Imagine a dream blunt rotation that includes John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, Rachael Price of Lake Street Dive, Billy Bragg, and Cumbia king Yeison Landero. One of them is quoting scripture and survival manuals, one is casually out-singing everyone in the room, one is arguing about labor history, and one is getting the whole place dancing whether you’re ready or not. That’s the level of range on offer in the Hudson Valley this spring. This season’s concert calendar pulls together lifers and lifelines: punk elders and pop alchemists, folk maximalists and dance-floor revivalists, bands still inventing themselves and others who already wrote the songs you keep coming back to. Some dates are already sold out—They Might Be Giants, the Mountain Goats, Bill Callahan—because of course they are. Don’t sleep on getting your tix now.
Mike Gordon
Bearsville Theater, March 13
Mike Gordon’s solo shows are what happen when the Phish bassist slips the leash and wanders into his own head for a while. Expect deep-pocketed grooves, brainy song structures, and a band that plays like it’s perpetually on the brink of discovering something new. This isn’t a jamband blowout so much as a thoughtful recalibration: funk with footnotes, improvisation with intention. Tickets
Gary Numan
Paramount Hudson Valley, March 20
Gary Numan has been soundtracking the future for more than four decades, and the future, it turns out, is still extremely bleak—and extremely danceable. Best known for “Cars,” Numan long ago evolved from new-wave oddity into industrial elder statesman, trading irony for menace and synth hooks for full-on dystopian churn. His live shows are immersive, loud, and unflinchingly serious, which only makes them more fun. If you like your nostalgia with a side of existential dread, this one’s a no-brainer. Tickets
Matt Berninger
Bearsville Theater, March 24
Matt Berninger’s baritone has always sounded like it’s carrying the weight of a long, slightly disappointing conversation—but that’s the charm. Best known as the voice of The National, Berninger’s solo material leans further into his strengths: literate melancholy (his wife ia former fiction editor at The New Yorker), wry self-awareness, and melodies that feel like they’re possibly judging you. Tickets
Lucius
Tarrytown Music Hall, March 24 (acoustic)
Lucius unplugged is less a gimmick than a revelation. (Remember T Pain’s “Tiny Desk Concert” when he sang without autotune? Like that.) Stripped of bombast, the band’s meticulous harmonies and songwriting snap into sharp focus, foregrounding the voices of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig—two singers who manage to sound both meticulously rehearsed and emotionally spontaneous. The acoustic format leans into intimacy without draining the drama, making this a rare chance to hear a band known for polish show its bones. Tickets
Greg Hawkes with Eddie Japan Performing the Music of the Cars
Levon Helm Studios, March 28
Greg Hawkes is responsible for some of the most indelible keyboard lines in rock history—sleek, strange, and permanently wired into your subconscious whether you asked for it or not. As The Cars’ sonic architect on keyboards, Hawkes helped define an era where pop futurism met FM radio. Since 2019, Hawkes has been performing the music of The Cars with the Boston-based cinematic pop band Eddie Japan. Tickets
Old 97s
Bearsville Theater, March 29
The Old 97s have spent three decades proving that loud guitars and literary instincts can coexist happily in the same barroom. Led by locally based Rhett Miller—equal parts romantic and smartass—the band specializes in songs that feel rowdy until you actually listen to the lyrics. Tickets
James McMurtry
Daryl’s House, April 3
James McMurtry writes songs the way some people file police reports: precise, unsentimental, and devastating on close reading. A master of compressed storytelling, McMurtry has built a career out of narratives that reveal whole lives in a few carefully chosen lines. Live, he’s sharp, dryly funny, and uninterested in theatrics—which makes the songs land even harder. Tickets
Toshi Reagon and Big Lovely
The Local, April 3
Toshi Reagon doesn’t just perform songs—she builds communities around them. With BigLovely, her long-running band, Reagon blends folk, rock, gospel, and protest music into something that feels both fiercely personal and openly invitational. Shows often feel less like concerts and more like shared experiences, powered by joy, resistance, and deep musicality. Tickets
Mike Doughty
City Winery Hudson Valley, April 4
Mike Doughty’s great trick has always been rhythmic speech masquerading as melody, and “Super Bon Bon” remains the Rosetta Stone: beat-driven, absurd, and weirdly philosophical, all at once. Even in his solo years, that elastic phrasing and hip-hop-adjacent instinct never left. Live, Doughty tends to bend songs midstream—rephrasing lines, shifting emphasis—so the familiar feels newly unsettled. Tickets
Luna
Assembly, April 5
For Luna devotees, Penthouse (1995) remains the gold standard: a record where Dean Wareham’s hushed vocals, velour guitar tones, and nocturnal pacing fully clicked into place. The songs move with unforced confidence—romantic without sentimentality, cool without detachment—each one calibrated for late-night listening. That sensibility carries into their live shows, which favor atmosphere over flash. Luna doesn’t rush you or raise its voice; it draws you in and trusts the spell will hold. Tickets
Lake Street Dive
Palace Theater, April 8
