From Dolly to Drake: The hottest summer concerts in the Philly region

More than ever, summer music means "a room without a roof" as Pharrell put it in his "Happy" song of a couple summers ago.

That means amphitheaters and all-day festivals - the latter of which dominate the June-to-September calendar - as well as the South Philly stadiums. Not to mention the streets of our fair city, where Leslie Odom of the Broadway smash Hamilton will host an all-local Wawa Welcome America! concert July 4 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and Made in America will return on Labor Day weekend.

Other worthy events happening in rooms with roofs include: Margaret Glaspy and Adia Victoria in a double bill June 20 of up-and-coming guitarist-songwriters at Johnny Brenda's; British art-rock crooner Bryan Ferry on June 21 at Verizon Hall; Irish songwriting phenom SOAK on June 25 at Boot & Saddle; and reunited jazz-rappers Digable Planets on July 28 at Ardmore Music Hall. - Dan DeLuca

Dolly Parton (Wednesday, Mann Center)
The septuagenarian all-time country great doesn't come through these parts all that frequently, so this date on her Pure & Simple tour feels like a special occasion. Adding to the attraction is that Parton, who released her debut album, Hello, I'm Dolly, in 1967, will perform with a scaled-down quartet, stripping genius songs like "Jolene" of unnecessary gloss, and sampling new tracks from a coming release. (800-745-3000, manncenter.org)

Jason Isbell / Chris Stapleton (Friday, Festival Pier at Penn's Landing)
It's the award-winning leading men of alt-country tour. Ace songsmith Isbell has made a habit of sweeping the Americana Awards, most recently with his sharp 2015 album, Something More Than Free. Stapleton is the bearded Nashville vet whose debut, Traveller, garnered multiple trophies at last year's CMA awards. (800-745-3000, festivalpierphilly.com)

Dixie Chicks (Saturday, BB&T Pavilion in Camden; June 24, Hershey Park Stadium)
The reunited trio of Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire - whose last studio album, Take the Long Way, came out in 2006 - bring their DCX MMXVI tour to the area for a pair of shows. The set by the outspoken country trio mixes greatest hits with covers of Bob Dylan, Lana Del Rey, and, on at least one tour date so far, Beyoncé's "Daddy Issues." (800-745-3000, livenation.com)

Concerts at the Linc
Even without Beyoncé, whose two South Philly shows technically fall outside the season, it's still the busiest concert season ever on the Eagles' home turf, Lincoln Financial Field. No shoes, no shirt, no problem filling a football stadium for country-pop singer Kenny Chesney, who returns for a summer soiree, this time with an impressive undercard of Miranda Lambert, Big & Rich, Sam Hunt, and Old Dominion (June 25). Also on the schedule: Guns N' Roses (July 14; Guns' Axl Rose also sings with AC/DC at the Wells Fargo Center Sept. 20), and Coldplay (Aug. 6). (800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com)

Paul Simon (June 25, Mann Center)
Still credible after all these years. Simon's new album, Stranger to Stranger, is his strongest in 25 years. Plus, that was his voice singing the Simon & Garfunkel tune "America" in those Bernie Sanders ads in heavy rotation before the Pennsylvania and New Jersey primaries. (800-745-3000, manncenter.org)

Hall & Oates / Sharon Jones / Trombone Shorty (July 10, BB&T Pavilion)
An evening of tried-and-true soul, funk, and R&B headlined by the Philadelphia duo whose career has been on an upswing for the last decade. Cancer-battling bandleader Sharon Jones - the subject of Barbara Kopple's coming documentary Miss Sharon Jones! - and her Dap-Kings are practiced show stealers, and New Orleans horn player Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is his generation's leading Crescent City party starter. (800-745-3000, livenation.com)

Paul McCartney (July 12, Citizens Bank Park)
He's a Beatle, for goodness' sake, and the lone surviving one you'd be interested in seeing play 21/2 hours of, as they say in the radio ads, "the greatest songs ever written." Macca's is the second of three classic-rock baseball-stadium headliners this season, with Billy Joel playing July 9 and Bruce Springsteen coming in early September (see below). (800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com)

Bob Dylan / Mavis Staples (July 10, Borgata, Atlantic City; July 13, Mann Center)
Lately, the now three-quarters-of-a-century-old Bob Dylan is only into recording songs also recorded by Frank Sinatra, his whispered and croaked love-song collection Fallen Angels being the latest example. On tour, however, expect him to concentrate on likely-to-be-reworked versions of his own great American songs. Major added bonus: the ageless gospel marvel Mavis Staples, who dated Dylan back in the 1960s. (866-900-4849, theborgata.com; 800-745-3000, manncenter.org)

Atlantic City Beach Concerts
Six beach concerts are expected to happen on the north side of the old Million Dollar Pier. The country-leaning four announced so far include: Toby Keith on July 23, Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band on Aug. 13 (he's also at the BB&T Pavilion on Aug. 27), Zac Brown Band on Sept. 1, and Florida Georgia Line on Sept. 3. Two more announcements, said not to be of the country variety, are on the way. (800-745-3000, livenation.com)

Snoop Dogg / Wiz Khalifa (Aug. 5, BB&T Pavilion)
All they need is Willie Nelson. Hip-hop's best-known marijuana proponents are out together on their inevitably named High Road tour, sponsored by weed concessionaire Merry Jane. (800-745-3000, livenation.com)

Drake and Future (Aug. 21 and Oct. 13, Wells Fargo Center)
Canadian rapper Drake's long-awaited 2016 album, Views, is a drizzly disappointment, but that hasn't slowed his career momentum. That's partly due to What a Time to Be Alive, the mixtape he released in 2015 with Atlanta trap-rap superstar Future. The synergistic duo's Summer 16 tour plays one show this summer, then comes back in the fall. (800-298-4200, wellsfargocenterphilly.com)

Sheila E. / Morris Day & the Time (Aug. 25, the Dell Music Center)
The Prince tribute we've been waiting for. Percussionist-singer Sheila E. and Minneapolis R&B band the Time were deeply connected and indebted to the Purple One, and this will likely turn into a celebratory wake that's all kinds of funky. It's part of a series at the Strawberry Mansion outdoor venue that also includes India.Arie on July 28 and Ledisi on Aug. 11. (215-685-9560, mydelleast.com)

King Britt (Sept. 4, Theatre of Living Arts)
In 1998, Philadelphia DJ-producer King Britt assembled Sylk 130, a one-off project that generated When the Funk Hits the Fan, a concept album about a teenage DJ discovering the joys of soul, funk, and jazz in 1977. Nearly two decades later, Britt will reconvene the talent pool for a showcase of the seamless song cycle. (215-922-1011, venue.tlaphilly.com)

Bruce Springsteen (Sept. 7 and 9, Citizens Bank Park)
The Boss' sold-out show at the Wells Fargo Center this winter was supposed to the only Philadelphia stop on the River Tour, and in some ways it was, because he will not perform that album in its entirety upon his return. Instead, the outdoor shows will draw from The River but will also survey his entire career. (800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com)

Adele (Sept. 9-10, Wells Fargo Center)
At long last, Adele. The pent-up demand has been intense. Adele Atkins did not tour for her 2012 mega-selling, Grammy-grabbing 21, and by the time she meets her people in Philadelphia, 10 additional months will have passed since the release of the beloved British vocalist's even more mega-selling 25. (800-298-4200, wellsfargocenterphilly.com)

See more summer picks from our critics: philly.com/artsguide

ddeluca@phillynews.com
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