Mdou Moctar @ Fine Line—The Niger-based Moctar is by far the most successful practitioner of the West African style that we’ve all agreed to call Tuareg desert blues for the sake of convenience, and local audiences have had plenty of opportunities to watch him shred with his band. Tonight, however, he’ll be solo, though that doesn’t necessarily mean acoustic. Even on his most recent release, Tears of Injustice, a quieter reimagining of the songs on his previous album, Funeral for Justice, he didn’t set aside his electric entirely. Judging from early tour reports, there’ll be plenty of volume. And while I suspect a rhythm section will be missed, Moctar is a solid enough performer to make up some of the difference.

Wage War, Nevertel, Orthodox @ First Avenue

Murder Curious, Virgo, The Staboteurs @ Flying V

The Silent Treatment, the Dirty Pretty @ Gambit Brewing

DUSSE X ENL @ Gidi

Candlelight: 90s Unplugged @ Granada

Candlelight: Tribute to Tool @ Granada

Sleepyheads Early Indie Dance Party @ Green Room

KP Presents BAYROOM: Pre-EDC Party @ Green Room

GRRRL SCOUT Presents Mature Content @ Icehouse

Paul Silbergleit Trio (Album Release) @ Jazz Central

Agony in the Living Room, Bright Young Things, Rigby @ Klash Coffee

Kaivon @ The Loft

Bobby Jensen & the Dead Cowboys @ Mainstreet Bar

Switchyard, Luke Warm and the Cool Hands @ Memory Lanes

SlovCzech @ Metronome Brewery

The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ MPLS @ Modist Brewing

Ja Rule @ Mystic Lake

Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle @ Orchestra Hall

Spring Festival @ Orchestra Hall

Art Dept. @ Padraigs

PK Mayo @ Schooner Tavern

New Dad, Freak Slug @ 7th St Entry

Giving Voice Chorus @ Sundin Music Hall

Greentop, side,door @ Terminal Bar

Chris Trapper, Pete Muller @ 318 Cafe

Baby Mahi and the Sitters, Fairooz Nazifa and Dost Toast, Pelicant @ 331 Club

Voltage Controller @ 331 Club

Gear Daddies, Belfast Cowboys @ Treasure Island

J. Roddy Walston, Beemer @ Turf Club

Grand Demise of Civilization, Sunless, Ulkum @ Underground Music

Sci-Fi Night @ Underground Music

Malamanya, DJ Salsa Brava @ Uptown VFW

Tarek Abedelqader Quartet @ Volstead’s

The Get Up Mondays, Frannie Crego @ White Squirrel

Giant Valley String Band, Earnest Money @ White Squirrel

Sweet Heat, Nathan Walker, Thomas Richey @ White Squirrel

LUNGS, SHRIVE, Body, Fairer Sands @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, May 10

N3RD4KING @ Acadia

Rêvefleur, Gauze, Spiderlily @ Amsterdam

The Smokin’ Session @ Animales

Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Kenny Reichert’s Letters From the Road: Moldovest @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunker’s

Rachel Holder and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Mama’s Boys: A Mother’s Day Special: C Willi Myles & Fred Steele @ Crooners

Mother’s Day Cabaret with Erin Schwab, Jay Fuchs and Sophie Todaro @ Crooners

Women Who Cook @ Dakota

Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar

Crown of Clover @ Dubliner Pub

Robb Henry Trio @ Dubliner Pub

Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

Maye, Ambar Lucid, judith @ Fine Line

Sophie Hiroko, Quintin Fernandez, Ladyslipper, One Big Quilt @ Green Room

Flamenco en la primavera @ Icehouse

Obi Original and the Black Atlantics @ Icehouse

Cabaret with Jen Burleigh-Bentz and Jen Maren @ Metronome Brewery

Disco Kings and the V Gees @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Spring Festival @ Orchestra Hall

Anthony Shore & His All-Star Band’s Tribute to Elvis @ Parkway

Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern

Foxtide, Hallpass @ 7th St Entry

Ann Reed, Joan Griffith @ 318 Cafe

Emmy Woods and Friends @ 331 Club

Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School @ 331 Club

Daniel Romano's Outfit, Uni Boys @ Turf Club

The Afghan Whigs, Mercury Rev @ Varsity—With Greg Dulli and his Cincinnati crew celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band, I gotta wonder if any guitar-toting youngsters have recently fallen for the Whigs’ venomous 1993 classic Gentlemen? It’s a galvanizing, unpleasant document, with guitarist Rick McCollum locked into the spot where alt-rock meets hard funk as Dulli explores the nastier side of his sexualized, manipulative, maybe even abusive persona. Coming from Dulli, “Ladies let me tell you about myself/I got a dick for a brain/And my brain/Is gonna sell my ass to you” is both a promise and threat. Always a fan of modern R&B—he used to sneak TLC covers into his set back when that was pretty adventurous—Dulli got even funkier on the follow-up called, erm, Black Love, before label politics fucked the band over. Oh also, he knows Minneapolis enough that he once changed a lyric at First Ave from “Fountain and Fairfax” to “Hennepin and Colfax.”—Keith Harris

Cap’n Al, Chickaboom & Troglodyte, Ballroom Surfers @ White Squirrel

Cal Pflum @ White Squirrel

Open Jam @ White Squirrel