The Big Gigs: Our critics' music picks

POP/ROCK The Arctic Monkeys owe us. The punky, wiry British rockers best known for the 2006 hit "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" have only played in Minnesota only once, in '07 at First Ave, a set that lasted a little over an hour. Granted, the Sheffield boys packed in a lot of songs and cheeky attitude in that time and never wavered on energy. The Monkeys' latest album, "Humbug," drags at times with its heavier, Josh Homme-produced sound, but the new songs should pack a pretty good wallop live. They're touring Mid-America on their way down to next weekend's Austin City Limits Festival. About time. All-female garage-pop quartet The Like opens. (9 p.m. today, First Avenue. 18 & older. $20.) (C.R.)

Not long after it opened for Grizzly Bear at March's South by Southwest fest, Toronto trio Rural Alberta Advantage landed an indie deal with Saddle Creek Records and has since drummed up loads of support on the Current 89.3 FM and other hipster outlets. The co-ed, cello-anchored, Neutral Milk Hotel-styled folk-rock ensemble should be right at home in Minnesota, with its songs set in icy winters and prairie towns. Eclectic Chicago quintet Skybox opens. (10 p.m. today, 7th Street Entry. 18 & older. $10.) (C.R.)

Since landing a song on his buddy Zach Braff's "Scrubs" in 2004, Joshua Radin has been making noise -- on TV shows ("Grey's Anatomy," "One Tree Hill") and on the Hotel Cafe Tour, where he's been the most memorable male performer. Oh yeah, the charmer with the Paul Simon-like voice also was asked to perform at Ellen DeGeneres' wedding to Portia Di Rossi. Women dig his acoustic emo, which he likes to call "whisper rock." After several Twin Cities club gigs in the past three years, Radin graduates to a theater show. (7:30 p.m. today Pantages Theatre, $16.50-$18.50). (J.B.)

More surprising than Kings of Leon's crossover success is the Top 40 triumph of Michael Franti and Spearhead. For two decades, Franti has been a righteous and politicized musicmaker, blending hip-hop, reggae, R&B and folk. Franti has been all over the radio this year with "Say Hey (I Love You)," a catchy, sunny slice of reggae/pop from last year's made-in-Jamaica "All Rebel Rockers," produced by the legendary Sly & Robbie. Franti doesn't do as much rapping here as on previous albums, but he remains as socially conscious as ever, even with his commentary about "American Idol." Opening is Trevor Hall, who sounds like Jack Johnson's Jamaican cousin. (8 p.m. Sat. Northrop Auditorium, $28.) (J.B.)

Part blue-eyed soul singer and black-clad dance rocker, British newcomer Jake Peñate, 24, is drumming up a minor buzz over his second disc on XL Recordings, "Everything Is New." There's more of a new and exciting vibe being generated by his touring partners, ambient but bubbly Swedish indie-pop trio Miike Snow. (9 p.m. Sat., 7th Street Entry. $12-$14.) (C.R.)

After headlining June's Twin Cities Jazz Festival outdoors in downtown St. Paul, New Orleans piano giant Allen Toussaint returns to the intimate confines of the Dakota. He's still promoting his stellar instrumental album, "The Bright Mississippi," featuring interpretations of jazz favorites by Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk. But the 71-year-old songwriter/producer also will perform some of the hits he created for Ernie K Doe, LaBelle, Glen Campbell, the Band, the Pointer Sisters and others that landed him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (7 & 9:30 p.m. Sun. Dakota, $35-$60.) (J.B.)

If you're still mad at Jay Farrar for disbanding the half-local lineup of Son Volt that made the classic 1995 album, "Trace," you're missing out. The third album from the reinvented version of the band, "American Central Dust," is arguably the former Uncle Tupelo co-leader's most inspired and visionary set since '95, and the band behind him now seamlessly weaves between dusty ballads, ambient alt-country and full-gusto rock. Opener Sera Cahoone is a Denver-reared songwriter who once drummed in Band of Horses. (8:30 p.m. Sun., First Avenue. 18 & older. $20.) (C.R.)

Whenever Michigan-reared indie hero Sufjan Stevens goes into isolation, as he did again over the past year and a half, he usually emerges with something good. The few hundred Twin Cities fans who leaped on this show's quiet announcement will be among the first to find out if Stevens' stop/go track record remains strong. He is playing small clubs to preview the reworking of his 2001 record, "Enjoy Your Rabbit," newly titled "Run Rabbit Run" and due Oct. 6. He also has a dual movie and soundtrack project about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, titled "The BQE," coming Oct. 20. His Asthmatic Kitty labelmate Cryptacize opens. (9 p.m. Sun., 400 Bar. Sold out.) (C.R.)

We already know that wily, hunky Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon can fill an arena (ticket sales here are now up to the roof), but can they captivate such a large crowd as well as they did fans in theaters and clubs just a year ago? Will frontman Caleb Followill still have older women flashing their let's-make-out eyes at him from so far away? And will the U2-copping single "Use Somebody" -- far from the best track on last year's breakthrough album "Only by the Night" -- still sound great live after being so overplayed on the radio? Answers to these questions and a worthwhile opening set by British rockers White Lies Monday. Read Sunday's Variety A+E for a story on KoL's rare crossover. (8 p.m. Mon., Target Center. $46.) (C.R.)

Finnish quintet Children of Bodom boasts Guitar World magazine's 2008 winner for best metal axe-man, Alexi Laho, who also happens to be the group's frontman. He and his explosive bandmates covered the likes of Billy Idol, Britney Spears, Maiden and CCR on their new all-covers collection, "Skeletons in the Closet." The Black Dahlia Murder and Skeletonwitch open. (7:30 p.m. Mon., Epic. All ages. $20.) (C.R.)

