Look for a spectacular grandstand show

If his performance two weeks ago at We Fest is any indication, country superstar Brad Paisley will offer the most spectacular grandstand show this year -- a balance of sentimental and humorous songs, splendid musicianship and dazzling big-screen video. By the by, he's working on an instrumental album due Nov. 4. Opening are Chuck Wicks from the reality series "Nashville" and Jewel, the pop star who has gone country. (7:30 p.m. today, grandstand, $45.) (J.B.)

A former "Star Search" finalist, Rissi Palmer has gotten plenty of attention in Nashville as an African-American. Her self-titled debut deserves attention because she's a vocalist of depth and range, though just an average songwriter. In concert, she's been doing a banjo/fiddle-flavored version of "No Air," the Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown pop/soul hit. (Noon & 3:30 p.m. today, Leinie Lodge Bandshell.) (J.B.)

South Dakota native and Twin Cities folk/bluegrass vet Becky Schlegel shined with "A Prairie Home Companion" last year at the fair but is doing her own sets this year to support her third album, "For All the World to See," a twangier collection that is rightfully earning her Nashville's ear. (6:30 & 7:45 p.m. today, Heritage Square.) (C.R.)

Probably the funkiest band to ever perform on the fairgrounds, Brooklyn's Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings evoke the sweaty soul of James Brown. Please don't mistake Jones, a 52-year-old native of Georgia, for England's soul train wreck Amy Winehouse, whom the Dap-Kings also backed up as a side project. (8:30 p.m. today, Leinie Lodge Bandshell.) (J.B.)

Former Jayhawks drummer and occasional singer Tim O'Reagan flew the coop in grand style with his eponymous 2006 solo debut, a simple but sophisticated collection of folksy love songs and elegant Americana tunes. He doesn't perform around a whole lot but is doing two sets a day this weekend. (6:30 & 7:45 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Heritage Square.) (C.R.)

If, as Meat Loaf insisted, two out of three ain't bad, then four out of five Backstreet Boys should be good enough. Well, maybe. Kevin Richardson quit in 2006 but BSB press on, releasing "Unbreakable" last year. The new material is mostly adult pop, but their 1990s classics are pure boy-band pop and fans want it that way. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Grandstand, $29.) (J.B.)

There will be plenty of guitar fireworks when Jonny Lang, 27, the blues-rock wunderkind whose music has become increasingly spiritual, shares a bill with still-vital Rock Hall of Famer Buddy Guy, 72, whose new gritty and galvanizing "Skin Deep" features Eric Clapton, Robert Randolph, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Big Head Todd & the Monsters open. (7 p.m. Sun. Grandstand, $35.) (J.B.)

The only mainstream country star to play the rock-and-rap Lollapalooza in Chicago, Dierks Bentley knows how to rock. For the State Fair, he is paired perfectly with pistol-packing Miranda Lambert, whose "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" was the best country album of 2007. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Grandstand, $30.) (J.B.)

Bill Kirchen was playing alt-country when it truly was the alternative, starting in the late '60s as guitarist with Commander Cody and continuing with his own boogie-woogieing, honky-tonking band Too Much Fun. The name still fits. (6:30 & 7:45 p.m. Wed.-Thu., Heritage Square.) (C.R.)

POP/ROCK Irish Fair was a blast at Harriet Island this month, and now it's the Minnesota Zoo's turn to go green. Gaelic Storm, the acoustic Celtic party combo from California, gained fame for playing in "Titanic." "What's the Rumpus," released last month, adds such precious new pieces as "Slim Jim and the Seven Eleven Girl" and "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe." (7:30 p.m. today, Minnesota Zoo, $29.) (J.B.)

Back from festival dates in Switzerland and getting set to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a Digdown Family Picnic in Madison, Wis., Mama Digdown's Brass Band delivers New Orleans second-line party beats by the truckload. Its music is happy, sweaty, loose and timeless. New York City jazz fusion trio Consider the Source, which specializes in Middle Eastern beats and motifs, should make for a rousing opening act. And your door charge also covers "free BBQ and corn." (9 p.m. Sat., Nomad World Pub. $7.) (T.S.)

