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The State Fair continues this weekend, as does its heavy-hitting classic rock-infused music lineup of REO Speedwagon, STYX, and local cover band all-stars E.L.nO. This weekend there’s also good old-fashioned fun when Garrison Keillor takes A Prairie Home Companion to the Grandstand and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham brings a retro act to the now.

Garrison Keillor

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The Gibson Brothers

THURSDAY AT THE FAIR: The Gibson Brothers
Much like how the annual tradition of heading to the Great Minnesota Get-Together brings many of us back to our childhood, The Gibson Brothers’ sound harkens back to a simpler time. The New York-based country-and-bluegrass duo’s nostalgic sound includes banjo, fiddle, and mandolin alongside the brothers’ harmonizing vocals. Like the Everly Brothers before them, they pretty much own today’s version of the “classic brother duet thing,” as one reviewer aptly put it. (Noon & 1 p.m. Free. Leinie Lodge Bandshell at the State Fair, 1265 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul.)

Also Thursday: Local shoegazers Paragraphs hit up beloved punk dive bar Big V’s with fusion-rock Canadian band Aquarelle and ambient Southwestern rockers The Calm Blue Sea of Austin, Tex. (10 p.m.)

Garrison Keillor at the Fair

FRIDAY AT THE FAIR: Garrison Keillor & A Prairie Home Companion
Before it became a Robert Altman film starring Lindsay Lohan, A Prairie Home Companion was a modest, folksy radio program born out of the fictional town of Lake Wobegon in rural Minnesota. Though the show occasionally hits the road, its home remains at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater, where it’s recorded for broadcast on NPR. Before Keillor and Co. kick off the new season later this month, this special edition should have all the musical guests, fake commercials, theatrics and storytelling of the radio program, only with more State Fair banter. (7:45 p.m. $21-26. State Fair Grandstand, 1265 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul.)

Also Friday: Oldies favorites Blood, Sweat & Tears play a couple of free sets at the State Fair’s Leinie Lodge Bandshell (8:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat.); Old Time Relijun frontman Arrington De Dionyso takes his solo act to the road, highlighted by his unusual voice and multi-instrumentation (9 p.m. $6, Turf Club).

REO Speedwagon

SATURDAY AT THE FAIR: REO Speedwagon + STYX
Midwest rockers REO Speedwagon made a name for themselves in the ‘80s on the popularity of commercial power ballads like “Keep On Lovin’ You.” They faded into obscurity until the late ‘90s, when everything ‘80s came back into fashion. Now the band’s become rather prolific, putting out its first album of originals in 11 years, Find Your Own Way Home, out (exclusively at Walmart, natch). Opening is ‘70s favorite STYX, whose hits “Come Sail Away,” “Lady,” and “Mr. Roboto” still get the dance floor going to this day, irony be damned. (7 p.m. $34. State Fair Grandstand, 1265 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul.)

E.L.nO

SUNDAY AT THE FAIR: E.L.nO
The local E.L.O. cover band is the cover band to beat all other cover bands, somehow transcending cover band status into a genuine phenomenon. Truly enjoyable to watch, these guys are always having unironic, unadulterated fun. Fronted by 89.3 The Current “The Local Show” host David Campbell (a former member of Accident Clearinghouse), the band also features former members of local groups Detroit and Manplanet. Huge Afro wigs and flared polyester suits never looked this hip. (8 & 9 p.m. Sun. & Mon. Summit Brewing’s Bazaar After Dark at the State Fair, 1265 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul.)

Also Sunday: Local Americana-folk acts The Brass Kings, The Flatwheelers (formerly The Porchlights), the Como Avenue Jug Band, and Gabe Barnett are at the Turf Club (9 p.m. $5); local psych-jammers Daughters Of The Sun headline Big V’s with an increasingly polished sound (9 p.m.).

Jeff Dunham and friends

MONDAY AT THE FAIR: Jeff Dunham
Ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham is best-known for his dummies (Peanut, Jose, Walter, Bubba J, and Sweet Daddy D), but with the premiere of his upcoming sketch comedy series The Jeff Dunham Show in October on Comedy Central, the ventriloquist should become more recognizable. It’s odd that Dunham holds a place as one of the world’s most popular comedians, being that he’s performing one of comedy’s long-forgotten arts. With pop culture commentary abounding, Dunham successfully invigorates the trade, pushing it out of the bounds of the circus sideshow of yore. (8 p.m. $38. State Fair Grandstand, 1265 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul.)

[Ed. note: Tuesday’s scheduled Aerosmith and ZZ Top show at Xcel has been canceled due to injuries recently sustained by Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler when he fell offstage during a gig in South Dakota earlier this month. No word on whether it will be rescheduled, but in a statement guitarist Joe Perry had this to say: “We hope we can get the Aerosmith machine up and running again as soon as possible.”]

Click here for info on the bands playing free showcases at the State Fair
Click here for more on the bands playing the State Fair Grandstand