The Prudential Center in Newark will host Hot 97’s all-star hip-hop concert, Summer Jam, July 24.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through July 30.
MUSIC
• For the second straight year, Hot 97’s Summer Jam concert — arguably the world’s biggest annual hip-hop event — will take place at The Prudential Center in Newark. The show is scheduled for July 24 at 7 p.m.
Performers will include Fetty Wap, French Montana, Mariah the Scientist, Max B, Ice Spice, DaBaby, G Herbo, Cash Cobain, Zeddy Will, Omah Lay, Honey Bxby, Yung Miami, Sleepy Hallow, 41, Lemmy, Natalie Nunn, Conway the Machine, Stove God Cooks, 38 Spesh, Albee Al, Nems, Kocky Ka, Diany Dior, Ryan Witherspoon, Breannie, JDymonds, Chase Belly, BTB Dezz, Fergie Baby, King Beamo, NTG and La Biggie. Usually at Summer Jams, many unbilled guests perform as well.
Hot 97 (WQHT, 97.1 FM) has been presenting Summer Jams since 1994 in major venues all over the New Jersey/New York area, including Giants Stadium and The Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford; The Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York; and The UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Virtually every major hip-hop artist of the last 32 years has performed at at least one Summer Jam.
JOHN MELLENCAMP
• John Mellencamp’s Dancing Words: The Greatest Hits Tour will come to The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, July 25 at 8 p.m. On it, Mellencamp has been singing signature songs such as “Jack and Diane,” “Pink Houses” and “Small Town” as well as many hits he has not performed in a decade or more, including “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” “I Need a Lover,” “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” and his cover of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night.”
• In an echo of their 1975 album The Last Record Album (which was not their last release), Little Feat is calling its current tour The Last Farewell Tour. The band clarifies with the following statement: “It’s definitely not an absolute, never-gonna-play again statement. This wind-down will take several years to accomplish, and while it does, Feat will continue to perform and record as long as they are able. It’s a retirement from the travel of touring.”
The tour will come to BergenPAC in Englewood, July 25 at 8 p.m.
Co-founder Bill Payne (keyboards) is joined in the current lineup by bassist Kenny Gradney and percussionist Sam Clayton (both members since 1972) as well as guitarists Fred Tackett and Scott Sharrard, and drummer Tony Leone. (Everyone contributes to the lead and/or backing vocals, as well.)
CIMAFUNK
• Two New Orleans-based artists — the high-energy, funky Cimafunk and the charmingly retro Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars — will team up for a free, outdoor show in the Horizon Sounds of the City Series at the Chambers Plaza at NJPAC in Newark, June 30 at 5 p.m. Poet Daniel Letona will also give a reading.
Born Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodríguez, Cimafunk adapted his stage name from cimarróns, a term for escaped Cuban slaves who formed communities of their own when that country was under the control of Spain (roughly 1500-1900). He started performing in Cuba around 2010, moved to New Orleans in 2022, and has received three Grammy nomination in the Latin Rock/Alternative Album and Global Music Performance categories.
The Sally Baby in Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars is the nickname of frontman Salvatore “Sally Baby” Geloso. Check out a video by them, below.
• The Troubadour Concert Series at Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will celebrate the 51st anniversary of its founding with a birthday show, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. The Folk Project organization runs the series, and members who are also musicians and want to perform at the show signed up early this month and were randomly assigned into duo and trios that will perform one song apiece.
According to The Folk Project, “It’s a celebration not only of our first show, but of our members, and our creed that everyone’s music is of value.
Birthday cake will be included in the price of admission.
The concert will also be streamed online.
STEPHANIE WESSELS
JOE ICONIS
• Composer Joe Iconis, whose works include “Be More Chill” and “Love in Hate Nation” (both of which premiered at Two River Theater in Red Bank), will perform his own songs at Two River Theater’s Victoria J. Mastrobuono Library, July 23-24 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. and July 25 at 2 and 7 p.m. He will be joined at the shows by singer-actors George Salazar, Jason SweetTooth Williams and Badia Farha; all have performed in Iconis’ musicals, in Red Bank and/or elsewhere.
