Black Buttafly | cover art to Fly Free
Cuddle up to live music this Valentine’s week.
Here are 13 concerts to see in the next seven days, all around Philly. For tickets and more information, head to the WXPN Concert Calendar.
Seeing the very unique style of Tuareg guitar rock as a full band experience is one thing; seeing it acoustic and intimate is another. Famed Saharan rocker Mdou Moctar has a stripped down gig on deck to kick the week off this Monday at Delaware’s Arden Gild Hall. // 8 p.m., $35.13, AA
There’s truly something special about hearing a powerful voice belt love songs around Valentine’s Day, and in that spirit, long-tenured center city establishment Chris’ Jazz Cafe has just the treat for you this Tuesday night. Stephan Burse is a local vocal coach with a voice that can fill a church with no difficulty. He and his trio will settle in off Sansom Street to serenade dinner-goers and the bar crowd alike, and even if you opt for the cheap tickets, you’ll have no trouble hearing him in the back of the room. // 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., $15 and up, 21+
A partnership between Philly’s Ars Nova Workshop and New York City venue The Jazz Gallery, The Mentorship Series places two artists together on a collaborative bill: one seasoned player, and one up-and-comer. This week’s show, Wednesday at Solar Myth, the dazzling young pianist Cameron Campbell joins forces with Jaleel Shaw, a Philly-rooted saxophonist and improviser. // 8 p.m., $37.08, 21+
The soulful folk duo of husband and wife Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler hits particularly hard in the winter, and the romantic holiday that sits within. Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the duo returns to Philly for a City Winery show in support of their sixteenth studio LP, last year’s Hymn Time in the Land of Abandon.// 6 p.m., $35 and up, 21+
Rescheduled from an earlier date last year, Dinosaur Jr. lead shredder and vocalist J Mascis brings his gnarly tones to Underground Arts this Wednesday for a solo headlining show. Of all his grunge-adjacent peers in the 90s, Mascis and Dino J have had the most prolific output and greatest longevity, and that work ethic and creative drive has made them resonate across generations. // 9 p.m., $38.11, 21+
Veteran Minneapolis hip-hop outfit Atmosphere has been at the game for over 25 years, refining an aesthetic that appeals to both underground rap heads and skate park punks alike. Their most recent project was 2023’s So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously, and their headlining winter tour brings them to The Queen in Wilmington this Thursday, a venue that (following a killer sold out Mannequin Pussy show last week) is currently batting two for two. May more great gigs make their way to the first state at this spot, please! // 8 p.m., $35, AA
Nothing says “love” like dancing, and the deeply energized Afro-Caribbean funk of veteran UK outfit will make you do just that this Valentine’s. Their 1972 self-titled debut is a crate-digging classic — shoutouts to David Dye of Dave’s World for carrying a torch for it — and after their initial breakup in 1981, the band reformed in the 21st century for an occasional run of albums, including the very new Renascence, released last week. Wear your dancing shoes to your dinner date, and proceed directly to Ardmore Music Hall. Or, if you’re flying solo, this gig will be a good place to fly free and have fun. // 8 p.m., $35, 21+
Speaking of flying free, that’s what Black Buttafly, aka keyboardist Kayla Childs, is all about on her long-awaited debut EP. Fly Free is out now, it’s a terrific middle ground between Thundercat-style exploratory sounds and the classic romantic sounds of Stevie, making Valentine’s the perfect day for Black Buttafly and her Electric Band to celebrate their project drop at World Cafe Live. Ryan Gilfillian opens. // 8:30 p.m., $25, AA
They were a hit at Free At Noon last fall, and now D.C. party rockers Oh He Dead are back in the tri-state area. Their 2024 album Ugly smoked, and they’ll share the stage at Arden Gild Hall with local fave Sug Daniels this Friday. // 8 p.m., $22.66, AA
The duo of Devin Tuel and Stephen Harms are both local favorites and world travelers. The singer-songwriters who have been making music under the name Native Harrow for a decade spent much of the pandemic and its fallout years living in West Sussex, England, mixing it up with UK artists like The Heavy Heavy and laser-focusing their own songwriting. After returning to Pennsylvania last year, they released Divided Kind, their best work to date, and one crystalizing their love of 70s folk and singer-songwriter-dom through a chic modern lens. Following up on their Johnny Brenda’s album release party from last year, Native Harrow headlines World Cafe Live’s lounge this Saturday, with support from Sam and Louise. // 8:00 p.m., $15, AA
When heavy Philly punk outfit Creepoid played its final concert in 2018, the idea of “Philly shoegaze” was not yet a thing — that came later, thanks to bands like Blue Smiley and TAGABOW putting a uniquely dismal and distressed spin on the dreamlike sonic atmospherics of a much earlier generation. But even though they pre-dated this current wave, Creepoid is very much in the continuum of loud bands making bleak-yet-beautiful sounds from the City of Brotherly Shove, which makes their reunion gig this Saturday relevant as ever. It’s particularly cool to see them pairing up with some of the new guard on this show, too: the celebrated Full Body 2, as well as newer-ish faces Halloween. Creepoid has been rolling out previously unreleased songs on the lead-up to this concert, and while it remains to be seen whether they’re back-back or just here for the night, the return is most welcome. // 8 p.m., $26, AA
Singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello released a powerful record on Blue Note in 2024 called No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin. Inspired by the renowned activist and author Baldwin, she incorporates his views on race, sexuality, faith and identity into her music — as well as the views of other scholars and philosophers, like Audre Lorde — reflecting on their relevance to contemporary society. “If you build your house on a foundation of sand, it’s bound to fall apart,” Ndegeocello told Relix. “I think that’s what’s happening in America. The delusion and the illusions are falling to the wayside. I’m just hoping we create something much better.” She brings her tour in support of No More Water to Princeton’s McCarter Theatre this Saturday. // 7:30 p.m., $33 and up, AA
After years of collaboration with his brother Dave, punk-adjacent Philly troubadour Tim Hause made his solo debut in 2023 with the LP Tim — his name, yes, but also the name of a Replacements record? A coincidence maybe? But a good point of ref — and this year he’s back with a new one. Pre-Existing Conditions is the project, it features production work from revered singer-songwriter Will HOge, it’s out this week and Tim celebrates this Saturday with a headlining show and tour stop at MilkBoy. // 8:30 p.m., $24.95, 21+
Chicago-rooted and Brooklyn-based, poet and singer-songwriter Tasha has cut a striking figure in the indie music scene over the past five years, particularly with last year’s All This and So Much More. She opens the show at the First Unitarian Church this Sunday night for Atlanta indie four-piece Lunar Vacation.// 9:00 p.m., $20, AA
