Hope you're fortunate enough to enjoy the four-day weekend we'll be celebrating over here at Racket, or at least collecting a serious amount of holiday pay. In addition to what we've got here, some of July 4th events will have music as well; you can peep those over at this week's Event Horizon.
Tuesday, July 2
Bad Posture Club + DPCD + Spaceport @ Bryant Lake Bowl
- DakhaBrakha @ Dakota—Admit that you’re at the very least a little intrigued by what “Ukrainian punk folk circus rock” might sound like. Though nine years old, this Tiny Desk concert will give you a taste of humor and liveliness in this quartet’s music. or at least let you know what their hats look like. While rooted in traditional Ukrainian styles, DakhaBrakha (all women, except for “director, ideologist, and founder” Vladyslav Troitskyi) takes in influences from all over the place without ever collapsing into a multiculti mess. And that’s by conscious design—the group’s name means “give/take.”
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Toredoria, Despondent, Andrew Jansen, Riddle M @ Eagles 34
y06, Human Error with DJ Backtothemoney, and Linus @ Father Hennepin Park
Sarah and the Safe Word, The Weekend Run Club @ The Garage
Bill Simenson Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Artist Showcase hosted by Open Mic MPLS @ Sociable Cider Werks
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Joe Savage @ 331 Club
July Conspiracy Series featuring The Infernos, El Drifte @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Linnea Grace with Casey Gerald, Hattie Peach @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, July 3
Enter the Void @ Can Can Wonderland
Star-Spangled Singalong @ Crooners
- DakhaBrakha @ Dakota—See Tuesday's listings.
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Open Mic with Host Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
The Band That Fell to Earth @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Craig Clark Blues Band @ Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
Smiling Cowboys Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Karaoke Crime Scene @ Palmer's
Yev & Friends @ Schooner Tavern
Dion Lunadon with The Silent Treatment and Mad Mojo Jett @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with DD & Company @ 331 Club
Cole Diamond (Birthday Show) with Cowboy Thoughts and Clayton Ryan @ Turf Club
The Second Stringers @ White Squirrel
Thursday, July 4
Star-Spangled Singalong @ Crooners
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Snapped: Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Lowdown Dirty Fools Blues Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Ron Slowey Group @ Schooner Tavern
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
The Snozberries with The Haws @ White Squirrel
Friday, July 5
The Kid Laroi with Glaive + Chase Shakur @ Armory
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Larry Wish, Damn Phibian, I Have No Love For Men Like You! @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Joust, Psychic Vampire, Panel, Big Spit @ Cloudland
Ann Hampton Callaway @ Crooners
Al Stewart & the Empty Pockets @ Dakota
Big Blue Moon with Dilly Dally Alley and Sweet Pea @ Day Block Brewing
Katia & the Upswing @ Eagles 34
Munson Hicks Party Supplies, Lilianna Rindal, Dan Israel @ 50th & France
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs with Shannon McNally @ Fitzgerald Theater
TrancenDance at RaptureMN @ Ground Zero
Kid Dakota (Album Release) with Fénix Dion and Dylan Safer @ Icehouse
Paul Silbergleit Trio @ Jazz Central
USAF Band of Mid-America @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
The Johnnie Brown Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Tyler Herwig @ Padraigs Brewing
Independence Guey: A Party @ Palmer's
Stop The Presses, The Prizefighters, and Goodbye Mordecai @ Pilllar Forum
TC Presents Caspa @ Pourhouse Downtown
Space Monkey Mafia and BYOBrass with Runaway Ricochet and Beneath Green @ 7th St Entry
Cause for Concern @ Terminal Bar
MAGICK FLAVOUR STATION, Morgan Liluna, ditch pigeon, frank & janea @ 331 Club
Gothess presents Gotham ⏤ A Night of Misfits with DJ Q, PRSPHNE and DAZZLE @ Turf Club
Neon Noir: Dana Kazuko, Liara, SYM1, DJ Eve @ Uptown VFW
Ashbringer, Datura Dread, Baumgardner @ White Rock Lounge
Mammoth Moth with Boots & Needles @ White Squirrel
Saturday, July 6
T La Shawn (Release Party) @ Acadia
Jumpsuit: Jam E.Z., Jocko, Akko @ Black Hart
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
Grilled Cheese Jamboree with Spare Change Trio @ Cabooze
Keith Daniels's Psycho Swamp Stomp Band @ Can Can Wonderland
Waar Party, Christmas on Neptune, Ghosts of Valhalla @ Caydence Records & Coffee
- Waco Brothers with Jake La Botz and Jon Langford & Alice Spencer of the Bright Shiners @ Cedar Cultural Center—It’s been less than 16 months since Jon Langford last stormed through the Cedar, trading stories and songs with Will Oldham, and in the time since the energetic Welsh Chicagoan has released three albums. (At least. I can’t guarantee that I haven’t missed one or two.) The Waco Brothers, who headline tonight, returned in 2023 with their first album since the start of the pandemic, The Men That Time Forgot. Originally the outlet for Langford’s country music side as his home band, Mekons, skewed more punk, the Wacos have tightened into a fierce roots-rock outfit over the past 30 years, The arrangements on the most recent Langford joint, Where It Starts (released in April, credited to Jon Langford & the Bright Shiners) are slightly poppier than his norm; he’ll perform some in duet with Shiners member Alice Spencer. (Incidentally, the other two albums are also well worth seeking out: a solo collection of miscellaneous tracks called Gubbins and especially Lost on Land & Sea, an album about the singers childhood in Wales recorded with the Men of Gwent, a Langford band I hadn’t heard of before but has three albums to its name. Working merch for this guy must be a nightmare.) And no matter which musicians Langford shares the stage with, he’ll be gabbing a-plenty, and his banter will be worth the price of admission.