Although he had a great band at the Pantages in March, Gary Louris still shined brightest in a solo/acoustic segment that showed what a great singer and songwriter he is (we already knew the great guitarist and bandleader part). This time the ex-Jayhawks frontman will do an entire show like that. He's been playing a wide variety of tunes in concert, including lots of random oldies along with new ones from his solo CD "Vagabonds." Maybe there'll also be a couple from his upcoming reunion album with ex-bandmate Mark Olson, "Ready for the Flood" (due Sept. 16). Haley Bonar opens. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Guthrie Theater proscenium stage. $25.) (C.R.)

The so-called Eight Is Enough concert is not a tribute to '70s family dramas but a call-to-arms for the left to get it right. (Proceeds go to the Obama campaign.) Politics aside, it's an impressive lineup of Minnesota music innovators, including indie heroes Low, hip-hop button-pushers P.O.S. and Kill the Vultures, two out of four members of Tapes 'N Tapes, plus Dosh, the Stnnng and Skoal Kodiak. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Turf Club. $20.) (C.R.)

JAZZ The fun-loving grande dame of the Twin Cities' No. 1 jazz clan, pianist Jeanne Arland Peterson celebrates her 87th birthday with jet-setting son Billy Peterson (of the Steve Miller Band) along for the ride on bass. Sax great Dave Karr and drummer Kenny Horst round out the two-night-stand's core band. Expect other Peterson family members to join in the proceedings. (9 p.m. today-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $10.) (T.S.)

Texas tenor sax star Johnny Reno has played with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Chris Isaak, the Juke Jumpers, the Lounge Kings, the Sax Maniacs and his own eponymous combo. Count on the always entertaining Reno to play some swinging lounge music for an audience that will probably include some old friends -- his wife, Christina Patoski, was a University of Minnesota cheerleader back in the day. (8 p.m. today-Sat., Dakota Jazz Club, $16-$20.) (J.B.)

Twin Cities guitarist Paul Renz kicks off a national tour in support of his fine album "ReBop" with a hometown gig co-starring the album's most prominent co-star, Swedish-born flutist Anders Bostrum (though Twin Cities organ groover Brian Ziemniak is a close second). Renz's writing savvy impresses, whether the fare is rockin' samba ("Sambatude"), complex funk ("Sloppy Joe"), a bluesy elegy ("Farewell HP," for Berklee College of Music legend Herb Pomeroy) or old-school fusion (the hard-driving "Ayo's Hat"). At this quartet gig, minus Ziemniak (he's skipping the tour), the excellent young rhythm section of bassist Jonathan Thomas and drummer Nathan Fryett should keep the musical melting pot bubbling (7 p.m. Wed., Dakota Jazz Club. $5.) (T.S.)

BLUES/R&B A former right-hand man to blues legends (John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed) and rock stars (Mick Fleetwood, Chris Isaak), Bay Area bluesman Ron Thompson is a go-for-broke performer who can seem downright possessed by his art, and has been making new converts with slide guitar mastery, impassioned vocals, pounding piano licks, squealing harmonica, plus Carlos Gomez-like speed and energy. (9 p.m. today, Famous Dave's Uptown. $5.) (T.S.)

Contributors: Staff critics Jon Bream and Chris Riemenschneider and freelancer Tom Surowicz.

Paramore's hype might have caught up with it. A mediocre emo band at best, the Tennessee rockers earned most of the buzz for their 2007 sophomore album, "Riot!," from singer Hayley Williams, who comes off like a cross between Garbage's Shirley Manson and Ellen Page's Juno. Still, not a bad headliner for the fair's teen music entry. They're on tour with Jack's Mannequin, "California" hitmakers Phantom Planet and Paper Route. (6:30 p.m. Tue., Grandstand. $30.) (C.R.)

COUNTRY Junior Brown is one of the kookiest characters ever to be labeled a country artist, and one of the cleverest. With his double-neck "guit-steel" and booming voice, the big-hatted Texan wheels out dazzling guitar work over Ernest Tubb-drawled anthems like "Highway Patrol" and "My Wife Thinks You're Dead." Every music fan should see him at least once. (9:30 p.m. today, Cabooze. 21 and older. $15-$17.) (C.R.)