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Elvis Costello and Blondie to headline second night of Xponential Fest

Xponential's aim is true.

Elvis Costello will headlien the Xponential Music Festival at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden on July 27. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)
Elvis Costello will headlien the Xponential Music Festival at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden on July 27. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)Read moreMatt Licari / Matt Licari/Invision/AP
    by Dan DeLuca
    Published 

Elvis Costello and Blondie will headline the second night of WXPN’s Xponential Music Festival this July at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden.

Costello released his best album in at least a decade with Look Now in October and has returned to touring after surviving a 2018 cancer scare. He’ll headline along with his formidable backing band The Imposters, with his New Wave era contemporaries Blondie, led by the fabulous Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, who were were in fine form on their most recent album, 2017′s Pollinator.

Along with the Saturday night July 27 headliners, Xponential has also announced the full lineup for the outdoor portion of the fest at adjacent Wiggins Park for both Saturday and Sunday July 28.

Highlights of the Saturday schedule at Wiggins includes Alabama retro soul act St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Philly rockers Low Cut Connie led by piano man Adam Weiner; local songwriter and band leader Ali Awan; Caroline Rose, whose cheeky Loner was one of the most entertaining albums of 2018; and J.S. Ondara, the Kenya by way of Minnesota songwriter who is one of the breakout stars of 2019.

» READ MORE: Meet Ali Awan, the Philly rocker you should be listening to right now

On Sunday, top billing goes to the Amy Ray Band, the side project of the Indigo Girls singer, with a strong singer-songwriter undercard with Lucy Dacus, Kathleen Edwards and Ruston Kelly. Philly gets repped by rising rockers RFA, expat songwriter Dave Hause & the Mermaid and 215 crooner Zeek Burse.

The three day fest kicks off on Friday with Irishman Hozier, whose Wasteland, Baby! topped the Billboard charts upon release last month in the top BB&T spot. His openers are both Philly based in Japanese Breakfast, fronted by songwriter, filmmaker and all around Renaissance women Michel Zauner, and jazz-funk-soul-hip-hop collective Killiam Shakespeare.

Reserved under-the-roof BB&T tickets for Costello and Blondie go on sale 10 a.m. on Saturday. More information about festival passes can be found at xpnfest.org.