Philly music this week headlined by the Menzingers and Mountain Goats at Manayunk’s Sing Us Home fest

This week in Philly music brings the unofficial opening of the outdoor concert season with Dave Hause’s Sing Us Home fest in Manayunk (yes, Jon Stewart will be playing drums on Sunday), plus the Fishtown Music & Arts fest, Cold Court at Philly Style Pizza, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore in Ardmore, Mika at the Fillmore, and Rhiannon Giddens on the Avenue of the Arts.

Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore are both remarkable songwriters with long careers blending country, rock, and folk. Each are associated with a signature band — Gilmore, the Flatlanders; Alvin, the Blasters. They didn’t start collaborating until 2018’s Down to Lubbock, followed by TexiCali in 2024. This show is likely to be in part a tribute to Gilmore’s Flatlanders bandmate Joe Ely, who died in December, and it has added juice with opener Lenny Kaye, whose first solo album, Goin’ Local, is due in July. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

Philly sibling band Cold Court — the duo of Jojo Lavina-Maldonado and Mini Serrano — whips up a delectable electronic-organic noise on “Burn,” their new single from their debut EP, ^_^ (aka Hands Up), which is due in June. They top an all-ages triple bill with Trusselina and My Magdalena. 8 p.m., Philly Style Pizza, 2020 N. Broad St., 4333collective.com.

Among alt-rock bands of 1990s, Afghan Whigs was the soulful one, with singer Greg Dulli pouring his heart into albums like 1993’s Gentlemen. The Whigs is on tour marking 40 years in business with experimental rockers Mercury Rev, who made a Bobby Gentry tribute in 2019 and released Born Horses in 2024. Mercury Rev plays Free at Noon, and then opens for the Whigs that evening. Noon, World Stage, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org. and 8 p.m. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

The outdoor music season in Philly gets going with Sing Us Home, the festival that Roxborough-raised rocker Dave Hause founded with his brother Tim and now in its fourth year.

The action at Venice Island gets started Friday night with the Hause Family Campfire, an all-hands-on-stage guitar pull that will feature Dave Hause, Ted Leo, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Will Hoge. Lancaster folk-punks Apes of the State and Philly songwriter Moustapha Noumbissi also perform.

On Saturday, headliners are Scranton-born pop punkers the Menzingers, who have just announced a new album, Everything I Ever Saw, due in July. Dave Hause & the Mermaid, Canadian punks the Flatliners, Emily Wolf, Tim Hause and the Pre-Existing Conditions, and Laney Lebo will also be on stage. Big Boy Brass will roam the grounds, as they will on Sunday.

Sunday’s headliners are the Mountain Goats, the trio led by super prolific and erudite songwriter and novelist John Darnielle that also includes multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas and Harleysville’s own drummer Jon Wurster.

Dave Hause & the Mermaid plays again on Sunday, as do Augustines. It’s also the day for the Sing Us Home celebrity drummer casting. Rock fan and political funnyman Jon Stewart sits on the throne for Church and State™. 5:30 p.m. Friday and 12:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Venice Island, 7 Lock St., singushomefestival.com

This fest happens under the El on Saturday, with bands including Grimace Federation, Cadre Noir, and Friends of Jerry. The bill also includes DJs such as Jewelsea and Inspect3r. 1 p.m., Front and Palmer Streets, theticketing.co/e/fmaf2026

Philly singer-songwriter — and former opera singer — Dan May is celebrating 20 years of music making. May’s new Two Decades of Dan May collects songs from seven albums, starting with 2005’s Once Was Red. He’ll be backed by a band including Chico Huff, Erik Johnson, and Anthony Newett. 8 p.m., The Fallser Club, 3721 Midvale Ave., thefallserclub.org

Gaslight Anthem founder Brian Fallon’s heartfelt Central Jersey rock fits right in with the Sing Us Home aesthetic, but he’s not playing the festival. Instead, he’s headlining the after-party. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

Colleen is French ambient music maker Cécile Schott, a producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist with a recording career that stretches back to 2003’s truth-in-titling Everyone Alive Wants Answers. Her newest is Libres Antes Del Final, which translates to English as “Free Before the End.” Dave P. and Manna open. 8 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com

Born in Lebanon and raised in Paris and London, Mika scored his biggest hit in 2007 with a song about an actress (and princess) from Philadelphia: “Grace Kelly.” The pianist and singer with a glam sensibility who’s often compared to Freddy Mercury is on tour for his new Hyperlove. 8 p.m., Fillmore Philly, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com

Rhiannon Giddens won two Grammys, a MacArthur genius grant, and a Pulitzer Prize. The Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters cofounder played banjo on Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.” This week, she launched the Biscuits & Banjo Foundation, “celebrating the African diaspora’s role in creating American identity.” 7:30 p.m., Miller Theater, 250 S. Broad St., ensembleartsphilly.org

Steve Wynn keeps a lot of irons in the fire, touring regularly in the U.S. and Europe with his 1980s Paisley Underground psych rock band the Dream Syndicate as well as the all-star Baseball Project. And when he’s not playing with those bands, he’s going solo. That’s what he will be doing in the intimate confines of this Brewerytown house concert series, which hosted a wondrous Mini Mekons show in December. 8 p.m., Near the Girard Ave. and 31st Street Light Rail Station, stevewynn.net

Fear of Heights is director Rich Murray’s film about the late Philadelphia songwriter Alan Mann, once a much-loved staple of the South Street music scene. It’s framed by the intriguing story behind Mann’s 1983 holiday song “Christmas on the Block,” a perennial Philly favorite of the late Pierre Robert, among other Mann-ophiles. Murray’s film is opening the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. 7:45 p.m., Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 Rittenhouse Square, pifffilms.tv