• The Shore-based duo Williams Honor will perform in the free, outdoor Summer Concert Series at The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, July 23 at 6 p.m. The series will run through Aug. 20, and will take place at the Klose Amphitheater outside the museum, which is on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.
James Maddock is up next, July 30.
Lawn chairs or blankets are recommended for the shows. Also, since they will take place on Thursdays and the Center is open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, you can see the museum beforehand. (While the shows are free, regular museum admission will be required for those who are interested.)
• Among the attractions of The Monmouth County Fair, currently being presented at The East Freehold Showgrounds in Freehold, will be musical performances by Red Dirt Revolution, July 22 at 8:15 and 9:30 p.m.; The Fumos, July 23 at 8:30 p.m.; Mushnmouth, July 24 at 8:30 p.m.; Dark City Strings, July 25 at 2 p.m.; The Ultimate Queen Celebration, July 25 at 8:30 p.m.; and Ocean Avenue Stompers, July 26 at 4:30 p.m.
Princeton Summer Theater will present Sam Shepard’s “True West,” through Aug. 1.
THEATER
• As part of its 2026 season, the nonprofit Princeton Summer Theater company will present Sam Shepard’s “True West,” July 23-25 and 30-31 and Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m., and July 25-26 and Aug. 1 at 2 p.m. at Hamilton Murray Theater at Princeton University.
The gritty play, about two brothers who have a contentious relationship, premiered in 1980 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983. It debuted on Broadway in 2000 and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play that year.
(For a chance to win two tickets to one of the July 30-Aug. 1 shows, send an email to njartscontest@gmail.com by 10 a.m. July 27, with the word “True” in the subject line. Please specify which show you would like to attend.)
• The Vanguard Theater will present its second annual Montclair Theater Festival, July 25 from 2 to 8 p.m. at Brookdale Park in Montclair.
Offerings will include performances of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (abridged) at 3 p.m. and “Seussical the Musical at 6 p.m.; pop-pop performances by organizations such as Paper Mill Playhouse, Light Opera of New Jersey, Bergen County Players and others; plus food trucks and vendors, children’s activities, and more.
• As part of its “Revolutionary Voices” series, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present a reading of “All the Way,” July 27 at 7:30 p.m. at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison.
Robert Schenkkan’s 2012 play, about President Lyndon B. Johnson’s fight to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed (with The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as one of his allies), ran on Broadway in 2014, and won the Tony for Best Play. Sherman Howard and R.J. Foster will co-star as Johnson and King, respectively.
Ozzy Osbourne, left, with Mark Weiss in 1981.
PHOTOGRAPHY
• The Art Spot gallery in Asbury Park will present “Back to the Beginning: Remembering Ozzy Osbourne,” featuring photos by veteran rock photographer Mark “Weissguy” Weiss, from July 23 to Aug. 17, with opening receptions that Weiss will attend, July 23-24 from 3 to 8 p.m.
Locations for the photos range from Convention Hall in Asbury Park in 1981 to Osbourne’s all-star farewell “Back to the Beginning” concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, in July 2025. Osbourne died 17 days later, at the age of 76.
Osbourne once said that Weiss “is like a member of our family … He must have more photographs of me than any other photographer I’ve ever worked with.”
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REVIEWS
“Willem de Kooning: The Breakthrough Years, 1945–50” at Princeton University Art Museum. (Through July 26)
“Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through July 31)
“Faig Ahmed: Textiles of Consciousness,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art @ Bainbridge. (Through Aug. 2)
“Henri Matisse: Beyond Color” at Morris Museum, Morris Township. (Through Aug. 9)
“In Conversation: Will Wilson” at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit. (Through Aug. 23)
“Salvador Jiménez-Flores: Raíces & Resistencias” at Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton. (Through Aug. 1, 2027)
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