Bill Burr
It wasn't that long ago that Burr didn't see himself playing arenas. "If you can sell out comedy clubs, you're making more than enough money than you'll ever need," he told the Star Tribune in 2015. "The rest is gravy." Since then, Burr's popularity has skyrocketed enough that he can routinely fill venues like the home of the Timberwolves. The success of his brilliant animated series, Netflix's "F Is for Family," has certainly helped. But it's his stand-up performances — raw and politically incorrect, but in a nonthreatening fashion — that have made him one of the biggest names in comedy. (8 p.m. Friday, Target Center, 600 1st Av. N., Mpls. $64.50-$350. ticketmaster.com)
NEAL JUSTIN
Chris Stapleton
His electrifying set opening for George Strait at U.S. Bank Stadium last fall just whetted appetites for a full-blown Stapleton concert. The award-grabbing singer/songwriter/guitarist crafts songs of depth and soul, while musically embracing everything from stone country and Southern soul to hard rock and heavy blues with equal authority. With blues-rock rabble rouser Elle King, whose "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" duet with Miranda Lambert went to No. 1 on the country charts, and Morgan Wade, whose debut, the heavy issues-oriented "Reckless," was one of the best country albums of 2021. (7 p.m. Fri. Xcel Energy Center, 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, $85 and up, ticketmaster.com)
JON BREAM
Manhattan Transfer
This Grammy-winning jazz vocal institution is celebrating its 50th anniversary — and final extensive tour. The quartet made jazzy vocal harmonies cool again by reimagining "Birdland," "Route 66" and other tunes into hits again. With original members Alan Paul and Janis Siegel and longtimer Cheryl Bentyne plus Trist Curless (who replaced the late founder Tim Hauser in 2014), we get to be among the first to say goodbye, in the fourth show on the tour. (7:30 p.m. Wed. State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $44 and up, ticketmaster.com)
J.B.
Minnesota Orchestra
Presenting more works by composers of color has been a stated goal for most of our local classical music presenters, but, for the Minnesota Orchestra's "Listening Project," the music is also recorded for release. Six Black composers will have works performed by conductor Kensho Watanabe and the orchestra: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Eleanor Alberga, Hale Smith, Adolphus Hailstork, Margaret Bonds and Florence Price. Soloing on two of them will be bass-baritone Christopher Humbert Jr. (8 p.m. Friday; Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; $12-$32; 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org.)
ROB HUBBARD
'Five Minutes of Heaven'
Inspired by real incidents, Illusion Theater's drama picks up four decades after a Protestant boy murdered a Catholic teenager in Northern Ireland. In the near-present, the killer — now a builder of peace — meets the younger brother of his victim for an interview on national television. (7:30 Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., ends Oct. 23, Center for the Performing Arts, 3754 Pleasant Av. S., Mpls., masks required, $10-$35, illusiontheater.org.)
CHRIS HEWITT
Chloe Nagle & Kym McDaniel
Choreographer Chloe Nagle and filmmaker Kym McDaniel team up for a series of performances, screenings, works-in-progress showings and a dance/filmmaking workshop Saturday, with doses of community engagement for good measure. The partnership came about after McDaniel developed debilitating chronic pain from a dance injury, and embarked on a series of films called "Exit Strategies," which will be shown Friday. The film explores trauma and healing and will be shown in conjunction with an improvised score that includes audience participation created by Nagle. On Saturday, the duo will present "The Language of Gesture" and show one-minute films. The programming continues on Oct. 14, when McDaniel and Nagle premiere a multimedia work about boundary setting and trauma. (7 p.m. Fri., Sat., Oct. 14, Red Eye Theater, 2213 Snelling Av. S., Mpls. $7-$70, redeyetheater.org.)
SHEILA REGAN
The Head and the Heart
On this year's "Every Shade of Blue," this Seattle ensemble aims for more of a produced alt-pop sound than heard on its early rustic folk-rock records that made them Twin Cities radio favorites in the 2010s with "Lost in My Mind." The long-winded new album features 16 soul-searching selections, including the hit "Virginia (Wind in the Night)" about how relationships with people and places evolve, and the harmony-laden "Love Me Still" and "Shut Up." Opening is Shakey Graves, who commendably reflects the hip eclectic sounds of his hometown of Austin, Texas. (7:30 Fri. the Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls., $42.50 and up, ticketmaster.com)
J.B.
The Heavy Heavy
Like a modern and more psychedelically rocky version of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham — minus the personal contempt, hopefully — Georgie Fuller and Will Turner front this buzz-generating quintet from Brighton, England, with soaring 1+1=3 vocal harmonies and ample lyrical drama. Their infectious single "Miles and Miles" and the accompanying EP, "Life and Life Only," are making their first U.S. headlining trek one of fall's bigger club tours. (8:30 p.m. Fri., 7th St. Entry, 701 1st Av. N., Mpls., $15, axs.com)
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
'Dirty Dancing'
Ballet Co.Laboratory launches its fifth season with a performance and benefit party at its St. Paul location, which has been expanded to include a theater performance space. Genevieve Waterbury's work takes its inspiration from the 1987 coming-of-age dance film "Dirty Dancing." In addition to the performance, the gala offers a chance to mingle with the dancers and artistic staff. There also will be a silent auction, games and food. (4-7 p.m. Sat., Ballet Co.Laboratory Studio Theatre, 276 E. Lafayette Frontage Road, St. Paul, $65, 651-313-5967, balletcolaboratory.org.)
S.R.
Owamni Falling Water Festival
Minneapolis Parks and the St. Anthony Heritage Board host the annual celebration of Minnesota's Indigenous cultures. "Owamni" is the Dakota word for the area of St. Anthony Falls along the Mississippi River meaning "whirling or falling water." Indigenous visual artists will showcase jewelry and native art as well as hands-on art projects. Spirit Boy Singers, the Pretendians, Sampson Brothers and Corey Medina & Brothers perform live and Indigenous food trucks provide a variety of foods. (1-5 p.m. Sat. Free. Mill Ruins Park, 103 Portland Av. S., Mpls. minneapolisparks.org.)
MELISSA WALKER
