Usher and James Taylor headline a busy Philly concert week without Made in America

For the second Labor Day weekend in a row, there will be no road closures on the Ben Franklin Parkway, nor chance of a Beyoncé or Jay-Z sighting.

But whether or not the Made in America festival is permanently MIA, its absence doesn’t imply a slow music weekend in Philly.

Quite the opposite. This weekend’s productions include two nights with a Super Bowl-headlining star, a night with the 1970s singer-songwriter for whom the world’s biggest pop star is named after, and a venerable bluegrass festival whose top-notch lineup includes a storied Philly-born Western swing band.

That Super Bowl headliner is Usher, the Dallas born pop-R & B singer and dancer who played the halftime show of the Chiefs-49ers game in Las Vegas in February and was last seen in Philadelphia when he rescued the Roots Picnic in 2023 after Diddy canceled at the last minute.

It’s been 30 years since Usher’s self-titled debut and 20 since Confessions, which contained his signature hit with Lil John, “Yeah!” He’s at the Wells Fargo Center with his “Past Present Future” tour on Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile, in a mellower mood, James Taylor — who Taylor Swift’s parents were inspired by when choosing a baby name — is at the Mann Center on Friday.

Taylor’s guitar and cello performance of “You’ve Got a Friend” was cut from the first night of the Democratic National Convention when the program ran late. (Though the sound check rehearsal did go viral.)

But fans will get a full dose of Taylor and his All-Star Band, which includes fiddle player Andrea Zonn and drummer Steve Gadd, on Friday, which will undoubtedly include that Carole King song and T-Swift’s favorite, “Fire and Rain.”

The Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival is being held for the 52nd time this year at the Salem County Fairgrounds in Woodstown, N.J. It’s one of the Philadelphia-area’s great end-of-summer traditions.

And this year’s lineup is dynamite, starting with the Del McCoury Band and Danny Paisley playing Friday. Saturday’s headliner is Asleep at the Wheel, the Austin, Texas, institution who is the world’s leading practitioners of Wester swing. It has been led, for over 50 years, by Ray Benson, who grew up wanting to be a singing cowboy in Springfield, Montgomery County. The Seldom Scene headlines on Sunday.

On Thursday, Avril Lavigne brings a greatest hit tour to the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, Chaka Khan plays the Dell Music Center in Strawberry Mansion, Philly bandleader Jeff Bradshaw is at City Winery, and “No genre, all drama” indie musician Jhariah plays for free at Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Down the Shore, there’s will be “Smoke on the Water” by the Atlantic City Boardwalk when Deep Purple plays Ovation Hall with Yes at Ocean Resort on Friday. First-rate country star Miranda Lambert, whose new recorded-in-Austin Postcards From Texas is due Sept. 13, plays the Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in A.C. on Saturday.

Indie chamber rock band Cloud Cult — from St. Cloud, Minn. — plays World Cafe Live twice on Friday, first with a Free at Noon, then later that night.

Mannequin Pussy bass player Colins “Bear” Regisford’s annual birthday bash happens at the Ukie Club on Friday with Dangers, Kids, Concrete Caveman, and Harm Assist.

On Saturday, Patty Jackson’s annual Party in the Park takes over the Dell, with Joe, El DeBarge, and Kenny Lattimore. And Himalayan blues man Prakash Slim brings his high-altitude take on the Delta blues from his new album 8000 Miles to the Cross Roads to Jamey’s House of Music in Lansdowne, also Saturday.

Tems, the Nigerian pop star born Temilade Openiyi, who became known in the U.S. on the 2020 Wizkid single “Essense,” plays the Met Philly on Tuesday.

That same night, Cigarettes After Sex, the El Paso, Texas, dream-pop band that has been steadily growing in popularity this decade and is touring behind its new album X’s, plays the Wells Fargo Center. And Nicki Minaj returns with her “Pink Friday 2″ tour to the South Philly arena on Wednesday.