MUSIC
Pop & Rock
GUNS N’ ROSES Three-fifths of the sleaze-rockers’ core lineup — vocalist W. Axl Rose, guitar-master Slash, and bassist/renaissance man Duff McKagan — will storm through “Paradise City” and other snarled anthems as Fenway Park returns to hosting large-scale concerts. Aug. 3, 5:30 p.m. (doors). Fenway Park. redsox.com/concerts
TRASH RABBIT This Boston trio plays spiky, slightly grunged-up pop-punk; check out their YouTube channel for a passionate live version of their 2019 track “Lab Jazz,” which showcases emotionally wrought vocals and a pumping bass line. With Saratoga emo outfit Clifford the Band and Auburndale singer-songwriter Edward Glen. Aug. 3, 9 p.m. O’Brien’s Pub, 3 Harvard Ave., Allston. 617-782-6245, obrienspubboston.com
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DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES This show doubles up on masterful pop pairs: The soul-slinging headliners, whose harmony-driven hits like “Say It Isn’t So” and “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” are vehicles for radio-borne bliss; and Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the songwriting duo who wrote (and are still writing) witty, hooky tracks like the sighing “Up the Junction” and the winking “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” for their band Squeeze, which opens. Aug. 5, 7 p.m. Xfinity Center, Mansfield. 800-745-3000, livenation.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk & World
BROTHERS OSBORNE Judging from their latest record, “Skeletons,” these boys sound like the spiritual heirs of Montgomery-Gentry. If you’re partial to that, you may want to grab a ticket to this first package show of the summer. If you’re not, the name of their current tour — ”We’re Not for Everyone” — shows they understand. Travis Denning and Tenille Townes also perform. July 30, 7:30 p.m. $29.50-$89.50. Leader Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave., Boston. www.livenation.com
HARD-COUNTRY TWOFER An opportunity to double down on old school this weekend at America’s only remaining country music park: Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives play their capacious country iteration on Saturday; Sunday, if he follows his usual practice, Jamey Johnson will play for at least two hours and provide a tour of ’60s and ’70s honky-tonk. July 31, 1 p.m. $35-$50; Aug. 1, 1 p.m. $42-$47. Indian Ranch, 200 Gore Road, Webster. 508-943-3871, www.indianranch.com
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PAUL THORN This son of Tupelo, Miss., has a new album, “Never Too Late to Call,” with songs that run the gamut from paying tribute to his recently deceased night-owl sister to riffing off a TV interview James Brown did the day he was released from prison. Taken collectively, they show a man well into middle age who’s grateful for where he is and what he has. Aug. 4, 7:30 p.m. $32, Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley. 978-425-4311, www.bullrunrestaurant.com
STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
RUSS GERSHON 4-TET Creative Music Series presents the dynamic composer, arranger, educator, founder of the Accurate record company, and leader of Either/Orchestra, playing saxophones and flute with his adventurous quartet including Rick McLaughlin (bass), Josiah Reibstein (tuba), and Brooke Sofferman (drums). July 31, 6 p.m. Free (donations accepted). Assembly Row at Assembly Square, Somerville. www.creativemusicseries.com/events
SAM GENTILE WITH TONI LYNN WASHINGTON AND THE FAT CITY BAND Rhythm Room Afternoons presents an outdoor New England blues summit featuring seasoned South Shore guitar slinger Gentile, “The Queen of the Boston Blues” Washington, and roadhouse funsters the Fat City Band. Aug. 1, 1-6 p.m. $25-$100. John Alden Sportsman’s Club, 16 Minuteman Lane, Plymouth. rhythmroomentertainment.com/rhythm-room-afternoons.html
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AYN INSERTO JAZZ ORCHESTRA The marvelously imaginative composer, arranger, and bandleader, a protégé of the late, great trombonist, arranger, and composer Bob Brookmeyer, leads her kaleidoscopic 17-piece big band in its first post-pandemic gig, playing a parade of original compositions and arrangements at an unusual, Symphony Hall-adjacent venue. Aug. 5, 5 p.m. $10. Virtuosity, 234 Huntington Ave., Boston. www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/The-Ayn-Inserto-Jazz-Orchestra
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
TANGLEWOOD Andris Nelsons has left the building, and a slew of guests will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the rest of the summer starting this weekend as BSO artistic partner Thomas Adès leads his own “O Albion,” Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Winds featuring his creative buddy Kirill Gerstein, and two Haydn symphonies (July 31). The Sunday matinee brings conductor Alan Gilbert and violinist Stefan Jackiw (replacing Lisa Batiashvili, who could not travel due to visa issues). But you can’t beat Friday evening for star power, as Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, and Emanuel Ax play a Beethoven piano trio and a symphony arranged for the same. July 30-Aug. 1. www.tanglewood.org
BOSTON FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA This new orchestra founded by recent NEC grads Alyssa Wang and Nicholas Brown finishes off its inaugural season with a free program of Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev, and Dobrinka Tabakova. July 31, 7:30 p.m. Calderwood Pavilion at Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. www.bostonfestivalorchestra.org
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA Back on the Esplanade for the first time since 2019, Boston Landmarks Orchestra emerges with a free program of American music from George Gershwin to Nkeiru Okoye and James P. Johnson, ending with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Aug. 4, 7 p.m. DCR Hatch Shell. www.bostonlandmarksorchestra.org
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A.Z. MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
