Katie Pruitt, David Archuleta, Cheap Trick among area concert highlights [Seven in Seven]

Welcome to Seven in Seven, where we look at shows coming to the region over the next week. As always, whether your musical tastes are rock ’n’ roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there will always be something to check out. Here are seven of the best on the docket for the week of Oct. 17.

Don West — Friday at World Café Live

Australian rising star Don West is touring America for the first time to preview his upcoming debut album, “Give Me All Your Love,” out Nov. 14. While drawing influence from legends such as Marvin Gaye and Al Green, the singer is carving his own unique lane in the modern soul space, building on the past year, which has been an explosive one where his audience grew from in the thousands in early 2024 to now 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The platform also tapped him as their next Radar artist for Australia. His rapid success has translated from streaming to live shows, having sold out two Australian tours in the last year, as the response to his debut self-titled six-track EP, released last November, is proof that fans can’t get enough of his ability to put a modern twist on a classic sound.

Katie Pruitt — Friday at First Unitarian Church

Nashville, Tenn.-based singer/songwriter Katie Pruitt has been a road warrior since the release of her sophomore effort, “Mantras,” was released last year, playing in cities all around the country and major festivals, including Stagecoach, Railbird Festival, Calgary Stampede, and Fairwell Festival. It was her first album in five years and easily her most personal and revealing work yet. The creation of the record was a cathartic process, with thoughtful and self-reflective songwriting connecting deeply with her continuously expanding fanbase, who packed her shows and helped to foster a communal environment. See for yourself what all the fuss is about Friday at First Unitarian.

David Archuleta — Friday at The Foundry

Since first stepping into the pop spotlight at age 17, Miami-born singer/songwriter and 2008 “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta has embodied the kind of genuine star power that can’t be manufactured. After years of dazzling audiences — a journey that’s included multiple platinum hits, achieving global acclaim as a live performer, and emerging as a fixture on the pop-culture scene — he experienced a major personal transformation that radically altered his character as an artist by grounding himself in his own authentic queer identity. He’s now re-emerged into the realm of “Earthly Delights,” the name of his latest tour and EP, where he explores the sweet indulgences of connection and heartbreak, sensuality and physicality. Innocent at the core but now balanced and rounded by newfound flirtiness and sass, boldness and humor, he’s embodied by what it truly means to be oneself.

Indie folk band Big Thief will take the stage at The Met on Wednesday. (Michael Buishas)

Big Thief — Wednesday at The Met

Brooklyn, N.Y., indie folk outfit Big Thief rolls into The Met next week on a run that’s part of their first shows in the States in over a year. The band is touring in support of their sixth studio album, “Double Infinity,” the follow-up to 2022’s Grammy-nominated LP, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.” The new record was laid down last winter at the Power Station in New York City, along with a community of musicians who joined in as the trio would play for nine hours a day, tracking together while simultaneously improvising arrangements and making collective discoveries. Now they’re sharing them — live onstage — with the rest of the world.

Cheap Trick — Wednesday at Wind Creek Event Center and Oct. 24 at Hard Rock Live

Cheap Trick absolutely refuses to, ahem, “surrender” to the sands of time. The Illinois band has been rocking stages and winning over fans with a timeless sound for over five decades. Known for their electrifying live performances, catchy melodies, and captivating songwriting, the group has become a staple in rock music history as well as pop culture. The hits like “I Want You to Want Me,” “Dream Police,” “The Flame,” and “Surrender” are part of the American musical fabric as the group continues to entertain audiences with their signature blend of hard rock and power-pop sensibilities. And lucky for us, this never-ending tour is making two regional stops with Bethlehem on Wednesday and Atlantic City, N.J., on Oct. 24.

Night Tapes — next Thursday at Underground Arts

Three electronic producers with a penchant for analog, Night Tapes exist in a world that is dreamy and widescreen with plenty of bite. Debut single “Forever” sits on more than 10 million streams on Spotify and became an underground hit through the pandemic. Traditional song structures often turn into dissonant noise or extended ambient sections, blurring the lines between band and studio project in new and exciting ways.  On the London trio’s extraordinary, dazzling debut album, “portals//polarities,” the band takes you inside the places and sounds of its creation around the globe, evident in the sound of a bubbling swamp in Tallinn, Estonia, wildlife and birdsong from Mexico, a Los Angeles police helicopter, and more. It’s a deeply immersive and wildly exploratory first full statement from a unique and thrilling unit.

Cindy Blackman Santana — next Thursday at City Winery — Main Stage

World-renowned drummer and bandleader Cindy Blackman Santana comes to town with her wildly popular and vibrant ensemble, the Cindy Blackman Santana Band. She and her virtuoso group of players — guitarist Aurelien Budynek, bassist Jeremiah Kal’Ab, keyboardist Zaccai Curtis, and saxophonist JD Allen — plan to fire up an explosive mix of jazz, rock, and fusion driven by her own inimitable drumming style. Among the songs Blackman Santana and her band will perform are fan favorites such as “Curiosity” and “The One,” along with select arrangements of Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter compositions, plus high-energy material from her forthcoming album, which is due in the spring.

Soundcheck

• Don West: “Small Change”

• Katie Pruitt: “Blood Related”

• David Archuleta: “Hell Together”

• Big Thief: “Los Angeles”

• Cheap Trick: “Surrender”

• Night Tapes: “Forever”

• Cindy Blackman Santana: “The One”