POP/ROCK

On this month's "World Boogie Is Coming," their eighth studio disc, North Mississippi Allstars get back to the basics: primal boogie. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson get help from a parade of guests, including Robert Plant (on harmonica), the Babies and Alvin Youngblood Hart, covering such chestnuts as "Rollin' 'n' Tumblin' " and "Goin' to Brownsville" and offering originals including "Turn Up Satan." With all due respect to Black Keys and Jack White, not in this century has back-porch Southern boogie been celebrated with such ragged glory. Opening is Lightnin' Malcolm, who appears on the album. (9 p.m. Fri., Cabooze, $15-$17.) Jon Bream

After hitting the festival circuit in a big way this summer, Trent Reznor and his continually shape-shifting grrr-rock lineup come to St. Paul to kick off a proper tour behind Nine Inch Nails' new album, "Hesitation Marks." Praise from Lollapalooza, Reading and the other fest gigs was universally high. So are reviews of the new record, which revisits some of the more playfully electronic sounds of NIN past, but also gets as dark and hard-rocking as the band's seminal 1994 record, "The Downward Spiral." Texas' guitar-storming instrumental quartet Explosions in the Sky comes highly recommended in the opening slot. (8 p.m. Sat., Xcel Energy Center, $37.50-$99.) Chris Riemenschneider

Local label Totally Gross National Product's annual Totally Gross National Party has become an anticipated Twin Cities showcase in its four years. The all-day lineup is topped by amorphous dance-psych brigade Marijuana Deathsquads, whose "Oh My Sexy Lord" album is due Oct. 15 — the same day rising rap chanteuse Lizzo drops her "LizzoBangers" LP. Proggy psych-rock vets Moonstone Continuum are toasting their new "Salon Edition" record. This year's event also sees a reunion of electro-rock faves Digitata, featuring ex-Lookbook singer Maggie Morrison and TGNP honchos Ryan Olson and Drew Christopherson. Other acts include Pony Bwoy, Allan Kingdom, Dream Weapon, Tender Meat, Albert, Makr, Plain Ole Bill and Jonathan Ackerman (3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat., Icehouse, all ages before 10 p.m., $10-$12.) Michael Rietmulder

Since winning the critics choice award in February at the Brits (the Grammys of the U.K.), Tom Odell, 22, has become a polarizing figure in England. Not as talented or polished as such recent winners as Emeli Sande, Florence + the Machine and Adele, Odell saw his debut album, "Long Way Down," receive a rating of zero stars by NME, which prompted his father to write a letter of complaint. Odell's brooding, downbeat piano tunes have shades of Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen and Antony & the Johnsons but ooze innocence, not experience. Opening is Aussie newcomer Vance Joy. (9 p.m. Sat., Turf Club, $15.) Bream

Food trucks as well as a new single-batch smoked lager will be on hand as Harriet Brewing throws its third annual Rauchfest, along with music on two stages by Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers, Erik Koskinen Band, Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank and more. (1-10 p.m., 3036 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls. $10-$15.) Rietmulder

Despite being outshined by some of their legendary first-wave peers, British punks the Vibrators produced a few minor hits, such as pogoing shout-along "Automatic Lover" and "Baby, Baby." This year they released a new album of originals, "On the Guest List," featuring co-founding vocalist Ian "Knox" Carnochan. (9 p.m. Sat., Cause, $10.) Rietmulder

Bring your own instrument and, of course, your voices for a sing-along session with Dan Zanes, the Grammy-winning children's musician who makes music for the entire family. Over the past 13 years, the Boston ex-rocker — the Del Fuegos were his calling card in the 1980s — has made albums featuring an eclectic array of guests including the Blind Boys of Alabama, Sheryl Crow, Sharon Jones, the Kronos Quartet, Lou Reed, Carol Channing and Andrew Bird. (11 a.m. Sun., Cedar Cultural Center, $25, $12 for ages 3-12.) Bream

A Parisian nightclub seems an odd place for garage-blues bros to meet, but it was while DJ'ing in the City of Light that San Francisco-raised skater/rocker Hanni El Khatib bonded with it-guy producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Auerbach wound up giving El Khatib's sophomore album, "Head in the Dirt," a Nashvillian spit shine, leaving just enough soul scuffs and punk-revved rhythms. Raucous power duo Bass Drum of Death — who put more "punk" in "blues punk" than the Black Keys ever did —opens. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Triple Rock, 18-plus, $13-$15.) Rietmulder

For the third consecutive year, legendary Southern soul songwriter/producer Dan Penn returns to the Dakota accompanied by ace session keyboardist Bobby Emmons. Penn is a soulful singer, a charming storyteller and, of course, a splendid songwriter, known for "Dark End of the Street," "I'm Your Puppet," and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man." Emmons has a sparkling résumé, too, having recorded with Elvis Presley, King Curtis, Dusty Springfield and Willie Nelson, among others, and written "Luckenbach, Texas." (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota Jazz Club, $35.) Bream

