Sunshine, good times and good tunes mean one thing is abundantly clear—it's time for a Raleigh road trip.
Stages across the Raleigh—both big and small, dishing out hard rock and soft ballads and everything in between—are as busy as they ever get over the next few months. Browse the lists below for a band or an artist that catches your eye (or your ears), and send to a friend to start planning your trip!
500 S. McDowell St., Raleigh, NC 27601
- Bailey Zimmerman, June 28
- A Day To Remember, July 2
- RAIN, July 10
- Totally Tubular Festival, July 13
- O.A.R., July 16
- Two Door Cinema Club, July 20
- Switchfoot, Blue October and Matt Nathanson, July 25
- Lamb Of God & Mastodon, July 27
- Jamey Johnson, Aug. 1
- 311, Aug. 10
- Joshua Bassett, Aug. 12
- Still Woozy, Aug. 13
- Tate McRae, Aug. 16
- Bush, Aug. 27
- Stone Temple Pilots, Sept. 1
- Jane's Addiction with Love and Rockets, Sept. 3
- Falling In Reverse, Sept. 4
- Justin Moore & Randy Houser, Sept. 6
- Goth Babe, Sept. 10
- Omar Apollo, Sept. 11
- Meghan Trainor, Sept. 12
- KALEO, Sept. 17
- The Commodores, The Pointer Sisters and El DeBarge, Sept. 20
- Black Pumas & Cory Wong, Sept. 21
- Violent Femmes, Oct. 2
- Conan Gray, Oct. 3
- Lake Street Dive, Oct. 4
- Vampire Weekend, Oct. 9
- Lainey Wilson, Oct. 18
8003 Regency Pkwy., Cary, NC 27518
- The Music of the Rolling Stones with North Carolina Symphony, June 29
- Songs of the ‘70s with North Carolina Symphony, July 6
- The Catalinas, July 13
- The Flaming Lips, July 17
- Jeffrey Osborne with The Whispers, July 20
- BRIT FLOYD P-U-L-S-E, July 27
- CAKE, Aug. 6
- SLASH: S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival, Aug. 7
- John Legend, Aug. 11
- Gin Blossoms and Toad The Wet Sprocket, Aug. 16
- Old Crow Medicine Show, Aug. 17
- The Roots with Macy Gray, Aug. 30
- Crowded House, Aug. 31
- Koe Wetzel, Sept. 7
- Melissa Etheridge and Jewel, Sept. 17
- Mt. Joy, Sept.18
- Sturgill Simpson, Oct. 22
3801 Rock Quarry Rd., Raleigh, NC 27610
- Barbie The Movie: In Concert, July 5
- I Prevail & Halestorm, July 9
- KIDZ BOP LIVE , July 12
- The Queens Of R&B: Xscape & SWV, July 20
- Third Eye Blind, July 21
- Dirty Heads & Slightly Stoopid, July 26
- Sam Hunt, July 27
- New Kids On The Block, July 28
- The Doobie Brothers, July 31
- Cage The Elephant, Aug. 3
- Train & REO Speedwagon, Aug. 9
- Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, Aug. 12
- Glass Animals, Aug. 16
- Dan + Shay, Aug. 17
- Styx & Foreigner, Aug. 21
- Boyz II Men, Sept. 6
- Megadeth, Sept. 7
- Hootie & the Blowfish, Sept. 13
- Creed, Sept. 18
- Staind & Breaking Benjamin, Sept. 21
- My Morning Jacket and Nathaniel Rateliff & TNS, Sept. 28
- Post Malone, Oct. 5
- Whiskey Myers, Oct. 26
1400 Edwards Mill Rd., Raleigh, NC 27607
- Pepe Aguilar, July 3
- blink-182, July 30
- Childish Gambino, Aug. 30
- Hans Zimmer Live, Sept. 10
- Cigarettes After Sex, Sept. 11
- Twenty One Pilots, Sept. 13
- $uicideboy$, Sept. 15
- Jelly Roll, Sept. 20
- Kirk Franklin, Sept. 26
- Nicki Minaj, Oct. 8
- Sabrina Carpenter, Oct. 19
- Little Big Town, Oct. 25
- Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Oct. 26
2 E. South St., Raleigh, NC 27601
2110 Blue Ridge Rd., Raleigh, NC 27607
- Jazz at the NCMA: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, June 27
- Jazz at the NCMA: Boney James, Maysa and Kenny Lattimore, July 11
- Jazz at the NCMA: El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Luciana Souza and Chico Pinheiro Duo, July 18
- Connells, Dillon Fence, Love Tractor, July 19
- Andrew Bird, Amadou & Mariam, Aug. 20
- Concert For Kids: Pierce Freelon, Aug. 24
- African American Cultural Festival Presents: P.J. Morton, Avery Sunshine, Aug. 30
- Opera in the Park with the North Carolina Opera, Sept. 12
- Guster, Sept. 28
Sept. 5-7
Time and time again named among America's best independent music events, the 14th annual Hopscotch Music Festival returns to stages in downtown Raleigh in September. This year's lineup features St. Vincent, Faye Webster, Waxahatchee, The Jesus Lizard, BADBADNOTGOOD, Joe Pera and more than 80 other acts.
Sept. 27-28
After drawing more than a million bluegrass fans to downtown Raleigh since debuting in 2013, this year is the final act for International Bluegrass Music Association's World of Bluegrass week in Raleigh.
The event is capped off by a two-day street festival—Bluegrass Live!—where Sierra Ferrell, Steep Canyon Rangers with Chatham County Line, Sam Bush, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Danny Paisley, Sierra Hull, Amythyst Kiah, Crying Uncle and more will take to the Main Stage at Red Hat Amphitheater.
The above listings are from the largest-capacity music venues in the Raleigh area. You can see a full list of upcoming concerts at venues of all sizes here, but we also have 10 more hand-picked events taking place this summer:
- The Lil Smokies, July 3 at Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard
- Tab Benoit and Anders Osborne, July 10 at Lincoln Theatre
- Maggie Rose, July 18 at The Rialto Theatre
- Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, July 18 at KINGS
- David Cook, July 19 at The Rialto Theatre
- Phutureprimitive, July 20 at The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop
- PARTYNEXTDOOR, July 26 at The Ritz
- Charles Wesley Godwin, July 27 at Lincoln Theatre (outdoor stage)
- Maren Morris, Aug 10 at The Ritz
- Jonah Kagen, Aug. 17 at KINGS
- Joan Osborne, Sept. 14 at The Rialto Theatre
