The Pixies, The Datsuns
@ Roy Wilkins Auditorium

The unexpected im-promptu reunion of the Pixies earlier this year turned into quite the media feeding frenzy (can you say SPIN cover?). Despite playing just one new song and readily admitting they’re getting back together solely to claim the monetary rewards they should have scooped up the first time around, Pixies-mania is hitting big-time. On their current tours they’re selling on site insta-bootlegs for a pretty penny and fans are lapping it up. Admittedly, nostalgia rarely sounds this cool. All the semi-hit pre-grunge dorm room smashes with inexplicable surreal lyrics should be present and accounted for (“Monkey Gone to Heaven”) so get ready to flip your bic and see college rock stars transformed into arena heroes by the passage of time. Also on the bill are New Zealand’s the Datsuns a band with the London music press on their side and a surprisingly effective take on raunchy ’70s-inspired rock. With a sound unflinchingly huge enough to suit the awkward gymnasium aesthetic of the Wilkins auditorium, the Datsuns should do a more than adequate job of getting the crowd amped up for the main event. 7:30 p.m. $33.25. All Ages. 175 West Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul. 651-265-4800. Also Thu., 11/11, 7:30 p.m. $33.25. All Ages. Rob van Alstyne

Lifestyle of Wigs
@ The Uptown Bar

Lifestyle of Wigs current tenure as one of the Twin Cities best kept rock ’n’ roll secrets is about to come to an end with the shortly pending release of their debut album. As anyone lucky enough to get their hands on a copy of this year’s Twin Town High CD will recall, one of the album’s stand-out tracks was dropped by Lifestyle of Wigs in the form of the slow-burning light twang rocker “All Faithful.” Currently finishing up recording with the aid of Ol’ Yeller main man / Flowerpot studios honcho Rich Mattson, I’m guessing the marriage of the Wigs spiky guitar-strangling anthems with Mattson’s rough and ready production values should be damn near perfect. In the meantime there’s nothing stopping you from checking out the band now. With Middle States, Vertigo Joe. 9 p.m. Free. 21+. 3018 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls. 612-823-4719. van Alstyne

American Menu
@ Alchemy Theater @ North Community High School

Twin Cities Black Theatre returns to North Minneapolis—right where it began some 30-odd years ago at The Shoestring Playhouse. Alchemy Theater, the durable venue for staged readings, kicks things up a notch with its first full production, Don Wilson Glenn’s “American Menu.” Founder and artistic director Dawn Renee Jones directs this story of five black women working in a Texas kitchen in the period between the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Firebrand editor/author A.P. Porter (who also served on the Alchemy board) tips his hat, “Alchemy Theater is yet more proof of the limitless creativity of black people. For Dawn Renee Jones, the plethora of new and overlooked plays and other theatrical work by people of African descent cried out for another venue in the Twin Cities. The attention and attendance Alchemy has generated is evidence of Ms. Jones’s perceptiveness. Alchemy has presented work that theater fans wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. Nov. 11 – 21. Thu. – Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m. North Community High School, 1500 James Ave. N., Mpls. 763-522-6293 or AlchemyX9@aol.com. Dwight Hobbes

Cloud Cult
@ The Turf Club

Madcap environmentalist/musician Craig Minowa rarely takes a breather. His band Cloud Cult has diligently worked its way into some vaunted places (like the top 20 of the college radio charts) while sticking to its guns as a forward-thinking and completely independent operation with a strong lefty streak. How strong? All profits, after expenses, of Cloud Cult CD sales and performances are donated to environmental charity work. This gig is the CD release show for a compilation of previously unreleased material (Lost Songs from Lost Years) and will be their last local gig until the release of their new album Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus (I’m not making the title up – I’m not that creative) in March. With a wide-ranging acid-soaked sound, its damn near impossible to easily classify or sum up Cloud Cult’s music, but anybody who can simultaneously woo the jam-band crowd and notoriously less hippie-friendly college rock audience must be doing something right. With Revolver Modele, Kid Dakota, Dosh. 9 p.m. $5. 21+. The Corner of University and Snelling Avenues, St. Paul. 651-647-0486. Nathan Dean

2nd Annual Ornament Show
@ Clay Squared to Infinity

With Halloween over and Thanksgiving just around the corner, good capitalists everywhere are gearing up for the holiday season in hopes of reviving the sluggish economy. This year, do your part: avoid the chains and shopping malls, and check out the locally produced wares offered at Clay Squared to Infinity’s 2nd Annual Ornament Show. More than twenty artists working in metal, fiber, photography, mosaic, polymer clay, beads and paper offer their interpretation of “ornament.” The results are a stunning array of unique tree trimmings and hanging sculptures. Handmade tile artist Laura McCaul and sculptor Laura Drabant use organic methods of smoke-firing clay to create delicate, earthy pieces. Mosaic perfectionist Sheryl Tuorila offers bright baubles adorned in glittery costume jewelry, handmade tiles and assorted charms. The work is tight and the results are jolly. And speaking of jolly, the Funktional Art duo, Lauri Svedberg and Faith Farrell, combine biting kitsch with whimsy in their found-object assemblages that are sure to make you smile. Dozens more artists round out this incredible show. Don’t be a Scrooge! Shop for others and pick up a little something for yourself. Through Dec. 31. Mon. – Sat. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sun. noon – 4 p.m. Clay Squared to Infinity, Grain Belt Brewery Keg House, 34 13th Ave. NE., Mpls. 612-781-6409. Nancy Sartor

