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

1. Dessa: After channeling classical music again at Orchestra Hall this summer, the Twin Cities' favorite rapper/singer/author/poet/podcaster is bound to get her groove back as she returns to the site of so many wild nights by her old Doomtree crew. She's been touring with a new, New York-based band and a sly and at times exhilarating new album, "Bury the Lede," one that emphasizes her electronic and pop leanings. Lady Midnight opens supporting her own highly danceable new LP, "Pursuit & the Elusive." (8 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1^st Av. N., Mpls., resale tickets only, first-avenue.com)

2. Minnesota Orchestra: French pianist Bertrand Chamayou has been a classical buzz artist ever since he won the 2019 Gramophone Award for recording of the year. That was for two Camille Saint-Saëns piano concertos he recorded with the French National Orchestra. One of them was the Fifth, which he'll perform here with fellow countryman Fabien Gabel on the podium. The watery program also includes Anatol Lyadov's "The Enchanted Lake," Erich Korngold's Suite from "The Sea Hawk," and Peter Tchaikovsky's Fantasy-Overture, "The Tempest." (11 a.m. Thu., 8 p.m. Fri., 7 p.m. Sat., Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $25-$106, minnesotaorchestra.org)

Also: Folk veteran Tom Rush of "No Regrets" fame wraps up his two-night stand (7 p.m. the Dakota); harmonious Texas folk duo Jackopierce is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an all-seated Turf Club show (8 p.m., $35); the Tenors, Canada's operatic pop quartet, harmonizes (8 p.m. Fitzgerald, $35 and up).

3. The Eagles: Enough with tequila sunrise. It's the sunset for the Eagles, or so they promise, as their Long Goodbye Tour lands in St. Paul for two nights. Unlike their last go-round when they played "Hotel California" in its entirety, this is an Eagles greatest hits show, with a couple Joe Walsh and Don Henley solo smashes mixed in. This tour also has an opening act: Steely Dan has been advertised, though it has bowed out of all shows since Sept. 20 because frontman Donald Fagen was hospitalized with an unspecified illness. Although Fagen is out of the hospital, the Doobie Brothers will open here. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $144.50-$1,750, ticketmaster.com)

4. Liz Phair: One of the most celebrated indie records of the 1990s, Phair's double-LP debut "Exile in Guyville," turns 30 this year, and she's marking the occasion by playing it in full with a live band for the first time on tour. Candid and wry tracks like "Stratford-on-Guy," "Divorce Song" and "[Expletive] and Run" set the then-early-20-something Chicago rocker apart as what music critic Edna Gunderson called "a royally perturbed feminist," and there's an enduring charm and power in them. Los Angeles-based opener Blondshell, aka fuzz-rocker Sabrina Teitelbaum, put on a riveting set in the Entry in July. (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, $50-$100, axs.com)

5. Don McLean: The veteran singer/songwriter is certainly a whole lot more than his 1971 classic "American Pie," the epic hit about the day the music died, reflecting on the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in Clear Lake, Iowa, in 1959. His other songs include the modest hit "Vincent (Starry Starry Night)," a salute to painter Vincent Van Gogh, that has been recorded by Josh Groban, Ellie Goulding and NOFX, and "And I Love You So," which was recorded by Elvis Presley, Helen Reddy and Glen Campbell. In McLean's first Twin Cities performance in years, he might offer his new "Ballad of George Floyd" or maybe something from his just-released "Christmas Memories: Remixed and Remastered." (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $145-$175, dakotacooks.com)

Also: Feel-good Twin Cities pop-rock trio Yam Haus has yet to fulfill either sides of their fun new EP, "Stupid and Famous," but they've been earning rave receptions on tour with Sawyer this fall and are celebrating with a big homecoming (8 p.m. First Ave, $20-$25); "Cruel to Be Kind"-hitmaking British pop vet Nick Lowe is back out with masked retro-rock stylists Los Straitjackets as his backers and settling in for two nights in a town that loves them both (8 p.m. Turf Club, also Sat., $35); viral Detroit rapper Veeze is out supporting his second album, "Ganger" (7 p.m. Fine Line, all ages, $25); AJ Croce sings "Time in a Bottle" and the other songs of his father, Jim Croce (8 p.m. Pantages Theatre, $48.50 and up); saxophonist Jose James leads an all-star Twin Cities band paying tribute to Grover Washington (8 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35); Twin Cities duo Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs celebrate "The Beat Goes On" featuring 1971 songs from Carole King, David Bowie, Rolling Stones and others (7 p.m. Crooners, $25-$35).

