Fall Arts Preview
JANELLE MONAE “The Age of Pleasure,” the latest album from the creative polymath, is fully immersed in the idea of feeling good, tripping dizzily through gardens of delight while sounding as thrilling as Monáe sounds thrilled. Monáe has been one of pop’s most dazzling performers for the past decade-plus, and the combination of concept and performer should make for a heady night. Sept. 17, 8 p.m. MGM Music Hall at Fenway. 617-488-7540, crossroadspresents.com
LAUREN MAYBERRY The vocalist of Scottish synth-pop maximalists CHVRCHES steps out on her own with shows that put the spotlight on her solo work — and, if the setlist from the tour’s opener in Washington, D.C., holds, a cover of Madonna’s splendid “Like a Prayer.” Sept. 18, 7 p.m. Brighton Music Hall. 617-779-0140, crossroadspresents.com
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BILLY JOEL AND STEVIE NICKS The rock titans co-headline, bringing a slew of hits from the last five-plus decades to Foxborough. (Previous shows have featured Nicks bringing Joel in for the 1981 ultimatum “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”; in Los Angeles, Nicks returned the favor on Joel’s mournful “And So It Goes.”) Sept. 23, 7 p.m. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. 508-543-8200, gillettestadium.com
SLOWDIVE The British shoegaze legends, who just released their fifth album, “Everything Is Alive,” bring their waves of guitar and swirling melodies to Boston. Sept. 25, 7 p.m. House of Blues. 888-693-2583, houseofblues.com/boston
KAROL G In 2023, this Colombian singer released her fourth album, “Mañana Será Bonito,” and its companion mixtape, “Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season).” Both show how skillful she is at fusing reggaeton’s rhythms with other modern pop idioms, an anything-goes philosophy that’s underscored by guests like Mexican crooner Peso Pluma and Dutch mega-DJ Tiësto. Sept. 28, 7 p.m. Gillette Stadium, Foxborough. 508-543-8200, gillettestadium.com
SZA One of this year’s most musically engaging and visually compelling arena tours (it was last here in February) is in support of this singer-songwriter’s exquisite 2022 album “SOS,” an album that’s a megahit in part because of the way it picks apart emotions in detail and with little hedging. Sept. 30, 8 p.m. TD Garden. 617-624-1000, tdgarden.com
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PALEHOUND El Kempner’s gut-punch songwriting and killer guitar playing made their band one of the Boston rock scene’s best acts of the 2010s. Sadly, Palehound are no longer local; happily, they’re still putting out excellent records, as evidenced by this year’s breakup chronicle “Eye on the Bat.” Oct. 18, 8:30 p.m. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 617-547-5200, sinclaircambridge.com
RENEE RAPP “Snow Angel,” the debut from this star of stage (the musical adaptation of “Mean Girls”) and screen (“The Sex Lives of College Girls”) is a ferocious, curveball-filled pop delight, full of scream-along choruses and pointed lyrics made for TikTok lip-syncs. Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Roadrunner. roadrunnerboston.com
THE HIVES This Swedish outfit doesn’t switch up their central conceit of pairing roaring guitars with caterwaul-along vocals on “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons,” their first album since 2012, but that’s why this show will probably be a great moment of pre-turn-back-the-clocks catharsis. Nov. 1, 8 p.m. The Sinclair, Cambridge. 617-547-5200, sinclaircambridge.com
ROMEO SANTOS The bachata king — last in Boston with Aventura, the vocal group that catapulted him to stardom, in 2020 — comes to town in support of last year’s “Formula, Vol. 3,” which combines the traditional Dominican dance music with 21st-century styles. Nov. 6-7, 7 p.m. TD Garden. 617-624-1000, tdgarden.com
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