The Big Gigs: 10 top concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week

It will be like the New Standards’ Holiday Show minus the dancing Christmas trees and yule tunes. The New Standards will have a parade of singing guests including Twin Cities favorites Dave Pirner, Curtiss A, Tina Schlieske, Aby Wolf, Jeremy Messersmith, Dylan Hicks, Matt Wilson and Lucy Michelle. Plus, the New Standards trio of Chan Poling, John Munson and Steve Roehm will be joined by the rhythm section of John Fields and Ken Chastain. Even with a revamped repertoire, Munson will be able to sing the December chestnut “Snow Days.” The concert is a benefit for five legal aid organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Immigration Law Center of Minnesota, and will be livestreamed for free. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $25-$100, dakotacooks.com)

Minneapolis-based vocal octet Cantus has taken to annual collaborations with visitors from elsewhere, but there’s arguably never been a better fit than this. England’s King’s Singers have been combining six male voices to deliver centuries worth of music since 1968, and their stylistic versatility is so closely aligned with that of Cantus that it makes perfect sense for the two groups to trade tunes and combine to harmonize. Appropriately, collaborative creations inform the program, such as those of Simon & Garfunkel, Antonín Dvořák and Harry Burleigh, and Laura Mvula and Eric Whitacre. Online streaming will be available through Feb. 22. (7:30 p.m. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $55-$169, or cantussings.org)

Also on Thursday:

· Harmonious Americana trio Turn Turn Turn is promoting its new album, “All Hat, No Cattle,” with a February residency at Icehouse, this week also featuring Kim and Quillan Roe (7 p.m., $15-$20).

· New Orleans-steeped blues vets the Butanes are still grooving once a month at Shaw’s (7 p.m., free).

· The Cole Diamond Band brings its cool outlaw twang again to Animales BBQ (7 p.m., free).

· Local rockers Sidewalk Diamonds, jonesing for a Stones sound, will celebrate their new CD “Dreams of Dance Floors,” with the Hobbled (6:30 p.m. Cloudland, $12 and up).

After 20 years on Rounder Records, the seven-time bluegrass mandolinist of the year went indie on last year’s Grammy-nominated “A Tip Toe High Wire,” another reputable effort balancing the traditional and the progressive. The standouts are the percussive ”Let’s Go” with Aoife O’Donovan and the nifty instrumental “E Tune” with Bela Fleck. The album title comes from the ballad “Spitfire,” a nod to Hull’s grandmother, the “queen of the tip toe high wire.” The Americana duo Milk Carton Kids open. (8 p.m. Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, $65 and up, hopkinsartcenter.com)

Also on Friday:

· It’s always in season for the Gear Daddies to reunite in the State of Hockey for “Zamboni,” “Stupid Boy” and other ‘90s favorites, with Belfast Cowboys and their Van Morrison live jukebox (8 p.m. Medina Entertainment Center, $38 and up).

· A little, belated consolation for the Allman Brothers Band canceling in the same room when its era as the Depot came to an end in 1971, the local tribute group Brothers Allmanac headlines First Ave again (8 p.m.).

· Shock-rock vets Impaler lead a hard and heavy lineup with Fret Rattles and Bad Idea (8 p.m. Turf Club).

· If their masks are blue, they must be Blue Man Group, the long-lived troupe that mixes percussive music with performance art (7 p.m., also 1 & 7 p.m. Feb. 14, 1 p.m. Feb. 15, State Theatre, $45 and up).

After celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut album “I Am the Movie” on its last major tour, the Twin Cities’ most enduring emo-branded band is now out on the road doing something it hasn’t done in a decade: touting a new record. Last year’s “The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World,” produced by Fall Out Boy cohort Sean O’Keefe, picked up where the quintet left off before going on hiatus in the late 2010s, with buzzsaw guitars and frontman Justin Pierre’s charmingly world-weary but bright-eyed writing style. Motion City is out co-headlining with another old Warped Tour mainstay band riding a new record, Say Anything, and we get the trek’s final night. (7:30 p.m. Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, $70-$250, axs.com)

Kiss the Tiger frontwoman Meghan Kreidler has not one but three big gigs in one day on Valentine’s Day. Also a seasoned theater dramatist, she’s starring as Lady Macbeth at the Guthrie Theater at both 1 and 7:30 p.m. and then making it over to St. Paul for her versatile rock band’s fourth annual tribute to arguably the First Lady of Americana, whose songs have an uncanny mix of romance and heartache perfect for whichever side of the holiday you’re on. Roots music maven Molly Maher is opening to make it something of a Galentine’s Day party. If anyone is hogging the bar at the show, be sure to yell, “Out, damn spot!” (9 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $22, axs.com)

It’s become a Valentine’s Day tradition at Crooners to present this revue featuring married couples who often perform at the Fridley supper club. Maybe you didn’t know they were wed because only Aimee and Boyd Lee share a surname, but Deb Brown and Brian Ziemniak, Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson, Jennifer Grimm and Joe Cruz, and Dennis Curley and Jim Robinson are couples on and offstage as well. Expect romance and laughter. (5 & 8 p.m., Crooners, 6161 Hwy 65, Fridley, $43 .47, eventbrite.com)

Also on Saturday:

· Lucky Cat Records will be spinning tracks and selling Slim Dunlap merch to celebrate his new compilation “Every Little Word,” featuring the late Replacements guitarist’s two solo CDs plus a disc worth of bonus material (3-5 p.m., free).

