A$AP Rocky
Don’t Be Dumb Tour
To Sep 30 asaprocky.com
Only one man can rightfully boast of both winning Rhianna’s heart and having President Trump threaten Sweden with trade sanctions if he wasn’t released from a Stockholm prison where he was held on assault charges, and that man is Rakim Athelston Mayers, a.k.a. A$AP Rocky. His Don’t Be Dumb Tour, named after his 2026 album, includes a September 21 gig back in the Swedish capital, so maybe catch that one in case he reminisces about his 2019 stay at Kronobergshäktet (Kronoberg Remand Prison).
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John Mellencamp
Dancing Worlds Tour
Jul 10 to Aug 12 mellencamp.com/tour
Fifty years after his first album came out (under the management-mandated nom de cringe of Johnny Cougar), America’s bard of the heartland saddles up his wit, grit, guitar, and band for the Dancing Worlds Tour, where he plays all his hits. If you’ve thought about making it to one of this singular songwriter’s shows but haven’t yet been, go before it becomes one of “those old crazy dreams / That just kinda came and went” (as he sings in 1983’s “Pink Houses”).
Lollapalooza
Jul 30 to Aug 2
Grant Park, Chicago lollapalooza.com
Thirty-five freaking years ago Lollapalooza ripped the culture a new one with its magnificently berserk send-off for Jane’s Addiction (the pure, O.G. J.A.), packing the supporting likes of Henry Rollins, Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Color, and the Jim Rose Circus. But now, in a Lollapalooza for the counterculture’s more estrogen-embracing era, we get big aware feels with headliners Lorde, Charli XCX, Olivia Dean, Tate McCrae, and… the Smashing Pumpkins. We’ve evolved! Go, girls! Be safe!
Crow Fair Pow Wow and Parade
Aug 12 to 17
Crow Agency, Montana crowfair.org
Never been to a pow wow? What? And you call yourself an American? Dude. Nothing will shake you and wake you like having your senses, your assumptions, your very identity overrun by hour upon hour of First Nations music, dancing, ceremony, and vitality on this patch of Apsáalooke (Crow) land. And if you think you’re into teepees, just wait until you see some 1,500 of them spread across Big Sky Country.
Field Maneuvers
Aug 21-23
Somewhere in Norfolk, UK fieldmaneuvers.com
If you miss dirty raves, missed dirty raves, or just want to stumble around in this quintessence of lust (for beats and wobbles), then grab your shorts, terry toweling hat, and nipple pasties and get thee to Norwich Rail Station, East Anglia, where the secret location will be revealed. This year’s sorcerers of euphoria include England’s Daniel Avery and Chicago’s Jana Rush, a footwork maestra who’s been DJing since 10, plus an absolute shitload (seriously, dozens upon dozens) of other talents. Stay hydrated!
Bumbershoot
Sep 5 to Sep 6
Seattle bumbershoot.com/
Sixty-six wrestlers (yessir) and Turnstile alone make for a great Labor Day weekend, but throw in Japanese Breakfast, a stack of stunt BMX riders, short films, Bikini Kill, Death Cab for mother-effin’ Cutie, De La frickin’ Soul, skateboard events, art and fashion, all laced with Seattle’s famously passive-aggressive attitude, and there you have the makings of a totally squinky stay in the beautiful traffic jam between Portland and Vancouver.
Ghost Ranch Music Festival: Blossoms & Bones
Sep 10 to 12
Abiquiu, New Mexico ghostranchmusicfest.com
Riding twilight’s fade into a canopy of stars over the high desert with fine music is joy enough, let alone when the New Mexico setting is Georgia O’Keeffe’s 21,000 acre Ghost Ranch where she painted her magnificent skull series along with depictions of the grey and red hues of the mountains. You can tour her buildings and works. And then there’s the bands: Cowboy Junkies, Arlo Parks, the New Pornographers, Sylvan Esso, Violent Femmes, and more. Camp, glamp, or simply stand mesmerized for days.
Foo Fighters
Pick a date, any date
All over the Western world foofighters.com
If you haven’t done the Foos, here’s your chance. Y’all can catch ‘em from now clear into next year, playing anywhere from France to New Zealand with plenty of American shows thrown in. Can’t decide? Well, maybe go by the support acts — some of the shows are worth it for the openers alone, like a double-support bill starting in August of Queens of the Stone Age teamed with Philly’s punkoid killers, Mannequin Pussy.
CATCH THESE NEXT YEAR
Mad With Power
June
Madison, Wisconsin madwithpowerfest.com
Two days of metal, mead, free pinball and arcade games, and a cheese-curd street party. The organizers weight the line up with hungry bands rather than the Zimmer frame brigade that headline too many festivals.
Bahidorá
Feb 12 to 14
Las Estacas Parque Natural, Morelos, Mexico bahidora.com
To roam this gem of a festival or cool off after dancing, float in the limestone-filtered, crystal-clear springs. Daytime in the lush park (three hours south of Mexico City) is rich with bands playing psychedelic cumbia, Afrobeat, Latin fusion, and more, while out at night come DJs, local and imported — like this year’s Satoshi Tomiie.
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
