Live Music

Wed., Aug. 31, 7pm. Free. PW Concerts in the Park, Rittenhouse Square, 18th and Walnut sts. 215.563.7400. www.philadelphiaweekly.com

There are myriad bands you wouldn't want to see perform in the great outdoors. They're too dark and difficult for an al fresco setting. Dr. Dog, though, is different-all loose melodies, woozy harmonies and gangly Beatles-influenced charm. When Dr. Dog venture that, "It's an easy beat of nothing/ And we don't need no guitars/ We can run and sing and wreck our cars," on their left-field hit "Easy Beat," it sounds like a solid mid-August plan. They're joined by the Teeth, whose jangle-pop anthem "Oh, Bessie!" is the sonic equivalent of a creamsicle on the stoop. Bring on the dog days. (Jennifer Kelly)

Buddy Miller

Sat., Aug. 27, 4pm. $31-$145. Philadelphia Folk Festival, 1323 Salford Station Rd., Schwenksville. 800.556.FOLK. www.folkfest.org

Fifty-three-year-old Buddy Miller's spent most of his career out of the limelight. And you get the feeling that's the way the self-effacing, almost shy guitarist prefers it. He's contributed six-string to Lucinda Williams' classic Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and Frank Black's just-released Honeycomb, and country megastars Brooks & Dunn and the Dixie Chicks have recorded his songs. Yet despite five dogged solo discs and an Americana Music Association Album of the Year with his wife Julie, Miller's most visible gig is likely his current nine-year run as Emmylou Harris' right-hand guitar-playing man. But don't ask Buddy when he's leaving. "I'll play with her as long as she wants me there," he says. (Rob Trucks)

Grammar Debate! + Future Tips

Fri., Aug. 26, 9pm. $7. With Illumina + Late Night Television. North Star, 27th and Poplar sts. 215.684.0808. www.northstarbar.com

In a glowing year for Philly indie rock, here come two more worthy entries. Formed after the demise of the muscular Hilliard and the twang-tastic Grandfabric, Grammar Debate! picked up active members of Rarebirds and Taggart to pen swooning synth-kissed gems that deserve high billing on the players' crowded resumes. Future Tips, similarly, rose from the ruins of the band Rhode Island and found new life in sickeningly catchy tunes about spoiled brats ("Easy Money") and other bittersweet subjects. The quartet's long-delayed debut Girls on Wheels is
finally due this fall on the local label Extra-curricular. And it's a knockout. (Doug Wallen)

Philadelphia Folk Festival

Fri., Aug. 26, 3pm-midnight; Sat., Aug. 27, 12:15pm-midnight; Sun., Aug. 28, noon-9:30pm. $31-$145. 1323 Salford Station Rd., Schwenksville. 800.556.FOLK. www.folkfest.org

On the one hand, there's nothing shockingly new about this year's Philadelphia Folk Festival (not even Buddy Miller, mentioned above). Nada. But isn't that what's appealing about the three-day acoustic love-in? The reliability of Emmylou Harris, the conventionality of Peggy Seeger, the steadiness of Arlo Guthrie, who's coming up on the 40th anniversary of "Alice's Restaurant." (How many songs actually have an anniversary?) But for those fearing folkie doldrums, the dance tent's been enlarged, making this year's PFF as much for your feet as for your ears. Depending on when you start your footwork, you can try Mexican, Cuban, Cajun, contra, clogging, square, Balkan, Native American dance and more. Just don't be caught doing the side-to-side shuffle. That'd be too predictable. (Jeffrey Barg)

Kinski + Bardo Pond

Thurs., Aug. 25, 9pm. $8. With Thunderbirds Are Now! Khyber, 56 S. Second St. 215.238.5888. www.thekhyber.com

It's like a Yu-Gi-Oh! battle, where Khyba attacks with Kinski's brain-melting waves of distorted feedback and Yugi counters with Bardo Pond's circling psyche wizardry. Expect a sky-shattering, lightning-crackling face-off between these titans of contemporary drone as, despite Kinski's latest more rock-leaning Alpine Static, the two bands seem likely to egg each other on to new territories beyond song structure. Bardo Pond have been leading with "Destroying Angel," an extended cathartic cut from their upcoming fall album. Kinski will answer with the driving detuned roar of "The Wives of Artie Shaw." Thunderbirds Are Now! open, cranking out head-vibrating, tambourine-shattering dance music on steroids. (J.K.)

