The best concerts and shows to see in New York City in September 2025

There are thousands of shows to see in New York City every month, which makes keeping track of any kind of live show calendar hard and choosing between shows even harder. We here at The FADER are always making note of the upcoming performances we're most looking forward to, and we’re now publishing our picks for the most exciting shows coming up in the city. Ahead, find the 30-odd shows we're most looking forward to in September 2025, from stadium-sized Brit-pop to Japanese psych-punk, swamp-rock puppet theater, and more.

New Orleans-via-Brooklyn rapper Cavalier shows off creative flows and impressive lyricism each time he steps into the booth. He’ll be joined at Baby’s by Jersey’s own Fatboi Sharif, who keeps things resolutely weird while rapping with the best of them.

Read our recent Rap Blog on Sharif and get tickets here.

Mach-Hommy has as strong a claim as anyone on the title of best rapper alive, and he knows his worth. Unfortunately for fans, that means the face value of tickets to his rare performance at LPR is $231.13.

Read our three Mach-Hommy cover stories and get those $231.13 tickets here.

William Basinski and Kali Malone are titans of drone. But before the ingenious tape looper and organ master deliver their lustrous long tones, Evicshen will treat the Knockdown crowd to a hissing harsh noise attack.

Read our review of Basinski and Malone’s last New York show and get tickets here.

Former Girlpool member Avery Tucker is gearing up for his debut solo album Paw, and its singles so far are raw and soft-spoken. He’ll be preceded by the soothing, shoegaze-y tones of local artist Scarlet Rae.

Read our recent profile of Avery Tucker and get tickets here.

Maxo consistently releases some of the most probing hip-hop we have today, and duendita’s short-form confessionals are soul-baring and strikingly beautiful. Her fractured soul was on full display on her recent album A Strong Desire to Survive.

Read our interviews with Maxo and duendita, and get tickets here.

A star-studded lineup with some of the most fried music in existence — from Snow Strippers’ postmodernist hyperpop to Lazer Dim 700’s super-saturated SoundCloud rap to Evilgiane’s elastic but hard-hitting beats.

Read our interview with everyone who worked on Evilgiane make his 2024 mixtape #HEAVENSGATE VOL. 1.

Nabihah Iqbal gave us a refreshing take on dream pop with her beguiling but aptly named 2023 album DREAMER. She followed it with a remixed version the next year and frequently shows off her skill behind the decks around the city, but this will be a rare live performance of her own music.

Get tickets here.

Ethel Cain has become a controversial figure of late, but she’s made some of the most powerful pop music of the decade. This year saw her release two full-length follow-ups — Perverts and Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You — to her astonishing debut Preacher’s Daughter, continuing to build out her modern-day southern gothic world.

Read our review of Perverts and listen to Ethel Cain on The FADER Interview podcast. Get tickets to her Radio City show here and her Kings Theatre show here.

The constant transformation of yeule’s amorphous cyborg-pop has been fascinating to observe across four albums and six years, manifesting in its most plainspoken iteration yet on this year’s Evangelic Girl is a Gun. They’ll be joined at Warsaw by fish narc, the post-punk project of prolific emo-rap producer Benjamin Friars-Funkhouser.

Listen to yeule on The FADER Interview podcast and get tickets here.

Model/Actriz’s bracing punk has filled two rocket-fueled LPs, and their live shows — led with theatrical flourish by frontman Cole Haden — are even more invigorating. In just two years, they’ve exploded in popularity to such a degree that they’re playing two nights at an 1,100-capacity room in their hometown.

Night one is sold out. Get tickets to the September 13 show here.

Desert blues guitar god Mdou Moctar has delivered stirring songs that tell tales of the Tuareg people’s human rights struggle for more than a decade. Body Meat’s riveting combination of laser-focused, video game-inspired production and Auto-Tuned vocals were in full effect on 2024’s Starchris. And duendita (as previously mentioned) makes strikingly beautiful short-form confessionals.

Read our GEN F profile of Body Meat, and get tickets here.

