Best bets

The sure bet:

Friday 06: Peaches

Since Peaches broke through with "Fuck the Pain Away," off her 2000 album "The Teaches of Peaches," the gender-bending electroclash artist has popped up everywhere. A former elementary school music teacher, the synth-punk princess has had her tunes featured on TV shows "The L Word" and "Ugly Betty" and in the films "Lost in Translation" and "Mean Girls," among many others. Her fifth album, "I Feel Cream," which came out in May, is as irresistibly danceable as most of her work, sounding like something Madonna could produce if she ever stopped trying so hard to reinvent herself.

Location: Revolution Live, 200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Cost: $17
Contact: 954-727-0950 or Jointherevolution.net

The free bet:

Saturday 07: Sleepless Night
Remember staying up all night with friends as a kid and how by 2 a.m. everyone would be saying, "OK, so what do you wanna do?" Now, you can relive that memory, but with parties, parades, booze and free transportation to more events than you could possibly attend in a night. At Sleepless Night, free shuttles will connect four Miami Beach activity zones hosting more than 150 free arts and entertainment events at more than 80 venues. Visit Sleeplessnight.org for a long list of events that include art, bands, dance, theater, slam poetry, architectural tours, film, fashion, video, acrobatics, comedy, graffiti, gospel, an acrobat suspended from a giant color-changing helium balloon, a large "Titanic" slide, a seven-story electric harp, jugglers, a parade featuring large sculptures of voodoo gods, hula hoopers, a rolling recording studio, giant inflatable sculptures and so much more.

Location: Miami Beach
Time: 6 p.m. Saturday-7 a.m. Sunday
Cost: Free
Contact: Sleeplessnight.org

Thursday 05: Boys Like Girls
Boston-based pop-punk quartet Boys Like Girls has mastered the art of coupling brokenhearted lyrics with upbeat melodies. The group's latest album, "Love Drunk," is a Chuck Taylor-tapping collection of love-scorned songs such as "Heart Heart Heartbreak" and "She's Got a Boyfriend Now." The cotton-candy-like lyrics "Now she's got a boyfriend/And I've got a rock band/'Cause nothing really ever goes the way it's planned" are set to a fast-paced dance track that could make breaking up less hard to do. Cobra Starship, A Rocket to the Moon, the Maine and VersaEmerge also will perform.

Location: Revolution Live, 200 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
Time: 6 p.m.
Cost: $28.99
Contact: 954-727-0950 or Jointherevolution.net

Friday 06-Saturday 07: FemmeFest
First, there was Lilith Fair, and now, there's FemmeFest. More than 30 female bands will electrify stages in Miami and Boca Raton during this celebration of women, art and music. On Friday at Tobacco Road, check out Miami-based psychedelic rock group Aria Kamikaze, trip-hop act Telekinetic Walrus and the Pride of Ions and Fort Lauderdale alternative-rock band Crimson Juliet, which features a badass female vocalist. On Saturday, the party moves north to Murphy's Downtown with performances by electronic duo Pocket of Lollipops, pop diva Chloe Dolandis and many other local bands.

Location: Tobacco Road, 626 S. Miami Ave., Miami (Friday); Murphy's Downtown, 36 S.E. Third St., Boca Raton (Saturday)
Time: 7 p.m. Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $10
Contact: 305-303-3976 or Myspace.com/femmefest

Saturday 07-Sunday 08: Ribfest
On Saturday, satisfy your desire for more cowbell with Blue Öyster Cult. There's nothing like stuffing your face with artery-clogging barbecue while listening to "(Don't Fear) the Reaper." Joan Jett and the Blackhearts also will take the stage, and Jett will perform many of her underappreciated rock ballads and anthems. Then, Ribfest will go country Sunday with Tracy Lawrence, who is more of a Christian country act now, and Chuck Wicks, who's sticking with his catalog of sappy love tunes.

Location: Homestead Air Reserve Park, Moody Drive (268th Street) and Southwest 122nd Avenue
Time: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $15 each day
Contact: 305-668-4343 or Miamiribfest.com