dr. dog

9 p.m. thursday. the granada.

The music of Dr. Dog serves as a magical time portal to 1972. While the Pennsylvania-based band’s songs sound as if they’re meant to be heard blaring out of a plastic transistor radio, the weirdo practitioners of DayGlo pop have added minor but effective new variations to the styles associated with Big Star, the Beatles and Badfinger since 1999.

The band may spend most of its time in full retro mode, but Dr. Dog never fails to charm. Somewhere, Harry Nilsson and John Lennon are smiling.

Purling Hiss also performs. Tickets to the 9 p.m. show at the Granada in Lawrence are $15 in advance.

ryan adams

8 p.m. wednesday. kansas city music hall.

Like the little girl who had a little curl, when Ryan Adams is good, he’s very good indeed. Songs like “To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)” is a stone classic. Yet when he’s bad, he’s horrid. Adams’ muddled 2009 appearance in Kansas City was widely panned.

Fans may be rolling the proverbial dice when they purchase tickets for next Wednesday’s show, but Adams’ most recent album, the subdued “Ashes & Fire,” showcases his formidable talent to good effect. Perhaps the wildly inconsistent bad boy of Americana will be on his best behavior at the Music Hall. Tickets are $36.50.

roy hargrove

7:30 p.m. friday. umkc student union.

Roy Hargrove is the anti-Wynton Marsalis. Both jazz trumpeters are monsters on their instruments, but many of the similarities in sensibilities end there. Marsalis favors beautiful suits. Hargrove often dresses like a fashionable hip-hop artist. Marsalis regularly pays homage to past jazz masters. Hargrove freely incorporates funk and hip-hop elements.

Hargrove was assisted early in his career by Bobby Watson, director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. On Friday he’ll repay the favor to his mentor when he headlines the UMKC Jazz Festival’s George Salisbury Memorial Scholarship Concert, which benefits a scholarship fund for jazz students who are minorities.

Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert are $10 at https://tickets.cto.umkc.edu.

estelle

8 p.m. monday. the riot room.

It’s not every day that an artist with a top 10 pop hit performs at the intimate Riot Room. Estelle, the woman behind the 2008 smash “American Boy,” will appear at the Westport venue Monday. “American Boy” featured Kanye West. Estelle has also collaborated with Rick Ross, Robin Thicke and David Guetta.

Stacy Barthe, an exceptional talent with songwriting credits on recordings by the likes of Rihanna, Katy Perry and Britney Spears, serves as Estelle’s opening act. Given the Riot Room’s close quarters and the star power of both artists, Monday’s show promises to provide a memorable evening of top-notch soul. Ava Bella also performs.

Tickets are $16-$20. Doors open at 8 p.m.

mat kearney

8 p.m. tuesday. the beaumont club.

For millions of people, Coldplay is the perfect pop band. The hit makers craft dramatic anthems and affecting ballads. But for a small subset of people, Coldplay might be a tad too British. Mat Kearney is just the ticket for these Anglophobes. Aside from vocals delivered in an accent that reflects his upbringing in Oregon, much of Kearney’s music is a dead ringer for the arena-filling sound of Coldplay.

Robert Francis, a fine folk-rock artist from California, opens the show.

Tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $19.