Big Gigs, Sept. 26-Oct. 2: Toki Wright and Big Cats, Phantogram, Lykke Li and more

Collaborators for a year and longtime peers before that, professorial Twin Cities rapper Toki Wright and innovative producer/beatmaker Big Cats (Spencer Wirth-Davis) took their time crafting their first album together, "Pangaea," and the results are appropriately thoughtful and slow-stewing. Standout songs such as "Lost Boy" and "Overhead" combine the static-jazz vibe of A Tribe Called Quest's classic work with ambient, soulful techno beats. Wright isn't hollering "More fiya!" like in the past, but his topical words are still incendiary, from the esoteric title track to the all-too-blunt "Gatekeepers." The album lives up to the hype generated by their live shows, which also feature co-vocalist Lydia Liza (Bomba de Luz) and keyboardist Eric Mayson (Crunchy Kids). One of "Pangaea's" guests, P.O.S., opens the release party. See our video profile of Wright's new crew at startribune.com/soundcheck. (11 p.m. Fri., Icehouse, $10-$12.) Chris Riemenschneider

After a summer spent crisscrossing the Atlantic playing European festivals plus a two-week U.S. tour this month, Lizzo, right, returns home for another reminder that her roots remain firmly planted in Minneapolis. She and her "band," Doomtree beater Lazerbeak, are pairing up with shape-shifting singer/songwriter Caroline Smith and her band, the Good Night Sleeps, for a two-night stand that will feature ample mingling between the two starlets like we've never seen before. Read an interview with Lizzo and Smith at startribune.com/music. (8 p.m. Fri. & 9 p.m. Sat., First Avenue, Fri. $16-$20, Sat. sold out.) Riemenschneider

After making a strong impression on NBC's "The Voice" last spring — "strong," as in she wasn't just another pretty Kewpie-doll pop starlet in waiting — Twin Cities club vet Kat Perkins is issuing her first solo effort, "Fearless." The five-track EP shows off the same balance of vocal power that got the Scarlet Haze bandleader into the show's Top 5 and had coach Adam Levine singing her praises, with the heavy, howling, Heart-like rocker "Paris (Ooh La La)" side-by-side with the more tender, Adele-flavored title track. Fellow "Voice" castaway Kristen Merlin opens Perkins' release party. (9 p.m. Fri., Mill City Nights, 15 & older, $18-$20.) Riemenschneider

It feels more like a collection of club dates, but the Downtown Festival takes over the Skyway and its adjoining rooms with an eclectic musical mishmash. Friday's metallic main-room show is stacked with shoegaze/black metal hybrids Deafheaven, post-metal stalwarts Russian Circles, the Atlas Moth and local black-metal aces False. Viral hip-hop collective Turquoise Jeep Records plays the Loft with Cakes da Killa and Kids Like Us. Saturday, "Late Show"-famed synth-poppers Future Islands are joined by Bear Hands and Hippo Campus in the theater, with electro experimentalist Nosaj Thing and Stu Larsen anchoring Studio B, and indie-dance/nu-disco DJ Moon Boots rocking the Loft. (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Skyway Theatre, $16-$56.) Michael Rietmulder

A poetic Twin Cities folk troubadour who seems to follow his muse above all else, a la Ben Weaver or Mason Jennings, Luke Zimmerman takes an equally bemused and worrisome look at the modern world with a lot of upbeat Americana arrangements and a bright outlook on his third album, "Heyday for the Naysayers." The youngest of the Zimmerman songwriting clan (after brother Seth and Uncle Bob), he enlisted some heavy hitters for the recording sessions at Humans Win! Studio, including Jennings, the Pines' Alex Ramsey and omnipresent sibling sidemen Jacob and Jeremy Hanson. He'll celebrate the album's release by opening for Fathom Lane. (11 p.m. Sat., Icehouse, $8-$10.) Riemenschneider

The scapegoats of Woodstock '99 and creators of "Break Stuff" and other unabashed odes to acting like a total idiot, late-'90s rap/rock kingpins Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit probably have more detractors than fans nowadays, but they actually were a pretty monstrous live band in their day. You know, in that testosterone-fueled, break-stuff, act-like-a-total-idiot sort of way. Original makeup-faced guitarist Wes Borland is back in as the band tours to preview the new album "Stampede of the Disco Elephants" — long delayed, we're guessing, because no self-respecting record label wants to put out a release with that title. Machine Gun Kelly opens. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Myth, all ages, $39.50.) Riemenschneider

On break from his bassist duties in Dinosaur Jr. while J. Mascis promotes his new solo album, Lou Barlow is back out front with partner Jason Loewenstein in Sebadoh. The trio's lo-fi, high-energy fuzz-pop sounded refreshed yet unchanged and timeless on last year's album "Defend Yourself." Their Domino Recordings labelmate and an inspiration to their band, Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü fame, opens. (9 p.m. Sat., 7th Street Entry, $16.) Riemenschneider

The most prominent guest vocalist ever featured on a U2 record outside of "Rattle and Hum" — her moody turn in "The Troubles" ends the Irish foursome's highly debated new album "Songs of Innocence" — Lykke Li has enjoyed her own cultish fan base and critical acclaim for a half-decade now. The dramatic Swedish singer, part Stevie Nicks and part Kate Bush, is earning some of her strongest marks yet for "I Never Learn," one of the more unabashed breakup albums of recent memory. R&B/hip-hop-flavored singer Mapei, also a Swede, opens. (8 p.m. Sun., First Avenue, $30.) Riemenschneider

