Hip-hop outfit The Pharcyde performs at a festival in Vienna, Austria. Credit: Creative Commons / Manfred Werner (Tsui)

“Fun” may be the word of the week when it comes to live music in the Alamo City.

Irreverent hip-hop group The Pharcyde is bringing their quirky approach to the genre to San Antonio, and kitschy singer-songwriter Ian McConnell is sharing his offbeat look at the world with a tour stop. As if that’s not enough, There I Ruined It — an online project known for hilarious and bizarre musical mashups like performing a bluegrass cover of a System of a Down tune — will be putting disparate genres in a blender.

Let’s dive in for the details.

Thursday, Aug. 15

The Pharcyde

Long-running rap group The Pharcyde sprung from South Central LA onto the national scene in 1991 thanks to an irreverent, humorous and soulful take on hip-hop. Subsequent tours with De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, along with a spot at Lollapalooza solidified the act’s fanbase, launching several singles into the upper reaches of the Billboard charts. The group eventually fractured but has soldiered on with all but one of its original members. Expect classic, fun, catchy hip-hop from one of the surviving groups of a bygone era. $35, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com. — Bill Baird

Friday, Aug. 16

Mohama Saz, True Indigo, John Charlie’s Heavy Love

Madrid, Spain’s Mohama Saz headlines this showcase billed as “World Psych Night.” The group’s sound pleasingly blurs boundaries as analog synths rub up against seductive rhythms and the non-Western scales of North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Much of Mohama Saz’s sound feels like a highlight of late-’60s Anatolian psych, a preferred time and place for aficionados and a clear influence on beloved and trippy modern-day act Khruangbin. SA trippers True Indigo and John Charlie’s Heavy Love round out this excellent bill of modern psych-rock. $18, 8 p.m., Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com. — BB

Saturday, Aug. 17

Cactus Lee, Sunjammer

Cactus Lee, the songwriting vehicle for veteran Austin musician Kevin Dehan, has been charming the hippest of the hip for several years running. His songwriting is simple, precise, moving, witty and classic Texas — think of Hoyt Axton and Jerry Jeff Walker cutting a record together with a four-track recording device. Local psych-rockers Sunjammer conjure classic ’70s stoner grooves ranging from the Grateful Dead’s Europe ’72 to the one-off cult classic Relatively Clean Rivers. $10, 9:30 p.m., The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., thelonesomerose.com. — BB

Sunday, Aug. 18

Ian McConnell, Plum Tongue

San Antonio is one of the first stops on kitschy singer-songwriter and social-media personality Ian McConnell’s coast-to-coast tour. Described as a “Kroger-brand Ed Sheeran” for both his look and sound, he’s become a social media celeb thanks to his goofy, off-kilter look at the world. It’s difficult to separate schtick from talent when it comes to McConnell, but give his 2022 single “Friends” a listen to hear the sincerity of his lyrics removed from the zany package. $15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes

There I Ruined It

There I Ruined It, musician Dustin Ballard’s online project, went viral thanks to its hilarious and bizarre mashups of presumably incongruous artists and genres — from performing Metallica as children’s music to a swing version of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are.” Given that those creations have emerged as some of the Internet’s most hilarious viral moments, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with There I Ruined It. For this special tour, a live band will bring those creations to life. Expect familiar songs in a horrifying new context — and be ready to laugh a lot. $15, 6 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — BB

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This article appears in Best of San Antonio 2024.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...