This is the last summer weekend before the students move back into the dorms and LFK kicks into full college-town mode once again.

Savor it while you can with good bands at the Replay, big laughs at Jazzhaus, and family fun at ConfabuLarryum.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/aug/08/295185/

Me Like Bees/Westerners, 10 p.m. Thursday at Replay

We like sloppy garage rock as well as the next guys, but sometimes it’s nice to balance it out with some polished and gleaming pop and rock. Thursday night’s double-header of Joplin, Mo.’s Me Like Bees and LFK’s Westerners should do the trick. Both bands should deliver tight and fun sets to jump-start your weekend.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Me Like Bees way back in the simpler days of 2012 at our old blog, where they memorably described their sound as “a cross between Meatloaf and a fifth-grader who just got his lunch money taken. Kind of intensely whiny.” Hear for yourselves Thursday night and see how their sound has evolved.

When we reached out for a blurb, the busy Bees (who were in the midst of a music festival) promised new material at this show and also told us that things are prone to “get weird” when they play with Westerners. Prepare accordingly. The Facebook event page is here.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/aug/08/295164/

Joke Fighter VI: Redemption, 8 p.m. Friday at Jazzhaus

Local comedy isn’t known as a lucrative business, so don’t miss out on this chance to win $1,000 (seriously?) by telling jokes.

Here’s the gist of it: “10-12 comedians get five minutes to perform their best material and the audience chooses the top four to move on to the $1000 Joke Fighter Championship in November.”

There’s no charge to enter this year, so what have you got to lose? The potential of flopping is a small price to pay for $1,000.

Find the full details on the Facebook event page.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/aug/08/295158/

ConfabuLarryum 2015, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at South Middle School, 2734 Louisiana St.

Can you resist an event with a name as spectacularly silly as ConfabuLarryum? We can’t.

The family-friendly (and completely free) “festival of creativity” returns for a second year at a new location. Bring the kids out for a day that includes “everything from fun, hands-on creative and maker activities for kids and adults, to inspiring presentations on the role of creativity in the home, classroom, and workplace, to coding classes and high-tech 3-D printing and design.”

We stopped by last year (along with over 1,300 other visitors) and witnessed a gaggle of world-renowned air guitarists jamming in the parking lot en route to a competition in KC. Some should be on hand again this year, along with robots, a “drone zone,” giant bubble demonstrations, and the sure-to-be-popular “Nerdy Derby Pinewood Car Racing” exhibition.

Visit the Facebook event page and find a full schedule of activities here.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/aug/08/295160/

‘Call to Okies’ and ‘Verdigris’ documentary screenings (with Q&A and music), 8 p.m. Saturday at Lawrence Arts Center

June’s Free State Festival was excellent but overwhelming, and we missed one of the short films that we most wanted to see. Luckily, Bradley Beesley’s new 20-minute doc, “Calls to Okies: The Park Grubbs Story,” is screening again Saturday at the Arts Center. The film examines a tape of legendary prank phone calls that circulated in the early ’80s. Beesley is also responsible for the wonderfully odd short doc “Okie Noodling,” featuring music from The Flaming Lips.

Also screening at this documentary double-header is a 60-minute documentary called “The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers,” in which director Beau Jennings “retraces Will Rogers’ footsteps… performing songs along the way.”

The films will be followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers and some tunes from Jennings.

Tickets are $10 for the evening’s proceedings and more information can be found at the Facebook event page. Read Eric Melin’s full LJWorld preview here.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/aug/08/295186/

KMFDM, doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Granada

Some people choose to end their Sundays quietly in LFK with a porch beer in hand. Others choose to join a sweaty crowd for a German industrial band that’s been plugging away in various incarnations since 1984 (read the band’s fascinating history at their Wiki page).

A recent PopMatters review of KMFDM’s 2014 album “Our Time Will Come” deems the band, “one of the first, if not the first, band to bring industrial music to the masses during their early ’90s surge.”

You can always count on ’90s nostalgia to draw a crowd, and the Facebook event page lists over 300 attendees who like to end their Sundays LOUDLY.

Tweet us @LarryvilleLife with tips for future picks.