The Big Gigs: Shows and highlights of the upcoming entertainment week

POP/ROCK If you appreciate songwriters but have never joined the cult of Jonathan Richman or Vic Chesnutt, tonight's double bill is a must. One of the original indie-rock tunesmiths, Richman has sung coy and touching lyrics over catchy melodies since the early '70s. He's previewing a new album, "Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild." Chesnutt is unlike any other, with tunes that soar between dark Gothic/Southern poetry and fun oddball genius. His latest, "North Star Deserter," was made with an eclectic orchestra of Montreal players. (8 p.m. today, Cedar Cultural Center. $16.) (C.R.)

Experimental San Francisco techno-pop band Xiu Xiu is back with a new album, "Women As Lovers," featuring more dark and frazzled electronic arrangements and Tiny Tim-sounding frontman Jamie Stewart's dramatic, off-kilter lyricism. Virginia-reared songstress Thao Nguyen, also signed to Kill Rock Stars, opens. (5 p.m. today, Triple Rock. All ages. $12.) (C.R.)

You'll laugh with him -- and at him. Tom Jones, 67, is a precious timepiece, a campy old-school showman who still has the sex appeal and, more important, the pipes. The Welsh wonder will dust off "Delilah" and "It's Not Unusual" and deliver his fresh remakes of Prince's "Kiss," Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Always a treat. (7:30 p.m. Sat. and Sun., Mystic Lake Casino, Prior Lake, $59 & $69.) (J.B.)

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys deliver swing, rockabilly, hard country and classic rock 'n' roll and R&B, powered by the guitar licks of Ashley Kingman and Lee Jeffriess and Sandy's smooth-as-silk vocals. (9 p.m. Sat., Lee's Liquor Lounge. $10.) (T.S.)

Like the Goo Goo Dolls, with whom they shared a State Fair bill last year, Lifehouse delivers hooky mainstream rock with a strong frontman. Seven years after the smash "Hanging By a Moment," Jason Wade is reasserting his radio-friendly ways on his band's fourth album, "Who We Are," featuring the hit "First Time." Opening are popster Matt Nathanson, whose off-the-wall covers are as entertaining as his originals, and Honeyhoney, a male/female L.A. duo that records for Kiefer Sutherland's label. (8 p.m. Sun., First Avenue, $20 advance, $22 door.) (J.B.)

Denmark's answer to the White Stripes, the Raveonettes are a retro-loving duo whose fourth and latest, "Lust Lust Lust," is their most confessional album. The vibe is dark, icy and enthralling in a David Lynch sort of way. Black Acid opens. (9 p.m. Mon., 7th Street Entry, $15.) (J.B.)

Although frontwoman China Forbes just released an impressive, Sheryl Crow-evoking solo album ("78"), she's on tour with her steady gig, Pink Martini. The Oregon ensemble serves up a blend of cabaret pop, lounge jazz, vintage film music and old-school world music (Latin, Russian, French chanson). This Martini is fizzy fun. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Fitzgerald Theater, $47.50.) (J.B.)

In concert, Bostonian Patty Larkin comes across as just another singer/songwriter with introspective songs and skillful guitar chops. But on her heavenly new CD, "Watch the Sky," she impresses as a masterful musicmaker of ambient folk-pop. She plays all the instruments herself -- guitar, banjo, bazouki, bass, toy organ, door chimes, drum loops -- creating evocative, moody sounds that perfectly complement her words, which range from the spiritual to the romantic. Brianna Lane opens. (7:30 p.m. Wed., Cedar Cultural Center, $15-$18.) (J.B.)

Avril Lavigne is still a punk rocker. Honest. It's just that on a few numbers during her show, she'll have dancers joining her for choreographed routines. How punk is that? Well, at least we'll get to hear those punk-pop classics "Sk8r Boi" and "Girlfriend." Boys Like Girls opens. Read an interview with Lavigne in Sunday's Arts section. (7 p.m. Thu., Target Center, $29.50-$39.50.) (J.B.)

With only one Primus gig on the books for '08, Les Claypool is back on the road with his solo band, doing the quirky bass-whacking thing. He's selling limited-edition DVDs of a new mockumentary he directed and stars in, "Electric Apricot." (7 p.m. Thu., First Avenue. 18 and older. $25.) (C.R.)

