Best of the week: Tom Petty, Cantus does the Beatles, Flint Hills Children's Festival, more

When Tom Petty was honored at the Grammys' MusiCares charity gala in February, he and the Heartbreakers sounded as tight and potent as ever — especially surprising after a three-year layoff from the road. Now comes the 40th anniversary tour, which promises "Free Fallin' " and other hits plus some choice deep tracks for fans who delved beyond MTV and classic-rock radio. This will be Petty's first Twin Cities appearance since 2013. Joe Walsh, the great guitarist and underrated humorist, opens.JON BREAM

8 p.m. Sat. Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, $49.50-$149.50, ticketmaster.com

Fifty years ago this week, the Beatles released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," still considered one of the best albums ever. Twin Cities vocal group Cantus pays tribute to the Fab Four's masterpiece with a close-harmony take for its annual "Covers" concert. (Last year Cantus sang the entirety of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," which partly inspired "Sgt. Pepper.") Tunes by Feist, Gotye and Dolly Parton also are featured.

TERRY BLAIN

7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. and June 8-10, Cowles Center, Mpls. $10-$35, cantussings.org

The annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival is a performing arts wonderland, with thrills for everyone young at heart. Highlights include Shanghai's GuGu Drum Group (pictured); "Ketti Nimiko!" by Native Pride Dancers; Flying Foot Forum's tap-dance extravaganza "The Mystery of Pig's Eye Manor," and "The Way Back Home," a puppetry piece about friendship by Denmark's Teater Refleksion.

ROHAN PRESTON

Tue.-June 4, Ordway, St. Paul, pay-what-you wish, with guaranteed admission for $8, ordway.org

Last seen in town performing with fellow songwriting mavens Patty Griffin and Sara Watkins, Anais Mitchell will be seen next month all over the grounds of the Eaux Claires Music Festival, where curator Justin Vernon and his team picked her to be an artist-in-residence. Others have sung Mitchell's praises over the years, including Ani DiFranco, whose Righteous Babe Records issued Mitchell's early albums, including "Hadestown," a fantastical 2010 "folk opera."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

8 p.m. Thu., Turf Club, St. Paul, $15-$17, eTix.com

Keyboardist/singer Felix Cavaliere was in Joey Dee & the Starlighters ("Peppermint Twist"), but he's best remembered for his years with Rock Hall of Famers the Rascals. He was the voice of "It's a Beautiful Morning," "People Got to Be Free" and several other big Rascals hits. Plus, he's an inveterate soul man who puts his stamp on classics from his era, such as "In the Midnight Hour" and "Knock on Wood."

JON BREAM

7 & 9 p.m. Mon. Dakota, Mpls. dakotacooks.com, $35-$60

Nathan Hylden's show rests on ideas of vantage points and the elusiveness of painting as a medium. A series of prints on aluminum with magnifying glasses are arranged on temporary walls installed into a gallery; along the perimeter, lots of monochrome paintings, each with a slightly different tint, present a more easily followed series of works. The best vantage point in this house of mirroring is up to you.

ALICIA ELER

Ends July 1. Midway Contemporary Art, Mpls. midwayart.org

Lester Young was one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in the history of jazz, a stylist who floated like a butterfly instead of stinging like a bee. His work with the Count Basie Band and singer Billie Holiday during the 1930s and '40s made laconic phrasing cool. Dave Karr, one of the deans of the local saxophone scene, is the right guy to do justice to Lester's legacy, along with guitarist Sam Miltich.

BRITT ROBSON

7 p.m. Sun, Crooners Lounge, Fridley, $10, croonersloungemn.com

After 15 years, former Sommerfest artistic director David Zinman returns to the Minnesota Orchestra to conduct a powerful program featuring Richard Strauss' Nietzschean tone poem "Also Sprach Zarathustra." Wagner's "Tannhäuser" Overture and Bloch's "Schelomo" round out a program that's sure to please the romantic orchestral ­palate.

terry blain

8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Orchestra Hall, Mpls. $29-$79, minnesotaorchestra.org

Grab the kids, swimsuits and life jackets for a day of aquatic activities. This celebration of clean lakes and outdoor fun invites guests to paddle across Lake Phalen in a voyageur canoe or kayak. Learn different fishing techniques and then use the skills to enter a fishing contest. Identify native plants and select some to take home, and participate in arts and crafts activities.

MELISSA WALKER

11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free. Phalen Regional Park, St. Paul, rwmwd.org