Music Picks: James Blake, Bad Religion & Against Me!, Michael McDermott, Kanye West
James Blake
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. $18. 215-928-0770.
Kanye West
In his own humble opinion, Kanye West is making art and music and fashion on an elevated level, way up there on a higher aesthetic plane than his more earthbound competitors. On Tuesday, we'll all have the chance to look up to the rapper-producer Renaissance Man, as the stage for the Saint Pablo tour - from this year's inconsistent, but sometimes brilliant The Life Of Pablo - literally floats above the Wells Fargo Center floor. Careful Kanye, don't fall off! - Dan DeLuca
8 p.m. Tuesday, Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St. $29.50-$199, 215-336-3600.
Bad Religion / Against Me!
A cool, multi-generation punk-rock triple bill, the Vox Populi Tour.
Bad Religion are the Los Angeles stalwarts who have been rocking hard since 1982's How Could Hell Be Any Worse. Singer Greg Graffin is a also a university lecturer with a Ph.D in life science and paleontology - the band has been accused of making "thesaurus rock."
Against Me! are the Gainesville, Fla., band founded in the 1990s by Tom Grabel, now transgender woman Laura Jane Grace. The group just followed 2014's Transgender Dysphoria Blues with the less euphoric Shape Shift With Me.
Dave Hause, of locals the Loved Ones, opens. -Dan DeLuca
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, The Fillmore Philadelphia, 29 E. Allen St. $30, 215-309-0150.
Ladies Sing The Blues / Decades: Ladies Of Jazz
Fans of early jazz and blues, and of the powerful female vocalists who gave the music such expressive voice, are faced with a tough decision this weekend - two shows featuring the spiritual granddaughters of those pioneers.
At the Annenberg Center, "Ladies Sing the Blues" has Brianna Thomas, Charenee Wade, and Catherine Russell performing the songs of blues royalty such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Ethel Waters.
"Decades: Ladies of Jazz" has Philly favorites Rhenda Fearrington, Shakera Jones and Julie Charnet skipping forward a few decades to the 1930s through the '50s to honor jazz legends such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. - Shaun Brady
"Ladies Sing the Blues": 8 p.m. Saturday, Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St. $25 to $55, 215-898-3900.
"Decades: Ladies of Jazz": 7 p.m. Saturday, Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1903 S. Rittenhouse Square. $20.
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