October—or, as I like to call it, Rocktober—is just around the corner. The years keep comin' and they don't stop comin', eh?
Tuesday, September 26
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
- Madalitso Band and Ethiocolor @ Cedar Cultural Center—The Global Roots Festival, always worth checking out, is underway over at the Cedar. For day two they've got Malawi street buskers turned international touring artists the Madalitso Band and the funky Addis Ababa outfit Ethiocolor, led by the charismatic Melaku Belay.
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- The Wombats with Red Rum Club @ First Avenue—We've all got that one friend who's married to someone that nobody else can stand, and you're constantly like, "What does she see in him?" That's how I am about the Current and the Wombats.
Dead Hawk, Granular Breath, Din Drone @ Green Room
Rabeca (Residency) with Willow Waters, Full Catholic @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra Open Rehearsal @ Jazz Central
Dirty Shorts Brass Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Hiram, Michael Moore, Crystal Myslajek @ Pilllar
Medium Build with Rett Madison @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime with Katy Tessman @ 331 Club
September Conspiracy Series featuring Mike Munson @ 331 Club
Stutter Step & Friends @ Underground Music Venue
Common Kings with Jakobs Castle @ Uptown Theater
Agent Orange, Spice Pistols, Black Widows, and Dj Demonica @ Uptown VFW
- Senses Fail @ Varsity Theater—To quote my pal Em, "Let It Enfold You is still full of bangers about killing your girlfriend."
Trevor McSpadden & Mary Cutrufello & Dan Lowinger @ White Squirrel
Mary Jam (Tuesday Residency) with Ice Climber, Cold Casuals @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, September 27
MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe
- La Perla and Waahli @ Cedar Cultural Center—The three-day Global Roots Festival wraps up tonight the Colombian trio La Perla and the Creole rap of Haitian-Canadian artist Waahli, who's also performing a free acoustic set and participating in a Q&A on Tuesday at Alliance Française.
Maggie's Wednesdays: Mia Dorr @ Crooners
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
The Glorious Sons with The Velveteers @ First Avenue
Alice Longyu Gao with MKULTRA and Rx Cowboy @ Icehouse
The Midnight After Party with Custom Controller @ KJ's Hideaway
Maurice Jacox and the We Still R Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Thelma and the Sleaze @ Mortimer's
University of Minnesota Gospel Choir @ Northrop
The Midnight with Flamingosis @ Palace Theatre
Ghost Kitchen, Loser Magnet, and Theyself @ Palmer's
Sarah Morris @ ROK Music Lounge
BZ3 Organ Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Jordan Johnston and Murphy Smith with Oak and the Woods and Dusty Forever @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Mother Banjo @ 331 Club
Ty Pow and The Holy North, Willow Creek Brothers and Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty @ Turf Club
Unattractive Giant Monster & Friends @ Underground Music Venue
- Psychedelic Furs with Squeeze @ Uptown Theater—"Punk with saxophone" may not be the best definition of "postpunk" but it sure nails the misleadingly named Psychedelic Furs in their brilliant early days. On their first few albums, particularly 1981's Talk Talk Talk, the smoothly snarling Richard Butler struck a jaded pose few of his contemporaries could match, though he soon found it more profitable to project a softer world-weariness. After taking a decade off, Squeeze's Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have been recording fairly regularly since 2010, though they'll never top their 1978-1982 peak. Such is pop.
Nights With Tim @ White Squirrel
Thursday, September 28
Girli with DJ Sci-Fi @ Amsterdam
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Mick Sterling Presents Mother Maybelle: The Songs of the Carter Family @ Crooners
Maria Jette and Philip Brunelle: An Imaginary Concert at Downton Abbey @ Crooners
Divas Through the Decades @ Crooners
Mitchell Hall and the Tennessee Trio: Tribute To Johnny Cash + June Carter @ Crooners
The Outcats, Bossa Soul @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Lone Rock Bride, Walker Bros. Band, Honey Please @ Eagles 34
New Riverside Ramblers @ Eagles 34
George Clanton with Frost Children and death’s dynamic shroud @ Fine Line
- Radio K's 30th Birthday Party @ First Avenue—If this 7,000-word oral history didn’t make it perfectly clear, we’re big fans of Radio K. This here? It’s a birthday bash befitting the nation’s best college radio station. Former City Pages Picked to Click finalists Bugsy open things up with their fuzzy and dramatic indie rock, followed by: Derecho Rhythm Section, a newish band featuring Low's Alan Sparhawk; local psychedelic bluegrassers Buffalo Galaxy; and North Side jazz/gospel/hip-hop/funk powerhouse L.A. Buckner & BiG HOMiE. Headlining is Afro-fusion collective Ozone Creations, an ambitious blend of talents from first-generation Americans Mack OC, Obi Original, Bakarii, Sumer, Ch!nwe, and Breezy 2 Fresh. All told, this crackling, genre-spanning bill is perfectly suited for the radio frequency being celebrated in the Mainroom.
