BEATS ANTIQUE Folk chords, Middle Eastern melodies and electronic beats join forces to create an aural conglomerate that's hard to define. The music is just as diverse as the visuals offered in a live performance as belly dancers strut, shake and move. The band's name is perfect - there's something familiar yet fresh in every tune they create. $15-$30. Neighborhood Theatre.

BOMBADIL You'd expect a band that takes its name from a J.R.R. Tolkein character to be cute and quirky, but you'd only be half right. Out of the gate, Durham's Bombadil took a kitchen-sink-hits-the backwoods-approach, throwing banjo, trumpet, ukulele and pan flute at twee pop, spastic waltzes, Preservation era Kinks and everything in between. With recent lyrics focused on suicide, resignation and resilience, Bombadil has matured. The quirk remains, but now the Rube Goldberg musical gizmos sit atop a solid bedrock of gypsy folk, alt-country harmonies and heartfelt pop. At heart, they're still the adorable nerdcore ragamuffins of yore, but added gravitas has Bombadil charting a course midway between Animal Collective and The Band. With Justin Robinson & The Mary Annettes. $10-$12. Visulite Theatre.

MICKEY AVALON His mean streets CV reads like a Lifetime movie developed by Lou Reed - drug dealer, junkie, prostitute. But don't expect Mickey Avalon to drop real danger amid his poppy trash rap. Instead, the ambisexual glam rapper mixes drug-addled debauchery with Radio Disney, in a cocktail that's more Lil' Kim than Eminem. Still, his slippery sexuality is a nice 'n' sleazy antidote to the lazy machismo of gangsta, and his eagerness to entertain is endearing in a love-me/fuck-me way. With second-tier bubblegum glam rockers like The Sweet and Slade as spiritual forbears, Mickey Avalon is one hell of a good time Charlie. A guilty pleasure, if only there was something to feel guilty about. With Andre Legacy and F. Dux. $15-$18. Tremont Music Hall.

BEHEMOTH Always armed with warp-speed guitars and gutturally menacing vocals, Behemoth does ease into slower, melodic passages, but within a blink of an eye the bombers are at it again with guitars and percussion akin to a runaway freight train. Poland's death metal combo has been at it since their more raw black metal incarnation in the early '90s. If you dig the genre, these blokes are one of the best. Unrelentingly extreme, there is a method to the madness, instilling the sheer volume with complex riffs and orchestral dirges. Also on the bill are fellow ear bleeders Watain, The Devil's Blood, In Solitude and Horrendous. $16-$18. Amos' Southend.

FRIDAY LIVE AT THE FACTORY Kicking around the Music Factory fountain, drink in hand with good music in the background isn't a bad way to start the weekend. This week, it's a local showcase with some of the area's finest. From the female-fronted rock of Grown Up Avenger Stuff to the funk infusion of Lucky Five, from the love-saturated indie-rock of Benji Hughes to the hyper folk style of Holy Ghost Tent Revival - there's a bit of everything for your aural enjoyment. $5 advance. N.C. Music Factory.

PHILLIPPE PETIT This Frenchman comes from the country that embraces the avant garde with the same fervor it otherwise reserves for red wine and gettin' busy. For more than 25 years Petit's brand - building electronic layers with computers and synths, then daubing them with processed acoustic and field recordings, percussion elements, and vinyl manipulations - has found him collaborating across the spectrum with folks from Lydia Lunch and Faust to My Favorite Diamond and Girls Against Boys. On this evening he'll be trading soothing textures, mind-bending soundscapes and maelstrom-skronk with Brooklyn-based collective PAS, whose mission statement since 1995 has been to make music "from the fringes of perception." Their one-off studio collab is called Closed Encounters of the 4 Minds, and it is suitably and wonderfully unpredictable. With Great Architect, Zruda and Balloon Animal Farm. The Milestone.

RISE AGAINST Rise Against have strayed from their Cali hardcore influences, hewing closer to the clean tunefulness of Ted Leo than the bludgeoning thunder of Black Flag. But what they lose in fiery thrash, they make up for with their intense message. With their history of Rock Against Bush participation, animal rights activism and vegan Vans endorsement, it's easy to stamp the melodic hardcore foursome with the naivety tag. Too easy. It's no accident that Rise Against were slammed, then ignored, by the snarky would-be hipsters at Pitchfork, and that the charge of the political sloganeering and callow vulnerability was also leveled at the similarly committed Clash. Risking the disdain of smug zeitgeist-meisters is a small price to pay for actually giving a shit. $35-$50. Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre.

Styles & Complete
Charlotte DJs A-Styles & Complete are redefining dubstep by infusing hip-hop and Southern influence into a style they call "DirtySouthElectroSwag." The duo's original song "Cook It" features the lyrics "You can go HAM or you can go home." It's the name of their current tour and a good summary of how they approach their music - Hard As a Motherfucker - whether it's their own mix or mash-ups of artists including Childish Gambino, Outkast, J. Cole, Lil Jon, Bassnectar and Skrillex. Whisky River.

HARRY TAYLOR FUNDRAISER CL gave its endorsement of Harry Taylor for Mecklenburg County Commissioner, and now you can show your support for the candidate, too. A fundraiser is being held at the Evening Muse for the former head of the Charlotte Folk Society who has a passion for education reform and environmental protection. The event will feature the Flat Possum Hoppers. There will be yard signs and Taylor is expected to speak briefly, as well. 7-9 p.m. The Evening Muse.

HOPE FOR AGOLDENSUMMER Athens, Ga., folk/Americana luminaries Hope for Agoldensummer long ago earned a place in the hearts of discerning listeners in their famously music-centic hometown. Sisters Claire and Page Campbell weave their lilting voices through the shambling, rustic junkyard orchestra of their arrangements with the help of prolific musician/producer Suny Lyons. With nearly a decade of writing and performing under their collective belts as Hope for Agoldensummer, this trio creates lovely, masterful and original music. $5. Snug Harbor.