Big Gigs, Feb. 26-March 3: Animal Collective, Carrie Rodriguez, Brian Blade and 'Drone, Not Drones'

After taking listeners on a trip to her New Orleans-flavored "The Other Side of Desire" at the Cedar Cultural Center last summer, Rickie Lee Jones will showcase that album, her first disc with new original tunes in a decade, at the Dakota for two nights. Backed by a simpatico but subtle band, Jones also visited some tunes from her eponymous Grammy-winning 1979 debut and even answered a request shouted by a fan. Always intriguing in concert. (8 p.m. Mon.-Tue. Dakota, $45-$60.) Bream

The Nashville electro-pop duo Cherub knows how to create a beat you can dance to and lyrics you can party to. As silly as LMFAO, Cherub knows how to connect with the college kids where they get wild. Like "Doses and Mimosas," a song that needs no explanation unless it's to parents. Touring behind the 2014 album "Year of the Caprese," Cherub's Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber have expanded into a proper band to deliver talk-box guitar, guitar shredding and electronic beats that will keep the crowd moving. Gibbz and Mike Floss open. (9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., First Avenue, $17-$20.) Jon Bream

If you're going to bill it as "R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – A Musical Tribute to the Queen of Soul," you'd better enlist some vocalists worthy of doing justice to the songs of Aretha Franklin. A quartet of the finest Minnesota female soul singers — Jamecia Bennett, Ginger Commodore, Kathleen Johnson and "American Idol" finalist Paris Bennett — will interpret "Rock Steady," "Respect" and other Aretha favorites. (9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Bunkers, $10.) Bream

One of the more adventurous local music events of the year, the third annual "Drone, Not Drones" concert will play out for 28 hours straight with an enormous cast of Minnesota indie-rock, electronic, jazz and avant-garde musicians plus one well-known visitor, Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy (scheduled 10 p.m. Fri.). They play mostly instrumental, atmospheric, loopy, ambient and/or stormy musical pieces, much of it from improvisation and collaboration. Some of the locals involved include Paul Metzger, Martin Dosh, the Stnnng, Vaz, Paris 1919, International Novelty Gamelan and, of course, Low's Alan Sparhawk, who brought the antiwar slogan behind the event to life at Rock the Garden 2013. Money goes to Doctors Without Borders. (7 p.m. Fri.-11 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, all ages, $20; detailed schedule at TheCedar.org.) Chris Riemenschneider

Coheed and Cambria has ditched the sci-fi story line of other recent albums and turned personal on its eighth effort, "The Color Before the Sun," which is also slicker and poppier than the New York state prog-metal quartet's other work. Frontman Claudio Sanchez even recorded an acoustic cover of Adele's "Hello" on the side to show off his more sensitive side. He and the band are always an impressive powerhouse in concert. They're touring with Long Island hard-core howlers Glassjaw and San Francisco's I the Mighty. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Myth, all ages, $27.50.) Riemenschneider

When punk-rock took flight in Minneapolis in the late-'70s, the Hypstrz complemented the scene by brandishing the '60s garage-rock, soul and girl-group songs that influenced a lot of the punks and would become biblical standards to record geeks via "Nuggets" and other collectors' sets — tunes by the Litter, 13th Floor Elevators, Wilson Pickett and the Shangri-Las. Brothers and bandmates Billy and Ernie Batson are marking the 40th anniversary of their second-best-known group by reuniting the Hypstrz with Randy Weiss and John Haga, topping out a bill featuring the Batsons' more original '80s band the Mighty Mofos as well as their '50s-flavored group King Kustom & the Cruisers. (8 p.m. Sat., Turf Club, $10-$12.) Riemenschneider

R.E.M. had "Stand," the Cure had "Friday I'm in Love" and now Animal Collective has "Floridada," an incredibly insipid and stupidly catchy single off the Maryland art-pop collagists' new album that belies the heady qualities of its other work. The rest of the record, "Painting With," isn't so cutesy and boasts a few wow-inducing tracks that could be marvelous in concert. The trio of nicknamed band members — Dave "Avey Tare" Portner, Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox and Brian "Geologist" Weitz — is back together on tour after various solo projects and DJ forays. New York's experimental hip-hop trio Ratking opens. (8 p.m. Sun., First Avenue, sold out.) Riemenschneider

After a February jaunt to Europe to play a few high-profile promo gigs, Poliça returns home in time for a little marathon run next week to mark the March 4 release of its third album, "United Crushers," a more aggressive and tense collection from Channy Leaneagh and her rhythmic crew. They're playing three shows back-to-back in three different venues, all sold out and with different openers. (8:30 p.m. Wed., Turf Club; 6:30 p.m. Thu., 7th Street Entry; and 9 p.m. March 4, First Avenue; also an in-store signing 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tue., Electric Fetus, Mpls.) Riemenschneider

For the first time since Louie Sirian sold Lee's Liquor Lounge last summer, the vintage Minneapolis beer joint's favorite Texan, Dale Watson, is coming back to play there. It won't be the same, sure, but it's better than seeing the cult-revered traditional country singer at some hipster bar or froufrou supper club — or not at all. His 2015 album for Red House Records, "Call Me Insane," nicely balanced his serious and playful sides. Patsy Cline devotee Janie Miller opens. (9 p.m. Thu. & next Fri., Lee's Liquor Lounge, $15-$18.) Riemenschneider

Tinashe seems to know the right people. Having released four mixtapes and one proper album, the L.A. singer opened tours for Nick Minaj and Katy Perry and teamed up with Schoolboy Q on her single "2 On," which ran up the R&B charts in 2014. This winter, she dropped "Player," featuring Chris Brown. And now the 23-year-old is launching her tour in Minneapolis to promote her upcoming sophomore album, "Joyride," which features her collaborations with hitmeister Max Martin (Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift), Metro Boomin and Nic Nac. Jahkoy opens. (8 p.m. Sun., Mill City Nights, $25-$50.) Bream

The third annual Winter Jazz Festival is an enjoyable way to spend the late afternoon and early evening with five diverse and creative sets of local artistry. The lineup: Dean Magraw's Red Planet, Brian Nichols solo, Adam Meckler Quintet, JT Bates solo and Dean Granros' Tall Tales. Great guitarists galore, penetrating solo piano and drum, and Meckler's horn-driven ensemble premiering an upcoming new album. A bargain primer on the rich Twin Cities jazz scene. (4-9 p.m. Sat., Studio Z, $15.) Britt Robson

Brian Blade has been a go-to timekeeper for strong, idiosyncratic composers ranging from Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell to the jazz sensei Wayne Shorter. His own Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band is a stable, two-horn quintet that has released four discs since 1998, occasionally adding a guitarist. Their specialty reflects Blade's penchant for lyrical folk forms tweaked by improvisation into jazz-inflected gems that are variously driving and contemplative. Led by the drummer, their sophistication is unpretentiously baked into the rhythmic and harmonic mix. (7 & 9 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Dakota, $22-$32.) Robson

All four programs in the Artaria Quartet's current season examine how classical composers react to living in conditions of war and revolution. The latest, "It's Revolutionary!," reveals Stravinsky, in 1914, striking out on new creative pathways in his Three Pieces for String Quartet. His terse concision and single-mindedness are mirrored in the String Quartet No. 2 of Philip Glass, from seven decades later. Completing the concert is the first of Beethoven's "Rasumovsky" Quartets, composed in the aftermath of his disillusionment with Napoleon, and bristling with fierce individuality and innovation. (3 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, $17, artariaquartet.com) Blain