Having reunited in 2001, New York's "Cult of Personality" rockers Living Colour have returned to form on this year's comeback album, "Chair in the Doorway," the quartet's first album in six years. There's metal, grunge, retro, funk, jazz -- the usual genre-blending stew but it seems less self-conscious than the old days, though frontman Corey Glover still does some preaching, notably on "DecaDance" and "Burning Bridges." (8 p.m. Wed. Fine Line, $25 advance, $28 door.) (J.B.)

Brooklyn buzzers Grizzly Bear undoubtedly could have filled First Ave last time in town right after the release of their third record "Veckatimest," one of this year's most acclaimed indie-rock records. However, the deftly harmonizing foursome didn't sound ready to play the bigger room in June at the Cedar Cultural Center, a short set that was dully paced and numb in personality. Let's hope that was just a misstep in the warm-up phase, because the album still burns with excitement. Baltimore duo Beach House opens. (9 p.m. Wed., First Avenue. 18 & older. $20-$22.) (C.R.)

LATINO True to their name, Mexican music heroes Los Tigres del Norte are no strangers to these parts. In fact, they performed here almost exactly one year ago at the St. Paul Armory. Jorge Hernandez, bandleader for 40 years (!), and his brothers/bandmates have landed at a much classier venue this time, one befitting six-time Grammy winners, including triumphs two years in a row for best Norteño album. Hot durangüense-styled newcomers AK-7 and cutie-pie singer Liliana open. (9 p.m. today, Epic. 18 & older. $35.) (C.R.)

COUNTRY Charlie Robison is no longer married to a Dixie Chick, so he's back to being just another cool, rock-tinged, barroom-poet, country songwriter from Texas. That's fine by us. He's out promoting his first album in five years, "Beautiful Day," which touches on his divorce and cheekily addresses his ex ("I promise you she's never gonna get fat"), but mostly it still deals in the good-timey spirit of past hits such as "El Cerrito Place," "Barlight" and "My Hometown." Nate and James Dungan's Tennesota opens. (9:30 p.m. Sat., Lee's Liquor Lounge. $10.) (C.R.)

JAZZ Probably New Orleans' finest modern-jazz band, and that's saying a lot, Astral Project has serious chops, an uncompromising repertoire and the crowd-pleasing flair you'd expect from Crescent City vets. Tony Dagradi is a prodigious saxophonist, and fine composer, fleet-fingered Steve Masakowski earned a Blue Note Records deal for his fine guitar work, and James Singleton is a supremely groovy bassist. But what puts the band over the top is wiry drum legend Johnny Vidacovich, favorite of Professor Longhair back in the day, and now a post-bop master and Loyola U prof. (8 & 10:30 p.m. today-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $20.) (T.S.)

The JazzMN Big Band kicks off its season with saxophone titan Ernie Watts, who's appeared on more than 500 albums (including gems by Marvin Gaye, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Thelonious Monk and Pat Metheny), toured with the Rolling Stones and is a longtime member of Charlie Haden's terrific Quartet West. His big-band credits include Buddy Rich, Oliver Nelson and the still-vital Gerald Wilson. Singer Debbie Duncan opens. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Hopkins High School Performing Arts Center, 2400 Lindbergh Dr., Minnetonka. $17-$27. www.jazzmn.org.) (T.S.)

BLUES West Coast bar warrior Mark Hummel hits town with another all-star "Blues Harmonica Blowout," starring Chicago legend Billy Boy Arnold, the resilient hitmaker of "I Wish You Would" and "I Ain't Got You," along with younger Chicago powerhouse Billy Branch and two harmonica masters who have called the Twin Cities home: former Muddy Waters bandmate Mojo Buford and hard-touring dynamo R.J. Mischo, who has several other dates this week (info at www.rjblues.com). Guitarist Rusty Zinn guests with Hummel's Blues Survivors band. (9 p.m. today, Cabooze. $18-$20.) (T.S.)

Randy McAllister is a fifth-generation Texan with five-tool blues skills -- he's a terrific singer, able drummer, very fine harmonica player, clever and prolific Grammy-nominated songwriter, and capable businessman with his own indie label. His hot little trio embraces old-school soul, roots-rock and gospel, and like better-known fellow Texan Delbert McClinton, he's got the vocal chops and songwriting skills to pull it all off. (8 p.m. Thu., Famous Dave's Uptown. $3. 8:30 p.m. next Fri., Floyd's, 1758 Arboretum Blvd., Victoria. $5.) (T.S.)

CLASSICAL British music for strings -- early Britten, pastoral Vaughan Williams and a 2006 viola concerto by Sally Beamish-- shares the bill this week with Haydn's "Miracle" Symphony (written for London) as conductor Douglas Boyd, the most durable of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's original artistic partners, takes leave of the ensemble. Associate concertmaster Ruggero Allifranchini is the high-flying soloist in the transcendent arabesques of Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending"; principal violist Sabina Thatcher (on leave this season) takes Beamish under her wing. (10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. today, Wooddale Church, 6630 Shady Oak Rd., Eden Prairie; 8 p.m. Sat., United Church of Christ, 900 Summit Av., St. Paul. $10-$25. 651-291-1144, or www.thespco.org.) (L.F.)

Though no one will ever mistake me for a Norwegian, I count myself a fan of the 25-year-old Oslo Chamber Choir, one of Norway's best. Led since 2005 by Håkon Daniel Nystedt, grandson of composer-conductor Knut Nystedt, the group boasts an eclectic repertoire and is known for reinterpreting the Norwegian vocal folk tradition called kveding in the choral medium. Their Minneapolis concert is part of a four-city Minnesota tour, presented by the enterprising Edvard Grieg Society. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg College, 2211 Riverside Av., Mpls. $20-$25. 877-247-7439. or www.norwayhouse.net.) (L.F.)