1) Dreamy Life Records and Music (1310 W Allen) has a pretty cool lineup for their weekly Friday happy hour – these shows start around 6pm and often feature free keg beer courtesy Collective Brewing, in case you’re just hearing about ’em – jazz/prog project Yaz Mean, international pop star Steve Gnash, and Lechoso, a Latinx punk band that’s affiliated with The Good Kind of Mushroom. The show is free and celebrates the birth of local music photographer Annie Nelson, who turns one year older than she was on this date in 2017. Music starts at 7, and the gig is geared for all ages, just like a board game from Milton Bradley!

2) Also on Friday: Joan of Arc at MASS (1002 S Main). The long-running Chicago-based indie band is entering their second decade; while that fact is notable, what makes their music interesting is their pioneering use of samples and laptops in their compositions – in the ’90s, this was pretty uncommon, unless you count the cult movie audio clips stuffed into virtually every White Zombie song. Anyway, the show is 18+, doors are at 8, and tickets are $12-$14. Wanna kill an hour learning about this band? Noisey made a video about them:

3) As I am religiously obligated to mention ska bands whenever they are playing, I want to let you know that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are at House of Blues (2200 N Lamar) on Saturday. Full disclosure, I was never really into this band, but I still kinda like “The Impression That I Get.” What a funny thing, to be a poseur about the Bosstone! Canadian-Mexican ska punks Los Kung Fu Monkeys and some band called Buster Shuffle are the openers. Doors to this all-ages show are at 7, and general admission tickets are $25. Here’s Bosstones frontman Dickie Barrett on the AVClub offering the not-at-all-surprising hot take that he prefers roller skates to roller blading. Like of course you do, Dickie Barrett. You wear old suits all the time, so why wouldn’t you prefer the “old school” style of wheeled feet sports? Lemme guess: You also think the original Battlestar Galactica series is superior to the reboot? Anyway, here’s that video:

4) Pearl Earl returns from their cross-country tour with a show at Three Links (2704 Elm, Dallas) on Sunday, playing in the headlining spot with Denton psych rockers Sunbuzzed and Dallas garage rock trio the Bralettes opening. All these bands are really great, and the cover’s only $5. Doors are at 8, show starts at 9. Not sure what the age policy is, but the average age of the Bralettes’ fanbase seems to be 20, so maybe it’s 18+. Pearl Earl did a Daytrotter session last week during their tour, but I couldn’t find the video so here’s them doing “Cosmic Queen” at a SoFar show:

5) Jazz fusion legends Bertha Coolidge are playing a one-off reunion gig at Scat Jazz Lounge (111 W 4th St #11), and if you’re not into the idea of driving out to Dallas to see the bands in item number 4, then this is the thing you want to do. Not sure what the cover is, but doors are at 9 and the music starts at 10pm. This is Bertha Coolidge jamming at Scat seven years ago:

FULL DISCLOSURE/WRITER BIO ALERT: per editorial suggestion, in addition to writing about music and other shit for the FW Weekly, I am an investor in a venue/bar called Main at Southside, colloquially known as MASS. I also bartend at the Boiled Owl Tavern, a bar that also hosts shows a few times a month, as well as Off the Record, which is a bar/record store that hosts DJs several nights a week. Since I’m on the subject of warning you against what may be perceived as icky self-promotion and/or conflicts of interest, I play bass in the following bands: Son of Stan and Darth Vato.