It's dark and rainy and I want to stay home and keep refreshing the MN Secretary of State website anxiously all night, but I don't want to miss Jeremiah Chiu and Josh Johnson at the Cedar. And then Wednesday I gotta get to Berlin to see Rudresh Mahanthappa. And then... Anyway, my point is, it's a busy week!
Tuesday, November 3
Orville Peck, Abbie Callahan @ Armory
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Johnny Kovarik and the Mighty Kind @ Carbone’s
- Jeremiah Chiu & Josh Johnson @ Cedar Cultural Center—These Chicago-born, L.A.-based musicians are both members of the buzzy improvisatory quintet SML, and their solo work has a collaborative feel as well. Chiu’s synths and drums often sound like a band in the way they play off each other; on his latest album, Edge Conditions, the compositions build while allowing for lovely lyrical moments. On his latest, Animative, Johnson, who’s also known for his collaborations with guitarist Jeff Parker and Meshell Ndegeocello, continues to explore the textural possibilities of the saxophone. Tonight he’ll be performing as a trio with Anna Butterss and Lumsdaine. This is a dual release show for both albums.—Keith Harris
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- L7, NOBRO @ Fine Line—Following bassist Jennifer Finch's death from cancer earlier this year, this farewell tour is even more bittersweet than most. Show is sold out (with pricey resales available online), but if you've got your tix show up early for NOBRO, a Canadian band as all-gal as their name suggests. They've been kicking around for more than a decade but accelerated into high gear with their Juno-winning 2023 album Set Your Pussy Free.—Keith Harris
Basement, High Vis, Big Boy, Lowertown @ First Avenue
Rodrigo y Gabriela @ Fitzgerald Theater
Bill Simenson Jazz Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Bluewater Kings Showcase @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Old Time Music Workshop and Jam @ Padriags
Post Sex Nachos, the Foxies, Jack @ 7th St Entry
November Conspiracy Series feat. Cold Sweat, Sothea Lam @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Chris Thompson @ 331 Club
Blitzkid, They Live @ Turf Club
Thomas Sticha @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, November 4
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
- Rudresh Mahanthappa @ Berlin—Whether performing in traditional jazz formats (often with pianist Vijay Iyer) or with Indian instrumentation, Mahanthappa has drawn upon his South Indian heritage to expand the vocabulary of the jazz saxophone for nearly a quarter of a century. Alto saxophonist Mahanthappa seems to have taken a short break from recording: His most recent album is the pandemic release Hero Trio, named for the group he’ll perform with tonight, with the rhythm section of François Moutin on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. Hero Trio explored the repertory of jazz titans Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins while also making room for Johnny Cash and Stevie Wonder. I’m a longtime fan and haven’t seen Mahanthappa live, so yes, I will be there.—Keith Harris
Jim Bierma and Nancy Bierma @ Crooners
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon Presents Tony Balluff Band @ Eagles 34
The Bends, the Braymores @ Fine Line
Tytus Canby @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Bit.gang presents Blood Ocean II: A Rave for Vampires @ Mortimer’s
FarFarAway, Atomic Lights, Maelstrom in the Harbor @ Pilllar Forum
Connor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Weatherday, Hey, ily!, Anita Velveeta @ 7th St Entry
The New Standards @ State Theatre
Open Mic with Grant Dawson @ 318 Cafe
Bosso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Maurice Jacox @ 331 Club
The Second Stringers @ White Squirrel
Midso, Ditchweed, Phantom Fields @ White Squirrel
Lent, Squinny, Larrikins @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, November 5
Austin Giorgio, Caroline Romano @ Amsterdam Bar & Hall
Witching Hour feat. Glia @ Berlin
Crates: Sensation by Erika de Casier @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Axis: Sova, Time Room, Tender Comrade @ Cloudland
The Music of the Beach Boys @ Crooners
Maryann Sullivan @ Dale Alexander @ Crooners
Claudia Schmidt and Ann Reed @ Crooners
Lizzy and the Triggermen @ Dakota
The Outcats @ Driftwood Char Bar
Mary DuShane and Nick Jordan @ Dubliner Pub
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Sophie Hunter, Reysha Rami @ Fine Line—"She is like if Jean Grae taught Natasha Lyonne how to rap," says one Reddit poster of Sophie "not to be confused with the British director" Hunter, and while I'm not sure how enticing that sounds it sure beats the reality of "She's a Yalie who figured out cringe-rap draws a bigger crowd than slam poetry." Of course, she wants us to wince, that's all a part of her schtick, and I intermittently applaud her album Stereoscope for irritating all the right people. I just wish I wasn't one of them.—Keith Harris