OUR TOWN Peterborough, N.H., may have served as the inspiration for the fictional Grovers Corner in Thornton Wilder’s classic play about life, love, and death in a small New England town, and Peterborough Players first performed “Our Town” in a 1940 production on which Wilder consulted. Since then, it has become the company’s most frequently produced play. Now the Players are performing “Our Town” outdoors in downtown Peterborough, featuring Gordon Clapp (”NYPD Blue,” “Mare of Easttown”) as the Stage Manager. Aug. 4-15. 603-924-7585, www.peterboroughplayers.org
7 ROOMS: MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH Using Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story as a jumping-off point, Flat Earth Theatre Company has paired seven local playwrights with seven local directors to create seven short plays, each of which will unfold in a different one of the rooms mentioned in Poe’s story. To be united by a wrap-around narrative, “7 Rooms: Masque of the Red Death” can be experienced on Zoom. Through Aug. 15. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Information at https://sevenroomsmasque.com
DON AUCOIN
Dance
BOSOMA DANCE COMPANY The company celebrates its 18th season with outdoor performances of works old and new. In addition to signature dances “Convergence” and the explosive “Parachute” plus Lindsey Leduc’s “Lost It to Trying,” the concerts feature two new works by artistic director Katherine Hooper and one by company dancer Tony Tucker, who draws from his expertise in hip-hop, African, ballet, and contemporary. Aug. 1, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., $30. Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, Rockport. www.bosoma.org
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DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE The acclaimed 45-year-old company, currently led by artistic director Melissa M. Young, makes its Pillow debut. A highlight of the concert is expected to be the world premiere of the new Pillow-commissioned “Like Water,” by Darrell Grand Moultrie, whose performer and choreographer credits range from Broadway to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to America Ballet Theatre. Aug. 4-8, $45. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Leir Outdoor Stage, Becket. www.jacobspillow.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Visual Arts
ROSE ART MUSEUM Finally. More than 15 months after shutting down in the pandemic’s early stages, the Rose reopened to the public last month — one of the first among its university-linked peers. It has jumped back to life with a pair of exhibitions: The self-explanatory (and ongoing) “re:collections, Six Decades at the Rose Art Museum” and “Frida Kahlo: POSE,” a show of the artist’s paintings, drawings, and photographs through a lens of her gender-fluid self-imaginings (through Dec. 19). Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434, www.brandeis.edu/rose
VIRGIL ABLOH: FIGURES OF SPEECH The first-ever museum exhibition dedicated to the American artist and designer intersects with the close but often parallel worlds of art, music, design, architecture, and fashion. The show captures this polymath, currently the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear lines, at mid-career. Through Sept. 26. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org
MURRAY WHYTE
EYE CANDY Jon Burgerman’s art is goofy, bright, and intuitive, focused on the visceral energy of play as a tenet of communication. The British-born, New York-based artist’s escapist practice springs from doodling googly-eyed characters. Here, they show up in Day-Glo portraits, huddling together or swarming in busy groups, on pizza slices, and even floating among clouds on the pink-painted walls. Through Aug. 8. Praise Shadows Art Gallery, 313A Harvard St., Brookline. 617-487-5427. www.praiseshadows.com
CATE McQUAID
EVENTS
Comedy
CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER “The Entertainer” part of Cedric’s moniker has always been his way of saying he had more than just one skill, and his current schedule bears that out. He stars in and produces the sitcom “The Neightborhood” and hosts “The Greatest #AtHome Videos,” both of which are coming back in the next couple of months, while doing a few select stand-up shows. July 30, 7:30 p.m. $39-$69. The Chevalier, 30 Forest St., Medford. 781-391-7469, www.chevaliertheatre.com
SETH MEYERS “Late Night” still isn’t being recorded in front of a live audience, so shows like this one at the Wilbur will likely be a test for Meyers to get in a rhythm with a theater full of people, and a treat to hear a crowd respond immediately to the punch lines. Early show is sold out. July 30, 9:45 p.m. $39-$59. The Wilbur, 246 Tremont St., Boston. 617-248-9700, www.thewilbur.com
IAMSUECOSTELLO Dorchester native Sue Costello is back in Boston and staging her one-person play, in which she explores past versions of herself, from her local upbringing to her career in Hollywood, in a mix of comic and poignant moments. July 31, 7 p.m. $25. HallSpace, 950 Dorchester Ave., Boston. 617-288-2255, hallspace.org
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY FESTIVAL 7ate9 Bakery celebrates this scrumptious holiday with an array of activities, including face-painting, games, and plenty of cheesecake samples. The day kicks off at the “decorate your own cheesecake” station and ends with a cheesecake eating competition. A full schedule of events can be found on the event’s Facebook page. July 31, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. 7ate9 Bakery, 199 Highland Ave., Somerville. facebook.com
KIDS’ TENNIS FEST See if you can meet your match at this fun event taught by the Thoreau Club’s tennis pros. Following time on the court, kids will be able to enjoy pool time and an ice cream social to beat the heat. Aug. 3, 4-6 p.m. Free. The Thoreau Club, 275 Forrest Ridge Road, Concord. eventbrite.com
BOSTON LANDMARKS ORCHESTRA: BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH & AMERICAN ICONS People of all ages will recognize the first notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony at this outdoor concert. In addition to Beethoven, listeners will hear from the likes of George Gerswhin and Black artists who have helped shape America’s national sound. Aug. 4, 7-8:30 p.m. Free. Hatch Memorial Shell, 47 David G Mugar Way, Boston. landmarksorchestra.org
RIANA BUCHMAN