Events
Great rock, soul, blues, show tunes, Americana and more are coming to clubs and theaters outside of Greater Boston.
Some of them are outdoors, taking advantage of the tail end of summer weather, and the rest are indoors as things turn chillier — but no matter where the shows take place, Boston’s suburbs have a ton of great music to offer this September through November.
Check out the links below for the full lineups from venues on the North Shore, South Shore, South Coast, Merrimack Valley, and Metro West, along with our recommendations for 30 Boston.com-approved acts you should definitely check out as the leaves start to fall.
- Blue Ocean Music Hall, Salisbury
- Bull Run, Shirley
- The Cabot, Beverly
- Cary Hall, Lexington
- The Cut, Gloucester
- The Fallout Shelter, Norwood
- Groton Hill Music Center, Groton
- Indian Ranch, Webster
- Lowell Memorial Auditorium
- Lowell Summer Music Series
- Lynn Memorial Auditorium, Lynn
- Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River
- Plymouth Memorial Hall, Plymouth
- Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport
- The Spire, Plymouth
- Taffeta Music Hall, Lowell
- The Center for Arts (TCAN), Natick
30 worthy concerts outside of Boston for fall 2026:
You don’t need an excuse to see world-renowned pianist Brad Mehldau, but what if we told you he was bringing his homage to the late indie folk artist Elliott Smith to Massachusetts for its only East Coast stop? And that his lauded band will be backed by the 17-piece “A Far Cry” chamber orchestra? Well, you’d have to go, that’s what. Mehldau and company will land at Groton Hill on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Sadly, the current ZZ Top (“Sharp Dressed Man”) may look a little different from the one you remember: Vocalist and bassist Dusty Hill passed in 2021, and drummer Frank Beard shuffled off this mortal coil earlier this month. But Billy Gibbons is still going strong, and after taking a few shows off to pay his respects to Beard, is back on the road with bassist Elwood Francis and drummer Michael Monahan. They’ll be at Lynn Auditorium on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
They may not be as legendary as Crosby, Stills & Nash, but they definitely have a leg up on Beck, Bogert & Appice (IYKYK). Yes, we’re talking about Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and the progressive supergroup will be “together” again for the “Welcome Back My Friends” tour. We’re using quote marks because, like ZZ Top, two of the three members are deceased; however, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake will be appearing via video footage with the still-kicking Carl Palmer, so all is well. It’s happening at The Cabot on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Anybody still carrying the rockabilly torch in these troubled times gets a vote of support from us, and with the Stray Cats sadly avoiding Massachusetts on their summer tour, you could do a lot worse than taking in psychobilly stalwarts the Reverend Horton Heat. The trio will be in the intimate confines of Taffeta Music Center on Sunday, Sept. 13.
Sure, he’s occasionally been the butt of a joke. But Kenny G is also the greatest-selling instrumental musician of the modern era (take that, Herb Alpert!) and one of the best-selling artists of all time. Kenny and his cute little soprano saxophone will be doing their thing at Cary Hall on Thursday, Sept. 17.
She just won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in “The Lost Boys” — and, local theater-goers will recall, she brought down the house when she starred in “Funny Girl” at North Shore Music Theatre in 2016. Now, Shoshana Bean is bringing her Broadway show-stoppers, genre-blending covers, and personal stories to the Shalin Liu on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Bob Marley lives! Or at least The Wailers (“No Woman, No Cry”) do, led by Aston Barrett Jr., son of legendary Wailers bassist and bandleader Aston “Familyman” Barrett. The group’s current tour will focus on the group’s 1976 classic “Rastaman Vibration,” and we can feel those uplifting Jamaican vibes already. The Wailers take the stage at The Cabot on Sunday, Sept. 20.
It’s not every 26-year-old who has six Grammy Awards to her name, but not every 26-year-old is Samara Joy: The Bronx native was Best New Artist in 2023, and won for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2023, 2025, and 2026 and Best Jazz Performance in 2024 and 2025. And she slays jazz standards like nobody’s business. Joy will bring her septet to the Shalin Liu on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and will also appear at Groton Hill on Friday, Oct. 2.
