Prices may not reflect ticketing service charges. For full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music.
Joseph Arthur (Saturday) His Lonely Astronaut record label is well named: Mr. Arthur’s spare folk songwriting shares a solemn yet roving bend. His latest record, “The Graduation Ceremony,” is certainly more elegantly wounded than his laissez-faire alt-folk supergroup Fistful of Mercy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, but it is no less bright. With David Berkeley. At 8 p.m., City Winery, 155 Varick Street, near Spring Street, South Village, (212) 608-0555, citywinery.com; $18 to $25. (Stacey Anderson)
Camp Bisco (Thursday) It’s a festival 11 years in the making. When the trance-rock jam band the Disco Biscuits started their manic annual festival upstate, they were the electronic outliers in their own diverse lineup. Finally, in 2012, mainstream taste has shifted to their beloved electronic dance music and the band is celebrating with a lineup that reflects it: the headliners include Bassnectar, Skrillex, Amon Tobin, Porter Robinson and A-Trak, with assistance from hip-hop acts like Big Boi and Atmosphere and pop-rock artists like Portugal. The Man and Crystal Castles. Through July 14 at noon, Indian Lookout Country Club, 1142 Batter Street, Mariaville Lake, N.Y., campbisco.net; $85 for Saturday, $190 for a three-day pass for ages 16 and older. (Anderson)
Dan Deacon (Thursday) This hyperactive electro-pop auteur from Baltimore can take a haughty attitude during his live shows or he can be a giddy, beaming conduit of inspired live-loops of noise. One hopes that the beautiful riverside sunset prompts the latter when he performs at Hudson River Park’s RiverRocks festival. With John Maus and Roomrunner. At 6 p.m., Pier 84, 44th Street at 12th Avenue, Clinton, (212) 627-2020, hudsonriverpark.org/events; free. (Anderson)
Def Leppard and Poison (Wednesday) Considering this hair-metal dynamic duo comprised approximately 87 percent of the “Rock of Ages” soundtrack, their presence at Prudential Center could seem a well-timed summer gimmick. In fact, off the strength of their ageless singles “Pour Some Sugar on Me” (Def Leppard) and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (Poison), these giddy rockers never truly left the arena circuit. Tom Cruise’s faithful caterwauling is a footnote. With Lita Ford. At 7 p.m., Prudential Center, 165 Mulberry Street, Newark, (800) 745-3000, prucenter.com; $42.50 to $119.59. (Anderson)
★ Dirty Projectors (Monday and Tuesday) Trust these Brooklyn experimental rockers to make a guitar seem passé. On “Gun Has No Trigger,” the lead single from the band’s new album, “Swing Lo Magellan” (Domino), the singer Dave Longstreth croons over a languid, funky bass line as background vocalists dispatch jarring, minor harmonies like thunderclaps. It’s a genius simplicity that the album maintains throughout. Monday at 9 p.m., Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth Street, Brooklyn, (800) 745-3000, musichallofwilliamsburg.com; sold out. Tuesday at 7 p.m., Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (800) 745-3000, bricartsmedia.org; $30. (Anderson)
Ace Frehley (Wednesday) Scrubbed clean of the star-spectacle outlines and bone-white foundation that comprised his KISS makeup, this guitarist now seems to be taking sartorial tips from ZZ Top. The riffs, however, remain grandiose — if invariable — in his solo shows. With Cashmier. At 8 p.m., Best Buy Theater, 1515 Broadway, at 44th Street, (212) 930-1950 or (800)745-3000, bestbuytheater.com; $30 in advance, $35 at the door. (Anderson)
Woody Guthrie Centennial Birthday Celebration (Thursday) The folk singer-songwriter’s wonderful catalog of traditional and folk cuts is celebrated with assistance from his granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie and her husband, Johnny Irion. Expect fond tears long before the roundhouse singalong of “This Land Is Your Land.” At 9 p.m., Hill Country, 30 West 26th Street, Manhattan, (212) 255-4544, music.hillcountryny.com; $15 in advance, $20 at the door. (Anderson)
★ Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival With Buddy Guy and Neko Case (Wednesday and Thursday) The second annual summit of soulfulness features the estimable Buddy Guy, a Chicago blues pioneer who can count Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards among his stylistic pupils. He is joined on Wednesday by John Mayall, the former shredding frontman of the Bluesbreakers, and the teenage guitar prodigy Quinn Sullivan. Thursday brings the smoky country-pop pipes of Neko Case as well as the Daptone Records mainstays Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires and the antique-folk duo He’s My Brother She’s My Sister. At 6 p.m., World Financial Center Plaza, 220 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 945-3392, artsbrookfield.com; free. (Anderson)
Nellie McKay (Wednesday) A cabaret-leaning, contemporary-pop chanteuse, Ms. McKay is also ecologically compelled. Her recent show at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, “Silent Spring — It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature,” paid homage to the book about pesticides by taking musical cues from Neil Young and Irving Berlin. Now she’s taking part in Madison Square Park’s Oval Lawn Series. At 7 p.m., Madison Square Park, Broadway at 23rd Street, (212) 538-1884, madisonsquarepark.org; free. (Anderson)
