Philly music this week is headlined by LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan playing Wawa Welcome America
But there's also Tyler, the Creator, Gary Clark Jr., Keyshia Cole, and more. Plus, a troika of outdoor shows in King of Prussia and a busy weekend down the Shore
This week in Philly music features the firework of a double bill at the Wawa Welcome America concert with LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan, busy weekends at both the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly and at Heuser Park in King of Prussia, and plenty of music by the beach in Atlantic City, Ocean City, and Cape May.
The Wells Fargo Center action starts on Wednesday with Keyshia Cole, the California-born R&B and hip-hop singer who is celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Way It Is, her 2005 debut album that established the former MC Hammer backup singer as a solo star. Tink, Elijah Blake, and Amerie — the latter of the immortal 2005 go-go single “1 Thing” — open.
Atlanta psychedelic pop band Improvement Movement — RIYL 1970s prog-rock bands like Yes — plays MilkBoy Philly on Wednesday with William Wild and Swansun opening.
Austin, Texas, blues man Gary Clark Jr. headlines Parx Casino in Bensalem on Thursday, touring in support of his 2024 album JPEG Raw. At Spruce Street Harbor Park, Lowertown, People I Love, and Lovelock play for free on Thursday.
James Todd Smith, the Long Island-born rapper whose moniker stands for Ladies Love Cool James, belongs on any list of the most important rappers of all time.
He’s probably now better known as an actor for his roles in House and NCIS: Los Angeles, but the “Goin’ Back to Cali” and “Mama Said Knock You Out” hitmaker returned to hip-hop with authority on last year’s The Force, which was produced by his fellow old-school rapper Q-tip of A Tribe Called Quest.
LL will have his work cut out for him at the free Wawa Welcome America Fourth of July concert, because he’s following a hometown favorite in Jazmine Sullivan, the powerhouse “Bust Your Windows” vocalist from Strawberry Mansion, whose fans are eagerly awaiting a follow-up to 2021’s universally acclaimed Heaux Tales.
The Camden counterpart to the Philly Fourth of July festivities is the 2025 Freedom Festival, headlined by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Spinners.
The Detroit vocal group, who Thom Bell turned into one of the essential Sound of Philadelphia hitmakers with songs like “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love” and “The Rubberband Man,” will top a bill at Wiggins Park’s Roland Traynor River Stage. Camden County trumpeter and bandleader Matt Cappy also performs, and fireworks will follow.
The Grateful Dead’s music will be dressed up in patriotic colors at Ardmore Music Hall on Friday and Saturday when tribute band Splintered Sunlight do two nights of Dead, White and Blue.
This week, the King of Prussia Concerts Under the Stars series moves from its normal location next to the Upper Merion Township Building to nearby — and much larger — Heuser Park for three multiband bills. On Thursday, it’s electronic jam band night, with partly Philly-based band Lotus teamed with Circles Round the Sun, and Ghost-Note.
Then on Saturday, it’s a folkie affair with longtime Philly favorite Dar Williams’ River Roads Festival. The veteran singer-songwriter will share the bill with Indigo Girls, and the always amusing Milk Carton Kids, plus opening acts the Nields, Raye Zaragoza, and Sug Daniels. The show begins at 1:30 p.m.
On Sunday in the park, it’s a roots music and bluegrass jam day with Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country.
Last October, a bus hyping Tyler, the Creator pulled up to Shank’s in South Philadelphia and bought hungry Philadelphians $4,000 worth of cheesesteaks. The Odd Future founder, rapper, producer, and fashion designer wasn’t actually there for that promotional stunt, but he will be in town on Saturday and Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center when he returns to Philly for the first time since he co-headlined Made in America in 2022.
Nerdcore rapper MC Chris — known for voicing MC Pee Pants on the Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force — will perform at Johnny Brenda’s on Saturday. If you love America — that is, the band who sang “Sister Golden Hair Surprise ” — you’ll love 1970s soft-rock AM Gold tribute band Mellow Fever, who plays 118 North on Saturday.
Bob Beach and Paul Wilkinson play Jamey’s House of Music in Lansdowne on Saturday. Bob Log III plays PhilaMOCA on Sunday. The Arizona mystery man is a one-man wrecking crew, a performance art noisemaker playing turned-up-to-11 slide guitar and a kick drum while wearing an identity-obscuring motorcycle helmet. Jim E. Brown and Economy: Homestones are the openers.
In Atlantic City, Independence Day will be celebrated by Philly’s Disco Biscuits at the Music Box at the Borgata on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, Adam Duritz and Counting Crows plays the Hard Rock on tour for its new album, Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!
Nashville songwriter and longtime Jimmy Buffett guitarist Mac McAnally plays the Cape May Convention Center on Sunday. And speaking of Yes, singer Jon Anderson plays that prog band’s “Epics and Classics” with the Band Geeks at Ocean City Music Pier on Monday.