The Big Gigs for the week of 1/27

POP/ROCK

You can't call 89.3 the Current's seventh anniversary bash a comprehensive who's-who of the Twin Cities music scene, but you can make a case for every act on the two-night lineup. With Night Moves on Friday and Poliça on Saturday, you have two electronically enhanced indie-rock bands in their infancy already garnering big-kids buzz out of town. Tapes 'n Tapes (Fri.) and Sims (Sat.) each maintained their respectable, blogger-backed profiles on the road last year. Dead Man Winter (Fri.) and Haley Bonar (Sat.) are aurora borealis-tinted, songwriterly acts who earned deserved airplay at home for their strong 2011 albums. And Low (Fri.) and the Suicide Commandos (Sat.) represent our scene's rich pre-Current eras -- and still put on powerful live sets that will give the younger turks a run for their publicly funded money. (8 p.m. Fri., 6 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. Sold out.) Chris Riemenschneider

While their cohorts Trampled by Turtles take time off to prep for a new album cycle, the similarly hyper-plucky fellas of Pert Near Sandstone are stepping up and offering Twin Cities music fans their own two-night urban jamboree. The all-acoustic, bluegrassy, banjo-heavy quintet has been busy promoting its November release "Paradise Hop," a 14-song set that spotlights co-leaders Nate Sipe's and Kevin Kniebel's growing songwriting talent along with the band's tour-tested picking prowess. For this weekend's Winter Stringband Gathering, they're bringing in friends from the road who are making similar inroads, with Colorado's Head for the Hills on Friday and Chicago's Henhouse Prowlers on Saturday. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $12-$15, or $20-$24 for two-night pass. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls. All ages. 612-338-2674 or www.thecedar.org.) Riemenschneider

If you read the liner notes on albums by the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and the like, you'll recognize the name J.D. Souther. He was one of the top architects of California rock, co-writing such hits as "Best of My Love," "Heartache Tonight" and "Faithless Love." Souther also had a couple hits of his own, 1979's "You're Only Lonely" and '81's "Your Town Too," with James Taylor. Now living in Nashville, Souther, 66, still writes and records; 2008's "If the World Was You" was kind of jazzy and last year's "A Natural History" features spare readings of his best-known compositions. (7 p.m. Sun., Dakota Jazz Club, $25.) Jon Bream

It's the fourth annual Rock and Worship Roadshow starring Mercy Me, one of the biggest bands in Christian music, whose lead singer Bart Millard will also be a featured speaker. Also performing are Tenth Avenue North, Christian rapper LeCrae, Canada's Hawk Nelson, Disciple, Sidewalk Prophets and Rend Collective Experiment. The tour, which started Thursday, will visit 27 cities. (6 p.m. Sun., Xcel Energy Center, $10.) Bream

Never the U.K. band of the moment, Los Campesinos! show strong staying power four years and three albums since their charming debut. The coed indie-pop band, which formed at Cardiff University in Wales, looks like as if its seven members all work together as baristas by day. By night, they blow off steam behind frontman Gareth Campesino's miserable and often melodramatic anthems, which somehow come off sounding fun and rowdy after the rest of the party arrives. "Hello Sadness," their latest album, is their best yet. Portland's Parenthetical Girls open. (8 p.m. Sun., Varsity Theater. $15-$17.) Riemenschneider

Musically, L.A. popster Andy Grammer falls somewhere between early John Mayer and Gavin DeGraw. Although he started as a street busker (listen to his tune "Biggest Man in Los Angeles"), the 28-year-old hunk is an unabashed commercial hitmaker, as the success of the blue-eyed soul single "Keep Your Head Up" has proven. Opening are Rachel Platten and Breanne Duren. (6:30 p.m.Mon., Varsity Theater, sold out.) Bream

What makes Shawn Colvin's performances special are not just her treasure chest of rich, smartly crafted songs (remember the Grammy-winning "Sunny Came Home"?) but also the unexpected asides and tangents. She'll crack wise about something or take a side musical trip that will enable you to connect the dots between disparate artists or ideas. And the South Dakota native is one percussive acoustic guitar player. Opening is award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Ariana Gillis, who sounds as funky and free-wheeling as early Ani DiFranco but with more pop savvy. (7 p.m. Tue.-Thu., Dakota, $45.) Bream