Rachika Nayar has shown her skills as an ambient guitarist and a producer of lush dance-pop. Nina Keith makes textured piano music and synthscapes.Their self-titled collaborative debut as Disinblud is a wondrously strange combination of their talents, whispery and elusive as a breeze through barren trees.

Read our interview with Rachika Nayar and get tickets here.

Yaya Bey makes transportative music for the club and the cut, alternately euphoric and tragic. Generally self-producing, she’s able to customize her chamelonic beats for her elastic yet velvety voice. She’s had an insane three-album run — from 2022’s Remember Your North Star to 2024’s Ten Fold to this year’s do it afraid — and shows no signs of slowing. Joining her will be Brooklyn R&B duo Bathe and eclectic local DJ Ayanna Heaven.

Get tickets here.

Louisville band Wombo make reliably inventive art-punk, anchored by the jolting syncopation that underscores Sydney Chadwick’s disarming vocals, and their new album Danger in Fives is their best work yet. Joining them are Shower Curtain, the Brazil-originated, Brooklyn-based bedroom punk project fronted by Victoria Winter.

Read our recent Opener profile on Wombo and get tickets here.

Legendary Japanese-Texan psych-punk band Peelander-Z are known for putting on some of the world’s most energetic and energizing shows. Currently based in Austin, they make pure punk with plenty of flare but no filter.

Get tickets here.

Since the release of her 2009 debut Europa, Molly Nilsson has never stopped making haunting dream music with steely melodies and disturbed harmonies. Joining her at Elsewhere is kindred spirit Amery, whose first album Continue As Amery dropped last year.

Read our 2017 and 2021 interviews with Molly Nilsson, and get tickets here.

Nourished By Time just put out one of the best albums of the year, a perfect blend of lo-fi R&B and post-punk that may even match the power of his stunning debut, Erotic Probiotic 2. He’ll be joined at Irving Plaza by Zsela, whose excellent electrified R&B debut record Big For You dropped last year.

Read our interview with Zsela and get tickets here.

Veteran punks Oneida will headline their fifth annual bandshell show in Queens, with this year’s varied lineup featuring heavy experimental rockers Editrix — whose recently released album The Big E absolutely rips — and relentlessly creative composer and multimedia artist Nick Hallett.

This event is free.

Diles que no me maten are an experimental rock group at the center of a red-hot Mexico City arts scene. Their music — part krautrock, part jazz, part spoken-word poetry — and their totally unpredictable live shows are helping them ascend to the world stage.

Read our interview with Diles que no me maten and get tickets here.

Mary Lattimore is one of the world’s great experimental harpists. In her hands, the often rarified instrument is somehow more accessible in the context of her abstractions, alternately ambient and hyper-engaged. You’ve got three shots at catching her in Union Pool’s intimate show room; on Thursday and Saturday, she’ll be joined by fellow L.A. ambient artist Thunderwerld, with Sleepy Doug Shaw — an adventurous New York guitarist who recently made a joint album with Animal Collective’s Geologist — supporting her on Friday.

Listen to Mary Lattimore on The FADER Interview podcast and get tickets here to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows.

Those unfamiliar with iconic New Orleans weirdos Quintron and Miss Pussycat are in for a treat. The “swamp-tech” duo’s performances feature irreverent rock songs played by Quintron on several self-designed instruments and sung in tandem with Miss Pussycat, who enriches the performance with her world-renowned puppetry. For the New York stop of their 30th-anniversary tour, they’ll be joined by artist/director/designer Chrissy Marie Jones aka 1-800-HOT-DUCK and modular synth sorceress Marcia Bassett.

Get tickets here.

John Zorn’s “game piece” “Cobra” has to be seen to be remotely understood, but it’s based on “rules” that are “closely guarded” by Zorn’s dictionary-long list of collaborators. At Roulette, you’ll see world-class musicians raise their hands like teacher’s pets and signal to each other like third-base coaches before launching into incinerating solos while Zorn “conducts.”

Get tickets here.

Longtime indie mainstays TV On The Radio will headline a stacked lineup that includes super-producer/filmmaker Flying Lotus, rap/R&B experimentalist Sudan Archives, spoken-word poet and collaborator extraordinaire Moor Mother, and Tia Cabral’s ebullient avant-pop project Spellling.