Confused Thursdays feat. Hiahli, Confused, Cat Tales @ Green Room
- Kassa Overall with Xina @ Icehouse—One of the most exciting cross-genre jazz players today, drummer Kassa Overall records for Warp, and his beats often reflect the shifting experimental rhythms of that electronic-focused label. The list of guests on his latest, Animals, gives you a sense of how much ground he wants to cover—there are rappers (Danny Brown and Lil B), esteemed improvisers (trumpeter Theo Croker, trombonist Andrae Murchison, and pianist Vijay Iyer, with whom Overall has frequently collaborated), and singers (Nick Hakim, Laura Mvulu). And that’s all in a brisk 35 minutes. The results can be a little unfocused, but they’re never boring, and trying to keep up always repays the effort. (And for what it’s worth, I’m an admirer of his mixtapes with Das Racist’s Kool A.D. as Kool and Kass.) This is the first event in the Novel Stages Fall Series, which endeavors to bring prominent boundary-crossers like Overall to smaller clubs like Icehouse. Future installments will include Roomful of Teeth, My Brightest Diamond, Sen Morimoto, Rafiq Bhatia, and Craig Taborn.
Drums of Navarone @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård, Debussy and Ravel @ Orchestra Hall
The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs @ Palmer's
Joe Roberto's Poverty Hash @ Palmer's
Raintribe and Burning Blue Rain @ ROK Music Lounge
OISTER BOY, Lavender Daughter, Ice Climber, and creeping charlie @ 7th St Entry
Minneapolis Songwriter Round: Jared McCloud, Justin Robb, Katy Wessman, Samuel John @ 331 Club
Floodwater Angel with Dial Tone, RiGBY, and MAGICK FLAVOUR STATION @ Turf Club
In the Trees (A Kate Bush Tribute) with Jon Rodine Trio @ White Squirrel
Friday, September 29
NATL PARK SRVC with Dad Bod, 12th House Sun, and GOODLUCKRY @ Amsterdam
NGHTMRE B2B JOYRYDE with ELIMINATE + FROSTTOP @ Armory
Small Circles with Little Jack @ Aster Cafe
John Raymond x S. Carey with Hemma @ Cedar Cultural Center
Maggie's Afterglow: Charmin Michelle and Chris Lomheim @ Crooners
The Long Honeymoon @ Driftwood
The Creekside Ruffians @ Driftwood
Hallows, Burning, Stranger Gallery Show @ Eagle MPLS
Milonga Buscándote featuring Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet @ Eagles 34
Carlisle Evans Peck + Theo Langason and Proper-T @ Eagles 34
Eric Hutchinson with jeremy messersmith @ Fine Line
Caitlyn Smith with Fancy Hagood @ First Avenue
Wandering Eye (WEEN Tribute) with REVO (DEVO Tribute) @ Hook and Ladder
Kid Dakota, Self-Evident, Dug @ Icehouse
Stephanie Wiesler Presents Modern Faculty @ Jazz Central
Joanna Connor (Album Release) @ KJ's Hideaway
Jaybee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård, Debussy and Ravel @ Orchestra Hall
Eunice Kim Plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto @ Ordway
No Encore, Unstable Shapes, and Rad Owl @ Palmer's
Prairie Clamor, Bad Posture Club, and Taylor James Donskey @ Palmer's
Preston Gunderson, j. bell and the Lazy Susan Band @ The Parkway
Anita Velveeta, Crush Fund @ Pilllar
Nice and Blue at ROK Music Lounge
Miya Folick with Babebee @ 7th St Entry
The Pearl Brothers Band @ Schooner Tavern
Dr V. & the Prescriptions, Hayley Ann @ Terminal Bar
The Sparks, Ira Haze and the Strays, Eli Gardiner @ 331 Club
Jesse Jo Stark with Rachel Bobbitt and she's green @ Turf Club
Funktion featuring KE/MA & DJ SCI FI @ Uptown VFW
Matt Caflisch with The What-Have-Yous @ White Squirrel
Saturday, September 30
Mad Mojo Jett, Resurrectionist @ Acadia
The Other Ol' Blue Eyes @ Aster Cafe
Joshua Radin with the Ballroom Thieves @ Cedar Cultural Center
Ginger Commodore Presents Tony Bennett: The Ultimate Crooner @ Crooners
Jon Ailabouni (Album Release) @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Charmin Michelle and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Good Trouble and Friends @ Driftwood
Redwing Blackbird and Betty Won't @ Dusty's
Die Ghost, Car Spiders, Bad Lovely, King Size Coffin @ Eagles 34
gorrr with MELT-BANANA and Otto von Schirach @ Fine Line
Boiled in Lead with Alt Alt @ Hook and Ladder
Roy Orbison Tribute @ Icehouse