Ax and the Hatchetmen, Tipling Rock @ First Avenue
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
No Limits: The B Side @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård, Parker, and Sibelius @ Orchestra Hall
- Mary Gauthier, Jaimee Harris @ Parkway—Gauthier has been a songwriter’s songwriter for more than two decades, but I think her writing has really leveled up since Rifles & Rosary Beads in 2018. Working with a Nashville project called Songwriting With: Soldiers, she adapted veterans’ stories to her own songs, and how could such a process not broaden your perspective and deepen your art? On her new album, Reckoning, the recovering alcoholic revisits familiar territory with “Alcohol and Adderall" (rhymes with “the pride that comes before a fall”), passes through history with “Some Times” (as in “I have seen…”), and, with the six-minute title track, looks forward to moments when scores are settled. As do we all.—Keith Harris
Retrofizz, Chicks & Troggs @ Schooner Tavern
lily blue (Album Release), Mike Kota, Hazelcreak, mouthful @ 7th St Entry
The New Standards @ State Theatre
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
King Sickabilly, the 241s, DJ Dan Lansing @ Uptown VFW
Better Than Ezra @ Varsity Theater
Twin Cities Flamenco Collective @ Volstead’s
An Emmy Woods Cuntry Club with Emma Jeane @ White Squirrel
Ex Rodeo, Paperbacks, Lemon @ White Squirrel
Self-Evident, Align @ Zhora Darling
Friday, November 6
Static Dress, I Promised the World, Car Underwater, Sherane @ Amsterdam
Clark Machtemes and the Traveled Ground @ Bear Cave
Alex Koi x Kirin McElwain @ Berlin
Rhythm Rotation by DJ McShellan @ Berlin
Drinkwine With Friends Band @ Blues Saloon
Nadine DuBois @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
Bill Callahan with Rick Maguire @ Cedar Cultural Center
- Bev (Album Release), American Cream Band, Catbath @ Cloudland—Expectations is a collection of bright, tricky power pop with band namesake Niki Beverly never moping even when she's autopsying a breakup and lead guitarist Doc never settling for a pat hook when a more clever fillip will do. Big fan of "One Last Look Back," about repairing the damage from a past relationship even after you've ostensibly moved on. The dancey, trancey American Cream Band and plucky indie-rockers Catbath round out a solid night of local rock.—Keith Harris
Dirty 930, In Limbo, One Singular Cigarette, Lipstinger @ Day Block Brewing
Dream Addict, Lost Marbles @ Driftwood Char Bar
Release the Craicen @ Dubliner Pub
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon Presents Katia and the Upswing @ Eagles 34
Die Spitz, Faetooth @ First Avenue
Candlelight Tribute to Taylor Swift @ Granada
Candlelight Tribute to Tool @ Granada
Unkle Muskrat (Album Release) @ Green Room
C*nt O’Clock: The C*nt Palace @ Green Room
Rainforest Rave Presents: Into the Wild @ Green Room
Paul Cedar & Tomorrow Sound @ Hook and Ladder
Heather Mae, Mother Banjo @ Hook and Ladder
North Stars Jazz Workshop: Members Concert @ Jazz Central
Homegrown, R.I.M.E., Just a Casualty, Meat Sweatz @ Memory Lanes
Funktion Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Bobby Rethwish (Album Release), Miloe, Johnny Darko @ Mortimer’s
Søndergård, Parker, and Sibelius @ Orchestra Hall
Spin Kick, lowj0y, HURTQUAKE, onsite @ Pilllar Forum
Thunderheads @ Schooner Tavern
Dent May, Bright Young Things @ 7th St Entry
Matty & the Subtle Validation, Eva Moe @ 331 Club
Stan Society Presents Olivia Rodrigo @ Uptown Theater
Paper Sky, Cutie Machines @ Uptown VFW
Vuka, Jelly T, Zoom @ Uptown VFW
- She’s Green @ Varsity Theater—Seems these days every city has a pack of shoegaze/not-quite-shoegaze bands finding new wrinkles in the exquisite clamor of that once marginal guitar-rock tradition. She’s Green have nosed to the head of the Twin Cities’s own s/n-q-s pack, and on their latest album, swallowtail, released back in July, they’re edging toward the “not quite.” Suitably sweet-voiced Zofia Smith emerges from behind Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas’s guitars, which soar across an increasingly broader range. Tracks like the delicately acoustic “Empty House” accentuate a pastoral, open-air quality She’s Green has cultivated from the start, and they go out on a seven-minute “Close Your Eyes” that never wastes a second. She’s Green is gathering no moss: They’ve been out on tour, returning for this homecoming show, then they’ll be right back on the road.—Keith Harris
