Zedd Thursday, Sept. 5 with Alex Metric, Oliver 8 p.m. House of Blues, Downtown Disney West Side, Lake Buena Vista 407-934-2583 hob.com sold out More than just a pretty face on Twitter, Zedd has become a poster child for electronic music by way of appearances on Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and in commercials for Beats by Dre and Myspace. Flying high on the success of Clarity and Spectrum EP, as well as numerous remixes and production work for huge pop stars, Zedd brings his Moment of Clarity Tour to House of Blues for a sold-out performance. Get there on time for opening acts and headliners-on-any-other-tour, Alex Metric of OWSLA and Oliver from Fools Gold Records. Well-known in the dance community for their production work, Metric and the duo Oliver should become household names after this tour and the festival season wind down. Catch them all together for a night of many styles, including disco, indie dance, electro and progressive house. – Ed Chapkowski
The Dad Horse Experience Thursday, Sept. 5 with the Bloody Jug Band, Slickwood 8 p.m. Will’s Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave. willspub.org $7 If you’ve paid attention to his booking patterns over the years, you’ve probably gleaned that Will’s Pub owner Will Walker has a thing for marginal, kinda fucked-up music. And hallelujah for that. His latest intriguing concert offering in the gnarled, old-folk vein is the Dad Horse Experience. They’re from Germany, but this band is single-mindedly devoted to the haunted, backwater country-gospel music of deep, dark America. Woven from banjo, kazoo, mandolin and an outsider punk spirit, their snake-healer revival music is close kin to the riveting likes of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, O’Death and the Legendary Shack Shakers, all of whom have provided the Will’s Pub legacy with some of its most legendary shows. So if history is any indication, the Dad Horse Experience will almost certainly be an engrossingly rousing live experience. – Bao Le-Huu
Randy Wayne White Reading Friday, Sept. 6 Noon Barnes & Noble, 2418 E. Colonial Drive 407-894-6024 free The triple name (complete with Wayne, that middle name so weirdly popular among convicted killers) and the south Florida settings might lead you to expect Randy Wayne White’s books to have a cartoonish, Carl Hiaasen-type vibe … but you’d be wrong. In their reverence for the local land- and seascapes of his adopted home, the former fishing guide’s best-selling thrillers recall Florida naturalist Bill Belleville, not Hiaasen: more love, less outrage. His Doc Ford character (star of a 19-book-strong series) is a star in his own right, figurehead of three Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grilles in Sanibel, Captiva and Fort Myers, but White will be reading from his latest novel, Deceived, the second in a series starring a new hero: fishing guide Hannah Smith. The dashing Doc Ford, with his shadowy spy background, remains a presence, but Hannah Smith is quickly becoming a beloved character in her own right, an appealing mix of independence and insecurity who’s more human than any action hero could possibly be. – Jessica Bryce Young
First Friday Fotos: Falling Whistles Orlando Kickoff Edition Friday, Sept. 6 Noon-9 p.m. The Orange Studio, 1121 N. Mills Ave. facebook.com/macbethphoto $20 In 2008, college student Sean Carasso started the Falling Whistles campaign with the intention of raising awareness and rehab funds for children living and fighting (with only whistles as weapons) in war-stricken villages of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This week local “WhistleBlower for Peace” Sarah Peerani continues the mission in our own backyard, as local studio Macbeth Photography snaps portraits of guests who are generous enough to donate $20 to Falling Whistles while wearing whistles in support of the Congolese children. As part of its monthly First Friday Fotos evening, Macbeth Photography will post the touched-up photos to its Facebook page after the event for social media use. You don’t need to make an appointment to get your portrait taken, but you might want to show up early, as more than 100 people already RSVP’d to the Facebook event page. No doubt, these portraits are worth way more than a thousand words. – Aimee Vitek
