POP/ROCK

Kentucky indie-rock heroes My Morning Jacket have been involved in some very memorable outdoor concerts here in recent years, including Bob Dylan's Americanarama show in 2013, Rock the Garden in 2011 and their own beer-line-cursed Somerset Amphitheater show in 2012. Their best local shows, however, were actually indoors at the Orpheum Theatre in 2008, a truly electric vibe that should finally be re-created with this two-night stand. Their latest album, "The Waterfall," is another mixed-bag effort, but could show greater charm in concert. The local openers — Hippo Campus on Friday and Lizzo on Saturday — are each also playing a couple other MMJ dates. (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Northrop, $45.) Chris Riemenschneider

B.B. King is gone. That leaves Buddy Guy as the hardest-touring blues guitar veteran. Of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is more than a bluesman as he amply demonstrated on his most recent recording, 2013's splendid "Rhythm & Blues." The "Rhythm" disc is soul-rock, with rip-roaring guitar and guest appearances by Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Beth Hart and the Muscle Shoals Horns. The "Blues" disc is self-explanatory, with Guy getting help from Gary Clark Jr. and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. Fresh from opening for the Rolling Stones in Milwaukee this week, Guy, who turns 79 next month, clearly still has the spirit, energy and chops. Opening is cool L.A. roots blues trio the Record Company. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Minnesota Zoo, $65-$77.50.) Bream

Pride Week kicked off Sunday with a picnic and enjoyed a lot of laughs with Lily Tomlin Thursday at Orchestra Hall. The annual parade is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, and the Beer Dabbler for 5:30 p.m. Friday at Loring Park. But we've got Saturday's music celebration circled on the calendar. Dance-floor queen Deborah Cox, who has scored 12 No. 1 Billboard dance hits in the past 18 years, headlines. The penultimate act is Peaches, the Toronto-bred, Berlin-based provocateur who has been aptly described as a mashup of the Penthouse Forum, Grandmaster Flash and Shirley Manson. Also appearing are Brooklyn indie rockers Hunter Valentine and St. Paul's Mayda, a visually arresting R&B/rock/hip-hop music maker who impressed on last year's experimental but personal album, "Busy Signals, Pt. 1." (6 p.m. Sat., Loring Park, $10-$75, tcpride.org.) Jon Bream

As if the grimy rap, hard-core punk and Afrobeat influences of their previous records didn't make them hard enough to categorize, Death Grips throw in a little more madcap electronic-dance flavor on their new album, "The Powers That B." The Sacramento, Calif.-reared duo — lyrically lethal rapper Stefan Burnett and tireless drummer Zach Hill — have been unpredictable outside the studio, too, having announced their breakup last summer before returning to the road this summer. After a visceral 40-minute Entry set in 2012, they will make their First Ave headlining debut without an opening act. (9 p.m. Sat., First Avenue, $20.) Riemenschneider

Twin Cities singer/songwriter Jennifer Markey honors her late dad again with another fun lineup for Honky Tonk Fest V, featuring local twang and alt-twang performers at one of Nordeast's favorite corner bars and benefiting Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Minnesota. Trad-country stars the Cactus Blossoms and Trailer Trash are on in the afternoon, followed by Miss Becky Kapell, Whiskey Jeff & the Beer Back Band, the Union Suits and Leo Rondeau. (1:30-9 p.m. Sat., Grumpy's Northeast, donations requested.) Riemenschneider

The latest in a growing line of top-40 nostalgia rock package tours geared toward fast-graying thirty-somethings, "Semi-Charmed Life" hitmakers Third Eye Blind have paired up with "Screaming Infidelities" emoters Dashboard Confessional on a U.S. summer outing. San Francisco's 3EB crew modernized their hooky sound on "Dopamine," their first album in six years, which is how long it's been since Florida's DC crew put one out. (5:30 p.m. Sun., Cabooze, all ages, $35-$40.) Riemenschneider

Buddy Guy

With their lively horn section and charming frontwoman Kam Franklin, Houston's retro-R&B band the Suffers might look like another Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings on the surface. However, the 10-member group's albums and live shows are less driven by showmanship and funk and more by slow-stewing, stylish '70s grooves and sexy love songs — more Al Green and Patti LaBelle than James Brown and Aretha Franklin. They've been working their way up the late-night TV shows and summer festival circuit since a big coming-out at South by Southwest in March. Austin-based rockers the Heavenly States open, led by Owatonna, Minn., native Ted Nesseth. (8:30 p.m. Sun., 7th Street Entry, $10-$12.) Riemenschneider

With many songs about loss, getting lost and finding redemption, Heartless Bastards frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom is one of rock's most unsung songwriters of the past decade, which might either have to do with the fact that she's a woman playing heavy, Zeppelin-ized rock, or because her Austin, Texas-based band itself has turned into quite a towering force — a true powerhouse in concert. Their latest album, "Restless Ones," produced by St. Vincent cohort John Congleton, adds a little more '60s psychedelia without taking anything away. Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn returns home as the tour opener to preview his second solo album, "Faith in the Future," due Sept. 11. (8:30 p.m. Mon., First Avenue, $20.) Riemenschneider

On this year's Dave Matthews Band tour, there have been various surprise guests including saxophonist Branford Marsalis, singer Emmylou Harris and guitarist Warren Haynes. Sets have sometimes included covers (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Prince, John Denver, Peter Gabriel) and DMB songs that haven't been performed live before ("Virginia in the Rain," "Death on the High Seas"). In its first Twin Cities appearance since a 2012 performance at the now-defunct River's Edge Music Festival in St. Paul, DMB might spring surprises but one thing seems certain: The evening will open with an acoustic set — including Matthews working solo for a bit — and close with a post-intermission electric set. (7 p.m. Wed., Xcel Energy Center, $55-$85.) Bream