Benjamin Booker's eponymous record is rock's must-hear debut of the year. Based on the rave receptions for his recent Jack White opening gigs and festival sets as well as myriad TV appearances, his local headlining debut could be one of the most exciting club shows of the year. The scratchy-voiced New Orleans resident — a mere 25 and a former rock-critic-in-training (don't hold either against him) — has bluesy/rootsy undertones and the occasional organ grinding in his tunes, but mostly he attacks like a punk on a mission to mess stuff up. Nashville rockers Blank Range open. (8 p.m. Mon., Turf Club, $15.) Riemenschneider

San Francisco stalwart Boz Scaggs mines a different strain of soul on "Memphis," his inspired 2013 album. He interprets songs by Al Green, Tony Joe White, Mink DeVille, Steely Dan, the Meters, Jimmy Reed, Sylvia Robinson and Moon Martin as well as the traditional "Corinna Corinna." He bookends the disc with two originals — "Gone Baby Gone," which sounds like a salute to Green, and "Sunny Gone," an eloquent piano ballad for winter. (7:30 p.m. Tue., State Theatre, $53.50 & $63.50.) Jon Bream

After a 16-year retirement, singer/keyboardist Christine McVie has returned to Fleetwood Mac. That means the "Rumours"-era lineup is intact and such McVie numbers as "You Make Lovin' Fun" and "Little Lies" can go back in the set list. The repertoire for the On With the Show Tour will be limited to Big Mac songs, so don't expect Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back" or Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Insane." Minneapolis is the first show on this reunion tour. Read an interview in Sunday's Variety. (8 p.m. Tue., Target Center, $49.50-$179.50.) Bream

After proving itself ready to take on larger rooms with a hi-fi First Ave show in April, New York techno-rock duo Phantogram is moving up to a twice-bigger room on a victory lap behind its album "Voices." The "Mouthful of Diamonds" hitmakers alternately sounded like Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode at different points the last time in town, so the suburban setting might not seem so foreign, plus the club is well-suited to their visual presentation. Lia Ices opens. (8 p.m. Wed., Myth, all ages, $27-$30.) Riemenschneider

Hank Williams' humorous song "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" proved far too prophetic, but his catalog of country classics will never die as long as there are bars, guitars and people with heartaches. Local rock luminary Curtiss A stages one of his periodic tributes to the "Ramblin' Man" with help from a wagonload of friends, including the Cold Cold Hearts, rockers in cowboy hats that you'll recognize from several other Curtiss combos, plus special guests Nate Dungan of Trailer Trash, Molly Maher and Patsy Cline devotee Janie Miller. Slim Dunlap was Curt's go-to guitar man long before he became a replacement Replacement, so it's cool that this show is a benefit gig to help defray Slim's ongoing medical bills. (9:30 p.m. Fri., Cabooze, $10.) Tom Surowicz

A terrific composer and wonderful pianist schooled both in the classical canon and the hot jazz of Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington, Argentina's Pablo Ziegler is still best-known for his decadelong association with "nuevo tango" legend Astor Piazzolla. He's soldiered on as the world standard-bearer for "new tango" since Piazzolla's death, injecting a big dollop of modern jazz improvising. In town to accompany the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ziegler's razor-sharp New Tango Ensemble happily also gets its own rare nightclub show. (7 p.m. Fri., Dakota Jazz Club, $35-$42.) Surowicz

Last seen playing with Melissa Aldana at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Cuban drummer Francisco Mela blew everybody away at the after-hours jam hosted by piano marvel Jon Weber, taking several exhilarating solos. Now Weber and the dynamic Mela, known for his work with McCoy Tyner, Joe Lovano's Us Five and his own band Cuban Safari, join forces for a cheap off-night gig that can't miss. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota Jazz Club, $10.) Surowicz

Three prime movers of fusion music get together when guitar great Larry Coryell arrives with a trio co-starring bassist Victor Bailey of Weather Report fame and drummer Lenny White from the original Return to Forever. But it would be unwise to expect merely a reprise of 1970s and '80s jazz-rock. All three are as versatile as they are distinguished, and Coryell is likely to play anything he pleases — from longhair classics to bristling blues, bebop, Beatles tunes, Miles Davis and Led Zeppelin favorites — with compelling flair. (7 & 9 p.m. Tue.-Wed., Dakota Jazz Club, $25-$30.) Surowicz

One of Finland's pre-eminent folk music stars, master fiddler and composer Arto Järvelä is best known for his work with the innovative band JPP. He returns with his guitarist cousin Antti Järvelä (of JPP and Frigg) to play a free concert of duets showcasing the lovely music on their recent release "Os Fera Liluli." The album offers a mix of traditional tunes from the Ostrobothnia region of Finland and some pining originals, including a lullaby, a wedding march and a waltz with echoes of South America. (7 p.m. Sun., Christiansen Hall of Music, St. Olaf College, Northfield, 1-507-786-2222.) Surowicz

With its free season preview, the Singers introduce audiences to an exciting series of concerts. The evening includes new works by composers Jake Runestad, Kevin Puts and Craig Carnahan, alongside Renaissance-era masterpieces by William Byrd. The Christmas preview includes works by Stephen Paulus, Herbert Howells, Hugo Distler and Matthew Culloton. (7 p.m. Fri., House of Hope Presbyterian Church, 797 Summit Av., St. Paul, free.) Beard

Renowned baritone Nathan Gunn opens the Schubert Club International Artist Series with a program of German and American art songs. He performs the complete song cycle "Dichterliebe" ("A Poet's Love") by Robert Schumann, and excerpts from Samuel Barber's "Hermit Songs," both reverent and playful. In the second half, he sings Romantic lieder by Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf, along with eccentric songs by Charles Ives. He is accompanied by his wife, pianist Julie Jordan Gunn.(7:30 p.m. Tue., Ordway Center, $16-$65.) Beard