Thursday, Nov. 10
1. Minnesota Orchestra: Osmo Vänskä has some unfinished business. The orchestra's longtime music director returns to complete its quest to record all 10 of Gustav Mahler's symphonies. The epic Third is the conventional classical repertoire's longest symphony, one in which, the composer said, "the whole of nature finds a voice." The orchestra expects to keep it under 95 minutes when performing it with mezzo Jennifer Johnston, the Minnesota Chorale and the Minnesota Boychoir, going before the mics the following week. (11 a.m., also 8 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $30-$104, minnesotaorchestra.org.)
2. Joshua Bell and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Arguably the world's most famous violinist, classical superstar Bell returns to St. Paul, where he was an SPCO artistic partner from 2004-2007. He'll solo on a Romantic-era gem, Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto, and lead the SPCO in symphonies by Mozart and Georges Bizet from the concertmaster's chair. There also will be an open rehearsal at 10 a.m. Thursday with $15 tickets. (7:30 p.m., also 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ordway Concert Hall, 345 Washington St., St. Paul; free-$50; thespco.org.)
Also: An influential Los Angeles rock band associated with the Paisley Underground scene, the Dream Syndicate with Steve Wynn is on tour marking the 40th anniversary of its debut album, "The Days of Wine and Roses" (8 p.m. Turf Club, $25-$30); a country and bluegrass sideman always in high demand in Nashville, Jim Lauderdale is back out proving he's also a mighty fine songwriter (8 p.m. Hook & Ladder Mission Room, $25-$40); gritty and colorful Texas country-bluesman Scott H. Biram plays next door to Lauderdale (7:30 p.m. Hook & Ladder, $16-$22); modern L.A. psyche rocker Ty Segall is back on tour playing solo/acoustic shows (8 p.m. Fine Line, $25); Gear Daddies leader Martin Zellar plays an intimate gig at a Western 'burbs music mainstay (8 p.m. 318 Cafe, Excelsior, $30); local tribute maniacs Private Oates celebrates a 10th anniversary edition of Indeed Brewing's Day Tripper ale (9 p.m. Icehouse, free).
Friday, Nov. 11
3. Joe Bonamassa: He's one bluesman who won't get burned by the business. That's because the blues-rock guitar hero with the journeyman voice promotes his own concerts and operates a record label. To coincide with this fall's return to the road, Bonamassa has released "Road to Redemption," an EP that features three songs from 2018's "Redemption" and three numbers previously available only on the "Redemption" CD sold at Target. The highlights are a collab with Jamey Johnson, the suitably moody Southern rocker "The Ghost of Macon Jones," and the smoldering, Gregg Allmanesque "Stronger Now in Broken Places." (8 p.m., also Sat., Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $63 and up, ticketmaster.com)
4. The Backseat Lovers: Coming off like a Utah counterpart to poppy Twin Cities indie-rockers Hippo Campus but with a little more classic-rock influence, these former high school classmates jump from playing the Entry last year to the Palace riding the viral wave behind such warm and buoyant singles as "Kilby Girl" and "Pool House" and the more frantic "Growing/Dying." The latter is from the group's second album, released last month, "Waiting to Spill." There's a good buzz for the band's live shows, too, following gigs at Austin City Limits and many other festivals. Louisville band Bendigo Fletcher opens. (8 p.m. Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, all ages, $32.50-$47.40, axs.com)
Also: Tyrese, the "Fast and Furious" and "Morbius" actor, exercises his R&B chops, which led to such turn-of-the-century hits as "Sweet Lady" and "How You Gonna Act Like That" as well as this year's album "Beautiful Pain" (8 p.m. Mystic Lake Casino, $49 and up); lo-fi Canadian electro-pop trio Men I Trust disproves the title of its 2021 record, "Untourable Album" (8:30 p.m. First Ave, $24-$31).
