Thursday
Freak folk
Man Man, Chandeliers
Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., www.futureshock.net
9 p.m., $12 advance, $14 door, 21+
Sure, the music of Philadelphia collective Man Man sounds loose, wild and attention deficient, but neither the recorded version nor its live incarnation - a fast-paced, instrument-swapping affair with band members sometimes slathered in war paint - is the product of happenstance. Lead singer and keyboardist Honus Honus (aka Ryan Kattner) told NUVO's Wade Coggeshall last year that their shows are "very carefully structured as far as how they flow, the same way we put together our records. We don't want it to be just all cocaine jams." The band's kitchen-sink, sometimes archaic, largely acoustic instrumentation (Asylum Street Spankers meet Devendra Banhart) should contrast nicely with the Krautrock-inspired live synths of Chandeliers, and both bands share an anarchic, director-less ethos. -Scott Shoger
Friday
Jazz guitar
Wilbert Longmire Quartet
Jazz Kitchen, 5377 N. College Ave., www.thejazzkitchen.com
7:30 and 9:30 p.m., $12, 21+
Cincinnati-born guitarist Wilbert Longmire enjoyed a brief run recording as a bandleader for Colombia Records in the late '70s, and if a quick visit with those albums reveal that their textures are dated (pillowy strings, tight-assed horns and tinkling keyboards), his guitar work hints at something more substantial. -SS
Roots
Ryan Bingham, Jesse Dayton
Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., www.futureshock.net
9 p.m., $10 advance, $12 door, 21+
The last time Ryan Bingham was in Indianapolis, he was literally blown into town by tornado weather, but don't worry about him and the elements: Bingham can hold his own in high winds. An observational singer/songwriter with an alt-country swagger, he's earned the right to tell his hard-living stories in his nicotine-ravaged voice. And don't let the cowboy hat and a band with dobro and mandolin players fool you: Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses are first and foremost rockers, with a healthy finish of twang. Fans of rootsy rock à la Wilco, Steve Earle and Tom Waits will feel at home. -Nora Spitznogle
Saturday
Rock smorgasbord
Rock the District
Old Town Carmel, carmelartsanddesign.com
12 p.m., free, all-ages
Rock the District gives Carmelites a chance to let loose the Id that is rock, to dance in the streets, disrobe Victoria's Secret mannequins and grasp firmly onto those nude male door handles. Less flippantly, the Carmel Arts and Design District (essentially the downtown shopping district) will host around 15 bands on three stages, including headline sets by Aimee Allen - who recorded her most recent full-length locally for the Carmel-based label Sidetracked - and Nashville-based adult-contemporary singer Dave Barnes. -SS
Punk fest
Pirad Fest III
ES Jungle, 6151 N. Central Ave., www.piradicalproductions.com
3 p.m., $10, all-ages
Piradical Productions celebrates another year of organizing shows for the all-ages community with a fest in its honor Saturday. Plenty to choose from for fans of punk and its offshoots: Totally Michael's laffy-taffy dance-pop, The Last Domino's introspective proggy ballads, Up! Scumbag's three-chord punk, The Dockers' fez-bedecked weirdness and We Might Be Villains, whom I haven't heard but whose name reminds me of They Might Be Giants. It all takes place at the ES Jungle, a refurbished church basement below Broad Ripple. -SS
Butt rock
Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Verizon Wireless Music Center, 12880 E. 146th St.
6:30 p.m., $31-$86.50 (without ticket fees), all-ages
The season's most aromatic concert: B.O., stale beer and skunk weed. Southern Man, you better wash your head. -SS
Blues rock
Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel, 2:30 Band, Ande Shaul
Earth House, 237 N. East St., www.earthhousecollective.org
7 p.m., $7 suggested donation, all-ages
Blues guitarist and Kokomo native Mike Milligan performs blue-collar rock with his appropriately-named backing band Steam Shovel; expect easily-recognizable covers, a few originals and solid guitar work and shaky vocals by Milligan. Two shows in just about as many months is some kind of record for the 2:30 Band, a free-noodling garage jazz trio that previously took a break of somewhere around two decades between public airings. Ande Shaul, formerly of Mab Lab and currently of People vs. Radio, will give his first solo show. -SS
Circus rock
Amo Joy, Thunderhawk, Everything Now!, Andy D
Locals Only, 2449 E. 56th St., www.localsonlyindy.com
8 p.m., $10, 21+
Circus-rock quartet Amo Joy celebrates the release of their new full-length, The Sane Design, by bringing along some compatriots in fractured pop. The hermetic, industrious Muncie-based songsmith Josh Hall and his band Thunderhawk will emerge to share his work inspired by the titans of '90s indie rock. Everything, Now! shall share Scientology-esque tales of space exploration in bite-sized, sweet and savory pop nuggets. And Andy D, Totally Michael's pasty, overweight cousin, will confront the crowd with a mixture of Zach Gilifianakis and Andrew WK (although he "fancies himself the love child of Punky Brewster and Lee Van Cleef"). Amo Joy will also play a free one for the kids at 3 p.m. at Luna Midtown. -SS
Lounge jazz
The Leisure Kings with Red Baron and his Midtown Blowers
The Jazz Kitchen, 5377 N. College Ave., www.thejazzkitchen.com
8 and 10 p.m., $20, 21+
The Leisure Kings play just about every week at Agio's as a duo, but it's a full-spectrum treat to catch them at their twice-yearly Jazz Kitchen gig with the pickup big band Red Baron and his Midtown Blowers. -SS
Space rock
America Owns the Moon, Soft Speaker, Coltrane Motion
Vollrath Tavern, 118 E. Palmer St., www.vollrathindy.com
9:45 p.m., $6, 21+
The Vollrath (which, according to freetranslate.com, means "the wrath of the small vampiric rodent" in Dutch) will host one oft-reunited local band and a couple Chicago bands are traveling through (the quite good psych-pop band Soft Speaker and low-fi, glitchy shoegaze duo Coltrane Motion). -SS
Sunday
Kidney rock
Kidney Cash Bash
Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., www.futureshock.net
2 p.m., $8 advance, $10 door, 21+
A mighty force of Good Samaritan bands will come together Sunday to raise money for a 25-year-old woman's kidney transplant operation (and not the kidney itself, at least not until the government opens up their moon-based organ harvest facilities to the general public). The roll call of those donating their time: The Fuglees, The Cousin Brothers, The Rehab All-Stars, Bulletproof Soul, Jethro Easyfields, Hey Hey Melodica, Lounge Soundsystem. One hog will also be donating his resources for a roast. -SS
Tuesday
Psych rock
Dead Confederate, Bad Veins
Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St., www.futureshock.net
9 p.m., $7 advance, $10 door, 21+
Athens, Ga., quintet Dead Confederate have opened up grunge a little - adding more synth and giving their sound a chance to echo - without disturbing the weight or downcast spirit of that music's template. -SS
Rock rock
Deer Tick, Dawes, Kentucky Nightmare
Locals Only, 2449 E. 56th St., www.localsonlyindy.com
9 p.m., $7, 21+
Legend has it that John McCauley came up with the name for his band after finding a tick on his scalp during a hike in the woods around Bloomington, Ind. It's heartening to hear when Indiana plays such an instrumental role in the life of an artist. McCauley grew up in Bloomington before moving to Providence, R.I., which Deer Tick - a rock trio with plenty of grounding in traditional American music that can set string bass and banjo against growling guitar - now calls home. With breezy AM rock band Dawes and Bloomington trio Kentucky Nightmare. -SS
