The Big Gigs

POP/ROCK Just two months after selling out the Medina Entertainment Center -- which was only two months after he came out of a coma (though you wouldn't have known it) -- Bret Michaels returns to rev up fans after a motocross race. This guy is clearly not one to turn down gigs. Along with all his Poison hits, you can also expect to be hit up with plugs for his new VH1 reality series. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Elko Speedway. $20. Race starts at 7 p.m.) (C.R.)

Iron Range-rooted, Appleton, Wis.-based folk-rocker Cory Chisel and his tight band the Wandering Sons truly have been wandering since making their breakout album, "Death Won't Send a Letter," with help from members of the Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket. Recent gigs have included the Glastonbury Festival, Summerstage in New York and even the ol' Newport Folk Fest. They return to the Midwest to headline the Red Stag Block Party, with the usual, eclectic roundup of local bands, including Heiruspecs, E.L.nO., Black Audience, Bight Club, kids' act Clementown and more. (3-10 p.m. Sat., outside Red Stag Supperclub, northeast Mpls. All ages. Free.) (C.R.)

Now a welcome annual tradition, some of the Twin Cities musicians who performed on Bob Dylan's landmark 1975 album are reuniting with guests under the banner "Blood on the Tracks Live." Three of the original session men, Kevin Odegard, Billy Peterson and Peter Ostroushko, will reecreate "BOTT" and other Dylan classics with a cast of local scenemakers including Adam Levy, Patty Peterson, Peter Lang, Matt Fink, Alison Scott, Paul Metsa, Dan Israel, Gretchen Seichrist, Kevin Bowe and Lonnie Knight. Not sure how Bob would feel about all this fuss over his "divorce album," but he would certainly support the cause in this case, Guitars for Vets. Bring a used guitar to donate, and you could join the six-string orchestra for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." (6:30 p.m. Sat., Wolfe Park amphitheater, 3700 Monterey Ave., St Louis Park. All ages. Free.) (C.R.)

With the Allman Brothers unexpectedly on hiatus this summer after Gregg Allman's emergency liver transplant, guitarist Warren Haynes is back on the road with his other group, Gov't Mule, a kickin', crowd-pleasing band with a wide and intriguing repertoire of originals and covers. If the Mule is half as exciting as the new live CD, "Mulenium," recorded on New Year's Eve in 1999, this outdoor audience is in for a treat. Opening is California roots rocker Jackie Greene, who has toured as the guitarist with Phil Lesh & Friends. (5 p.m. Sat., Cabooze plaza, $30-$35.) (J.B.)

One of the smarter nostalgic co-headlining pairings of late -- better than the Trick's last go-around with the v.4.0 Journey, anyway -- Cheap Trick and Blondie have most of their original members and several big hits that have stood the test of time. Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, on the other hand, hasn't been so sturdy so for this tour he's been replaced by the son of guitarist Rick Nielsen. The '70s pop-rockers are swapping the headlining slot on tour but playing at least 75-minute sets regardless. (8 p.m. Sat., Treasure Island Casino, Red Wing, Minn. $55-$65.) (C.R.)

Need a Dead fix? Grateful Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are leading the Rhythm Devils through some Dead favorites as well as new material written for them by Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Vocalists are Tim Bluhm of Mother Hips and Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam. The lineup also includes Nigerian talking-drum master Sikiru Adepoju. Meanwhile, Kreutzman will release an album this fall with his group the 7 Walkers, and Hart is finishing an album with his Rhythms of the Universe project, due next year. (8 p.m. Mon., Cedar Cultural Center, $45.) (J.B.)

A founding member of the locally adored sonic-punk band the Jesus Lizard, bassist David Wm. Sims returns to town with a new solo act called unFact, in which he experiments with loops and bass effects with haunting, unnerving results. Noveller opens. (8:30 p.m. Tue., 400 Bar. $5.) (C.R.)

Minneapolis' coolest jazz club is presenting some rock hitmakers -- the Gin Blossoms, best known for the jangly 1990s hits "Hey Jealousy" and "Follow You Down." This time the jangle will resonate differently -- Robin Wilson and the boys from Arizona are doing acoustic sets. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Dakota, $45.) (J.B.)

Lou Barlow's home page humorously but fittingly welcomes you to his "vast and confusing website." The Sebadoh frontman has been performing with Dinosaur Jr. off and on again over the past half-decade, issuing solo discs and working on Sebadoh reissues, plus he's still maybe best known for his 1995 Folk Implosion hit "Natural One." Now, he's touring with a new band called the Missingmen. Confusing indeed, but the music is in line with classic Sebadoh. Baltimore-reared lo-fi boy/girl Wye Oak open along with Young Man, led by St. Paulite Colin Caulfield; see story on page E5. (8:30 p.m. Wed., 400 Bar. $10.) (C.R.)

