The first weekend of May explodes with live music – and good weather to follow! Boston’s best local bands highlight Friday night. Dark chamber-pop group Jaggery performs a song cycle inspired by Leonardo da Vinci at the Museum of Fine Arts’ Remis Auditorium, while glam-rockers Sidewalk Driver get theatrical at Emerson’s Black Box Theatre, upstairs from the Paramount Theater downtown. And while judges tally their votes in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble, the Gravel Pit rocks T.T. the Bear’s Place at 11:45 following finals sets by the bombastic Static Dynamic (9:30), folk-fusion animators Nemes (10:15) and grunge detonators Zip Tie Handcuffs (11 p.m.). Should be a wild and wooly battle; I’ll go with the Handcuffs. Friday night also brings the lively, eclectic Australian multi-instrumentalist Xavier Rudd & the United Nations to the Paradise Rock Club.

Electric bebop guitarist Mike Stern leads an all-star band at the Regattabar both Friday and Saturday with trumpeter Randy Brecker, bassist Anthony Jackson and drummer Dennis Chambers, a lineup that should even rock more than this one with Stern and Brecker. Also on Saturday, Western-shaded folk-rockers Lord Huron hold court at the Paradise, the impressionistic indie-folk Great Lake Swimmers settle into the Sinclair and the Dave Wakeling-led ska-rockers the English Beat return to Johnny D’s Uptown. And for a difference experience, Morphine-associated saxman Dana Colley joins percussionist/clarinetist Ken Winokur (Alloy Orchestra) and multi-instrumentalist Jonathan LaMaster (ex-Cul de Sac) to convene their Psychedelic Cinema Orchestra and improvise a live soundtrack to Ken Brown’s ’60s film work at the Institute of Contemporary Art on Saturday.

Sunday, the 32^nd annual MayFair takes over Harvard Square with multiple stages that include sets by local rockers the Sheila Divine, Freezepop, Bent Shapes, Air Traffic Controller, Parks and Hallelujah the Hills. And the weekend rounds out that night with Canadian folk trio the Wailin’ Jennys (pictured) at the Somerville Theatre, gonzo funk-rock veterans Fishbone at Royale and ambitious the prog-pop icon Todd Rundgren, winding up his latest multi-media presentation at the Wilbur Theatre.