When it comes to entertainment venues, SoZo will be put to use this weekend hosting both Philadelphia "buzz band" Clarity and former Misfits frontman Michale Graves.

Clarity will play at 7 tonight and former horror punk frontman, Michale Graves, will play an acoustic performance at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Meredith Rebar, owner of Cherry Darling Productions, described the sound of Graves' former band the Misfits as crazy punk.

"The Misfits were a horror punk band, very characterized. [Graves'] solo stuff is him on stage by himself singing," Rebar said. "No face paint, just him singing, expressing his emotions."

Graves' most recent album, Illusions, was made in support of co-writer Damien Echols, Rebar said.

Echols is part of "The West Memphis 3," the three young men who were convicted of the 1993 murder of three young boys in an area around West Memphis, Ark., she said. Graves, along with artists such as Pearl Jam's lead singer Eddie Vedder, believe the three are wrongfully accused.

Echols co-wrote Illusions in 2007 while in prison, Rebar said.

"A lot of his [Graves'] songs are about lost love and can be depressing at times. But sometimes, that makes the best music," longtime fan Christopher Weiherer (junior-English) said.

Rebar said Lance T. Burgess of the Irish punk band The Clover, The Slick Picks Band and the Marauders will all accompany Graves this Saturday night.

She added The Slick Picks Band has a sound with a little bit of swing, while the Marauders is possibly the best band in the area.

For Friday night's show, an up-and-coming pop-rock band from Philadelphia, Clarity, is set to play, said bass guitarist, tour manager and booking agent Paul Mencel.

"We are considered a Philly 'buzz band,' " Mencel said.

Only a year old, Clarity has a growing fanbase in Philadelphia. The band's shows draw an average crowd of more than 100 people, Mencel said.

"Clarity is a pop rock blend of everything good from the last 10 or 15 years and then some," keyboardist Eric Henkels said.

Clarity sounds like Augustana, Coldplay, The Starting Line, Maroon 5, One Republic and Kings of Leon all mashed up into one, Mencel said.

The name Clarity came from the band members' desire for fans to find clarity within the music and become one with them onstage, Penn State student Michael Allegrezza (junior-biochemistry) said.

"We have been told our live show is what makes our band, we have high energy," Henkels said. "One time I knocked over my keyboard and just kept playing while it was on the ground."

The band's songs are mostly about relationships -- from having sex to knowing whether or not it's best to leave a relationship, Henkels said.

"If it wasn't for girls breaking our hearts, I don't think we would have any songs," he said.

For Clarity's members, the band is their life and they don't know anything else but the music, Henkels said.

Henkels described an experience back in September when Clarity opened for the Ataris at SoZo.

"Kris Roe [of the Ataris] said 'Hey guys, I was just outside in my van. I heard you guys and I just had to come out and listen,' " Henkels said. "Then he asked for a copy of our CD. Here I am handing one of my heroes a CD -- it was surreal."

Clarity has an album in the works and is set to head on a national tour this spring, Mencel said.