HIP-HOP Flo Rida's "Low" has been the biggest single of 2008, spending 10 weeks at No. 1 (and featuring the ubiquitous T-Pain, of course). Now the Florida rapper, whose debut disc "Mail on Sundays" is due Tuesday, is back with "Elevator," which should zoom right up the charts. Featuring Timbaland, it has a playfully sexy video that doesn't show off Flo Rida's stunning tattoo the way the "Low" clip does. But both hits are irresistibly sing-songy, like Nelly at his best. Also appearing is Florida rapper Plies, who scored last year with "Shawty," also featuring T-Pain. (6 p.m. Thu., Myth, $40-$160.) (J.B.)

R&B The truth is that Prince doesn't approve of all the songs played by the Truth, an octet featuring some of his ex-sidemen, members of the Time, the Family and Mint Condition. Yup, Paul Peterson, Chance Howard, Jellybean Johnson and company travel to "Erotic City" and other Purple destinations as well as reinvigorate old faves by the Ohio Players and George Clinton. The group will celebrate its unstoppably funky new album, "The Truth Live," recorded last May. (9:30 p.m. Sat., Bunkers, $8.) (J.B.)

Like Keith Richards, George Jones probably should have died years ago. Arguably the finest male vocalist in country music, his self-destructive days of drink, drugs and the concert cancellations that earned him the nickname No Show Jones are long behind him. The 76-year-old legend is known for putting on generous shows filled with 50 years of hits and plenty of corny jokes. (7:30 p.m. Thu. and next Fri., Mystic Lake Casino, $29-$42.) (J.B.)

JAZZ Not many saxophonists would make their debut CD a jazz and poetry project, putting verse of Paul Auster, Sylvia Plath, Maxine Kumin et al. to brooding original musical settings, but young Brooklyn reedman Sam Sadigursky took that road less traveled, and critics rewarded "The Words Project" with appearances on many 2007 Top 10 lists. In Minnesota for a Jerome Foundation "arts retreat," he concludes his stay with an all-instrumental late-night show backed by the excellent Phil Aaron Trio. (11:30 p.m. Sat., Dakota Jazz Club. $5.) (T.S.)

It'll be a hot weekend of jazzy kid stuff, as four-fifths of the nationally renowned Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet show off the talents that landed them scholarships to University of the Pacific, where legendary piano man Dave Brubeck matriculated. After an annual nationwide search, the institute chose two Minnesotans -- precocious bassist Chris Smith and pianist Javier Santiago -- to go with Santa Cruz, Calif., saxophonist Ben Flocks and Houston drummer Cory Cox, elder statesman of the group at age 20. (9 p.m. today-Sat., Artists' Quarter. $12.) (T.S.)

Often compared to Carmen McRae and Dinah Washington, Bay Area singing great Mary Stallings has worked with many a fabled name in a long, mostly under-the-radar career -- Count Basie, Louis Jordan, Earl Hines, Dizzy Gillespie, even Lenny Bruce. Though her stalled career got a jump start from a New York Times rave, Stallings herself has made more money in her other career as a clothing designer. So don't miss this rare visit. (7 and 9:30 p.m. Sun.-Mon., Dakota Jazz Club. $15-$20.) (T.S.)

Brazilian singer/guitarist/percussionist Vinicius Cantuaria makes music that is intimate, warm, rhythmically savvy and often marked by a delicious melancholy. Although he's steeped in bossa nova, his output is personal and idiosyncratic, with discreet modernist tweaks. You may have heard him with Bebel Gilberto, David Byrne or Bill Frisell's Intercontinentals featuring Caetano Veloso, but you haven't really heard him until you take in a live show. (7 and 9:30 p.m. Tue.-Wed., Dakota Jazz Club. $15-$20.) (T.S.)

For 25 years, Irish singer/storyteller Carmel Quinn has spent St. Patrick's Day playing to standing room-only crowds at New York's Carnegie Hall. This year, she celebrates the day at Excelsior's Old Log Theater. Quinn knows her way around the pathos of an Irish ballad, but also taps the outrageous humor and nostalgia of the Irish wit. The popular Jimmy Martin Trio will accompany. (2:30 and 8 p.m. Mon., Old Log Theater. $20-$25. 952-474-5951.) (W.R.B.)

Contributors: Staff critics Jon Bream and Chris Riemenschneider and freelancers Tom Surowicz and William Randall Beard.