The Big Gigs for week of 3/9

ROCK/POP

After a half-decade of focusing on other worthy projects (Liminal Phase, Hookers & Blow, Bunny Clogs and the yet-to-come And the Professors), Adam Levy brought his most famous and straightforward band the Honeydogs back together to record some of the most personal and touching songs in his 20-plus-year career. Titled "What Comes After," the record has already landed a local hit in the horn-buoyed pop ditty "Aubben." Rogue Valley and Farewell Milwaukee open the release party, proceeds of which benefit a new charity created to honor the frontman's late son, Daniel Levy. Read an interview at startribune.com/music. (7 p.m. Sat., First Avenue. $10-$13.) Chris Riemenschneider

Who would've thought that a couple of blues kids from D.C. who made their mark playing seminal acid rock in San Francisco would wind up on a little St. Paul label known for singer/songwriter folk? We're talking about Hot Tuna, who released their first studio album in 20 years, "Steady as She Goes," on Red House Records late last year. Expect tracks from that 2011 release, along with old favorites from their Grunt Records days ("Burgers," anyone?) and classics by Reverend Gary Davis and other blues greats. (5 & 9 p.m. Sat., Cedar Cultural Center, $30-$35.) Tom Surowicz

The Minnesota bar scene lost one of its favorite sons last month. Now there's a fitting all-day Tribute to Paul Manske to defray medical and funeral expenses, with an impressive lineup of friends, including an "All-Star Blues Revue" with Big George Jackson and Curtis Blake; Brian "G.B." Leighton; the Butanes with Maurice Jacox; the Jack Brass Band, and Manske's own bands the Hillbilly Voodoo Dolls and a combo platter of the Boogiemen and Swing Bang. (2 p.m. Sun., Wilebski's, $10.) Surowicz

John Oates, who put the harmonies and mustache in Hall & Oates, is touring with his own band to promote 2011's "Mississippi Mile." His third solo album shows Oates to be a surprisingly gritty bluesy roots-rock vocalist. He reworks Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up," the Coasters' "Searchin'" and even Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True." He isn't the sweet soul man that Daryl Hall is, but Oates is more formidable than you might think. (7 p.m. Sun., Dakota, $30-$40.) Jon Bream

San Francisco singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson garnered oodles of fans with the 2009 hit "Come on Get Higher." But the warm warbler with the offbeat sense of humor proved his vocal chops in duets with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles on "Run" -- both on his sophomore album, "Modern Love," and live on November's CMA Awards. Coy and clever popster Rachel Platten opens. (6:30 p.m. Sun., Cabooze. Sold out.) Bream

Israeli cantor Dudu Fisher has played Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" on Broadway and in London's West End, starred in his own off-Broadway show and toured the world with his mix of Broadway, klezmer and religious songs. He's been known to offer the Kol Nidre in concert as well as Neil Diamond hits. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Orchestra Hall, $54-$360.) Bream

HIP-HOP

Easily the most asinine and Neanderthal-like act to headline First Avenue over the past year -- and that's counting that mixed martial-arts match in November -- the Odd Future gang (OFWGKTA) is back already, probably eyeing that 15-minute clock that started ticking the moment its ringleader, Tyler, the Creator, won the best new artist nod at the MTV Video Music Awards. The juvenile Los Angeles crew's sold-out show in October had it all: homophobic slurs, penis bragging, audience taunting and about 500 uses of the B-word applied to women. It also boasted some wicked mosh pits and impressive, hyper rhyming skills. (7 p.m. Tue., First Avenue. All ages. $30.) Riemenschneider

JAZZ

In concert, Manhattan Transfer sometimes settles for the high-gloss vocalese that made them famous. However, on record, the quartet likes to challenge itself. Witness 2009's "Chick Corea Songbook," which went where no vocal ensemble had gone before and did so with aplomb, and 1997's "Swing," which lived up to its name. Here's hoping material from those albums is part of this weekend's sets along with the mandatory "Birdland" and "Route 66." (7 & 9 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Dakota, $50-$75.) Bream

