Tanglewood is celebrating summer’s end with a pop concert series, a fireworks display of colorful stars like Sting, Diana Ross, The Avett Brothers, Pete Townshend and Melissa Etheridge, all of whom will play the Lenox venue’s Koussevitzky Music Shed.
Sting is on his 57th & 9th Tour, named for his recent studio album. A quick look at recent set lists will make longtime fans swoon — Police classics (“So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”), solo gems (“Englishman In New York,” “Fields of Gold”), some new stuff, maybe a cover. With Sting on bass and vocals leading a rock band with double guitarists and backing vocalists. Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Diana Ross and her regal voice grabbed the spotlight in the ’60s, and she has stayed there ever since. She covers her decades of hits in her energetic show, from her early Motown smashes with the Supremes (“Baby Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love”), soundtrack favorites (“Ease On Down the Road”) and dance hits from the ’70s and ’80s (“Love Hangover,” “Upside Down”). Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Avett Brothers were inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame last year, and the popular Americana band takes the stage on Friday, September 1, at 7 p.m.
Pete Townshend’s rock opera Quadrophenia (which was put on wax by The Who in 1973 and inspired a 1979 film) will be performed by the man himself, Pete Townshend, along with vocalists Billy Idol and Alfie Boe and the Boston Pops, with Keith Lockhart conducting, on Saturday, September 2, at 8 p.m.
Singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, whose unique voice still has all of its ragged strength, will be joined by The Boston Pops on Sunday, September 3, at 2:30 p.m.
Samirah Evans and her Handsome Devils (pianist Miro Sprague, saxophonist Michael Zsoldos, bassist Marty Jaffe and drummer Conor Meehan and) celebrate the music of New Orleans at The Iron Horse on Friday at 7 p.m.
Ray Mason, the Valley’s own King of Pop with his trademark road-worn Silvertone electric guitar and quirky original songs, plays the Saturday Night Rise music series at the Bread Euphoria Bakery and Cafe in Haydenville on Saturday at 6 p.m. Free show, all ages.
Local bassist/singer/songwriter Mal Devisa (who just released a strong single, “You Are My Sunshine”) headlines a show that also includes Oshwa (from Brooklyn, Alicia Walter’s “finely controlled art-pop explosion”), Gemma (also from NYC, featuring Felicia Douglass of Ava Luna and Erik Gundel) and local band Sodada, at the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Kiss the Sky — “The Jimi Hendrix RE-Experience,” led by frontman Jimy Bleu— is a Hendrix tribute act that will appear at The Iron Horse in Northampton on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Roomful of Teeth, the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble led by Williams College faculty member Brad Wells, returns to MASS MoCA in North Adams for a show at the museum’s Hunter Center on Saturday at 8 p.m.
The Secret Sisters are harmonizing siblings Laura and Lydia Rogers, and they’ll play The Iron Horse on Sunday at 7 p.m. Brian Dunne opens.
The Danny Cruz Goes to Art School Benefit Show features Jeremy Latch, Psychoticca, Hair Brush and Danny Cruz himself at the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
If We Go At All (central MA rock band), The Basement Cats, pictured at left, (indie rock from Holyoke) and Neutral Air (“Swing rock”) play the 13th Floor Music Lounge in Florence on Thursday at 8 p.m.
Sunburned Hand of the Man, P.G. Six and Gay Mayor make up the mind-expanding triple-bill at the latest Reanimate the Bay State show at The Sierra Grille in Northampton on Thursday at 9:30 p.m.