It is an incredible May for live music. I mean it—you can tell by the way I italicized "incredible." And we're just getting started this week.
Tuesday, April 29
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Branford Marsalis Quartet @ Dakota
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Circa Waves and Friday Pilots Club with bugsy @ First Avenue
Jesse Cook @ Fitzgerald Theater
Colonel Mustard’s Mechanical Orchestra @ Jazz Central
The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight @ Orpheum Theatre
Will Olsen & The Wild Ones, Tommy and Forrest Jedediah @ Palmer’s
XTC’s Terry Chambers & Friends, DJ Jake Rudh @ Parkway
Embahn with Emma Jeanne and Canary Room @ Pilllar Forum
Matthew And The Atlas with Foreign Fields @ 7th St Entry
Artist Showcase @ Sociable CIder Werks
April Conspiracy Series featuring Eldest Daughter, ditchpigeon, Emerson Island @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Becky Kapell @ 331 Club
L.A. Witch with DAIISTAR @ Turf Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Unattractive Giant Monster (Residency) with Cut Rate Clones, Ruben @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, April 30
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
- Laura Jane Grace & The Mississippi Medicals @ Amsterdam—Punk rock still has the power to provoke, especially among the dumbest motherfuckers alive. Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace proved as much earlier this month, when clips of her performing her solo track “Your God (God’s Dick)” at a Bernie Sanders “Fighting Oligarchy” rally sent the far-right into an online tizzy. “It’s a straight-up protest song,” she told Rolling Stone. “I don’t know what else that event was supposed to be other than a protest rally.” Prolific as ever at 44, the pioneering trans rocker keeps churning out killer garage-punk solo albums, like last year’s Hole In My Head, and her next, Adventure Club, is due out in July. Last year Grace told NME that Against Me! reconnected at her wedding, and that the celebrated Florida folk-punk band could remerge soon. “We didn’t break up, it just got weird,” she says. “We’ll play again, I have faith in that.” Here’s hoping.—Jay Boller
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Presents: Bible Study @ Berlin
The Arcadian Wild with River & Rail @ Cedar Cultural Center
1967: Summer of Love with Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs @ Crooners
Branford Marsalis Quartet @ Dakota
Midlife Crisis, Jazz Outlaws @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
SAINt JHN with Jordan Hawkins @ First Avenue
Eli Brunelle (Album Release) with DJ Lemony, Lasalle, HINDSIGHT, & 0308 @ Green Room
The David Mitchell Group @ Metronome
Grave Society, Parker’s Picnic, Waar Party @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mortiholics Residency @ Mortimer’s
Glencircle, Super Deluxe Bastards, and the Izzy Cruz Band @ Palmer’s
Joe Bartel with Robber's Roost, The Moray and King Sized Coffin @ Pilllar Forum
BZ3 Organ Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Husbands with JW Francis @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Katey Bellville and Those S.O.Bs @ 331 Club
Helen (Single Release) @ Underground Music Venue
Minds on Fire @ White Squirrel
Stardust with Chongo Murdertrout @ White Squirrel
Finesse, Ronnie Stone, Healng, & wolfbabycup @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, May 1
Burning Blue Rain & Aidan Burke @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Michael Monroe’s Acoustic Legends @ Crooners
Renegade: Tribute to Classic Rock @ Crooners
Pat Donohue & Prairie All-Stars @ Dakota
The Roundabouts, Cal Varosa @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Lily Rose with Payton Smith @ Fine Line
The Wrecks with Quarters of Change and Benjamin Carter @ First Avenue
Munson Fest @ Fitzgerald Theater
