Thursday, Sept. 15
1. My Chemical Romance: A decade after splitting up with only one Top 10 hit to their name ("Welcome to the Black Parade") and a modest but avid cult following, the black-attired New Jersey quartet is back and bigger than ever. Their reunion outing is already shaping up to be one of the highest-grossing rock treks of the year, attributable to the fact that their goth-punk aesthetic and singer Gerard Way's angsty emo-rock lyrics perennially appeal to tortured teens and Hot Topic store shoppers. Reviews have been strong, too. Pittsburgh punk band the Homeless Gospel Choir opens. (7:30 p.m. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $176-$306, ticketmaster.com)
Also: Veteran Twin Cities singer-songwriter Eric Peltoniemi will reunite with vocalist Ruth MacKenzie and others for a retrospective of songs he wrote for various productions at History Theater (7:30 p.m. also Fri.-Sun. Gremlin Theatre, $25); soulful Austin blues-rocker with the Texas-size voice Ruthie Foster returns to Minnesota after playing Bayfront Blues Fest last month (7 p.m., also Fri., the Dakota, $37-47); San Francisco's psychedelic punks the Osees are back with another record, "A Foul Form" (8:30 p.m. First Avenue, $24-$26); U.K. blues-rocker Davy Knowles, formerly of Back Door Slam, visits with the Claudettes (7 p.m. the Hook & Ladder outside, $20-$36).
Friday, Sept. 16
2. Doobie Brothers: After rejoining the Doobies following after a 26-year absence, singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald missed one gig last year — the Minnesota State Fair — because of COVID-19. The band played the show without him, cutting "What a Fool Believes" and a couple other tunes from their setlist. The Doobies are back with McDonald as their 50th anniversary tour continues. (8 p.m. Treasure Island Resort & Casino Amphitheater, Welch, $39-$129, ticketmaster.com)
3. Gear Daddies: Thirty-six years after moving out of 7th St. Entry to the Mainroom via the annual Best New Bands showcase — same year as Trip Shakespeare and Run Westy Run! — the twang-rock vets from Austin, Minn., are returning to the scene of their hard-grinding days. Their two-night stand is tied to a limited vinyl re-release of their second album, 1990's "Billy's Live Bait," which scored the hockey-arena anthem "(I Wanna Drive a) Zamboni" as well as fan favorites like "Stupid Boy" and "Wear Your Crown." Oh fer fun. (8 p.m., also Sat., 7th St. Entry, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $65, axs.com)
4. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue: This year's studio album, "Lifted," captures this irresistible New Orleans party band more effectively than any of Shorty's previous efforts. It's a festive, fulfilling gumbo of NOLA jazz, funk, gospel, soul and rock, with hints of Stevie Wonder, George Clinton and Jimi Hendrix. Guests Gary Clark Jr. and Lauren Daigle give integral assists, but Shorty's usual horn section and guitarist Pete Murano are MVPs. A favorite at the Minnesota Zoo and last year at the Hilde, Trombone Shorty finds yet another outdoor Twin Cities venue. (7 p.m. Canterbury Park, 1100 Canterbury Rd., Shakopee, $30 and up, suemclean.com)
Also: Often compared to her fellow Cape Verdean native Cesaria Evora, romantic balladeer Lucibela rarely makes it this far north (8 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $22-$27); Twin Cities indie-folk hero Mason Jennings returned to form on his latest album, "Real Heart," and is returning to south Minneapolis' coolest neighborhood theater (7 p.m. Parkway Theater, $39-$79); Soul Asylum takes to the slopes for the Buck Hill concert weekend with "Hey There Delilah" hitmakers Plain White T's (5:30 p.m. Buck Hill, $49-$149); the Flamin' Ohs get their rocks off again with Annie & the Bang Bang (7 p.m. Hook & Ladder outside, $15-$25); Twin Cities powerhouse Kathleen Johnson reprises her spot-on Etta James tribute (8 p.m. Crooners, $30 and up); the long-lived Bellamy Brothers, who crossed over from pop to country and stayed there, bring back "Let Your Love Flow" (8 p.m. Medina Entertainment Center, $31-$41).
Saturday, Sept. 17
5. La Grande Bande: "The stylus phantasticus." That's what you can expect from this period instrument orchestra when it performs sonatas, fugues and chamber works by baroque-era Polish and Czech composers in northeast Minneapolis, which has a rich Polish and Czech tradition of its own. La Grande Bande features some very fine early music practitioners from Minnesota and beyond, and is devoted to bringing music of 1600 to 1800. (7:30 p.m. Holy Cross Catholic Church, 1621 University Ave. N.E., Mpls., $10-$25, lagrandebande.org.)
Also: Fiery Brooklyn indie-rock band Momma, led by '90s-channeling duo Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, are earning a big, deserved buzz off their third album "Household Name" (9 p.m. Turf Club, $15); jazzy guitar star Julian Lage celebrates his new album, "View with a Room," which drops on Friday (6:30 & 8:30 p.m. the Dakota, $26-$36); before he hits the road this fall with Carrie Underwood, 2021 CMA best new artist Jimmie Allen headlines Bend of the River Fall Festival in Mankato, with Priscilla Block and Jason Nix (11 a.m. Minnesota State Mankato, $45 and up); Twin Cities singer-songwriter Charlie Maguire, who once served as Minnesota State Parks Troubadour, celebrates 50 years of music making (8 p.m. Gingko Coffeehouse, $20); Steve Kenny Quintet, with guest drummer Kevin Washington, observes the one-year anniversary of KJ's Hideaway with a tribute to John Coltrane (9 p.m. KJ's Hideaway, $15).
