8 pm: Pop Music

Laurie Anderson has called her career as a pop music performer “a fluke,” but it’s turned out to be a long-lived one. The multi-hyphenate artist follows her ambitious staging of “Moby Dick” with a return to straight music--and to her long-neglected violin--as she tours in support of her new album, “Life on a String.”* Laurie Anderson, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. $28. (323) 936-4790.

2 pm: Collection

Among Southern California’s wacky museums is the Bunny Museum, a collection of 12,000 rabbit collectibles in the private home of Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski in Pasadena. But this weekend you can get a peek at some of the highlights of the collection, recognized by the Guinness Book as the largest of its kind, at the La Crescenta public library. * Bunny Museum, La Crescenta Library, 4521 La Crescenta Ave., La Crescenta. Friday, 10 a.m., and Saturday, 2 p.m. (818) 248-5313.

7 pm: Pop Music

It’s a little bit culture and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Nic Harcourt, music director at KCRW-FM (89.9), brings together alternative and independent musicians at the Getty Museum Courtyard for Unsigned Indies, a showcase of L.A.-based talent who are sans record deals. On the bill for the first night: singer-songwriter Steve Reynolds, 12-string guitarist Abba Roland, electronic-chamber musician George Sarah and country rocker Ramsay Midwood.

* Unsigned Indies at the Getty Museum Courtyard, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. 7 to 9 p.m. Free. $5 parking. (310) 440-7300.

6 pm: Leisure

Oktoberfest 2001, featuring beer-stein holding, wood sawing, cow milking and other contests plus German food, drink and music, opens a month early at Alpine Village Park. Friday and Saturday are for adults only; Sunday is family day.* Oktoberfest 2001, Alpine Village Park, 833 W. Torrance Blvd., Torrance, opens Saturday, 6 p.m. Regular schedule: Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon. (310) 327-4384. $4 to $5; children younger than 12, free.

7:30 pm: Music

“How the West Was Won” is the latest California Philharmonic program conducted by Victor Vener, including film music by John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Jerome Moross and others. Soloist is country fiddler and jazz violinist Jeremy Cohen.* California Philharmonic, Arboretum of Los Angeles County, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, 7:30 p.m. $15 to $60. (626) 300-8200.

7:30 pm: Theater

Critically acclaimed playwright Rebecca Gilman’s provocative drama “Spinning Into Butter,” about a dean of students at a small New England college whose idealistic actions backfire, will have its Southern California premiere at the Laguna Playhouse.* “Spinning Into Butter,” Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Regular schedule: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m., except Oct. 7, 2 p.m. only. Ends Oct. 7. $38 to $45; opening, $80. (949) 497-2787.

8 pm: Theater

West Coast Ensemble presents the L.A. premiere of “A New Brain,” a musical from the Tony Award-winning team behind “Falsettos,” William Finn and James Lapine, based on true events in Finn’s life after a medical emergency.* “A New Brain,” West Coast Ensemble, 522 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends Dec. 16. $30. (323) 525-0022.

Freebies

* Raymond Michael, he of longtime Elvis impersonator notoriety, will perform for the season-ending installment of Camarillo’s summer concert series at Constitution Park, Paseo Camarillo and North Carmen Drive. A youth arts program will open the evening at 6:45, followed by Michael and his band at 7:30. (805) 987-7847.

*

* Mary Ott performs contemporary folk music in One Colorado’s “A Little Night Music” series, on Colorado Boulevard between Fair Oaks Avenue and Delacey Street in Old Town Pasadena, 7 to 10 p.m. (626) 564-1066.