It’s a holiday weekend not without rocking concerts for those staying close to home, and the veteran jam-band moe. will rock for hours at House of Blues, where the Buffalo-born quintet (above) plays both Friday and Saturday. Expect entirely different shows with two sets each night, mixing the contrasting guitars of Chuck Garvey (think more Steely Dan) and Al Schnier (more Allman Brothers) around fluid Maine-based bassist Rob Derhak. With 25 years of forged chemistry, moe. ranks close to Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee and of course Phish, with consistently levitating flights that blend meat ‘n’ potatoes with clever turns.

Columbus Day weekend also means the colorful annual HONK! Festival, where activist street bands like this one roll into Johnny D’s Uptown on Friday before hitting the pavement of Davis Square on Saturday and Harvard Square on Sunday. Here’s the schedule and honk if you love free-roaming, horn-driven revelry – for free. Other concerts to consider on Friday including country-punks Lucero at Royale and Mark Knopfler at the Orpheum Theatre, where he’ll be bound to resurrect this Dire Straits tune.

On Saturday, the Orpheum turns to Brandi Carlile, who proved she’s just as dynamic in a stripped-down acoustic trio when she hit this year’s Newport Folk fest. And Luna, fronted by ex-Galaxie 500 singer/guitarist Dean Wareham, plays the Paradise Rock Club. On Saturday, Carolina bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers play the Eastham Elks Club down the Cape before holding court at the Brighton Music Hall on Sunday, while alt-country singer Chuck Prophet (who led California rockers Green on Red back in the ’80s) plays Club Passim on Sunday. And Monday circles back to another group from Buffalo, alt-rockers Mercury Rev, who are likely to bring this seasonal offering to the Brighton Music Hall, closing out the holiday weekend with a bit of atmosphere.