Railroad Island @ White Squirrel
Witch Syndicate @ White Squirrel
Talker, Snowcuffs, Lumari @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, November 7
Rx Cowboy, Normal Writing, Anteeter, $elfsame, Spectres of Desire @ Acadia
The Marigold de Muertos @ Amsterdam
Cornbread Harris & Friends @ Animales
Prof, Yelawolf, That Mexican OT, Norman Sann @ Armory
A Blind History and Orko Eloheim @ Barely Brothers
Jumpsuit: Funk & Disco Dance Party @ Black Hart
Nadine DuBois @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Strictly R&B: Ladies Night SZN 4 @ Cabooze
SPCO’s Northside Series: Bach’s Fifth Partita @ Capri Theater
Colleen Green, Censer, True Lust @ Cloudland
Joel Shapira’s Maggie’s Maison with Jon Pemberton @ Crooners
I Honestly Love You: Beloved Songs of Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray @ Crooners
Grim Lot, Malamiko, Lovely Dark @ Day Block Brewing
Overdrive, Quarter Past Halftime @ Driftwood Char Bar
Chris Davies & the Afterparty @ Dubliner Pub
Mad Mojo Jett, Daniel James Gang, Sex Scenes, H.E.A.T. @ Dusty’s
Arch Enemy, the Black Dahlia Murder @ Fillmore
Bridgitte Calls Me Baby, Common People, DJ Jake Rudh @ First Avenue
M.O.1962, the Dirty Pretty, Divine Squash @ Green Room
Taking Back Bedtime (Early Emo Party) @ Green Room
Abolish ICE: A Benefit Concert for the MN 15 @ Hook and Ladder
Sleepy Weekend @ Hook and Ladder
North Stars Jazz Workshop: Members Concert @ Jazz Central
The Routine with Jaybee @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Y2K with DJs Sophia Eris + Shannon Blowtorch @ Mortimer’s
Søndergård, Parker, and Sibelius @ Orchestra Hall
The Magic of Motown @ O’Shaughnessy
Dusk Rat, Luke Bakken @ Padraigs
Joy Oladokun, Nat Myers @ Palace Theatre
Shabby Road Orchestra @ Parkway
Closed City Terror, Murrow, Sensing Agony @ Pilllar Forum
Erin McCawley’s Harrison Street Band @ Schooner Tavern
Colonel Mustard’s Mechanical Orchestra @ 331 Club
Last Nite⏤An Indie Sleaze Dance Party with Michael Grey @ Turf Club
In the Company of Serpents @ Underground Music
Abbie Gamboa @ Varsity Theater
Adam Harder Nussbaum @ Volstead's
Remy Chacón, Patrick Mustain, Summers Conglomerate @ White Squirrel
QAWALA, Joseph Walker @ White Squirrel
Sweet Pea, Conzeminus, Baby Mahi and the Sitters @ White Squirrel
Freak of the Week with Ori the Ghost, TNA, Jen-E, Bunny Mob, DJ Nola @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, November 8
Maddie Zahm, Semler @ Amsterdam
Jack White @ Armory
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
Afternoon Delight Dance Party @ Black Hart
Teddy Thompson, Jenna Nicholls @ Cedar Cultural Center
Joel Shapira’s Maggie’s Maison with Ted Godbout @ Crooners
Ryan Picone Quartet @ Crooners
Wayne Anthony Presents Ultimate Sinatra @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
The Inland Seas @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Eivør with midori jaeger @ Fine Line
Viva Knievel, Brass Solidarity, School of Rock St. Paul @ First Avenue
Davy Knowles @ Hook and Ladder
The Musical Tales of Hans Christian Andersen @ Orchestra Hall
Prairie Fire Choir, the Foxgloves @ Parkway Theater
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Six Foot Blonde with Genevieve Heyward @ 7th St Entry
Emmy Woods and Friends @ 331 Club
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School @ 331 Club
The War and Treaty @ Varsity Theater
Edie Rae, Christopher David Hanson, Mare Lennon, Joe Fahey @ White Squirrel
Second Breakfast String Band, Borrowed Days Irish Band @ White Squirrel
Monday, November 9
- Eiko Ishibashi, LXD @ Berlin—In town to perform her score for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Gift at the Walker on Saturday, Ishibashi is sticking around to perform her dreamy yet substantial compositions tonight and tomorrow at Berlin. Drone duo LXD (Twin Peaks music editor Lori Eschler, Steel Pole Bathtub bassist Dale Flattum) open tonight.—Keith Harris
Sam Brown and Wes Ruelle @ Crooners
Songwriter Night: Hosted by Tom Peschges with Tim Fast & Cristina Seaborn @ Crooners
A Tribute to Thad Jones & Mel Lewis with the UWEC Jazz Ensemble @ Crooners
Blind Boys of Alabama @ Dakota
Sea Shanty Sing @ Dubliner Pub
Argentine Tango @ Indeed Brewing
Yuasa-Exide, Visual Learner, Makin’ Out, Darkling I Listen @ Memory Lanes
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Monday Jam @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Robbinsdale Area Schools Annual Fall Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Max John + Allweather, Thoughtcast, Pet Store Robbery @ Pilllar Forum
Ninth Key, Away @ 7th St Entry
Mumblin’ Drew’s Oldfangled Orchestrators @ White Squirrel
Greenvale Manitou, Loop Th3ory, Landfillharmonik @ White Squirrel