Graphic Guts Opening Reception Friday, Sept. 6 opening 6:30-8:30 p.m. exhibit through Sept. 27 Anita S. Wooten Gallery, Valencia College East Campus, 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, MC3-2 407-582-2298 free “Social commentary art”? Blergh, that sounds boring. But Luba Lukova will change your mind. Her art has a fierceness and clarity of vision that shakes cobwebs off fusty thinking and simplifies convoluted issues. Her drawings reduce complex societal concerns into simple visual metaphors (like “Income Gap,” from her 2008 series Social Justice, a drawing of a pie with one slice cut; many small forks jut out of the small slice, while one big fork claims the rest of the pie). Another forceful Lukova image you might have seen before: the award-winning Say It Loud! logo, which came out of her 2003 collaboration with Say It Loud/Orange Studio owner Julio Lima. The show has been hanging at Valencia since Aug. 16, but this opening is your chance to visit the gallery after business hours. – Jessica Bryce Young
Dead Precedence Swimsuit Party With Vacation Dad Saturday, Sept. 7 with Farms, Euglossine, DJ Childheart 8 p.m. The Space, 1206 E. Colonial Drive deadprecedence.com This summer has been an especially challenging scorcher we’re all wearied by, but the Space has persisted in hosting imaginative events despite how hot it gets in there. But it takes an extra stroke of genius to turn their next event – featuring the ever-chill Vacation Dad as the headliner, all the way from Minneapolis – into a swimsuit party. So take off all your clothes? Hosted by local label Dead Precedence, for a $5 cover, there’s free beer and they’re grilling out, all of which sings loudly of summer fun. But there’s more. Also on the bill is Gainesville ex-pat and now-Los Angeles-based Euglossine, a multi-instrumentalist who brings his special blend of tropicalia back to the Sunshine State. His new album is called Dance District and it’s set for release Sept. 14, but we guess Mills 50 devotees in teeny ’kinis will easily adopt that concept in advance of its release throughout the course of the night. – Ashley Belanger
Big Bang Bazaar Saturday, Sept. 7 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Maitland Civic Center, 641 S. Maitland Ave., Maitland 386-457-8438 bigbangbazaar.net $5 Each time Big Bang Bazaar rolls around, we instantly get Janis Martin’s “Bang, Bang” stuck in our heads, especially this line, “I’ll trade you my heart for your heart, baby,” which perfectly summarizes the transactions that occur between careful-crafting artisans and their eagerly supportive clientele. This year, Maitland Civic Center welcomes more than 100 vendors of indie art, crafts and vintage items you can typically only find on Etsy. Skip the shipping and get to stepping, because with adorable designs like Stephanie Kotkin Creations’ portrayal of that puffy-pink glutton Kirby as a set of ceramic bowls, you’ll probably want to eat up everything in sight too. In the background, they plan to marathon Tim Burton movies, which are best enjoyed not with frankenweenies, but maybe instead with a side of Big Wood BBQ. Keep livin’ large, Big Bang, and we’ll keep supporting each crop of independent artists you turn us onto. – Ashley Belanger
Tim Dorsey Saturday, Sept. 7 4 p.m. Fish on Fire, 7937 Daetwyler Drive 407-812-6881 fishonfireorlando.com free Book sale and signing with the Florida author.
Beer Bomb Bus Tour 3.0 Sunday, Sept. 8 2 p.m. BART, 1205 N. Mills Ave. facebook.com/bartcade $25-$30 Chances are when you scour the beer menu at a bar you’re not only interested in what type of beer you’d like to order, but also where and how the beer is made. That’s because there’s more that goes into enjoying beer than just merely taste, and if you hop on the Beer Bomb Bus Tour, you’ll get a behind-the-brew session about beer styles and the breweries pouring them. With a round-trip designated bus driver (and A/C, mind you), the tour stops at four different watering holes, with each offering a little something different: Expect bottled craft beer and pinball games at BART; sip on locally Longwood-brewed ales at the Hourglass Brewery; lounge with draught beer in hand at the Imperial in downtown Sanford; and then finish up the tour with suds at Belgian beer bar Buster’s Bistro. Consider it a chance to get one-up on beer trivia, which should impress your drinking buddies next time you’re belly-up to the bar. – Aimee Vitek
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Tuesday, Sept. 10 8 p.m. Hard Rock Live, 6050 Universal Blvd. 407-351-5483 hardrock.com $27.50-$45 Live indie-folk music by the Los Angeles-based band.