The Big Gigs for the week of 11/4

POP/ROCK

Two bands that have filled First Ave on their own, Dawes and Blitzen Trapper easily sold out the place on a co-headlining outing that pairs two kindred-spirited bands with divergent approaches to reviving rootsy/folky Americana music. The Los Angeles-based fellas of Dawes, who were fittingly recruited to back Robbie Robertson at a few gigs THIS year, continue to channel the Band's Southern soul along with the warm, breezy Southern Cali sounds of Jackson Browne and CS&N on their road-diary-like second album, "Nothing Is Wrong." The prolific, Portland, Ore.-reared Blitzen crew take a more experimental see-what-sticks approach on their sixth album for Sub Pop, "American Goldwing," but their Current 89.3 hit "Furr" proves they can sound just as refined and accessible as Dawes when they want to. This will probably be one of those occasions. L.A. duo the Belle Brigade opens. (9 p.m. Fri., First Avenue. Sold out.) Chris Riemenschneider

It was smart for local quintet the Farewell Circuit to wait until November to release its sophomore album, "In Our Bones." This one is definitely cold-weather music, with the frost-bitten, starry-night guitar atmospherics of Sigur Ros or Explosions in the Sky wrapped around frontman Danny O'Brien's isolated lyrics, which are chilly enough to make Ben Gibbard sound like he's living the in Bahamas. "In our bones we can feel the darker days approaching," O'Brien sings in the title track, which opens and closes the disc in two parts. Right on time, huh? Bella Ruse and White Light Riot also perform. (8 p.m. Fri., Cedar Cultural Center. All ages. $10.) Riemenschneider

A point well known locally since they headlined Rock the Garden in 2002: Medeski, Martin & Wood might be filed under jazz in record stores, but they come off like a mighty rock act onstage. The New York-based guitar/organ/drums trio's prowess and progression as a live powerhouse are in the spotlight with two new releases to mark their 20th anniversary: the documentary DVD "Fly in a Bottle" and the double-disc live album "In Case the World Changes Its Mind," the latter culled from a 2006 tour with John Scofield. Just for the anniversary, the band will play an entire set of requests, which can be submitted via MMW.net. No opener. (7:30 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. $25.) Riemenschneider

Walker Fields is a new pseudonym of established Twin Cities songwriter Brad Senne, who spikes his rootsy, dusty and often haunting folk style with an acoustic-blues punch and some timely hard-times lyricism on his first album under said moniker "Gettin' By." He's celebrating the disc's release on a lineup with other hip but non-hipster folk acts the Western Ridge and Bethany Larsen & the Bee's Knees. (9:30 p.m. Sat., 331 Club. Free.) Riemenschneider

Like Off With Their Heads and Motion City Soundtrack before them, Banner Pilot is a hard-working punk band that has made more of a name for itself on the road than it has at home in the Twin Cities. That could, and should, change with the quartet's third album, "Heart Beats Pacific," issued last week on Fat Wreck Chords (Dillinger Four's label) and produced by Jacques Wait (Pink Mink's bassist). Frontman Nick Johnson (ex-Rivethead) writes angsty but never overwrought lyrics around the band's sharp, Descendents-like hooks and nicely amped-up, muscle-car-like guitar riffs. (9 p.m. Sat., Turf Club. $6.) Riemenschneider

A German prodigy who moved to Canada at age 13, Michael Kaeshammer (pronounced "case-hammer") made a name for himself as a boogie-woogie piano hotshot. On his seventh and current CD, "Kaeshammer," the 34-year-old has become more of a songwriter and less of a flashy piano man. He can swing and croon and send gals over the moon just like Harry Connick Jr. Kaeshammer picked up some New Orleans flavor after doing a seven-month stint there backing blues singer Marva Wright. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota, $15.). Jon Bream

Since the Current put their cheeky single "Techno Fan" into heavy rotation over the summer, British trio the Wombats probably won't have trouble selling out their overdue local date behind their sophomore album, "This Modern Glitch." They'll have a tougher time winning over those of us who quickly grew queasy at the single. Much of the disc follows the hit's dizzy, whimpery dance-rock mold, but there are also some moodier, stronger rock tunes in the vein of fellow Liverpudlians Echo & the Bunnymen. New York openers the Postelles have a new album produced by the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr. Static Jacks also play. (8 p.m. Mon., Varsity Theater. $15.) Riemenschneider

Kinks frontman Ray Davies, the most gentlemanly of the first-wave of British rock stars, is touring with a band for the first time in years. No, it isn't the Kinks; he and brother Dave Davies just don't get along. It's the 88, a California band that got the gig by sending Davies a demo tape. He doesn't have any new material, but the Rock Hall of Famer has a classic catalog that he revisited on his 2010 album, "See My Friends," with Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Mumford & Sons, Lucinda Williams and others. Read an interview with Davies in Sunday's Variety. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Fitzgerald, $46.50 & $44.50.) Bream

Todd Snider's 2011 concert disc "Live: The Storyteller" captures the humor, heart and homespun quality of his shows. He's an unlikely hybrid of two Minnesotans -- troubadour Bob Dylan and comic Mitch Hedberg. Working solo, the well-traveled Snider, 45, is chatty and charming between songs, a style that complements the conversational vibe of his music with its sharp jabs and long-winded stories. Opening is his Nashville neighbor Elizabeth Cook, whose recent albums "Balls" and "Welder" included a mixture of spot-on traditional country and on-target shots at the music business. (8 p.m. Wed., Fitzgerald, $24 & $21.) Bream

Lucinda Williams' three solo shows at the Dakota in February were special, intimate events. Now she's back to her main milieu, kicking butt with her band, thanks to YOUNG guitar stud Blake Mills, who has recorded with Jenny Lewis, Ozomatli and Kid Rock. (Trivia: He played in the band that evolved into Dawes.) The Americana queen is promoting her fine 2011 disc, "Blessed," which featured a pretty fair guitarist named Elvis Costello and a wider range of emotions now that she is happily married. Plus, lately she's been playing a new, unrecorded song, "Stowaway in Your Heart," which may be about the Minnesota man she wed at First Avenue. Mills will do an opening set. (8:30 p.m. Wed., First Avenue, $30.) Bream

Singled out as a "Los Feliz quintet" in the L.A. Weekly (the Los Angeles equivalent of being called a Brooklyn band?), Airborne Toxic Event has been praised by Rolling Stone and panned by Pitchfork and seems comfortable falling somewhere between the indie and mainstream rock worlds. There's as much Coldplay and Killers as there is Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse on the band's fourth album, "All at Once." Like 'em or not, years of touring with the likes of Kings of Leon and Franz Ferdinand have turned these Angelenos into a solid live act. Kings-like Tennessee rockers Mona open along with the Drowning Men. (7 p.m. Thu., First Avenue. $17-$20.) Riemenschneider

R&B

Which Time is it? Not the one that appeared at the State Fair as Morris Day and the Time. This is the newly named the Original 7ven, the band originally known as the Time. Since they were putting out a new album, Prince reminded them that he owned the rights to "the Time." So they chose a new moniker but offer the same old funky Minneapolis Sound. "Condensate," the group's first album since 1990, has plenty of flashbacks to the 1980s Time but also feels contemporary, with Jesse Johnson's spirited guitar and the current single "#Trendin." In its first hometown appearance since 2008, the septet promises lots of old favorites and a few tunes from the new disc. Read an interview at startribune.com/music. (8 p.m. Sat. State Theatre, $53.50-$83.50. Autograph session at 6 p.m. Friday at Mall of America's Sears Court.) Bream

COUNTRY

Luke Bryan, Lee Brice and Josh Thompson are rising country stars who have opened in arenas and headlined at clubs. Now they are teaming up on a CMT-sponsored tour of modest-sized venues. The way concert fans embrace Bryan, known for the hits "Someone Else Calling You Baby" and "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)," he could step up to the arena level soon. Brice is still riding on the momentum of 2009's "Love Like Crazy," and Thompson, the brewski lover from a Milwaukee suburb who scored with "Way Out Here," has become a favorite in Twin Cities bar rooms. (8 p.m. Fri., Myth, $35.) Bream

HIP-HOP

Cleared last week of sexual-assault charges in a plea deal, Big Sean is carrying on with the tour behind his (now ironically named) debut album "Finally Famous." The 23-year-old Detroit rapper famously got his break by cornering Kanye West at a radio station, and it's 'Ye who issued the record this summer on his G.O.O.D. Music imprint. Sean already scored a hit this spring with the New Edition-sampling single "My Last," featuring (now ironically chosen) duet partner Chris Brown. The West-accompanied romp "Marvin & Chardonnay" also kicked up his buzz quotient. Unlike a lot of mainstream-rap newbies of late, he proved to be an equally dynamic performer at Texas' SXSW fest. This tour really could be his ticket to fame. Cyhi the Prynce and Shawn Chrystopher open. (9 p.m. Mon., First Avenue. 18 & older. $18.) Riemenschneider

L.A. loudmouth rapper the Game was engaged in relatively little beef going into the release of his latest, "The R.E.D. Album" (unless you count the minor barbs he aimed at Jay-Z and Kanye West -- but that was just for fun). Maybe the lack of feuding allowed the red-loving rapper to concentrate on actual music, the new album being his best since 2005's "The Documentary." The disc doesn't present anything new -- it's still gang-related bravado and West Coast psychoanalysis. But he sounds rejuvenated with old mentor Dr. Dre backing him once again. The Game goes solo on the road, but expect him to bring his usual intensity. (10 p.m. Sun., Epic, $20-$40, 18 and older.) Tom Horgen

JAZZ

While studio stalwart Lee Ritenour has recorded with a staggering number of pop and rock luminaries (Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Phil Collins, et al.), at heart he remains a remarkably fluid and fertile jazz guitar pro -- albeit a chameleonic one, mixing in fiery fusion, world music, bracing blues and smooth jazz. This weekend he'll have an old friend in tow: the excellent jazz keyboardist, sometime singer and former R&B hitmaker Patrice Rushen. (8 p.m. Sat., Hopkins Center for the Arts, $28.) Tom Surowicz

Five of the finest mainstream jazz players in town come together on sax and clarinet ace Doug Haining's swell new CD, "Last Man Swinging," which neatly manages to be both easygoing and excellent, comfy and compelling. The songs are mostly old favorites by jazz and Broadway composing greats (Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller), yet the results are frisky and fresh. Haining's veteran band -- Rick Carlson (piano), Dave Graf (trombone), Dick Bortolussi (drums) and Steve Pikal (bass) -- delivers a great ensemble sound and playful, stirring solos. (9 p.m. Wed., Artists' Quarter, $10.) Surowicz

Before guitarist Paul Renz sets off on an East Coast tour, he'll debut his new quartet with fresh faces Mike Abresch (tenor sax) and Andy Schuster (bass) plus longtime drummer Nathan Fryett. (7 p.m. Wed., Dakota Jazz Club, $5.) Surowicz

CLASSICAL

The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, the 32-member professional component of the VocalEssence Chorus, are returning from a five-stop tour of Minnesota, making music along Hwy. 23 from Marshall to Duluth. Their homecoming concert focuses on our Minnesota folk heritage. Artistic director Philip Brunelle also promises to honor "some of our more Prince-ly legacies." (4 p.m. Sun., Fitzgerald Theatre, $10-$40.) William Randall Beard

Pianist Alexander Melnikov's Chopin Society program begins with the seven brief pieces of Brahms' late Op. 116 -- music as searching as any -- and moves on to Schubert (the "Wanderer" Fantasy) and Shostakovich. Melnikov studied in Munich with Elisso Virsaladze, whose Chopin Society recital in April was nothing short of spectacular. Will student equal teacher? (3 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, $23.) Larry Fuchsberg