for us. I’m enjoying the cooler conditions that have begun to blanket evenings in the region.

    Word to the wise, though: Mosquitoes are still lurking, so don’t forget bug spray. Sincerely, an itchy person who got carried away by the nicer weather and deeply regrets not applying repellent.

    Here’s what we’re up to today:

    ⛅ Your weekend weather outlook: Friday and Saturday should be mostly sunny, while Sunday may see showers.

    — Paola Pérez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Make your leaf-peeping plans

    Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.Courtesy of Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art

    If the rest of September’s weather cooperates, we’re due for a vibrant foliage display this season. Peak viewing times are expected throughout October.

    In Philadelphia and beyond, there are several great vantage points from which you can get a good glimpse of the transforming leaves, including:

    West Fairmount Park. Don’t miss the views around the Skew Arch Bridge, and be sure to visit the Trolley Trail.

    Delaware Canal State Park. You can stroll, kayak, or canoe along the 58-mile towpath from sunrise to dusk to determine which way you best enjoy the fall scenery.

    See all of our favorite spots for leaf peeping around the region, ordered closest to farthest away from Philly.

    News worth knowing

    • This year’s El Niño has contributed to a historically quiet Atlantic hurricane season.
    • A Philly Parks and Rec leader said she approved renovations to FDR Park’s Ashburn Field without required state permitting because she wanted renovations to be complete by the MLB All-Star Game last July. The missing permit was designed to address erosion control and stormwater release at the site.
    • Supervisors in Willistown tabled a decision on a settlement that would limit the development of Rock Hill Farm. Officials are looking for more certainty in the preservation of the land.
    • Much of the Wetlands Institute site in Stone Harbor, N.J., sits in low marsh and has become increasingly at risk due to flooding. This week, nonprofit staff will pack up and move to a temporary headquarters.
    • The Trump administration has blocked more than 130 projects in national parks across the country worth at least $25 million without providing a reason, according to internal documents reviewed by the Washington Post.

    🌳 Your outdoorsy experience

    Yoo-hoo, is this thing on? I want to hear from you, dear reader. Whether you’re hitting your go-to trail or trying kayaking for the first time, this is your time to shine. What are you doing out in the wild?

    Write me an email to tell me about your unforgettable memories adventures or favorite moments outdoors. Pictures, if you have them, are more than welcome. You might see your adventures featured here.

    The perfect pick-me-up

    🎤 Let me pass the mic to my colleague Beatrice Forman with an adorable dispatch.

    Dolly is an Aries. She likes pink accessories, the feeling of freshly brushed hair, and morning coffee with friends. She also has to be the center of attention.

    No, Dolly is not a teenaged girl. She’s a three month-old Hereford calf with a job: To snuggle up with as many guests as possible at Rose Bridge Farm, a Montgomery County animal sanctuary.

    Rose Bridge Farm sits on almost 13 acres of land at 1314 Limekiln Pike in Dresher, once part of an estate owned by William Penn in the mid-1700s. When steward Kristen Sutch took over the property in 2013, she transformed it into a sanctuary for farm animals rescued from livestock auctions, dairy farms, and breeders. — Beatrice Forman

    Keep reading to learn more about the sanctuary and its cuddly animals.

    Paola’s picks

    🔎 An activity: Mix archaeology and history at Newlin Grist Mill’s annual Fall Festival with fun for all ages (Saturday, free).

    ♻️ A proud moment: Reading Terminal Market attracts attention for its food-waste-prevention efforts.

    🌕 A celestial treat: Philly’s most unique mooncakes.

    🍒 A song: “Return to Cherry” by Part Time: “Wishful thoughts of another chance, to make things right again.”

    🦉 A good read: Tom Pluck’s latest, “Owl Be Seeing You.”

    A fungal view

    Colleen Farnsworth of Ardmore and her son Ambrose Farnsworth, 4, touch the mushrooms in the mushroom exhibition.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    🍄‍🟫 Last weekend, Kennett Square’s 41st Mushroom Festival celebrated the family farms that have cultivated the crop for generations.

