Ten years. Twenty-five bands. Six independent venues. One surprise headliner. Philly Music Fest returns October 12 through 18 for its 10th annual edition, and the lineup is as genre-diverse and community-rooted as anything the festival has produced in a decade of doing this the right way.
Headliners include The Dillinger Escape Plan, RJD2, Sweet Pill, Marietta, Mo Lowda and The Humble, Immanuel Wilkins, and Owen Stewart, with support from Madi Diaz, Jordan Caiola, Noah Richardson, Remember Sports, Euphoria Again, Bleary Eyed, Wax Jaw, Solar Circuit, Nik Greeley and The Operators, Sug Daniels, Angelo Outlaw, Pyrrhon, and many more. Tickets are on sale now at PhillyMusicFest.com and directly from each venue.
The Dillinger Escape Plan at Underground Arts marks PMF’s most aggressive metal booking yet, following last year’s introduction of Horrendous to the lineup. Sweet Pill returns to the stage after cancelling a string of tour dates following their breakthrough album release, with Marietta headlining the following night. The punk and metal programming at Underground Arts has found a new lane, and the audience has been asking for exactly this.
The festival wraps at Solar Myth for the annual Jazz Night, and founder Greg Seltzer landed on Immanuel Wilkins as the closing statement. At 28 years old and from Upper Darby, Wilkins is widely regarded as one of the most gifted saxophone players working today. Seltzer considered a Philly 250 theme and a Coltrane centennial tribute before concluding that booking Wilkins was the most honest way to honor both.
The surprise headliner tradition continues with 2 nights at Ardmore Music Hall, a slot that has previously gone to Dr. Dog, Mt. Joy, and Waxahatchee. The identity won’t be revealed until later this summer, but Jordan Caiola, who opens the show with his solo project, describes it as “a hero of mine, one of my favorite artists.” That’s a strong signal.
Philly Music Fest is a nonprofit run by husband and wife Greg and Jenn Seltzer, funded entirely by community donors and operating without corporate advertising, government money, or multinational promoters. After paying all artists fairly and covering venue costs, every dollar of profit goes to music education programs for Philadelphia kids. Over 10 years, that total has surpassed $600,000, with an annual donation of $100,000 and an estimated $750,000 annual economic impact on the Philadelphia music economy.
Seltzer’s approach to growth is deliberate and worth noting. PMF has turned down significant expansion opportunities, holding firm at 9 club shows across 7 nights. “We don’t measure success by size, we measure success by impact,” he says. That philosophy, maintained for a decade against considerable pressure to scale up, is what makes this festival worth supporting.