POP/ROCK

Last summer Glen Campbell told the world that he has Alzheimer's. Since then, the Rhinestone Cowboy has released his studio swan song, "Ghost on the Canvas," and undertaken a farewell tour. Concert reports indicate that he sometimes forgets lyrics to such classics as "Wichita Lineman" but that his guitar work reminds why he was a first-call 1960s studio musician who played on hits by the Beach Boys, the Monkees and Merle Haggard. (8 p.m. Fri., Mystic Lake Casino. Sold out.) Jon Bream

After postponing some concerts while recovering from hip surgery, Barry Manilow is back on tour. The hammy and cheesy piano man may cut back on the showmanship but won't curtail the tunes -- whether they're his own hits like "I Write the Songs" or selections from his recent series of cover songs from the '50s, '60s and '70s. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Xcel Energy Center, $9.99-$129.) Bream

With a few dozen tour gigs already under their belt this year, the hard-stomping, harder-working fellas of the 4onthefloor are back home to make a much-deserved debut as First Ave headliners. The show coincides with the release of a dark new song, "Sheepskin," which sounds like the Misfits gone Southern rock. It's on a split 7-inch single with party-centric openers Roster McCabe. Twangier pals Boys N' the Barrel and the Evening Rig round out what should be a rowdy night. (8 p.m. Fri., First Avenue. $10.) Chris Riemenschneider

Mercurial boho singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones, who is erratic but sometimes marvelous in concert, had an off night two years ago in St. Paul and admitted as much during her two-hour performance, which felt more like a rehearsal. She hasn't released an album since (she's still touring behind 2009's intimate "Balm in Gilead") but maybe she's turned over a new leaf. (8 p.m. Fri., Pantages Theatre, $42.50-$52.50.) Bream

You might know Darrell Scott as the multi-instrumentalist in Robert Plant's Band of Joy or as a songwriter of hits for the Dixie Chicks, Brad Paisley and Travis Tritt. Scott also has carved a nice career as an Americana singer. Last year's "Long Ride Home" features 16 tunes written earlier in his career. "You're Everything I Wanted Love to Be" is a perfect Glen Campbell song. "Too Close for Comfort" is a double-entendre cheatin' song delivered with an Eagles-like mix of tenderness and cynicism. Scott is an underappreciated talent. (9 p.m. Fri., Bunkers, $16-$18.) Bream

Cowboy Junkies' dark and lonely "The Wilderness," released last month, is a return to the hushed melancholy of their early days. "I Let Him In" is pretty and pensive. "Confessions of Georgie E" is a haunting, Leonard Cohen-evoking reflection on a complicated relationship. The Junkies rock out (well, their version of rocking) on the closing country-blues strut "F***, I Hate the Cold," which is a fitting capper to their four-albums-in-18-months "Nomad Series." (7 & 9 p.m. Sun., Dakota Jazz Club, $35-$45.) Bream

Dropped by two major labels despite winning a Grammy for R&B vocal, Van Hunt is a challenging musical adventurer who mixes rock, funk, pop and jazz. His 2011 album "What Were You Hoping For?" suggests Prince fronting TV on the Radio in all their genre-blending glory -- from the boudoir ballad "Moving Targets" to the psychedelic funk-rock "A Time Machine Is My New Girlfriend." Hunt is even more exciting live. Rocco Deluca opens. (8 p.m. Sun., Fine Line, $15-$18.) Bream

While its debut album for Columbia Records was a year-end favorite for many music bloggers, New York duo Cults is graduating to the First Ave main room largely on the strength of its infectious, softly tinkling single "Go Outside." Cutey-pie musical partners Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion will have their work cut out for them playing to a bigger crowd, but their record is thick with richly layered pop gems, including the harder-bopping second single "Abducted" and some vintage-girl-group nuggets. (8:30 p.m. Mon., First Ave. $13.) Riemenschneider

Even though charming New York singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson is still singing about her broken heart on this year's "Human Again," her fifth album, her voice sounds stronger and her music sturdier. The coffeehouse vibe of her earlier discs has been fortified by new producer David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Kelly Clarkson) and his love of full-on arrangements. (7:30 p.m. Mon. Guthrie, $24 & $27.) Bream

