Thursday, Nov. 28
1. Fred and Jearlyn Steele: You can sit around at Aunt Karen’s and rehash the election over stuffing, pumpkin pie and pro football. Or you can go to a safe — and joyous — space where siblings Jearlyn and Fred Steele, mainstays with Minnesota’s gospel-soul institution the Steeles, will harmonize and turn on their sparkling personalities. If you want turkey and the fixings, they are available with a preorder. But no disagreements will be on the menu. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $25-$40, food is extra, dakotacooks.com)
Friday, Nov. 29
2. Decolonize Thanksgiving 3.0: Sister and brother from the same mother, Earth, poetic folk tunesmiths Annie Humphrey and David Huckfelt are teaming up for the third year in a row to celebrate and promote Native American culture and causes as a counterpart to the old Thanksgiving myth. A former U.S. Marine and proud Anishaabe member from the Leech Lake Reservation, Humphrey is coming off last year’s release of her spiritually explorative album “The Light in My Bones,” which featured an elegant all-star Twin Cities backing unit. Huckfelt is the former co-leader of Iowa Americana group the Pines, who’s coming off tour dates with Cloud Cult and another busy year of benefit and/or activist gigs. They’ve created a new nonprofit arts collective called Fire in the Village, which will also present fashion, visual art and storytelling at this annual holiday soiree. (8 p.m. the Hook & Ladder, 3010 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls., $18-$23, thehookmpls.com)
3. Cloud Nothings: Twelve years after garnering a strong critical buzz and underground following with their Steve Albini-recorded second album “Attack on Memory,” high-wired singer/guitarist Dylan Baldi and his Cleveland-based band are still creating beautifully bombastic but clever and catchy noise. Their newest album, “Final Summer,” shows Baldi has outgrown his youthful angst but is not having any trouble finding more adult themes to rail against. They’re also marking the 10th anniversary of their third album on this tour, “Here and Nowhere Else.” These guys have always been a hair-raising, knee-buckling live act, and it will be great to see them up close in the Twin Cities’ best small room again. Australia’s Armlock and Texas rockers Farmer’s Wife open. (8 p.m. 7th St. Entry, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $26-$30, axs.com)
4. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: The SPCO is celebrating Thanksgiving weekend with a feast of American songs. Minneapolis-based mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski will help premiere arrangements by another local artist — composer Jonathan Posthuma — of songs by Charles Ives and others. After swinging things up with music by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, the concert will conclude with what might be the ideal Thanksgiving soundtrack, Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” music for which the SPCO once won a Grammy. (7 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $16-$68, students and children free, thespco.org)
Also: Slapstick and cutesy Rochester-reared rapper Yung Gravy of “Betty” viral fame and MTV red-carpet make-out notoriety returns home for a post-Thanksgiving feast that he has dubbed Gravy Fest, also featuring fiery Atlanta rap vet Waka Flocka Flame (8 p.m. the Armory, $31-$99); veteran Mississippi bluesman Johnny Rawls is back, touting his latest, “Walking Heart Attack” (8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Shaw’s, $10); local fuzz-rock wunderkinds Creeping Charlie are teaming up with slowavers Linus and Emma Jeanne (8 p.m. Cloudland Theater, $12-$15); veteran jazz trumpeter Ahmed Abdulkarim has an all-star local crew backing him as Ahmed & the Creators (7:30 p.m. Berlin, $15); Petty Comes Alive, the top-notch Twin Cities Tom Petty tribute band featuring Chris Castino, Gregg Hall and Dan Israel, resurfaces for its third annual post-Thanksgiving gig (7 p.m. Parkway Theater, $20-$25); Jamecia Bennett, one of the Twin Cities’ premier vocalists, offers a new tribute show to Monica and Brandy (7 p.m. the Dakota, $35-$45).
Saturday, Nov. 30
5. Guante & Big Cats: Last seen onstage locally at Target Center with British electronic producer/multi-instrumentalist Fred Again — who sampled his poem “Love in the Time of Undeath” on his Grammy-winning album “Actual Life 3″ — Twin Cities hip-hop pioneer and poet Kyle Tran Myhre, aka Guante, has reteamed with a longtime local cohort, beatmaker/producer Big Cats, for his first album in five years. Titled “All Dressed Up, No Funeral,” it’s a concept record centered on the global climate-change crisis and the feeling of hopelessness around it. Sounds dark, for sure, but the ever-spry wordsmith infuses songs like “Nuke the Whales” with cutting humor and inspirational messages. Lydia Liza also performs. (8:30 p.m. the Hook & Ladder, $10-$15, thehookmpls.com)
6. Minnesota Orchestra: While there have been two sequels and a Broadway musical, there’s nothing quite like the original 1985 “Back to the Future” film, in which teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) accidentally takes a time-traveling sports car to 1955 and potentially disrupts his parents getting together. Among the keys to its success is Alan Silvestri’s score, which conductor Sarah Hicks and the Minnesota Orchestra will perform while a high-definition version of the film is screened above them. (7 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $60-$132, minnesotaorchestra.org)
Also: One of the Twin Cities’ most influential rappers, Doomtree and Rhymesayers alum P.O.S. is stepping back out after a lengthy hiatus with support from his former mentee Dwynell Roland (8 p.m. Turf Club, $20-$25); Andy Powell leads veteran British rockers Wishbone Ash in a performance of their 1972 album “Argus” (8 p.m. Medina Entertainment Center, $37-$59); the Four Freshmen, the long-lived harmonizing quartet led since 1992 by Bob Ferreira, bring their holiday show featuring Minneapolis’ own Jake Baldwin, a member since 2020 (5:30 p.m. Crooners, $40-$50); Sparta, Minn.’s great Americana-spiked rockers Rich Mattson & the Northstars are back in town and bringing Clarence Tifton & the Iron Range Outlaw Brigade with them (7:30 p.m. Cabooze, $12-$15), the International Reggae All-Stars are stepping out from their usual Tuesday night gig with a weekend warm-up (9 p.m. Icehouse, $15-$23).