Things To Do This Weekend.

Enjoy a High-Energy Couple of Days.

Over the past two years, this country has really become obsessed with the craft beer movement. The dozen or so local breweries and handful of beer-based festivals that have cropped up locally in that time are but a few bits of evidence toward this.

Listen, we get it: Beer is delicious. It also helps us clear our heads a bit and lets us forget about the daily grind and/or society's myriad of problems — if only for a brief moment.

Some folks, though, are taking things too far. For instance: There's now a spa up in the Poconos that offers treatments that incorporate the beers of craft brewery Dogfish Head. Among the most costly is the beer bath and massage, which runs upwards of $250.

Just think of how many Natty Lights you could buy with that kind of cash. Or the kind of night you could have opening a bar tab with that kind of scratch at one of the events below. Plus, at the end of the day, isn't drinking beer while hanging out with your friends a lot better than sitting around in your own filth?

Friday
Red Bull Sound Select w/ Black Milk at Dada
We're now two months into Dallas' Red Bull Sound Select experience — and so far, so good. Last month's party at Three Links jammed, July's Erykah Badu-led kickoff bash ruled and, truth is, we're only just getting started. To wit: The September edition of Dallas' Red Bull Sound Select series, which we've curated, will feature performances from Black Milk; Yung Nation; Blue, The Mifist (of Brain Gang); The Outfit, TX; and Sam Lao. Also awesome: DJ Sober will be on hand, rocking the decks at this throwdown. It's going to be awesome. And it's only $3 to attend. So do come, yes? — Pete Freedman

Depeche Mode at Gexa Energy Pavilion
Lest you feel like '80s electronic rockers Depeche Mode will be outshined by openers Crystal Castles at tonight's show, remember this: Depeche Mode just released a rather solid new record of its own, Martin Gore remains borderline infallible, and Dave Gahan still has “it.” While the show has the potential for having a hilarious mishmash audience of old-school Depeche Mode folks and younger Crystal Castles-adoring fans, these crowds will actually have a lot more in common than it may originally seem: Members of both groups will wear lots of black, and everyone in the house should be pretty surprised by how good Depeche Mode's new material is. An unofficial after-party at Beauty Bar follows for superfans of the headliners. — Jeremy Hughes

Centro-matic at The Live Oak
Without the benefit of hindsight, it's sometimes hard to appreciate just how great some artists are. Denton's Will Johnson might not be as flashy a name as, say, Willie Nelson, but time will reveal how his work in Funland, Centromatic, South San Gabriel, Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes, Overseas and separately as a solo artist makes him one of the most respected Texan artists of his generation. — CG

Left/Right at The Travis Basement
Chris Lund, the Dallas-based DJ who performs under the Left/Right moniker, heads this new recurring party at the Travis Basement called Motif. Lund's a creative dude, long recognized for his inventive remixes, his sets at various dance-leaning venues and his work on the art-meets-music FUTURE parties, so he knows what he's doing. — PF

Murder by Death at Sons of Hermann Hall
Unlike the band's last swing through town, when a last minute change of venues (from Fort Worth's Ridglea Theater to Dallas' Trees) caused considerable confusion, this show's been scheduled for Sons since the jump. As such, the band's bassist Matt Armstrong, who spent his formative years in Dallas, should have a more proper homecoming this time around. — CG

The Roomsounds and Rise & Shine at The Foundry
As with all Foundry shows, this one's free to attend. But this is a solid offering worth paying for — and not just for fans of long, luxurious, perfectly conditioned male hair. The Roomsounds efforts at Dallas' popular '70s-aping sound rank up there with the best of them, including Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, whose drummer Jordan Cain and guitarist Brandon Pinckard make up the stripped-down Rise & Shine twosome. — PF

Tab Benoit at Granada Theater
Benoit's a Cajun boy through and through, and the bluesman's born-on-the-bayou upbringing really comes through in all aspects of his life, from his southern-influenced sound to his lifelong efforts to preserve the swamp lands of his native Louisiana. — CG

Park(ing) Day at Pegasus Plaza
In 2005, the San Francisco-based art and design studio Rebar converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public part for a single day in order to make the point that their city was dedicating 70 percent of its precious public space to private vehicle use. Dubbed Park(ing) Day, the movement has since spread to more than 140 cities in 35 countries worldwide. So far, the mini “parks” that have been erected in Downtown since the city first started participating in the event back in 2011 have included a public beach, a massage parlor, an art gallery, a lawn bowling course, a public reading room, a dog park and a bike repair shop, among other things. — CG

Chet Faker at Three Links
His birth name might be Nicholas James Murphy, but the Australian electronic-based musician sounds no more like the similarly-named LCD Soundsystem frontman than he does like the jazz trumpeter to whom he owes his stage name. Still, his laid back, R&B take on Black Street's “No Diggity” is pretty slick. Local knob-twiddler Neo-Safari opens with some new jams of his own in tow. — CG

