[ SPECIAL EVENT ] Get help navigating the ins and outs of modern love this weekend as Planned Parenthood of the Rochester Syracuse Region hosts a Safer Sex Party. This 21-and-over event is a fundraiser for PPRSR and promises myth-busting, fact-offering fun, by way of an exhibit on the history of safer sex, burlesque shows, lingerie, bed lounging with bottle service, live music, chocolates by Hedonist Artisan Chocolates, and more. Dress to impress and get your learnin' on, then head to the after party at Vinyl (291 Alexander St.) - no cover charge when you present your Safer Sex Party ticket. Note that tickets are also available at Parkleigh, Outlandish Videos and Gifts, Boulder Coffee Co., and Planned Parenthood locations. SAFERSEXPARTY.ORG

[ MUSIC ] A sunny sense of optimism drives Iowa's Poison Control Center. The music flashes back to a lighter time, when fans adored bands like Pavement, which PCC opened for on some of its reunion gigs. A sweet pop sensibility makes you believe in this band, even if the underlying meaning is teaming with a quiet misery. It's a delicate balance between triumph and heartache. The songs validate the lifeblood of what makes indie-inspired rock great and universally relatable. It's time to celebrate fresh songwriting. With bands like this relentlessly touring, perhaps there is hope for all the underdogs. Space Lords, Muler, and Baby Shark also play. BUGJAR.COM.

[ MUSIC ] I blame Fantasia Barrino for my unhealthy obsession with "American Idol." I had dismissed the show in its first two seasons, but the second I heard her distinctive voice in the third season's audition rounds, I was riveted. To call Barrino "soulful" would be an understatement; she puts every ounce of energy she has into her performances and recordings. She went on to win "AI3," and while her career has had its ups and downs - including well-received runs in the Broadway musical "The Color Purple," a made-for-TV movie based on her personal struggles, and a VH1 reality series - it still comes back to that captivating, inimitable voice, which should be even more spectacular to behold live. Tank also performs. Rochester Main Street Armory

[ COMEDY ] An acquaintance recently told me her recipe for a great gathering: "the only subjects of discourse allowed are religion, politics, and sex. Oh, and make sure to invite a mixed crowd." I was reminded of this advice when I read the press release for the local stop of the Royal Comedy Tour. "Lines will be crossed and nothing is off limits," it promised; comedy is one field where you can usually get away with speaking your mind. Headlining diva Sommore says what she thinks and believes in "looking like a lady and sounding like one of the boys." The uncensored and unapologetic talent lineup also includes Bruce Bruce, DL Hughley, Damon Williams, and more. ROYALCOMEDYTOUR.COM

[ MUSIC ] For the first time this concert season, a woman conductor will stand before the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Sarah Ioannides will lead a program that will include Violin Concerto No. 1 ("Australian Postcards") by Matthew Hindson; La Mer ("the Sea") by Jean-Claude Debussy; and Suite from "The Firebird," 1919 version by Igor Stravinsky. The guest violinist for the Hindson concerto will be Lara St. John (pictured). Ioannides and St. John first recorded the piece in 2008 with England's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hindson, like Ioannides, is Australian, and the work depicts such diversities as Kooragang Island's wind turbines and Tasmania. RPO.ORG

[ MUSIC ] Where else could the legendary Renee Fleming give a concert on a Sunday afternoon near Churchville-Chili, where she graduated from high school, and next door to the Eastman School of Music, where she earned her Master of Music in 1983? Kodak Hall will be an intimate venue at which to hear the world-renowned soprano. Fleming will perform with the Eastman Philharmonia, under the Direction of Neil Varon. Proceeds will benefit the Renee Fleming Endowment Fund at the Eastman School of Music. If Fleming sweeps you off your feet, you'll be following her to later venues in Berlin, Budapest, Athens, Warsaw, Paris, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and beyond. ESM.ROCHESTER.EDU

[ EXHIBIT ] Blooming spring has arrived early at the George Eastman House, so get your green injection with two new exhibitions. "The Dutch Connection" show features more than 2000 tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, freesias, amaryllis, alliums, and tropical orchids filling the conservatory. The exhibition will be accompanied by a lecture by Eastman House landscape curator Amy Kinsey Sunday at 1:15 p.m. Also showing at the museum is "Larry Merrill: Looking at Trees," 16 large-scale digital prints featuring beautiful, mammoth, architectural trees in Merrill's neighborhood and various parks in Rochester, Central Park in New York City, and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. EASTMANHOUSE.ORG