Jam out for good causes this weekend at the beach

Fans of live music who like to get to bed at a reasonable hour have a pair of options available Sunday — and both support special causes.

In Ocean City, the annual Relay for Life Cancer Benefit will take place at 2 p.m. at B.J.'s On the Water. As per tradition, music will be provided by B.J.'s long-running house band, Teenage Rust & the Rustettes. Admission is free, but a total of 100 raffle tickets will be sold to benefit cancer research.

Also Sunday, the annual Hope Is Best charity concert will be held at The Pond in downtown Rehoboth Beach from 4-8 p.m. The event is presented by the Delaware chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), and seeks to raise awareness about the dangers of depression. Performers include Surreal Nation, Green Means Go, Alex Razze, Hallelujah Jones & the Sundae Saints and James Prickett. Admission is free, with a 50/50 raffle to be held.

In other entertainment news, the Dogfish Head brewpub in downtown Rehoboth Beach has a free concert set for 10 p.m. Friday, April 21. Austin, Texas, touring act Odell Fox will play its alt-bluegrass style of Americana music. The trio is in the midst of an 11-date spring tour, and Dogfish landed the group in between dates in New York and Washington, D.C.

Looking ahead to the following weekend at Dogfish, owners announced that the last-ever music show at the current brewpub location will occur Saturday, April 29, with a double bill featuring local favorites Nothin' But Trouble and Lower Case Blues. Construction is nearly complete on the new building next door. (The original building will be vacant this summer, and is to be razed in the fall.) We'll have more details about this next week.

In Dewey Beach this weekend, the Rusty Rudder will host a DJ festival featuring many of the area's top disc jockeys placing an emphasis on electronic dance music. The music kicks off at 10 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, and admission is free. Also in Dewey, party group The Nerds will play a free show at The Starboard nightclub at 10 p.m. Saturday.

Back in Ocean City, the Sandbar has announced it will host a followup to last month's rock 'n' roll mini-festival. The next edition will be held Tuesday, May 16, and will serve as a reunion of patrons and musicians who frequented the former Peppers Tavern. The event is called the Five-Star Punk-a-Palooozahhh and will feature The Phantom Limbs, with other acts to be added in the near future.

E-mail Roger Hillis at rogerhillis@gmail.com 

This Week's Must-See List

Relay For Life Cancer Benefit at B.J.'s On the Water in Ocean City at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 23. Free

Hope is Best concert at The Pond in Rehoboth Beach from 4 to 8 p.m., Sunday, April 23. Free

Pasadena with The Wyes Guys at Pickles Pub in Ocean City at 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 21. Free 

The Nerds at The Starboard in Dewey Beach at 10 p.m., Saturday, April 22. Free

Odell Fox at Dogfish Head in Rehoboth Beach at 10 p.m., Friday, April 21. Free