Are the Supersuckers the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world, as the title of their 1999 greatest hits album declares? Not a chance. But over their nearly 25-year career, the Seattle quartet has become a favorite among a demographic equally apt to attend hot rod conventions and punk shows. Between motor-oil-burning, Confederate-style rock records, Eddie Spaghetti and company embrace their country side, playing twangy, tumbleweed tunes as heard on "Must've Been High," the band's first all-country album. Fellow rowdy-rocking Seattleites the Spittin' Cobras, featuring members of KMFDM and the Dwarves, open. (9 p.m. Tue., 7th Street Entry, $15, 18 or older.) Michael Rietmulder

If local upstarts Night Moves need a motivational mentor, they need look no further than Domino Records labelmate Cass McCombs. The San Francisco-based singer/songwriter released not one but two critically lauded LPs in 2011 alone. The 34-year-old scene-hopper has constructed quite a mystique, projecting himself as a depressive vagabond; think Dylan with a Poe-inspired pen. McCombs does whatever he pleases musically (folk, bedroom pop, rock), but everything is weighted by his dynamite lyricism -- a trait that rakes in lofty Leonard Cohen/Elliott Smith comparisons. Opening: L.A. folker Frank Fairfield. (9 p.m. Wed., 7th Street Entry, $10, 18 or older.) Jay Boller

What a long strange trip it's been for this Grateful Dead cover band. Dark Star Orchestra is not a typical tribute band but rather a group that re-creates Dead set lists from the past. DSO has performed more than 2,000 concerts during the past 13 years. Far out. (9 p.m. Wed., First Avenue, $25.) Bream

Umphrey's McGee, Chicago's favorite jam band, sounds tighter on disc, especially on last year's "Death by Stereo." But the progressive jammers always have a sense of adventure and fun onstage. Recently, they've covered ZZ Top, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin and, of course, Etta James. It's time for Umphrey's annual winter multi-night stand at First Ave. (6 p.m. Thu.-next Fri., First Avenue, $25.). Bream

After recording three country chart-topping albums for Sony, the always feisty Gretchen Wilson declared "I Got Your Country Right Here." That's the title of her 2010 self-released Southern rock-leaning album. "Right Here" may not be full of radio fodder but it's packed with crowd-igniters -- "Work Hard, Play Harder," "Trucker Man" and "Blue Collar Done Turn Red" -- that will fit in live along with her classic "Redneck Women" and "Here for the Party." (8 p.m. Fri., Treasure Island, $24-$34.) Bream

HIP-HOP

With last year's incessant coverage of Odd Future, a solid year from Gary, Ind.-reared rapper Freddie Gibbs went relatively unnoticed by the indie-music media. In April, the onetime major-label castaway was snatched up by Young Jeezy's CTE Music and went on to release a pair of collaborative EPs and his "Cold Day in Hell" mixtape, which hip-hop mag the Source ranked among the year's best albums. Gibbs' rugged, quick-hit cadences evoke '90s gangsta rap glory (think a less silky Do or Die) and give the gritty emcee plenty of street appeal. Muja Messiah and DJ Espada open. (9 p.m. Sat., 7th Street Entry, $15, 18 or older.) Rietmulder

Though its debut album isn't out until Feb. 28, Philadelphia dorm-party duo Chiddy Bang has already built an audience with its electronic beats, indie-rock samples and the playful swagger of emcee Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege. Last year, Chiddy broke the Guinness record for longest freestyle rap with a nine-hour-plus flow at an MTV awards show. (9 p.m. Mon., 7th Street Entry, $20, 18 or older.) Rietmulder

JAZZ

Unless you're a big-band devotee, you won't recognize the name Roger Ingram, but the lead trumpeter has an impressive résumé that includes Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick and Wynton Marsalis (the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Blood on the Fields"). Sounds like an ideal special guest for the annual Century College Jazz Festival, now in its 23rd year. (8 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun., West Campus Theater, Century College, 3300 N. Century Av., White Bear Lake. $10-$20. 651-779-5531) Surowicz

BLUES

Though you'd never guess it to look at him, acoustic blues charmer Eric Bibb recently turned 60. He commemorated the event with a new CD, "Blues, Ballads and Work Songs," mostly comprising timeless classics from the 78-rpm era and the "Great Folk Scare" of the 1960s. Through his once-famous dad, Leon Bibb, his godfather Paul Robeson and family friends including Pete Seeger, Odetta and bassist Bill Lee (Spike's dad), he got to hear the music of sundry blues legends firsthand. While he's lived in Europe for decades, Bibb remains a champion of indigo Americana. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota Jazz Club, $20.) Surowicz

FOLK