Saturday, Nov. 12
5. Beth Orton: A great, big, collective sigh might be audible from the West Bank when this '90s-risen British folk/indie-rock songwriter of "Concrete Sky" fame finally comes to town again, with her dramatic, smoked-honey voice that can soothe the roughest edges. There's plenty of edginess on her first album in six years, "Weather Alive," inspired by friends' deaths and her own health scare. She's touring with a band, but the venue guarantees an intimate experience. Heather Woods Broderick from Sharon Van Etten's band opens. (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $28, thecedar.org)
6. Zakir Hussain: The tabla master — who has worked with Mickey Hart, John McLaughlin and Bela Fleck, among others — returns with sitar ace Niladri Kumar. It was Hussain's father, Ustad Allah Rakha, and Ravi Shankar who introduced America to the Indian tradition of drummer-sitarist collaborations at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock two years later. Fleet-fingered Kumar, who comes from five generations of sitar players, invented his own red electric Sitar, which he dubbed the Zitar. (8 p.m. Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, $39-$79, axs.com)
7. American Roots Revue: St. Louis Park singer-songwriter Larry Long and his long-running all-star show celebrates the release of a new album, "Live at the Dakota." The record features Tonia Hughes Kendrick's interpretation of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," Robert Robinson's "Everybody's Chains Came Off," Claudia Schmidt's "Long, Long Time," Billy Steele's "Blessing Song" and Long's "Holy Ground." All of those musicians and drummer Michael Bland will be part of the album release concert. (6:30 & 8:30 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $20-$40, dakotacooks.com)
8. Maggie Rose: After her 2012 breakout song "I Ain't Your Mama" suggested she could be the next Miranda Lambert, this Nashville fixture and Grand Ole Opry regular has leaned heavily into her Southern soul and rock influences in recent years and went over well opening for Christone "Kingfish" Ingram earlier this year at the State Theatre. Her 2021 record, "Have a Seat," was recorded in Muscle Shoals with members of the legendary session band the Swampers and sounds like a cross between Bonnie Raitt and Brandi Carlile. Local songwriter Molly Brandt opens. (8:30 p.m. Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul, $16-$18, axs.com)
Also: Guitarist John Petrucci, co-founder of prog-metal band Dream Theater, is traveling in support of his second solo album, 2020's "Terminal Velocity" (8 p.m. Pantages Theatre, $29.50-$169.50); Amy Helm, a child of Woodstock and the Band's Levon Helm, is touring behind her third album of commendable Americana, "What the Flood Leaves Behind" (7:30 p.m. Sheldon Theatre, Red Wing, $23-$43); Denver's elegant and dramatic, Eastern Europe-infused chamber-rock/cabaret-folk group DeVotchKa lights up the Mainroom once again (8:30 p.m. First Avenue, $30); math must be hard for organizes of the Trinity of Terror Tour which features four ghoulish, goth-y metal bands led by Ice Nine Kills with Black Veil Brides, Motionless in White and Atreyu (6 p.m. the Armory, Mpls., all ages, $47-$67).
Sunday, Nov. 13
9. Dave Matthews Band: After a summer of outdoor shows, DMB has headed inside for Fall Tour 2022. Not only will it be the band's first Twin Cities appearance since playing the night before the 2018 Super Bowl at Xcel Energy Center, but it will be DMB's first local performance with new keyboardist Buddy Strong, who joined in summer 2018 after having toured with Usher and Ariana Grande. As with all great jam bands, DMB set lists vary from show to show but this year the 30-year-old group, in its two-hour marathons, has mixed in covers of Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and the Isley Brothers, with its catalog of originals. (7:30 p.m. Target Center, 600 N. 1st Av., Mpls., $45.50-$750, axs.com)
10. Haochen Zhang: China has brought us some of classical music's most exciting young pianists in recent decades, including Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. Add to the list Haochen Zhang, who, at age 19, tied for first at America's top piano competition, the Van Cliburn, and is now a celebrated soloist who just recorded the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He'll perform a Chopin Society recital featuring two works by Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt's virtuosic Transcendental Etudes. (3 p.m. Mairs Concert Hall, 130 Macalester St., St. Paul, $40, chopinsocietymn.org.)
Also: Canadian rock troupe Arcade Fire is soldiering on with the North American tour for its "We" album despite recent sexual misconduct allegations made against frontman Win Butler, after which the scheduled opener Beck dropped out and was replaced by Haitian political groovers Boukman Eksperyans (7:30 p.m. the Armory, Mpls., $57); Kathy Mattea, an underappreciated Grammy-winning 1990s country star who is just as comfortable in folk and Celtic circles, returns to her husband's hometown (7 & 9 p.m. the Dakota, $30-$45); fiery local rockers Annie & the Bang Bang play an early-evening gig (5 p.m. Icehouse, $12).
Monday, Nov. 14
PBS-endorsed Nathan Carter, a British-born Irish singer-songwriter, brings "Wagon Wheel" and other favorites to Burnsville (7 p.m. Ames Center, $30-$50).
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Guitar marvel Stanley Jordan, whose repertoire is as adventurous as his tapping technique, is working solo on this trip (8 p.m. the Dakota, $30-$35); Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket gets intimate for a solo show (8 p.m. Icehouse, $30-$35); Robin Kyle of the vibrant '00s-era Twin Cities rock band Valet is hosting a November residency gig and this week has brother Ben Kyle of Romantica for a guest (9 p.m. 331 Club, free).
Wednesday, Nov. 16
Boston's legendarily rowdy Celtic punk band the Dropkick Murphys are playing sit-down theaters for the first time ever on tour in conjunction with their new all-acoustic Woody Guthrie tribute album, "This Machine Still Kills Fascists" (7:15 p.m., State Theatre, $40-$80); Quebe Sisters, three fiddlin' and harmonizin' sisters who have dazzled at the State Fair, bring their progressive Western swing downtown (7 p.m. the Dakota, $30-$40); California howler Davey Hovak and his cult-loved emo-punk band AFI are finally playing makeup dates on their "Bodies" tour (7 p.m. the Fillmore, $30); Infamous Stringdusters, those fancy pickin' progressive bluegrassers, are celebrating their new album, "Toward the Fray" (8 p.m. Fine Line, $30-$45).
Classical music critic Rob Hubbard contributed to this column.
