Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
WEDNESDAY 7.6
Geoff Asmus
Acme Comedy Co.
Asmus is a filthy dirtball, a serial button-pusher who riffs on his own premature ejaculation, bedwetting, and uncanny resemblance to serial killers. His debut album, last year’s Sisyphus Brewing-recorded The Prodigal Little Bitch, made noise on the iTunes comedy charts, winning fans with material that giddily shocks without veering into calculated edgelord territory. “I’ve been doing comedy pretty consistently for the past couple of months now,” Asmus, a former local, told our pals at MN Comedy last May. “I know it’s irresponsible, but I had to make money. I did get COVID from doing it, though, so I did get punished by God.” Risk angering God by checking him out at the Midwest’s iconic comedy club. $18-$37. 8 p.m. Wed.-Thu.; 7 & 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 708 N. First St., Minneapolis; find more info here.–Jay Boller
FRIDAY 7.8
Boom Days
Boom Island Brewing Company
Don’t worry, fireworks haters: This is a whole different kind of Boom Day. On July 8 and 9, Boom Island Brewing Company is celebrating its 11th year with a lineup of live music, food trucks, artists, and, of course, beer. The fun starts Friday, but Saturday is the big ol’ celebration—that’s when the Belgian-inspired brewery is hosting a “puppy hour” with Secondhand Hounds and Orangetheory will be on site doing some warm-up exercises for kids (that will probably also have the benefit of tiring said kids out). Free. Noon to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 5959 Baker Rd., Minnetonka. Full schedule and more info here.—Em Cassel
SATURDAY 7.9
UnderrCurrentMPLS Fartaversary
Cedar Cultural Center
We’re wishing a very happy 11th fartaversary to UnderCurrentMPLS, the video-production crew that has painstakingly documented the Twin Cities scene since 2011. UnderCurrent’s YouTube library, which boasts 5,000+ videos of punk, folk, rap, and everything else, is a vast trove of local music history; this clip of Lifter Puller playing the Weisman in ‘00 is a particular favorite of mine. I recall editing a terrific City Pages story about UnderCurrent around ‘15, but since Star Tribune Media Co. cares less about history than this scrappy band of videographers, I simply can’t link to it. Anyway! Long live UnderCurrentMPLS. Today’s farty b-day show features live music from: Alien Book Club, Allergen, Another Heaven, BlueDriver, Boobless, Butter Boys, Closetalker, Din-Din, Fletcher Coulee, Liquid Lunch, Prismatic Spray, Products, Serious Machine, and World Wide Basement Vibes. $20-$25. 1 p.m. 416 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.–Jay Boller
Trampled by Turtles and Jenny Lewis
Bayfront Festival Park
(Update: Lewis pulled out of this show; she has been replaced by two Minnesota acts: alt-country greats the Jayhawks and Duluth's own Emma Jeanne Rothwell.) Trampled by Turtles were barely back from a self-imposed, two-year hiatus in 2018 when a coronavirus-imposed one shut down live music. The feverishly followed Duluth bluegrass stars are now back in earnest, with a loaded summer schedule that includes big music fests, Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, and this homecoming show on the shore of Lake Superior. Lewis has deep family connections to Minnesota and Wisconsin, as ex-89.3 the Current writer Jay Gabler explored in 2019, and, of course, she also has the delightful locally connected line from “Heads Gonna Roll”: “Took a little trip up north / In a borrowed convertible red Porsche / With a narcoleptic poet from Duluth.” It’s hard to overstate the top-to-bottom quality of her Rilo Kiley and solo discographies. “Actually, her band is gonna be all Minnesota guys this time around, which is cool–all friends of ours,” TbT frontman Dave Simonett recently told the Current’s Local Show. $39.50-$50. 6 p.m. 350 Harbor Dr., Duluth; find more info here.–Jay Boller
Chicano Batman
First Avenue
Enthralled with the frothy psychedelic of ’60s Brazilian Tropicália, this L.A. band burbles with a political optimism you don’t hear much any more on their most recent album 2020 album, Invisible People. Singer Bardo Martinez recalls Caetano Veloso angling for a seat of P-Funk’s Mothership, Eduardo Arenas’s bass both pops and swoops. Their political insight isn’t as deep as their groove, which is saying something, because their groove skitters more than it digs in. But the lightness of their rhythms is its own statement, definitely musically and maybe politically too. This show was originally scheduled for May 2020, then again for last December. With Rudy de Anda. 18+. 8:30 p.m. $20/$22. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
SUNDAY 7.10
North Loop Food Truck Fest
Heritage Landing
You’ll find a beer garden, a picnic in the park, and more food trucks than ever before at this year’s North Loop Food Truck Fest. Not much to add here besides “free entry,” so allow us to lazily copy-paste from the massive list of some of this year’s participating trucks: ASIAN INVASION/CHOPSTIX, Thai Thai Street Food, KCM EggRolls, Taqueria Espartaco, The Corn Monkeys, Over the Coals, Kenny’s, Meatball Wagon, iPierogi Food Truck, Thumbs Cookies, K-Town Street Foods, O’Cheeze, Nautical Bowls, Original Hockey Mom Brownies, Lu’s Sandwiches, True CBD, Sumo Egg Rolls, BEATEATS, Chicks on Wheels, Youniverse Foodie Waffles. Wow. That really is a lot of trucks. Find more even info here. 11:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Free. 751 3rd St N, Minneapolis. —Em Cassel
Open Streets Minneapolis
Franklin Avenue
Open Streets are a lot like a block party, except instead of closing a side street these events shut down main drag. We’re talking Lyndale Avenue, Minnehaha, Lake Street, West Broadway, and, this weekend, Franklin Avenue. During each celebration the streets will be closed to cars but open to you, where you’ll find a variety of things to see and do, including sidewalk sales, parking lot concerts, chalk-art making, pop-up skate parks, impromptu yoga sessions, and summer beer patios. Of particular interest for this installment: The Seward Coop 50th anniversary block party, where you’ll find a killer burger deal, fresh fruit, kombucha pours, live music from Malamanya, live screenprinting, staff art fair, bounce house, and more. Find the complete Open Streets schedule here.—Jessica Armbruster
Dusty’s Daze
Dusty’s
Dusty’s Daze are here again, to misquote FDR’s campaign song (or Led Zeppelin, I guess). What does that mean for you? A solid schedule of outdoor local music all day long and into the night—12 hours of music in fact. The event is hosted by DJ Brian Engel and DJ Mitch Kersten all day; acts include raw garage rockers Low Rats, melodic garage rocker Monica Laplante, and veteran garage rockers Run Westy Run. (You may notice a theme.) At nine the action moves indoors for the Riffin' Trio, which is made up of “members of Cactus Blossoms, Champagne Confetti, Craig Finn, HALEY, Halloween Alaaska...” The ellipsis has got me intrigued. $5 to drink. Noon to midnight. 1319 Marshall St NE, Minneapolis; more info here.—Keith Harris
ONGOING
Love’s Labor’s Lost
Various Locations
Classical Actor’s Ensemble is back in the parks this summer to bring free theater to the masses. This year’s production is Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, a comedy poking fun at masculine desire while celebrating feminine intelligence. The plot: The young King of Navarre forces he and his friends to swear off “worldly pleasures” for three years of fasting and academia. His virtuous goal gets completely fucked, however, when a French princess and her crew show up in town to talk diplomacy. Horniness ensues, and—spoiler alert!—wins. Find times and locations at classicalactorsensemble.org. Through July 17 –Jessica Armbruster
Artist Designed Skyline Mini Golf
Walker Art Center
Now in its 15th year, Artist Designed Skyline Mini Golf returns to WAC for another season of putt putt played in the sky. No really: You’ll be heading up to the museum’s rooftop to play these 10 holes, which means you’ll see gorgeous city views in addition to the spectacle of the quirky course. The new hole this year, Always Have Been Sewn, was designed by Asian American Organizing Project’s Youth Action Team, and was inspired by Hmong “story cloth,” a.k.a. a paj ntaub. Mini golf aficionado Tom Loftus also has two holes featured this year. $10. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday–Saturday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis. Through September 25 –Jessica Armbruster