When they call these guys “Guitar Monsters,” they’re not kidding: Boston-area axemen Jon Butcher (Jon Butcher Axis), longtime WBCN favorite Johnny A., and Dave Amato of REO Speedwagon fame have been shredding for decades, and it’s hard to say just which one is the most virtuosic. You’ll just have to decide for yourself when you see them together at The Cut on Thursday, Sept. 24.
We still haven’t gotten over losing Tom Petty, but at least we still have Mike Campbell. The lead guitarist for the Heartbreakers and co-author of many of Petty’s hits, Campbell is keeping the tradition alive with new original material recorded with his stellar band the Dirty Knobs, featuring fellow Heartbreaker Steve Ferrone on drums. Plus, opening for the group is rising American folk artist Sarah Lee Guthrie, Arlo’s daughter. They’ll all be at The Cabot on Thursday, Sept. 24.
When the New York Times said that Amy Speace sings with “a confluence of poetry and honesty,” they’re not kidding — considered one of the best modern songwriters in Folk and Americana, she also happens to have a full volume of poetry coming out Sept. 1. We’re sure it will be wonderful, but you can see her do what she’s best known for when she takes the stage at Bull Run on Saturday, Sept. 26.
GA-20 has been pretty darn good on their own, making a blues-scene splash in recent years with their rocking revival of the Chicago blues sound from the ’50s and ’60s. But pair them with Charles Musselwhite — the harmonica player and bandleader who was there for the real thing — and you’ve got something truly special. They’ll be together at Narrows Center on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Renowned blues guitarist and vocalist Robert Cray has played with, well, everybody — Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, etc. etc. — and why wouldn’t he? His Robert Cray Band (“Smoking Gun”) has been one of the premier blues and roots outfits since the ’80s, and they’re still going strong. You can see and hear the proof when they come to Plymouth Memorial Hall on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Will Morrissey (“Everyday Is Like Sunday”) actually show up to play his scheduled show in Lowell this September? Well, probably not … the man cancels a lot. But if you buy tickets, and he does show up, you’ll get to say you saw the lead singer and founding member of The Smiths, one of the guys who basically invented sad indie jangle pop. So head on over to Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, Sept. 27, but don’t hold your breath.
Any list of southern rock bands that doesn’t have 38 Special (“Hold On Loosely”) somewhere in the top 10 — dare we say top 5? — isn’t worth the rolling paper it’s printed on. Almost five decades into their career, with original member Don Barnes at the helm, the band is back on the road in support of their 2025 album, “Milestone.” You can check them out at Indian Ranch on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Let’s face it, ever since disco died, everything’s gone downhill. We could all stand to be shaking our booty a little more these days, which is why this local stop from the legendary disco, funk and R&B outfit KC & The Sunshine Band (“That’s the Way (I Like It)”) is especially welcome. You can catch the whole happy group at Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Just hearing the first note of “Take My Love With You” from 2010’s “Come and Get It” makes a trip to see Eli “Paperboy” Reed worth the ticket price. Fortunately, the Brookline native offers a lot more than that when he takes his neo-soul bonafides on the road — including selections from his forthcoming album, “Getting There,” out Sept. 11. Reed arrives at Narrows Center on Saturday, Oct. 3.
The hair may be gray, but there’s no mistaking the classic country croon of Randy Travis (“Forever and Ever, Amen”), who almost single-handedly rescued country music from country-pop blandness in the 1980s. The man had 16 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart — 16! And we’re sure he’ll do a fair number of them when he comes to Plymouth Memorial Hall on Saturday, Oct. 3.
If even after all these years you’re not quite sure about the lyrics to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” or if those are even words they’re singing, you might want to listen to Morgan James’ searing (and intelligible) soul version of the track on her album “Soul Remains the Same.” It’s one of a whole album’s worth of stellar soul covers of hard rock songs recorded by the Broadway chanteuse, and you’ll be sure to hear some of them for yourself when she comes to TCAN on Sunday, Oct. 4.
If there was no such thing as “garage cabaret” — and we’re not sure there is — The Claudettes would have had to invent it, and maybe they did. Regardless, the group’s tremendous blend of classic jazz, blues, and rock is a winning combination that must be seen and heard to be believed. You can do both when they come to Fallout Shelter on Friday, Oct. 9.
