The Big Gigs: 10 best concerts to see in the Twin Cities this week

1. Toro y Moi: An influential techno hip-hop innovator who helped usher in chillwave, Bay Area singer/producer/rapper Chaz Bear has stuck his lightly bobbing toes into mainstream waters in recent years via collaborations with Travis Scott, Fume and Tyler, the Creator. He’s still making pretty weird — and chill! — music on his own as Toro y Moi, as evidenced by his emo-rap-flavored new album “Hole Erth,” featuring guests such as Don Toliver and Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard. He’s touring with another reputable digi-funk music wiz as an opener, Animal Collective collaborator Panda Bear. (7:30 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $41, axs.com)

2. Parker McCollum: After releasing only two major label albums, this post-bro country Texan is stepping up to headline in arenas with his What Kinda Man Tour. That’s a quick ascent for the 32-year-old country star who admires George Strait and John Mayer and shares dimpled good looks with both of them. McCollum, who headlined at We Fest last year and performed at one of President Trump’s inaugural parties this year, is known for the No. 1 Nashville hits “Pretty Heart,” “To Be Loved by You” and “Burn It Down.” Every once in a while, he comes up with a killer lyric like “I tell myself that I should quit/but I don’t listen to drunks” from his 2022 hit “Handle on You.” Opening are Kameron Marlowe and William Beckmann. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Amsoil Arena, Duluth, and 7:30 p.m. Fri., Target Center, 600 1st Av. N., Mpls., $30 and up, ticketmaster.com)

Also: Celebrated fiddler Lena Jonsson, whose trio won artist of the year in 2023 at the Swedish Folk awards, leads her group as part of the ongoing Nordic Roots Series (7:30 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $23-$28); young but classic-sounding Minneapolis punk band Suburban Muscle celebrates the release of its debut LP with Couch Potato Massacre (7:30 p.m. Cloudland Theater, $12-$15); Twin Cities crooner Wayne Anthony tackles “Beyond the Sea,” “Mack the Knife” and the rest of Bobby Darin’s catalog (7:30 p.m. Crooners, $43.47-$54.63); one of Minnesota’s finest songwriters and neo-twang/Americana bandleaders, Erik Koskinen settles in for a long “evening with” gig happening every Friday in February at Icehouse (8 p.m., $20-$27).

3. Travis: The Scottish band is on its first U.S. tour in 14 years, supporting Travis’ distinctively So Cal pop album, “L.A. Times.” Frontman Fran Healy wrote the very personal tunes while living in Los Angeles, where he moved in 2017. With some help from famous friends Chris Martin and Brandon Flowers, Healy reflects on his failed marriage (“Live It All Again”), a favorite but shuttered New York haunt (“Raze the Bar”) and life after a friend died of cancer (“Alive”). On the title track of Travis’ 10th full length, Healy observes life in the City of Angels, singing: “I look around and all I see is pain and suffering reflected on the 50 facets of a diamond ring.” (8 p.m. Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. SE, Mpls., $56 and up, ticketmaster.com)

4. Samora Pinderhughes: A Juilliard-educated jazz pianist (he worked with Herbie Hancock and Chief Adjuah), he’s also an Emmy-winning composer, vocalist, filmmaker and PhD music student at Harvard. Not confined to any genre, he’s worked with Common, Sara Bareilles and Emily King, among others. Pinderhughes is also an activist, founding the Healing Project which seeks to find healing for systemic oppression. His 2024 album, “Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears,” is a meditation of feelings set to a wide palette of sounds including jazz, gospel, hip-hop and Radioheadian rock. (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $25-$30, thecedar.org)

Also: The 31st annual Songs of Freedom celebration of Bob Marley’s birthday features Twin Cities stalwarts International Reggae All-Stars as well as Innocent (9:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. Hook and Ladder, $20-$30); Allman Bros-loving the Brothers Allmanac will perform one of the greatest live albums of all time in full, “Live at the Fillmore East,” with Slippery People opening (8 p.m. First Avenue, $18); with another Mississippi-made album in the works, rootsy garage-rock gets Eleganza! keep on chooglin' with the Silent Treatment and more (8 p.m. 7th St. Entry, $12); Southern-baked Twin Cities rockers Gregg Hall & Wrecking Ball recorded a live album at First Ave that they’re celebrating with Mark Joseph & American Soul (8 p.m. Turf Club, $15).