Read our 2008 TV on the Radio cover story, our 2014 Flying Lotus cover story (and a more recent interview regarding his new film Ash), and our 2015 and 2017 interviews with Moor Mother. Listen to Flying Lotus, Sudan Archives, and Moor Mother on The FADER Interview podcast. And get tickets here.

Of all four members of Animal Collective, Panda Bear has had the brightest solo career, consistently crafting unusual yet irresistible pop records. His latest, Sinister Grift, might be his best work in a decade. He’ll be supported by fellow core AnCo member Deakin, whose only solo album (2016’s Sleep Cycle) is a different kind of brilliant.

Read our 2005 Animal Collective cover story and get tickets here.

Joanne Robertson’s misty and mystifying voice has been all over Dean Blunt’s work, and her 2023 album Blue Car put those vocals in an echoing, acoustic context with the messy charm of an Arthur Russell demo collection. At Night Club 101, she’ll get support from Corridos Ketamina, whose self-titled debut album — a refreshing mix of fried norteños and emo rap — dropped on August 21.

Get tickets here.

Robertson’s LPR show will coincide with the release of her next album Blurr, which features multiple contributions from powerhouse cellist-composer Oliver Coates. She’ll be sharing the bill with Elias Rønnenfelt, another recent Blunt collaborator who also happens to front the Danish post-punk outfit Iceage. They’ll be joined by “special guest” UK Brad, the shadowy noise/rock project of visual artist Brad Kronz.

Read about our cheerless weekend in 2014 with Elias Rønnenfelt and Iceage, and get tickets here.

Tara Clerkin Trio’s 2020 self-titled debut album and two subsequent EPs have blurred borders that most people weren’t even aware of, between folk and trip-hop, jazz and dub. New York guitar legend Wendy Eisenberg will play in support. Tara Clerkin Trio is also scheduled to play Night Club 101 on September 21, support TBA.

Get tickets to the Public Records show here and the Night Club 101 show here.

Lightning Bolt are simply one of the best bands ever. The amount of noise created by the obliterating drums of Brian Chippendale and the deranged bass and vocal distortions of Brian Gibson is something to behold, and it really needs to be beheld live to be believed. Kill Alters — the Brooklyn post-industrial mutant trio of Bonnie Baxter (vox), Nicos Kennedy (production), and Soft Circle (drums) — will play in support.

Read our 2010 Q&A with Brian Chippendale and get tickets here.

Mary Halvorson plays guitar like no one else, and her compositions are similarly singular. Her Amaryllis Sextet — with Patricia Brennan on vibes, Nick Dunston on bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Jacob Garchik on trombone, and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet — has been developing their sound for several years now. At Roulette, they’ll be performing the compositions that appear on their new album About Ghosts, but these scores leave room for endless improvisation, so it’s impossible to know what this set will really sound like.

Get tickets here.

“It’s just something people haven’t heard. And I want to give it to them,” Atlanta native Chase Shaun Mitchell recently told The FADER. His new album REST IN BASS could well have consisted of 20 mimics of the viral hits (“Pizza Time,” “Miley Cyrus”) that launched his career. Instead, it’s a much more abrasive project, inspired by classic punk and big-room EDM.

Read our recent interview with Che and get tickets here.

james K has been making some of the most creative electronic pop music out there for almost a decade, and her long-awaited third album Friend is due out September 5. Her support at The Ruins will come from Maria Somerville — whose gorgeous ambient rock record Luster was her first in six years when it dropped in April — and ESP, who’s released two ultra-lush synth records thus far.

Read our recent interview with Maria Somerville and get tickets here.

On the same night as james K et al. take the Ruins stage outside Knockdown Center, one of the world’s best rappers will be performing indoors. woods is wildly prolific as a solo artist and a collaborator — most notably as half of Armand Hammer. He’s currently touring behind his supersized, feature-filled May album GOLLIWOG, a project that reflects the many dissonances of our times.