Toivo Hannigan Trio @ Icehouse
Palm Psalms with Aiden Intro and Deep Fakes @ Icehouse
Garrett Jones with Tommy Boynton @ Jazz Central
Doug Haining Quintet (Album Release) @ KJ's Hideaway
Unidos Por El Rock @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Asking Alexandria, the Hu @ Myth Live
Søndergård, Debussy and Ravel @ Orchestra Hall
Eunice Kim Plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto @ Ordway
Gregory Alan Isakov with Damien Jurado @ Palace Theatre
Private Oates & DJ Shane Kramer @ Palmer's
Toussaint Morrison and Ngange & Themasses @ Palmer's
Green Sweater Society @ Pilllar
WKND BNDR & Friends @ ROK Music Lounge
Tom The Mail Man with TITUS @ 7th St Entry
New Feral Cats @ Schooner Tavern
- 10th Anniversary Celebration @ Sociable Cider Werks—This multi-day event actually kicks off Wednesday night, and you can get all the details from this week's Event Horizon. But we are strictly concerned with music here, and that arrives on Saturday, with a lineup that includes Gully Boys, Cactus Blossoms, and Eleganza. I'm told there will also be beer.
Three Dog Night @ State Theatre
Lauren Daigle with Brandon Lake @ Target Center
Snotty Rottens, Wright Wyatt, Meat Ska Raffle @ Terminal Bar
Deep Dark Lake, Loadie @ 331 Club
mssv with portal iii and Samuel Locke Ward & The Malevolent Gaze @ Turf Club
The Suitcase Junket @ Uptown VFW
Legendary: An Ode to 50 Years of Hip Hop @ Uptown VFW
The Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Varsity Theater
The Sunny Era with The Harry’s, Robin Kyle (of Valet) @ White Squirrel
Saturday Is Instrumental with Big Trouble @ White Squirrel
Story Night with Hyooman, The Humble Cheaters @ White Squirrel
Sunday, October 1
Wolves in the Throne Room, Blackbraid, Gaerea, and Hoaxed @ Amsterdam
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Robert Mirabal and Rare Tribal Mob Trio @ Cedar Cultural Center
Story Tellers: The Great Songs of James Taylor, Billy Joel, and Cat Stevens @ Crooners
St. Paul Peterson & The Mpls Funk All-Stars Present: The Minneapolis Sounds @ Dakota
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Fortunate Youth with Kash'd Out and DUBBEST @ Fine Line
- Chappell Roan @ First Avenue—Are we still calling people "extra"? If not, please apply appropriate updated slang to this raucous, queer pop hopeful. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess, written and recorded with the assistance of Olivia Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro, demands your attention and often rewards it. "Karma Is My Kink" has more in common with Ms. Swift than its title; "HOT TO GO!" is a great upbeat spelling lesson. Mean Girls makes her horny, but then again so does most everything, except men, though she gives 'em a shot now and then just to prove her point.
Smittyapolis feat. Alex Rossi, J Bennett, C Lawrence, M Joseph @ Green Room
Gary LaRue and His Rat Pack Band @ KJ's Hideaway
Church of Cornbread: Cornbread Harris and His Band @ Palmer's
Michael Gay's Old County Buffet @ Palmer's
- Kurt Elling and Charlie Hunter @ The Parkway—Vocalist Elling has proven himself equally comfortable with jazz standards and Brill Building pop. Guitarist Hunter earned R&B cred with his contributions to D'Angelo's Voodoo and Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. Their third full-length together, SuperBlue: The Iridescent Spree, is a surprising and soulful mix of new material and well-chosen covers, including the old Schoolhouse Rock! jam "Naughty Number Nine."
Pullstring, Loser Magnet, Silver Warehouse, and White Line Darko @ 7th St Entry
Ray LaMontagne with Tomberlin @ State Theatre
Cali vs. Everybody Dance Party @ Uptown VFW
Here Come the Mummys @ Varsity
Monday, October 2
Pat Donohoe & the Prairie All Stars @ Dakota
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Max & Iggor Cavalera (of Cavalera Conspiracy) with EXHUMED and INCITE @ Fine Line
Brian Courage (October Residency) with Little Boat and BC Quartet. @ Icehouse
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
BabyJake with Hotel Fiction and JACK @ 7th St Entry
- Nick Cave @ State Theatre—Brood on, big guy.
