The best spooky music in Philly with Alice Cooper, Ink & Dagger, Motionless in White, Florry, and Making Time

This super scary week in Philly music features Halloween night events with Alice Cooper, Ink & Dagger, Motionless in White, and Making Time. Plus Journey, Richard Thompson, Vince Staples, Afro-Cuban All Stars, and more.

Journey

“The Final Frontier” is another alleged farewell tour, this one from the San Francisco band whose “Don’t Stop Believin’,” is a safe bet to the top of WXPN-FM’s upcoming 885 Greatest Songs from Movies & TV countdown for its role in the Sopranos finale. Since 2008, the band led by guitarist Neal Schon has been fronted by singer Arnel Pineda, who sings the hits recorded with vocalist Steve Perry during the band’s 1970s and 1980s heyday. 8 p.m. Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., xfinitymobilearena.com

Folk City: The Kings of Steel

Steel guitar players Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner and Paul Wilkinson will take seats behind their instruments at Old City’s 48 Record Bar as part of the monthly Wednesday night Folk City series hosted by John Train singer Jon Houlon and 48 Record Bar poobah Joey Sweeney. Houlon and Sweeney will both perform with backing by Brenner and Wilkinson, who will also spin records featuring the instrument that has long been a staple of traditional country music and is lately increasingly prevalent in indie rock. 7 p.m., 48 Record Bar, 48 S. Second St., 48recordbar.com

Canadian-born songwriter Allison Russell has recorded with folk groups Po’ Girl and Our Native Daughters, and impressed with her outstanding solo debut Outside Child in 2021. Her new album, In the Hour of Chaos, copes with tumultuous times with the help of guests including Brittany Spencer, Norah Jones, Ruby Amanfu, and Delco soul singer Devon Gilfillian. Sug Daniels opens. 7:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 225 Bridge St., colonialtheatre.com

Mannequin Pussy

This past summer, Mannequin Pussy absolutely slayed when it opened for Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age at the Linc, with the Philly punk band making the most of its biggest ever hometown show. Now, the Marisa Dabice-led group is playing a decidedly smaller space. This show is a benefit for Carolyn Haynes, the group’s former tour manager and a touring member of the band, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. Dark Thoughts, Kulfi Girls, Commitment, and Cult Objects are also on the bill. 6 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St, r5productions.com

Pat Finnerty & the Full Band

Bandleader and entertainer Finnerty, who assembles many leading Philly musicians for shows, will play two sets at this pre-Halloween-themed gig. The first will be Live Band Karaoke; the second will be all songs by the Cars, with prolific local artist Dave Cope filling Ric Ocasek’s shoes. 8 p.m. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com

Richard Thompson

Is there another artist in folk-rock who writes songs and plays guitar at as high a level as Richard Thompson? In a word: No. On Friday, the Fairport Convention cofounder does Free at Noon in support of his new album, Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, in a show that will be a solo affair, with guest vocals from his wife, Zara Phillips. Then he’ll be back with a full band at Elkton Music Hall on Nov. 20 and Lansdowne Theater on Jan. 20. Noon, World Stage, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org

This should be a blast. Florry, the Philly rocking country band fronted by Berwyn-raised songwriter Francie Medosch, is transforming for Halloween weekend into the Florring Stones. (They’re also playing shows in New York and Vermont.) Expect a ribald night of Stones covers displaying Medosch’s deep knowledge of all things Mick and Keith. Get there early to see an ad hoc band of Philly indie musicians play songs by Memphis power pop avatars Big Star. 8 p.m. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com

Vince Staples

Long Beach, Calif., rapper Vince Staples is on top of his game on Cry Baby, a pointedly political, wholly impressive album that takes on racism and injustice in America while blending rock riffage and soulful funk into the mix. 8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 627 N. Seventh St., franklinmusichall.com

Afro-Cuban All Stars

Afro-Cuban All Stars bandleader Juan de Marcos Gonzalez is a vocalist, impresario, and musician whose specialty is the Spanish tres guitar. He has been a key player in the Buena Vista Social Club. This tour continues his ongoing work of bringing Cuban music to the world. 7:30 p.m., Miller Theater, 250 S. Broad St., ensembleartsphilly.org