Listen to billy woods and Preservation discuss Aethiopes, our favorite album of 2022, on The FADER Interview podcast. Get tickets here.

\Bass phenom Henry Fraser and true freak (complimentary) Ka Baird, who uses contact mics to make their body an instrument, will be a fascinating duo to watch. Joining them as support will be Berlin art-pop vocalist Claire Dickson and Cassandra Croft, an entrancing solo artist who’s also collaborated with the likes of Rachika Nayar and Juliana Barwick.

Read our review of Ka Baird’s most recent album and get tickets here.

September 1: Palehound, Katy Kirby, and more @ Night Club 101 (Fundraiser for Zohran Mamdani)
September 2–3: Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize @ Barclays Center
September 2: Christian McBride, Brad Mehldau @ Blue Note
September 2: Trans Music Archive Presents Censored Dialogue, Dreamcrusher, and more @ Trans-Pecos
September 3–6: Caroline Davis residency @ The Stone
September 3: Nara’s Room, Hiding Places, and more @ Union Pool (South Brooklyn Sanctuary Benefit)
September 3: Justine Lee Hoope, Shara Lunon, Melissa Almaguer, and more @ Sisters (Fundraiser for our Neighbors in ICE Detention)
September 3: Groovy Lab Presents Korea Town Acid, JIALING, and Phantzan @ Bossa Nova Civic Club
September 4: Open Head, AFK, Big Flowers @ Night Club 101
September 4: Marc Edwards, Dylan DelGuidice, Kenny Mattucci, and more @ Brothers Wash & Dry
September 4: Leon Bridges, Reyna Tropical, and more @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 4: Synthicide presents Mozhgan, Markus, Arvin T @ Bossa Nova Civic Club
September 5–10: Festival of New Trumpet Music @ The Jazz Gallery
September 5: Joe Lovano, Arturo O’Farrill, and more @ The Cutting Room (Musicians For Musicians 10-year Anniversary)
September 5: Rilo Kiley, Natalie Bergman @ The Rooftop at Pier 17
September 6–7: inGardens Festival — William Hooker Quartet, David Sewelsen Trio, and more @ Children’s Magical Garden
September 6: Liam Benzvi, Country Girl, Melody English @ Night Club 101
September 7–8: Mac DeMarco, Mock Media, Daryl Johns @ Radio City Music Hall
September 7: Slow Crush, Faetooth @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
September 7: Bellcave, Fraternal Twin, Coolant @ Night Club 101
September 7: Hot Chip @ Webster Hall
September 8: fakemink @ Bowery Ballroom
September 8: Unwound, Zwei Null Zwei @ Elsewhere
September 8: Pearl and the Oysters, 79.5 @ The Sultan Room
September 8: HAIM, Dora Jar @ Madison Square Garden
September 8: Rilo Kiley, Dean Johnson @ Central Park SummerStage
September 9: Hunx and His Punx, Tchotchke, Christeene @ Warsaw
September 10–13: Brian Marsella residency @ The Stone
September 10: The Hellp @ Webster Hall
September 10: Sō Percussion @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 11: Kali Uchis, The Sacred Souls @ Madison Square Garden @ Madison Square Garden
Sept 11: Pulp @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 11: Elliott Sharp, Don McKenzie, and more @ Nublu 151
September 11: John Dorney, Postmark, Simon Hanes, and Hannah Lee Thompson @ Cassette
September 11: Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ricky Eat Acid @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 11: Superchunk @ Bowery Ballroom
September 11: McKinley Dixon @ Elsewhere
September 11: Charly Bliss, Trophy Wife @ Rocks Off Concert Cruises
September 12: Mature Music, Emily Allan, Pain Annihilator @ Night Club 101
September 13–14: inGardens — Heru Shabaka-ra Trio, Joy Guidry, and more @ Children’s Magical Garden
September 13: Honey Dijon @ Knockdown Center
September 13: PUP, Jeff Rosenstock, Ekko Astral @ Brooklyn Paramount
September 14: Robert Ashley’s Celestial Excursions w/ Gelsey Bell, Kayleigh Butcher, and more @ Roulette
September 14: PUP, Jeff Rosenstock
