The Big Gigs, Nov. 2-8

POP/ROCK With their jackhammering techno-metal sound and flashing stage lights, Sleigh Bells may stage the most seizure-inducing rock show around. The Brooklyn duo's hyperactive album "Reign of Terror" had a flavor-of-the-month reign back in February, but its thick wall of brawny beats and loud-cranking guitars ultimately felt hollow. In concert, though, leather-clad singer Alexis Krauss balances out the noise with rock star charisma and an enchantingly cool voice. Opening electronic dance wiz kid AraabMuzik was a standout at the Summer Set fest in August. (9 p.m. Fri., First Avenue. $25.) Chris Riemenschneider

Like Sleigh Bells, they have an electro-crunch sound and sexy boy/girl makeup, but it's just a nice coincidence that Wiping Out Thousands is hosting the release party for its full-length debut right next door. The young Minneapolis duo, featuring starlet-in-waiting singer Alaine Dickman and grinding guitarist Taylor Nelson (both of whom also tinker on synths and digital gear), tied for third in City Pages' Picked to Click poll last month. Their album, "This Came First," alternates between moody trip-hop and madly whirring, experimental dance-rock. Opening trio Lalibertie features ex-Lookbook vocalist Maggie Morrison and Doomtree's Cecil Otter. Sloslylove also performs. (9 p.m. Fri., 7th Street Entry. $5.) Riemenschneider

Multimedia artist Laurie Anderson returns after a decade's absence to perform her latest show, "Dirtday!" Like everything Anderson, it defies easy description, but based on press accounts -- including our own interview at startribune.com/art -- it's a shaggy-dog collage that started as a rumination on America but shifted inexorably to preoccupations beyond, including language, dreams, evolution, health care and popes on other planets. With violin, of course. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 7 p.m. Sun., Walker Art Center. Sold out.) Tim Campbell

When Allen Stone joined Daryl Hall and Sharon Jones in concert this year at the Orpheum Theatre, he proved his soul-music bona fides. Never mind that the 25-year-old from Seattle looked like a male, granola version of Taylor Swift with big glasses. Just close your eyes and listen. (9 p.m. Fri. Fine Line, $15.50-$17.50.) Jon Bream

Tender and imaginative Texas tunesmith Daniel Johnston has grown from a cultish, cassette-making songwriter sought after by Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore to a TV commercial song man -- his classic "True Love Will Find You in the End" plays in a recent Axe deodorant ad (somehow, that doesn't stink at all). The subject of an excellent 2005 documentary about his struggles with bipolar disorder, Johnston has become an inspiring if rudimentary live performer. He's playing a few solo dates on his way to opening gigs for Conor Oberst, and he has both a new live vinyl collection and his first comic book in tow. Fellow Beatles lovers Sleeping in the Aviary open. (8 p.m. Fri., Cedar Cultural Center. All ages. $15.) Riemenschneider

Hard-grooving hippie soul-popsters Roster McCabe left home for a fall tour Sept. 2 and have been mostly gone ever since. That explains how the hard-working Minneapolis band claims to have played 800 gigs since 2009, and why their hometown fans marvel at their tight live shows. They're bringing Boston pals Gentleman Hall to town to open along with 4onthefloor frontman Gabriel Douglas. (9 p.m. Fri., Triple Rock. $15.) Riemenschneider

The wub-drubbing proselytizer of America's youth, Bassnectar has graduated from festival fave to arena headliner. The real-life Lorin Ashton grossed $3.5 million in ticket sales (think how many glow sticks that could buy!) in the first half of 2012 alone, underlining EDM's newfound prominence in U.S. pop culture. Already with an LP under his belt this year, the Cali bass baron dropped his "Freestyle" EP last month. Tickets are general-admission; floor wristbands will be distributed first come, first served starting at 10 a.m. Sat. Surging electro-house star Zedd, Gramatik and Gladkill open. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Target Center, $38-$41.) Michael Rietmulder

Another good one bites the dust. The Rockford Mules, who've been maxing out Twin Cities sound systems with their snaky/Southerny hard-rock for seven years, are amicably calling it quits. The four refreshingly unpretentious fellas have five kids among them now, and theirs is not the kind of band you can easily maintain on the side. They have one last four-song EP to drop at their farewell show, "O Tulip I Told You So," and -- proof they aren't afraid of a wild rock 'n' roll throwdown -- the Goondas will open. (9 p.m. Sat., Cause. $5.) Riemenschneider

Recently fired by the orchestral metal band he fronted for three decades amid reports of violent infighting, Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate is carrying on with a solo album, "Kings & Thieves," which hits stores Tuesday. A judge has ruled that Tate can use his old band's name on tour if he wishes, and you can bet he and his new bandmates will at least play many Queensrÿche tunes. Local metalheads Dawn of Valor open. (9 p.m. Sun., Mill City Nights. $20-$25.) Riemenschneider

While his name doesn't carry the cachet it did in the late '90s, don't slight U.K. trance god Paul Oakenfold. The man who was doing stadium tours with U2 while Avicii was still in preschool has become a Vegas club fixture and hit the road with Madonna this year (including this weekend's shows). It looks like 2012 will set before his long-awaited "Pop Matters" album will see daylight, but he continues to crank out monthly "DJ Box" mixes. (9 p.m. Sun., Epic, 18-plus, $25.) Rietmulder

There's no way that the swank Dakota Jazz Club is anything like Alice's Restaurant. But Arlo Guthrie might sing his signature tune there, along with a ditty or two made famous by his late father, Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated this year. Guthrie, 65, returned to the road last week following the Oct. 14 death of his wife of 43 years, Jackie, from cancer. (7 p.m. Sun., Dakota. Sold out.) Bream

The classic money-for-tickets system won't help Stars fans. Passes to see the Toronto indie-poppers are available only as prizes from 89.3 the Current, First Avenue and Electric Fetus. On "The North," their sixth full-length, Stars still feature retro synths aplenty but take a more playful, dancier tone, while the vocal interplay between Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan remains as melodramatic as ever. (7 p.m. Mon., Triple Rock.) Jay Boller

It's not the cover of Rolling Stone, but it's telling which magazine has a front-page spread on the Sword this month: Hails & Horns. The Texas quintet looks like another band of grizzly Austin hipsters but plays weed-smoky, irony-free, hard-thrashing metal that has earned mad respect in old-school circles. Their new album, "Apocryphon," has some of the band's most blistering jams to date, but these guys are always more impressive in concert. Bird-loving throwbacks Gypsyhawk and Eagle Claw open. (8:30 p.m. Tue., First Avenue. $15.) Riemenschneider

Passionate indie-folk bard David Bazan got out from under his original nom de strum, Pedro the Lion, with a pair of acclaimed solo albums but now is reclaiming his past. The Seattle singer is touring with a small band to mark the 10th anniversary of PTL's third album, "Control," a concept record about a cheating husband and murderous wife. Fun stuff. Opening band Stagnant Pools is a duo of brothers who recently toured with Japandroids. (8:30 p.m. Tue., Fine Line. $15.) Riemenschneider

Will Bob Dylan address the presidential election? (He did on Election Night 2008 at Northrop Auditorium.) Will he sing any songs from "Tempest," his biting, bloody new album? (He's done just one since its Sept. 11 release.) Will he acknowledge his home state? (He has at some Twin Cities and Duluth gigs.) We do know that Dylan will not collaborate with opening act Mark Knopfler, who was called a "new Dylan" when he emerged with Dire Straits in the late 1970s but has crafted a fine solo career as a tasty guitarist making moody, cinematic pop. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Xcel Energy Center, $47.50-$129.50.) Bream

A band built on dramatic flare-ups, end-of-days lyricism and women's restitution, Zoo Animal was a wise choice to add to the elite gang of Twin Cities bands hired to score a movie. Duluth's Zeitgeist Arts recruited Holly Newsom and her remade indie-rock trio to perform live with the 1928 French silent film "The Passion of Joan of Arc" last April. The response was rabid enough for them to be doing it here two nights in a row. (7:30 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Cedar Cultural Center. All ages. $11.) Riemenschneider

Eilen Jewell's "Queen of the Minor Key" was the undiscovered Americana gem of 2011. The Boise-bred, Boston-based singer/songwriter mixes a little jazz, blues, rockabilly and surf-rock into an alluring old-school vibe. With her lonesome voice, Jewell suggests an older, darker Norah Jones who starts writing songs three whiskeys after midnight. (7 p.m. Thu., Dakota, $15.) Bream

JAZZ Connie Evingson sings Peggy Lee in the good company of pianist Tanner Taylor, local sax legend Dave Karr, bassist Gordy Johnson and drummer Joe Pulice. Her show "Happy With the Blues: The Songs of Peggy Lee" spotlights the singing great's skills as a songwriter, which were formidable. Lee penned lyrics and sometimes music for a slew of films ("Lady and the Tramp," most famously) and collaborated with such seminal songwriters as Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen and Michel Legrand. (4 p.m. Sun., Jungle Theater, $25.) Tom Surowicz

Charlie Hunter's new album carries the grimly funny title, "Not Getting Behind Is the New Getting Ahead." It presents Hunter's slinky, soulful, bluesy seven-string electric guitar in 10 compelling duets with ace drummer Scott Amendola. Hunter wrote all the music and the duo recorded live to analog tape, achieving a cozy immediacy. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota Jazz Club, $25.) Surowicz

BLUES/ROOTS It was a rip-roaring good time back in June when the full 10-piece Butanes Soul Revue made their Minnesota Music Cafe debut, and fans have been lobbying for a reprise gig ever since. Sax guest Sue Orfield, a powerhouse jazzwoman from Wisconsin, blew the roof off the sucka with her tenor solos, Willie Walker dueted with an inspired Maurice Jacox and the band wailed like it was 1992 again. (9 p.m. Fri., Minnesota Music Cafe, $10.) Surowicz