★ MoMA PS1 Warm Up With Todd Terry (Saturday) Beginning this weekend the city’s trendiest migrate to Long Island City for MoMA’s excellent weekly parties in the courtyard of its avant-garde outpost, and with good reason: the series is one of the best day adventures in town. The local D.J. Todd Terry of X-Mix Productions, Light Asylum and Nguzunguzu perform on Saturday, and Jamie XX and Atoms for Peace are set to spin later in the summer. From 2 to 9 p.m., MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084, ps1.org/warmup; free for members and Long Island City residents, $15 for general admission, entry to MoMA PS1 is free with admission to “Warm Up.” (Anderson)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Saturday) On their second record, “Belong” (Slumberland), this New York dream-pop quartet delivered a smooth simulacrum of mid-1990s rock, replete with the earnestly anthemic hooks of the Smashing Pumpkins and the shoe-gaze fuzz of Blonde Redhead. Mixing by Alan Moulder, the former producer of both those alt-heroes, helped this band achieve their most beautiful output to date: “Even in Dreams” should be mandatory on all wedding playlists. The perform as part of the CBGBs Festival, with Guided by Voices, Cloud Nothings and the War on Drugs. From 3 to 7 p.m., Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, midpark at 70th Street, (212) 360-2777, summerstage.org; free and open to all until capacity is reached; doors open at 2 p.m. (Anderson)
Scissor Sisters (Friday and Saturday) Intense showmanship elevates every performance by these disco-rock locals: the lead vocalists, Jake Shears and Ana Matronic, churn the stage with bright wit and ecstatic dancing. Their recently released fourth disc, “Magic Hour,” includes a collaboration with the equally glamorous D.J. du jour Calvin Harris. With Rye Rye. At 9 p.m., Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street, Clinton, (800) 745-3000, terminal5nyc.com; $39.50 in advance, $45 day of show. (Anderson)
Simon Shaheen (Saturday) The Arabic folk traditionalist has a masterly way with the oud and the violin, for which he received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1990s. His delicate, often classically inspired ruminations serve valuable, informal ambassadorial duties and will be on display here as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival. With the Algerian folk-pop singer Souad Massi. At 7:30 p.m., Prospect Park Bandshell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 683-5600, bricartsmedia.org; free with a suggested donation of $3. (Anderson)
Stabbing Eastward (Sunday) Sometimes billed mistakenly as “Stabbing Eastwood” — a bit of hilarity that, when imagined fully, makes no one’s day — the side project of Tunde Adebimpe, the lead singer of TV on the Radio, and Ryan Sawyer, the drummer of the Tall Firs, is a phantasmal experiment of emotive wails and ominous drums. With the Psychic Paramount and Guardian Alien. At 8 p.m., Cameo Gallery, 93 North Sixth Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 302-1180, cameony.com; $10 in advance, $12 day of show. (Anderson)
Lissy Trullie (Friday) This dance-pop singer-songwriter exudes a glamorous detachment, as befits her former modeling days in East Village art enclaves. Her self-titled debut album, released by Downtown and a long-overdue follow-up to her 2009 EP “Self-Taught Learner” (American Myth/Wichita/Downtown), is peppy singer-songwriter pop with a healthy dose of New Wave agitation. She performs at the CBGB Festival on a bill that includes Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. At 8 p.m., Highline Ballroom, 431 West 16th Street, Chelsea, (212) 414-5994, highlineballroom.com; $20 in advance; $23 at the door. (Anderson)
Roger Waters Presents ‘The Wall’ Live (Friday and Saturday) If the Yankees had a sonic soul mate, it would surely be “The Wall,” the Who’s bombastic, progressive-rock lash against isolation that has remained a unique kind of juggernaut since its release in 1979. (Then again, Mets fans may find this a charitable comparison.) The band’s songwriting M.V.P. brings the album’s heavy thrum and all its high-tech visual aids to a stadium that can handle it. At 8:45 p.m., Yankee Stadium, 1 East 161st Street, the Bronx, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com; $34.50 to $254.50. (Anderson)
★ Patrick Watson (Friday) When their spectacular 2006 album, “Closer to Paradise” (Secret City), won the prestigious Polaris Music Prize in Canada, Patrick Watson and his eponymous band found themselves victors over the Arcade Fire and Feist. The chamber-pop specters returned with the uneven “Wooden Arms” (Secret City) in 2009, and best that with the keening, dissonant experimentations of the new “Adventures in Your Own Backyard” (Secret City/Domino). Their performance is part of the River to River Festival. With Loney Dear. At 7 p.m., Pier 17, South Street Seaport, Fulton and Front Streets, Lower Manhattan, (212) 219-9401, rivertorivernyc.com; free. (Anderson)