Drug Mountain at The Where House
Even if you haven't seen Nevada Hill performing with groups like Bludded Head, Zanzibar Snails and Drug Mountain over the years, you've no doubt seen rock posters he's designed for countless shows over that same time. Tonight's show — first of three scheduled benefit shows on behalf of the musician who has been diagnosed with skin cancer and doesn't currently have health insurance — will feature Drug Mountain's first show in over a year, as well as performances by Def Rain, Bukkake Moms, Bitch Bricks and Mountain of Smoke. — CG

!!!, Son of Stan and Ice Eater at Queen City Music Hall
There are few things more annoying than people who are overly enthusiastic on the Internet (like, say, the people on Twitter who capitalize the first letter of every word in a sentence). But dance-punk band !!! is fully deserving of each and every one of its exclamation points — and probably a few more, at that. Take the band's current single, “One Girl/One Boy,” for example: It's a totally groovilicious, upbeat jam. Tonight, !!! will be joined by Fort Worth's own Ice Eater, and “divorce pop” specialist Son of Stan. Oh yeah, and don't be taken aback when the pants come off. That's supposed to happen. — Zoe Mattioli

Royal Forest and Fortune Field at The Prophet Bar
This show will serve as the Dallas album release show for the Austin-based experimental rockers Royal Fortune. Maybe more interesting here, locally-speaking anyway, is the return of Dallas band Fortune Field, which hasn't played a show in nearly two years. As you might expect, that band will be debuting a heap of new tunes tonight as well. Criminal Birds and Star + Micey open. — CG

Plano Balloon Festival
Charge up the camera batteries before heading out to this one because the sight of thousands of hot air balloons simultaneously ascending into the wild blue yonder is the stuff Facebook cover photos are made of. The event continues through Sunday night. — CG

Saturday
BurgerFest at Deep Ellum Outdoor Market
The folks behind the North Texas Taco Fest are throwing a festival in honor of Dallas' beautiful and highly competitive burger scene. This Deep Ellum affair will feature over a dozen burger proprietors competing for bragging rights. Notables participants include Maple & Motor, Easy Slider and Twisted Root. — Erika Lambreton

Dallas Gallery Walk and Bike Swarm
Thirty-five North Texas art galleries spread out across the entire city are participating in this fall gallery walk. Trying to digest it all is a bit of an overwhelming task; fortunately, the folks behind the Dallas Art Dealers Association have put together this multi-page flyer, which provides a more full breakdown of participating galleries, locations and times, as well as start times and locations for the multitude of bike rides associated with this one. — CG

Darwin Deez at Dada
Nevermind that Darwin Deez looks like a character Fred Armisen would dream up for a Portlandia sketch. His music is loud, noisy, catchy and a little cutesy, making it fully capable of bringing down most any house. Caged Animals and Fishboy open. — H. Drew Blackburn

Red Bull Flugtag at Lake Carolyn
A wise man — er, um, toy — once said, “That wasn't flying, it was falling with style.” That's kind of the idea behind this annual Red Bull-sponsored event. A seven-foot-tall “flying machine” modeled in the likeness of Big Tex's disembodied head doesn't necessarily sound like the most optimal design for taking flight, but that's really the whole point here. You've no doubt been inundated with enough Flugtag ads at this point to know exactly what to expect at this one, though, so we'll just leave it at that. — CG

Breakaway Music Festival at Toyota Stadium
The day-long affair promises performances from 30-plus bands across three stages, along with various other rides and attractions. And the lineup for this deal is especially nuts-o: Wu-Tang Clan, Empire of the Sun, Big Gigantic, Matt & Kim, Explosions in the Sky, Juicy J, Crizzy, Danny Avila and Ra Ra Riot will all perform at the festival. So, too, will locals Lil Twist, Booty Fade, Dark Rooms, Oil Boom and DJ Yeahdef. — PF

Neon Splash Dash at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
Think of this event as that center slice of a Venn diagram comparing EDM culture and marathon runners. At various points along this 5K, participants will be splashed with different colors of neon “glow water.” Then runners will gather for a rave “after glow party” set to immediately follow the race. — CG

Valient Thorr at Lola's
Stoner hard-rock specialists Valient Thorr bring the doom, gloom and weirdo space imagery to Funky Town at this one. The North Carolina band just released its seventh full-length, Our Own Masters, so expect to hear plenty of new material after House Harkonnen, Lord Dying and Ramming Speed open the show. — Stephen Young

Snarky Puppy at Trees
This jazz-funk fusion band is comprised of members from the ever-rich Denton jazz scene, and, among the dozens of jazz greats its individual members have performed with, names like Maynard Ferguson and Dave Brubeck immediately stand out. So, yeah, they've got chops. And a remarkably strong fanbase, too. — CG

