Upstate New York runs on rock and roll. In any given week the region’s stages light up with arena headliners, reunited legends, rising indie acts, and the bar bands that turn a Tuesday into a night worth leaving the house for. The lawn at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the amphitheaters at Darien Lake, CMAC, and Bethel Woods, the riverfront at Artpark, and club rooms like Empire Live in Albany give touring rock a home in every corner of the state.
This page is your live, always-current guide to every rock concert on our radar across Upstate NY — classic rock and arena anthems, hard rock and metal-leaning bills, alt and indie, jam, and everything in between. Shows are listed with the soonest dates first, so the next night out is always at the top.
We cover the whole region: the Capital Region and Saratoga, Western NY and Buffalo, the Hudson Valley, Central NY and Syracuse, the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier, and the North Country. New tours, festival lineups, and on-sale dates land here as soon as they’re announced, and we flag presales and ticket links so you can lock in seats before they’re gone.
More guides: Country Concerts in Upstate New York · Comedy Shows in Upstate New York · Hip-Hop Concerts in Upstate New York
By region: Rock Concerts in Albany & the Capital Region · Rock Concerts in Buffalo & Western NY · Rock Concerts in the Hudson Valley · Rock Concerts in Syracuse & Central NY · Rock Concerts in the Finger Lakes
Rod Stewart at Glens Falls Civic Center — April 2, 1982
John Mellencamp at SUNY Albany — April 2, 1984
Bryan Adams at Palace Theatre — April 2, 2001
The Cult at Upstate Concert Hall — April 2, 2016
Foreigner at Carrier Dome, Syracuse — April 3, 1982
Cheap Trick at JB Scott’s — April 3, 1986
Todd Rundgren at JB Scott’s — April 3, 1986
Joe Perry Project at JB Scott’s — March 31, 1982
The Joe Perry Project at JB Scott’s — Aerosmith’s guitarist during his time away from the band, leading his own group.
Tesla at RPI Fieldhouse — March 31, 1992
Tesla on the Psychotic Supper World Tour at the RPI Fieldhouse.
The Dillinger Escape Plan / Bane at Siena College — March 31, 2000
The Dillinger Escape Plan on the Calculating Infinity tour at Siena College with Bane and Walls of Jericho.