Critics’ picks: The 12 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week

It’s hard out there for Katy Perry. There was the backlash in April for being on the all-female crew of that Blue Origin rocket flight. This was after her 2024 album, “143,” pretty much bombed, failing to land a hit song. Now comes her Lifetimes Tour, which was criticized when it opened last month in Mexico City for production values not worthy of a global pop superstar. But Perry, the vibrant voice of “Teenage Dream” and “Roar,” is known as a trouper. Will the former “American Idol” judge have the wherewithal to retool things as the tour arrives in the States this week, with Minneapolis as the fifth stop? Opening is Rebecca Black, the voice of the 2011 viral hit “Friday,” who has a new album, “Salvation.” (7 p.m. Tue., Target Center, 600 1st Av. N., Mpls., $75 and up, axs.com)

JON BREAM

After their Minneapolis coming-out at Jay’s Longhorn Bar in 1979, the chaotically grooving and bitingly sociopolitical punk pioneers from Leeds, England, went on to influence R.E.M., the Chili Peppers, LCD Soundsystem, etc. Singer Jon King and drummer Hugo Burnham are keeping the band going strong with help from a couple of younger all-star fans, Indiana’s Pharmacists bandleader Ted Leo on guitar and Belly’s Gail Greenwood on bass. They’re calling it GoF’s last outing and playing the first album in full, 1979’s “Entertainment!” It’s turned into a tribute to bassist Dave Allen, too, who died last month, following guitarist Andy Gill’s passing in 2020. (8 p.m. Sat., Fine Line, 318 1st Av. N., Mpls., $30, axs.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Last seen opening for Hozier at Xcel Energy Center last August, the Grammy-winning, genre-agnostic Canadian has picked First Avenue for her first Twin Cities headline appearance. Yes, she’s a Prince fan. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman of Prince & the Revolution played on Russell’s new album, “The Returner.” An effective connector, the singer/clarinetist/banjoist dropped a new single with Annie Lennox and has collaborated with Brandi Carlile, Joni Mitchell and Mavis Staples, among her many heroes. After a triumphant run as Persephone on Broadway in “Hadestown” this past winter, the dynamic, probing Russell has returned to the road to promote “The Returner.” (7:30 p.m. Fri., First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $25 and up, axs.com)

J.B.

If you want to check in on your punk-rock pulse, you really should check out this young and doubly riotous — as in: funny and fuming — U.K. group. Bandleaders Phoebe Lunny and Lilly Macieira met while working together at a bar in Brighton and have maintained a boozy and bawdy edge, even as they’ve become rising stars lauded by Sleater-Kinney and Iggy Pop. They’re working their way across America toward the big Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas after issuing their full-length debut, “Who Let the Dogs Out,” whose single “No Homo” continues their string of anti-homophobia anthems. (8:30 p.m. Sat., First Avenue, $20, axs.com)

C.R.

Schubert Club Mix closes its season with a group that perfectly captures the quintessence of that series’ offbeat and adventurous focus. Perhaps “offbeat” isn’t the right word, because this string quartet can swing like no other group that fits loosely under the “classical” umbrella. For 40 years, the two-time Grammy winners have been mixing string quartet repertoire with jazz, folk, rock, world music and a plethora of other styles. At the Parkway, they’ll perform music by Rhiannon Giddens, Terence Blanchard, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate and the quartet’s founding violinist, David Balakrishnan. (7:30 p.m. Sat., Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls., $33, 651-292-3268 or schubert.org)

ROB HUBBARD

The first time Thomas Søndergård conducted the Minnesota Orchestra, the featured soloist was Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, the first woman to win the Gilmore Artist Award (kind of like the MacArthur “Genius Grant” for pianists). She played a Mozart concerto then and will reunite with Søndergård and the orchestra for another (his 17th). And this orchestra has done some magnificent things with Dmitri Shostakovich symphonies this century, so a performance of No. 11, nicknamed “The Year 1905,” is very promising, as is a powerful piece by Karim Al-Zand. (11 a.m. Thu. and 8 p.m. Fri., Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $15-$111, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)

R.H.

It’s a jukebox musical comedy that celebrates friendship. British playwright Louise Roche scripted this interactive show about five female friends who gather to celebrate the engagement of the daughter of the dead narrator, who wears wings. The gal pals gab, laugh and belt out “I’m Every Woman,” “It’s Raining Men” and “I Will Survive.” (7 p.m. Sat. Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul. $53.95-$75.91. 651-224-4222 or Ordway.org)

ROHAN PRESTON

Kermit the Frog. Miss Piggy. The Lion King. These are among the most famous characters realized through puppetry. But who will be the next great puppet artists? Starting this weekend, Open Eye Theatre caps its six-month puppet lab incubator with a festival. The lineup has Samuel Albright’s and Elisabette Hinze’s “The Fantabulous Adventures of Mr. Gweem,” about a cat that witnesses the breakup of its humans; Ches Cipriano’s shadowy memory play “Limbs”; Graci Horne’s feminist horror story “Wabaduska Love”; and Nicole Rojas-Oltmanns’ “Always Too Much and Never Enough,” which grapples with mental illness. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends May 18. Open Eye Theatre, 506 E. 24th St., Mpls. $18. 612-874-6338, openeyetheatre.org)

R.P.

This year, Young Dance Performing Company explores mind and body connections in its annual recital concert featuring dancers ages 7 to 18. Choreographed by guest artists Lainey Lee, Gretchen Pick, Judee Shuǐ Xiān and Laurie Van Wieren, the dances find links between the inner world of their thoughts and feelings with physical expression through movement. The show will feature showcases from various classes that Young Dance offers, including modern, hip-hop, breaking and choreography. In addition, dancers from the school’s “all abilities” class will perform. The concert comes on the heels of Young Dance earning a contract with the city of Minneapolis to offer dance programming in schools and recreation centers. The move is aimed to fill the gap left by previous dance programming offered by the Cowles Center, which closed last year. (7 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 5 p.m. Sun., Luminary Arts Center, 700 N. 1st St., Mpls., $17, 612-333-6669, luminaryartscenter.org)

SHEILA REGAN

Five artists explore touch through art. Magdolene Dykstra’s collaborative and interactive works explore the Egyptian zeer pot stand, where audience members are invited to wash their hands. Paige O’Toole’s glazed clay candelabras look like they have been molded by many hands. There’s much to explore in this show, but viewers shouldn’t touch the art unless asked to do so. Ends May 25. (10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun, Northern Clay Center, 2424 E. Franklin Av., Mpls., free, northernclaycenter.org or 612-339-8007)

ALICIA ELER

The portrait is as fundamental to an artist’s practice as the self-portrait. An exhibition at the Minnesota Museum of American Art takes a look at the portrait, a form built on the artist’s visual understanding of the subject’s emotional, mental and physical presentation. The exhibition presents a variety of artists, contemporary and historical, local and national. The show’s title takes inspiration from a song on Charli XCX’s album “Brat.” Ends Aug. 3. (10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sun., 350 N. Robert St., St. Paul, free, mmaa.org or 651-797-2571)

A.E.

Spend the day tapping into your creativity with an art trail that weaves through Central Park. Get whimsical with face painting and make a nature wand. Other make-and-take activities include metal-trinket casting, and print-, paper- and wood-sign making. Food trucks will roll in with ice cream and pizza. (2-5 p.m. Sat., Central Park, 8200 Noble Av., Brooklyn Park. brooklynpark.org)

MELISSA WALKER