Lake Street Dive has built one of the most joyful hybrid sounds in modern pop — part soul, part jazz, part classic ’60s-flavored pop, all delivered with impeccable musicianship and irresistible groove. Fronted by Rachael Price’s richly expressive vocals and anchored by Bridget Kearney’s upright bass, the band turns every song into an invitation: to dance, sing along, or simply let the rhythms reshape your mood. Whether it’s the playful exuberance of newer songs or the seamless blend of funk, R&B, and melodic pop they’ve honed over two decades, their shows feel like a celebration of connection and joy. Tickets
Graham Nash
Tarrytown Music Hall, April 8
There are only a handful of classic rock figures still standing who feel this essential, this uncorroded by time. Graham Nash is one of them. His songs helped define what harmony could do—emotionally, politically, communally—and he’s carried that clarity forward without calcifying into myth. The voice remains unmistakable, the songwriting humane and direct. This isn’t nostalgia so much as continuity: an artist who shaped the culture and somehow stayed present inside it. Tickets
Fantastic Cat
Levon Helm Studios, April 11
Fantastic Cat is a four-headed Americana hydra: singer-songwriters trading vocals, instruments, and bad ideas in real time. Dubbed the “Harlem Globetrotters of Americana” (Rolling Stone) and the “Wu-Tang Clan of folk rock” (Village Voice), the band thrives on craft colliding with chaos. Their new album, Cat Out of Hell, leans hard into that energy—big hooks, group harmonies, and songs packed with desperate romantics and barstool philosophers. Better witnessed than explained. Tickets
Thomas Dolby with Gail Ann Dorsey
Assembly, April 16
Thomas Dolby’s music has always treated pop as a laboratory—playful and brainy. But this show gets an added charge from his opener, Gail Ann Dorsey, a Hudson Valley–based force with one of the most compelling under-the-radar solo careers in recent memory. After decades as David Bowie’s bassist and vocalist, she’s finally stepping into her own spotlight with music that channels 1970s AM warmth and lyrical grace, offering something tender and direct before Dolby’s brain-friendly synth architecture even lands. Tickets
They Might Be Giants
Bearsville Theater, April 17-18
Renowned for their infamously great live shows, They Might Be Giants are now touring as an eight-piece band with a three-horn section and zero interest in coasting. Each night unfolds in two acts: one album, front to back, followed by a career-spanning set that ricochets from Dial-A-Song brainiacs to Flood classics to brand-new material. Sprawling, playful, and endlessly mutable, these shows prove that TMBG’s songbook—and their appetite for reinvention—remains inexhaustible. It hurts that this one is sold out. Sold out
Mickey Dolenz
Tarrytown Music Hall, April 18
Let’s retire the tired notion that the Monkees weren’t “real” musicians. Yes, the band was assembled for a TV show, and yes, the packaging was cynical—but the music that followed was anything but. Dolenz, in particular, brought a drummer’s instincts and a singer’s elasticity to songs that remain exquisitely constructed pop: witty, adventurous, and melodically bulletproof. Strip away the sneer, and what’s left is craft, joy, and a catalog that’s aged better than most of its so-called authentic peers. Tickets
The Afghan Whigs
Bearsville Theater, April 25
This tour marks the Afghan Whigs’ 40th anniversary, a milestone that feels less nostalgic than hard-earned. From the start, Greg Dulli built the band around tension—soul-inflected melodies delivered with punk abrasion, desire tangled up with damage. That push-pull still defines the live experience, where songs smolder before detonating. Rather than smoothing out the rough edges, time has sharpened them. Four decades in, the Whigs still sound dangerous, which is the whole point. Local heroes Mercury Rev opens. Tickets
Dar Williams
Assembly, May 8
Dar Williams has always been a songwriter who sneaks big ideas into tidy melodies, and “The Babysitter’s Here” remains one of her best examples: a deceptively buoyant song about domestic logistics that quietly opens onto questions of labor, gender, and who gets to leave the house—and when. That’s her trick. The tunes go down easy; the insight lingers. Live, Williams tends to let the songs speak for themselves, trusting their craft and clarity rather than theatrics. Tickets
Bill Callahan
Assembly, May 9
What needs to be said about Bill Callahan is this: “Dress Sexy at My Funeral” is one of the finest love songs ever written. Not pretty, not sentimental—honest, funny, devastating in its clarity. That song alone explains his gift for saying the unsayable with a straight face and a steady hand. Live, Callahan delivers songs without adornment or apology, trusting their weight to carry. He’s not interested in impressing you. He’s interested in telling the truth and letting it sit. Sold out
Iron & Wine
The Egg, May 10
Iron & Wine is the long-running musical project of singer-songwriter Sam Beam, whose cinematic songs have shaped indie folk for more than two decades. Beginning with the lo-fi intimacy of The Creek Drank the Cradle in 2002—home-recorded, hushed, and poetic—Beam expanded his palette over albums like Our Endless Numbered Days and The Shepherd’s Dog, adding rich arrangements while keeping emotional clarity at the core. His music blends folk’s storytelling with melodic sweep, embracing quiet revelation more than bombast. In 2026 he returns with Hen’s Teeth, a new chapter that continues his evolution without losing the tenderness that made listeners fall for him in the first place. Tickets.