5. Wallows: Having kid actor Dylan Minnette (“Goosebumps”) as one of its alternating frontmen probably helped this Los Angeles pop-rock band gain attention early on, but in recent years the trio has consistently garnered more and more fame the less glamorous way, through steady headlining tours and festival gigs. Bigger shows likely led to the rockier sound on the group’s latest album, “Model,” which was produced by indie-rock vet John Congleton (Dinosaur Jr., St. Vincent) and falls somewhere between other plural-“s” bands the Killers and Bleachers sonically. Punky Spokane, Wash., rocker Deb Never opens. (7 p.m. the Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls., $63-$77, ticketmaster.com)

6. Sound of Gospel: Gospel isn’t just church music. It has deep roots. This Black History Month concert will trace the evolution of gospel, including ring shouts, work songs, spirituals, choirs, quartets, freedom songs, traditional gospel and urban gospel. Directed by Jevetta Steele with her brother Billy Steele as music director, the program features drama, dance and song. This show has its own history as it was created by the Rev. William Pierce of 2nd Chance Outreach for the 2018 National Baptist Convention held in Minneapolis. (7 p.m. Sat. and 2 p.m. Sun., Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, $30.27-$79.73, axs.com)

7. Baynk: The New Zealand-bred, London-based electronic pop/dance musician made a big step from his 2022’s “Adolescence” album to last year’s “Senescence.” He’s singing about longing and loss, twinkling like Coldplay on “Blood” and evoking the Weeknd on the swirling, high-pitched single “Grin.” (8:30 p.m. Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. SE, Mpls., $39 and up, ticketmaster.com)

8. God Bullies: Sort of Michigan’s answers to the Melvins or Butthole Surfers, these oddball rockers from Kalamazoo blended punk and metal in the 1980s before the Seattle grunge bands and wound up making some cult-loved albums for Minneapolis’ Amphetamine/Reptile Records. They just released their first album in 30 years, “As Above, So Below,” recorded at Steve Albini’s Electric Audio and bursting with the classic sludge-rock swirl that made them one of Kurt Cobain’s faves. Gay Witch Abortion and In Lieu will add to the noise. (8:30 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $20, axs.com)

Also: Minnesota bluesman P.K. Mayo goes acoustic for the evening (6:30 p.m. Crooners, $32.32-$43.47); Minnesota ex-pat Martin Zellar delivers his beloved Neil Diamond tribute (7:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, $29-$39); 10-piece Twin Cities ensemble Co-MingL offers its tribute to the late Frankie Beverly & Maze (6:30 & 9 p.m. the Dakota, $40-$55); Larry & Joe are an unlikely duo featuring a Llanera music legend from Venezuela and an Appalachian bluegrass musician (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $23-$28).

9. Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen: With “Uncharted,” the celebrated countertenor — a winner of the top prize at the competitions of the Metropolitan, Dallas and Houston Grand Operas — is going where few in his vocal range have gone before, getting romantic with songs by Johannes Brahms, the Schumanns (Clara and Robert) and Erich Korngold. He and pianist John Churchwell will perform the album in its entirety at a concert at Macalester College before taking it to New York’s Carnegie Hall and Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center. It also will be livestreamed. (4 p.m. Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, 130 Macalester St., St. Paul, free, macalester.edu/calendar)

Also: 070 Shake, the former Kanye West protege and Raye collaborator, is touring behind “Petrichor,” her over-the-top rock opera (8 p.m. First Avenue, $39.63); it’s a Galentines party with Champagne Drops, i.e. Leslie Vincent and Emily Dussault and their all-women Twin Cities band (6 p.m. Crooners, $37.89-$43.05); Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition makes its last regional stop before the finals in March in New York (10 a.m. Ted Mann Concert Hall, free); the Grammy-nominated Neave Trio will play trio pieces by Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor as part of the Bethlehem Music Series (4 p.m. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, free)

Ahmed & the Creators features two generations of Twin Cities jazz trumpeters, veteran Ahmed Abdulkarim and his well-traveled son Omar Abdulkarim, who has worked with Roy Hargrove, Method Man and Jose James, among others (7 p.m. the Dakota, $25.47).

10. Guy Davis: The son of actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, he has fashioned a long career of playing acoustic Southern blues. Davis has recorded more than 20 albums, eight of which were released between 1995 and 2006 on the now-closed St. Paul-based Red House Records. Accompanied by either his guitar, banjo or harmonica, the gravelly voiced Davis mines deepfelt authenticity on 2024’s “The Legend of Sugarbelly,” whether doing a hymn like “Early in the Morning,” the spiritual-tinged “Little David Play on Your Harp” the folk ditty “Firefly” or a toe-tapping story song “Long Gone Riley Brown.” (7:30 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av., Mpls., $25-$30, thecedar.org)

Singer/songwriter Dan Navarro, formerly of Lowen & Navarro and a first cousin to L.A. rock guitarist Dave Navarro, returns to Otsego (8 p.m. Pour Wine Bistro, $25); all-star noise-whomp ensemble Marijuana Deathsquads kicks off a monthly gig happening every first Wednesday of the month at Icehouse (8 p.m., $5-$10).