The Broken Prayers and Psalmships bring you sounds that you might find in the Old West: the classic heart and soul of country music. These cowboys sing with heavy hearts about lost love, little old towns, the pearly gates, wooden porches and rocking chairs. Their guitar twang can be as slow as the tumbleweed rolling across the road in front of you, or as hand-clappin, toe-tappin-ly upbeat as the Saturday night barn dance. Tritone, 1508 South St., 9pm, $7, 21+ - Katie Bennett

 

We are in the midst of summer folks so get ready to work on your tans because it’s festival season. Yes, yes - we know. You can’t ignore that this Saturday will be The 3rd Annual Roots Picnic with the hometown heroes inviting local buddies DJ Jazzy Jeff and Pattern Is Movement as well as a few Pitchfork darlings like Vampire Weekend (headlining? - whose picnic is this?), Mayer Hawthorne and The Very Best. Raekwon, Ghostface and Method Man should be a more interesting performance than originally planned Reverend Run and DMC. We’re also diggin’ on 4AD’s Tune-Yards and Brooklyn’s Das Racist. But if you don’t have eighty bucks ($66 ticket + $14 rip-off charge), then you can join us economically-challenged music lovers at Best Fest (check out the feature interview below). Don’t forget your brown bag for your forty! Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing, Columbus Blvd. and Spring Garden St., 2pm, $80 w/charges, All Ages

 

Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore Ave.) Best Fest SAT U.S. Girls 1:00-1:20; Joshua Marcus 1:25-1:45; The Golden People's Game 1:50-2:10; Attia Taylor 2:15-2:35; Death Panel 2:40-3:00; Far-Out Fangtooth 3:05-3:25; Unidos de Filadelfia Samba School 3:30-3:50; Skeletonbreath 3:55-4:15; The Lesbian Dorkestra 4:20-4:40; My Mind 4:45-5:05; Kozak 5:10-5:30; Chosen Dance Company 5:35-5:55; Reading Rainbow 6:00-6:20; Mojohand 6:25-6:45  

 

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI MC Digga, SAT Black Landlord

 

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Pilot Cloud, SAT Thinking Machines, SUN Woe

 

North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Buy Star Bombs and Desoto Jones

 

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI (Early) Owl Stations, (Late) Toy Soldiers, TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb, The Divine Lorraine

 

M Room (12 W. Girard Ave.) SUN Cannons, Mirador, Pet Primative, Northern Valentine

 

The Khyber (56 S. 2nd St.) FRI Codename and Igor's Egg, SAT Levee Drivers 

Tritone (1508 South St.) SAT The Broken Prayers and Psalmships

 

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SUN Marah

 

Danger Danger Gallery (5013 Baltimore Ave.) FRI The Armchairs and TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb

 

Mar Bar (200 S. 40th St.) SAT New Madrid Faults

 

Angler Movement Arts Center (1550 E. Montgomery Ave.) SAT Fatima Adamu and Eric Carbonara

 

 

Gil Mantera’s Party Dream and Sunbears are two bands that are equally faszinierend. But when both bands take the stage during tonight’s Super-ficial Opening Night Show of Philly Beer Week, they’re not the only acts that are going to have you saying, “Achtung Baby!” Because they’ll be joined by Philly’s only emcee to bust rhymes in Deutsch, MC Digga. What started out as a joke by Mill Creek Tavern’s Director of Music, Ben Morgan, a few years back has since spawned into his German rapping alter ego. From his anthem about being born “Geboren”, to his umlaut-filled version of “Ice Ice Baby”, you will find yourself giggling with glee (not that painfully awful type of Glee - sorry ladies, gay men everywhere and teenie boppers who don’t know better) as you dance along to the pulsating beats. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ - Bill McThrill

 

Justin Lerner and Nick Biscardi first started Pilot Cloud two years ago as a means to create the music that they wanted to hear so the indie shoegaze duo set off on their journey and released their debut album In Transition. Since that time, the band formed a live set so they could embark on several small tours, and managed to have their work picked up by startup netlabel, Acoustic Firework Records. The guys have recently started a new chapter when they put out their follow-up Halcyon, and tonight’s show at Kung Fu Necktie marks their first show back since the mini-tour that they did in support of it. When you listen to their music (which you can download for free on their website) your ears will become awash in intricate guitar work and spaced out harmonies that aim to transport you to another galaxy. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $10, 21+ (Photo by Melissa Marie Hernandez) - Bill McThrill