· If “Sweet Caroline” is your Valentine’s jam, Martin Zellar sings Neil Diamond and all those songs sung blue (8 p.m. Parkway Theater, $29 and up).

· The Dakota Valentine’s Day tradition continues with Twin Cities vocalist Sophia Shorai and keyboardist Tommy Barbarella (6:30 p.m., $30 and up).

· Minnesota storyteller extraordinaire Kevin Kling leads his friends including Prudence Johnson, Bradley Greenwald and Claudia Schmidt in his annual holiday “Love Show” (7 p.m. the O’Shaughnessy, $8-$36).

Another hastily organized ICE protest concert and benefit show at First Ave featuring a couple of acts too big to otherwise play the venue, is an all-local affair led by St. Paul-rooted boys of summer Hippo Campus and features Eau Claire indie-rock guru Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame as the special guest. Preceding them is a meaningful but also mighty fun lineup with anthemic rockers Durry, Afrobeat bandleader Papa Mbye and experimental pop group 26 Bats! The musicians nonprofit Twin Cities United Performers will funnel the ticket funds into the local immigrant community. (4 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1^st Av. N., Mpls., sold out, first-avenue.com)

· A longstanding tradition offering an afternoon of spirited, ragtag fun, the Minneapolis Battle of the Jug Bands is back (12:30-7 p.m., Cabooze $5).

· Grammy-winning keyboardist Cory Henry, formerly of Snarky Puppy who has worked with everyone from Bruce Springsteen to the Roots to Yolanda Adams, returns with his soulful mix of jazz, gospel and R&B (5:30 & 8 p.m. the Dakota, $35 and up).

· Charanga Tropical hosts a special Salsa Valentine’s matinee dance party (5 p.m. Icehouse, $15).

· Guitarist David Feily of the BZ3 Organ Trio and L.A. Buckner’s band is holding down Sundays at Berlin nightclub this month and leads a jazz quintet this week (7 p.m., $15).

· You don’t remember all the great songs in Joe Cocker’s repertoire until you experience Twin Cities’ tribute king Mick Sterling’s best tribute show (7 p.m. Chart House, $30 and up).

· Clover and the Bee is a new bluegrass/folk all-star band featuring Becky Schlegel (3 p.m. Animales BBQ, free).

· Back together performing as Clipse after 16 years and fresh off winning a Grammy, Virginia rap heroes Pusha T and Malice are in town to appear with Dave Chappelle’s standup show at Grand Casino Arena (7:30 p.m., $225 and up).

· Anita Baker is such a special vocalist that it will take three of the Twin Cities’ finest — Ginger Commodore, Kendra Glenn and Aimee K. Bryant — to salute her (7 p.m. the Dakota, $35 and up).

After satisfying with five acclaimed soul/jazz albums, the Prince-endorsed Nashville singer/pianist did something bold in 2025. She interpreted Billie Holiday’s classic orchestral album, 1958’s “Lady in Satin.” The songs are not in the same order, but the Springs project doesn’t come across as an homage as much as a gloriously sophisticated work of art. Using her natural instincts and elegant phrasing on a dozen ballads, Springs recorded it in Portugal with the 60-piece Orquestra Classica de Espinho. She won’t have an orchestra in her return to the Dakota, but she might preview her new album due this spring. (7 & 9 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $35.77 and up, dakotacooks.com)

She’s a well-traveled indie-rock songwriter from Portland, Ore., who opened for Sleater-Kinney at the Palace Theatre in 2024. He’s a South Dakota-raised composer, singer and rapper who helmed the great music in the hit Hulu TV series “Reservation Dogs.” Both are redefining Native American music, and now they’re mixing things up even further on a joint tour featuring individual and collaborative songs with a shared backing band. New Mexico guitar-pop upstart Ailani opens. (7:30 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., all ages, $20-$25, thecedar.org)

· The Turf Club is hosting what looks to be this year’s biggest Fat Tuesday music bash with local krewes Brass Messengers and BrassZilla (7 p.m.).

· Chris Koza’s elegant misty-mountain-rock band Rogue Valley returns to the Dakota (7 p.m., $20-$35).

· The last installment of the “Practice as a Show” series, capturing Poliça’s album-in-progress at Icehouse (8 p.m., $15-$22).