Get Better Fest 5 will be bringing the positive vibes to the basement of the First Unitarian Church. Benefitting Black & Pink, Morris Home, and Project SAFE, kind locals will be donating their time and talents, to raise money and awareness for these multitude of good, important causes. A beautiful bluntness bangs on the sonic doors when listening to Soul Glo. Unabashedly in your face and unwavering, their bombarding instrumentation pushes against the barriers at high velocity. Hovering between hushed and heavy tones, caught between the noise-induced blitz and relatively subdued melodies, there’s a cathartic intensity found in the music of Mannequin Pussy. Blank Spell stirs in the shadows, creeping out in quick bursts of menace. You’ll also come across the precise attack of Control Top’s punk/dance hybrid, while the noise-speckled glow of Empath rounds out this small sampling of the loaded, all-day lineup. – Michael Colavita
More local sounds for this weekend…
First Unitarian Church (2125 Chestnut St.) FRI The Obsessives, SAT Get Better Fest 5: Mannequin Pussy, Big Nothing, Soul Glo, Control Top, Kilamanzego, Blank Spell, Empath
LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster Ave.) FRI Get Better Fest 5: August Koch, Solarized, Strawberry Runners
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Agent Zero, GoldenSpiral (Dual Album Release), Jackie & Jesse, Lotits, SUN Heavy Temple
Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Marah
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Bryan William Myers/DJ Deejay, SAT A Black Celebration: DJ Baby Berlin and Jem, SUN All This Huxley, Adventure Lost, Petty Vandal
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) SUN (Balcony) The 1940’s, Adam Travis & The Soul, Silver Autumn, Fauxtron
TLA (334 South St.) SAT The Parsnip Revolt
The Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal St.) SAT Kur
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Upstairs) John Vettese/Conjunto, SAT (Upstairs) Philadelphia School of Rock/Don McAvoy & the Great Whatever, Germany Hill/(Downstairs) Beyond The Bars Benefit Show: The Districts, Hardwork Movement, Ill Fated Natives
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Malcolm Culleton (Album Release), Bern and the Bastards, Anna Dausman, SAT Anomie, Great Neck, Sunset Negative, Necrosexual
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Hellings, SAT Ryan Tennis
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Better Ducks, Cookie Rabinowitz, SAT Taiwan Housing Project, Dirt Queen, SUN Luminous Fins, The Justines
The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) SAT Darla
Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) FRI Morning River Band, The Miners, Red Means Run, SAT De Tierra Caliente (CD Release)
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT James Pace Band, SUN Rusty Cadillac
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Drug Bust, 7th Victim, Bunny Savage & The Plibmen, SAT Seeing Snakes, Atomic Cretins
Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) SAT Murda P, SUN Atomic Cretins, Rubbish
Frankie Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI DJ Chris Urban, SAT Ed Christof
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI The Low Bottom Boys, Overcoming Gravity, This Kills Me, SAT Apple Juice Jones, Mercury Retrograde
Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Big Mind, On Wa, SAT Hezekiah Jones, Chestnut Grove, Black Horse Motel
The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18th St.) FRI Mahatma X, Stoops, A Virgin, Pithair / Daniel Levine, Mochi Robinson, Brushstroke, SAT Randle Patrick McNuthing, SUN Starwood & David Fantasy & Adult Content
West Kensington Ministry (2140 N. Hancock St.) FRI Bardo Pond
Tralfamadore (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Rebecca Zimmerman, Dominy
Planet Phitness (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Boosegumps, Walte Young
The Sound Hole (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Death’s Dynamic Shroud, Vincent Remember, Phteven Universe
Tundra Dome (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Hermit Thrushes, Sour Spirit