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 Sept. 5.
Spacey Jane — Friday at The Fillmore
Australian indie-rock act Spacey Jane has brought their lauded live show back to the States in support of a new LP, “If That Makes Sense,” which came out in May. The record sees the band exploring new facets of their sound and diving deeper into themes of falling in and out of love, overcoming trauma and learning to pick up the pieces. The band became a hometown sensation after the release of 2020’s “Sunlight,” topping Triple J’s annual album poll with breakout single “Booster Seat” and earning the ARIA for Song of the Year.
Crypta — Saturday at Underground Arts
Brazilian death metal outfit Crypta is also back on American shores, having released their sophomore record, “Shades of Sorrow,” back in 2023. Impressively, the album debuted at No. 5 on the U.S. Top New Artist Albums Chart, No. 7 on the Current Hard Music Albums Chart and No. 4 on the Canadian Hard Music Albums Chart, while also landing on the charts in Germany, Switzerland and more. Buoyed by millions of video views, performances at the famous Wacken Open Air among other metal festivals and recent supporting spots opening Hatebreed’s 30th anniversary tour in North America and supporting Ghost in Brazil — with Ghost leader Tobias Forge dubbing them his “favorite new metal band” — they show no signs of slowing down, leaving a trail of slacked jaws in their wake.
Falling in Reverse — Saturday at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion and Sunday at Hersheypark Stadium
Falling in Reverse are in the midst of a massive North American headline tour dubbed the “God Is a Weapon Tour,” stopping in the region for two dates. The first is Saturday in Camden, N.J., and then the next evening in Hershey. Openers for the shows are Slaughter to Prevail, Hollywood Undead and Sleep Theory. Falling in Reverse’s 2024 LP “Popular Monster” has accumulated 3.1 billion streams to date and is nearly platinum. The album from the metalcore unit includes the hit title track along with “Watch the World Burn” and “All My Life,” the latter featuring Jelly Roll, which was the No. 1 single at active rock radio for five weeks.
Stella Cole — Sunday at City Winery — Main Stage
Looking at the career of Stella Cole, whose third release, “It’s Magic,” was just released last month, one might perceive a kind of disconnect, as none of the great artists whose legacy she honors — like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole or Rosemary Clooney — would know what it meant to go viral. Yet that’s exactly how Stella Cole first got noticed by the music industry and, more importantly, by the larger world beyond; by performing her own interpretations of classic American popular standards and using the internet to share them. A closer look reveals that these iconic artists were no less eager to embrace new media, be it long-playing recordings, television, stereophonic sound — all new technologies in the 1940s and ’50s. The idea of bringing classic American songs to new platforms didn’t begin with Cole, but she’s accomplished it more successfully than virtually any other artist working today. Note that she’ll be doing two shows at City Winery, at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Sparks — Monday at The Keswick Theatre
Very few artists have had as much influence on decades of popular music as Sparks, the duo made up of brothers Ron and Russel Mael. In the spring, they released their 28th studio album, “MAD!” via Transgressive Records. Over a five-decade-plus career, the pair have moved from the glam-rock of 1974’s hit record “Kimono My House,” to the Giorgio Moroder-produced electronic disco of 1979’s “No.1 In Heaven,” to the sampler opera of 2002’s “Lil’ Beethoven.” Most acts, by the time they’ve been making music together across seven different decades, would have slowed to a crawl, creakily playing the oldies on the heritage circuit and releasing nothing more modern than the occasional greatest hits collection. It’s obvious, however, that Sparks aren’t most acts.
The Pogues — Monday at Franklin Music Hall
Following the death of enigmatic frontman Shane MacGowan in 2023, it appeared as if we’d heard the last from Celtic punkers The Pogues. But late last year, founding member Spider Stacy reformed the group as a tribute to the band for the 40th anniversary of their album “Red Roses for Me.” It proved to be so successful that the group decided to carry on, and this year come to North America for the 40th anniversary of the record “Rum Sodomy & the Lash.” The 1985 release was a cornerstone of punk and alternative rock, renowned for its raw energy, poetic lyrics and infectious melodies. The band is set to play the legendary album in full, including B-sides, extended version tracks, plus a special selection of their most beloved material.
Pulp — Tuesday at The Met
It’s been a big year for Britpop icons Pulp, as they returned with their first album in almost a quarter-century, “More,” in June. After such a long wait, there’s an almost-expected letdown, but not in the case of Jarvis Cover and Co., who have received near-universal acclaim across the board for the LP. Like many of the genre’s artists, especially here in the States, most mainstream music fans are only peripherally aware of Pulp, mainly from the 1995 hit single “Common People.” But some swear that when it came to the “Battle of Britpop” between Oasis and Blur in the mid-’90s, Pulp was the unheralded wild card and the real winner.
Soundcheck
• Spacey Jane: “Booster Seat”
• Crypta: “Dark Clouds”
• Falling in Reverse: “Watch the World Burn”
• Stella Cole: “It’s Magic”
• Sparks: “Do Things My Way”
• The Pogues: “Dirty Old Town”
• Pulp: “Spike Island”