Mates of State don't break their sugary mold but instead reinforce it with sticky-sweet candy on their new EP, "You're Going to Make It," which sounds like a hyper-happy love letter between married bandmates Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. The Connecticut-based indie-pop duo of 2008's "Re-Arranger" hitmaking notoriety returns to Hammel's native Minnesota with at least one new artistic endeavor under their belts, a movie they wrote and star in called "The Rumblebutts." It's about two hip musicians exiled to a kids TV show. Glad it's not entirely autobiographical. Sister duo Good Graeff and Seattle's Hey Marseilles open. (9 p.m. Wed., Turf Club, $15.) Riemenschneider

Taste of Minnesota kicks off its second year in its small-town Waconia location with two of the state's most enduringly beloved bands, the Gear Daddies and the Suburbs. The "Zamboni"-riding, country-tinged Daddies (8:30 p.m.) sounded tighter than ever during their three-night First Avenue homecoming in May, while "Love Is the Law" funk-punk popsters the 'Burbs (6:30) have jelled anew around guitarists Steve Brantseg and Jeremy Ylvisaker. They top off an entirely Minnesotan first-day lineup also featuring Lamont Cranston and fellow blues purveyors Sena Ehrhardt and the Groove Merchants, plus "American Idol" castoff Mark Andrew and more. (11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thu., Carver County Fairgrounds, Waconia, $10 after 1 p.m., free 12 & under, atasteofmn.com.) Riemenschneider

COUNTRY

For my money, Erik Koskinen is the finest country songwriter in Minnesota. But it's often challenging to decipher his slurred/mumbly lyrics when he performs. No such problem on the terrific new "Erik Koskinen Live at the Real-Phonic Radio Hour." Props to engineer/producer Tom Garneau for capturing Koskinen in refreshing clarity. He sings his thoughtful lyrics about love, unemployment, Detroit, broken hearts, love letters, freight trains and a girl in a red dress. He's backed by the first-rate house band at the monthly Real-Phonic Radio Hour at the James J. Hill Reference Library in St. Paul. Recorded live over the past five years, this just-released 14-song collection proves that Koskinen is our Merle Haggard. It's time to celebrate this triumphant album. (9 p.m. Fri., Turf Club, $10-$12.) Bream

Years before he began recording for St. Paul's Red House Records and performing on "A Prairie Home Companion," Texas' old-school honky-tonk hero Dale Watson found himself a home away from home in the Twin Cities at Lee's Liquor Lounge. He's making one last stop at the fabled Minneapolis saloon while it's still under the ownership of Louie Sirian, whose 40-year tenure is about to end as a new owner takes over. Watson paid tribute to Sirian in his 1999 song "Louie's Lee's Liquor Lounge." He also has a strong new Red House album to tout, "Call Me Insane," carrying on many of country's best traditions as one great tradition comes to an end. (9 p.m. Sat., Lee's Liquor Lounge, $15.) Riemenschneider

JAZZ

Jazz guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli is an urbane purveyor of the Great American Songbook, a designation he has helped modernize with stylish treatments of classic tunes by contemporaries such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Billy Joel, most recently on his "Double Exposure" disc from 2012. His covers of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington and Richard Rodgers are likewise well conceived, powered by his facility on guitar and his infectious love of the material. Pizzarelli is a natural-born performer; son of jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and brother of bassist Martin Pizzarelli, who is in his touring quartet. (7 & 9 p.m. Sun., Dakota, $25-$45.) Britt Robson

A self-described "tender warrior," saxophonist Charles Lloyd comes closer to matching the spiritual depth and musical heft of John Coltrane than any horn player since 'Trane's death 48 years ago. Lloyd is the subject of a recent film documentary, "Arrows Into Infinity," and was honored as an NEA Jazz Master this spring. But at 78, amid all the feting, there is still an irresistible mixture of roil and repose in Lloyd's songs that makes each gig special. He'll showcase a new quartet, with Kendrick Scott on drums, Joe Sanders on bass and Gerald Clayton on piano. The latter two were part of the core ensemble for his most recent, very 'Trane-like album, "Wild Man Dance." (7 & 9 p.m. Tue.-Wed., Dakota, $30-$50.) Robson

CLASSICAL

Season 66 of the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra opens with a pair of concerts at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. Saturday evening brings a taster show of highlights cherry-picked from this summer's open-air series, while Sunday's program riffs on the color blue, as refracted in the music of Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Johann Strauss II. This year's winning piece in the Pops' innovative New Orchestral Repertoire Project will also be unveiled Sunday. Limited bench seating, or bring a blanket or lawn chair. (7:30 p.m. Sat., 5:30 p.m. Sun., 4135 W. Lake Harriet Pkwy., Mpls., Free.) Terry Blain

In search of the sublime. That could be the subtitle to the opening recital of this year's Minnesota Beethoven Festival in Winona, though sublimity had radically different meanings for the two composers featured. Daringly juxtaposing a selection of Scriabin's keyboard music with the late sonatas of Beethoven should yield fascinating comparisons, especially in the hands of pianist Garrick Ohlsson, whose recordings of this repertoire show exceptional insight. Ohlsson is in regal form at present, and this should be a riveting curtain-raiser to three weeks of festival concerts. (3 p.m. Sun., Harriet Johnson Auditorium, Somsen Hall, Winona State University. $21-$25. 507-457-1715 or www.mnbeethovenfestival.org) Blain