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 May 30:
The Fractals — Friday at 118 North
Local alt/indie rock powerhouse The Fractals celebrate their new EP, “Rescue,” on the day of its release at 118 North. The four songs on the collection explore the overarching desire to make it through an international governmental apocalypse in 2025. Three of the four Fractals — Jim Stager, Kevin Hanson, and Erik Johnson — were original members of Philly favorites Huffamoose, and 32 years into their journey together finds them at a creative apex, skillfully intermingling harmonies, rhythms, and slinky grooves of classic R&B, all delivered with the confidence and aplomb of seasoned studio musicians.
Vampire Weekend — Friday and Saturday at The Met
Following a triumphant 2024 tour, which included a ridiculously fun show at The Mann in late September, Vampire Weekend return to global stages this year and come back to Philly with two shows at The Met. It also happens to be the only city where they’re doing two dates so far on this run. Since the release last spring of their acclaimed received fifth studio album, “Only God Was Above Us,” the NYC indie rockers launched a live run under an eclipsed sky in Austin — hailed by Variety as one of the “Best Concerts of 2024” — graced stages everywhere from a surprise set at Coachella, a sold out Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks, as well as amphitheater and arena stops across the country.
Tennis — Saturday at Franklin Music Hall
Last month, Tennis released their seventh album, “Face Down in the Garden,” the eagerly awaited follow-up to 2023’s critically celebrated LP “Pollen,” which was filled with offsetting melodies and unusual arrangements. The new album sees the indie pop duo returning with music that both feels familiar and also resists convention. Songs like “Weight of Desire,” “At the Wedding,” and “Sister” highlight Tennis’s ever-expanding range as writers and producers, evolving beyond their girl-group roots into what is easily their most fully realized effort to date.
Sleigh Bells — Tuesday at Union Transfer
Sleigh Bells are an era-defining, sonic boom of energy, and — most importantly — best friends. The duo, made up of Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, are in constant communication with each other; even when they’re not actively recording music, they’re sending tracks back and forth. That’s how their new LP, and seventh overall, “Bunky Becky Birthday Boy,” came to be. The record blasts into the room with razor-sharp guitars, ultra-sticky pop choruses, floor-shaking rhythms, and indelible chants, proving that over nearly two decades, ever since July 2008 when Miller asked Krauss if she’d consider starting a band with him, Sleigh Bells has been a bedrock and a creative guiding force for both artists both onstage and off.
Dope Lemon — Tuesday at Brooklyn Bowl
Dope Lemon, the moniker of acclaimed Australian artist Angus Stone, has cultivated a reputation for pairing dreamy, laid-back grooves with deeply introspective lyricism. Along the way, he’s headlined sold-out tours across North America, Australia, and Europe — including appearances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits — and joined Post Malone on the Australian leg of his 2023 arena tour. Back for another round of headline shows from coast to coast, Stone is supporting his just-released record “Golden Wolf,” which blends introspection with expansive sonic landscapes, fusing indie rock and psychedelic soul to reveal some of the most honest and vulnerable Dope Lemon material yet. The LP invites listeners to contemplate the choices they’ve made, the paths they’ve left behind, and those that lie ahead, peeling back layers of memory and imagination, while crafting a rich and evocative listening experience.
Bloc Party — Wednesday at The Met
Two decades, six albums, multiple world tours, and a variety of solo projects under their belt, the vital force that is Bloc Party comes to town in celebration of their beloved debut record, “Silent Alarm.” The show is primed to be incredibly special as the group will perform their greatest hits with an emphasis on the 20-year-old record that broke them, defied genres, and remains as integral to the cultural zeitgeist as it did when it came out. Last year, “This Modern Love” from “Silent Alarm” was notably featured in Emerald Fennell’s film “Saltburn,” starring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan, drawing in a new generation of listeners. Meanwhile, the tracks “Banquet,” “Positive Tension,” “Like Eating Glass,” and pretty much the rest of the LP are just as revered now as the early aughts.
Lights — Wednesday at World Café Live
Lights is many things all at once: Singer. Songwriter. Producer. Multi-instrumentalist. Comic book author. DJ. Artist. She’s also unabashedly honest and unapologetically confident. Weaving in and out of alternative, indie, electronic, and dance, she makes manic pop irreverent of boundaries, yet reverent of truth. She speaks her heart musically and her mind lyrically. It’s why her shadow over alternative music and culture continues to grow with streams in the hundreds of millions, widespread critical acclaim, and sold-out tours on multiple continents. Seeing her live just adds to the package, with a show at World Café Live the perfect venue to become indoctrinated into the brilliance of Lights.
Soundcheck
• The Fractals: “Bullseye”
• Vampire Weekend: “A-Punk”
• Tennis: “At the Wedding”
• Sleigh Bells: “This Summer”
• Dope Lemon: “Electric Green Lambo”
• Bloc Party: “Banquet”
• Lights: “Clingy”
