Anniversaries, Reunions, and Drone Highlight Your Complete Concert Calendar: Jan. 21-27

Pretty much all the music you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

9:12 AM CST on January 21, 2025

Wikimedia Commons; provided|

Frank Black; Kelsea Ballerini

Rumor has it the cold will be less extreme by the weekend, so you'll be able to crawl out of your winter refuge and check out some music.

Yonder, Kate Malanphy, Zone Rock Bride @ Can Can Wonderland—Oliver Gerber’s guitar lick, flashy but not wanky, is what hooks you on Yonder’s new single, “Oil Light.” Harmonies from Hattie Peach and Emma Jeanne are what keep you. And Peach’s violin break is an unexpected treat. The band celebrates the release of its EP, Memento Mori, tonight.—Keith Harris

Drone Not Drones @ Cedar Cultural Center—We all know the origin story: After discombobulating a Rock the Garden crowd in 2013 with a noisy, extended version of "Do You Know How To Waltz?,” Low’s Alan Sparhawk said, simply, “Drone, not drones.” (Personally, I am a RTG Low-drone truther, and believe that while the performance might have slightly annoyed some in the crowd, it was hardly as divisive as urban legend has it. Then again, I wasn’t there.) From those three words sprung the idea for an event that’s now in its 10th year: A weekend of drone-based music serving as a benefit for Doctors Without Borders. The lineup hasn’t yet been announced, but expect the usual mix of ingenious local folks and out-of-town ringers, with more than 50 acts coming and going over the course of a 28-hour period. And you’re welcome to bring bedding and make a weekend of it.—Keith Harris

The Big 70s Singalong @ Crooners

Nicolas King @ Crooners

Dorothy Doring and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Jeffry Becker and the Gentlemen with J-Mo and the J-Lighters @ Day Block Brewing

The Strolling Clones, RED40 @ Driftwood

Miss Shannon’s Sock Hop @ Eagles 34

Glaive @ Fine Line

Frank Black with she's green and DJ Jake Rudh @ First Avenue—Twenty years ago I wrote one of my first-ever stories, for the Academy of Holy Angels student newspaper, about a plucky public radio upstart that—get this—played indie-rock music. Now, was my atrociously written and unsourced article published months after 89.3 the Current launched, thus sapping it of any value or newsiness? It was, but hey, this blurb isn’t about me: It’s about the Current turning 20, an anniversary that’ll be celebrated with back-to-back Mainroom showcases. For the first night, the station recruited king Pixie Frank Black to perform his 1994 solo album, Teenager of the Year, in its entirety (see this recent Pitchfork deep-dive); Picked to Click runners-up She’s Green will open alongside DJ Jake Rudh. This is a Jake Tapper-approved event, people!—Jay Boller

The Last Waltz feat. Big Pink with Lamont Cranston @ Fitzgerald Theater

Brian Von Ahsen @ Ginkgo Coffee

Radio Moon Residency Parties @ Green Room

Mystery Meat with Jenny Matrix, C U Next Tuesday @ Hook and Ladder

Dancin’ in the Dead of Winter @ Hook and Ladder

Jeremy Dutcher: Motewolonuwok @ Icehouse

Super Future @ The Loft

Toni Wolff’s Dream Wedding @ Jazz Central

Davu/Deano/Duo @ Metronome Brewery

Funkton Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe

The Stunt @ Padraigs

Unattractive Giant Monster, The Silent Treatment, and Dashed @ Palmer’s

Admiral Fox with Kyrie Nova and the Defiant, BlueDriver, and Doll Chaser @ Pilllar Forum

Project: Code @ Rev Ultra Lounge

Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern

Christian Lee Hutson with Allegra Krieger @ 7th St Entry

Kelsea Ballerini @ Target Center—As a big fan of Ballerini’s uncharacteristically personal Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, about the dissolution of her marriage to fellow country singer Morgan Evans, I wasn’t wholly thrilled with 2024’s Patterns, her return (or retreat) to the bright, broad country pop that established her career. But hey, that’s why she’s playing Target Center instead of the Armory this time through town. And few women in Nashville even get on the radio, let alone handle the fizzy stuff with the style and smarts that Ballerini does. I promise it ain’t all as bathetic as its lead single, the Noah Kahan duet "Cowboys Cry Too."—Keith Harris

Thor Leseman, Robert Dixon, Moonkats @ Terminal Bar

Matthew Thomas & Wounded Wing, Embahn, Francis Emil Johnson @ 331 Club

McNasty Brass Band, Dilly Dally Alley, and Obi Original & The Black Atlantics @ Turf Club

