On January 16. 2025, I will turn... a certain number of years old. To celebrate, local venues have booked all sorts of musical events this week, and I suggest you check them out. I cannot confirm rumors that many clubs are offering a "Keith's birthday special" but it couldn't hurt to ask.
Tuesday, January 14
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Flavor Jam: Back in TIme @ Green Room
Cedar Avenue Big Band @ Jazz Central
Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
OpenMic Mpls @ Sociable Cedar Werks
January Conspiracy Series featuring Hyooman, despondent @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Stephanie Was @ 331 Club
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Eldest Daughter (Tuesday Residency) with Laura Hugo, Sammie Jeanne Cohen @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, January 15
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
Quiet Confidence with Linus and Callback @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Music of Jimmy Buffett @ Crooners
One World – The Best of Sting & The Police @ Dakota
Wilson Parc, Jenny & the Bets @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Open Mic with host Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Thomas Abban (Residency) with Lighting Co @ Green Room
Ice Horse Mikkel Beckman & Jeff Ray @ Icehouse
Duo Corda @ Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
Songbird Spotlight Series @ Metronome Brewery
Karaoke With Chazz Reed @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Quail, Sunsets Over Flowers, and Magick Flavour Station @ Pilllar Forum
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Been Stellar with Malice K @ 7th St Entry
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
Breakers’ Paradise @ Terminal Bar
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Tom Pevear @ 331 Club
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
The Indecisions @ White Squirrel
Dead by 50, Blame the Witness, & Waar Party @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, January 16
Laura MacKenzie, Richard Kriehn, and Nate Wilson @ Aster Cafe
Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet @ Berlin
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Hunny Bear, the TH3, Matcha Fever @ Can Can Wonderland
Speakeasy Serenade: A Great American Songbook Cabaret @ Crooners
ACME Jazz Company and Arne Fogel @ Crooners
T. Mychael Rambo & Kevin Kling @ Dakota
System 13, Leaving Hope @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Joy Oladokun @ First Avenue—Like lots of talented Nashville singer-songwriters, Oladokun feels underappreciated in that company town, where she moved from Arizona to launch her music career. The question of leaving the city is among the many topics she addresses on her latest, Observations From a Crowded Room, a wide-ranging album held together by the bright timbre of her voice, which brings a determination even to her bleakest moments. And that collection’s high points are indeed examples of what Oladokun does best: the lovely “Good Enough,” a song for her mother, and “The Drugs Don’t Work,” which, eventually, they always don’t.
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Peter Kogan Jazz Presents The Monsterful Wonderband @ Metronome
Dark Click with Curtiss A @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Nordic Tales and Folklore @ Orchestra Hall
Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer’s
Dusty Forever with Oftener and Val Son @ Pilllar Forum
Mubbla Buggs, the Rodents @ Schooner Tavern
- Landon Conrath (Winter Residency) with Charli Adams and Pageant Dress @ 7th St Entry—A newcomer to the January residency series, Conrath released Employee of the Year last October, and it's a fine showcase of his popcraft, set off my sharp arrangements. (You might have also caught him drumming for Ber in the Mainroom last weekend.)
Cross Pollination: Knife Emoji, Plumbstar @ 331 Club
American Cream Band, din-din, and Erik's Iridescent Tent @ Turf Club
Shrimp Olympics, Sunshine Emblem, DJ HTFC (UKG), Demon Marcus @ Uptown VFW
Devaney & Friends @ White Squirrel
Type Operator with Larry Wish, Ditch Pigeon @ White Squirrel
- Electronic Composer Night @ Zion Lutheran Church—The Vanguard New Music Series kicks off tonight with a selection of electronic compositions (as you might have guessed from "Electronic Composer Night). Sponsored by RenegadeEnsemble, the series will last throughout the year, and you can find more information about it here.
