Here are 16 concerts to see in the next 7 days, all around Philadelphia. For tickets and more information on our concert picks, head to the WXPN Concerts and Events page.
Sunday 3/26: Vance Gilbert at Godfrey Daniels
Veteran singer-songwriter and folk circuit favorite Vance Gilbert is one part earnest singer-songwriter, one part comic, and his storytelling skills excel in both fields. His 15th studio album Good Good Man was released in 2020 and he plays Musikfest Café tonight.// 7 p.m., $20.50, AA
Sunday 3/26: Nat Vazer at Johnny Brenda’s
Mesmerizing Melbourne, Australia indie rocker Nat Vazer is on a North American run in support of her debut LP, Is This Offensive and Loud?, and brings her crunchy fuzzy pop to Johnny Brenda’s tonight. Equally exciting are Vazer’s openers and tourmates: Philly indie rockers The Lunar Year, who have a terrific new song out called “Don’t Kiss Strangers,” and power pop-inspired five-piece The Tisburys. // 8 p.m., $15, 21+
Tuesday 3/28: Sophie B. Hawkins at World Cafe Live
Singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins headlines World Café Live’s Music Hall on Tuesday night, and whether you’re looking to sing at the top of your lungs to her 1992 hit “Damn! I Wish I Was Your Lover,” or excited to hear what Hawkins has been up to with her new album Free Myself, this show will deliver in a big way. // 8 p.m., $25 and up, AA
Tuesday 3/28: Entran De l’Aïr at Johnny Brenda’s
If you’ve never experienced Tuareg guitar live before, make a beeline for Johnny Brenda’s on Tuesday night, where the Nigerian trio Etran de L’Aïr headlines. The style is a swirling, immersive, blissed-out journey, and the players layer interlocked rhythms and soaring solos on their album No. 1. Show up, vibe, dance, and enjoy. // 8 p.m., $17, 21+
Wednesday 3/29: Elizabeth and the Catapult at City Winery
Brooklyn indie pop five-piece Elizabeth and the Catapault released their fifth studio album during the pandemic lockdown, and are finally coming to Philadelphia on tour in support of it this Wednesday. Their show at City Winery Philadelphia features long-running Philly-area singer-songwriter Christine Havrilla opening the show with a solo performance. // 7:30 p.m., $20, AA
Thursday 3/30: Christian McBride’s New Jawn at Arden Gild Hall
Philly jazz icon Christian McBride brings his band, The New Jawn, back to his hometown area this week for a headlining show at Delaware’s Arden Gild Hall. Active since 2016, the project finds the bassist, band leader, public radio host, and festival director joined by trumpeter Josh Evans, sax player and clarinetist Marcus Strickland, and drummer Nasheet Waits, and their new album Prime finds them stretching out brisk bops over seven minutes in joyful length. // 8 p.m., $33.99, AA
Thursday 3/30: Pete Donnelly at The Living Room
Power pop vet Pete Donnelly doesn’t exactly live locally anymore – he makes his home in pastoral upstate New York these days – but he comes back to the Delaware Valley on the reg, this Thursday for a show at cozy Ardmore space The Living Room. Expect cuts from his recent outings like The Perpetual Tryst and Anthem of the Time, throwbacks to his old band The Figgs, or if we ask nicely, maybe he’ll rock his XPN hit “Can’t Talk At All.”// 8 p.m., $25 and up, AA
Thursday 3/30: Brianna Castro at MilkBoy
After taking a few years off, Philly R&B singer-songwriter (and sometimes rapper) Brianna Castro is back. Her new EP For Now was long in the works and dropped in late 2022, but it’s a promising return for this unique voice on the scene. She plays a headlining set at MilkBoy Thursday to celebrate the project, and the lineup is no joke: Kingsley Ibeneche and Jasmine Cassell join Castro on the show. // 8 p.m., $12, 21+
Thursday 3/30: Knifeplay at Johnny Brenda’s
Philly’s new shoegaze scene will be riled up for this one. Knifeplay brings their trudging drones and chip-on-your-shoulder attitude to Johnny Brenda’s this Thursday leading a lineup of fellow local electronic-flexing bands, Full Body 2 and Halloween. Obscured behind wailing effects and dreadful sorrow, Knifeplay’s latest LP Animal Drowning is a real winner if you can stomach it. // 8 p.m., $15, 21+
Friday 3/31: The Residents at The Foundry
Theatrical to say the least, art-rock group The Residents play The Foundry this Friday after being our guest at Free At Noon that afternoon. We’re thrilled – and also scared? – to see what they have in store, given the 80s avant-garde British act has a propensity for the provocative. // 8 p.m., $35, 21+
Friday 3/31: Cosmic Guilt at Brooklyn Bowl
Cosmic Guilt shares their warm and shining self-titled debut album on vinyl for the first time at this special show for the local ten-piece supergroup. Give a listen to their new single “Queen of the Dream” before attending this Brooklyn Bowl show, which is in fact, here in Philly on the edge of the Fishtown neighborhood. Psychedelic jam banders Garcia Peoples open the show. // 8 p.m., $15 ADV, 21+
Friday 3/31: Caring Less and Honeythunder at Silk City
New blips on our radar at XPN Local, garage rock bands Caring Less and Honeythunder share a bill at the appropriately greasy diner aesthetic at Silk City on Friday. The former released a self-titled EP last year, the latter has a terrific new single called “When It’s All Over,” and fans of Screaming Females will find something to love here. // 7:30 p.m., $10 ADV, 21+
Saturday 4/1: Night Of 1,000 Kates at Union Transfer
Night of 1,000 Kates, the Philly-founded Kate Bush mixed-media tribute, is celebrating its 9th year and first at Union Transfer. It’s growth is fueled by year after year of buzz-making events at Johnny Brenda’s and Underground Arts, as well as the 2022 smash hit revival of Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill” thanks to Stranger Things. The Kates of Night Of 1,000 Kates go deep, though. Over 70 Philly performers are featured in the theatrics, which outgrew its humble beginnings at The Barbary in 2014. Stay as late as 2 a.m. for the dance party to follow. // 8 p.m., $20, 21+
Saturday 4/1: Deb Callahan Band at The Fallser Club
Locally-recognized blues singer-songwriter Deb Callahan leads her band at this album release show for Backbone released earlier this month. Songs like “Big Girl Pants” and “Still Fighting To Be Free” speak to the number of times she’s been around the proverbial block, all the while earning a reputation for producing solid, soulful records in the vein of Bonnie Raitt. // 8 p.m., $20 ADV, AA
Saturday 4/1: Lenny Kaye at Musikfest Cafe
Rock journalist and close Patti Smith collaborator, Lenny Kaye alongside the Craig Thatcher Band will preview material from the forthcoming reissue of Nuggets for the Lehigh Valley area this Saturday. The foundational composition, known for spurring punk rock dreams for many including The Velvet Underground, includes singles by Otis Redding, Todd Rundren, Warren Zevon, and dozens more all curated by Kaye. // 7:30 p.m., $25, AA
Saturday 4/1: Victor Wooten & The Wooten Brothers at Miller Center for the Arts
World-class bassist Victor Wooten returns to his roots in this family band for Saturday’s WXPN Welcomes show at Reading’s Miller Center for the Arts. Wooten is recognized for his time with The Flecktones led by innovative banjo player Bela Fleck and his illustrious solo career after that. His latest LP, the groovy S’Low Down, has the big-band energy you’d expect, but revolves around virtuosic performances on the bass. // 6 p.m., $59, AA
