Winter is hanging on tenaciously in New York City, but even as we dig out from beneath the season’s second major blizzard, the spring show season is starting to heat up. There’s a ton going on in March, including raucous rock shows, heady ambient sessions and righteous jazz happenings. Here are our picks for the best live music options coming up around town.

Mitski
The Shed
March 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9

Mitski is one of the defining singer-songwriters of the past decade-plus, a fearless artist whose elegant art pop songs conceal unsettling details. She can croon one minute and howl the next, giving her work a magnetic volatility. Each Mitski LP is a whole world to enter into, and her new album, "Nothing’s About to Happen to Me," comes equipped with an elaborate narrative and a spirit of, as she put it in a recent interview, finding “the fun in the mess of it all.” Recent shows have incorporated striking staging and choreography, so expect those elements to be dialed way up as she settles in at fancy Midtown multimedia space The Shed for a six-night residency.

Dripping x Planetarium
Location TBA
March 5-7

The Planetarium series is one of the city’s foremost destinations for vibing out: a DJ and live-music event in a private loft — you’ll learn the address when you purchase tickets — where, as the organizers have put it, listeners gather to explore the inner cosmos. To give you an idea of the mood, patrons are encouraged to show up toting pillows and blankets. In March, Planetarium joins forces with Dripping, a three-day event that unifies the worlds of dance music and experimental sonics featuring expert soundscapists including former Coil member Drew McDowall, ambient luminary Elori Saxl, and Arushi Jain, who blends electronic textures with Indian classical music.

Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy and Friends play R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant
Brooklyn Steel
March 7

Back in 2023, Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon and indie rock lifer Jason Narducy teamed up for a Chicago gig celebrating "Murmur," R.E.M.’s storied debut. What could have been a fun one-off has snowballed into a proper touring band, rounded out by rock aces such as the Mountain Goats’ Jon Wurster and Wilco’s John Stirratt. And R.E.M. themselves approve: All four members have joined Shannon, Narducy & Co. on stage. This Brooklyn gig is part of a tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1986’s "Lifes Rich Pageant," but the band’s renditions are well worth it on their own: fiery, faithful renditions that remind you that before they packed arenas, R.E.M. were a scrappy club act.

Acopia, Car Culture, and Deer Park
Night Club 101
March 18

As heard on their latest album, "Blush Response," Aussie trio Acopia make the kind of dreamy electropop that’s perfect for wistful solo reverie but ought to sound equally great in a room full of like-minded introverts. They’re sharing a cool East Village bill with two musicians who also zero in on the zone between beauty and melancholy: Car Culture, a.k.a. Daniel Fisher, the NYC DJ Physical Therapy; and buzzy new lo-fi artist Deer Park.


Joyce Manor and Militarie Gun
Brooklyn Paramount
March 24

When Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus joined Joyce Manor on stage in late 2024, it felt like a passing of the torch: a hero of SoCal pop-punk acknowledging one of the brightest lights of the next generation. Though they haven’t enjoyed Blink’s mainstream success, Joyce Manor have grown into an underground institution thanks to songs like “Constant Headache,” which channel the premature world-weariness of young adulthood into shout-along anthems. They play in support of "I Used to Go to This Bar," their latest set of bittersweet bangers, with openers including Militarie Gun, West Coast comrades who balance hardcore grit with hooky melodies.


Sun Ra Arkestra
TV Eye
March 11

Thirty-plus years after his death, Sun Ra, the late pianist, bandleader, poet, and Afrofuturist thought leader, is more influential than ever. Various tributes — including a new PBS American Masters doc and "When There Is No Sun," a covers and remixes album featuring electronic-music luminaries — are keeping his legacy fresh, but most importantly, the Arkestra, the signature ensemble he led from the mid-1950s on, is still bringing his interplanetary vision to listeners worldwide, with longtime Ra associate Marshall Allen leading the charge at age 101. Their gigs traverse the full spectrum of jazz, from swing to free, revealing the Arkestra as the ultimate avant-garde party band.



Bill Orcutt
Roulette
March 20, 21, 22

Bill Orcutt spent a good chunk of the ’90s playing guitar in Harry Pussy, a Miami trio that memorably collided punk rock with pure, frenetic noise. He’s mellowed since then, but only by a little: These days, he’s a multifarious experimental artist, composer and label owner. This three-day fest offers a comprehensive sampling of Orcutt’s wondrous musical sphere, presenting both his own projects — such as the electrifying DIY minimalism of his Guitar Quartet; "The Four Louies," a mind-bending mash-up of “Louie, Louie” and Steve Reich; an ecstatic power trio with Comets on Fire bassist Ethan Miller and former Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley — and sets from brilliant six-string associates with records out on his Palilalia imprint including Ava Mendoza, Chuck Roth and Shane Parish.

Shabaka, Irreversible Entanglements, and Tom Skinner
Knockdown Center
March 26

Kamasi Washington and his L.A. peer group helped jump-start a 2010s jazz renaissance, but many of the artists who helped to keep it going hailed from across the pond, including Shabaka Hutchings, a British multi-instrumentalist who first made waves with groups such as Sons of Kemet and the Comet Is Coming. He hits town here following "Of the Earth," a new solo album that explores both ethereal and groove-centric modes, and finds him returning to the tenor saxophone after a flute-focused phase, while also making his debut as an emcee. Also on the bill are Irreversible Entanglements, a fiercely engaging quintet bringing the radical spirit of the ’60s jazz avant-garde into the present, and Tom Skinner, a fine drummer-composer known for his work in both Sons of Kemet and Radiohead-adjacent outfit The Smile.