Sound check: Mackey's, Mike Maimone and much more this weekend

Concerts By the Creek

McHenry's rock, funk and jam haven Mackey's Hideout hosts The Way Down Wanderers and Family Groove Company as headliners for this weekend's Concert By the Creek Volumes 3 and 4. Tucked behind Mackey's, Saturday's outdoor show features sets by The Way Down Wanderers, Barbaro, River Valley Rangers, Concrete Roots and Gary Moore II from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. On Sunday, Volume 4 includes Family Groove Company, Joseph Huber, Sun Beard, and Reisdorf & Shiel from 2 to 8:30 p.m. Both events are 21-and-older, so leave the kiddos at home.

5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 8, at Mackey's Hideout, 2601 S. River Road, McHenry. $30 for each day at (815) 363-7040 or mackeyshideout.com.

Gotta dance

This weekend, the fourth Dancing in the Streets jam band and brew festival returns to bring brews, jams and moves to Chicago's Hubbard Street. Hosted by the West Town Chamber of Commerce, the Chicago Brewing District and On Tour Brewing, the festival features a full lineup of area and touring jam bands - including Terrapin Flyer, Paradise Waits, Rock & Rye, Chicken Wire Empire, Rosehill Revival and many more - along with special craft beers from Chicago brewers' taps and local items and treats for purchase from West Town restaurants and vendors. Get moving at this outdoor event.

5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 7 and 8, on Hubbard Street between Paulina and Wood (1700-1760 W. Hubbard Street), Chicago. $10 requested donation; visit dancinginthestreetschicago.com for more info and the full lineup.

Mike Maimone's return

Mutts' frontman Mike Maimone took his gritty growl down to Nashville last year, but he's swinging back through the Chicago-area scene for a series of magnetic singer-songwriter performances over the next week. Saturday, Aug. 7, he plays with Paper Machete at Chicago's Green Mill; Thursday, Aug. 12, he opens for Rockford's Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights; and the day after that he joins Nicole Atkins at Chicago's Lincoln Hall.

• 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway, Chicago; free at (773) 878-5552 or greenmilljazz.com.

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, at Hey Nonny, 10 S. Vail Ave., Arlington Heights; $10-$30 at (224) 202-0750 or heynonny.com.

• 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago; $15-$17 at (773) 525-2501 or lh-st.com.

Bitter Jester Week 3

Oak Park funk band Summer Drive took top honors at Week 2 of 2021's Bitter Jester Music Festival in Highland Park last weekend. This Friday, F.L.A.M.E., Feed the Monkeys, Fluctuation, Monsoon, One Man Ginger Band and Quick and Painless take the stage to vie for a spot at the Sept. 5 Grand Finale concert. Fightin' Bob and Kyra Cain will also play special guest performances at the free, outdoor concert.

6:45 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6, at Port Clinton Square, 600 Central Ave., Highland Park. Free admission; for more information on the event and this week's bands and judges, visit bitterjesterfoundation.org.

Ravinia's new theater and Bernstein

This Saturday, Ravinia Festival launches an exciting new theatrical offering to the tune of a little Bernstein. The Ravinia Music Box, a 65-seat theater space nestled near the park's dining pavilion, opens Saturday with the immersive "Bernstein's Answer," a presentation about the life and music of famed composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. The theater, which also includes a museum gallery space, will be free to Ravinia concertgoers and will be open from the park's opening until the start of each day's concert, as well as field trips during the school year. The Ravinia Music Box experience echoes Saturday's CSO performance, which features selections from the composer's expansive and varied works.

8 p.m. (gates at 5 p.m.) Saturday, Aug. 7, at Ravinia Festival, 200 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park. $10-$125; (847) 266-5100 or ravinia.org.

To the Slaughter

Celebrating two decades on the music scene, glam-metal stars and MTV fave Slaughter heads to Lombard's Afterlife Music Hall at BrauerHouse this weekend, with Chicago hard-rock veterans SIIN and rapper Bonecrusher in for the party.

7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at Afterlife Music Hall, 1000 N. Rohlwing Road, Lombard. $25-$300; VIP packages available at eventbrite.com.

Classical, jazz and blues

Chicago's Corky Siegel has made a career out of blending the blues and classical styles on various instruments, and jazz saxophonist Ernie Watts often dips into rhythm and blues for his sets, so the pairing of these two entertainers will make for a dynamic night of music. Crystal Lake's Raue Center for the Arts hosts the outdoor Arts on the Green concert, a limited-capacity, lawn-seated event outside St. Mary's Episcopal Church, just a few minutes' drive from the art center.

7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7, at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 209 Grove Street, Crystal Lake. $20, $14 for Raue members, $8 for students; (815) 356-9212 or rauecenter.org.

• Brian Shamie is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor and local music junkie. Email him at bshamie@dailyherald.com, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter (@thatshamieguy) or Instagram (@chicagosoundcheck). Brian also keeps tabs on the local music scene at chicagosoundcheck.com.