FREE FALLING

Save the last dance for Tom Petty tonight. You might call the iconic American frontman and his band of heartbreakers, the kings of heartland rock—or at least the longest reigning ones. Formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976, the band has been churning out hits, like “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’,” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” for some 37 years. Cozy up with TPATHB for the first of a series of five intimate concerts at the Beacon Theatre starting tonight (shows are May 20, 21, 23, 25, and 26). 

Tom Petty in Concert

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FEAST ON THIS 

The Great GoogaMooga is back transforming Prospect Park into an amusement park of food, drink, and more. This year organizers have made changes to avoid the Disney-World-during-high-season lines and food shortage situations. This culinary carnival features some 85 food makers, 75 brews, 100 wines, and 20 musical acts, plus last-minute surprise pop-ups like Roberta’s Urban Ren Faire and trading cards. The food fest kicks off today with a hearty musical showcase featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Flaming Lips. Go for the food, stay for the music.

GoogaMooga

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LIVE AND BREATHE FOXYGEN

Proclaimed “the raw, de-Wes Andersonization of The Rolling Stones, Kinks, Velvets, and Bowie that a whole mess of young people desperately need,” Foxygen might just be a new band that you’ll want to live and breathe. Indeed this bright young songwriting duo of Sam France and Jonathan Rado produce tracks that are “love letters to vinyl collections” composed—or perhaps even tweeted—with a 21^st-century sensibility. Playing tonight at the Mercury Lounge, they’ve been hailed as the real deal and total savants. Not to mention, Pitchfork.com knighted them with an 8.4 Best New Music score.

Foxygen at the Mercury Lounge

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PHOENIX RISES

At this stage in the day, getting tickets to the sold-out Phoenix show at the Apollo tonight might be as elusive as trying to figure out one of the Sphinx’s riddles. Back from a four-year hiatus after hitting the pop-chart jackpot with “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” released in May 2009, this Gallic foursome is going for broke with “Bankrupt!” released late last month. Now there is some good news for diehard Phoenix fans: They’ll be back in the fall for a show at the Barclays Center with The Vaccines on October 2. (Take this as a message that’s not so cryptic: Get your tickets now.)

Phoenix at the Barclays Center

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WALKING THE LINE

Hailing from Nashville, the Features are a band that walks a line: “I feel like we walk this fine line,”says singer/guitarist Matt Pelham. “We’re not weird enough for a certain crowd and we’re a little bit too out there for the other crowd. We fall in the middle somewhere between mainstream and hipster, which puts us in this weird place, but we’re all pretty happy to be here.” Follow these Kings of Leon protégés into a “Wilderness”of big beats, howling rock, and swinging psych-pop tonight at the Santos Party House. Expect things to get a little weird—in a good way.

The Features at Santos Party House in NYC

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MUSIC DOWNTOWN

It’s a busy night at the Mercury Lounge for up-and-comers and established stars (think: Jim Jarmusch and his lute). The early show spotlights The Nat Osborn Band led by native New Yorker and restless soul Nat Osborn. Over his career, the raspy vocalist has studied tabla in India, played guitar on the streets of Budapest, and written songs on Spanish balconies. Now playing closer to home, he’s made the rounds, selling out the Rockwood and Brooklyn Bowl, and mixing his 2011 album with Grammy Award winner Scott Jacoby. Afterwards, Jarmusch and his collaborator Jozef Van Wissem take over the late set.

Nat Osborn Band at the Mercury Lounge

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MONDAY TO-DOS

Pencil in time for your concealer.

Make your summer concert list.

Go to Motown on a Monday at BK Bowl.

Get down with “The Sapphires” at the Village East Cinema.

Rock with Serena Ryder at Bowery Ballroom.

ELECTRO-POP DINNER THEATER

It’s been an epic year for star-gazers, according to Space.com, with two comets passing through—the next one due this fall. However, for now you can concentrate on the tsars with the opening night of “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” This electro-pop-dinner-theater inspired by Tolstoy is happening in a massive tent built by The Box across from The Standard. Expect a supper club outfitted with a full-room stage, red leather banquettes, velvet curtains, and framed art, where “the performance happens all around you—characters emerge from behind walls, pour you vodka shots, and toast you,” reports UrbanDaddy.com.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

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YOUR EVENING JACKET

Stand out like a stylish solo act in DKNY’s stretch crepe de chine jacket in punchy pink when My Morning Jacket’s lead singer Jim James takes the stage at Webster Hall. Earlier this year, the acclaimed songwriter made his solo debut with “Regions of Light and Sound of God,” an album described by Pitchfork.com as “pushing outward in all directions.” Along with fronting one of the most acclaimed rock-and-roll bands in the world, James has collaborated with acts from the Decemberists to the Roots. So put on your evening jacket tonight. (But if you miss it, he’ll play another show with the Roots in June.)

Jim James at Webster Hall

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MAXIMUM IMPACT

They might not be the Swedish House Mafia or Little Dragon, but the Swedish Chamber Orchestra proves the prolific Scandinavian music scene has more to offer than just house anthems and pop songs. Tonight Thomas Dausgaard conducts a program which includes Beethoven, Wagner, and Sibelius, among other classics at Lincoln Center. The New York Times described Dausgaard as “a conductor who molds its performances for maximum impact”and praised the tight-knit ensemble for bringing “a tectural clarity and steely edge unattainable by most period-instrument groups.”

Swedish Chamber Orchestra

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