September 16: Nadah El Shazly @ Roulette
September 16–17: Devendra Banhart, Kath Bloom @ National Sawdust
September 16: Soccer Mommy, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Dummy
September 16: Kacie Hill, Wetmoreland, and more @ Cassette
September 17–20: Dan Weiss residency @ The Stone
September 17–18: Wet Leg, Mary in the Junkyard @ Central Park SummerStage
September 17: Oso Oso @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 17: Frost Children @ Rough Trade NYC
September 17: Dougie Poole, Margaux
September 17: Alabama Shakes, El Michels Affair @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 18: Joanne Robertson, Corridos Ketamina @ Night Club 101
September 18–20: Nation of Language, A. Savage / Horse Jumper of Love / Greet Death @ Warsaw
September 19: Hand Habits, more eaze @ Public Records
September 19: Knifeplay, Euphoria Again @ Night Club 101
September 19: múm, Mr. Silla @ Pioneer Works
September 19: Fieldwork (Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, and Steve Lehman) @ Roulette
September 19: Caley Conway, Dump (James McNew of Yo La Tengo), Jasper Jones @ Cassette
September 19: Mint Field, Punchlove @ Trans-Pecos
Jacques Greene, Nosaj Thing @ Webster Hall
September 20–21: InGardens — Rob Brown Trio, Andrew Drury & Ayumi Ishito, and more @ Children’s Magical Garden
September 20–24: Chappell Roan @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 20: Moin @ Baby’s All Right
September 20: SG Lewis, Sofia Kourtesis @ Knockdown Center
September 20: Frankie Cosmos, fantasy of a broken heart, Moontype @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
September 20: Yasmin Williams @ National Sawdust
September 20: Hand Habits @ Night Club 101
September 21–22: Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist, Jalen Ngonda, MAVI, Sven Wunder @ Brooklyn Paramount
September 21: History Dog, CarDust @ The Owl
September 21: Isabella Lovestory, Cece Natalie @ Elsewhere
September 23: BabyTron, Shitty Boyz @ Webster Hall
September 24–27: Anna Webber residency @ The Stone
September 24: Sam Prekop @ Public Records
September 24: Hinds, Horsepower @ Elsewhere Rooftop
September 24: Dazzling Killmen, Couch Slut, Chaser, and secret guest @ The Meadows
September 24: Jules Reidy, Eliana Glass @ Roulette
September 24: Foxwarren feat. Andy Shauf, Allegra Krieger @ Warsaw
September 24: Ziggy Marley & Burning Spear @ The Rooftop at Pier 17
September 25: Spiritualized @ Kings Theatre
September 25–26: X, Los Lobos @ Town Hall
September 25: Viagra Boys @ Rough Trade NYC (signing)
September 26–28: Martha Wainwright @ Joe’s Pub
September 26: John Maus @ Warsaw
September 27: CBGB Festival — Iggy Pop, Jack While, and more @ Under the K Bridge Park
September 26: All Things Go — Lucy Dacus , Djo, and more @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 26: Sextile, Automatic
September 26: NxWorries @ Brooklyn Paramount
September 26: Bonobo, Maribou State, Dee Diggs @ Knockdown Center
September 26: Juan Wauters @ National Sawdust
September 26: Freak Heat Waves, S.3.R @ Night Club 101
September 26: Salamanda @ Public Records
September 26–28: Tropical Fuck Storm and more @ TV EYE
September 26: Buzzcocks @ Brooklyn Bowl
September 27–28: InGardens: Whit Dickey, Moona Miari, and more @ Children’s Magical Garden
September 27: Doechii, Lola Young, and more @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 27: feeble little horse, Teethe, Pink Must @ Knockdown Center
September 27: Zola Jesus @ National Sawdust
September 27: Bolis Pupul @ Public Records
September 28: Woods, White Fence @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 29–39: Aja Monet @ Blue Note
September 29–30: Tyler Childers, Medium Build @ Forest Hills Stadium
September 30: David Byrne @ Radio City Music Hall