Philly Music Fest Returns With an Impressive Lineup (and a Mystery Headliner)

Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins closes out the festival with a show at Solar Myth on October 18th. / Photograph by Joshua Woods

Greg Seltzer knows it’s a tricky bit of marketing to announce your music festival without naming the headliner, but he’s gotten away with it before. In the 10 years since he and his wife Jenn Seltzer founded Philly Music Fest, the late-announced superstars have included Waxahatchee, Dr. Dog, and Mt. Joy.

Seltzer’s not being coy; it’s a music biz thing. This year’s mystery headliner is booked for a really big gig in town this summer before coming back to play a pair of much more intimate shows with the festival in October. “It’s been somebody we’re trying to get for several years, and hopefully the Philly Music Fest faithful will stick with us,” he says.

The fest certainly has its fans; since founding in 2017, Philly Music Fest has grown from a two-day deal at World Cafe Live (RIP) to nine shows in seven days at a independent venues including Johnny Brenda’s, Milkboy, and Underground Arts.

Along the way it’s raised lots of money for music education programs in town. Seltzer says their donations to programs have been about $100,000 each of the last four years, and that’s after the artists and venues have gotten paid.

In addition to the charitable side, the fest’s core mission requires all of its the performers having a connection to the Philly scene. Seltzer’s proud to host an eclectic, geography-based festival, with rock, R&B, jazz, and more on the calendar. “We have a saying at Philly Music Fest that ‘our genre is Philly,’ so anything that’s happening here in the streets goes on the stage.”

Last year they tested the waters by slipping some metal into the mix, and the response was positive. That’s resulted in Dillinger Escape Plan headlining an all-metal show at Underground Arts this time around. Seltzer’s also excited for the emo/emo-adjacent night, also at UA, led by Marietta — cult favorites of the genre from the early 2000s who’ve recently started playing reunion shows. Other highlights include indie rocker Mo Lowda at Johnny Brenda’s, hip-hop DJ/producer RJD2 at Milkboy, and Blue Note jazz artist Immanuel Wilkins playing the fest finale at Solar Myth.

Seltzer had considered ending things with a celebration of Coltrane’s 100th birthday, or getting into the whole Philly 250 thing with a night of Philly’s jazz greatest hits, but eventually settled on having “the best up and coming young jazz saxophone player,” he says. No opener, either. “Immanuel is going to bring his band and just he’s just gonna cook for probably like three hours. It’s gonna be awesome.”

The Seltzers — famously music-scene outsiders when they started (Greg’s a lawyer, Jenn’s an accountant) — have kept the fest small, with low overhead.

“People sometimes are surprised when they come out to a Philly Music Fest show and see Jen working the merch table and I’m carrying boxes and amps,” he says. “We do it to keep a lean cost structure to the organization, so that we have money left over to donate.”

Here’s who’s playing where this year:

• October 12th & 13th — [mystery artist] @ Ardmore Music Hall
• October 14th — Mo Lowda & The Humble with Noah Richardson and Clover Stieve @ Johnny Brenda’s
• October 15th — RJD2 with Solar Circuit and Angelo Outlaw @ Milkboy
• October 15th — The Dillinger Escape Plan with Pyrrhon and Caged @ Underground Arts
• October 16th — Sweet Pill with Remember Sports, Wax Jaw and Midfield @ Underground Arts
• October 16th — Owen Stewart with Nik Greeley and the Operators, Sug Daniels and Roberta Faceplant @ The Fallser Club
• October 17th — Marietta with Euphoria Again, Bleary Eyed and Maty @ Underground Arts
• October 18th — Immanuel Wilkins @ Solar Myth