Philly music with Katy Perry, Avett Brothers, Chris Brown, Black Keys, Zach Top, and more

This week in Philly music features the Black Keys and Avett Brothers in Atlantic City, Chris Brown and Katy Perry in South Philly, country and metal nights in Camden, old school R&B and hip-hop at the Mann Center, and a free Philly show on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

On Thursday, veteran country star Dierks Bentley — his hits include “Drunk On A Plane” and “Beers On Me” — headlines the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden.

The intriguing action is on the undercard, however. Zach Top, the Washington state country singer’s neo-traditionalist sound draws from 1980s and 1990s hitmakers like George Strait and Alan Jackson. His music also comprises drinking songs, but with more wit and charm, as seen on his 2024 debut, Cold Beer and Country Music. His sophomore release, Ain’t in It for My Health is due Aug. 29. Georgia country-folk couple the Band Loula opens.

Also Thursday, Jacob Collier, the pop, jazz, and classical conversant British polymath plays with the Philly Pops — and his mother, Suzie, conducting — at the Mann Center. Philly songwriter and bandleader Chioke rocks Johnny Brenda’s and Denver Demi Dimitro-fronted trio the Velveteers, whose new A Million Knives is out on Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label, plays MilkBoy.

Finom, the Chicago duo of Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham, recorded its folk-pop album Not God with producer Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Its opener at PhilaMOCA on Thursday is Golden Apples, the Philly band led by Russell Edling, whose Shooting Star is due out Sept. 19 on Philly’s Lame-O Records.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy — the stage name of musician and actor Will Oldham — put out an excellent recorded-in-Nashville country-flavored album called The Purple Bird this year on Philly’s No Quarter label. On Thursday, Oldham plays the first-ever show indie promoter R5 Productions have put on at the Penn Museum.

Lisa Lisa — born Lisa Velez — is without her original band Cult Jam on the 40th anniversary tour that plays the Mann on Friday. But while she celebrates four decades of hits like “I Wonder If I Take You Home” and “All Cried Out,” she’ll be joined by eight other acts, including Exposé, Color Me Badd, the Jets, Montell Jordan, Sugar Hill Gang, Tag Team, J.J. Fad, and Candyman.

Also Friday, Row House Rock Concert Series is putting on “An Evening with Ramblin’ Deano!," with Dean Schlabowske, the songwriter who teams with Jon Langford in the Waco Brothers, and whose many projects include the raucous Dollar Store and honky-tonk and bluegrass duo Deano & Jo.

Grammy-winning York County hard-rock quartet Halestorm — fronted by singer Lzzy Hale — is celebrating the release of its sixth album, Everest, produced by Dave Cobb with a show displaying Hale’s paintings and photos by guitarist Joe Hottinger.

It’s a 5 p.m. First Friday event at the Old City Jewish Art Center, with Sara Parker of WMMR (93.3-FM) interviewing the band at 6. And then on Saturday, Halestorm opens for Danish metal band Volbeat at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion.

This big weekend for music in Atlantic City starts on Friday with former Van Halen singer — and natural born vaudevillian — David Lee Roth at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena on Friday. Low Cut Connie plays that same night at the smaller Sound Waves on the same casino property.

On Saturday, you’ll have to choose between the Avett Brothers, who recently conquered Broadway with their Swept Away musical, and are also at the Etess Arena, and the Black Keys, who play the Borgata Event Center. For an after-party option, Gordo spins at HQ2 at Ocean Resort.

Back in Philly on Friday, country singer Cody Jinks bring his “The Hippies & Cowboys Tour” to the Met. And hip-hop duo Little Brother, featuring Questlove Supreme cohost Phonte Coleman and his brother Big Pooh, is at Brooklyn Bowl. The two-day This is Hardcore Fest gets underway at Underground Arts and Squawk Brothers, Lev, and the Bret Tobias Set play Johnny Brenda’s.

Jason Wilber and Dave Jacques, longtime band members with the late John Prine, bring “It’s a Big Old Goofy Evening of John Prine Songs and Souvenirs” to Ardmore Music Hall, while smooth harmonizers Darlingside sing at Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts. Speeding Arrow, Lazy Villains, and Handsome Jack play 118 North in Wayne.

Made in America is not happening for the third Labor Day weekend in a row. But on Saturday, there will be a free festival in front of the Art Museum when Hip-Hop in the Park takes over the Oval at Eakins Oval. The DJ lineup is serious with Rich Medina, Cosmo Baker, DJ JS1, Craig G, and Sat-One. Rappers include Last Emperor, Truck North, and Reef the Lost Cause.

The Ardmore Rock N’ Ride returns this weekend with 10 acts playing on two stages while bicyclists pedal through a Lancaster Avenue-Suburban Square loop. Bands include the Record Company, Nicole Atkins, Suzanne Sheer, and Nik Greeley & the Operators.

Katy Perry brings her “The Lifetimes Tour” to South Philly on Saturday. The former American Idol host, recent space traveler, and rumored Justin Trudeau-dater is touring behind her critically ravaged 143 album. The early shows of the tour, which casts Perry as a half-human, half-machine battling an AI archvillain, have been similarly panned.

Have reviewers been needlessly nasty? See for yourself in what will be the last-ever concert at the Wells Fargo Center. It becomes the Xfinity Mobile Center on Aug. 14.

Also Saturday, the Outlaw Music Festival plays HersheyPark Stadium, five weeks before coming to Camden. The Chocolatetown lineup incudes Willie Nelson & Family, Bob Dylan, the Turnpike Troubadours, Red Clay Strays, and Waylon Payne.

Chris Brown plays Citizens Bank Park on Sunday in a show moved from Aug. 16.

Brown has had legal troubles dating back to his 2009 arrest for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to charges in an alleged London nightclub attack in 2023. But over all those years, his hits have kept coming, and Breezy Bowl XX will mark 20 years in showbiz. Opening acts at CBP are Summer Walker and Bryson Tiller.