Joe Jackson
Bardavon, May 11
Joe Jackson arrived snarling—his 1978 debut single “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” all pub-rock bite and piano-led attitude—but a few years later he delivered “Steppin’ Out,” one of the great acts of polished pop alchemy. That arc has always defined him: sharp social observation refined into elegance without losing its edge. Live, Jackson moves easily between those modes, proving that sophistication doesn’t have to mean softness—and that intelligence, when paired with craft, can still swing. Tickets
Yeison Landero
The Local, May 15
Yeison Landero is the grandson of the legendary Colombian accordionist and singer Andres Landero, known as the king of cumbia. In addition to inheriting his grandfather’s instrument, Yeison inherited his artistic soul, melodic sensibility, and gift for getting a crowd on their feet and keeping them dancing. The junior musician also absorbed the influence of Alfredo Gutierrez, Lizandro Meza, Calixto Ochoa, Enriquez Diaz, and other prominent cumbia figures, and his own music combines traditional styles and instrumentation with laptop beats. He sold out Opus 40 last summer, so don’t sleep on this. Tickets
The Mountain Goats
Bearsville Theater, May 16
The Mountain Goats’ Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan began as a dream scribbled into John Darnielle’s phone and became their most ambitious project yet: a full-scale musical. Shipwrecked characters, dwindling resources, and apocalyptic visions unfold through dense orchestration and maximalist arrangements shaped by Matt Douglas. It’s novelistic, melodic, and emotionally ferocious—survival stories sung with compassion and thunder. Sold out
Camera Obscura
Bearsville Theater, May 27
If the term “twee” ever felt like a limitation, Camera Obscura spent decades turning it into a soundtrack for feeling deeply. Part of the same Glasgow–adjacent diaspora that produced Belle and Sebastian, the band frames sadness in pastel harmonies and nimble arrangements — a trick that makes songs like “The Sweetest Thing” or the aching “Country Mile” feel celebratory and forlorn at the same time. Tickets
NRBQ
Levon Helm Studios, May 29-30
NRBQ sounds like a band that never believed genre rules were enforceable. Rock and roll is the base, but jump blues, country, pop, and boogie-woogie piano drift in naturally, without irony or pastiche. The songs are short, hooky, and joy-forward, played with a looseness that hides serious chops. Funny without novelty, virtuosic without showing off, NRBQ’s greatest trick is making great American music feel effortless and welcoming. Tickets
Cake
Saratoga Performing Arts Center, June 1
Cake is a rhythm band masquerading as a joke band. Strip away the deadpan vocals and dry wit, and what’s left is discipline: taut basslines, precise grooves, and songs engineered with ruthless economy. Nothing overstays its welcome. The trumpet isn’t a gimmick—it’s load-bearing. John McCrea’s refusal to emote only sharpens the impact, letting structure and lyric carry the weight. It’s a sound that’s instantly recognizable, stubbornly unfussy, and far tougher than it lets on. Tickets
Mekons
Bearsville Theater, June 9
Formed in Leeds in 1977, the Mekons began as punk provocateurs and evolved into something far stranger and richer: a collective that folds folk, country, dub, and art-world mischief into a single, unruly body of work. Lester Bangs called them revolutionary, and he wasn’t wrong. (And Bangs was never wrong—except about Black Sabbath.) The Mekons’ music rejects polish in favor of ideas, collaboration, and risk. Nearly 50 years on, they remain ferocious live—and still proudly unwilling to behave. Tickets
NYC Ska Orchestra
The Local, June 13
The NYC Ska Orchestra turns Jamaican ska and rocksteady into a full-body experience. Led by trumpeter and arranger Kevin Batchelor, this 20-piece big band brings deep grooves, punchy horns, and serious lineage—members have played with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Toots & the Maytals. The set draws from 1950s and ’60s ska, mento, and jazz, building toward an evening that’s less concert than dance floor revival. Skanking encouraged. Tickets
The Wood Brothers
Arrowood Farms, June 16
The Wood Brothers fold folk, blues, gospel and jazz into a sound that feels both timeless and immediate. Oliver and Chris Wood’s interplay—upright bass thrum and soulful guitar—is the kind of rootsy foundation that holds stories, grooves and quiet magic at the same time. With Jano Rix adding melodic percussion and unexpected color, their live sets feel like communal storytelling: fluid, warm, and effortlessly soulful. Tickets
Solid Sound
Mass MoCA, June 26-28
Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival returns June 26–28, with one of its most compelling lineups yet—anchored by the first full live performance of Mermaid Avenue, Wilco and Billy Bragg’s remarkable setting of Woody Guthrie lyrics from 1998. Beyond that centerpiece, the bill pulls from decades of independent and post-punk lineage: The Breeders’ melodic grit, Gang of Four’s still-urgent angular post-punk, and solo turns from Jeff Tweedy and Billy Bragg himself. Contemporary voices like S.G. Goodman and L’Rain rub shoulders with exploratory projects such as Nels Cline’s Consentrik Quartet and The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis, while sharp new names like Sharp Pins and Elizabeth Moen ensure discoveries along the way. Tickets
