Friday, Feb. 3
1. Umphrey's McGee: Next month, these cult-loved prog-jammers who started at the University of Notre Dame will mark their 25th anniversary of live shows. Indeed, UM is best experienced live, which may explain why they released concert albums for 13 consecutive years, ending in 2021. Last year, UM was busy recording its 14th studio disc, "Asking for a Friend." The oddly balanced sound mix on the album may not make Umphrey's McGee many new friends but will give the group new material (especially the slyly funky "Fenced In") on which to jam in concert. And jamming is what it's all about when UM returns to Minneapolis for another two-night stand. (8:30 p.m., also Sat., First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $39.50 or two-day ticket for $70, axs.com)
2. Anthony David: The Georgia soul man got his break writing a song for India.Arie's 2001 debut album. The two friends duetted on the 2008 hit "Words," which led to a Grammy nomination. David has shown up on the R&B charts again, notably in 2011 with "4evermore," a dreamy duet with Algebra. At his best on slow jams, he showcased his versatility on 2018's "Hello Like Before: The Songs of Bill Withers." (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $40-$45, dakotacooks.com)
3. Songs of Freedom: Bob Marley Remembered: Lucky for us Minnesotans — who were graced by Marley's presence three times in the '70s — the late, great Jamaican global music icon's birthday happens to fall in early February, when his warm music and communal vibes do wonders in fending off the cold outside. Twin Citians are also fortunate to have Jamaica native Lynval Jackson and his International Reggae All-Stars in town to lead this celebration for 30 years running now. They've moved the party to the site of their weekly Tuesday gig and are once again inviting local reggae fixture Innocent to join them for two nights. (9:30 p.m., also Sat., Bunker's, 761 N. Washington Av., Mpls., $15-$25, eventbrite.com)
Also: Australia's Michael Charles digs the blues so much that three decades ago he relocated to Chicago, where he impressed sufficiently to be named to the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2015 (8 p.m. Shaw's, $5); Air Supply, the hit duo of Brit Graham Russell and Aussie Russell Hitchcock, revisit the heyday of lite-FM with "All Out of Love" and "Lost in Love" (8 p.m. Mystic Lake Casino Showroom, $39-$229); after opening for Patti Smith two years ago outdoors, Gregory Alan Isakov, the South Africa-born, Philadelphia-reared and Colorado-based farmer/singer/songwriter, brings his pensive folk music indoors (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, $35-$69.50); punkabilly garage-rockers Mad Mojo Jett head up a cool four-pack of local groups with Pill Cutter featuring Arzu Gokcen of Pink Mink, Ashley Ackerson's Mood Swings and a new band of punk vets called Spit Takes (8 p.m. Turf Club, $12-$15); Vintage Cruise, featuring local vocal lights Wayne Anthony, Tonia Hughes Kendrick and Jack Cassidy, will interpret the yacht rock of Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, James Ingram and others (8 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35); Free and Easy, the veteran Twin Cities variety band, takes the party outdoors for the Winter Carnival (6 p.m. Rice Park, free); Hotel Minnesnowta Bash features an indoor parade of Minnesota bands, including Armchair Boogie, Mark Joseph & American Soul, Frogleg, Reed Grimm and Chris Castino (3 p.m., also Sat., Crown Plaza Hotel, Plymouth, $60 or $95 for two-day ticket).
Saturday, Feb. 4
4. Bad Bad Hats: After garnering national print and radio attention and opening tour dates in recent years, the whimsical and wistful Macalester College-born indie-pop trio is revisiting the album that first made them hometown darlings. A 10th anniversary remastered edition of their hook-laden, smile-inducing debut LP for Afternoon Records, "It Hurts," is being issued via two release parties in one day. That's the record that featured the sugarcoated local hit "Super America," whose namesake stores did not fare as well as Bad Bad Hats in the interim. Beemer opens both shows. (4 p.m. all-ages and 9:30 p.m. 18-plus, 7th St. Entry, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $22-$25, axs.com)
5. Minnesota Opera: For the first time in its 60-year history, Minnesota Opera will present Gaetano Donizetti's buoyant comic work "The Daughter of the Regiment" about a young woman raised on an army base who finds that she may have royal roots. It boasts fine leads in soprano Vanessa Becerra and tenor David Portillo — who impressed in the company's "Opera Afuera" and "Albert Herring," respectively — and a cameo by "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" winner Monét X Change. (7:30 p.m. and Feb. 9 and 11, 2 p.m. Feb. 12; Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $25-$228, or mnopera.org.)
6. Naeem: After working as raunchy electro-funk rapper Spank Rock with such producers as Benny Blanco and Mick Ronson, this Baltimore native wound up living in Minneapolis for a short spell pre-COVID and reinvented himself under his own name as a Bon Iver-collaborating emo-soul singer. He's returning to town to showcase a wild and willowy EP that shows a clear local imprint, "How Can We Lose When We're So Sincere?" with a title inspired by Charles Schulz and covers of songs by other Twin Cities-tied acts André Cymone, Fog, Corbin, Prince and Bon Iver. With neoclassical keyboardist Cheeky and DJ Keezy. (9:30 p.m. Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., $25, thegreatnorthernfestival.com)
Also: Rockie Lynne, the North Carolina native who launched his Universal South recording career out of Coon Rapids in the mid-'00s, returns to familiar territory to reprise "Lipstick" and "Do We Still" (7:30 p.m. Le Musique Room, $32); Talisk, the Scottish folk trio that blends concertina, guitar and fiddle, lands on the West Bank (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $20-$25); superb vocalist Bruce Henry returns from Chicago to present his "Evolution of African American Music," accompanied by some Twin Cities pals including drummer Kevin Washington, guitarist Dean Magraw and trumpeter Omar Abdulkarim (8 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35); for her Aretha & Her Men revue, longtime vocal force Gwen Matthews has enlisted a cavalcade of guests including Gevonee Ford, Brandon Hess and Lamont Keten (7 p.m. the Dakota, $25-$35); mayhem-prone mysterious punk thrashers Murf is back in action and topping off a noisy bill also featuring In Lieu, Civil Decline and Basketball Divorce Court (8:30 p.m. Turf Club, $12); spirited St. Croix Valley area bluegrass quartet the Barley Jacks return to south Minneapolis' coolest neighborhood theater (8 p.m. Parkway Theater, $25-$30); Iron Range-reared acoustic rocker Preston Gunderson hosts his birthday bash for the second official gig at Uptown's new full-time music venue (8 p.m. Green Room, $12).
