David Byrne, Jeff Tweedy, Billie Eilish, and Stevie Nicks are all headed to Philly for shows

Philly music this week features a three-night stand by David Byrne, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco’s return to town to support his new triple album, a pair of intimate shows by Rufus Wainwright, and a local tribute to Tom Petty to benefit Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Foundation.

Lukas Nelson wasn’t with his father’s Family Band when the Outlaw Music Festival came through Camden last month. That’s because the son of Willie has a new album called American Romance, his first without his backing band the Promise of the Real. Nelson’s tour for that album, which is produced by Shooter Jennings and features Stephen Wilson Jr. on “Disappearing Light,” brings him to Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Madison McFerrin’s new album is Scorpio, a moody set with skittering beats married to her dazzling vocal runs. The daughter of Bobby plays Underground Arts on Wednesday, with Philly dance music vocalist Suzanne Sheer opening.

Frog — the indie trio fronted by Daniel Bateman — has built a following with playful, low-fi songs reminiscent of Daniel Johnston and Ween. On Wednesday, the band plays the First Unitarian Church. Mike Polizze, the Philly guitarist behind Purling Hiss and Birds of Maya, will also play a solo show in support of Around Sound, his ruminative second solo album. Philly noise trio Plusser opens.

Singer-guitarist Margaret Glaspy has just released The Golden Heart Protector, a seven-song EP of covers that includes a version of Lucinda Williams’ “Fruits of My Labor” that Glaspy recorded with husband Julian Lage, and a take on Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” with Norah Jones. She plays MilkBoy on Wednesday.

In times of trouble, David Byrne chooses to be optimistic. That was the idea behind American Utopia, the Talking Heads frontman’s 2018 album that turned into a Broadway show and a Spike Lee-directed film.

The concept continues with Who Is the Sky?, Byrne’s cheerfully upbeat new album, which will bring him to the Met for three consecutive nights starting Thursday.

Along with new music, Byrne’s current show contains nine Talking Heads songs, and inventive visual presentation. Byrne will be accompanied by the Ghost Train Orchestra — with everybody wearing matching blue jumpsuits — and all musicians playing wireless instruments, allowing a freedom of movement akin to a madcap marching band. Early reviews have been effusive.

“Room at the Top: An Evening Celebrating the Music of Tom Petty” happens Friday at Union Transfer with the Philadelphia Tom Petty Appreciation Band being joined by guests including Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz, Dave Hill, Perry Shall, Eric Bazilian of the Hooters, and Eliza Hardy Jones of the War on Drugs, among others.

All proceeds from the “Room at the Top” show go to ex-Eagle Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Foundation and its ongoing mission of revitalizing public spaces in Philadelphia. And speaking of Petty, kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson for the perfect place of a TP song in a key scene in One Battle After Another. No spoilers!

» READ MORE: Dr. Dog, the Wonder Years, and all the other acts to see at Philly Music Fest

The Philly Music Fest is ongoing this week, with shows at city and suburban venues. On Friday, two acts with PMF gigs join forces for a Free at Noon at World Cafe Live. Archawah, the pop-rock singer Chris Archibald, who is the leader of Bucks County band Illinois, is performing along with Kulfi Girls, who play Saturday at Underground Arts with the Wonder Years. Archawah is also playing Underground Arts on Wednesday.

It’s been nine years since the death of Smithereens singer and songwriter Pat DiNizio. In the years since, the New Jersey band has carried on with various lead singers subbing in for DiNizio. At Ardmore Music Hall on Friday, John Cowsill of the Cowsills will do the honors.

Modesto, Calif., indie Jason Lytle-led band Grandaddy has discovered country, particularly 3/4 waltz time, its tempo of choice on Blu Wav, the outfit’s swoony 2024 album. The band is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Sophtware Slump on the final date of a tour that plays Union Transfer on Saturday.

Stevie Nicks plays Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, and only member of Fleetwood Mac to have sung a Christmas duet with Jason Kelce on a Philly Specials holiday album. Nicks is also in the news because Buckingham Nicks, the album she made in 1973 with Lindsey Buckingham before the duo joined Fleetwood Mac, has been reissued after being unavailable for decades.

When Wilco played the Met Philly this summer, Jeff Tweedy noted that “of all the cities in the world, this is the city that complains the most that we don’t come here.” Now, a mere two months later, Tweedy is back, though sans the rest of Wilco.

Instead, he’s on a tour in support of his new 30-song solo album, Twilight Override, a generous-spirited, relaxed set of songs that are often refreshingly playful, such as “Out in the Dark” and “Lou Reed Was My Babysitter.” It’s a Tweedy solo show at Union Transfer on Monday, but he has a band, which includes sons Spencer and Sammy and opener Simi Cunningham.

Rufus Wainwright is doing two solo shows at City Winery Philadelphia on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Among his many other projects is a stage musical version of John Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night and his 2025 album Dream Requiem, which fuses Verdi and Lord Byron. To top it all, Wainwright has just announced I’m A Stranger Here Myself: Wainwright Does Weill, a tribute to Kurt Weill, with the Pacific Jazz Orchestra.

Acclaimed indie-folk band Big Thief — now a three-piece unit led by singer-songwriter Adrianne Lenker, along with guitarist Buck Meek and drummer James Krivchenia — released its first album in three years, Double Infinity, in September. Despite the title, it’s a modest nine-song collection that unlike the band’s previous release, Dragon Warm Mountain / Believe in You, is not a double album. The trio plays the Met Philly on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

The next night, Billie Eilish makes a return appearance on her “Happier Than Ever — The World Tour," which initially played Philly in Oct. 2024. Back then she played the Wells Fargo Center, now it’s the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

And that’s where Laufey will be the following night. The woman who has made it cool for teens to love jazz — the Norah Jones of the TikTok generation — brings her “A Matter of Time” tour to South Philly on Oct. 25.