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Celebrate the Beatles' big anniversary and 12 other ways to spend your weekend in Philly, February 3-5

The Philly Pops celebrate Sgt. Pepper's 50th anniversary
The Philly Pops celebrate Sgt. Pepper's 50th anniversaryRead morehandout

KIDS

» READ MORE: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone"

The popularity among the young of J.K. Rowling's novels about the boy wizard -- and the movies based on them -- should give us all some hope for the future, given the stories' themes of protecting the weak and innocent, tolerance for difference, and unyielding resistance to the single-minded evil and insistence on blood purity of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the young wizard's arch-enemy. If you're not familiar with the magical realm, this first film in the series is a good place to start.  — Michael Harrington

11 a.m. Saturday, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. $5, 610-527-9898, http://www.brynmawrfilm.org.

MUSEUMS

» READ MORE: Rodin Museum

Open now, Rodin Museum, 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Suggested donation, 215-763-8100, rodinmuseum.org.

CARS

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Auto Show

Car lovers, rejoice! The annual celebration of all things auto has returned to the Convention Center, featuring a floor full of cars from around the world (although, it might be hard to top Bon Jovi's Dodge Viper, which was on display last year). Each year, the Auto Show becomes ever more visitor-friendly, offering such things as food and cocktails to attract a new type of patron. -- M.E.

Noon to 10 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St. $14 (adults), $7 (kids 7-12), www.phillyautoshow.com.

DRINKS

» READ MORE: Pegsicle

Nights at OId City's La Peg will get a little cooler — and more tipsy — with the debut of Pegsicle, a temporary ice bar. Pegsicle will be in place through Feb. 13, providing it doesn't melt before then. La Peg chef-owner Peter Woolsey, whom a release calls an "amateur ice carver," will create the bar out of 16 blocks using Japanese ice chisels and chainsaws. The ice bar will be  in La Peg's Haas Biergarten, which features fire pits to keep folks from getting too cold. Pegsicle also will be open for La Peg's Big Game Hot Chicken Pop-Up event Sunday. The outdoor bar will have drinks available, including mulled wine and alcoholic hot cocoa, and craft beer from such breweries as Sly Fox and Oskar Blues. — Nick Vadala

Through Feb. 13, La Peg, 140 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd., www.lapegbrasserie.com.

THEATER

» READ MORE: "Memphis"

David Bryan and Joe DiPietro's Tony Award-winning musical Memphis tells the story of a white DJ struggling to play black music in the segregationist South of the 1950s. The infectious, fun show gets a sparkling production at the Ritz Theatre, a South Jersey gem. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m Sunday at the Ritz Theatre, 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township. $28.50-$33.50, 856-858-5230, www.ritztheatreco.org.

CLASSICAL

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Orchestra

With originally scheduled soloist Andre Watts sidelined after cancer treatments, conductor Fabio Luisi leads the Philadelphians in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with rising star Lise de la Salle as Watts' replacement. Also on the program: Weber's Overture to "Oberon" and Franck's Symphony in D minor— M.H.

2 p.m. Friday  and 8 p.m. Saturday at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. $35-$125, 215-893-1999, www.philorch.org.

» READ MORE: Gidon Kremer

The acclaimed violinist and conductor and his chamber ensemble, Kremerata Baltica — hand-picked performers from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania — play Mieczyslaw Weinberg's mordant, melancholy Chamber Symphony No. 4. Also on the program: works by Arvo Part, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Valentin Silvestrov's Serenade for solo violin (sure to be a highlight). — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday at the McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton. $25-$70, 609-258-2787, www.mccarter.org.

» READ MORE: Relâche

The intriguing new-music ensemble plays works by Mark Hagerty and Gavin Bryars, and then plays Chris McGlumphy's new score to Max Linder's antic 1921 silent comedy Be My Wife, screening in a recently discovered complete version. — M.H.

3 p.m. Sunday at the Penn Museum, 3260 South St. $15, 215-898-4000, www.penn.museum.

FUNNY

» READ MORE: Second City

The fabled Chicago improv comedy troupe arrives with its latest gang of soon-to-be superstars for the show We're All In This Room Together, featuring recent material, made-up-on-the-spot stuff, and classic bits originated by Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Murray. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday and 4 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, Broad and Spruce Streets. $39-$70, 215-893-1999, www.kimmelcenter.org.

