Big Gigs for March 13-19: Gaslight Anthem, Robby Krieger, Haley Bonar

Gaslight Anthem made a pretty blatant grab for the mainstream with last year's more polished, radio-friendly album "Get Hurt," and the results mostly fell flat. It's the one record by the once-punky New Jersey rockers that sounded more Bon Jovi than Springsteen. Still, the " '59 Sound" roarers remain a visceral, explosive live band and usually treat the First Ave main room like they're playing a packed sports arena. Northcote and the Scandals open. (9 p.m. Fri., First Avenue, $30.) Chris Riemenschneider

Doing Haim one better, Echosmith is a Los Angeles pop band of four siblings. The Sierota sibs, ages 16 to 21, clearly have a love for 1980s synth-pop (the Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen) but they deliver their music with a new millennium freshness — and female lead vocals, courtesy of Sydney, 17, who recalls Ellie Goulding. The hopelessly dreamy hit "Cool Kids," with its shades of Taylor Swift, has earned Echosmith plenty of radio airplay. Now, after tours opening for American Authors and Neon Trees, Echosmith has undertaken its first headlining club tour. The Colourist opens. (8 p.m. Fri., Varsity, $15-$25.) Jon Bream

Old-school Tweed Funk has dominated the blues category at the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards in recent years. The horn-driven band is fronted by the formidable Smokey Holman, a robust singer who had a couple of near misses with the Motown and Hi labels back in the day but did record for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records. If you miss the late Big Daddy Kinsey, this might be the band you're looking for. (6 p.m. Fri., Wilebski's, $10.) Bream

These days, Shannon Curfman is best known as one of Kid Rock's touring backup singers. But she still occasionally fronts her own band. The Fargo-bred, Twin Cities-based Curfman promises to play her entire 1999 debut album, "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions," recorded when she was a 14-year-old blues-rock wunderkind signed to Clive Davis' Arista Records. Also expect some classic-rock and blues covers as well as tunes from Curfman's other three albums. Kelly Peterson opens. (8:30 p.m. Fri., Famous Dave's Uptown, $10.) Bream

And then there was just one. Doors frontman Jim Morrison, of course, died in 1971 when the band was still cranking out moody hits like "L.A. Woman" and "Riders on the Storm." In 2002, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger formed a new incarnation called the Doors of the 21st Century, but drummer John Densmore sued over the name. Manzarek died of cancer in 2013, leaving Krieger to carry on in concert. With his son Waylon Krieger on vocals, he'll do Doors tunes as well as other classic rock and blues. (8:30 p.m. Fri., Medina Entertainment Center, $38-$60.) Bream

After showing off a blissful '70s-flavored pop/rock side as the co-leader of BB Gun, Al Church sounds more like a moody '80s new waver on his new solo album, "Next Summer." The Duluth native really means "solo," too, as he played most of the instruments himself, enlisting some nifty electronic-gone-analog studio tricks and prominent, sultry saxophone work from Cole Pulice of Sonny Knight's Lakers. The results sound like an unlikely blend of last year's War on Drugs album, "Scary Monsters"-era Bowie and maybe just a little "St. Elmo's Fire" John Parr. His release party also features Alpha Consumer, the Lady Heat DJs and Staraoke in the Clown Lounge. (8 p.m. Fri., Turf Club, $8-$10.) Riemenschneider

One of the big talents and live wires of Twin Cities garage rock, lovable gonzo Dan Boardman can play just about anything well — guitar, drums, bass, keyboards. He's also a good singer and an excellent photographer. But lately he's been out of commission, battling pancreatic cancer. So there's a benefit for the esteemed member of the Spectors, Stingray Green, the Hex Offenders, the Floorshakers and Gary Burger's post-Monks band. The all-night affair will feature a Spectors reunion, with frontman Chris Knott flying from D.C., plus exciting one-off reunions of Stingray Green and the Wellington Tempests, along with the Mighty Mofos, Trailer Trash, the Beatifics, Motel California, Kinda Kinky, the Floorshakers, the Hex Offenders and 30 LBs of Bluejeans plus "many, many special guests." Be there, or regret it later. (7 p.m. Sat., Minneapolis Eagles Club, $10.) Tom Surowicz