- Cornbread’s 98th B-Day Party Extravaganza @ Hook and Ladder—Yes, you get plenty of chances to see this hard-working nonagenarian legend—he's at Palmer's every Sunday. But Cornbread Harris's annual celebration remains a special occasion, and anyway, how many 98th birthday parties do you get to go to?—Keith Harris
The Quantum Mechanics (Album Release) with JoJo Green & Poor Lemuel @ Hook and Ladder
Davu/Deano/DUO @ Metronome Brewery
Lowdown Dirty Fools @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mary Elias’s Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård Conducts Puccini’s Turandot @ Orchestra Hall
L.I.S.T.E.N.: Ambient Jam, Non-Sequiturs, Zaireeka @ Pilllar Forum
Chemistry Set, the Customers @ Schooner Tavern
- The Hold Steady @ 7th St Entry—Certified New York City band the Hold Steady whacked away at the iron when it was hot, releasing their first and best four albums in rapid succession between 2004 and 2008. They'll celebrate the best of the bunch, 2005’s gritty, ambitious, and downright cinematic Separation Sunday, during this special stretch of shows in a city that… means a lot to the certified NYC band. (Craig Finn addresses Racket’s controversially provincial bumper stickers here.) Here’s the deal: THS, now more of an institution for their dedicated fans than a regularly touring band, are scheduled to rip through Sep Sunday at the tiny 7th St Entry tonight before back-to-back First Ave dates on Thursday and Friday. All of that’ll be capped with a Fine Line “storytellers set” on Saturday. As we’ve said before, the Hold Steady broke out from a mid-career slump with an ongoing winning streak of new music, so this run of fan-service shows smacks entirely of celebration not desperation.—Jay Boller
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Save Ferris with Keep Flying @ Turf Club
Food House, Folie, Bejalvin @ Underground Music Venue
School’s Out Forever @ Varsity
- Deerhoof @ Walker Art Center—If Deerhoof’s mathy postpunk occasionally ploughs familiar terrain on its new album, Noble and Godlike in Ruin, well, the band has claimed quite a bit of acreage over the past 31 years. As always, bassist Satomi Matsuzaki’s vocal melodies provide a bright, tuneful counterpoint to the precise ruckus she kicks up with drummer Greg Saunier and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. This band’s “31 Flavours Tour” is a career retrospective spanning all of the band’s 20 albums, and it’s kicking off at the Walker. Makes sense: What better place to see the art-rock band than at the art museum?—Keith Harris
Heavy Thur with Pals @ White Squirrel
The Silent Treatment, Favourite Girl, Bev @ Zhora Darling
Friday, May 2
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with Knifeplay @ Amsterdam—Perhaps no other band defines the “blog era” than Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, whose self-released eponymous debut became a then-novel surprise internet hit in 2004. (“The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” remains an all-time banger.) CYHSY is ostensibly just Philly-launched Alec Ounsworth, and like so many bloggy bands, his indie-rock outfit struggled to sustain momentum through the second Bush administration. But the group never stopped plugging away, having released five subsequent full-lengths, including underrated 2007 sophomore effort Some Loud Thunder and 2021’s strong New Fragility. No sucker, Ounsworth knows his aging hipster millennial audience, which is why CYHSY is promising to play its debut front-to-back on this current tour.—Jay Boller
Polem (Mike Wolter/Kameron Markworth/Joey Van Phillips) @ Berlin
Kinetic with Shannon Blowtorch @ Berlin
Rumba Latina with Azalia Cruz @ Black Hart
70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Bunker’s
Upon a Burning Body with Left to Suffer, King 810, Half Me, Bury My Demons @ Cabooze
Smooth Jazz and Hilarious Laughs @ Capri Theater
Fend, Another Heaven, Malamiko @ Cloudland
Hot Club Mania Quartet @ Crooners
The Handsome Devils, Gonzo’s Planet @ Driftwood
Katia & The Upswing @ Eagles 34
Institutional Green @ Eagles 34
- The Hold Steady @ First Avenue—See Thursday’s listings.
