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Friday, March 29, 2024

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Aggregation No. 1CIC Arts Presents Pop-Up Music from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Cambridge Innovation Center, on the 15th floor of 101 Main St., Kendall Square.

Usually the CIC is a co-working space filled with nerdy entrepreneurs. The Pop-Up Music series gives provides the entrepreneurs with distraction that is fascinating but, well, no less nerdy. In this fifth pop-up, bandleader Alex Lee-Clark tells the stories behind songs without lyrics with the help of a 17-piece big band. He’ll break down individual elements of compositions, explain their meaning as conceived by the composer and demonstrate how all of those pieces fit together to make a finished piece of music. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 2Cambridge Community Comic Arts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Teen Room of the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free.

There’s an amazing array of independent comics being made in Cambridge and its neighboring towns, from action, adventure and humor, to graphic novels dealing with personal and political themes, and much of the work is through the decade-old Boston Comics Roundtable. At this event, roundtable members will exhibit and sell their books as well as offer demonstrations and hands-on workshops for aspiring cartoonists of all ages and skill levels. Local high school art students will be on hand to share their creations. Come join us! Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 3Moving Day at MIT events throughout Saturday around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Free.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology celebrates the day in 1916 that the school officially moved to Cambridge from Boston with events such as Mind and Hand: A Pageant! (pyrotechnic displays, multimedia soundscapes on the facade of Building 10, student performers and blended art and science by the dance troupe Pilobolus); and four separate themed dance parties (Swing and All that Jazz; Happy Days – The Music of the ’50s and ‘60s; MTV Studio at the Disco-Tech – Music of the ’70s and ’80s; High-Tech meets Modern Dance Club – Music of the ’90s and Today, with era-appropriate photo booths, tattoos, games and trivia); a Play that Game: Retro Games for All Ages room with snacks and desserts (think cotton candy, popcorn, and snow-cones) and games ranging from pinball to pool to “Pac-Man” to “Operation.” But the day starts with the Crossing the Charles Parade and Competition, in which more than 30 teams compete for points based on criteria such as creativity and speed as they employ costumes, props, animatronics, robots, antique and concept cars, salsa dancers and more in an anything-goes land-or-water competition to re-create MIT’s move. There even guess stars at the events, including parade grand marshal Oliver Smoot ’62, the alumnus who lent his height to the “smoot” measurement painted along the Harvard Bridge during a fraternity prank; and Ray Magliozzi ’73, cohost of NPR’s “Car Talk” show. Information about the crossing is here and about the entire day of events is here.

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Aggregation No. 4Mobius@Green Street: An Evening of Collaborations from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Green Street Studios, 185 Green St., Central Square. Tickets are $20 or $18 for students.

The famed Mobius performance art group holds a one-night-only collaborative event in Central Square, putting together artists Max Lord and Sara June; Michael Figueroa and Phil Fryer; Katerine Gagnon and Sandy Huckleberry; Jimena Bermejo and Alissa Cardone; and Jane Wang and Nathan Andary (and letting Zayde Buti go solo). Expect the amazing and weird but thought-provoking and memorable from 8 to 10 p.m. And then be prepared to dance through your thoughts at a two-hour dance party (technically Jimena & Alissa’s Birthday Dance Party). Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 5Keytar Bear & Abby Taylor Day at 8 p.m. Sunday at The Middle East Downstairs, 480 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

The saga of Keytar Bear – snuggly avatar of questionable musical choices and one of our best-known buskers – goes on. After the performer was beaten two years ago, Workbar employee Abby Taylor organized a benefit concert and was on hand at The Middle East as Cambridge issued a formal declaration that May 8 was “Keytar Bear Day.” Now that’s “Keytar Bear and Abby Taylor Day,” held to celebrate a day citizens came together and helped a beloved street performer get back on his feet. Musical guests this year start with The Dirty Water Brass Band; The Famous The Bikes; Somerville Ukulele Club; and of course Keytar Bear. Information is here.