Meek Mill, Smokey Robinson, and 8 other best shows of the week – The Philadelphia Inquirer

This holiday week’s highlights includes rap shows on North and South Broad Streets, a two-night stand from a Scranton pop-punk band, a Motown all-time great, and three Philly indie bands showcasing new albums.

Scranton, Pa., punk-pop band The Menzingers, who on their 2019 song “Anna” pleaded with a former paramour to “please come back to Philadelphia,” are on the road behind the 10th anniversary edition of their most representative and perhaps best album, 2012′s On the Impossible Past. Saturday night’s show at Union Transfer is sold out, but tickets remain for Friday. With Touche Amore and Screaming Females. $37, 8 p.m., 11/25, 1025 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com.

St. Petersburg, Fla., soul-trap singer and rapper Rod Wave has built a following by being unafraid to be more vulnerable than most: He raps about the perils of being afraid to cry in “Heart on Ice.” He’s a little ahead of schedule with the release of his latest single, “Cold December.” With Toosii and Mariah the Scientist. $125, 8 p.m., 11/25, 1776 N. Broad St., liacourascenter.com

Add Anais Reno to the list of next-generation jazz players enamored of a classic sound. The 18-year-old vocalist who’s the daughter of classical violinist Julian Kurtzman will sing two nights at Chris’ Jazz Cafe this weekend. On Friday, she’ll be featured with trumpeter Benny Benack’s III Quintet along with saxophonist Dylan Bond, and on Saturday she’ll play with her own quartet, featuring Bond. $30, or $80 for dinner and a show, 8 and 10 p.m., 11/25 and 11/26, Chris Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., chrisjazzcafe.com.

Arguably the greatest Motown songwriter, the man who Bob Dylan called “America’s greatest living songwriter,” the tunesmith who penned “The Tears of a Clown” and “The Tracks of My Tears” with the Miracles, “My Girl” (for The Temptations), and went on to record masterful hits like “Cruisin’” and “Being With You” as a solo artist, is coming to North Broad Street. The 82-year-old singer’s Music & Memories tour comes to the Met Philly on Saturday night. $34-$199, 8 p.m., 11/26, Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com.

This all-Philly re-creation of The Last Waltz, the 1976 Thanksgiving concert by The Band and special guests, which was filmed by Martin Scorsese, is a benefit for Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better foundation and a tribute to Philadelphia concert booker Bryan Dilworth, who died suddenly in 2020. A short version will be staged Friday at Free at Noon at World Cafe Live at noon, 11/25, 3025 Walnut St.r, xpn.org, followed by the full show on Saturday night. $29.50-$100, 8 p.m., 11/26, Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St., lastwaltzphl.com

Philadelphia rap hero Meek Mill has been highly visible this fall at sporting events, popping out before an Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field, an Eagles-Cowboys game, and before Game 5 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park. He’ll close the South Philly triangle on Saturday when he celebrates the 10th anniversary of his signature song “Dreams and Nightmares” with a Meek Mill & Friends show at Wells Fargo Center. $59.50-$129.50, 8 p.m., 11/26, 3601 S. Broad St., wellsfargocenterphilly.com

Philly songwriter Dominic Angelella has an impressive resume backing up other artists: He’s currently in Lucy Dacus’ band, and has played with Hop Along and mewithoutYOU, and done studio work with rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller. On his enticing new album, Silver Dreams Don’t Move Me, he plays with the conception of himself as a backup player on “Supporting Role” while making the case for why he deserves to he heard out front. With Air Waves and Greg Mendez, $12, 8 p.m., 11/27, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford, Johnnybrendas.com.

When last seen in these parts, Laura Jane Grace — the leader of the fist-raised punk-rock band Against Me! as well as a solo artist — was headlining the first ever concert at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, the Northeast Philly landmark made famous by a Rudy Giuliani press conference. Her most recent solo album is 2020′s Stay Alive. Get there early for Gladie, the Philly band fronted by former Cayetana leader Augusta Koch, who have just released a bracing, excellent album, Don’t Know What You’re in Till You’re out, that is in part about giving up drinking and taking control of your life. $20-$35, 8 p.m., 11/28 Ardmore Music Hall, ardmoremusichall.com

Upstate New York-born and now Philadelphia-based psych-rock band Palm have a deliriously good time on their satisfyingly herky-jerky and hypnotic new album Nicks and Grazes, the Eve Albert and Kasra Kurt-fronted foursome’s new album, which is their first on the Saddle Creek label. With Water From Your Eyes and Draag Me. $17, 8 p.m., 12/1, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., r5productions.com.

Kelsey Waldon’s country credentials are impeccable. She grew up in a Western Kentucky town called Monkey’s Eyebrow, and she impressed no less than John Prine with the twang in her voice and quality of her storytelling. She put out her album White Noise / White Lines in 2019. This year, she’s touring behind No Regular Dog, which takes the measure of rural America hardship with an unstinting eye: “Now everything’s not as bad as it seems,” she sings on “Tall and Mighty. “Most of my friends are on amphetamines.” $21.50-$29.50, 8 p.m., 12/1, Sellersville Theater, 18 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville, st94.com.