Gabriel Rutledge @ Fitzgerald Theater
A Thousand Angels and Seven @ Flying V
A-Scratch Celebration @ Granada
A Tribute to TJ Plenke @ Ginkgo Coffee
KFAI 47th Anniversary Community Celebration @ Hook and Ladder
Ancient Fruit, Squig, Kitten Candy @ Hook and Ladder
Molly Dean (Album Release) with Aby Wolf @ Icehouse
Michael Gold Quartet @ Jazz Central
Notixx x Abstrakt Sonance with J.Adjodha, BiFrost & Chestaboy @ The Loft
Katy Tessman with Eli Gardiner @ Metronome
Johnnie Brown Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Psychic Vampire + Blood Sigil + Skimask + Getting Stabbed @ Mortimer’s
Steven Copes Plays Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata @ Ordway
Red Hot Django Peppers @ Padraigs
The Unnamed, Edith Head, and the Swongos @ Palmer’s
Baumgardner with Anita Velveeta, Gramma, and Mystery Meat @ Pilllar Forum
Thunderheads @ Schooner Tavern
DJ Peaceboii ⏤ Battle for the Belt @ 7th St Entry
Coax From Chuckanut, Slaphazard, Indicat @ 331 Club
Papooz with Cornelia Murr @ Turf Club
BIG LOVE 2: Jocko 69, D Untethered, Neil Fox @ Uptown VFW
Briefcase with Pyrrhic Victories, True Lust @ White Squirrel
Season to Risk, Unstable Shapes, & Upright Forms @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, May 3
JC Sanford/Christopher Olson @ Berlin
Jumpsuit! Funk & Disco Dance Party @ Black Hart
The Backseat Boogie Band @ Can Can Wonderland
- Kith + Kin with Laamar @ Cedar Cultural Center—Kith + Kin Chorus describes itself as an “uncommon community choir” open to singers of all skill levels—anyone who can match a pitch and carry a tune is able to join, even if it’s their first time singing in a chorus. The group of 75 will celebrate the conclusion of its eighth season with this concert at the Cedar featuring Laamar; proceeds from the show and corresponding silent auction will support Rock the Rez, a music camp for girls, two-spirit, transgender, and LGBTQ+ youth.—Em Cassel
Dead History, Ela, Vin @ Cloudland
Django Generations with the Ryan Picone Quartet @ Crooners
Totino-Grace Jazz Department Spring Concert @ Crooners
The Way Way Back @ Day Block Brewing
Battery Eyes, Vile Bees, Pill Cutter @ Dusty’s
Gastown Alley, Atomic Beat @ Eagles 34
Adam Greuel & the Space Burritos with Cowboy Thoughts @ 56 Brewing
- The Hold Steady @ First Avenue—See Thursday’s listings.
Ichiko Aoba with Owen Pallett @ Fitzgerald Theater
The Eclectics and Karen Mueller @ Ginkgo Coffee
After Midnight: A Chappell Roan Dance Party @ Granada
Flowers & Friendship – A Family Dance Party @ Hook and Ladder
- Davina & the Vagabonds with Boss Mama @ Hook and Ladder—The Hook’s summerlong, pandemic-spawned outdoor series returns with 15 excuses to enjoy great music and fresh air while avoiding the sun’s poisonous rays. The jazzy, bluesy, and otherwise rootsy Davina and the Vagabonds kick things off tonight, and the series wraps up in early August with Dr. Mambo’s Combo paying tribute to two funk/soul powerhouses of the ’70s: Sly & the Family Stone and Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan. Between those two dates you can catch Racket faves Vial, soulful rockers Mae Simpson, astute singer-songwriter Chastity Brown, the THC-fueled dance party Doinks N’ Dubstep, a tribute to the Dead’s storied 1977 set at Cornell, and—you guessed it!—much more.—Keith Harris
The Other Ol’ Blue Eyes @ Icehouse
Fabiana Palladino with Yves Jarvis and Zak Khan @ Icehouse
Uncle Kenny @ Metronome Brewery
The Kat Band Project @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård Conducts Puccini’s Turandot @ Orchestra Hall
Steven Copes Plays Prokofiev’s First Violin Sonata @ Ordway
Gypsy Mania Hot Club @ Padraigs
Patio Opener: Tribute Bands @ Palmer’s
Lone Rock Bride with Harlow and Jackson Atkins @ Pilllar Forum
Erin McCawley’s Harrison Street Band @ Schooner Tavern