Regina Marie Williams made her name in the Twin Cities as a singing actress, portraying such legends as Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Williams steps into her own shoes to celebrate her new CD, "When a Woman Loves a Man," her first collection of standards. She's a gifted jazz stylist, interpreting "Caravan," "Moonlight" and "Stormy Monday" with flair and finesse, ably assisted by the embracing piano of Sanford Moore and the expressive sax, clarinet and flute of Dave Karr. (7 p.m. Mon., Dakota, $10.) Bream

The opening salvo of Lunasa's latest CD, "The New Day March," sounds ancient and beautiful, like a rousing ages-old call to the battlefield. Yet it's a Kevin Crawford original. The lines between traditional and 21st-century fare are blurred deftly by this outstanding all-instrumental quintet. Crawford's flute and whistle wizardry is the first thing you notice about Lunasa, but the band is just as strong at the low end of the spectrum, anchored by ex-Waterboy Trevor Hutchinson, playing a bass designed by Twin Cities innovator Gary Bartig. (8 p.m. Fri., Cedar Cultural Center, $22-$25.) Surowicz

ROOTS

One of the brighter lights in modern blues, guitarist/singer/songwriter Tab Benoit has often tapped into his Louisiana Cajun roots for inspiration. His most recent release, "Medicine," featured Beausoleil's legendary fiddler, Michael Doucet, who will co-star at this weekend's "Swampland Jams" gig along with zydeco bandleader and accordion ball of fire Chubby Carrier -- three headliners from the Big Bayou for the price of one. (9 p.m. Sat., Cabooze, $18-$20.) Surowicz

Self-described "Finnish-American excavators," the folk duo Kaivama showcases the arresting fiddle work of Hibbing, Minn., native Sara Pajunen and the versatility of Jonathan Rundman -- on their debut disc he played guitar, foot-pump harmonium, piano, tenor banjo, Hammond organ, mandolin and percussion. A guest on that CD, Finnish fiddler Arto Jarvela, from the group JPP, has joined them for this tour. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Cedar Cultural Center, $18-$20.) Surowicz

JAZZ/BLUES

CLASSICAL

Even after programming choral concerts for more than 40 years, VocalEssence artistic director Philip Brunelle comes up with new spheres of music to investigate. This weekend, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers are joined by the Rose Ensemble and University of St. Thomas Chamber Singers for "Música de México," an exploration of Mexico's music from ancient times to today. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Ted Mann Concert Hall. $10-$40, 612-371-5656 or www.vocalessence.org) William Randall Beard

Performances of Handel's oratorios are rare, even though they rank among his greatest works and are often more dramatically satisfying than his convoluted operas. Oratorio Society of Minnesota presents one of the most successful: "Esther," the biblical story of the Israelite queen who saves her people from persecution by the Persian king. The triumphal final choruses -- more than 10 minutes of exultant celebration -- are alone worth the price of admission. (7:30 p.m. Fri., 3 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, 1531 Hewitt Av., St. Paul, $10-$20, 1-866-811-4111, www.oratorio.org) Beard

In recognition of Lent, the 50-voice chamber choir Magnum Chorum presents a concert of 20th-century French masters. From Poulenc's "Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence" -- dramatic scenes portraying the betrayal of Christ and his sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane -- to the visions of fiery revelation invoked by Faure's "Cantique de Jean Racine," this is a program designed for reflection and renewal. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, $5-$21. www.magnumchorum.org) Beard

For the second concert in its new venue, the chamber ensemble Accordo presents a "Bacchanalia." The centerpiece is Jeffrey Cotton's "Meditation, Rhapsody & Bacchanal for Violin & Percussion (2004)," a boisterous piece in his colorful Asian and blues-influenced style, pairing a variety of unusual instruments, such as a waterphone and a Bulgarian tapan, with the violin. Beethoven's spritely String Trio in G Major and the Dvorak String Quartet in C Major, arguably his most grand and virtuosic, round out the program. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Christ Church Lutheran, 3244 34th Av. S., Mpls., $12-20, 651-292-3268 or www.schubert.org) Beard