    👋🏽 I’ll catch you next time.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • 🎸 🩰 A weekend of tunes, grooves, and moves | Things to do

    🎸 🩰 A weekend of tunes, grooves, and moves | Things to do

    This weekend is for lovers of performance art.

    British pop tunes, pulsating electro-funk, retro-soul, and other genres will take center stage across several concerts and music festivals — everywhere from Revolutionary War grounds to the Delaware waterfront.

    There’s also the opening of Philadelphia Ballet’s new home, the celebration of Latin culture and heritage, and more to explore this weekend.

    Read below to see what’s happening this weekend:

    — Earl Hopkins (@earlhopkins_, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Grand opening of the Philadelphia Ballet Center

    The Philadelphia Ballet Center for Dance on North Broad Street on Monday, Sept. 7, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Philadelphia’s new eye-catching, four-story home for ballet on North Broad Street officially opens its doors Friday.

    After 19 years of trying to consolidate its operations in one building, the Center for Dance on North Broad Street’s arrival is a significant feat.

    Architecture critic Inga Saffron argues that the ballet’s building has missed an opportunity to show, as well as tell, what’s going on inside.

    Take a peek yourself during the center’s open house. Guests can enjoy studio tours, dancer meet-and-greets, arts and crafts, and beginner-friendly dance lessons.

    Read Inga’s review of Philadelphia Ballet’s new home here.

    The best things to do this week

    Atlanta-based Verdict Still Out sends Philly Fashion Week collection down the runway that’s as rebellious as it is patriotic.Courtesy of Philly Fashion Week

    🎨 Sho your creativity: Food vendors, street dancers, musical ensembles, and of course, the work of artists from across the city, will be on display at LOVE Park during the ODUNDE Art Sho on Friday.

    🎺 Jazz up your weekend: More than 20 locations will be celebrating Montco Jazz Fest with live performances, free swing dancing, and an outdoor movie night. Swing by for special tributes to jazz greats across 30-plus events.

    🧵 Straight from the runway: Watch stylish Philadelphians strut their finest garments during Philly Fashion Week. There will be runway shows, shopping events, a design competition, and the Avant-Garde Ball and Philadelphia Fashion Awards at Vault XXVII.

    🎉 Happy birthday to the Kimmel: In celebration of the Kimmel Center’s 25th anniversary, the venue is hosting the FREE Philadelphia Fall Arts Fest on Saturday. The event will shine a light on performance groups such as Opera Philadelphia, the Philly Pops, and others.

    📅 My calendar picks this week: Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show, Upper Darby International Festival, Hero Thrill Show. Here’s our full list for the week.

    Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off this week

    This Hispanic Heritage Month, don’t miss out on these free events.Fairmount Park Conservancy

    Philadelphia will honor the culture and contributions of the Latin American community through Hispanic Heritage Month.

    Upcoming events include international dance celebrations, music performances, and food festivals from now through Oct. 15.

    On Saturday, salsa your way to the Esperanza Arts Center to see international dancers Ashley Rivera and Elian Gomez. They will join the local salsa orchestra, Siempre Salsa All-Stars, who will be backed by singer Carlos Sanchez and percussionist Willie Torres.

    There will also be the Sazón Latin Food Festival at Two Locals Brewing on Saturday. The event will boast Caribbean, Central and South American cuisine, plus other pay-as-you-go offerings throughout the day.

    Additional events will take place at various Free Library of Philadelphia branches throughout the month-long celebration.

    Late summer fun this week and beyond

    The inaugural “StrEAT Food Festival” on Main Street Saturday launches Manayunk’s first Restaurant Week.

    🍲 Restaurant week in Manayunk: Have a festive evening at Manayunk Restaurant Weekend. Prix fixe lunch and dinner specials, ranging from $15-$45 per person, and other offerings will take place at local faves like Lucky’s Last Chance, Mia Ragazza, Bayou Bar & Grill, and others through Sunday.

