Craving a different kind of buzz
After two powerful, personal and inventive albums, New Zealand pop sensation Lorde will finally make her Twin Cities debut. At 16, she gave us the wonderful fantasy commentary "Royals." And last year, at 20, the Grammy winner dropped her second album "Melodrama," a smart, poetic electro-pop exploration of life as a young woman that's been embraced by young women around the world. Expect the staging to be as minimalist as her music. Opening are Run the Jewels and Tove Styrke.JON BREAM
7 p.m. Fri. Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, tickets start at $39.50, ticketmaster.com
An album that broke ground on rock radio stations but preceded Steve Earle's rockiest personal trials, "Copperhead Road" is deservedly being celebrated with a 30th anniversary tour. The music still sounds relevant, and unfortunately so do the themes of its songs such as "Devil's Right Hand," "Snake Oil" and "Back to the Wall" — about gun violence, a made-for-TV president and rampant U.S. poverty, respectively. Don't miss alt-twang openers the Mastersons.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
7:30 p.m. Wed., Pantages Theatre, Mpls., $49-$59, ticketmaster.com
New York City's Camille A. Brown & Dancers wowed Minnesota audiences back in 2015 with "Mr. Tol E. Rance." The first act in a trilogy examining race and stereotypes, the piece juxtaposed historic footage of minstrel shows with live performance for a study on black humor. The company returns with the final installment in its trilogy. "Ink" celebrates the enduring rituals of the African diaspora with various iterations of tap, jazz, modern, African dance and hip-hop.
SHEILA REGAN
7:30 p.m. Fri., O'Shaughnessy, St. Paul, $15-$34, oshag.stkate.edu