This Weekend’s Concert Picks: Of Montreal, Appleseed Cast, Lord Huron, PIFA Street Fair, Peter Bjorn And John

FRIDAY, APRIL 29
Of Montreal + Painted Palms at Theatre Of The Living Arts (9 p.m., $32.50); Appleseed Cast + A Great Big Pile of Leaves, KC Jones at First Unitarian Church (7:30 p.m., all ages, $12); Yellow Humphrey + Young Nick Krill And Magic Mike, Eliza Hardy-Jones at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $10); at JB’s

SATURDAY, APRIL 30
Lord Huron is the perfect band to close out April in Philadelphia. Everything about Ben Schneider’s project suggests a grapple between—or perhaps mixing of—warm and cold climates. He was raised in (and highly influenced by) the Michigan northland, but his sudden and mysterious assent to recognition occurred after moving to sunny Los Angeles. In his music, calypso rhythms are juxtaposed by sparse, cold melodies; snowy reverb gets added to tropical guitar licks. As his musical influences, Schneider cites old Trinidadian carnival music and Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. His video for “The Stranger” depicts an Arctic exploration gone awry, while the covers of his two EPs (Mighty and Into The Sun, both 2010) depict mystical sandy beaches. Schneider has said in interviews that he appreciates the strangeness of finding isolated tropical-esque beaches on the shores of the Great Lakes (he recorded Mighty at Lake Huron, hence his moniker), and that his songs are often attempts to communicate auditory versions of the strange visions in his head. So that might be the explanation for the contrast. Lord Huron performs with Arches at 8 p.m. at North Star Bar; tickets to the 21+ show are $12.

Also playing: PIFA Street Fair featuring Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings + Nicole Atkins And The Sea, The Thermals, Mucca Pazza, PhillyBloco, Wyllys And the New York Hustler Ensemble at Pine Street Stage (11 a.m., free); Dave Hause + Mikey Erg, Ian Graham at First Unitarian Church (6 & 9 p.m., all ages, SOLD OUT); Parts and Labor + Moon Women, The Perfectionists at Johnny Brenda’s (9 p.m., 21+, $10-$12); Pinback + Judgement Day at Starlight Ballroom (8 p.m., all ages, $10); Money Making Jam Boys + OCD, Moosh And Twist, Jaguar Wright at Theatre Of The Living Arts (9 p.m., $23)

The Stranger from Lord Huron on Vimeo.

SUNDAY, MAY 1
Peter Bjorn And John + Bachelorette, Grandchildren at Theatre Of The Living Arts (8 p.m., $32.25); Ted Leo + Noun at Kung Fu Necktie (4 p.m., SOLD OUT); Mischief Brew + Blood Bomber, Corrupt Justin at The Barbary (6 p.m., all ages, $10)