MUSIC

» READ MORE: Jeffrey Werbock

The esteemed musicologist and performer, a Philadelphia native, is an expert on traditional music of Azerbaijan. He'll play a recital of improvisational mugham music (described as "monophonic modal music, highly microtonal, meter-free, densely ornamented, and composed of complex melodic lines") on the kamancha (a skin-faced spike fiddle), oud (a fretless short lute), and tar (a fretted long lute) in a concert presented by the invaluable Fire Museum. — M.H.

7 p.m. Friday at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. Free, www.museumfire.com/events.

» READ MORE: Philly Pops

It was (nearly) 50 years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play — and since that band was the Beatles, the world of pop music has never been the same. Conductor Michael Krajewski and crew are joined by the tribute band Classical Mystery Tour to play songs from the landmark album as well as other Fab Four hits. — M.H.

8 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. $45-$120, 215-893-1999, phillypops.org.

» READ MORE: Priests

Fronted by vocalist and colyricist Katie Alice Greer, these melodic hardcore-lite Washington punks are but the newest chapter in a lineage that started with Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. Like Priests, all of those band had a sense of socially conscious rage that's more pertinent than ever. Priests ups the ante, (and the volume knobs) on the politically focused Bodies and Control and Money and Power EP, recent singles such as  "Pink White House" and "JJ," and the band's brand-new, full-length album (timed perfectly for the insurrection around Trump's inauguration) Nothing Feels Natural— A.D. Amorosi

9 p.m. Friday, Everybody Hits, 529 W. Girard Ave. $11-$13, 215-769-7500, everybodyhitsphila.com.

» READ MORE: The Travelin’ McCourys

Bluegrass legend Del McCoury still tours, but at age 77, he has scaled back. When his sons Ronnie and Rob aren't playing with him, as they have since they were teenagers in the 1980s, they lead their own expert band, The Travelin' McCourys. And when the patriarch isn't looking, the McCourys stretch out a bit, veering into that intersection between traditional bluegrass and jam-band experimentalism. Their unpredictability — will they honor Bill Monroe or the Grateful Dead? — is their strength. And in any setting, their musicianship -- with Ronnie on mandolin, Rob on banjo, Alan Bartam on bass, and Jason Carter on fiddle -- is impeccable. — Steve Klinge

8 p.m. Saturday, Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Rd., Kennett Square. Sold out. 610-388-1000, longwoodgardens.org.

» READ MORE: Talib Kweli

Over a two-decade career, veteran Brooklyn conscious rapper and political activist Talib Kweli has been a serial collaborator, from his Black Star project with Mos Def to the standout verse he dropped on "The Killing Season" on A Tribe Called Quest's sterling 2016 comeback album. On The 7 Tour, the "Get By" emcee and sometime guest on Real Time with Bill Maher joins forces with rapper Styles P. of The Lox, teasing music from a collaborative album due this year. Don't expect Kweli to hold his tongue when it comes to Donald Trump. K' Valentine is also on the tour, and the local Philadelphia openers are Reef the Lost Cauze and Hardwork Movement. — Dan DeLuca

8 p.m. Thursday, Theatre of Livings Arts, 334 South St. $22, 215-922-1011, tlaphilly.com.

» READ MORE: Rose Cousins

On Natural Conclusion, the follow-up to 2012's acclaimed We Have Made A Spark, Rose Cousins strips songs to their pointed and somber essence. The Canadian singer-songwriter drafted Joe Henry to produce her fifth album, and the textures, often built around Cousins' stately piano, build slowly within songs. She has a commanding, thoughtful voice that recalls Patty Griffin's, especially on the dramatic "Freedom" and the bluesy "Chains," but it's also full of longing and tenderness on "My Friend" and "Lock and Key." The lyrics often depict emotional turmoil, and her voice becomes the calm in "the eye of every storm," as she sings in "Grace." —S.K.

7 p.m. Thursday, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave, Ardmore. $15 advanced, $20 day of show. 610-649-8389, ardmoremusichall.com.