Big Gigs for April 24-30: Yassin Bey, Neko Case, Alkaline Trio, Rhiannon Giddens

Under his old alias Mos Def, Yasiin Bey put on some of the most intense, masterful, mind-blowing performances by any rapper the Twin Cities has ever seen. So the Brooklyn rap hero and Emmy-winning actor can slide by on reputation alone for his latest in-town offering, which follows an unusually down time in his career. He's using the 15th anniversary of his second-best album, "Black on Both Sides," as an excuse to tour and has a couple strong openers to add to the incentive — Muja Messiah and Shiro Dame leader Sarah White. (9:30 p.m. Sat., Skyway Theatre, $30-$35.) Riemenschneider

Chicago's happy-but-not-too-hippie jammers Umphrey's McGee are settling in again at one of their favorite clubs for a three-night marathon. They will clock in almost as much time on stage at First Avenue as they spent making their latest record, "The London Session," a reworking of seven of their own tunes plus one cover captured in one 12-hour session at Abbey Road Studio. If you can't guess who the cover song is by, you're not welcome at these shows. (9 p.m. Fri. & Sat., First Avenue, $30-$35, sold out Sat.) Chris Riemenschneider

Guitarist Tuck Andress and vocalist Patti Cathcart met at an audition in 1978 in San Francisco and they've been performing as a duo ever since. Their sound can't be categorized because Tuck & Patti, who married in 1983, interpret everything from standards to pop classics to jazz numbers. Whether it's "Over the Rainbow" or Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Tuck & Patti deliver it with an earthy soulfulness. The duo hasn't released an album since 2008's Great American Songbook collection, "I Remember You," but they are part of current trivia: Tuck's niece, Annie Clark, was their roadie and later opening act under her now well-known stage name, St. Vincent. (7 & 9 p.m. Fri., Dakota, $30-$35.) Jon Bream

Even though he's been a regular at the top of the blues charts, Joe Bonamassa is still an under-the-radar guitar hero. Promotion for this weekend's two-night Minneapolis stand suggests separate acoustic and electric sets, but recent set lists don't indicate that. Backed by a large band that includes horns and longtime David Bowie bassist Carmine Rojas and Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist Reese Wynans, Bonamassa covers the likes of Otis Rush, Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix and offers some generic blues-rock originals. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orpheum, $83-$129.) Bream

Big things and one very little thing are in the pipeline for BNLX Fest III, a two-night bonanza of poppy fuzz-rock and snarling punk from Ed and Ashley Ackerson, whose band BNLX has impressively grown from a duo to a four-piece — and whose family is also about to grow with the addition of their first (human) child. Their expansive, ear-swirling new album "Good Light," with Peter Hook-style melodic bass lines humming throughout, will be available at the shows ahead of an international rerelease. Night One at the Turf features the Melismatics, the Stress of Her Regard (ex-Idle Hands) and Stereo Confession. The Entry lineup boasts Two Harbors, Frankie Teardrop and Pale Spectre. (8: 30 p.m. Fri., Turf Club, $8-$10; 8:30 p.m. Sat., 7th Street Entry, $8-$10) Riemenschneider

War, a soul-jazz group, and Cheech & Chong, the stoner comedy duo, share a couple of things: the same 1970s heyday and some Chicano roots. They've also been touring together for the past few years, thrilling audiences with enduring hit songs "Cisco Kid" and "Low Rider" and hit comedy bits "Basketball Jones" and "Dave's Not Here." (8 p.m. Fri., Mystic Lake, $54.) Bream

Neko Case used a return engagement Friday to American Public Media's "Wits" series — where she previously led an audience singalong at the Fitzgerald Theater to Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" — as an excuse to stick around and put on her own full show in the same regal, intimate setting on Saturday. The torch queen of alt-country is returning to her own tunes after touring with her power-pop band the New Pornographers. Conversely, her invaluable vocal partner, Kelly Hogan, is squeezing in these shows amid her own side gigging with the Decemberists. Soulful Brazilian singer/songwriter Rodrigo Amarante opens. (8 p.m. Sat., Fitzgerald Theater, $43-$48.) Riemenschneider

After the demise of his San Francisco-based Americana band the Court & Spark in the late-'00s, singer/guitarist MC Taylor wound up moving to Durham, N.C., and recording under the alias Hiss Golden Messenger. His fourth album, "Lateness of Dancers," shows how deep his North Carolinian roots run. It's his first for neighboring indie imprint Merge Records and was made with a sturdy crew of locals, including Phil and Brad Cook of Megafaun, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig of Mountain Man and notable guitarist William Tyler. The result is a richly layered folk-rock record with traces of Dylan, Van Morrison, the Silos and a lot more lovely stuff. A solo Phil Cook opens. (9 p.m. Sat., Turf Club, $12.) Riemenschneider

