All the best music to hear in Philly this week from Jesse Welles, the Damned, John Oates, and more

Philly music this week is busy with lots of action in theaters and clubs, with Jesse Welles and Arc Angel at the Met, Paris Paloma and Movements at Franklin Music Hall, the Jayhawks and Bruce Cockburn at the Keswick, Ashley McBryde in Lansdowne, L7 at Brooklyn Bowl, and more.

Scott McCaughey is a Swiss army knife indie rocker. His résumé includes years of touring as an auxiliary member of R.E.M., the Baseball Project, as well as his two main creative outlets, the Minus 5 and Young Fresh Fellows. The Pacific Northwest songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is coming to the Main Line with the latter, in support of the YFF’s psychedelic and Beatles-y 16th album, Loft. Philly’s the No Good Crowd, who released the 10 song collection Unproper (test mixes and rough pressings) earlier this year, is opening. 8 p.m., 118 North, 118 North Wayne Ave, Wayne, 118NorthWayne.com

Juggalos will gather when Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope of Detroit horrorcore hip-hop duo arrives in Philly for a pre-Halloween date. This tour is in support of their not-so-cheery 2025 album The Naught, which adds existential dread to the ICP arsenal on songs like “Everybody Dies” and “While It Lasts.” With Wakko the Kid. 7 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. 7th St., FrankinMusicHall.com

L7 was a key player in the alt-rock late 1980s and early 1990s, and the grunge-adjacent all-female band was a precursor to the riot-grrrl movement. The “Pretend We’re Dead” and “S — list” band fronted by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner is carrying on with its “Last Hurrah Tour” despite the loss of bassist Jennifer Finch, who died of brain cancer this year. 8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia

Longtime Americana standouts the Jayhawks is in fine form on Sanctuary Park, the Minnesota-born band’s new album. It reunites the Gary Louris-led quartet with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin, who the band previously worked with on 2000’s Smile. Everly Brothers-esque sibling duo Cactus Blossoms opens. 8 p.m., Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave, Glenside, keswicktheatre.com.

The music makers on the Historic New Jersey label have been mainly woodshedding in recent years, obsessively making music in their South Philly basement. Now though, the members of the songwriting collective are increasingly coming out into the light of day to play live. Siblings Sam and Louise Sullivan, who released the superb Love & Devotion this summer, are doing a Free At Noon this week. Noon, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 East Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org.

Jesse Welles has deftly positioned himself as the topical folk protest singer, self-styled in the mold of the early 1960s truth-to-power acoustic pickers like Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. He played the Fillmore earlier this year, did a pop up show at Race Street Pier in June, and now he’s moved up to headlining the Met. Hudson Freeman opens. 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com.

British pastoral folk-pop singer Paris Paloma, who calls herself “you favorite fairy grungemother” has followed up her 2024 debut, Cacophony, with the new The Fatal Flaw. The title is a nod to the animating concept of Donna Tartt’s 1992 novel The Secret History. Susannah Joffe opens. 8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. 7th Street, franklinmusichall.com

New York-born and Puerto Rico-raised rapper and singer Austin Agustin Santos is a reggaeton and Latin trap artist who teamed with Bad Bunny on “La Jumpa” in 2024. He’s nominated for a best rap/hip-hop song award at the Latin Grammys for “Gohan Y Guka” from his new La 8va Maravilla. 8 p.m., 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

First generation British punks the Damned are touring 50 years after its first ever gig, and opening for the Sex Pistols in London. The lineup for the “Final Damnation” tour includes three core original members, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Rat Scabies, and the band is refreshingly straight forward in their statement about why fans should see the band now: “Bearing in mind the advanced years of the participants it’s fairly unlikely we’ll undertake anything quite like this again.” Flaming Groovies and the Courettes opens. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

Post-hardcore rock band Movements hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. but its relationship with producer and engineer Will Yip brings them to Philadelphia to make new music. Work on the band’s punchy and propulsive new album Happier Now — the band’s fourth consecutive with Yip — began last year at Studio 4 in Conshohocken and completed earlier this year at Yip’s new Memory Music Studios in South Philly. With Balance and Composure, Midrift, and Niis. 7:30 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. 7th St., FrankinMusicHall.com

Ashley McBryde is a sharp-eyed lyricist who makes unflinching country music with a rock and roll kick. Wild, her new album produced by Joan Osborne, takes an unflinching look at her Arkansas preacher’s daughter upbringing and past struggles with alcohol. New Zealand “Neon Cowgirl” singer Tami Neilson, who teams with McBryde, Grace Bowers, and Shelly Fairchild on her new single, opens the show. 8 p.m., Lansdowne Theater, 31 N. Lansdowne Ave, lansdownetheater.com

Canadian guitarist Bruce Cockburn has been a prolific songwriter over a 50-year career, and his compositions include the all-time great protest song “If I Had A Rocket Launcher.” But on his gorgeous new album The Blood of Others — which takes its title from a Simone de Beauvoir novel — he turns in empathetic and soulful versions of songs he didn’t write, including Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” Jelly Roll Morton’s “Buddy Bolden Blues,” and Herman Hupfeld’s “As Time Goes By.” Livingston Taylor opens. 8 p.m., Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave, Glenside, keswicktheatre.com.

John Dwyer’s super prolific and ever-name-changing psychedelic garage rock band Osees — formerly known as OCS and Thee Oh Sees among other variants — included singer and keyboard player Brigid Dawson in a classic lineup in its earlier years. Dawson left the band in 2013 but has continued to work with them sporadically and is featured on the new Off Course and this tour. 7 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

It’s coming upon the third anniversary of the Hall & Oates split that broke up the Philly born tandem that’s the best selling duo in the history of pop music. As separate entities, the former musical partners are staying plenty busy. Oates will be back in his hometown with his Good Road Band, performing new songs and past hits. 7:30 p.m., City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia.