Philly’s own Ranch Records is hosting a Ram 1500-sized event at First Unitarian this Saturday, and I can guarantee there will be a hemi under that hood, a.k.a. top tier performances by your favorite Ranch Jams bands. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ranch’s output, they’re the ones behind Philadelphia’s finest gloom-punk and junk-rock bands like The Spirit of The Beehive, whose grunge re-meets shoegaze sound ranges from mudflap grit to pure, synthetic motor oil, open road ramblers Dogs on Acid with their whimsical and unfurling power pop, GUNK, whose smudgy slacker-pop songs drawl and tweak like truck-stop thugs, NAH, whose noisy, heavily percussive, electronic glitch music is the sonic equivalent of that rusty, rattling but reliable hemi engine passing the 200,000 mark, and Congenital Death, the reckless, passing-on-the-right power drivers, whose sheer velocity and bellicosity will make you scared for your life. All of the bands mentioned above and more will be playing the Big Gig Truck festival so truck it on over to First Unitarian for a piece of the action. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 6pm, $12, All Ages – Bryce Woodcock
Other places where you can mourn the loss of Prince this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Philly Loves Phife
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) SAT The Dead Anthem Choir, SUN Dreambook
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Teenage Bigfoot, The Mad Splatter, Assemble/Jesse Tyler, Sean Hearn, SAT Buzzherd, YottaWatt, Highburnator/Gun$ Garcia, Wassup Gina, SUN Moonstriker, Lord Bulldog/Pet
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) SAT Fight Amp Krieg
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) SUN RAHKETZ
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Downstairs) Matt Wheeler, SAT (Downstairs) Marc Silver and The Stonethrowers
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) SAT Fell into Yesterday, Last Minute Hero, In The Pines, Shots Called, SUN Jam Traffic, The Jumping Juvies, The Cultour, Larry Nodder
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) XPN Fest: FRI Ill Doots, Kate Faust, Hardwork Movement, Joie Kathos, SAT Kississippi, Shelf Life, Cherry, Madalean Gauze, SUN Hezekiah Jones, Howlish, Lou, Friendship
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St) FRI MCA Day: DJ Brownske, SAT Blood Sound, Suburban Living (DJ Set)
Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI Francisco Collazo, DJ Phsh, SAT DJ Deejay, SUN Mike Nyce, DJ Lil’ Dave
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT New Pony, SUN Rusty Cadillac
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) SAT Heart Harbor (EP Release), Julia Rainer, SUN Christine Havrilla
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Molly Rhythym, APE!, George Engel Brooks, SAT Voltheque, The One2s, Stellarscope, Toy Cannons
Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) FRI Crash Course In Science
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Residuels (EP Release), Throbbing Chakra, Remote Control, SAT Adam Travis & The Soul, The Color 25, Archawah, SUN Spent Flesh, Janelle, Heavy Medical
Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Boulevard) FRI DJ Beatstreet, SAT Mr. Sonny James, SUN DJ Skipmode
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI Ben Aire, SAT DJ Chris Urban
The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) FRI Grayscale
The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Jake Clarke
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Chalk & The Beige Americans, SAT Dorkosaurus
W/N W/N (931 Spring Garden St.) SUN DJ Stateschoolgirl
The Pharmacy (1300/02 S. 18th St.) SAT Carl Kavorkian, E. Grizzly SUN Hound, The Cloth
Birdhouse (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Zach Darrup, Wrong Mantra
Slime Time Live (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Interminable, Trash Boy
LAVA Space (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) The Afterglows, Attendant, Teenage Bigfoot, King Azaz