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The Hoagie Nation lineup is here: Squeeze, Kool & the Gang, and The Wailers will join Hall & Oates

The festival makes its first appearance at the Mann Center this August after a pandemic cancellation last year.

Daryl Hall & John Oates' Hoagie Nation makes its move to the Mann Center on Aug. 7. Mark Rock
Daryl Hall & John Oates' Hoagie Nation makes its move to the Mann Center on Aug. 7. Mark RockRead more
    by Dan DeLuca
    Updated 
    Published 

The full lineup has been announced for this year’s Hoagie Nation festival when it comes to the Mann Center Aug. 7.

Daryl Hall & John Oates headline, joined by Squeeze, Kool & the Gang, The Wailers, Craig Robinson & the Nasty Delicious, Soul Survivors, and Down North.

This will be the third incarnation of Hoagie Nation. The music-and-sandwich festival was staged with Hall & Oates atop the bill at bygone Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing in 2017 and 2018, then took 2019 off before planning to move to the Mann last year. That show was pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hall & Oates will be well paired with Squeeze, the New Wave-era English rock band fronted by Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook, known for hits like “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” and “Black Coffee in Bed.” The two bands will be touring together this summer starting Aug. 5 in Mansfield, Mass.

At the Mann, they’ll also be joined by the ‘70s funk-pop band Kool & the Gang, who were honored in 2019 with Philadelphia’s Marian Anderson Award. Their new album, Perfect Union, is due Aug. 21.

The undercard of the bill then includes The Wailers, whose members include Aston “Family Man” Barrett, his son Aston Barrett Jr. and guitarist Donald Kinsey. Craig Robinson & the Nasty Delicious is led by The Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine comedian and actor, who also appears in commercials for Philly cold cut company Dietz & Watson — the Hoagie Nation sponsor.

In the Soul Survivors, of “Expressway To Your Heart” fame, Charlie Ingui carries on with the band after the death of his brother Richie in 2017. Soul-punk band Down North is fronted by James Brown and Prince acolyte Anthony Briscoe.

The festival will use both the main TD Pavilion amphitheater at the Mann and the open-air hilltop Skyline Stage and will include a Dietz & Watson “Hoagie Happy Hour” with free eats for early arrivers. Tickets are on sale at MannCenter.org and Ticketmaster.com.