From Billie Eilish to Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter to André 3000, here are 25 (and more) concerts we are excited about

The outdoor concert season isn’t over just yet; XPoNential and Making Time music festivals are happening in September. The Mann Center is staying busy for another month, with high profile shows like Mt. Joy on Sept. 20, Ringo Starr on Sept. 24, Vampire Weekend on Sept. 28, and Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals on Oct. 8.

But back-to-school season signals the time for pop music to go back inside, with more intimate experiences in theaters and clubs. There are also a fair share of arena shows, with acts like Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, and Jelly Roll moving up to accommodate surges in popularity.

Here are 25 concerts not to miss between now and December.

It’s a Dad Rock spectacular. The Matt Berninger-fronted National featuring Dessner brothers Aaron and Bryce, paired with Philadelphia’s Adam Granduciel-led the War On Drugs. The latter’s second in-concert recording, Live Drugs Again is just out and their version of “You Wreck Me” is on the all-Tom Petty covers soundtrack to the new Apple TV series Bad Monkey.

Sept. 17, manncenter.org

British producer and singer Jeff Lynne is the sole remaining original member of 1970s hit-making juggernaut Electric Light Orchestra. The force behind such hits as “Livin’ Thing,” “Telephone Line,” and “Strange Magic” is back one more time with his “Over and Out Tour.”

Sept. 20 and 21, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Chicago emcee Common realized his dream of a full-length album teaming up with Bronx-born DJ and producer Pete Rock, who made his name in the 1990s with rapper C.L. Smooth, on their new collaborative album The Auditorium Vol. 1.

Sept. 20, thefillmorephilly.com

This year’s Camden waterfront fest produced by WXPN-FM (88.5-FM) will again be staged entirely in the cozy confines of Wiggins Park. Twenty two acts on two stages include the Walkmen, Rosanne Cash, Greensky Bluegrass, Grace Bowers, the Heavy Heavy, Florry, Bully, and Blondshell.

Sept. 20-22, xpnfest.org

David Pianka’s mostly electronic festival at Fort Mifflin, the 42-acre Revolutionary War-era site near Philadelphia International Airport is in its fourth year. Last year, it rained. Hopefully this year, dancers will only be wet with sweat during DJ sets by British producer Floating Points, Philadelphia DJ and Blacktronika tastemaker King Britt, and live acts Jessica Pratt, Model/Actriz, and Bendik Giske.

Sept. 20-22, makingtimeisrad.com

Let’s extend Brat Summer beyond the season’s official end, shall we? British songwriter Charli XCX has been knocking on stardom’s door going back to True Romance in 2013, writing hits for Iggy Azalea and Icona Pop. She caught fire with this year’s Brat, which has been embraced by the Kamala Harris campaign and inspired many a cocktail and cupcake creation.

Sept. 25, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

This British songwriter makes music that percolates with rock, jazz, pop, and electronica, navigating loss and longing with twitchy rhythm. She’s following up 2022′s excellent Painless with the new Method Actor.

Sept. 28, undergroundarts.org

A terrific double bill. Soulful British songwriter Michael Kiwanuka, known for his singles “Black Man In a White World” and “Cold Little Heart” is paired with Brittany Howard, the Alabama Shakes singer whose most recent solo album is this year’s bold What Now. Yasmin Williams opens.

Sept. 29, themetphilly.com

Sting can’t stay away from Philly. Last year, he teamed with Shaggy on the Philadelphia-only One Fine Day festival, then sang with the Philadelphia Orchestra in March. Now the Police man is back with what he’s calling “Sting 3.0,” which includes drummer Chris Maas and guitarist Dominic Miller.

Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, themetphilly.com

X, the great first generation Los Angeles punk rock band fronted by Exene Cervenka and John Doe has successfully turned back the clock on its new Smoke & Fiction. The band has announced that it will be their last, and are going out with a set that captures the mix of L.A. noir, Beat poetry, and the onrushing rhythm of their best early records.

Oct. 1, keswicktheatre.com

“I know I can’t be the only one who’s holding on for dear life,” Jelly Roll sings on his forthcoming Beautifully Broken. “I’m not okay, but it’s all gonna be alright.” Opening up about emotional struggle has been good for the former rapper, born Jason DeFord, whose country rock confessions have turned him into a star.

Oct. 2, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Billie Eilish has been a Grammy-winning star of her own invention for half a decade, though she’s only 22. Working along with her brother Finneas O’Connell, her third album Hit Me Hard and Soft is more playful than its predecessors, and she loosens up as a guest on “Guess,” Charli XCX’s underwear song.

Oct. 5, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Bucks County’s ascendant Sabrina Carpenter has been a household name for only a few months, but her new Short n’ Sweet album is actually her sixth. The showbiz vet, 25, has blown up in 2024 thanks to the fizzy “Espresso” and the equally frothy “Please Please Please.”