    🎃 Experience Halloween underwater: Who says it’s too early for Halloween? Fintastic Pumpkin Glow is bringing the seasonal treat to Adventure Aquarium. Glowing pumpkins in the shape of stingrays, sharks, and sea turtles will be on display through Nov. 1.

    🎷 Celebrating Coltrane: The celebration of John Coltrane’s 100th birthday continues at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On Sunday, activities include hands-on art making, gallery activities, and a live performance by The Hines Creative Arts Legacy Youth Ensemble.

    🖼️ New exhibition at the Barnes: The Barnes Foundation’s newest exhibition, “Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America,” highlights Asian American artists affected by incarceration and forced relocation during World War II. The exhibition opens on Sunday and runs through Jan. 10, 2027.

    Staffer picks

    Ed Sheeran played an intimate concert at Royal Dublin Society Nov. 3, 2025 as part of Spotify’s Billions Club recognition.Courtesy Spotify

    Here’s pop music critic Dan DeLuca’s list of the best concerts this weekend.

    🎤 Friday: After an earlier show at Liacouras Center, Boyz II Men is back. Only this time, as headliners with the Philly Pops at TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann on Friday.

    🎸 Friday and Saturday: The War on Drugs returns to action for a headlining performance at the Queen in Wilmington on Friday. On Saturday, the group heads to the Jersey Shore for Asbury Park’s Sea.Hear.Now Festival at 8 p.m.

    🔊 Friday to Sunday: XPoNential Music Festival is back on the Delaware River waterfront in Wiggins Park in Camden. The weekend kicks off with Los Angeles brother act Dawes headlining, followed by performances from Alaska-born singer John Gourley’s Portugal. The Man, retro-soul band St. Paul & the Broken Bones, and others.

    ♾️ Friday to Sunday: David Pianka’s electronic music-plus fest, Making Time ∞, is in its sixth year at Fort Mifflin, the Revolutionary War-era fort near Philadelphia International Airport. Over 120 acts will perform this weekend, including DJ-producers like Bicep, Daphni, Skee Mask, and Jewelsea.

    🎤 Saturday: British megastar Ed Sheeran is slated to take center stage at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday for his “Loop Tour,” which he plays solo, building layered tracks by triggering prerecorded instrumentals with foot pedals.

    Check out Dan’s full concert list here.

    ❓Pop quiz

    What was the original name of Philadelphia Ballet?

    A) The Philadelphia Ballet Company

    B) Commonwealth Ballet Dancers

    C) Pennsylvania Ballet

    D) PA Dance Co.

    Here’s the answer to last week’s question: How many groups were a part of the first Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 1997? Answer: 60

    Ask Earl anything

    Many of you have questions about each week’s listings, and others about Philly’s arts, culture, and entertainment scene.

    I have you covered. Have a question? Email me for a chance to have it answered in an upcoming newsletter.

    That’s all, folks. Make time in your schedule for some of these picks this weekend.

    – Earl Hopkins

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    Courtesy of Giphy.comCourtesy of Giphy.com
  • Ed Sheeran, Zach Bryan, the War on Drugs, Boyz II Men headline this last outsized Philly music weekend of the year

    Ed Sheeran, Zach Bryan, the War on Drugs, Boyz II Men headline this last outsized Philly music weekend of the year

    This is the last outsized, outdoor Philly music weekend of the summer, with open-air events that include the XPoNential and Making Time festivals, Ed Sheeran in South Philly, Zach Bryan in Delaware, The War on Drugs on the Asbury Park beach, and Boyz II Men at the Highmark Mann.

