New York’s massive fall concert season kicks off this month, and while outdoor-show season is winding down, there are still plenty of enticing open-air gigs on offer this September. You’ll find a couple of those below in our monthly gig roundup, along with psychedelic folk, left-of-center pop, body-moving dancehall, heavy-duty death metal and more.

ear + NEW YORK + Bby Kell

East 34th St. Heliport, Sept. 12

“We definitely know it when we hear it,” Jonah Paz, half of the buzzy group known as ear, said recently when asked what defines the project’s aesthetic. If that description seems vague, it feels fitting when you throw on “Rumspringa,” the recent second full-length from Paz and creative partner Yaelle Avtan. The duo craft a slippery form of homegrown indie pop, weaving together understated vocals, retro-style synths and cryptic samples. Opening this East River–adjacent show are NEW YORK, the deadpan electropop duo of Gretchen Lawrence and Coumba Samba, and rising Atlanta rap eccentric Bby Kell.

Immolation + Ancient Death

Saint Vitus, Sept. 13

The 2024 closure of Saint Vitus was a major blow to the local metal scene, which had revolved around the beloved Greenpoint club for a decade. Headbangers rejoiced at the recent news of the venue’s reopening in Bushwick this month. There’s a killer opening slate of shows, offering ample opportunities to get rowdy and throw the horns. Many of the first-round gigs are sold out — including underplays by heavyweight acts such as Anthrax and Converge — but you can still grab tix to the second night of a two-day stand by Yonkers death-metal legends Immolation, one of the most respected acts in the international heavy underground.

Grouper

The Town Hall; Sept. 15 and 16

Most singer-songwriters place their voice and instrument at the center of the musical frame, but Liz Harris — the Oregon artist who has recorded and performed as Grouper for around 20 years — makes the listener work a little harder. Enveloped in a sonic haze, her songs sound like transmissions from the ocean floor, and the hush around them only highlights their fragile, arresting beauty. Harris doesn’t tour often, so fans of artful, left-of-center songcraft ought to consider these Town Hall gigs mandatory.

Erykah Badu + De La Soul + The Alchemist

Forest Hills Stadium, Sept. 18

“Alchemist seems to wake the dead in us as musicians,” Erykah Badu said recently of the seasoned producer and sample wizard she teamed with on the new “Before the World Blows,” her first album in more than 15 years. It’s a perfectly matched collaboration that returns Badu to the vanguard of the alt-R&B sound she helped to pioneer around 30 years ago. Joining the pair on this magical Queens bill are hip-hop gamechangers De La Soul, who have persevered in recent years following the death of co-founder Trugoy the Dove in 2023.

Jada Kingdom + Byron Messia + Trinidad Killa

Club Amazura, Sept. 25

Influenced by Nina Simone and Erykah Badu as much as artists in the dancehall genre she works in, Jada Kingdom specializes in an uncommonly vulnerable take on dancehall, informed by a diverse array of influences that style. (“I got my sound from Nina Simone, a little bit of Erykah Badu, and jazz music,” she once said.) The Jamaican singer-songwriter-producer can also bring the party, as evidenced by the cheeky 2018 hit “Banana.” Expect to sample all of her many facets at this Queens dancehall blowout, also featuring Byron Messia, who broke out in 2023 with viral track “Talibans,” and Trinidad Killa, a major player in the soca-inspired subgenre of zess.

Mezame New York

St. Francis Xavier Church, St. Bartholomew’s Church, the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sept 25-27

Since 2016, Ambient Church has been expanding the concept of sacred music, inviting noted soundscapists and experimental artists to perform in actual churches. This month, the series expands into platform throws itself a three-day festival — named after the Japanese concept of awakening — and featuring veteran experimentalists like Charlemagne Palestine, Laraaji and Carl Stone, along with luminaries from the worlds of dance music and cutting-edge pop such as James Ferraro, James K, and Juliana Huxtable. Performances of choral works by iconic 12th century German composer Hildegard of Bingen round out a transcendent weekend, all going down in three Manhattan and Brooklyn churches.

Outline: Flying Lotus + EYE + Olof Dreijer + Black Dice + ByStorm + Carrier + gyrofield + Silicone Valley

Knockdown Center, Sept. 26

Outline, an intermittent series at Queens’s cavernous Knockdown Center, doesn’t conform to any easily defined genre. Instead, it’s more of a vibe, bringing together artists from the cutting edges of club music, indie rock, experimental sound and more. This month’s bill is a real doozy, headlined by eminent beatsmith Flying Lotus, whose aural constructions sound as vibrant and volatile as ever on recent EP “Big Mama,” and rounded out by acts including EYE, leader of Japanese avant-rock institution Boredoms; Olof Dreijer, co-founder of the trailblazing Swedish pop duo the Knife; shapeshifting local underground mainstays Black Dice; and more.

L’Rain

Night Club 101, Sept. 28, 29

Song form is fragile in the musical universe of L’Rain, the musical universe of sonic auteur Taja Cheek, who named the project after her late mother. The Brooklyn artist’s spellbinding, unclassifiable new LP “fata morgana” is one of the most highly acclaimed albums of 2026 so far. It features tracks that morph and mutate, such as “soulless cycle,” which starts off in a soothing art-pop swirl and explodes in a riot of crashing drums. Other songs bloom with heady samples, surreal synths and disorienting vocal effects. These two live shows ought to feel even more immersive.