🎤 Your summer concert lineup, from pop to classical | Things to Do

It’s a busy time of year. There’s so many great events happening across the region and, if you’re like me, that social calendar is filling up fast! This weekend, I’m heading to the Tony Awards in New York to tag along with the Wilma Theater as they get recognized for being an outstanding regional theater. Plus, I’ll be looking out for Philadelphia son Leslie Odom Jr. (remember the time he told me his cheesesteak order?) as his revival of Purlie Victorious is nominated for six awards. Who are you most excited to see perform or win? Let me know!

Coming up: Check out the best pop and classical concerts coming to Philly this summer, where to celebrate Juneteenth, and restaurant recommendations for Father’s Day.

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

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Wednesday is Juneteenth, commemorating the day that news of the end of slavery reached Galveston, Tex. on June 19, 1865. Now a federal holiday, Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black Americans for decades. Philadelphia is gearing up for festivals, parades, parties, concerts, and more events to mark the historic day and celebrate Black arts and culture. We also have you covered with a list of what will be opened and closed in the region for the holiday.

👨‍🍼 Dine with dad: Father’s Day is on Sunday (did you pick up a card yet?). Take dad out for a great meal at one of these 10 Philly restaurants.

🎸 Your summer concert lineup: Bruce Springsteen, Missy Elliott, Olivia Rodrigo, and so many more killer acts are coming to Philadelphia. We rounded up the must-see pop concerts this season.

🎭 Free and outdoors: The ancient Hindu epic Ramayana is told anew in a fresh production from EgoPo Classic Theater with incredible puppetry from the Papermoon Puppet Theatre of Java and dance from Kalanari Theatre Movement of Bali — all collaborating for this celebration of Indonesian culture. The free outdoor performances (running through June 16) take place under an open-air tent in the Navy Yard, no tickets required. There will also be food and artisans nearby at the Indonesian street festival Rama Fest. Find out more.

📖 Day of Joy(ce): Literature nerds know about Bloomsday, the day on which Irish author James Joyce set his classic novel Ulysses. But did you know that Joyce’s original manuscript lives in Philadelphia? Head to the Rosenbach Museum & Library on Sunday for a Bloomsday Festival with food, live music, a beer garden, and public readings. Best part? You can see the manuscript up close.

🎻 Sound of music: Summertime is perfect for an outdoor classical concert and we’re in luck — there are so many happening in and around Philadelphia. From the Mann Center to Longwood Gardens, here’s our list of the best upcoming classical concerts.

🍹 Cheap dates: Move over, SIPS. Fishtown is bringing back its own summerlong happy hour every Tuesday with discounted drinks and small plates at more than 20 bars in the neighborhood. Welcome to Fishtown Taps.

📅 My calendar picks this week: Bucks Fever Art & Sculpture Exhibition, Art Museum Pride Month Celebration, Latino Arts and Film Festival

This week’s recommendation comes from columnist Elizabeth Wellington, who wrote about Germantown’s Colored Girls Museum, where executive director Vashti DuBois transformed her home into a mecca of artwork celebrating the lives of ordinary Black women. DuBois recently moved, but the museum doors have stayed open; the latest exhibit embraces this transition:

“The Intermission” should be viewed like an intermission in a theater production. The set changes occur in full view of the audience who visit the museum in person and through social media. DuBois enlisted Philadelphia artists to curate three of the rooms. These artists, DuBois says, are community curators and they are important to “The Intermission” because, “they are charged with holding these spaces sacred because the colored girl is no longer here to hold them. They are performing as the museum’s caregivers.”

Ceramic and landscape artist Syd Carpenter curated the garden (my colleague Earl Hopkins is writing a piece about her own garden, keep an eye out for that this weekend) and walkway. Artist, painter, and personal stylist Terrell Maurice’s “Whispers of a Black Boy,” the exhibit in The Colored Boys’ Room, is an homage to Maurice’s late grandmother. Painter, collage artist, and Pennsylvania of Fine Arts MFA grad Jazlyne Sabree is responsible for the design of The Colored Girls Room. Her exhibit, “The Healing Shrine,” speaks to the loss of soul mates, loved ones and their transition to becoming ancestors. Also see the works of Philadelphia-based painters Shanina Dionna, fiber and collage artist Toni Kersey, painter and muralist Martryce Roach; and fiber artist Debra Powell-Wright. Find out more here.