Local pop/rock workman and "The Voice" alum Tim Mahoney sang "Desire" and "Running to Stand Still" for his live debut at Minnetonka High School and has been sliding U2 covers into his sets for years throughout an untold number of barrooms across the Twin Cities. Now he and his band are launching a full-blown, nearly two-hour U2 tribute show based on multiple eras of the Irish rock gods' 35-year career — though thankfully nothing as recent as the new "Songs of Innocence" album. His guitar player Max Krauth's John Mayer tribute Battle Studies will open. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls., $30.) Riemenschneider

For 19 years, Kevin Barnes and an ever-rotating cast of bandmates have released 13 albums of psychedelic pop as Of Montreal. The current group is on the second leg of a tour in support of its latest record, last month's "Aureate Gloom," recorded live in the Texas desert. The rawness of that landscape extends to the lyrics as well. "I might be guilty of sharing or exposing too much of my private life," Barnes says. "But to me the best albums are those that help people connect with an artist on a deep, human level." The prolific pop band will pack an arsenal of glam-rock goodies. Deerhoof opens. (8 p.m. Sun., First Avenue, $20.) Alex Nelson

Broods is the New Zealand-based brother/sister electronic duo of Georgia and Caleb Nott. Joel Little, the producer behind Lorde's Grammy-winning megahit "Royals," backs the pair in the studio. Little's involvement on the siblings' self-titled EP and 2014 debut album, "Evergreen," propelled the young musicians' moody synth-pop to the top of the Kiwi charts. Last year, Broods toured with Top 40 stars Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith, but now the siblings are enjoying a U.S. headlining tour and have managed to sell out a good chunk of dates. Joining them on tour is blues-steeped crooner Mikky Ekko, whom you might remember from his guest vocals on Rihanna's 2012 smash ballad "Stay." (8 p.m. Mon., Fine Line, $16-$30.) Nelson

One of the original, flagship bands that Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz signed to his punk label Epitaph in the early '90s, Pennywise is one of the last of that era still standing, no thanks to the many Warped Tours it has done. The thrashy, often topical quartet from Hermosa Beach, Calif., is touring behind its 11th album, "Yesterdays," which saw original singer Jim Lindberg return to the fold. A Wilhelm Scream and Teenage Bottlerocket open. (7 p.m. Tue., Varsity Theater, 18 & older, $20-$35.) Riemenschneider

Celebrated folk singer Tom Paxton knows how to go out in style. To coincide with his final tour, he released the album "Redemption Road" this week. It's typical Paxton, with something political ("If the Poor Don't Matter"), something personal ("Virginia Morning," an ode to his adopted state), something fun ("Susie Most of All") and something timeless (the title track). In concert, the 77-year-old, who still plans to record, will most certainly reprise his best-known pieces, "The Last Thing on My Mind" and "What Did You Learn in School Today?" Opening is another classic singer-songwriter, Janis Ian, known for the political "Society's Child" and the personal "At Seventeen." (7 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Dakota, $45.) Bream

Haley Bonar has been granted the enviable task of being the first Twin Cities rock act to perform in St. Paul's shiny, new $42 million Ordway Concert Hall, whose acoustics earned high praise from the New York Times last weekend. The dramatically voiced indie-rock tunesmith is taking full advantage of the fancy new digs, promising a special unplugged set with the Laurel Strings Quartet and backup singers Janey Winterbauer, Wendy Lewis and Kate Murray. They should add a lovely bend to the sometimes darker, frayed songs from last year's album "Last War," also the subject of national accolades. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Ordway, $20-$25.) Riemenschneider

The oddly titled "Rock the Ordway" series continues with the Sounds of Blackness, the Twin Cities' mighty, Grammy-winning choir that embraces every style of black music from gospel to rock. No strangers to special occasions, the Sounds have performed for kings and queens and at the White House five times. The always-evolving 44-year-old ensemble, under longtime director Gary Hines, is working on its first live album, due for a fall release. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Ordway Concert Hall, $20-$47.) Bream

Ten years since the release of their first 7-inch "Fine-Tuning the Bender" — newly reissued to mark the occasion — Twin Cities punk stalwarts Off With Their Heads are skipping the Epitaph Records party at South by Southwest next week and doing a trek around the northern reaches of Middle America instead, with New Orleans' grimy, bombastic quartet Pears. OWTH frontman Ryan Young has been producing fun podcast interviews with his famous and/or infamous friends via his site AnxiousandAngry.com and will hopefully get back to making another record soon. Sundowners and Teenage Moods open. (9 p.m. Thu., Triple Rock, $10.) Riemenschneider