Philly Music with Powerhouse, MJ Lenderman, Philly Music Fest and a busy weekend Down the Shore

This week in Philly music is highlighted by the October hip-hop extravaganza known as Powerhouse, the conclusion of the week long Philly Music Fest, and an uncommonly busy fall weekend for concerts at the Jersey Shore.

The buzziest show of the pre-weekend is Thursday night’s MJ Lenderman, the country songwriter from Asheville, N.C., who’s a member of the band Wednesday and has made stellar contributions to Waxahatchee’s 2024 album, Tiger’s Blood.

Lenderman’s droll, expertly crafted Manning Fireworks is one of the standout records of the year, and his popularity is growing: He’s playing Union Transfer Thursday with his band The Wind, and has already announced he’s coming back to town to play the more-than-twice-as-large Franklin Music Hall on May. 7.

Also on Thursday night, proudly eccentric English guitarist and surrealist songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is at City Winery. The Soft Boys founder and star of Jonathan Demme’s 1998 movie Storefront Hitchcock has a new memoir, 1967: How I Got There and Never Left, which he hopefully will read from. Imogen Clark opens.

This year’s Powerhouse — presented by hip-hop station WUSL-FM (98.9), also known as Power 99 — is headlined by Bronx-born rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, back in town after a headlining tour for his 2024 album Better Off Alone, earlier this year. Also on the bill: Gunna, Sexyy Red, who tore it up at The Roots Picnic in June, Philly rapper Lay Bankz, and Northern Irish rapper Jordan Adetunji, among others. That’s Friday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Spanish indie rock band Hinds has two Philly gigs on Friday, with the duo of Carlotta Cosials and Ana Garcia Perotta doing a Free at Noon at World Cafe Live, followed by a headlining show at the First Unitarian Church that evening with the Happy Return and Echo Kid. Hinds’ new album is Viva Hinds!

The Philly Music Fest carries on with Philly ska band Catbite headlining MilkBoy on Friday, Devon Gilfillian and Mondo Cozmo at Underground Arts on Saturday. Marshall Allen and Angelo Outlaw close out the fest at Solar Myth on Sunday night.

And in addition to these gigs, there’s also a highly useful aspect of the PMF recommended for upstart bands and music professionals: Inside Hustle is a networking event where agents, managers booking agents, and artists share their knowledge. Gilfillian and his manager, Jon Smalt, will be on a panel moderated by Bruce Warren of WXPN-FM (88.5). It’s free at noon Saturday at REC Philly.

Multigenre indie songwriter Karl Blau was a longtime Pacific Northwest resident who moved to Germantown in 2019. He’s one of those DIY artists who makes so much music that it’s hard to keep track. His new LP, Vultures of Love, is terrific, with vocals that remind me more of Bill Callahan than I’ve ever noticed before. If you’re a cat lover, watch his “Pasadena” video. He plays Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday.

The Divine Hand Ensemble, the band fronted by theremin player Mano Divina Giannone and featuring a string section that plays “everything from Beethoven to Bowie” are throwing a Halloween party at the Fallser Club in East Falls on Saturday.

The busy weekend at the beach includes lots of Atlantic City action. The Jacksons — who lost one of their founding members when Tito Jackson died last month — plays the Etess Arena at the Hard Rock, with the Pointer Sisters and Billy Ocean.

Sarah McLachlan brings her Fumbling Towards Ecstasy anniversary tour to the Borgata on Friday and Duran Duran plays there on Saturday. And the ageless 89-year-old Johnny Mathis — who’s featured in The Philly Sound documentary playing the Philly Film Festival on Friday — brings his “Voice of Romance” tour to Caesar’s on Saturday.

It’s also the autumn weekend for the semiannual Exit Zero Jazz Festival. With 18 acts playing at five venues over three days, it’s a packed lineup, with headliners Christian McBride & Ursa Major and Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap Duo, plus saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin & Phoenix, post-bop sextet the Cookers and New Orleans brass band Soul Rebels.

Back in Philly, Scream of My Blood, a documentary about the immigrant saga of Ukrainian punk-rock band Gogol Bordello, will screen at Underground Arts, followed by a Q&A and performance with the band’s Eugene Hutz and Sergey Ryabtsev.

Then on Monday, Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy, which has a history of singing anti-Russian protest songs, The band has a history of anti-Russian protest songs, play the Fillmore. plays the Fillmore. The band from Lviv has been in the news after draft officers from the Ukrainian government came to one of their shows in Kyiv this month looking for young men suspected of trying to avoid military service.