If you missed Neko Case (“I Wish I Was the Moon”) at the Wilbur last year, first of all, shame on you — it was a tour-de-force performance — and second, you’re in luck: The haunting “country noir” singer-songwriter will bring her otherworldly vocal skills to not one but two shows in Greater Boston this fall. She’ll be at Cary Hall on Thursday, Oct. 15, and at the Shalin Liu on Friday, Oct. 16.
It looked for a while in the mid-’90s like 1993’s Best New Artist Grammy winner Arrested Development (“Tennessee”) was already over and done with. How lucky for us that they eventually re-formed and went on to another 25+ years of touring and recording that continues to this day. They bring their unique brand of positive, Afrocentric hip-hop to The Cabot on Friday, Oct. 23.
Fun fact: Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela are big in Ireland! It’s true, their 2006 self-titled second album went to No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart — it probably didn’t hurt that they were living there at the time. Another fun fact: Their song “Tamacun” was featured in the first episode of “Breaking Bad.” See them at Lynn Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Ally Venable started playing guitar at age 12, formed her first band at 13, and now, at the ripe old age of 27, is a full-fledged monster of a blues rocker. Her best-known song is called “Blues Is My Best Friend,” and one listen will tell you why that is. The native of Kilgore, Texas, will hit the stage at Narrows Center on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
We will never pass up the chance to plug a performer who just happens to be one of our greatest living songwriters (and he writes a mean novel too): Josh Ritter (“Getting Ready to Get Down”). The Idaho native has been amazingly prolific of late, putting out stellar albums in 2023 (“Spectral Lines”), 2024 (“Heaven, or Someplace as Nice”), and 2025 (“I Believe in You, My Honeydew”). And we just bet you’ll hear a new song or two when he takes his solo tour to the Shalin Liu on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
We’re not sure there’s anybody who’d find Jeff Tweedy (“I Know What It’s Like”) particularly scary — he’s sort of like an alt-country teddy bear. But seeing the singer and guitarist from Wilco bring his solo show to a local stage on Halloween night will certainly be a treat — especially with 30 songs to choose from from his latest album alone, 2025’s epic “Twilight Override.” Tweedy will be at Groton Hill on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Speaking of world-class songwriters (see Josh Ritter, above), they don’t get much better than Jason Isbell (“Cover Me Up”). That was evident back in his early-2000s Drive-By Truckers days, and even more so in his post-sobering up solo era that broke through with his 2013 album “Southeastern.” Isbell has left his band, the 400 Unit, behind for his tour in support of his solo album “Foxes in the Snow,” one of the best releases of 2025, period. He’ll be at Groton Hill on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Jimmie Vaughan is no longer in the mix — he’s been traveling in support of Bob Dylan of late — but fellow founding member Kim Wilson is still at the helm of the Fabulous Thunderbirds (“Tuff Enuff”), with harmonica in hand and a great group of musicians in tow. The boogie and blues rockers will be at Spire Center on Thursday, Nov. 5.
It’s tempting to point out that there are not many original Temptations left in The Temptations (“My Girl”) — one, to be precise. But though David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks may be long gone, Otis Williams at 84 remains more than up to leading the classic R&B combo. The group, of course, has dozens of hit songs under its collective belt, and the current lineup more than lives up to the group’s legendary rep. See them at The Cabot on Sunday, Nov. 29.
Gen X, meet us at camera three. OK, now that we’re alone, you can admit that, deep down, you are dying to see what Shaun Cassidy — one-time teen idol (“Da Doo Ron Ron”) and former Hardy Boy — will do when his tour comes around this November. And did we mention it’s a holiday show? You have our permission to give into your curiosity and see him at Cary Hall on Sunday, Nov. 29.
Note: Some shows may only have tickets available on secondary markets. Our previews for top venues and small Boston-area venues are coming soon. Did we miss your favorite suburban venue? Email us at [email protected] and let us know about it.
Need weekend plans?
The best events in the city, delivered to your inbox