Oct. 8, wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Philly vocalist Bilal Oliver was a key player in the Soulquarian collective along with D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Questlove, who joins Common and Robert Glasper in backing him on the Live at Glasshaus, which came out in June. On Sept. 27, he will release his first album of new music in eight years with Adjust Brightness.

Oct. 9, worldcafelive.org

New venue alert! Delaware County’s Lansdowne Theater — built in 1927, closed since 1987 — has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation and begins hosting shows with a date with British songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg and guitar great Richard Thompson two days later.

Oct. 17 and Oct. 19, thelansdownetheater.com

Queer cowboy singer Orville Peck continues to subvert country tropes on the new duets album Stampede, which incudes duets with Willie Nelson on “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Another” and Margo Price on “You’re An A——, I Can’t Stand You (And I Want A Divorce).”

Oct. 18, themetphilly.com

Atlantic City-born and Nashville-raised guitar hotshot Daniel Donato takes 1970s Outlaw Country off into a jammy direction, covering Waylon Jennings and leaning into Jerry Garcia.

Oct. 19 and 20, ArdmoreMusicHall.com

The eighth annual Philly Music Fest kicks off at Ardmore Music Hall on Oct. 21 and runs for seven consecutive nights at six different independent venues, featuring all Philly and deeply Philly connected bands. This year’s attractions include Waxahatchee, Amos Lee, Sheer Mag, Reef the Lost Cauze, Catbite, Devon Gilfillian, Hurry, and Mondo Cozmo.

Oct. 21-27, phillymusicfest.com

MJ Lenderman’s 2022 breakthrough, Boat Songs, was one of the best albums of that year, and the brand new Manning Fireworks is better still. The North Carolina songwriter and Wednesday and Waxahatchee sideman’s tight character sketches are highly amusing and genuinely heartbreaking, earning apt comparisons to John Prine and David Berman.

Oct. 24, utphilly.com

T-Bone Burnett played guitar in Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue band in the 1970s, has produced Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. His fifteenth solo album, The Other Side, was released this year.

Oct. 30, worldcafelive.org

OutKast rapper André Benjamin honed his flute playing on the streets of Philadelphia while filming Jason Segel’s Dispatches from Elsewhere in 2019 and brought his New Blue Sun head trip to the Roots Picnic in June. He’s no virtuoso, but wins you over with an openhearted exploration of sound.

Nov. 1, themetphilly.com

After years toiling in Nashville as a demo singer, Mickey Guyton finally broke through with “Black Like Me” in 2020, helping spark a sense of awareness of the tradition of Black country music that Beyoncé is now spotlighting. Her new album, House on Fire, is due Sept. 27.

Nov. 6, worldcafelive.org

Just in time for Thanksgiving season, this year’s recreation of the The Band’s 1976 star-studded concert, which lives on through Martin Scorsese’s concert film, comes to town. This year’s lineup includes Ryan Bingham, Jamey Johnson and Don Was, and Cyril Neville. Plus, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers.

Nov. 9, themetphilly.com

It’s sometimes hard to get a handle on what Sturgill Simpson is up to, but his stubborn independence rewards him with a loyal audience. On the new Passage du Desir, he’s using the alias Johnny Blue Skies, but it turns out to be a deeply personal and often quite dark record.

Nov. 12 and 13, themetphilly.com

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ Woodland is named after the Americana couple’s Nashville recording studio that was nearly destroyed in a hurricane in 2020. Songs like “What We Had” and “Empty Trainload of Sky” show that three decades on, despite it all, they’re still making beautiful music together.

Dec. 6, pennlivearts.org

Others shows of note: Dougie Poole is at Johnny Brenda’s on Sept. 20, and Cloud Nothings is at the Fishtown club on Oct. 29.

Maxwell brings his “Serenade Tour” to Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 24, with Jazmine Sullivan and October London. Philly power trio Stinking Lizaveta kicks out the jams at the First Unitarian Church on Oct. 12.

I’m betting Calum Scott will sing the Phillies anthem “Dancing on My Own” more than once at the Fillmore on Oct. 10. Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets are at World Cafe Live on Oct. 12 and 13. Wild Pink is at the Ukie club on Nov. 21. Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief plays Union Transfer on Nov. 25 and 26.

Big names coming to Atlantic City include Teddy Swims on Sept. 28 and Brad Paisley on Oct. 12, Lenny Kravitz on Nov. 1, Morrissey on Nov. 15 and Tiesto on Dec. 7, all at Ovation Hall. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Diana Ross play the Etess Arena Oct. 12 and Oct. 19, respectively.