New Season Preview: Pop Music | Head outdoors or to smaller spots for live shows – The Columbus Dispatch

Arenas are shuttered, but pop music is hanging on at smaller venues.

Most schedules are still in flux, so check with your favorite venue before you show up — or take this opportunity to try a new one. Here’s just a taste of what’s to come:

• Columbus acts Parker Louis and Honey & Blue (Sept. 17) will rock the stage at the Westland Mall Drive-in, a new outdoor concert series. Other acts include: Hippie Sabotage (Sept. 18), composed of brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer, who are traveling from Sacramento, California; the soulful stylings of R&B artists Musiq Soulchild and Raheem DeVaughn (Sept. 19); Peekaboo with Dirt Monkey (Sept. 24); Quinn XCII and Chelsea Cutler (Sept. 26); Subtronics, He$h, Al Ross and LEVEL UP (Oct. 2), who promise to bring a lively night of electronic dance music; and Chase Rice (Oct. 8). (westlanddrivein.com)

• Top-selling Christian band Casting Crowns has played at Value City Arena, but this time around, they are hitting the South Drive-in Theater as part of an extensive tour of drive-in movie theater concerts. (Sept. 24, www.drive-inmovies.com)

• Dr. E, the Inspirational Soul Queen — “OSU professor, songstress, songwriter, actress, author, activist, speaker, and survivor” — will perform original songs and covers at what looks to be an intriguing show at the intimate Natalie’s Coal-Fired Pizza. (Sept. 25, www.nataliescoalfiredpizza.com)

• Ray Charles’ long-time music director Roger Hines heads a full band for a celebration of the musician’s birthday in a show viewers can either take in as a livestream or in person at the outdoor patio space at Natalie’s Music Hall & Kitchen. (Sept. 26, www.nataliesgrandview.com)

• Blues guitarist Tab Benoit will hit the stage for a stripped-down set at Woodlands Tavern. (Oct. 14, www.woodlandstavern.com)

• Psychobilly guru Reverend Horton Heat will execute classics such as “I Can’t Surf” and “Baby I’m Drunk” at what is likely to be a high-energy show at Skully’s Music-Diner. (Oct. 27, www.skullys.org)

• All-female country group Farewell Angelina will showcase their hard-driving music at the Midland Theatre in Newark, one of the few local theaters now set up for socially distanced performances. (Oct. 30, www.midlandtheatre.org)

• “Dystopian soul” band Algiers brings some Southern Gothic melancholy to the Rumba Cafe just in time for the holiday season. (Dec. 5, www.columbusrumbacafe.com)