Deceptively mild-looking behind his trademark spectacles—he was the inspiration for Clark Kent—Harold Lloyd was the most popular comedian of the silent era. (Charlie Chaplin’s movies may have grossed more, but the hard-working Lloyd made more of them and never had a flop.) One of the most memorable images of the entire silent era is that of Lloyd in Safety Last (1924), hanging precariously from the hand of a skyscraper clock, no safety net in sight because he wasn’t using one. A screening of Lloyd’s films is good news under any circumstances. But this weekend’s Harold Lloyd Comedy Film Festival is much more of an event than that. For one thing, it will be attended by Lloyd’s granddaughter Suzanne, who has worked for years to see that his films (to which he retained the rights) have been preserved and properly displayed. And you couldn’t ask for a better venue and presentation: not only is the festival taking place at the historic Riviera Theatre, it will be screening newly struck 35-millimeter prints using the theaters restored carbon arc projectors. The films will also be accompanied on the theater’s Wurlitzer Organ, some by the internationally famed composer Robert Israel. It’s a weekend when film buffs around the world will wish they were in Buffalo.

Thanks to its use in sea cruise commercials and Corona ads, many hipsters are turned off to those oh-so-lazy rhythms originating from Jamaica, best known as reggae music. Truth be told, reggae gets a bum rap from most of the rock cognoscenti—but it ain’t all Bermuda shirts and sandals, baby! Some of the music that’s been so casually lumped into the greater whole called reggae has real kick, stomp, and bite. Frederick “Toots” Hibbert formed Toots & the Maytals all the way back in 1966 (the Maytals’ early single, “Do the Reggay,” is widely considered the genre’s first recorded mention). Blending ska, Memphis soul, and rocksteady, the Maytals’ stirring singles became hits in the mainland and—thanks to exposure on the The Harder They Come soundtrack and, later, via the Clash—earned the group a new, worldwide audience. Some 40 years (!) later, Hibbert’s work hasn’t strayed from its earliest musical roots, yet the uninitiated might still be wary of the reggae tag. Those skeptics would be well advised to peruse the racks and see if there’s any Toots & the Maytals on the shelf, or, better yet, come see the group live for a rare area appearance at the Town Ballroomthis weekend. They’re in for a blessed awakening, a revival if you will. A “Revival Reggae.” Righteous!

Colin Meloy is a true 21st-century rock-and-roll star. The jacket-and-tie-clad, bespectacled, singing/songwriting Lothario’s lyrics tend to shy away from the staid and dull rock themes of “I like partying hard,” “I got dumped,” and “I got dumped, so I’m partying hard over it.” Instead, his themes focus on Japanese folk tales or stories of Brighton’s long-suffering barrow boys, and he has also been known to bust out a sea chanty—or 10. With his band the Decemberists, Meloy has been one to set the indie rock benchmark, proving that literacy and acoustic guitars could indeed be the new punk. It’s worked well enough to make the band one of today’s most important working groups and earn them (and him) a fervent and adoring fanbase. Regularly working outside the context of the Decemberists, Meloy has just issued a live album, the appropriately titled Colin Meloy Sings Live! (Kill Rock Stars.) It’s a smattering of Decemberists songs along with choice covers including those from his series of EPs of other artists, which to date include wonderfully Meloy-ed renditions from the catalogs of English folkie Shirley Collins, that incomparable soul stirrer Sam Cooke, and—perhaps the most obvious inspiration—Morrissey. Meloy performs this Friday with support from Oregon indie folk/Americana artist and torch singer Laura Gibson.

With Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny having left us in the last decade, Tommy Ramone is the last surviving member of the original band. As drummer for the Ramones, Tommy Ramone helped develop a sound whose influence cannot be overstated, spawning hardcore, indie rock, alternative, and modern punk. Beginning as an engineer at New York’s record plant, Tommy, whose real name is Tom Erdelyi, joined the Ramones in the mid 1970s and drummed on the band’s first three—and most celebrated—records: 1976’s self-titled Ramones and 1977’s Leave Home and Rocket to Russia. After leaving the Ramones at the turn of the decade, Tommy focused on production, most notably producing the Replacements’ seminal Tim in 1985. In the past five years, however, he has led a country/bluegrass duo named Uncle Monk with guitarist/vocalist Claudia Tienan (formerly of the California band the Simplistics). Invoking influences from Bill Monroe to—you guessed it—the Ramones, Uncle Monk utilizes mandolin, guitar, banjo, and dobro. Earning rave reviews from notable publications as Bluegrass Unlimited, Harp, Mojo, and No Depression, Uncle Monk manages to sound as timeless as the Ramones do, even in this day and age. The Steam Donkeys and Chris Malachowski (of Wolf Tickets) open the show.