Brandi Carlile
Fresh from her historic gig last weekend at the Newport Folk Festival, where her "friends" included Joni Mitchell delivering her first full performance in two decades, the full-fledged star returns to the Twin Cities without famous pals. We were the first market to embrace Carlile, so we've known for a long time that she's a bona fide star. Now that she's won a shelf full of Grammys, authored a memoir and sung on countless television programs in the past few years, Carlile finally headlines in a Twin Cities arena for the first time. Opening are Lake Street Dive, the Minnesota-named combo featuring remarkable vocalist Rachael Price, and Celisse, who has played guitar for Lizzo and Jon Batiste. (6:30 p.m. Sat. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $35.50-$145.50, ticketmaster.com)
JON BREAM
Roger Waters
After a two-year wait and numerous he-said-what headlines, Waters' "This Is Not a Drill Tour" literally comes with a warning: "If you're here because you like Pink Floyd but you can't stand Roger Waters' politics, [bleep] off to the bar." That admonition should come as no surprise to attendees of the outspoken ex-Floyd leader's other recent tours and neither will the offerings that go with the politics: a two-part show with intermission, a hi-fi visual production around an innovative in-the-round stage, and lots of classic songs recast with timely messages/sermons, including many "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall" album tracks. (8 p.m. Sat., Target Center, 600 1st Av. N., Mpls., $35-$200, axs.com)
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
Lakes Area Music Festival
Over 14 years, this festival in the Brainerd Lakes region has matured into a summer destination for musicians from many of America's major orchestras and now has as music director a rising international conducting star, Germany's Christian Reif. The four-week festival opens with a gala concert featuring music from "West Side Story" with guests from Broadway (8 p.m. Friday) and a weekend full of orchestral music by Bedrich Smetana, Jimmy Lopez Bellido and Jean Sibelius (7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday). The first chamber music concert features a French and Indian combo (7:30 p.m. Wednesday). (Through Aug. 21; Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts, 702 S. 5th St., Brainerd, Minn.; $20-$50; lakesareamusic.org.)