Girl in Red with Sunday (1994) @ Palace Theatre—Racket’s style rules (we actually do kinda have them) forbid me from all-capping an album title just because the artist does. But I will defy that edict in the case of Girl in Red’s I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! because Marie Ulven Ringheim is just an all-caps kinda girl. “Hey I took a shower today,” she boasts on the lead track, “I’m Back,” which suggests that a bout with depression may have delayed the new release while acknowledging that “time doesn’t stop for a sad little girl.” (Her last album was in 2021, which wasn’t all that long ago, but three years can feel like forever when you’re 25.) Unashamed enough of her neediness to call a song “Pick Me,” Ringheim gets dumped and rejected a bunch here, often (she says) because she’s too intense for them. Hell, I thought she was a little much myself till Chappell Roan set the bar for pop star overexuberance so high. The music world can always use another queer pop girl, but a Norwegian with no chill? Now that’s a breakthrough in representation.—Keith Harris

Zen Open Jam @ Palmer’s

Jeffrey Foucault (Album Release) with Erik Koskinen @ Parkway

Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Works

Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar

Worker’s Playtime: Mike Munson @ 331 Club

December Conspiracy Series featuring El Drifte, Jared McCloud @ 331 Club

Machine Girl @ Varsity

DL4 with Cole Diamond @ White Squirrel

Izzy Cruz with Willing Done, Woodzen @ White Squirrel

Freak of the Week @ Beast Barbecue—We’re really, really hoping at least one reader begins their day at the alpaca farm (see Saturday's picks for best local events), only to end up in the basement of a BBQ joint dancing their ass off. Because, as Racket readers know, Beast has evolved into one of the hottest dance clubs in town. “I crank it down to 60 degrees before dance parties, because it gets up to 80 by the end,” says John McKinney, Beast’s co-owner-operator and a noted ’90s raver. “Even in the winter, I’m turning on the air conditioner.” For tonight’s special holiday edition of the house/disco/techno/funk party Freak of the Week, you’ve got Berlin’s DJ T-1000 spinning as a headliner, plus veteran local DJ/producer/promoter Nola Rave and fellow local Dedicated Enemy.—Jay Boller

Dan Carpel/Chris Graham/Miguel Hurtado @ Berlin

Room3 @ Berlin

Nudie Nubies Burlesque @ Black Hart

Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s

Supertask, TRIPP ST, & Mousai @ Cabooze

The Customers, Mean Magic, Tim Casey & the Martyrs @ Cloudland

Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners

Arne Fogel @ Crooners

Dorothy Doring and Adi Yeshaya @ Crooners

José James @ Dakota

Glycerin Tears and Friends @ Driftwood

Dead by 50, Bong Reaper, Die Ghost @ Eagles 34

Steve Clarke & the Working Stiffs with Miss Shannon @ Eagles 34

Santa Rave⏤The Ultimate Holiday Themed Rave @ Fine Line

Emo Nite with Derek Sanders (of Mayday Parade) @ First Avenue

Pity Party, Quietchild, Cause for Concern, Emily and the Space Butterflies @ The Garage

Eva Markham @ Ginkgo Coffee

BeBe Zahara Benet @ Granada

Yam Haus with brotherkenzie @ Green Room

Trailer Trash’s Trashy Little Xmas Show @ Hook and Ladder

Sarah Morris Holiday Show @ Icehouse

Chris Bates: BCE @ Jazz Central

Man Cub with KEPIK, Red Comet, Panduhh, and Psychodelix

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin @ The Lyric

The Champagne Drops @ Metronome

GB Leighton @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Crimes Against Ravers Nu Metal Night @ Mortimers

R&B Takeover @ Myth Live

John Denver: A Rocky Mountain Holiday @ Orchestra Hall

VocalEssence: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio @ Orchestra Hall

The Walker Brothers Band @ Padraigs

Wilco @ Palace Theatre—I’m not nearly as big a fan of Jeff Tweedy and his crew as someone with my demographic stats should be. I appreciate Nels Cline’s improvisatory ability, Jeff Tweedy’s songcraft, and the band’s willingness to dramatically recast its material in a live setting, but their music rewards my concentration without ever quite commanding it, to put it politely. Something in Tweedy’s pleasant but narrow voice just homogenizes their emotional palette. Still, I don’t begrudge the faithful this three-night stand at the Palace, a reconfiguration of a seasonal event the band once called “Winterlude” (also the name of one of my favorite Dylan nonsense songs). They promise no repeats over the course of the weekend, and the only other cities where it’s happening are Tulsa and Austin (the Texas one).—Keith Harris

The Slow Death, Lutheran Heat, and the Right Here @ Palmer’s

The Blenders @ Pantages Theatre

Tina Schlieske & Friends @ Parkway

Den of Thieves @ Pilllar Forum

Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern

Greg Downey with Some DJ, Montoni, Trance Jesus @ Skyway Theatre

Illiterate Light with Palmyra @ 7th St Entry

Pay Dirt, Darkling, Velour Tomb @ Seward Cafe

Threads Electric, Son/Boy, Poolboy @ 331 Club

A Tribute to the Replacements feat. The Melismatics @ Turf Club

An Electrifying Evening of Black Sabbath & Iron Maiden @ Uptown VFW

Devil Dodger with Mammoth Moth @ White Squirrel