Friday, January 17
Chris Mason and Josh Tarp @ Aster Cafe
Cyber City Disco: Pump Takeover @ Beast Barbecue
Jack Klatt Trio & McKain Lakey Band @ Cedar Cultural Center
Adi Yeshaya Jazz Orchestra Feat. Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
Judi Vinar and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Landfillharmonik with Fauna Sauna and Waar Party @ Day Block Brewing
The Dissenters, We Lucky Few @ Driftwood
SOxo presents KGM(irl)* @ First Avenue
Radio Moon Residency Parties @ Green Room
Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder
Ted Godbout Trio @ Jazz Central
Kliptic with Future Exit & Malfunktion @ The Loft
Hans Fuerst and Jonah Walt @ Metronome Brewery
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Nordic Tales and Folklore @ Orchestra Hall
Roman Rabinovich Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 @ Ordway
Bridge Band, The Better Mistakes, and Colonel Mustard’s Mechanical Orchestra @ Palmer’s
Lana Leone with 12th House Sun, Linus, and Lily Blue @ Pilllar Forum
Erin McCawley’s Harrison Street Band @ Schooner Tavern
Twin Citizen with AirLands, Joe Bartel, and Larry Wish @ 7th St Entry
Poolboy, Beemer, Seven Pines @ 331 Club
Katy Tessman & the Turnbuckles, HebbaJebba @ Underground Music Venue
Malion, Fervor Face, WGLZ, Shawn Raja @ Uptown VFW
Topiary Blush with Thomas Richey, Maje Adams @ White Squirrel
The Daily Norm (Album Release) with Joe Kelly, The Cottonwood Shivers @ White Squirrel
The Drop Dead with Threads Electric, Prgrphs @ White Squirrel
Wax Appeal feat. E-Tones and The Excavators @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, January 18
- Jamie XX with Numero Group DJs @ Armory—Weekends at the Armory are often given over to multi-night EDM events for club kids to flaunt the superhuman endurance they oughta enjoy while it lasts. But here’s a superstar dance night for the olds. Jamie’s latest, In Waves, condenses the emotional extremes of the all-night rave into a 45-minute synopsis for homebodies; tonight, presumably, those tracks will reacclimate themselves to a room full of warm bodies. As befits a producer who’s best known as the glue that holds an indie band together, tracks here cohere into songs, often cluttered with an excess of hooks that many producers would process out—this music doesn’t just come in waves, but in ripples, wobbles, thumps, stabs, and all other sorts of electro-motion. Honey Dijon, Robyn, the Avalanches, and Jamie’s pals Romy and Olivier from the XX all swing by for crucial contributions, but the one that gets me is an unidentified voice, soulful on the verge of hysteria, declaring “All we got to do is treat each other right.” It’d be a start, at least.
Betty Bang’s Express Drag @ Black Hart
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Bunker’s
- S.L.O.G., Slut Intent, Chemsexx, Hors D’Ouevres @ Cedar Cultural Center—For some reason, there's a lot of trans hardcore in these Twin Cities of ours—I mean, whatever could trans Americans have to be angry about? This fundraiser for Twin Cities Trans Mutual Aid is a great way to acquaint yourself with a ferocious sliver of that scene while contributing to an absolutely necessary cause. Headliners S.L.O.G. (that’s “Sexy Ladies of God”), are joined by the perfectly named Slut Intent, self-dubbed “riot-dolls” Chemsexx, and, playing their first ever show, newbies Hors D’Oeuvres, who want you to know it’s pronounced “horse divorce.” (How else would you pronounce it?) Vengeance is theirs, but tonight they’re willing to share.
Patty Peterson with Tommy Barbarella @ Crooners
We Have a Dream: Music for Martin @ Crooners
Judy Vinar and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Nobody From Nowhere, Tea & Sympathy, Pibon @ Driftwood
The Bill Patten Trio @ Dusty’s
ISOxo presents KGM( irl )* @ First Avenue
Happy Birthday Janis @ Fitzgerald Theater
ADA ROOK, Anita Velveeta, snakeworld! @ Green Room
Gathering Darkness 2 @ Hook and Ladder
Ryan Meisel Quartet @ Jazz Central
Gorrillat with Twopercent @ The Loft
Red Hot Django Peppers @ Metronome Brewery
Jaybee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Assortment with DJ Michael Grey @ Mortimers
Nordic Tales and Folklore @ Orchestra Hall
Roman Rabinovich Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 @ Ordway
Lissie with Trash Date (Solo) @ Parkway
The Wreck, Dan Israel @ Schooner Tavern
Lutalo with runo plum @ 7th St Entry
Hazy Phase with Feral Parents @ Terminal Bar
Red Eye Ruby, Izzy Crux @ 331 Club
Destroy, the Pist, Misery, Boot Camp @ Uptown VFW
Revolution, Theology, Evilynda, Trashley, Jen @ Uptown VFW
The Long Goodbyes @ White Squirrel
Waterline with Flatwound, Sunsets Over Flowers @ White Squirrel
Juice Falls, Virginia's Basement, Baumgardner @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, January 19
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
D. Untethered & Stevie @ Berlin
Story Tellers: The Great Songs of Elton John, James Taylor and Paul Simon @ Crooners
Dan Chouinard with Ann Reed @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood
TC Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Ross Clowser (DJ Vinyl Set) @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Flamenco Collective with Juan Pedro Jiménez & La Bárbara @ Icehouse
Dan “Daddy Squeeze” Newton, Pat Donohue, Richard Kriehn @ Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
A Benefit for KFAI’s Willie D @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Roman Rabinovich Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 @ Ordway
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s
Lissie with Misty Boyce with Steve Goold @ Parkway
- Eleven Degenerates @ 331 Club—OK, now this is a great band name.
Charlie Parr (January Residency) with Laurel Premo @ Turf Club
Dan & Mary with Danger Pins @ White Squirrel
Karaoke with Ally @ White Squirrel
Monday, January 20
Chris True and the Malarkey, Short Timer, Vinyl DJ @ Acadia
Willow Waters & the Birth Tones @ Berlin
Open Mic with Greg Ekland @ Driftwood
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Only Every Monday @ Green Room
- 39th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration @ Ordway—The musical performers at this year's event will be Billy Steele and Fellowship Baptist Church, Jamecia Bennett, and KNOWN MPLS.
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer’s
Nicki & the Ruemates @ 331 Club
The Cactus Blossoms (January Residency) with Hilary Thavis and Doug Otto @ Turf Club