    Thursday Sept. 17

    Philly Loves Wilco

    The indie all-star Philly Loves Wilco band, spearheaded by the Tisburys’ Tyler Asay, did A Ghost is Born tribute in 2024. This time, the band will mark the 25th anniversary of Wilco’s 2001 release, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The guest list is formidable, including Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz, Maxwell Stern, Emily Drinker and Josh Steingard, John Faye, Joey Sweeney, Don McCloskey, and Grace Gardner. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

    Circa Survive

    In 2022, before the release of its seventh album, Two Dreams, Doylestown-born Philly-based post-hardcore progressive rock band Circa Survive announced an indefinite hiatus. Then the Anthony Green-fronted band surprised fans by reforming. This is the third show of a three-night stand in Fishtown, before the band heads to Louisville for the Louder Than Life festival this weekend. 8 p.m., Fillmore Philly, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com

    Boyz II Men performs at the All-Star Game on July 14, 2026, in Philadelphia. They play the Highmark Mann on Friday.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Friday Sept. 18

    Boyz II Men

    Earlier this year, the smooth vocalizers of Boyz II Men — Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, and Nate Morris — reunited with the original fourth member, Michael McCary, at a Liacouras Center show, opening for Bell Biv DeVoe. Now the trio is back as headliners, teaming with the Philly Pops. 8 p.m., TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org

    Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls

    Fist-pumping, heart-on-his-sleeve folk-punker Frank Turner’s most recent album is 2024’s Undefeated, a title he came up with after he had that word tattooed on his back. The English songwriter is on his “Road to Lost Evenings IX” tour, ahead of the ninth iteration of the annual festival he curates in Dallas, Texas, which happens next weekend. 7 p.m., Circus Maximus Theatre at Caesars Atlantic City, 2100 Pacific Ave., Atlantic City, caesars.com

    Pansy Division

    Pioneering queercore San Francisco band Pansy Division was openly gay from its beginnings in the early 1990s, when proudly out bands in the often macho punk rock scene were rare. The witty, high energy band fronted by Jon Ginoli has remained intermittently active this century, with its latest being 2016’s Quite Contrary. With Teenage Halloween and Hot Seat. 8 p.m., PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., philamoca.org

    Philly’s The War on Drugs play in Delaware and New Jersey this weekend. Left to right: Anthony LaMarca, Robbie Bennett, Dave Hartley, Charlie Hall, Adam Granduciel, Jon Natchez, and Eliza Hardy Jones.The War On Drugs

    Friday and Saturday Sept. 18 and 19

    The War on Drugs

    The War on Drugs has returned to action with “Who’s That,” the Philly band’s first new song in five years. The Adam Granduciel-fronted septet has a busy weekend. On Friday, it headlines the Queen in Wilmington, with ace Philly instrumental band I Think Like Midnight opening. Then Saturday, it heads to the Jersey Shore for Asbury Park’s Sea.Hear.Now Festival. 8 p.m. Friday, the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington, thequeenwilmington.com, and at 8 p.m. (doors open at noon) at Sea.Hear.Now on the Asbury Park beach, seahearnowfestival.com

    Zach Bryan performs at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. He plays two shows at the Woodland in Dover, Delaware, this weekend.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Zach Bryan

    After this weekend, the country folk superstar (who was born in Japan, grew up in Oklahoma, and lived in Philadelphia when he was writing most of the songs on his 2024 album, the Great American Bar Scene) can check Delaware off the list of U.S. states that he’s played in.

    Touring behind his new album, With Heaven on Top, Bryan is doing two nights at the Woodlands, the bucolic site across Route 1 from Dover Speedway where the Firefly Festival used to happen. On Friday, Kings of Leon, Gabriella Rose, and Fey Fili open. On Saturday, Alabama Shakes takes the Kings’ place. 5 p.m., The Woodlands at Dover Speedway, 1131 N. DuPont Highway, Delaware, zachbryan.com/tour

    Devon Gilfillian is playing XPoNential Music Festival at Wiggins Park on the Delaware River waterfront in Camden on Sept. 18-20.Courtesy of the Artist

    Friday Sept. 18 to Sunday Sept. 20

    XPoNential Music Festival

    Back on the Delaware River waterfront in Wiggins Park in Camden, this year’s XPoNential Music Festival presented by Subaru — that’s the official name — kicks off Friday night with Los Angeles brother act Dawes headlining. There’s also a strong local component with Delco soul man Devon Gilfillian, South Jersey jangly quartet Te Vista, and jazz drummer and bandleader Daniel Villareal.

    Saturday’s bill is topped by Alaska-born singer John Gourley’s Portugal. The Man, and includes rousing retro-soul band St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Kentucky folk-country songwriter S.G. Goodman, and WXPN 24 Hour Song Challenge winners the Flying Vees. Sunday headliners are 1970s rock band Little Feat, said to be on its final tour, and an impressive under card that includes ReBirth Brass Band, Ratboys, Langhorne Slim, Sierra Hull, Tyler Ballgame, and South Jersey’s Fat Mezz. 4:30 p.m. Friday and Noon on Saturday and Sunday, Wiggins Park, 2 Riverside Park, Camden, xpnfest.com

    Avalon Emerson at Fort Mifflin on 2024. She’s return to Making Time Forever this weekend.Making Time

    Making Time ∞

    David Pianka’s sui generis electronic music-plus fest is in its sixth year at Fort Mifflin, the Revolutionary War-era fort near Philadelphia International Airport.

    Over 120 acts will perform, mostly DJ-producers like Bicep, Daphni, Skee Mask, and Jewelsea, but also live acts such as Sonic Youth bassist and solo artist Kim Gordon, Philly shoe gazers They Are Gutting a Body of Water, harpist Mary Lattimore and guitarist Jeff Parker, Bolivian American sibling band La Thuthanaka, and Atlas Sound, the project of Deerhunter guitarist Bradford Cox, who will be playing his first show in seven years.

    Making Time stands out because it’s small — capped at 3,000 people, with a unique site, trippy KLIP Collective lighting, and a PLURT vibe (that stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Transcendence). And the food and drink is unmatched among Philly fests, with vendors including Irwin’s, Dan’s Kitchen, Tabachoy, Two Persons Coffee, A. Kitchen, and Meetinghouse. 1 p.m., Fort Mifflin, 6400 Hog Island Road, off-site parking at ARB Parking, 4700 Island Ave., makingtimeisrad.com

    Kim Gordon poses for a portrait on Dec. 9, 2025, in New York. She plays the Making Time festival on Saturday. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)Taylor Jewell

    Saturday Sept. 19

    Ed Sheeran

    The popular British singer-songwriter is out on his “Loop Tour,” in which he plays solo and builds layered tracks by triggering prerecorded instrumental parts with foot pedals.

    The tour is now at the center of free speech and censorship debate after rapper Macklemore was removed from all remaining tour dates, including the South Philly show. This decision came after he performed his 2024 song “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University, at Sept. 4 and 5 concerts at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and chanted “Free Palestine,” while a video screen showed footage from the war in Gaza.

    Sheeran has said that dropping Macklemore was “the promoter’s decision,” and added that “I do not use my professional platform for politics.”

    Previously scheduled openers Lukas Graham, Finneas, and Aaron Rowe have dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore. 5:30 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field, One Lincoln Financial Way, lincolnfinancialfield.com

    Pat Metheny

    Jazz guitar virtuoso Pat Metheny has won 20 Grammys and by my count, released 55 albums since his 1976 debut. The latest is Side Eye III+, which carries on his Side Eye project of working with younger musicians. For this gig, that includes Chris Fishman on keys, Joe Dyson on drums, bassist Jermaine Paul, and percussionist and vocalist Leonard Patton. 8 p.m., Miller Theater, 250 S. Broad St., ensembleartsphilly.com

    Philly songwriter Ron Gallo plays Johnny Brenda’s on Tuesday.Abigail Mueller

    Tuesday Sept. 22

    Witch & Ron Gallo

    Witch is an acronym for “We intend to cause havoc.” The 1970s Zambian psychedelic “Zamrock” band melds African rhythm with the influence of the Rolling Stones and James Brown. Philly good trouble maker Ron Gallo — who in 2025 rolled out a “7AM Songs of Resistance for the internet” series — is the opener. 8 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com