When James McMurtry goes six years between albums, you know the wait is going to be worth it. The prolific Americana songwriter and mean guitar-picking son of hyper-productive Texas author Larry McMurtry — 25 years removed from his classic John Mellencamp-produced debut — is in top form on his latest, "Complicated Game," which sets aside the political tone of his last one for the character studies and vivid vignettes he does so well. He's touring with his band and opener Max Gomez, an evocative New Mexico songwriter who recently joined the reputable New West Records roster. (9 p.m. Sat., Fine Line, $20.) Riemenschneider

Never one to play it straight, New York cabaret goddess and "A Prairie Home Companion" favorite Nellie McKay kicks off her new 1960s tribute album, "My Weekly Reader," with the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon." It's ironic, of course, because many of the tunes, including Frank Zappa's "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," are protest songs. Always politically inclined, she underscores her message in Moby Grape's "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" by inserting all kinds of slogans including the current "I can't breathe." It's not what you might expect from the delightful oddball who once did an album of Doris Day songs without the hint of a wink. (7 & 9 p.m. Sun., Dakota, $25-$35.) Bream

The admirably literate singer-songwriter Dar Williams, who two weeks ago gave the keynote address at the Minnesota Music Coalition's annual confab, is returning to preview her album, "Emerald," due May 12. For the project, she worked with an impressive list of collaborators, including Richard Thompson, Jim Lauderdale, the Milk Carton Kids, Jill Sobule and Suzzy Roche. Maybe the most fun new tune is "FM Radio," a peppy, nostalgic tribute to what we learned from such FM faves as Jackson Browne, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen. Opening is Lucy Wainwright Roche, who sings on Williams' album. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Cedar Cultural Center, $31-$36.) Bream

Six years since his last album and eight since his acclaimed debut, "Ash Wednesday," psychedelic folk-rocker Elvis Perkins has finally re-emerged with a mostly acoustic, self-produced album called "I Aubade," which sounds like a lost Syd Barrett collection. The son of actor Anthony "Norman Bates" Perkins is a charmer live and a good fit for the Icehouse. Duluth's own psycho-delic home-recording whiz, Toby Thomas Churchill, opens. (9 p.m. Sun., Icehouse, $16.)

Thanks to producer T Bone Burnett, Rhiannon Giddens is finding a solo career away from her still-together old-timey group Carolina Chocolate Drops. Burnett got her to sing at an all-star tribute concert to the Coen brothers' movie "Inside Llewyn Davis." She then joined Elvis Costello, Jim James and others on the Burnett-produced "Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes," featuring unrecorded lyrics of Bob Dylan. This year, Giddens delivered her first solo recording, "Tomorrow Is My Turn," featuring her interpretations of tunes associated with her foremothers including Dolly Parton, Nina Simone and Patsy Cline — produced, of course, by Burnett. On her solo debut tour, Giddens promises to perform tunes from all her various endeavors. Read an interview with Giddens in Saturday's Variety. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Pantages, $28-$38.) Bream

In 2013 at the Dakota, Madeleine Peyroux offered sublime intimacy with Ray Charles-inspired, string-bathed country-jazz-blues from her then-new album "The Blue Room," a tribute to Brother Ray's landmark 1962 country record. Now Peyroux, who has evolved into a sophisticated stylist of everything from Leonard Cohen to Warren Zevon, is promoting her 2014 two-disc anthology, "Keep Me in Your Heart for a While: The Best of Madeleine Peyroux." (7 & 9 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Dakota, $30-$60.) Bream

Despite Pharrell Williams hailing him as "the Jay Z of the South," T.I.'s legacy probably won't match Hova's once they've spit their last bars. Still, the Atlanta star helped usher trap music into the mainstream, even finding a fan in former milk pitchman Joe Mauer. The rapper/actor's hits "Whatever You Like" and "What You Know" (Mauer's longtime walk-up anthem) reached mid-'00s ubiquity and last fall the Grand Hustle boss dropped his ninth album, "Paperwork," executive-produced by Williams. While "No Mediocre" gets the club spins, Tip's at his best on the deep cuts, including bonus track "Sugar Cane," which casts drug-money bravado against a melancholic beat. (9 p.m., Myth, $50-$80.) Michael Rietmulder