- YHWH Nailgun with Morgan Garrett @ 7th St Entry—This noise quartet’s debut album, 45 Pounds, ratatats 10 slivers of song past you in 21 minutes—clearly, YHWH Nailgun is here for a good time, not a long time. OK, I wouldn’t exactly call it a good time either, not with vocalist Zack Borzone croaking out lyrics like “Siren of grief/Swing low in the night/In a river of flies/In a river of angels” (don’t worry they’re unintelligible) over the pinging of drummer Sam Pickard’s very unpunk rototoms and the electronic blur between Jack Tobias’s synths and Saguiv Rosenstock’s guitars. A typical YHWH Nailgun song goes “thumpadathumpathumpathumpa BWAT,” a sound that “perfectly encapsulates the information overload of our times” according to the press materials, and who wouldn’t want to claim that? But to me, much more uncoolly, YHWH sounds like how getting stuck in traffic feels. And I dig it, though admittedly I’m not sure how I’d feel about 22 minutes of it. Oh, and the band name is pronounced “Yahweh,” like the god.—Keith Harris
Co-Comelon Singalong Live @ State Theatre
Gently, Gently, Money Bones @ 331 Club
Fox Stevenson with Yue @ Turf Club
Cassie Brady Trio with Cass Magpie, Friend Dog @ White Squirrel
Bill Giese & the Tin Can Telephone with Roady Excel & The Houdeks @ White Squirrel
Reaping Asmodea @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, May 4
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds @ Armory
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Imagined by Nelson Devereaux: Klassik + Subtle Frequencies @ Berlin
Dream of the Wild, Hunny Bear, Poison Ivy and the People, Con @ Cabooze
Monthly Bluegrass Jam @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Sounds of Santana Starring Joe Cruz @ Crooners
Elvin Bishop Big Fun Trio @ Dakota
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Dissonant Creatures @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Machine Head & In Flames with Lacuna Coil @ Fillmore
- The Hold Steady @ Fine Line—See Thursday’s listings.
Ichiko Aoba with Owen Pallett @ Fitzgerald Theater
Wizards of SOL (single release), Jonny Darko, Lily Blue, & Loon Booster @ Green Room
TUGG with the Prizefighters & Jon Wayne @ Hook and Ladder
Forever I Love Afrobeat Music Festival @ Hook and Ladder
Roland Faunte with Dilly Dally Alley @ Hook and Ladder
Night Shift Dance Party @ Icehouse
The Parkers @ Metronome Brewery
Opera On Tap - It's My Party & I'll Sing What I Want To! @ Metronome Brewery
Phillip’s Favorites @ Orchestra Hall
2025 Commission Premiere: An Old Story @ Orchestra Hall
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s
The Young and the Rest (Album Release) @ Parkway
Brass Messengers, Sneaky Pete Bauer @ 331 Club
no fauna, Jenny Matrix, and snakeworld! @ Underground Music Venue
Sidewalk Diamonds with the Beavers & Matt Marka @ White Squirrel
Homeward Bound with Linus, Couch Potato Massacre @ White Squirrel
The Apollo Club Presents Encore! Songs from Stage & Screen @ Woman’s Club
Dream of the Wild, Hunny Bear @ Zhora Darling
Monday, May 5
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Steve Clarke n Band @ Eagles 34
Citizen Soldier with 10 Years, Thousand Below and Nerv @ First Avenue
Luke Callen and Clare Doyle @ Icehouse
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
- Lucy Dacus with Katie Gavin and jasmine.4.t @ Palace Theatre—I know it’s not a competition, but Dacus is my favorite boygenius member. She’s the warmest singer of the bunch, and the trio’s most open-hearted songwriter as well. Her latest, Forever Is a Feeling, shows how her songwriting has grown since we last heard from her. She’s looking forward more, dissecting past mistakes less, with the line “You are my best guess at the future” proof that there will always be new ways to write a love song. On “Ankles,” Dacus makes her needs clear: hot sex, lifelong love, and help with the crossword in the morning. She deserves nothing less, and neither do you or I. Don’t you dare break her heart, Julien.—Keith Harris
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer’s
Shayfer James with Sparkbird @ 7th St Entry
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Magic Sword with Starbenders, Mega Ran, and North Innsbruck (DJ Set) @ Turf Club