Beau Kinstler
@ The 400 Bar

As anyone who has caught one of Beau Kinstler’s frequent 400 Bar gigs knows, the man has a knack for warm and readily accessible folk-rock. Whether performing solo or with the light touch of his band, Kinstler and his sweet pleasant voice (reminiscent of fellow young local troubadour Robert Skoro) provide the perfect soundtrack to an evening of low-key lazing about. This gig doubles as Kinstler’s B-day party celebration and he’s managed to coral a bunch of fellow young songwriting talents to join in on the party. So bring your party hat and pull up a chair. With Sara Woolever, Joanna James, David Haack. 9 p.m. $5. 21+. 400 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-332-2903. van Alstyne

The Granary Girls
@ Batcher Opera House

The Granary Girls, Patty Kakac on guitar and Jodi Ritter on standup bass, play the Historic Batcher Opera House this Saturday in Staple, Minnesota. Their harmonies have been described as “the stuff of angels, with attitudes” by the Bothy Folk Club. The newly restored opera house, intimate yet elegant, should be the perfect setting for an enchanting evening. Sat. Nov. 13, 8 p.m. For more information call 1-218-895-5791. Ed Felien

Beautiful Things
Nimbus Theater

The Nimbus Theater ends its 2004 season with “Beautiful Things,” an original play inspired by the work of playwright and historian Charles Mee, Jr. The story follows five Americans at a seaside resort in an unnamed Third World country when revolutionary violence breaks out. As the violence draws closer, the vacationers find themselves trapped in comfort and imprisoned by luxury, and realize that their surroundings have been created by the labor of the poor people now in revolt. Beautiful Things will show the next two weekends at the Minneapolis Theater Garage, 2000 S. Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis. Friday, November 12 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 13 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, November 14 at 7 p.m.; Friday, November 19 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $14.00, $18.00 to the opening night performance and gala. Tickets are available by calling the Nimbus Theater at 651-229-3122. For more info, see NimbusTheatre.com. Brian Kaller

American Music Club, Will Johnson
@ The Triple Rock Social Club

After more than a decade apart definitively Californian mope-masters American Music Club are back. Permanently emotionally tortured frontman Mark Eitzel steers the band through 13 tracks and over an hour’s worth of melancholic high-drama on the sweeping Love Songs for Patriots, a voyage that is predominantly brilliant (“Only Love Can Set You Free”) with only the occasional misstep (the blousy waltz of “America Loves a Minstrel Show”). Love Songs is a riveting largely folksy affair, with occasional bursts of noise from enigmatic guitarist Vudi. In terms of sheer production values Love Songs is AMC’s finest hour since 1988’s California, finally eschewing the overblown studio sheen that marred their last few proper albums during the early 90s. Here the songs stand on their own and largely unadorned, Eitzel’s embittered fatalistic romanticism is allowed to take center stage and he proves to be more than up for the challenge. Also on the bill is Centro-matic frontman Will Johnson, a songwriting machine who could give Bob Pollard a run for his money in the prolificacy department. Whether fronting the harder-rocking Centro-Matic or its country-tinged cousin South San Gabriel, Johnson’s scratchy Texan warble and skewed lyricism prove engaing. He’s currently on tour in support of his second proper solo album, Vultures Await, a record that fittingly enough finds Johnson splitting the difference between his sedate and rocking inclinations. 9 p.m. $10 adv/ $12 door. 21+. 629 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-333-7399. van Alstyne

Luna
Fine Line Music Café

Some things are consistently good for so long that you can’t help but start taking them for granted (and I’m not talking about “Fear Factor”). Luna rose up out of the ashes of Galaxy 500 at the dawn of the ’90s, a fully formed dream-pop band on mission, and they proceeded to drop slabs of aural goodness on the public with such alarming regularity that it became all too easy to underestimate the power of frontman Dean Wareham’s icy intonations and spellbinding gossamer guitar work. There was only one thing left that Luna could do to get people outside of the hard-core faithful to perk up their ears again to their melodic riches – announce their break up. Perhaps the formal announcement of their dissolution (which in effect makes this the band’s farewell tour in addition to being the first shows in support of their great new album, Rendezvous, Luna LP No. 7) will wake people up. With Palomar. 8 p.m. TBA. 21+. 318 First Ave. N., Mpls. 612-338-8100. van Alstyne