The top 15 concerts to see in September

The weather’s getting crisper, which means that festival season is (mostly) behind us and some massive acts are hitting the road for headlining tours. The Weeknd, Katy Perry, Harry Styles, and more will kick off tours this September — and EW has collected the month’s must-see shows. See them below.

U2
Dates: Sept. 3 – Sept. 22
Details: U2 ruled the summer when they took 1987’s seminal The Joshua Tree on the road to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The second leg of the tour promises to be similarly epic — and perhaps even more so, considering that Beck will open some of its dates and that U2 has now started to release new music from their upcoming album, Songs of Experience. For more, revisit EW’s behind-the-scenes look at the tour.
Tickets: Visit U2’s site for more information and buy here

Arcade Fire
Dates: Sept. 5 – Nov. 4
Details: Few new rock bands formed in the 2000s have made the same impact as Arcade Fire. The indie-rock favorites — who’ve also dabbled in electro with 2013’s Reflektor and this year’s Everything Now — command arena crowds with their boundless energy and deep, diverse arsenal of hits. There’s no experience in current music quite like belting the band’s 2004 anthem “Wake Up” alongside thousands of other passionate concertgoers.
Tickets: Visit Arcade Fire’s site for more information and buy here

The Weeknd
Dates: Sept. 6 – Nov. 2
Details: Abel Tesfaye continued to cement his status as the Millennial Michael Jackson in 2017, notching two top 5 singles on the Hot 100 — “I Feel It Coming” and the No. 1 “Starboy” — after releasing his third album, Starboy, last November. On top of his pipes, Tesfaye has the dance moves and wild lights to go with the mantle, which he’ll bust out again on the second leg of his Starboy tour. And arrive early: Gucci Mane, who has impressed in 2017 with everything from his Metro Boomin collaborative album to an unexpected Fifth Harmony guest spot, will open many of the dates.
Tickets: Visit the Weeknd’s site for more information and buy here

Queens of the Stone Age
Dates: Sept. 6 – Oct. 24
Details: The alt-rockers toured last year, just not under their own moniker — members of the band accompanied the legendary Iggy Pop as he toured his excellent 2016 album Post Pop Depression, which Queens frontman Joshua Homme co-produced and co-wrote. But they returned in August with Villains, a collection of crunchy and addictive hard-rock tunes co-produced by “Uptown Funk” and Amy Winehouse beatsmith Mark Ronson. The high-energy cuts should provide a nice contrast to older, heavier Queens jams like “No One Knows.” For more about Homme, revisit EW’s Soundtrack of My Life with the rocker.
Tickets: Visit Queens of the Stone Age’s site for more information and buy here

Paramore
Dates: Sept. 6 – Dec. 3
Details: “The fact that we created an album and people can hear it — I’m still pinching myself,” the Tennessee band’s frontwoman Hayley Williams told EW in May, when the band released their fifth album, After Laughter. An in-flux lineup — bassist Jeremy Davis left, while drummer Zac Farro returned to the fold — cast Paramore’s future into doubt, but they rekindled their emo-pop flame on Laughter and will hit the road in support of the record this fall.
Tickets: Visit Paramore’s site for more information and buy here.

Sturgill Simpson
Dates: Sept. 7 – Oct. 6
Details: The boundary-pushing country artist, who notched an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammys with 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, will embark on another brief tour this fall. Simpson’s blend of country, rock, soul, and psychedelia is truly visionary — and he’s also one of the most accomplished contemporary performers in any genre.
Tickets: Visit Simpson’s site for more information and buy here

Prophets of Rage
Dates: Sept. 7 – Nov. 4
Details: When Prophets of Rage — the supergroup comprised of members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and Cypress Hill — debuted in summer 2016, the ensemble seemed like a short-lived balm to ease the discomfort of the contentious election season. But the election’s outcome surprised — and the radical-minded band has stuck around to preach their message in the Trump era. Expect tracks from their incendiary, self-titled debut, out Sept. 15, along with highlights from the respective members’ outside projects.
Tickets: Visit Prophets of Rage’s site for more information and buy here

Lauryn Hill / Nas
Dates: Sept. 7 – Oct. 11
Details: Two of the most vital artists of the ’90s will join forces for a co-headlining tour in September and October. Nas has recently teased that the follow-up to his 2012 album Life Is Good is imminent, even featuring on a 2016 DJ Khaled song titled “Nas Album Done.” Comedian Hannibal Buress will open select dates.
Tickets: Visit Hill and Nas‘ sites for more information and buy here

The Flaming Lips / Mac DeMarco
Dates: Sept. 17 – Oct. 5
Details: The Oklahoman stalwarts make electronic-tinged psychedelia, while DeMarco pens earnest, slacker-rock jams — but their oddball personalities and charismatic live shows make perfect sense together. Their co-headlining tour comes on the heels of an announcement that the artists are releasing a split EP where they’ll cover one another’s songs. (Both acts will also perform fall dates separate from each other.)
Tickets: Visit the Flaming Lips and DeMarco‘s sites for more information and buy here

Harry Styles
Dates: Sept. 19 – Oct. 14
Details: The One Directioner channeled his inner ’70s rock star on his self-titled solo debut earlier this year — and fans loved his fresh artistic direction, leading his world tour to sell out in seconds. Sure, Dunkirk may have made Styles a movie star, but his fall dates should remind observers that music remains his forte. And for those who miss out? Styles already has North American dates — with Kacey Musgraves opening! — booked for June and July 2018.
Tickets: Visit Styles’ site for more information and buy here

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
Dates: Sept. 21 – Oct. 6
Details: Steven Van Zandt has been a key fixture of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since joining in the mid-’70s. But he also has an extensive catalog of his own; earlier this year, he released Soulfire, his first full-length since 1999. “It’s me covering me,” he told EW earlier this year of the album, which runs the gamut from doo-wop to blues to jazz. He’ll tour with the 15-piece Disciples of Soul this fall, but Springsteen’s specter will still loom: The Boss co-wrote Soulfire‘s”Love on the Wrong Side of Town” with Van Zandt.
Tickets: Visit Van Zandt’s site for more information and buy here

Marilyn Manson
Dates: Sept. 27 – Nov. 5
Details: The industrial-rock fixture will release his 10th album, Heaven Upside Down, on Sept. 29. But one of the most noteworthy aspects of his forthcoming tour is the opener: Alice Glass made her name as one-half of abrasive electronic duo Crystal Castles, but she recently released her self-titled debut EP.
Tickets: Visit Manson’s site for more information and buy here

Keller Williams
Dates: Sept. 22, 2017 – Jan. 17, 2018
Details: The virtuosic guitarist, best known for his newgrass roots but also versed in jazz and folk, embarks on a solo tour in September where he’ll use loop pedals to turn his one-man show into an enveloping experience. Four of his October shows, meanwhile, will be with Grateful Grass, an ensemble that “performs loose interpretations of Grateful Dead songs in a psychedelic bluegrass style.”
Tickets: Visit Williams’ site for more information and buy here

Halsey
Dates: Sept. 23 – Nov. 22
Details: Between scoring a No. 1 on the Hot 100 with the Chainsmokers on “Closer” and a No. 1 album with this year’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, the uncompromising singer-songwriter has become one of pop’s most bankable acts. This fall, she’ll perform her biggest gigs yet, hitting venues including Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Inglewood, California’s the Forum. “The space I need to fill with my sound is not a bedroom anymore, it’s an arena,” she told EW earlier this year. She’ll certainly have openers worthy of a star: Drake affiliate PARTYNEXTDOOR and electropop artist Charli XCX will kick shows off.
Tickets: Visit Halsey’s site for more information and buy here