For some people, the '90s never ended. That's why the BoDeans and Big Head Todd & the Monsters can keep coming back to the Twin Cities to reprise "Closer to Free" and "Bittersweet," respectively, two songs that Cities 97 plays so often you'd think they were current hits. (7 p.m. Thu., State Fair grandstand, $28.) (J.B.)

R&B Now trimmed to a trio, Boyz II Men still offers those smooth Philly harmonies on such '90s make-out classics as "End of the Road" and "I'll Make Love to You." The group has announced a 20th-anniversary album for 2011 that will feature the return of Michael McCary, who left in 2003 because of scoliosis. (8:30 p.m. Thu.-Aug. 27, State Fair bandshell. Free with fair admission.) (J.B.)

HIP-HOP Who is more fitting than Mos Def to become the first rapper to perform on the Guthrie's main stage? The Black Star co-founder and Def Jam Poetry ringleader is also an Emmy-nominated actor who could just as easily star in a play there. More important, his bar-setting music also generally mirrors the Guthrie's architecture and its reputation for refined artistry. After a couple of so-so albums, he was back in top form with last year's gritty, hard-times-born release, "The Ecstatic." (7:30 p.m. Mon., Guthrie Theater's Wurtele Thrust Stage. $48-$46.) (C.R.)

COUNTRY Texas country hero Jerry Jeff Walker knows a good time when he sees one, which is probably what keeps him coming back to the Music at the Zoo series. The man who wrote "Mr. Bojangles" and turned "L.A. Freeway" and "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother" into cosmic-cowboy anthems in the mid-'70s has scaled way back on his formerly bleary-eyed tour schedule, so he must really like partying with the animals here. The Bobby Vandell Band opens. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Minnesota Zoo amphitheater. $38.) (C.R.)

BLUES It's unofficially "Kim Wilson Weekend" in Minnesota, as the blues harp maestro shows off both of his bands. Kim Wilson's Blues All-Stars is a terrific hard blues ensemble that is the perfect attraction to christen the new Wilebski's location in St. Paul -- the band's guitar all-pro Billy Flynn has already packed Wilebski's in its classic and recent incarnations. (9 p.m. Fri., 1638 Rice St., St. Paul.) Then Wilson changes cities and lineups and presents the latest version of his Fabulous Thunderbirds. They deliver hard blues, too, but branch out liberally into soul, FM rock, swamp rock and of course the hits ("Tuff Enuff," "Wrap It Up," "Powerful Stuff"). (7 & 9:30 p.m. Sun., Dakota Jazz Club, $30-$40.) (T.S.)

JAZZ Last year found studio guitar legend Larry Carlton back in the Steely Dan fold for several concerts, and 2010 has been no less momentous. Carlton parted ways with the too-smooth group Fourplay after a dozen years, then co-starred on a sold-out tour of Japan with rocker and fellow guitar wizard Tak Matsumoto. The two even scored a rare instrumental Top 10 radio hit in Japan with the song "Tokyo Night." Expect the fare for this trio gig to be all-American and largely blues and jazz, with a few "hits" ("Sleepwalk," "Put It Where You Want It") and a Steely Dan tune or two sprinkled in. (8 p.m. Fri., Burnsville Performing Arts Center, 12600 Nicollet Av. S. $32.) (T.S.)

David Sanborn was hardly the first saxophonist to straddle the jazz/R&B fence with aplomb, and he celebrated two of his stylistic forebears -- Hank Crawford and David "Fathead" Newman -- on the recent CD "Only Everything." Like those recently departed dudes, Sanborn is smooth and funky, commercial and compelling, a serious soloist and a committed crowd pleaser. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Minnesota Zoo. $34.) (T.S.)

The Artists' Quarter's annual Jazz Guitar Hero weekend has nothing to do with video games, yet the focus is on creative play. Three six-stringers take turns in the spotlight each night. On Friday, New York groover Greg Skaff is joined by local vets Wally Walstad and Chris Olson. Saturday's line-up trends younger, with relatively new faces Cory Wong and Billy Grazcyk -- a hard rock and straight jazz switch-hitter, known for his work in the bands Autonomy and Media Addicts -- plus avant hero Dean Granros. (9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $10.) (T.S.)

One of the all-time great rock keyboardists, British organ and electric piano ace Brian Auger made his mark alongside Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart and Julie Driscoll in the fabled British "supergroup" Steampacket, then veered off into groovy electric jazz, forming the bands Trinity (with Driscoll) and Oblivion Express. Auger's current combo is a family affair, with daughter Savannah Grace Auger, who can really belt, on vocals, and his son Karma D. Auger rock-solid behind the drum kit. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Tue., Dakota Jazz Club, $15-$25.) (T.S.)