Another buzzing "bear" band from Brooklyn?! Yes, but Bear in Heaven has its own unique pedigree. The young, mustachioed trio plays a softly ambient but rhythmically hard-driving brand of synth-pop, a sort of somber but pretty blend of New Order and Animal Collective that's begging for John Hughes to come back from the grave and make a movie. (9 p.m. Tue., 7th Street Entry. $10.) Riemenschneider

Former Moldy Peaches co-leader Kimya Dawson has been a regular at the Cedar ever since the "Juno" soundtrack brought her off-kilter freak-folk to the mainstream in 2007, but she'd only released a kids' album since then. Enter "Thunder Thighs," a new collection featuring several collaborations with indie-rap guru Aesop Rock and some of her quirkiest recordings yet. Sleeping in the Aviary's Phil Mahlstadt opens with his side project inBoil. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Cedar Cultural Center. All ages. $12-$15.) Riemenschneider

His 2010 album with Elton John, "The Union," reignited interest in Leon Russell. A masterful songwriter ("Song for You," "This Masquerade," "Superstar") and standout keyboardist who's played with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones, Russell was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame last year. At 70, he remains the master of space and time. (7 p.m. Tue.-Wed., Dakota, $45-$70.) Bream

Last year, China Forbes had surgery on her vocal cords so she took a leave of absence from Pink Martini, Portland's wonderfully eclectic, multilingual retro pop/jazz orchestra. Now she's back to promote its new disc, "1969," a collaboration with Japanese singer Saori Yuki. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Fitzgerald Theater, $35-$65.) Bream

Oddball innovators in their own right, it made all kinds of sense when Buckethead and That 1 Guy got together as Frankenstein Brothers for 2008's "Bolt on Neck" release. While we'd grade the "Bolt on Neck" material a resounding "meh," the FrankenBros. are all about the bizarre-o, noodly spectacle of their live show. Blending brass and live electronics, New York's Wolff and Tuba open. (8:30 p.m. Tue., First Avenue, $20.) Michael Rietmulder

After doing the show as a webcast from his upstate New York estate since 2007, blue-eyed soul star Daryl Hall is taking "Live From Daryl's House" on a limited tour. He'll be joined by two of his favorite guests, Brooklyn R&B sensation Sharon Jones and Seattle granola soul man Allen Stone. Read an interview with Hall in Sunday's Variety section. (8 p.m. Wed., Orpheum, $39-$79.) Bream

On tour last year with Wilco, veteran British cult figure Nick Lowe picked up some new fans. Sure, they respect his cred for producing early Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, the Damned and the Pretenders. But they got to hear his new material -- a smart collection of worldly ballads -- as well as Wilco backing him on "Cruel to Be Kind." This time he's bringing his own band. Read an interview in Tuesday's Variety. (8 p.m. Wed., First Avenue, $20.) Bream

At least Howler's wunderkind frontman, Jordan Gatesmith, is putting his talent where his mouth is. His scrappy, snarky, punchy pop/punk band has gotten its live act together, adding to the buzz generated by its half-great Rough Trade Records debut, "America Give Up." The Minneapolis quintet earned favorable receptions at South by Southwest and on its winter trek to the U.K., where the band will return after a brief hometown layover. Fellow southsiders Teenage Moods open along with moody Duluth teenager Jack Campbell. (8:30 p.m. Thu., Varsity Theater. 18 & older. $11-$13.) Riemenschneider

COUNTRY

Baby-faced Hunter Hayes got nominated for best new artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards on the strength of his hit "Storm Warning." But at K102's Class of 2011 showcase at Mystic Lake, the 20-year-old guitar slinger came across more as a bar star than a country contender. (8 p.m. Thu., the Brick, $22.) Bream

WORLD

Afrobeat legend Fela had 28 wives, but only eight children. His youngest son is Seun Anikulapo Kuti, whose mom was a singer in Fela's Egypt 80 band, now led by Seun. Raised on the road, he bears an uncanny resemblance to his mercurial, brilliant dad. One night before playing the Coachella fest, he returns to Minnesota for the first time since a 1991 appearance with Fela when he was 9. See an interview at startribune.com/music. (8 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, $30-$35.) Tom Surowicz