Sunday, Sept. 18
Also: Well-traveled jazz pianist Johnny O'Neal, who portrayed Art Tatum in the 2004 movie "Ray," makes his Crooners debut (7:30 p.m. Crooners, $30-$40); Twin Cities singer-songwriter Sheridan Zuther of the jazz group Five By Design celebrates her solo album "Songs from the Silo," with tunes reflecting her North Dakota roots (7 p.m. the Dakota, $20-$30); Ukrainian-rooted Canadian "guerilla folk" duo Buklakalava Blues, an offshoot of the Lemon Bucket Orchestra, pairs up with local troupe the Ukrainian Village Band (7:30 p.m. Cedar Cultural Center, $20-$22); honky-tonk hero Dale Watson will once again salute his favorite (defunct) Minneapolis watering hole, with his 1999 tune "Louie's Lee's Liquor Lounge" (7 p.m. Hook & Ladder outdoors, $28-$33); if you can't make a trip to New Orleans right now, check out the Southside Aces, the Twin Cities' premier purveyors of NOLA trad jazz (6 p.m. Belvedere tent at Crooners, $15-$25).
Monday, Sept. 19
6. Peter Ostroushko tribute: He was a first-call mandolinist-fiddler in the Twin Cities, an Emmy-winning composer and a solo artist extraordinaire who could do anything from ethnic (he proudly acknowledged his Ukrainian roots) to elegant (he performed with symphony orchestras). He played with everyone from Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson to Garrison Keillor and Emmylou Harris. The late Minnesota music maker will be saluted by some of the best and brightest locals (Prudence Johnson, Dean Magraw, Becky Thompson, among others) and out-of-towners (Greg Brown, Claudia Schmidt, Robin and Linda Williams). (7 p.m. Woman's Club, 410 Oak Grove St., Mpls., $30, eventbrite.com)
Also: After playing two sold-out nights at the Palace Theatre in 2019, Tenacious D — Jack Black and Kyle Gass — returns to answer the question: Are they a rock band as theater or theater as a rock band? (7 p.m. Surly Festival Field, $59.50); Sabrina Claudio, one of five cowriters of Beyonce's "Plastic Off the Sofa" on "Renaissance," dropped her fourth LP, "Based on a Feeling," this spring (7:30 p.m. Varsity Theater, $32.50 and up).
Tuesday, Sept. 20
7. The Killers: They have not one but two strong new albums to promote. Original guitarist Dave Keuning has rejoined. And their brand of hopeful, celebratory, U2- and Springsteen-ized modern rock has never sounded more like a tonic to worldly woes. All are strong reasons to see Brandon Flowers and his Las Vegas-reared gang of "Mr. Brightside" and "All These Things I've Done" fame on their current Imploding the Mirage Tour, named after the first of those pandemic-era records. One more selling point: Guitarist Johnny Marr of the Smiths opens. (7:30 p.m. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $45-$95, ticketmaster.com)
8. Arlo Parks: After her Mercury Prize-winning debut "Collapsed in Sunbeams" became one of the most soothing feel-good albums of the pandemic, the London soul-pop singer has been steadily touring her way across America playing festivals and tour dates with Clairo. She and her jazzy band have worked up a spunkily groovy live show along the way and are more than ready to headline the Mainroom. Another viral British songwriting act the Del Water Gap opens. (7 p.m. First Avenue, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $31-$36, axs.com)
Also: Magical ukulele innovator Jake Shimabukuro returns behind his 2021 LP "Jake and Friends," which featured Warren Haynes, Bette Midler, Jack Johnson, Billy Strings and others (7:30 p.m. Fitzgerald, $30); experimental noise-rock duo Divide & Dissolve return for a local club gig after raising hell at Rock the Garden in June (8 p.m. 7th St. Entry, $15-$18).
Wednesday, Sept. 21
9. Pavement: A band that made "idiosyncratic" one of the most overused music-critic words in the mid-'90s, the Stockton, Calif., indie-rockers are back for only their second real reunion tour since first splitting up in 1999. Their solid 2010 outing belied their often ramshackle performances back in the day, and it sounds like this trek is shaping up nicely, too, with all the original members plus newcomer Rebecca Cole from Wild Flag. They're touting Matador Records' new expanded edition of the "Terror Twilight" album but pulling from all the records. Iowa's Annalibera opens. (7:30 p.m. Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, $60-$125, axs.com)
10. Seun Kuti: The youngest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti leads his late father's large group, Egypt 80. When the Nigerian singer-saxophonist's ensemble played Rock the Garden in 2015, they blended horn-driven jazz, soukous, reggae, calypso and rock sounds into a most delicious smoothie. This time, Kuti and company, who have been playing festivals and clubs on the Love & Revolution U.S. Tour, return indoors. (7 p.m. the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., $40-$50, dakotacooks.com)
Also: Nigerian singer Omah Lay is getting attention for his current Justin Bieber collab, "Attention" (7 p.m. Varsity Theater, $30 and up); punchy, evocative Australian rocker Stella Donnelly is earning high praise for her second album, "Flood" (8 p.m. Fine Line, $18-$20).
Rob Hubbard contributed to this column.
