The 15 best Philly holiday pop concerts this month

The holiday concert season in Philly is in full swing, with touring acts and local musicians capping off the year with plenty fa la la la la from now until Christmas Day.

This list of recommended shows includes pop, rock, R&B, country, hip-hop, EDM, gospel, and jazz, all in the end-of-the-year business of spreading musical holiday cheer.

Glee and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actor and comedian Jane Lynch put out an album called A Swingin’ Little Christmas in 2016, and she tours regularly in the holiday season. She sings along with The Office’s Kate Flannery and Glee vocal arranger Tim Davis with a 1950s and ‘60s Frank Sinatra-Andy Williams style Christmas repertoire. 8 p.m., keswicktheatre.com.

This offbeat music and comedy holiday duo teams up top shelf songwriter Mann, who released the excellent melancholy holiday album, One More Drifter in the Snow in 2006, and punk rock veteran Leo. They have a history of performing and recording together as the Both, and will be joined by Philly-born comic Paul F. Tompkins and utterly charming cabaret singer Nellie McKay. 8 p.m., citywinery.com/philadelphia

Veteran country singer LeAnn Rimes — who released her first album in 1991, when she was 9 — is on a Greatest Hits Christmas Tour. That means she’ll be singing Christmas songs from her multiple holiday albums, plus her biggest hits. 8 p.m., keswicktheatre.com.

Philly songwriter Don McCloskey is known for his 2008 Phillies fight song “Unstoppable,” his association with the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crew, and most recent album The Chaos and the Beauty. He and his eight-piece band — including singers Hannah Taylor and Sarah Biemuller — throw their annual “Holiday Office Party” in Fishtown. 8 p.m., BrooklyBowl.com/philadelphia

Work Drugs, the smooth, soft rockers who self-identify as “Philadelphia’s premier bat mitzvah and quinceañera party band,” is throwing its 14th annual Holiday Spectacle, and has just released a cover of Alexander O’Neal’s ”Our First Christmas." They’ll be joined by opener Nero Catalano for a free show at Double Nickel Brewing Company in Pennsauken. 8 p.m., dnbcbeer.com

In 2022, Philly jazz vocalist V. Shayne Frederick released The King Suite, an album of songs associated with Nat “King” Cole filtered through the African musical diaspora. Cole sang the definitive version of Mel Torme’s classic “The Christmas Song,” so expect Frederick to have his way with it when he plays two “A Very V. Shayne Frederick Holiday” shows each night on Dec. 6 and 7. Times vary, SouthJazz Kitchen.com

The Center City club will deck the halls all December long.

On Dec. 6, the Tim Brey Trio celebrate the 10th anniversary of the pianist’s holiday release Unwrap. Dec. 9, 16, and 23 are Holiday Soul nights with trumpeter Josh Lawrence & Friends. On Dec. 17, it’s the Peter Frank Orchestra’s Holiday Show. Dec. 18, the Laura Orzehoski Quartet plays Vince Guaraldi Christmas Classics.

The next night, it’s the Benny Benack Quintet Holiday Show featuring Michael “Sonny Step” Stephenson. The Anais Reno Quintet’s “White Christmas” Holiday show is Dec. 20, and Bruce Klauber Swings the Sinatra Christmas Songbook on Dec. 24. Times vary, ChrisJazzCafe.com.

Virtuoso banjoist Bela Fleck and bandmates Howard Levy, Roy “Future Man” Wooten, and Victor Wooten recorded the reimagined holiday songs album Jingle All the Way in 2008. They’ve reunited for this tour, which will draw from their nonseasonal catalog as well. The quartet will be joined by both saxophonist Jeff Coffin and Tuvan throat singing ensemble Alash, so expect Christmas music unlike any you’ve heard before. 8 p.m., EnsembleArtsPhilly.org.

Have yourself a very EDM Xmas at this Fishtown dance party, which promises holiday hits, “2000s and 2010s” remixes and dubstep, techno and dance grooves, courtesy of DJ Pad Chennington. 8 p.m., broooklynbowl.com/philadelphia

This annual holiday season pop star cavalcade is presented by radio station WIOQ (102.1-FM), better known as Q102. This year, it includes pop-rock sibling band AJR, Icelandic jazz singer Laufey, YouTuber turned “Ordinary” international hitmaker Alex Warren, and Texas country rapper BigXthaPlug, among others. 7:30 p.m., XfinityMobileArena.com

In 2024, piano man Ben Folds released his first Christmas album, Sleigher, mixing chestnuts with new songs, including the gem “Christmas Time Rhyme.” His solo tour will being him to Philly for three Tis The Season shows this month. 7:30 p.m., citywinery.com/philadelphia.

Darlene Love was dubbed “the Christmas Queen” long before Mariah Carey had any claim to the throne. She sang three songs on Phil Spector’s classic 1963 A Christmas Gift For You, including the unstoppable “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” which she performed annually for 28 years on David Letterman’s late night TV show before moving to The View on 2015. She brings her Love For the Holidays tour to Glenside this year. 8 p.m., keswicktheatre.com

Beyoncé, Alison Krauss, and Aretha Franklin are the only women with more Grammys than CeCe Winans, who’s tied with Alicia Keys with 17. The daughter of Detroit’s first family of gospel released her second Christmas album, Joyful Joyful in 2024, and the powerhouse vocalist is headed to North Broad Street on her “Christmas with CeCe Winans” tour, accompanied by sisters Angie and Debbie Winans. 8 p.m., themetphilly.com

Indie rock quintet the Tisburys, whose 2025 album A Still Life Revisited is one of the standout Philly releases of the year, will be playing holiday songs atop a ‘Tis the Season triple bill. The band will be joined by Stella Ruze and Nervous Nikki & the Chill Pills. 8 p.m., st94.com.

The musically adventurous klezmer band, the Klezmatics, has won a Grammy for a Woody Guthrie tribute album and has recorded with violinist Itzhak Perlman. Known for lyrics that comment on world affairs, the band’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah Tour — “a celebration of light in dark times” — arrives one day after the holiday ends. 7:30 p.m., citywinery.com/philadelphia.