Events happening Friday

POP MUSIC

Silversun Pickups The Silver Lake poster band for indie-meets-arena success will headline a night at the Greek Theatre with Against Me! and fellow Spaceland denizens the Henry Clay People. Expect lots of fuzzed-out guitars, bombastic drumming and almost-anthems that spiral in and then blow out with force. Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave. 7:30 p.m. $35-$38. https://www.Greektheatrela.com.

Music at the Zoo Because every single L.A. public institution now has to have indie rock bands playing at night, no less than the L.A. Zoo will host the fast-rising soul-pop quartet Voxhaul Broadcast, the prickly noise punk of the Happy Hollows and the atmospheric tangle of Useless Keys. Quite an animal collective indeed. 6 p.m. $10.50-$16.50. L.A. Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles. https://www.lazoo.org.

ART

China Modern: Designing Popular Culture Divided into two parts, “Cosmopolitan Capitalism: Shanghai Under the Republic” and “A Revolution in Culture: Designing the People’s Republic,” the new exhibition tracks the iconographic representation of political ideologies and cultural values on decades of everyday objects, household commodities, fashions, plays, operas, posters and advertisements, numbering 100 iconic pieces in total. Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. Opens Friday. Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. $7-$9; free for members and children ages 11 and younger. (626) 449-2742. https://www.pacificasiamuseum.org.

EVENTS

U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition A weekend of events for adults and families is scheduled at Imperial Beach, culminating in a surely brutal, exhausting sand castle competition. On Friday, a 21-and-older dance will be held nearby. On Saturday, traffic will be closed by the beach for a street festival. Sunday is the day of the official competition, where professionals and amateurs will carve through sand to impress judges, vie for the title of master’s champion and collect cash they can then spend on ever more elaborate buckets. Imperial Beach. Free. Full schedule at https://usopensandcastle.com.