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

1. Deep Sea Diver: After earning a warm reception opening Pearl Jam’s two Xcel Center gigs in 2023, Jessica Dobson and her Seattle bandmates have turned into a hotly buzzing indie-rock act with their latest album for Sub Pop, “Billboard Heart.” Dobson first made a name for herself as an auxiliary member of the Shins, and that band’s influence reverberates along with tinges of Bowie and QOTSA wham-rock on the amped-up record, which Dobson herself co-produced. They’re playing club dates across America through summer. Opener Byland is led another Seattle songwriter. (8 pm. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, resale only, first-avenue.com)

Also: 1960s cult band Love featuring original Lead guitarist Johnny Echols brings vintage psych rock (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder, $34-$40); the quirky, Texas-reared cross between Ernest Tubb and Jimi Hendrix, guit-steel twanger Junior Brown is back out patrolling the highways (7 p.m. Thu.-Fri. the Dakota, $75).

2. Minnesota Orchestra: Each year, some promising young composers have the opportunity to develop and premiere a new work with the orchestra as part of its Composer Institute. After 11 years of leading it, composer Kevin Puts has decided to join the group and open the concert with a new work of his own. The Pulitzer winner for “Silent Night” (premiered by Minnesota Opera) offers “Heartland” on a program that also features Thomas Søndergård conducting new music by four emerging U.S.-based composers: Benjamin Webster, Elise Arancio, Soomin Kim and Andrew Faulkenberry. (8 p.m. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., choose your price, minnesotaorchestra.org)

Also: Quirky psychedelic California indie-rocker Ty Segall is out playing solo acoustic dates ahead of next month’s release of his 16th record, “Possession” (8 p.m. Parkway Theater, sold-out); well-traveled jazz clarinetist Dave Bennett plays with a local quartet (6:30 p.m. Crooners, $32.31 and up); a transatlantic pairing by flashy, dubsteppy DJs LSDream and CloZee, LSZEE settles in for two nights of heavy dancing at the Armory with different openers each night (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., $77 or $127/two-night); all-star Twin Cities cover band Zeppo gets the Led out at Icehouse (8 p.m., $20-$27).

3. Charli XCX: Brat Summer has passed, but the British rave-pop star remains as hot a ticket as ever. She’s finally coming to town supporting her pop culture-redefining breakout album, “Brat,” fresh off headline-nabbing headlining performances at Coachella. Her tour is purportedly a high-energy affair that’s surprisingly low-key production-wise, as the singer leans into her dance club roots and showcases many of the grinders off her five previous albums. Yes, hers isn’t an overnight success story. You can be sure the highlights of the night will be the recent hits, though, including “Guess,” “Apple” and “360.” Her fellow Brit and “Von Dutch” collaborator Finn Keane opens. (7 p.m. Target Center, 600 1st Av. N., Mpls., $187 and up, ticketmaster.com)

4. Oratorio Society of Minnesota: Perhaps you know 20th-century English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams for his mesmerizingly beautiful work for violin and orchestra, “The Lark Ascending.” But Vaughan Williams could weave similar magic with his choral music. Conductor Matthew Mehaffey and the Oratorio Society will demonstrate with a concert full of his works for choir, organ and orchestra. The centerpiece is his lovely “Dona Nobis Pacem,” a plea for peace as the storms of war gathered. And the evening concludes with a work he wrote for the 1952 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. (7:30 p.m. St. Olaf Catholic Church, 215 S. 8th St., Mpls., $10-$35, oratorio.org)

5. Djo: This is the pop star alter ego of actor Joe Keery of Netflix’s sci-fi series “Stranger Things.” On his just-released fourth Djo album, “The Crux,” he shows a penchant for throwback pop, whether the synth-pop of the Cars, the power pop of Dwight Twilley or the psych pop of the Beatles. The outlier is the smugly nerdy single “Basic Being Basic,” a bit of social commentary about social media fame. Keery also plays in the garage-y psych band Post Animal, which opens the concert. (7 p.m. Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Pl., St. Paul, $90 and up, axs.com)

7. Tyshawn Sorey: The jazz drummer/composer is prodigious in many ways. Check out his résumé. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in music and joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 2020; he won a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2017 and a Pulitzer Prize for music in 2024. Sorey, who plays percussion, trombone and piano, has recorded a dozen albums as a leader, including last year’s “The Susceptible Now,” and worked on projects with Vijay Iyer and John Zorn, among others. He’ll play two concerts in one night in Minneapolis with different musicians — the Tyshawn Sorey Trio (featuring pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan) and then with his trio and saxophonist Greg Osby. (6:30 & 9 p.m. Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Mpls., $25 and up, walkerart.org)