NOW 102.9's Texas Tango with OneRepublic at Verizon Theatre
Local radio station NOW 102.9 prides itself on providing a “music variety for Dallas/Fort Worth” and having its finger on the pulse of what's “now.” Program director Jay Michaels calls the lineup for the station's second annual Texas Tango event “the biggest names in pop music.” To that end, OneRepublic headlines this affair, which also includes Sara Bareilles, Plain White T's, David Cook, Harper Blynn and a special acoustic performance from Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik. — CG

Hooray For Earth at City Tavern
New York's Hooray For Earth is one of those patchwork quilt bands in that its songs seem to incorporate scraps from lots of different old T-shirts, blankets, bandanas, and random bits of cloth — but, no matter how it all gets sewn together, it keeps you warm just the same. Terrible analogies aside, just know the band just wrapped up recording sessions for its sophomore LP and plans on debuting a heap of new material at this show. — CG

Clearfork Music Festival at Edward's Ranch
There's certainly not been a shortage of festivals in North Texas this summer. Hell, last we checked, there were five different fests happening this weekend alone. This one out at the newish Fort Worth spot will be headlined by He's My Brother, She's My Sister. — CG

Faile (Opening) at Dallas Contemporary
Brooklyn-based artists Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller's multimedia installations and large scale paintings, in a sense, pick up where Warhol left off, carrying the beloved artist's pop-culture iconography-laden torch. Plus, the pieces at this exhibition are said to be inspired by the artists' recent trips to Dallas. — CG

Old 97's at Gas Monkey Bar and Grill
If the Gas Monkey branding sounds familiar, that's because the owner of this new bar and grill is Richard Rawlings, whose Gas Monkey Garage is the subject of Discovery Channel reality show Fast N' Loud. The newly opened joint will get a proper christening tonight from Dallas luminaries Old 97's. — CG

Title Fight at Prophet Bar
Last time Pennsylvania's Title Fight came through town, the band joined Dallas' own Power Trip for a phenomenal show down the road from this planned gig. The place was packed. Almost ridiculously so. Was it the crowd bigger than the venue's stated capacity? Probably. Space to breath throughout Dada was truly at a premium — and not just because of the crowd's size, but also because of its oft-violent motion, as fans moshed, circle-pitted and crowdsurfed their way through the night. It was an exhilarating display, scored by a headlining performer whose music smartly straddles the line between the aggressive and the melodic. It was awesome. This one should be, too. — PF

Big Texas Party at Capitol Pub
Depending on who you ask, the final days of the 2012 State Fair will be remembered for the unfortunate demise or planned destruction of beloved icon Big Tex. Local band Fingerless Ghost even wrote a song about the ordeal and will release it at tonight's party. They'll also have some fair foods on hand at this shindig. — CG

Sunday
Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson at Gexa Energy Pavilion
Maroon 5 frontman is known for his role as a judge on The Voice, while Kelly Clarkson rose to fame after winning the first season of American Idol. But for the purposes of this co-headlining tour, these two pop mega acts will join forces to become Captain Planet, except not really. — CG

The Weeknd, Banks at Verizon Theatre
There are about a million things to say about The Weeknd and Abel Tesfaye, the man behind this mysterious, fast-rising R&B entity. They've all been said before and elsewhere, though, and they mostly center around the whole mystery aspect of Tesfaye's rise and how he cleverly manipulated the hype machine to his advantage, releasing undeniably enticing tracks, all while keeping his identity a secret, much like Alan Palomo did with Neon Indian before him. — PF

Mickey Avalon at Trees
It is perhaps Avalon's back story that makes the rapper so popular — even more so than his often satirical brand of pop-rap. Or maybe it's because of his back story that he has so many interesting things to say. Really, though: How could a teenager whose grandparents were holocaust survivors, whose parents were drug dealers and addicts, and who had previously prostituted himself to fund his own addictions not have a lifetime of material to draw from? — CG

Inside Out at Perot Museum
If you're a child of the '80s, you might remember that series of Nickelodeon clay-mation shorts in which a kid accidentally swung so high on his swing set that he spun all the way over the bar and became Inside-Out Boy. This exhibit is kind of like that, only with animal specimen that have been “plasticized” by Body Worlds creator Dr. Gunther von Hagens. Prepare yourself to see the inner-workings of animal anatomy like never before. — CG

DFW Curling Club Open House at Dr. Pepper Star Center (Farmers Branch location)
Try out everyone's favorite winter Olympic sport at tonight's two-hour open house. No equipment is required, so don't let the fact that you don't own your own regulation curling broom deter you from this one. Organizers do, however, recommend warm clothes and tennis shoes. — CG

Cover photo by Mikel Galicia. To find out what else is going on today, this week and beyond, check out our events page.