Greetings Rockers N Rollers! Dauphin County Live held three concerts at Harrisburg’s Riverfont Park the past month taking the place of Harrisburg University Presents. Country artist, Russell Dickerson, performed on July 29, the Head and the Heart played Aug 2 and brothers Damian and Stephen Marley performed reggae classics from their father, Bob Marley, on Aug 3. All three shows reported large attendance and the City of Harrisburg hopes to continue the annual summer tradition of major artists on the Riverfront. Harrisburg’s XL Live brought indie pop band, Fitz and the Tantrums, on Aug 15. The band is known for hit single ‘Handclap” and are currently touring their sixth and latest album, ‘Man On The Moon.’ Fitz and the Tantrums will play 31-shows on this current North American tour concluding Aug 31 in Texas. Legendary punk band, The Bouncing Souls, held their annual ‘Stoked For The Summer’ concert on Aug 16 at the iconic Stone Pony venue in Asbury Park, NJ. The Souls originated in 1989 in New Brunswick, New Jersey and have produced 12 studio albums and toured relentlessly for the past 36 years. This year’s annual concert also featured Lagwagon, Dillinger Four, H2O, Spraynard, and Crazy and The Brains. The Bouncing Souls begin their ‘East Coast! F You Tour’ on Sept 18 in Boston and will play 19-shows in America to close out the year before heading to the UK for 7-shows in February.
Several local bands had debut venue shows across Central PA .. The Swisher Sweets had their first performance at Linglestown’s Dog House on Aug 1. York-based, Dirt Cheap, returned to the stage for the first time in 3 years bringing their cover songs of early Bon Scott AC/DC to the Racehorse Tavern in Thomasville. The show took place Aug 22 and was supported by Electric Love, who are a tribute to The Cult. Timmy’s Creep Show and The Super High-Tech Jet Fighters played to a packed house at Duncannon’s historic Doyle Hotel on Aug 23. The first time either band played this venue. Timmy’s Creep Show returns Nov 1 to the Doyle Hotel with Hank The Buffalo for a Halloween Costume Party.
Peter Hook & The Light are ready to keep celebrating New Order’s 2001 album with a 21-date North American tour set for Aug and Sept 2026. The announcement follows a 13-date North American tour this past spring. The upcoming trek will feature Peter Hook & The Light performing Get Ready in its entirety, alongside a selection of tracks from both Joy Division and New Order. Get Ready marked the seventh studio album from New Order and was dedicated to Rob Gretton, manager of both Joy Division and New Order, who had died in 1999. Dates include: Philadelphia’s Union Transfer on Sept 7 and Washington DC’s 9:30 Club on Sept 8. Cheap Trick is continuing their tour with fall dates, adding shows til the end of the year. Dates include Bethlehem, PA Wind Creek Oct 22 and Atlantic City Hard Rock Oct 24. Throughout the summer, the band has joined Rod Stewart on tour as support and recently began their run of shows at county and state fairs. My Chemical Romance announced two major UK headline shows at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London, England, taking place on July 10-11, 2026. The announcement comes amidst the band’s sold-out 2025 North American stadium tour, “Long Live: The Black Parade”, where My Chemical Romance performed their triple-platinum certified record The Black Parade in its entirety. The U.S. stadium run is ongoing, with a recent show at Philly’s Citizens Bank Park on Aug 15. My Chemical Romance will then kick off 2026 with stadium performances in South America and Asia.
The Kennedy Center announced this year’s recipients of the annual honors, which includes country music star George Strait, “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, singer Gloria Gaynor, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford. The Kennedy Center Honors were established in 1978 and have been given to a broad range of artists. The Kennedy Center informs honorees in advance, and all four original Kiss performers issued statements through a band publicist. “The prestige of the Kennedy Center Honors cannot be overstated and I accept this on behalf of the long legacy of Kiss and all of the band members who helped create our iconic band,” singer Paul Stanley said. This year’s Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will take place on Dec 7. Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter Tour,” just concluded with an impressive trek that shattered records across the globe throughout its 32-date run. The stadium tour surpassed $400 million in grosses, cementing her as one of the greatest touring artists of all time and Queen Bey as the highest-grossing country trek of all time. The singer known for her R&B hits gave country a go in 2024 with her eighth studio LP, Cowboy Carter. The acclaimed album earned Beyoncé the coveted Album of the Year Grammy Award, an honor that has long eluded the star and made her the first Black artist to win in that category. Beyoncé is the most awarded Grammy winner with 35 wins. More than 1.5 million fans attended across 32 sold-out stadium shows which included special guests like Miley Cyrus, Shaboozey, JAY-Z and on her final night with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child.
Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth, revealed the band plans to retire after their next studio album and tour. He shared the band’s plans to tour in 2026, with dates expected to be announced later this year and a forthcoming album will be released. “There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional,” Mustaine said in a statement. “Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them. Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years.” Megadeth first formed in 1983, and are long-considered one of the “big four” American thrash metal bands, alongside Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica. Canadian rockers The Guess Who will reunite for the first time in two decades in 2026. Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings will return to the live stage to perform at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls on Jan. 31, and additional shows will be announced soon. The Guess Who rose to stardom with the massively successful song “American Woman.” Bachman, who co-founded the successful band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Cummings have reunited over the years for benefit shows but have not properly toured together in years.
Singer-songwriter Terry Reid, a celebrated musician who nearly became the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, died Aug. 4. He was 75. Reid had been receiving cancer treatment in recent months and he had to cancel a six-week tour because of his health. “Terry transitioned peacefully surrounded by family. Even in his final days, he believed with all of his heart that he would recover. He sat up and played guitar just 3 days ago.” He was respected by iconic artists like The Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin, who was famously quoted in 1968 saying, “There are only three things happening in England: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Terry Reid.” When the Yardbirds disbanded, Jimmy Page asked Reid to join his new band, an offer he declined. Reid recommended singer Robert Plant, and that band became the legendary Led Zeppelin. David Roach the frontman of Junkyard’s died of cancer on August 2 at the age of 59. The Los Angeles band were known for Roach’s brutally honest, gutter-poet songs. He used his hard-knock life and heart-on-his sleeve demeanor as inspiration for tunes like Junkyard’s most-streamed song, “Simple Man.”
The Jesus Lizard have canceled their remaining 2025 tour dates in the wake of a band member’s “serious health incident.” The tour, in support of the album Rack, was scheduled for clubs and theaters in the U.S., Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The band intends to reschedule the dates but with an uncertain timeline. Rack is the band’s first album since 1998. The band broke up in 2000, reformed for a tour in 2008 and then again in 2017. The Damned canceled three live performances scheduled this past July, citing an “unexpected and catastrophic event at a member of The Damned’s home.” The shows were scheduled to wrap up The Damned’s North American tour “We are very sorry to have to cancel our Seattle, Portland and Vancouver shows. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.” Stevie Nicks announced that she will be postponing several tour dates to recover from a shoulder injury. “Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time – Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience.” The iconic singer was also scheduled to co-headline four stadium dates with Billy Joel this year, but those have been canceled after he was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus in May. Stevie Nicks will play Brooklyn’s Barclay Center on Nov 19.
Ahead of The Strokes’ upcoming headline performance at Austin City Limits the weekend of Oct. 4 and 11, the band announced two warm up shows taking place at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Sept. 27 and the Abraham Chavez Theatre in El Paso, Texas, on Oct. 1. Their upcoming show in Vegas marks The Stroke’s first confirmed performance of 2025, and their first show since their 2024 date in Chicago.
Tom Morello has announced a series of fall North American dates concentrated on the East Coast. The new electric full band shows, booked as Tom Morello & Friends, are scheduled following a run of performances described as “A Night of Stories & Music.” Morello stated, “Coming at you this Fall!! The last Big Event before they throw us all in jail!” Stops include Washington DC Nov 15, Brooklyn Nov 18, Manhattan Nov 19 and Atlantic City Nov 21. Drummer, Rikki Rockett commented on Poison’s comeback tour, “We have a tour on the table, and hopefully, we can work it out and do it. Because we’re talking about 2026 and it’s our 40-year anniversary, like doing 40 shows all across the country and maybe Canada.” He also mentioned that the band members are not getting younger and should perform live while they still can. Rockett’s comments were viewed as a veiled warning to Bret Michaels, who has been performing with his solo band. “So that’s my wish. That’s my hope. We’re not getting any younger. The old band’s intact. We’re all original members. I don’t think there is any other original member bands left right now that I know of.” The band last toured together in 2018 alongside Cheap Trick and Pop Evil. Global superstar singer, Taylor Swift, became engaged to football star, Travis Kelce, on Aug 26 in Missouri. Swift is currently the largest music pop star in the world with countless awards including 14 Grammy Awards, selling over 117 million records in the US and holds the record for the highest-grossing tour in music history, with $2 billion in revenue. Taylor Swift is originally from West Reading, Pennsylvania and is recognized as the first billionaire based on her songs and performances with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion.
SEPTEMBER CONCERTS: Bret Michaels – Sunbury Spyglass Winery Sept 5. The Darkness – Allentown Archer Hall Sept 9. Deftones / Idles – Baltimore CFG Bank Arena Sept 11. Alkaline Trio / Drug Church – Allentown Archer Hall Sept 12. Ziggy Marly – Baltimore Pier 6 Pavilion Sept 16. Turnstile / Mannequin Pussy – Philadelphia Mann Sept 19. Slayer – Hersheypark Stadium Sept 20. Angel Dust – Harrisburg Cap City Hall Sept 21. Sex Pistols – Washington DC 9:30 Club Sept 23. Twenty One Pilots – Hersheypark Stadium Sept 27. Iggy Pop – Washington DC Anthem Sept 29. Raveonettes – Philadelphia Union Transfer Sept 30.