Spain's flamenco guitar god Paco de Lucia is probably best known in the United States for working with Chick Corea, and with John McLaughlin and Larry Coryell in the Guitar Trio. But he's a giant in his own country, as proven by "En Vivo Conciertos -- Live in Spain 2010," a mesmerizing exploration of long-and-winding compositions with his new band, featuring singers David de Jacoba and Duquende and harmonica ace Antonio Serrano. (7:30 p.m. Sun., O'Shaughnessy, $52 & $65.) Bream

Dreadlocked keyboardist and bandleader Idan Raichel is a big pop hero in Israel. Vieux Farka Touré is an exceptional guitarist from Mali. They met in a German airport in 2008, started jamming together and concocted a fine new studio recording, "The Tel Aviv Session." Now the two are showing off their remarkable empathy to U.S. audiences, with Raichel's deft piano often sounding very kora-like. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota Jazz Club, $45.) Surowicz

JAZZ

The State Arts Board awarded a $10,000 grant to composer/saxophonist Kari Musil to make a CD of original jazz and present the songs in concert. And "The Music of Kari Musil" sounds like money pretty well spent. Musil is joined by her old mates in the Nova Jazz Orchestra, plus swingin' saxophonist Sue Leigh, R&B singer Leslee McKee and people's poet J. Otis Powell! It's a fun, crazy-quilt release, with hip elements of rock and free jazz. (2 p.m. Sat., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, 1531 Hewitt Av., St. Paul, 651-523-2459. $3-$10.) Surowicz

BLUES/ROOTS

Led by keyboardist/singer Jimmy Voegli, known from the Westside Andy and Mel Ford Band, Madison, Wis., R&B favorites the Jimmys make their St. Paul debut. Eight players strong, including a crack horn section, the group includes former Georgia Satellites drummer Mauro Magellan, whose old boss, Dan Baird, pops up on the group's recent CD "Gimme the Jimmys," along with Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick and Warner Hodges of Jason and the Scorchers. (7 p.m. Fri., Wilebski's, $5.) Surowicz

The Midwest's premier brass band, Mama Digdown's, returns to the Nomad to celebrate a live CD recorded at its last visit there. The disc -- free with the $10 cover charge -- finds the group putting its New Orleans-style spin on classics by Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5. Fellow travelers the Brass Messengers open. (9 p.m. Sat., Nomad.) Surowicz

CLASSICAL

It's with tongue firmly in cheek that the chamber ensemble Zeitgeist launches its annual "Early" Music Festival: a centennial celebration of iconoclastic 20th-century American composer John Cage. The four-day festival, which started Thursday, includes chamber and percussion concerts Friday, a percussion concert Saturday with guests Erik Barsness and Jeff Gram and a vocal concert Saturday with Alyssa Anderson, Carrie Henneman Shaw and singers from Nautilus Music Theater. (7:30 & 9 p.m. Fri.; 4:30, 6, 7:30 & 9 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Studio Z, 275 E. 4th Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, $10, www.zeitgeistnewmusic.org.) William Randall Beard

The British are coming to VocalEssence as the chorus, joined by the Copper Street Brass, presents "Brits & Brass," a musical tour of London. The concert features music by two major contemporary British composers, including the American premiere of "The Night's Untruth" by Tarik O'Regan and "The Far Theatricals of Day" by Jonathan Dove. (8 p.m. Fri., Central Lutheran Church, 333 S. 12th St., Mpls, $10-$40, 612-371-5656 or vocalessence.org) W.R.B.

The 1904 premiere of Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" at Milan's La Scala was a fiasco; never partial to Puccini, the audience hissed. But the composer (after a few strategic tweaks) had the last laugh -- witness the fact that he named his yacht Cio-Cio-San, after the opera's doomed heroine. In Minnesota Opera's double-cast remounting of Colin Graham's centennial production, sopranos Kelly Kaduce and Yunah Lee alternate in the title role. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Tue.-next Fri. & April 21; 2 p.m. Sun. & April 22, Ordway Center, $20-$200. 612-333-6669 or mnopera.org.) Larry Fuchsberg