As evenings get darker, superstars continue to light up the area’s largest venues. October highlights such as Olivia Rodrigo and the “Power to the People” festival (with special guest Bruce Springsteen) are long sold out, but there are many other intriguing possibilities.
And, as usual, some of the most promising shows are scheduled for some of the most modest venues.
Ryan Lee Crosby
Bluesman Ryan Lee Crosby hails from Rhode Island, but he’s an honorary citizen of Mississippi’s Hill Country, whose groove-oriented traditional music he interprets faithfully. The singer and 12-string guitarist is a prolific collaborator who sometimes turns eclectic, as on his blues-raga album, “River Music.” But Crosby’s defining effort is 2025’s “At the Blue Front,” recorded live — analog, of course — in Bentonia, Mississippi, with a calabash player as his principal accompanist. Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Hank Dietle’s, 11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. hankdietles.net. Free.
Arturo O’Farrill Quintet
The son of Afro-Cuban jazzman Chico O’Farrill, Arturo O’Farrill has drawn on that legacy while exploring other musical styles. The pianist began his career with free-jazz pioneer Carla Bley but later took over his father’s Afro-Cuban jazz orchestra. Echoes of that ensemble’s style can be heard in this group, which adds a conga player to a standard jazz foursome. Yet its music reaches far beyond Cuban and Latin influences. Saturday at 7 and 9:30 p.m.; Sunday at 5:30 and 8 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. bluesalley.com. $42-$57.
Strange Boutique
One of the least expected offshoots of D.C.’s hardcore punk scene, this quartet plays unearthly goth-rock keyed to Monica Richards’s plaintive vocals. The band ended its original seven-year run in 1994 but reunited occasionally after that. The most recent meetup came in 2017, when the group played a show in tribute to original guitarist Fred “Freak” Smith, who had been killed. Something clicked, and Strange Boutique was reborn, yielding its first album in 30 years, “Let the Lonely Heart Sing.” Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. (doors) at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $31.
Beabadoobee
On her fourth album, “Pylon,” the Philippines-born Londoner explores a slightly heavier style of pop rock, complete with a cameo by Deftones singer Chino Moreno. The record does include songs in the gentle, intimate mode of her earlier work, but even those are sometimes laced with grungy guitar lines. Those garlands of noise suggest that this show will be geared more toward communal arena rock than introspective bedroom pop. Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, Maryland. merriweathermusic.com. $52-$199.
Aoife O’Donovan
Some of this Massachusetts native’s music sounds as Irish as her first name (pronounced “ee-fa”). But the singer has supplemented her folk and folk-rock forays with stints as a jazz singer and collaborations with symphony orchestras and the Kronos Quartet. With a soprano voice that’s sharp but never shrill, O’Donovan can levitate a heartfelt melody over just about any kind of accompaniment. Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Virginia. birchmere.com. $45-$61.
Tricky
Brooding and enveloping, Tricky’s music combines hip-hop, dub reggae and goth-punk. The British producer and rapper, long in self-exile, returned to his native Bristol, England, to make his recent album, “Different When It’s Silent,” one of his best. The style is familiar, but Tricky’s growl duets with Mitch Sanders’s high tenor rather than the usual soprano. Both Sanders and longtime collaborator Marta Zlakowska are in the lineup for this tour, whose setlist reaches all the way back to Tricky’s brilliant 1995 debut, “Maxinquaye.” Oct. 13 at 7:30 p.m. (doors) at the Lincoln Theater, 1215 U St. NW. thelincolndc.com. $46.
Sugar
Alt-rock singer-guitarist Bob Mould has experimented with various formats but seems to do his best work with trios — Hüsker Dü in the ’80s and Sugar in the ’90s. He revived Sugar last year with “House of Dead Memories,” a song that proclaims, “I cannot make this work on my own.” He doesn’t have to. Original bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis are back and playing with storming precision. Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. at the Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com. $66-$99.
Yousuke Yukimatsu
This Osaka, Japan-born DJ packs his room-rattling sets with tracks by little-known Japanese acts, yet his approach is indebted to such visceral 1990s British “big beat” outfits as Underworld, the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers. With his head shaved and his chest usually bared, Yousuke Yukimatsu melds body and machine to choreograph intensely physical sonic marathons. Oct. 24 at 10 p.m. at Echostage, 2135 Queens Chapel Rd. NE. echostage.com. $65-$77.
Breaking Benjamin
As pounding as any heavy metal band, this Pennsylvania group hammers its way to surprisingly melodic choruses. Named for singer-guitarist Benjamin Burnley, the only remaining member of its original lineup, the group has maintained a consistent sound since its 2002 debut. This tour foreshadows the band’s upcoming sixth album, which has already yielded the chart-topping “Something Wicked.” Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at Jiffy Lube Live, 7800 Cellar Door Dr., Bristow, Virginia. jiffylubelive.com. $35-$55.
Heavens to Betsy
While Corin Tucker’s best-known band, Sleater-Kinney, has moved toward the musical mainstream, the singer-guitarist is exploring her minimalist roots with a revival of her first group. Reunited after more than three decades, Tucker’s duo with drummer Tracy Sawyer has just released “Baby’s Gone,” an album of early ’90s material. The 16 songs are prime riot-grrrl rock — raw, direct and impassioned. Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. (doors) at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $42.
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