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

Lots of artists are using hit-album anniversaries as a reason to tour these days, but not many have as personal and meaningful a connection to their old records as Chan “Cat Power” Marshall does with 2006’s “The Greatest.” Recorded with Memphis soul musicians, the album prefaced a trip to rehab and other cries for help heard in songs such as “Living Proof” and the haunted title track. She’s thus truly celebrating its outcome with what sounds like a killer band, including Jon Spencer Blues Explosion guitarist Judah Bauer and Dirty Three drummer Jim White, with whom she also recorded the accompanying “Redux” EP that includes a stirring take on “Nothing Compares 2 U.” (8 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $48, axs.com).

The rising country singer from Washington state had a good 2025. He gained visibility with a breakout performance at the massive Stagecoach fest in California and on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.” With hits like “Wind Up Missin’ You” and “3,2,1,” the goateed, ballcap-wearing Wetmore recalls Morgan Wallen. Opening are Dasha, who made a big splash with the danceable smash “Austin,” and Missouri newcomer Jacob Hackworth, who wrote “Rock and a Hard Place” for Bailey Zimmerman and “Jack and Jill” for Wallen. (7:30 p.m. Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls. $50 and up, ticketmaster.com)

· The Turf Club’s dual tribute to Joni Mitchell and James Taylor will feature local Americana/folk singers Molly Brandt, Maygen & the Birdwatcher, the Twins of Franklin, Katy Tessman and more (8 p.m.).

· After recently making a strong impression opening for Khruangbin at First Ave, experimental vocal looper the Nunnery heads up her own cool lineup with Quiet Takes and St. Anthony Mann (6:30 p.m., Cloudland, $12-$15).

· Alt-country singer Becky Kapell and her ace band the Fat 6 have their monthly gig at Animales BBQ (7 p.m., free).

· Turn Turn Turn wraps up its February residency series previewing its new album “All Hat, No Cattle” (7 p.m. Icehouse, $20-$27).

· St. Paul’s organic soul man Nicholas David presents his fifth annual program of “Songs of Love ‘n Loss” (6 p.m. Crooners, $25 and up).

Among the last wave of high-adrenaline musicians to emerge from the Garage in Burnsville before the all-ages venue shut down in late 2024, these earnest punks are now graduating to their first Mainroom headlining show. They get help from a well-stacked lineup featuring three other ascendant young bands, shoegazers She’s Green, pop-rockers Remo Drive and fellow punk roarers Why Not. Exuberant singer Grant Whiteoak and his childhood buds in Heart to Gold polished up their sound without losing their Jawbox-like intensity on last year’s album, “Free Help,” which has helped them land a cross-country tour and even a Japanese trek after this sure-to-be-rowdy hometown sendoff. (7 p.m. First Avenue, $28, axs.com)

A lot of modern R&B and indie-pop acts have been offering hints of classic disco in their music, but this all-female New York trio is going all in on the ‘70s sounds of Chic, Donna Summers et. al. Piya Malik, who has sung with the great Latin funk unit Chicano Batman, leads bandmates Sabrina Cunningham and Nya Brown through unabashedly retro grooves and silky harmonies on their third album, “Cut & Rewind,” which earned them an endorsement from their obvious hero, Nile Rodgers. (8 p.m. Fine Line, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls., $36, axs.com)

· Known from Ol’ Yeller, the Glenrustles, Tired Eyes and the production work at his Iron Range studio Sparta Sound, Rich Mattson and his fuzzed-out heartland rock unit of late, the Northstars, are releasing their first album in three years, “Wake Up Songs,”, with Lone Rock Bride and the Swongos (7:30 p.m. Cloudland Theater, $12-$15).

· Well-schooled St. Paul singer/songwriter Erik Brandt of Urban Hillbilly Quartet and Jazz88’s “Good Acoustics” show is celebrating his new solo album, “Folksinger” (7 p.m. Celtic Junction, $20).

· Don Powell, best known as the manager of the hitmaking Jets family band in the 1980s, steps into his crooner role for an evening of standards along with stories from an illustrious career working with Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and others (7:30 p.m. Dunsmore Room at Crooners, $30 and up).

· Showman rocker Brynn Arens and his metal revivalist band Flipp are back in action (8 p.m. Turf Club).