Billy Joel Jr., Ghosting Merit @ Underground Music Venue

ANA KAZUKO, SYM1, REAL GIRL, NatanYael @ Uptown VFW

The Mary Cutrufello Band @ White Squirrel

Cut Rate Clones with Littleton, Desert Objects @ White Squirrel

Gimme Gimme Disco @ Varsity

Bad Idea, FarFarAway, Night Job @ Zhora Darling

Saturday, January 25

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

The High 48’s @ Aster Cafe

Monica Livorsi @ Aster Cafe

Ethan Ostrow and Dan Carpel @ Berlin

Atlantis Quartet @ Berlin

James Taylor @ Berlin

Tif Dynamite’s Winter Wonderland @ Black Hart

High & Mighty @ Bunker’s

Red40, the Clean Plate Club @ Can Can Wonderland

Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners

The Songs of Louis Prima & Keely Smith @ Crooners

Dorothy Doring with Chris Lomheim @ Crooners

Nur-D @ Dakota

Dead By 50, Fragged Out, and Jake Schultz @ Day Block Brewing

Cronwood, B & the Sting, Ramoanin’ @ Driftwood

Gay Witch Abortion, Arctic Universe, Obchod Na Corze @ Dusty’s

Roxxy Hall @ Eagles 34

Lost Evidence @ Eagles 34

Southern Resident Killer Whales (EP Release) @ 56 Brewing

The Vaccines with Thus Love @ Fine Line

Beach Bunny, Bad Bad Hats, and MAKR AN ERIS @ First Avenue—The Current’s 20th anniversary bash continues with Chicago rockers Beach Bunny and two local acts whose 2024 albums were among my favorites: happily wed indie-poppers Bad Bad Hats and Sophia Eris's team up with the producer MAKR, the aptly named MAKR AN ERIS.—Keith Harris

The Last Waltz ft. Big Pink with the Belfast Cowboys @ Fitzgerald Theater

BluPrint @ Gambit

Vinny Franco & The Love Channel with LaSalle, Marvelous, Mayadda @ Green Room

Mississippi Hot Club @ Hook and Ladder

Save Democracy Dance Party @ Hook and Ladder

Ryan Picone Quartet @ Icehouse

Zaq Baker's Very Unspectacular Book Release Party with Dylan Hicks + Halle Hanson @ Icehouse—Don't expect this event to be as mundane as its billing modestly suggests. Unspectacular is the title of Baker's first novel, which not only draws upon his knowledge of the music world but also seems to have something to do with cricket. If it's as witty and heartfelt as his songwriting it'll be certainly worth a read.—Keith Harris

Latin Soul Vibe @ Jazz Central

Freaky with Brainwrack @ The Loft

Woodzen @ Metronome Brewery

Wayne Anthony McFarlane @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ ILLian @ Modist

Redwing Blackbirds First-Ever Second Annual Christmas Pageant @ Palmer’s

Art Beagle’s Backup Band @ Padraigs

Lissie with Airlands @ Parkway

Darkling I Listen, Sadkin, Magenta Vice @ Red Sea

Dave Rave and the Governors, LoLo’s Ghost @ Schooner Tavern

Too Much Love @ 7th St Entry—If you know anything about First Avenue, and we pray you do, you’re aware that the downtown Minneapolis club has a long and deep dance history. First Ave’s early 21st century “indie sleaze" DJ era, to use a term we only half understand, was dominated by dance night Too Much Love. Launched in 2006 by DJ TML (Peter Lansky, then known as DJ Sovietpanda), the genreless party featured “everything from indie rock remixes, blog house, and electro to classic disco, house, and techno—often in the same night.” "What an exciting time it was for music," Lansky told the Strib last year. "YouTube was new, file-sharing was prevalent, and streaming didn't [yet] exist. For the first time, you could go out and hear artists and DJs play music without regard for genre or time period. It's hard to comprehend now, but it was a new concept." Lansky ended Too Much Love in 2014, returned for a single night last year, and promises this reunion show will highlight music from “every era.” We’re guessing millennials hoping for an Obama-era rave will still leave satisfied.—Jay Boller

Halfway to Pride @ Sociable Cider Werks

Sonic Affliction, Kylie Krick, Lost Evidence @ Terminal Bar

The Havana Sleeve, Warcake, Loonbooster @ 331 Club

Terrapin Flyer @ Turf Club

Sam Graber Band @ Uptown VFW

Keith MacKenzie @ The Vault

Bev with Do Not Crush, Blood Cookie @ White Squirrel

Big Trouble @ White Squirrel

The Right Here with The Favorite Things, The Boot R&B @ White Squirrel

Laugh Track with Tender Comrade & Hot Pursuit @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, January 26

Rubblebucket @ Amsterdam

Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunker’s

Zak Khan and Friends @ Berlin

Joyann Parker @ Crooners

Songstress—A Tribute to Anita Baker @ Dakota—I constantly think about the revelation that Michael Jordan used to pump himself up before games by listening to Baker—and that he once taunted Jerry Stackhouse with the lyrics to "Giving You the Best That I Got." What a psycho that guy was.—Keith Harris

Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood

Johnny No Cash @ Eagles 34

TC Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

Cobra Trio @ 56 Brewing

Kerry King @ Fillmore

Bachapalooza @ Minnesota Music Cafe

One Voice Mixed Chorus Presents Time & Trans(formation) @ Ordway

Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s

West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s

Lissie with Chris Koza @ Parkway

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern