This Weekend…

Fri., Jan. 23

Lotus

Stage AE

400 North Shore Drive, North Shore

8 p.m.

$22 advance / $25 at door

They’re no Flying Lotus, but the similarly named, less experimental “jamtronica” band Lotus returns to Pittsburgh less than a year after they last played at Stage AE. Equal parts Phish and Kraftwerk, they make a case for keeping real instruments around in this EDM-saturated era. Lotus is touring to support last July’s record, Gilded Age.

Sat., Jan. 24

Pharmakon

Ballroom

202 38th St., Lawrenceville

9 p.m.

$10

After a soft opening, new performance space Ballroom will ring in their grand opening with a scream. Noise master Margaret Chardiet makes blood-curdling, cathartic music as Pharmakon. Her second LP, Bestial Burden, was her most impassioned work yet, coming less than one year after a massive cyst nearly took her life.