Philadelphia Weekly

March 10

East Hundred
One of our fair city’s freshest unsigned bands, East Hundred combines an ’80s new-wave vibe with a modern alt-progressive rock edge. Vivacious lead vocalist Beril Guceri shows off her dynamic vocal range on emphatic choruses wrought with heartache. “We walk up through rivers of fire / High tides try to kill off desire,” she wails on “Slow Burning Crimes,” the opener from the band’s golden, self-released LP
Passenger from 2009. Brothers and co-founders Brooke and Will Blair add warm guitars and spasmodic drums to the mix, respectively, with bass and keys rounding out the sound. The
five-piece band’s live performances are as undeniably precise as they are mesmerizingly uplifting. -Kevin Brosky

8pm. $15. With Company of Thieves and Civil Twilight. Theater of the Living Arts, 334 South St. 215.922.1011. livenation.com

The Invisible Ray
To celebrate the opening of their new mad-science exhibit “Marvels and Ciphers: A Look Inside the Flask,” the Chemical Heritage Foundation is teaming up with The Secret Cinema for an ongoing science-fiction film series. Tonight’s feature is Lambert Hillyer’s The Invisible Ray, a rare pairing of Universal horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi from 1936. In it they play Doctors Rukh and Benet, rival scientists in pursuit of a strange cosmic ore that has crash-landed in Africa. One man uses the mysterious “Radium X” to cure the blind, while the other becomes infected and turns to grizzly murder. Secret Cinema projects the lost classic as well as a few shorts from the period on sizzling 16mm film. Afterward, Penn sociology professor David Grazian leads a follow-up discussion on all the kookiness. The popcorn, drinks and B-movie thrills are all on them. -Paul F. Montgomery

6:30pm. Free. Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut St. 215.742.4224. thesecretcinema.com

March 11

These Are Powers
When Pat Noecker left Liars, a great deal of the thump went out of their funk-punk mayhem. But not to worry, it has resurfaced in the noisy, chaotic These Are Powers. Granted, Noecker has adapted his bass so that it sounds very un-bass-like, but the hard rhythmic parameters of “Double Double Yolk” will sound familiar to anyone who has spent time with They Buried Us In a Trench. Over top, frontwoman Anna Barie (ex of Knife Skills) squalls and squeals and whispers in vocal extensions that are part Jarboe, part Karen O. Drummer Bill Salas fills out the trio, straddling traditional kit drums and electronically aided knobs and dials to create booming, post-moderntribal beats. -Jennifer Kelly

7pm. $10. With Lemonade + MNDR. Barbary, 951 N. Frankford Ave. 215.634.7400. r5productions.com

Take Me Out
Imagine if Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels or any other Phillies superstars
suddenly announced mid-way through the season that they were gay. Would the Phils’ legions of fans embrace a homosexual sports hero?  A similar scenario is imagined by playwright Richard Greenberg in his Tony Award-winning drama Take Me Out, which opens March 11 in a new production from the city’s longest continually operating theater, Plays
& Players. Set against the backdrop of America’s pastime, Greenberg’s outrageously funny and provocative play explores topics ranging from homophobia to hero-worship. The story focuses on Darren, a handsome baseball star who is as confident with his sexuality as he is with a bat and glove. Filled with memorable characters (Darren’s publicity agent Mason is one of the great roles in modern theater), Take Me Out is a must-see for fans of baseball and great American shows. -J. Cooper Robb

8pm. $15-$20. Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St. 215.735.0630. playsandplayers.org

March 12

The Low Anthem
For countrified indie folk fans, this is a dream lineup. Three rising stars in a mysteriously regionless genre, country boots get wedged on by Low Anthem in R.I., Annie & the Beekeepers in Boston and Lissie in L.A. Anthem has sold out big shows supporting the Avett Brothers and it’s no surprise that their gorgeous, soulful approaches to songwriting go together like hootin’ and hollerin’. Main man Ben Knox Miller is infectious on their big summer release Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. And to top it off, Lissie is the next big thing in folksy indie rock á la Jenny Lewis and Neko Case. -Bill Chenevert

8pm. $13. With Annie & the Beekeepers + Lissie. First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. 215.821.7575. r5productions.com

Rent
Team America: World Police totally ruined Rent for me. Previously a show I held near and dear, I am now unable to think of the Pultizer Prize and Tony Award-winning show without hearing “Everyone has AIDS,” a song from the Rent parody in the stupid-funny movie by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Temple University’s production of the famed Jonathan Larson play runs this month and while it won’t include Parker and Stone’s line-crossing tune, it’s a cheap way to get a theater fix. The show chronicles the story of eight friends living la vie boheme in New York City in the early 1990s. While everyone does not, in fact, have AIDS AIDS AIDS, as the song implies, more than half the characters do, which lays the foundation for a musical that is both heartbreaking and empowering. Rent, based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Bohème, closed on Broadway in September 2008, so this is a rare opportunity to see it produced. -Erica Palan

Through April 11. $20-$25. Tomlinson Theater, 1301 W. Norris St. 215.204.1334. temple.edu/sct/theater

March 13

Looking at Animals
There are plenty of coffee-table books devoted to the grace and power of wild animals, but photographer Henry Horenstein isn’t so concerned with the way animals move or how they interact with their environment. He simply documents their strange, sometimes otherworldly anatomical design, warts and all. Through May 16, the Academy of Natural Sciences showcases an array of Horenstein’s haunting and humorous black-and-white wildlife images in an exhibit called “Looking at Animals.” The series highlights the form and texture of snouts, tongues, tusks, feathers and water-logged rumps with the same sense of awe and mystery as a glamour pictorial. Photos are paired with specimens from the museum’s collection of more than 17 million animals and plants, including live birds and reptiles. It’s the best way to get a closer look at the wild and woolly without hopping a fence at the zoo. -P.F.M.

10am-5pm. $10-$12. Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy.  215.299.1060. ansp.org

Oh! Pears
Frontman, vocalist and songwriter Corey Duncan, with his crew of up to a dozen bandmates, is prepared to stun Philadelphia’s music scene with the release of Oh! Pears’ first album. The five-song Fill Your Lungs EP is a beautiful collection of songs—honest-to-goodness, fully composed—that bring the listener on an emotional journey. There’s something operatic about the expressive vocals and instrumentals, the obviously well-written and formally structured songs, and the mysterious force that pushes each song to its climax. Think a more orchestral, less Pitchfork-inspired Arcade Fire or Vampire Weekend. The detailed nuances of the songs even translate live, and with the visual treat of three acoustic guitarists, some string players, a flutist and a trumpet player and a host of other characters. -Katherine Silkaitis