Critics' Picks: Madonna, Crystal Castles, Dan Deacon, and more

Xcel Energy Center, Saturday 11.3 + Sunday 11.4

There's something irresistibly right about Madonna's self-confidence. Her old songs get better with time. Her sometimes desperate-sounding new ones ("I'm Addicted," "I'm a Sinner") are better already. She still sells out arenas 27 years after playing the St. Paul Civic Center with the Beastie Boys. The old fake wisdom that her provocations were cheap has long since given way to the accumulation of great melodies, which she sings attentively as if they're just within reach, and the acknowledgment that she's been good for the culture. Vocally she's forever pulling back, which evokes prayer and seduction, and maybe blank space for projection. But her naughty presence will be missed when she leaves, whether popularity is her canvas or her patron, her playground or her physical therapy. For a dancer and pop star, that's a distinction without a difference. With Paul Oakenfold. $47-$357, 7 p.m. 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651.265.4800. —Peter S. Scholtes

Milo Greene

Shawn Brackbill

Go see Dan Deacon and get that high-five in person

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• Dan Deacon
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Varsity Theater, Sunday 11.4

Given the runaway success that greeted Local Natives' debut album a few years back, it was inevitable that a second wave of indie acts featuring vaguely tribal rhythms and heavy interlocking harmony vocals would soon follow. Among the best of them is Los Angeles quintet Milo Greene. Their self-titled debut album has a softer and more subdued feel, with the band's four vocalists/multi-instrumentalists constantly shifting roles to little effect in terms of changing the band's overall sound. A polished and poppy affair befitting its major-label backing, Milo Green's debut actually works best when it eschews tricky time signatures to serve up straightforward and minimalist balladry like "Wooden Antlers," which wisely shines the spotlight on the band's strongest vocal asset, lone female singer Marlana Sheetz. With Bahamas. 18+, $13-$15, 7:30 p.m. 1308 Fourth St. SE, Minneapolis; 612.604.0222. —Rob Van Alstyne