7. Big Hits of Mid-America, Vol. 3 Reissue Party: A sought-after vinyl set that goes for $50-plus at record shows, this 1979 double-LP compilation of mostly Minnesotan acts from a then-fledgling Twin/Tone Records — based on a prior series from the Soma label — is getting an overdue vinyl reissue from BackGroove Records, which is affiliated with the great Hopkins shop Mill City Sound. Some of the surviving acts are reuniting on stage to celebrate its re-release, including: pioneering punk trio the Suicide Commandos; garage-rock greats the Hypstrz with Billy and Ernest Batson; hard-grooving rockers Fingerprints and the Pistons, Milwaukee's Yipes! and the ever-enduring Curtiss A. (7 p.m. Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Main St., Hopkins, $30-$35, $60 with LP, hopkinsartscenter.com)

8. Miloš: When classical music fans want something quiet and meditative, they often switch off the symphonies, concertos and arias and turn toward a solo classical guitarist. And, in recent years, that guitarist has been mostly Miloš. Originally from Montenegro, he's a consistent classical chart-topper, his albums sometimes hitting the pop charts, too. His latest is "Baroque," and he'll spend most of these two Schubert Club International Artist Series concerts in that era, tossing in a bit of Beatles, too. (7:30 p.m., also 3 p.m. Sun., Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, $36-$75, students and children free, schubert.org)

Also: Big Wu guitarist Mark Joseph and his more Southern-fried solo band American Soul are celebrating a spirited new album, "Palisade Peach," with accompaniment by special guest Melvin Seals of the Jerry Garcia Band and an opening set by hippie-soul funnyman Heatbox, also touting a new LP (7:30 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, $33); a tradition rooted in his decision to move to Minnesota to raise his family, East Coast folk music hero and Red House Records staple John Gorka is playing his usual pre-holidays-homecoming concert (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $25-$30); Trampled by Turtles frontman Dave Simonett is playing his makeup date for the Music & Storyteller's Session at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis, (7:30 p.m., $37-$47); there's a special matinee show at Minneapolis' new punk haven with Off With Their Heads and Christy Costello (2 p.m. Cloudland Theater, $18).

9. Jonas Brothers: Now we know why Joe Jonas looked so distracted at the Minnesota State Fair — his marriage was breaking up. Plus, that night the Jonas Brothers had to abbreviate their Five Albums One Night World Tour show because of State Fair time constraints. So now we get the full Jo Bros in their version of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour — more than 30 songs in nearly three hours by Kevin, Joe and Nick. Lawrence, another sibling pop act, opens. (7 p.m. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $45-$695, ticketmaster.com)

Also: Senegalese American R&B/hip-hop singer and producer Akon of mid-'00s "I Wanna Love You" and "Smack That" fame is thanking longtime supporters and getting intimate on his Superfan Tour (6 p.m. the Fillmore, all ages, resale only); local jazz stalwarts Bryan Murray, Brandon Wozniak, Adam Linz, JT Bates and more are helping to break in a jazz matinee series at the new Cloudland Theater (2 p.m., $12).

Cult-loved and truly cultish Chicago metal band Coven is still around with original singer Jinx Dawson and on the so-called Satanic Panic tour with another witchy band from Berlin, Lucifer (8 p.m. Fine Line, $25-$40).

10. Ike Reilly Assassination: Usually a pre-holiday diversion to offset time with family, the 20^th installment of Reilly's Thanksgiving Eve show will itself be a family affair. The slicingly poetic, unpretentiously punky Libertyville, Ill., rocker has been incorporating his three sons into his already-brotherly live shows after also recruiting them to create even bigger singalongs on his rousing 2021 album "Because the Angels." He also has buoyant Twin Cities family band the Shackletons serving as openers alongside the Belfast Cowboys, led Terry Walsh, whose music scribe brother Jim is largely credited for generating the heavy local buzz that led to this almost-annual tradition. (7:30 p.m. First Avenue, $25, axs.com)