Also: Veteran TV actor Linda Purl, whose credits include playing Fonzie’s girlfriend on “Happy Days” and Pam’s mom on “The Office,” exercises her jazz vocal skills again at Crooners with top-shelf New York pianist Tedd Firth (6:30 p.m. Dunsmore Room, $35-$45); University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble I under the direction of Robert Baca salutes Joe Henderson (8 p.m. Crooners, $32.31 and up); a band of Chicago jazz scenesters led by a UW-Eau Claire teacher Paul Hecht, Pyrography just dropped its debut album (7:30-10 p.m. Berlin, $15); after playing a lot of solo sets of late, Jeremy Messersmith is gearing up for a new album and performing with his full band and can’t-miss opener the Nunnery (8 p.m. Turf Club, sold-out); Virginia hippie-folkie Keller Williams is back out promoting his latest album, “Deer” (8:30 p.m. Amsterdam Bar & Hall, $30); northern Minnesota blues-rockers Corey Medina & Brothers return to the Cedar Cultural Center (8 p.m., $20-$25).

8. Justin Hayward: The principal frontman of the Moody Blues is visiting their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame catalog with songs he wrote and sang, including “Tuesday Afternoon,” “Question” and, of course, “Nights in White Satin.” He’ll also offer tunes from his solo recordings (including “Blue Guitar,” which he recorded with his Moodies mate John Lodge), but expect this to be mostly a Moodies celebration with a low-key quartet and some self-effacing anecdotes. (7 p.m. Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $76 and up, ticketmaster.com)

9. Room 3: Releasing its full-length debut album on 4/20 demonstrates how forthright this buzzing, young jazz-fusion ensemble is about crafting hazy, weedy, mellow-cool funk. Echoes of Kamasi Washington and Herbie Hancock’s “Sextant” line the record, which shares its title, “Bill’s Garden,” with a popular south Minneapolis Chinese eatery. The group’s name came from the rehearsal space at the University of Minnesota where keyboardist Eli Awada, bassist Beck Madson and saxophonist Jovon Williams first convened. Their lineup has grown into a quintet as they’ve taken on bigger gigs, including First Ave’s recent Best New Bands showcase. There’s also a large cast of guests on the album, including DeCarlo Jackson, MMYYKK and L.A. Buckner, some of whom might drop in for this release party. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $25, dakotacooks.com)

Also: Harmonious Texas duo Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke, who perform as Penny & Sparrow, balance elegant folk and rowdy, fun alt-twang on their new album, “Lefty” (8 p.m. First Ave, $30); the experimental American Indian electronic group Bizhiki with Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Joe Rainey and Bon Iver’s multi-instrumentalist Sean Carey performs for free at Theodore Worth Park Trailhead as part of the Strib Unbound outdoor-interest fair (12:15 p.m.); reputable local vocalist Sara Renner delivers her soulful gospel with the support from a large cast of musicians and singers (4 p.m. Crooners, $43.47 and up).

10. EXTC: With frontman Andy Partridge swearing off live performances since 1982, XTC’s original drummer Terry Chambers has taken to road with some other veteran U.K. musicians to perform his old band’s songs. He’s joined by Steve Hampton, who’s played with Joe Jackson and the Vapors. They revisit tunes from throughout the band’s discography, especially early-’80s records like “English Settlement” and “Black Sea,” plus hits from late-’80s LPs “Skylarking” and “Oranges & Lemon” from after Chambers’ tenure. “Transmission” DJ Jake Rudh opens for them. (6:30 p.m. Parkway Theater, 41814 Chicago Av. S., Mpls., $29-$49, theparkwaytheater.com)

Also: Grammy-winning, NEA master Branford Marsalis, the saxophonist known for leading “The Tonight Show” band, brings his quartet to town (6:30 & 8:30 p.m. Tue.-Wed. the Dakota, $55-$75); putting a sort of goth-metal spin on the Runaways, L.A. Witch is back (8 p.m. Turf Club, $20); Canadian smooth-jazz guitarist Jesse Cook showcases his Juno-winning style (8:15 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, $45 and up).

Florida’s topical and riling punk-rock hero Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! fame is touring with a new band, the Mississippi Medicals, featuring her wife Paris Campbell Grace and Drive-by Truckers bassist Mike Patton (8 p.m. Amsterdam Bar & Hall, resale only); one-time Gayngs and Megafaun member Phil Cook is out in support of a new solo album produced by his former DeYarmond Edison bandmate Justin Vernon, titled “Appalachia Borealis” (8 p.m. Icehouse, $20-$27); Guyana-rooted Brooklyn rapper Saint Jhn of “Roses” fame blends dance, rock and hip-hop on his new album “Festival Season” (8 p.m. First Ave, $40).