"Radioactive" is the hit, and it also describes the success of Imagine Dragons, the one new rock band to break through commercially in the past year. In fact, the Las Vegas quartet's album, "Night Visions," has sold more copies in 2013 than any other rock album except Mumford & Sons' "Babel." The Dragons have mixed arena rock, folk, hip-hop and a fixation with drums into an anthemic sound heard on "It's Time," "Demons" and "Radioactive." Read an interview with frontman Dan Reynolds in Sunday's Variety. The Neighbourhood opens. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Roy Wilkins Auditorium, $32.50-$42.50.) Bream

On his just-released third album, "Electric Slave," Black Joe Lewis unleashes his punk fury. While his first two discs explored vintage soul and heavy blues, the gritty shouter from Austin, Texas, shifts into primitive overdrive here, sounding like a wired James Brown fronting the Black Keys with a jazzy horn section. Pickwick opens. (8 p.m. Tue., First Avenue, $18-$20.) Bream

British indie-pop singer Dan Croll, 23, arrives with the Paul McCartney stamp of approval. At 18, Croll earned a scholarship to the McCartney-launched Liverpool Insitute for the Performing Arts, where he had a tête-a-tête with Sir Paul himself. Croll's 2013 EP "From Nowhere" shows pop-tronica savvy, with shades of Vampire Weekend, MGMT and Passion Pit. His full-length debut is due in 2014. With Sleep Study and Gloss. (9 p.m. Wed., Triple Rock, $12-$14.) Bream

The Twin Cities is one of only nine concert stops that Korn will make to preview its 11th studio album, "The Paradigm Shift," due Oct. 8. The shift could refer to the return of co-founding guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, who left in 2005 after becoming a born-again Christian. Jonathan Davis and the boys teamed up for the first time with producer Don Gilmore, who helmed Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory." Davis says this series of shows is for "die-hards" who want to hear the new album and some blasts from the past. Asking Alexandria opens. (8 p.m. Thu., Myth, $42.50-$45.) Bream

A promising free show pairs two cool songwriters — Nikki Matteson, bluesy young throwback charmer from Nikki and the Ruemates, and John Fenner, the droll veteran leader of Strange Friends — with spoken word artists/storytellers Katherine Glover, an ex-freelance journalist and current playwright, and Howard Lieberman, a former tax and corporate lawyer in New York City who now lives in Stillwater. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Patrick's Cabaret, 3010 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls.) Tom Surowicz

COUNTRY

Country comer David Nail was born in the same town (Kennett, Mo.,) as Sheryl Crow, name checks hits by Springsteen and Seger in his own songs, and boasts a distinctively soulful voice, which was nicely showcased on his 2011 hit "Let It Rain." He's getting country radio traction again with "Whatever She's Got." (8 p.m. Thu., Toby Keith's, $15-$20.) Bream

JAZZ

The Dakota Jazz Club is really living up to the "jazz" part of its name this week, starting with a two-night gig by Dave Holland's new band, Prism. The British bassist extraordinaire is also famed as a composer and bandleader, and his latest co-stars former "Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks, the guitar all-pro who's getting back to his hard jazz roots. Minnesota's own homegrown pianist and composer Craig Taborn and drummer Eric Harland, whom we've seen with Charles Lloyd and the S.F. Jazz Collective, round out a can't-miss quartet. Read an interview with Holland and Eubanks at startribune.com/music. (7 & 9 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Dakota, $30-$42.) Surowicz

One of the legends of modern jazz drumming and gurus of fusion, Billy Cobham remains a dynamo at 69. He made his fame with Miles Davis, then the Mahavishnu Orchestra and a breakthrough 1973 album, "Spectrum." Four decades later, he celebrates that landmark LP with a new band called Billy Cobham's Spectrum 40 that includes Mahavishnu mate Jerry Goodman, the eclectic, always exciting, too-seldom-heard violinist, along with prolific studio guitarist Dean Brown, keyboardist Gary Husband and bassist Ric Fierabrelli. Expect old-school jazz/rock, fun and a bit ferocious. (7 & 9 p.m. Tue., Dakota,-$35-$45.) Surowicz

It's a big year for vibes master Gary Burton. He turned 70, married his longtime partner and released an autobiography, "Learning to Listen," to acclaim. He also has a terrific new CD, "Guided Tour," featuring his killer quartet of guitar phenom Julian Lage, bass bulwark Scott Colley and exemplary drummer Antonio Sanchez (of Pat Metheny Group renown). The album has several great originals and a glowing, luminous version of Michel Legrand's ballad "Once Upon a Summertime." Burton is clearly aging both gracefully and dynamically. Read an interview in Monday's Variety. (7 & 9 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Dakota, $30-$42.) Surowicz

BLUES

You could travel many miles, through many states heading south, and not find a better acoustic blues duo than Bob Bingham & Gordon Thorne. They bring back the timeless sounds of the 78 rpm era with finger-picking flair and easygoing, soulful vocals. Thorne is a wonder of the North Woods, Minnesota's best blues singer of the Caucasian persuasion. Guitarist Bingham, now a Florida snowbird, was a charter member of Lamont Cranston born anew as an acoustic fingerstyle player, hip singer and late-blooming songwriter. They'll reportedly be joined by nationally known jazz fiddler Randy Sabien. (7 p.m. Wed., 331 Club, no cover.) Surowicz