🎥 Like father, like daughter: I had a few minutes to chat with Ishana Night Shyamalan — daughter of horror filmmaking legend M. Night — about her directorial debut, The Watchers (in theaters now). Shyamalan talked about scary bedtime stories she heard as a kid and why she loves the Philly suburbs.

💿 Kick it old school: Whether you’re a Criterion Collection fan or just hate streaming services, there’s a place for you on South Street — a new DVD-rental store called Pop Culture Vulture.

⚾ Phan favorite: North Philly rapper Tierra Whack visited NPR’s Tiny Desk last week and in signature Philly pride fashion, she brought along a local icon: The Phanatic.

🫐 Fresh fruit: If your local farmers market isn’t cutting it, we have a roundup of great farms near Philly where you can pick your own strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and more.

Pop music critic Dan DeLuca breaks down the best shows to see this weekend, plus one recommendation from classical music critic Peter Dobrin:

🎤 Thursday and Friday: Los Lobos seems to like it here. Maybe it’s because the Chicano band from East L.A. has one Philly native member in sax player Steve Berlin, who grew up in Elkins Park and Jenkintown. In any case, the David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas-led group who somehow aren’t trendy to be enshrined in Cleveland are back in the area just two months after they did a show in Collingswood. With country and bluegrass vocalist Jim Lauderdale, they headline the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville tonight, and play Ardmore Music Hall on Friday.

🎤 Friday: Country station WXTU-FM (92.5) celebrates its 40th anniversary with Louisiana songwriter Lainey Wilson who broke out with her 2022 album Bell Bottom Country, and became the first woman to be named CMA Entertainer of the Year since Taylor Swift won it in 2011. She brings her “Country’s Cool Again” tour to Camden’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion.

🎤 Saturday: Fans of Fleetwood Mac and 1970s rock should make it a point to see the Broadway show Stereophonic, with songs by ex-Arcade Fire member Will Butler and two female stars who mirror Stevie Nicks and the late Christine McVie. (It’s up for 13 Tony Awards this Sunday.) And this weekend there’s an opportunity to see Nicks in the flesh. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and as a solo artist, is playing Hershey Park Stadium.

🎤 Tuesday: See the Philadelphia Orchestra’s “Tchaikovsky Spectacular” at the Mann Center. The orchestra opens a six-concert season at the Mann with one of only two core-classical concerts this summer in Fairmount Park. Assistant conductor Austin Chanu leads the ensemble in an all-Tchaikovsky program with the Symphony No. 6 (“Pathétique”), a suite from Swan Lake and the 1812 Overture. Fireworks follow.

🎤 Wednesday: On Juneteenth, 30 artistic works created by this year’s Black Music City grant winners will be performed at World Cafe Live. Along with performances by Karen Moore, Maurice Chestnut, Owen Valentine, and Amari Rebel & the Movement. It’s free, and the event will be streamed at xpn.org.

🎤 Wednesday: There’s a compelling triple bill for Juneteenth at Ardmore Music Hall, with the always free spirited and open minded New Orleans brass band Soul Rebels, plus James Brown veteran Fred Wesley playing with the New J.B.s, and well-traveled jazz musician Marcus Miller. It should be cooking.

A new mural in Washington Square West has received some serious hate from one resident who believes it’s an eyesore and should be removed. Ukranian-born artist Yuliya Semenova created the artwork for Mural Arts Philadelphia on the wall of Tuck Barre & Yoga on 7th Street. While the business and many in the community have been happy to see it, one dissenter has been complaining to Councilmember Mark Squilla. TBH, I’m not sure what would prompt someone to rally against public art, even if they simply didn’t like the piece.

“Who prefers beige walls over murals (and do they also hate puppies)? What did the individual find so offensive about this particular piece (the Philly skyline)? And how can a lone dissenter get a public art installation taken down?” writes my coworker Stephanie Farr. Catch up on what we know here.

Today is my own version of Barbenheimer because the second part of Bridgerton has dropped on the same day as the new season of The Boys. I’m watching both as soon as I can get away from my computer. (Then this weekend comes season two of House of the Dragon!) What are you watching first? Let me know!