Rauw Alejandro and Japanese Breakfast headline Philly music this week

This week in Philly music features a Puerto Rican pop star in South Philly, a top-tier funkmaster in Montgomery County, beloved Philly bands spanning generations on North Broad Street, and the first pop shows of the season at the Mann Center.

It gets busy off the bat on Thursday night, when Rauw Alejandro headlines the Wells Fargo Center. The San Juan native — born Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz — is on the road with his “Cosa Nuestra World Tour,” named after his 2024 album that takes a break from reggaeton and trap to draw inspiration from vintage salsa while also including a Bad Bunny collab.

It promises to be a romantic evening with Rosalía’s dapper former fiancé putting on what‘s said to be an elegant four-act show that‘s part Broadway musical and part telenovela. Get your wardrobe in order before you head out: The crowds at previous tour stops have been dressed to the nines.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Broad Street in Glenside, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic will be tearing the roof off, as they are wont to do. Clinton — who was featured prominently in Questlove’s new Sly Stone movie and is one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever talked to — claimed back in 2019 that he was giving up touring for good.

But of course, he couldn’t stay away. On Thursday, the 83-year-old ringleader of one of the greatest bands in history of 20th-century pop will return to the stage — likely letting the two dozen or so younger musicians carry his iconic message: “Free your mind, and your ass will follow” message.

Also on Thursday, Japanese Breakfast begins two back-to-back nights at the Met Philly. Michelle Zauner is touring her sumptuous new fourth album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). It should be fascinating to hear the Crying in H Mart author and bandleader bringing the Blake Mills-produced song cycle to life on stage in an emotional hometown show.

Hamilton Leithauser is the frontman of the formerly partly Philly-based rock band, the Walkmen, which reunited in 2023 for shows that included a run at Union Transfer. Now Leithauser has a new album, This Side of the Island. He’s playing Ardmore Music Hall on Thursday with Johanna Samuels, and then he’s sticking around to play Free at Noon in Ardmore on Friday.

Also on Thursday: The great jazz-informed vocalist Rickie Lee Jones is at the Sellersville Theater in Bucks County. She then heads to the Arden Gild Hall in Wilmington on Saturday.

The pop season at the Mann Center is already in full swing. "Sessanta V 2.0," the tour that features bassist extraordinaire Les Claypool’s band Primus, plus two bands, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle, centered around Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, play the TC Pavilion on Thursday.

Then Teddy Swims, the best new artist Grammy nominee who mixes country, soul, and rap, and broke big with his hit “Lose Control,” plays the amphitheater on Saturday.

There’s a terrific punk and hard rock double bill at Franklin Music Hall on Friday, with Australian troublemakers Amyl & the Sniffers headlining in support of their new Cartoon Darkness, paired with Philadelphia’s mighty Sheer Mag.

The Philly Five — the jazz band featuring Tony Miceli, Chris Farr, John Swana, Madison Rast, and Dan Monaghan — do two shows at Chris’ Jazz Cafe on Friday.

The Hooters makes their Met Philly debut on Saturday. The Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian fronted long-standing Philly band — last seen reprising their Live Aid set at the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame gala last month — played their first show on July 4 in 1980.

The Met date is the first show on the band’s “45 Alive” tour, which will take them to Europe this summer where — particularly in Germany — they’re even more popular than they are in Philadelphia. To celebrate the anniversary, the band has released a new single, “a 45 for 45” — called “Pendulum.”

Japanese multi-instrumentalist and composer Ichiko Aoba plays Miller Theater on Saturday. And MJ Lenderman and the Wind — which dominated 2024 critics’ pick lists and proved its mettle at the Union Transfer show in October — is back taking a victory lap behind last year’s stellar Manning Fireworks. That show is Saturday at Franklin Music Hall.

At the Shore, country singer Kane Brown plays Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday. And Friday through Sunday, the Exit 0 Jazz Festival takes over multiple stages in Cape May. Headliners include Samara Joy, Terence Blanchard, and Orrin Evans and his Captain Black Big Band.

For help with concert ticket shopping: Live Nation announced a $30 Ticket to Summer promotion this week, which applies to many shows at the Mann Center and the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden. Details are in this FAQ.