Constant Insult, Nuill, Holy Shit!, Bermuda Squares @ Cloudland
Ann Hampton Callaway @ Crooners
The Pianist Knows Best with Jearlyn Steele and Sean Turner @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Colleen Raye and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Al Stewart & the Empty Pockets @ Dakota
Mishi-Mega, O-buh, Visa Card, Crypt ID @ Eagles 34
Can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party with Mike 2600 @ Fine Line
jxdn with GUNNAR and LØLØ @ First Avenue
SAMAMBO X AFRO TRIBE @ Green Room
Remember-in' with the MVL Quintet @ Jazz Central
The Original Westside Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing
- A Taste of Minnesota @ Nicollet Mall—Last year the relaunched Taste of Minnesota, a two-day free festival along Nicollet Mall, was framed by city leaders as a Minneapolis-is-back victory lap. Historically, the food ‘n’ tunes bash was held outside the State Capitol through the ‘80s and ‘90s, relocated to St. Paul’s Harriet Island in 2003, and, finally, lasted for a couple of years in Waconia before shutting down in 2015. In practice, the rebooted Taste was well-attended but suffered from retrospectively obvious issues related to a lack of drinking water, shade, and food—it's summer on asphalt, folks! Here's hoping logistics are smoother for this fest, which'll feature headliners like '90s alt-rockers the Wallflowers (perhaps you're familiar with the singer's dad) and country star Martina McBride on Saturday, plus local R&B/funk/soul favorites Morris Day & the Time and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on Sunday. Also on tap, not unlike the hopefully ample supply of H2O: lots more music, food trucks, ziplining, a puppy party, and F1RST Wrestling. Organizers are touting ToM '24 as bigger than last year's, which was made possible by a one-time, $1.85 million grant from the Minnesota Legislature. It's unclear how much state funding went into this summer's installment.—Jay Boller
Gypsy Mania Hot Club @ Padraigs Brewing
Interlay (EP Release Show) with she's green, killusonline and Gash @ 7th St Entry
Down on Curfew, The Dirt Pretty @ Terminal Bar
- The Baseball Project @ Turf Club—More supergroups should just be novelty acts. For 17 years now, this crew (Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate, and Minneapolis-reared drummer Linda Pitmon of Zuzu's Petals) have sung about MLB players new and old, champs and journeymen alike. They've given free agency pioneer Curt Flood his due and started a song about Yankees pitcher Jack McDowell with "He's a friend of the Smithereens/An old pal of Eddie Vedder." Their fourth outing, Grand Salami Time, is a little heavy on the nostalgia that's inherent to their subject, and only about a third of the tracks stick. That may not sound like much, but if you keep up those numbers long enough you may just get to Cooperstown. Though Craig Finn won't be on hand to sing it, I suspect their song for out hometown boys, "Don't Call Them Twinkies," will be on the setlist.
Meghan + Michael’s Wedding Party @ 331 Club
Little Fevers, Val Son, Goatroper @ 331 Club
Crimes Against Ravers @ Uptown VFW
CLUB 90s Present Midnight Memories 1D Night @ Varsity Theater
Hanging Wound, Mortura, Disembodied Humanity, Ice Everlasting, Gorrified @ White Rock Lounge
Scott Hefte and the Bury 'Em Deep, Tempest Foundation, Shoveler @ White Squirrel
Confucisaurus @ White Squirrel
Daddy Squeeze and Elizabeth @ White Squirrel
LGBTQ+ Pride Dance feat. DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ The Woman's Club of Minneapolis
Sunday, July 7
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Monthly Bluegrass Jam @ Caydence Records & Coffee
The Chinoweth Daley Trio @ Crooners
Adi Yeshaya Jazz Orchestra Featuring Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Doll Chaser, Bluedriver, Cannabis Kiss, Antichrist Social @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Becky Kapell + Sarah Morris @ Icehouse
Heavy for the Hawk @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Minneapolis Pops @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
NX Gen Jazz @ Metronome Brewing
Kenny Horst and Will Kjeer @ Metronome Brewing
Suzie with Pleasure Horse @ Mortimer's
- A Taste of Minnesota @ Nicollet Mall—See Saturday's listings.
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
Tray Wellington Band with Graden Hill @ 7th St Entry
Stress Ghetto, Endless Swarm, Getting Stabbed, Infuriate @ White Rock Lounge
1994 and More Dance Party with Scrunchies @ White Squirrel
Niall Horan @ Xcel Energy Center
Monday, July 8
Spicy Island Matcha Monday @ Amsterdam
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Queer Contra Dancing @ Eagles 34
Mike Kota (July Residency) with Xina & Marvelous @ Green Room
David Feily presents BZ3 & Red Planet @ Icehouse
MN Orchestra @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Sit-In Performance Series @ Metronome
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Corporate Death Party, Virgo, Orchid Club @ Pilllar Forum
Fiddlehead with Graham Hunt @ 7th St Entry
