Festivals are happening in South Philly, Camden, Delaware, at Fort Mifflin and down the shore. Plus, Pet Shop Boys, Lizzo and the Killers are coming to town.
Summer is over, but outdoor music season isn’t over quite yet. In fact, it’s a five festival weekend, with Willie Nelson’s Outlaw fest in Camden, Firefly in Delaware, Making Time at Fort Mifflin, Philly Arts & Music at the Navy Yard and Frantic City in Atlantic City.
This year’s Firefly started on Sept. 22 with Halsey and an undercard including 100 Gecs and Philly’s Mannequin Pussy. My Chemical Romance, Weezer, Avril Lavigne and Philly rapper Ivy Sole play Friday. Green Day headlines Saturday, with Haim and Bleachers, and Sunday features Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, T-Pain and Philly party band Snacktime, at the Treehouse Stage at 2:30 p.m. $129 for a single day to $2699 for a four day super VIP pass. 12 p.m., 9/23-9-25, 1131 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, De., fireflyfestival.com
The giant of American song that is Willie Nelson turns 89 this year. His Outlaw Music Festival will play the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion with Chris Stapleton, the country-soul singer who will precede Nelson on stage. Also on the bill: Zach Bryan, the Oklahoma singer who released his double album America Heartbreak in March, powerhouse vocalist Brittney Spencer, sister duo Larkin Poe and Particle Kid, with Nelson’s son Micah. $69-$189, 3:55 p.m., 9/23, One Harbour Blvd, Camden, blackbirdpresents.com
This one is going to be cool. Kali Malone, a Stockholm-based American composer, makes minimalist yet mesmerizing pipe organ music. With some assistance from Stephen O’Malley , she’ll be playing the pipe organ in the upstairs Sanctuary at the First Unitarian Church. $20, 7:30 p.m., 9/23, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., r5productions.com.
The Black British singer who was raised by a Barbadian mother in Bristol, England has found a home in Nashville, where she records country-soul records produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. The first, 2019′s Walk Through Fire, earned four Grammy nominations. Last year’s Stand For Myself adds disco to the mix. West African singer Peter One opens. $30, 8 p.m., 9/23, Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia.
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In 1971, the New Orleans funk guitarist for The Meters made a James Taylor-style singer-songwriter album called Another Side. The album was shelved when The Meters’ career picked up and the tapes were assumed lost until 2019. Light in the Attic Records put it out last year, and it will surprise fans of “Cissy Strut.” $29-$49, 7 p.m., 9/25, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 East Lancaster Ave., ardmoremusichall.com
Philadelphia DJ and electronic music impresario Dave P. may have outdone himself with Making Time ∞, the fest that runs over two days at Fort Mifflin, on the Delaware River, near the airport. More than two dozen DJs and bands will play, including Avalon Emerson, Floating Points, Four Tet, Bicep, and Philly harpist Mary Lattimore. It should look and taste great, with lighting by Klip Collective, wine and tomato pie by Joe Beddia, and vendors including Middle Child, Dizengoff, and Pitruco Pizza. Free shuttle buses leave from La Chinesca, 1036 Spring Garden St. $80 per day, $130 for a two day pass, 1 p.m., 9/24-25, 6400 Hog Island Road, makingtimeisrad.com
The inaugural Philly Arts & Music Festival has a New Orleans headliner in Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Also on the bill: Philly party band Snacktime, West Philly rapper Chill Moody, Don McCloskey, a Voices in Power spoken word showcase, and West Powelton Steppers & Drum Squad. Art galleries and shops like Harriet’s Bookshop have booths. $35-$60, 1 p.m., 9/24, Marine Parade Grounds, Navy Yard, 4747 S. Broad St., wellsfargocentephilly.com/philly-arts-music
» READ MORE: What time is it? Party band Snacktime is playing the Firefly Festival — and all over Philly.
Yo La Tengo, Snail Mail, Rocket From the Crypt, Superchunk, Titus Andronicus, Shannon & the Clams, and Philly trio Control Top are down the shore at this 10 hour fest at Atlantic City’s Orange Loop Amphitheater. Comic and musician Fred Armisen hosts. Carseat Headrest canceled due to an unspecified illness and have not been replaced. There’s an afterparty with DJ Jonathan Toubin at Anchor Rock Club. $95, 12 p.m., 9/24, 120 S. New York Ave, Atlantic City, franticcitynj.com
Kentucky songwriter Joan Shelley makes soothing music that stirs passion and conflict beneath the surface. Her superb seventh album, The Spur, which came out in June on Philadelphia’s No Quarter label, evokes Celtic and English folk and high lonesome Appalachian music. Wednesday Knudsen opens. $20-$22, 8 p.m., 9/24, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., WorldCafeLive.com
This double bill of influential electronic 1980s British bands has been pushed back by the pandemic twice. But at long last, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the witty, incisive Pet Shop Boys, and Bernard Butler of synth-driven Joy Division successors New Order, are on the road on their Unity Tour. The two acts are alternating as headliners, and at the Mann, New Order will go on last. Paul Oakenfold opens. $34-$750, 6:30 p.m., 9/25, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave., manncenter.org.
Brandon Flowers of The Killers wore his Springsteen influence on his sleeve on last year’s Pressure Machine, a ruminative, bombast free collection that paints a portrait of a small western town based on Flowers’ upbringing in Nehi, Nevada. It’s surprising how well it works; not terribly profound, perhaps, but deeply felt and empathetic. And don’t worry, they’ll play “Mr. Brightside.” Johnny Marr opens. $34.25-$124.25, 7:30 p.m., 9/27, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., wellsfargocenterphilly.com
King Crimson guitar great Robert Fripp is on a speaking tour with his manager of many years. They’ll take questions — about Fripp’s Frippertronics experiments, his Guitar Circle program, being sampled by Kanye West, and Robert & Toyah’s Sunday Lunch, the YouTube series with his wife Toya Willcox that’s made him a viral sensation. $58-$95, 8 p.m., 9/28, City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia.
The singer, rapper, flautist, and positivity spreader comes to South Philly. Her new album Special , which follows 2019′s breakout Cuz I Love You, has spawned hit singles “About Damn Time” and “Grrrls,” the latter being one of four songs that Philadelphia-born producer Pop Wansel had a hand in. Latto opens. $69.50-$129.50, 8 p.m., 9/29, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., wellsfargocenterphilly.com