Byard Lancaster and the Blues Messengers

Sat., Aug. 27, 4-7pm. Free. Vernon Park, Germantown Ave. above Chelten Ave.

One look at the website of multi-reed-smith Byard Lancaster reveals his love of performance at all costs. Wailing on soprano saxophone on a Philly street corner in November 2000, Lancaster was arrested for daring to pass the hat. The charge was dropped, which only encouraged the passionate musician, whose resume includes recordings/stints with Sun Ra and McCoy Tyner. "[Finding time to practice] is one of the reasons I play on the streets," Lancaster told Clifford Allen for allaboutjazz.com, "because I sit there for about three or four hours without moving. It's a great marketing scheme-if I want to sell 20,000 records to the people in my community, then the people should know me." (Ken Micallef)

Bill Ricchini

Sat., Aug. 27, 10pm. $10. With Capitol Years + Buried Beds. Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. 215.928.0770. www.tinangel.com

Leaving the bedroom behind, Philly expat Bill Ricchini stepped into a real studio to record Tonight I Burn Brightly, the follow-up to his tinny 2002 mini-masterpiece Ordinary Time. Still light of gait and practically whispered along, the new songs benefit from a pristine professional sheen, not to mention a wealth of heavenly piano tinkling. There's some power-pop, some country, some twee and lots of folk, but mostly Ricchini dodges the trappings of genre, etching out a nifty little world where perfumed women pass in the halls and-despite his best efforts-a guy just can't fall in love. (D.W.)

Al Green

Thurs., Aug. 25, 7:30pm. $49-$59. With Four Tops. Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd St. and Parkside Ave. 215.893.1999.
www.manncenter.org

When the heat of the day feels unbearable, it's best to break out the ice cream and soul records, sit on the stoop and just give in to it all. If you're lucky enough to have the funds, you can hoof it over to the Mann Center and hear Mr. Soul himself, the Rev. Al Green, sing his greatest hits as well as material from his newest release Everything's OK. Signaling a return to his secular musical glory days, Green's latest effort reunites him with the producer who honed his lush Hi Records sound, Willie Mitchell. Alongside fellow soul legends the Four Tops, there'll be plenty of love and happiness to go around. (Emily Brochin)

The Philly 5

Fri., Aug. 26, 5pm. Free with museum admission ($8-$12). Great Stair Hall, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. and the Pkwy. 215.563.7308.
www.philamuseum.org

Trumpeter and band leader John Swana can be found playing the Philadelphia environs most any night of the week-his big sound, burnished tone and scalding technique a bellwether to jazz musicians citywide. Joined by such equally proficient and world-class musicians as Chris Farr (saxophone), Tony Miceli (a pure terror on vibraphone), Madison Rast (bass) and Dan Monaghan (drums), the Philly 5 are known to cut the rug and reassemble it with a big-hearted approach to group and individual composition, well-worn standards and general mischief and mayhem within the bebop and straight-ahead jazz idioms. Their second CD is currently in the works. (K.M.)

Hail Social

Sun., Aug. 28, 7:30pm. $10. With Rainer Maria + Denison Witmer. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 800.594.8499. www.r5productions.com

Other post-punkers traffic in midnight, but Philly's Hail Social ride with the high beams on. Everything is gleaming and pristine, bass snaking through the deep, tight groove carved by the quick, stern percussion. They're like !!! on codeine, the natty funk and hiccupping rhythms all scrubbed-up and slowed down. "Get in the Car" has the handclaps and the oompa-oompa chorus, but it happens at half-speed, making it seem ominous instead of outrageous. Ditto "More Time," where a rubberband riff gets stretched and snapped over and over. It's as if the shades have been pulled and the light is flooding in, turning murk into melody and turning the graveyard into a ballroom. (J. Edward Keyes)