1 week Ago
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where we look at shows coming to the region over the next week. As always, whether your musical tastes are rock ’n’ roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there will always be something to check out. Here are seven of the best on the docket for the week of Oct.
18: Homeshake — Friday 18 at Underground Arts Homeshake, the long-running solo project of Toronto-based musician Peter Sagar, comes to town just as the expanded edition of his most recent album, “Horsie,” is about to be released. The third album from Sagar this year, “Horsie (Deluxe)” features melodic guitars over saturated drums, woozy vocals, treading indie, beats and jazz influences. Written and recorded at his home studio in Toronto, “Horsie” explored Sagar’s complicated feelings about returning to live performance and, deepening his relationship with loneliness and anxiety, the record examines those themes in the context of touring.
The expanded edition is out Nov. 8 and comes with six new songs. Ginger Root — Friday at Union Transfer Since his 2017 release of what he calls “aggressive elevator soul,” multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and visual artist Cameron Lew has been making handmade yet immaculately polished synth-pop, alt-disco, boogie and soul.
Through his unique lens as an Asian-American growing up enamored by 1970s and ’80s music, specifically the creative and cultural dialogue between Japanese city pop and its Western counterparts from French pop to Philly soul to “Ram”-era McCartney, Lew put together his long-awaited third LP, “SHINBANGUMI.” On it, he spins his retro-minded influences and brings them into the present, synthesizing a songwriter’s wit, an editor’s eye and a producer’s resource into something singular and modern. Stephen Sanchez — Saturday at The Met At just 21 years old, singer/songwriter/guitarist Stephen Sanchez has moved to the forefront of popular culture with a sound that’s as timeless as it is necessary for the times we’re living in these days.
It’s easy to sway into the embrace of his breezy baritone stylings, warm guitar sounds and undeniable charisma, but his music is also an eternal bright spot illuminated by a belief that the kind of romance and love we used to see on the silver screen is still possible. It’s working well thus far, as Sanchez has already enchanted audiences everywhere. His breakout single, “Until I Found You,” went triple Platinum, vaulted into the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100 and generated over two billion streams powered by the original, piano version and duet pop singer/songwriter Em Beihold.
Young Posse — Sunday at Temple Performing Arts Center K-pop’s Young Posse bring their first American tour to North Broad Street. Since making their debut in October 2023, the collective is the only girl group in the genre that performs full hip-hop music with all five members writing their own lyrics. All that talent will be on full display at Temple Performing Arts Center, with a show that comes just a few months since August when the quintet boldly declared their ambition to dominate the K-pop scene with the release of their third EP, “Ate That,” which made its debut at No.
1 on the iTunes K-Pop album chart. Live, fans will get to experience the group uniquely reinterpreting the sounds and dance styles from the golden era of ’90s American hip-hop. Duran Duran — Monday at PPL Center and Oct.
26 at the Borgata Event Center As they prep for what’s become a highly anticipated annual tradition, “The Danse Macabre Halloween Party,” taking place this year at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 31, Duran Duran is doing a limited run of East Coast dates in the lead-up. Luckily, two of them happen to be regional.
The ’80s new wave legends will be playing in Allentown at the PPL Center on Monday and then next Saturday at the Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City. Along with every ticket purchased, fans will receive a digital copy of the band’s 16th studio album, last year’s “Danse Macabre,” repackaged with unreleased extras. Among those additions is a very timely for the season cover of ELO’s “Evil Woman,” which came out as a single last week.
MJ Lenderman & The Wind — next Thursday at Union Transfer MJ Lenderman has had a whirlwind several months surrounding the release of his new album, “Manning Fireworks,” which has quickly become one of the year’s most revered albums. A few weeks ago, Lenderman and his band, The Wind, made their late-night television debut on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and they are underway on his sold-out fall North American tour, including a date at Union Transfer. The demand for the indie singer/songwriter is so high that he’s already had to map out a spring 2025 run, which will make two area stops: May 14 at XL Live in Harrisburg and May 17 at Franklin Music Hall.
So, if you don’t want to battle for secondary market tickets to next week’s show, pick one of those up while they’re still available. Imogen Clark — next Thursday at City Winery Main Stage If you’re headed to Robyn Hitchcock’s show at World Café Live next Thursday, be sure to arrive in time to see opener Imogen Clark. The Australian singer/songwriter is more than just an artist; she’s a storyteller, a fighter and a dreamer.
Recorded between Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Melbourne and Nashville, Tenn., her latest LP, “The Art of Getting Through,” is the most ambitious artistic statement yet. It’s an album about shouldering the weight of life’s baggage and powering forward, escaping her small town, wanting to be that big love for someone, and dealing with a nasty breakup.
• Homeshake: “Nothing 2 See” • Ginger Root: “No Problems” • Stephen Sanchez: “Until I Found You” • Young Posse: “Ate That” • Duran Duran: “Evil Woman” • MJ Lenderman: “Wristwatch” • Imogen Clark: “Ruin My Life”.