Youbba Cissoka with De Tierra Caliente

Philly Latin-fusion band De Tierra Caliente will be joined by Senegalese kora player Youbba Cissoka, who is a 72nd-generation griot of his family to master the West African 21-stringed gourd instrument. Polyrhythmic cross-pollination is sure to ensue. 8 p.m., Black Squirrel Club, 1049 Sarah St., blacksquirrelclub.com

Arun Ramamurthy Trio and Rudresh Mahanthappa Hero Trio

This Penn Live Arts show gives equal billing to violinist Ramamurthy’s band, which melds jazz and South Indian Carnatic traditions, and alto saxophonist Mahanthappa’s freewheeling Hero Trio, which features bassist François Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston. 7:30 p.m., Zellerbach Theatre, 3680 Walnut St., pennlivearts.org

Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier writes country-folk songs about characters on the margins of society that are deeply empathetic and free of sentimentality. The Louisiana native will be celebrating 2005’s Mercy Now, which she’ll perform along with her album Reckoning. Jamie Harris, the Waco, Texas, native who is Gauthier’s musical and romantic partner, opens. 8 p.m., Arden Gild Hall, 2126 The Highway, Wilmington, ardenconcerts.com

Built to Spill & Quasi

These Pacific Northwest-born 1990s bands have both had long and fruitful careers. Since 2019, Doug Martsch’s Built to Spill — the original BTS! — has teamed the indie guitar god with drummer Teresa Esgera and bass player Melanie Radford. Sharing top billing is Quasi, the Portland, Ore., duo of former spouses Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, the latter of whom spent two decades drumming in Sleater-Kinney. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusicalhall.com

Making Time Pure Halloween

One month post the annual Making Time ∞ blowout at Fort Mifflin, Dave. P’s mobile dance party is back indoors. The evening features industrial dance duo Boy Harsher, Boston rock band Model/Actriz, and British garage DJ-producer Conducta, plus Marie Davidson, Kassie Krut, and Dave P. himself. 8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 627 N. Seventh St., franklinmusichall.com

Motionless in White

Something scary from Scranton: Gothic metalcore band Motionless in White has built an arena-size audience with dark, disturbing, and danceable tunes that bear the influence of heavy rock and industrial leaning acts like Type O Negative and Nine Inch Nails. A ghastly and ghostly costume party. 8 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St. xfinitymobilearena.com

Ink & Dagger

Philly hard core punk band Ink & Dagger existed from 1995 to 1999, a year before the death of singer Sean Patrick McCabe. Known for vampiric lyrics and fake blood spewing on stage, the band reunited in 2010 and 2011 with singer Geoff Rickly of the band Thursday. Then, they again reunited last year for three Halloween shows at First Unitarian Church. This year, the band, whose albums including Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Though My Philadelphia Heart, have been reissued on Trust Records, is doing a Philly show at the location of its final gig in 1999. Uniform and Danny Death open. 8 p.m., Creese Student Center at Drexel University, 3210 Chestnut St, r5productions.com

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper invented shock rock. Before there was Kiss or Marilyn Manson, the flamboyant showman born Vincent Furnier was goofing around with a guillotine on stage. What better time than Halloween to see the singer who tells the tale of his showbiz life in the memoir Devil on My Shoulder. 8 p.m. Saturday, Tropicana Ballroom, 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, caesars.com/tropicana-ac and 7 p.m., Wind Creek Event Center, 77 Wind Creek Blvd., Bethlehem, windcreekeventcenter.com

After three decades apart, singer-guitarist Corin Tucker and drummer Tracy Sawyer, of influential riot grrrl duo Heavens to Betsy, have reunited for a 10-date tour. The band’s new album, Baby’s Gone, comprises iunreleased recordings from the early 1990s, before Tucker became principal vocalist for powerhouse trio Sleater-Kinney. Calamity Jane opens. 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., r5productions.com