Adeem always gets attention for being country music’s nonbinary, colorful contrarian. But they are a gifted singer/songwriter with a disarming sense of humor. Adeem’s latest single, “Cowards Together,” is a sweet, honest love song in which they sing “I promise you to not promise you forever.” Adeem has a batch of new songs from 2024’s “Anniversary” album including the honky-tonk jazz “Socialite Blues” to go along with earlier faves like “For Judas” (set in northeast Minneapolis) and “I Wish You Would’ve Been a Cowboy” (a rollicking sendup of Toby Keith). Adeem is on a bill with Dave Hause & the Mermaid and William Elliot Whitmore. (8 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, axs.com)

· A gig postponed the day Alex Pretti was shot, Duluth-area band Wandering Eye is an all-star tribute to Ween led by Glitteratti’s Marc Gartman with Low’s Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles’ Tim Saxhaug (8 p.m. Hook & Ladder, $15-$20).

· Smoky, twangy jazz instrumentalist combo the Riffin’ Trio plays a free matinee gig at Animales BBQ (3 p.m.).

· Ole 60, Kentucky alt-country band with an edge, is supporting its 2025 debut “Smokestack Town” (7:30 p.m. First Avenue).

Even though she mixes vintage twang with vividly contemporary lyrics, this Midwest farmer’s daughter remains a Nashville outlier. On last year’s “Hard Headed Woman,” her fifth album, she collaborated with fellow outsiders Tyler Childers and Jesse Welles, mixing heartwarmingly romantic ballads with fiery broadsides. She’s feisty and fresh but respectful of history, as evidenced on her spunky cover of Waylon Jennings’ “Kissing You Goodbye” and her Kris Kristofferson-inspired “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down,” two numbers she delivered in a memorable performance at Farm Aid 40 at the Gophers football stadium. Price returns to Minneapolis in a more intimate space. (8 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., axs.com)

Pianist Cohen is a vital figure in the jazz world, not only as an intriguing new voice but also as a historian and educator celebrating the past. Cohen, 35, has conducted a series of interviews with such jazz titans as Ron Carter and Benny Golson that have been released as his Master Legacy Series recordings. His own works led DownBeat readers to vote Cohen as jazz pianist of the year in 2025, just about when he wrapped his 136th live-streamed concert, a series started in the pandemic. This year, he’s not only promoting his new album, “Universal Truth,” but also taking his quintet on a long tour celebrating the centennial birthdays of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Cohen’s return to the Dakota is a rare trio date on his schedule. (6 & 8:30 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $35.77 and up, dakotacooks.com)

· The Laurel Strings, that quartet that has accompanied countless singers around the Twin Cities, kick off a March residency, with singer/songwriters Barbara Cohen and Annie Humphrey on opening night (6:30 p.m. Berlin, $20-$30).

· “Bad Reputation” hitmaker Freedy Johnston is marking the 25th anniversary of his initial breakout album, “Can You Fly,” and has Molly Maher opening (7 p.m. Parkway Theater, $25-$30).

· The Inatnas Orchestra will play the modern jazz compositions of local musicians Asuka Kakitani and JC Sanford (6 p.m. Crooners, $32 and up).

· Calling themselves the 3Ms, Minnesota music makers Billy McLaughlin, Michael Monroe and Peter Mayer will team for a third year (6:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, $30 and up).

The world’s most celebrated cellist recently took home his 20th Grammy, receiving best classical instrumental solo for his recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concertos. For what might be the Twin Cities’ hottest classical music ticket of 2026, Ma will be the soloist for the dramatic Cello Concerto of English composer Edward Elgar. It’s the finale of an all-English program conducted by the Minnesota Orchestra’s music director Thomas Søndergård that also features music by William Walton and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, as well as the transporting “Four Sea Interludes” from Benjamin Britten’s opera, “Peter Grimes.” (7 p.m. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., sold out, minnesotaorchestra.org)

· A great pairing of two of the Twin Cities’ best neo-folk/Americana songwriters, Sarah Morris and Molly Dean team up at the Dakota (7 p.m., $25-$35).

· The Smithereens are back on the road with John Cowsill of the Cowsills on lead vocals (frontman Pat DiNizio died in 2017) to revisit those college-rock favorites “A Girl Like You” and “Only a Memory” (7:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, $50 and up).

· Masked surf-rock avengers Los Straitjackets are back together with locally beloved California guitar groover Deke Dickerson (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder, $32-$35).