We got a good one this week, folks. And since it's Cinco de Mayo and May Day coming up this weekend, there'll also be plenty of outdoor fests with live music. I couldn't get to all of them here, so make sure and check out this week's Event Horizon and this upcoming Freeloader Friday.
Tuesday, April 30
Olive Klug, June Henry, pine + fire @ Amsterdam
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
MarchFourth with McKain Lakey @ Cedar Cultural Center
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Obi Original & The Black Atlantics (Residency) feat. Bouchet Boyz, Bigg Kiaa @ Green Room—Nigerian-born singer, guitarist, and bandleader Obi Original is as much at home with West African highlife as he is with modern Afrobeats, not to mention good old American funk, and he's lined up some terrific local acts for this five-week residency. This is the grand finale.
Big Woods Brass @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Alexander Craig aka Crankshaft @ Palmer's
Izzy Cruz, Natalie Fiedler, Oceanographer @ Pilllar Forum
Support Local @ ROK Music Lounge
Sawyer Hill with Red Leather @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Dan Israel @ 331 Club
April Conspiracy Series feat. Dan Schwartz and Nick Salisbury @ 331 Club
- Cherubs with Citric Dummies and MURF @ Turf Club—Citric Dummies rock; MURF rocks. And Texas noise-punk vets Cherubs? They've been rocking since the '90s.
The Mary Cutrufello Band @ White Squirrel
Lulu & the Shoe (Residency) with Cottonwood Shivers, A Sunken Ship Irony, Magick Flavour Station @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, May 1
Jamie Miller with Michael Gerow @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
Northern Frequencies + Tall Poppy String Band @ Cedar Cultural Center
Field Trip, Joan of Profile, Sed, Brother Means Ally @ Cloudland
Forever Everly - The Music of The Everly Brothers @ Crooners
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
The Strumbellas with Cece Coakley @ Fine Line
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Goon Tribune, Dilly Dally Alley, Rosie, Shrimp Olympics @ Green Room
Korpiklaani with Visions of Atlantis and Illumishade @ The Lyric
Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Karaoke Crime Scene @ Palmer's
The Talbott Brothers with Haley Johnsen @ The Parkway
Weald, Roc Barboza, Erik's Iridecent Tent, Emerson Island @ ROK Music Lounge
The Zillionaires @ Schooner Tavern
Mint Green and Pictoria Vark with Fend and NATL PARK SRVC @ 7th St Entry
David Foster and Katharine McPhee @ State Theatre
Fly By Night with Kenzo Cregan @ Studio B
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Little Wing @ 331 Club
Basso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Helado Negro with Marem Ladson @ Turf Club
Slutbomb, Bad Supremacy, BUIO OMEGA, MURF @ Underground Music Venue
The Second Stringers @ White Squirrel
Nights with Tim @ White Squirrel
Thursday, May 2
Great River School Celebrates the 90s @ Amsterdam
Judas Priest, Sabaton @ Armory
George Cartwright’s Merciless Ghost @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Robyn Hitchcock with Eugene Merman @ Cedar Cultural Center
Valeska Surratt, Senza, Infant Island, Prize Horse @ Cloudland
The Wild Swing of Louis Prima and Keely Smith @ Crooners
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Andy Graydon Duo, Noah Ophoven/Elaine Evans, Mark Engelmann @ Eagles 34
Snowshoe, Lilac Forest, and the Very Bad Days @ Eagles 34
- Cheekface with yungatita @ Fine Line—For the record, we at Racket were on the Cheek Train (choo! choo!) way early—Em turned me on to this sardonic L.A. trio back in our City Pages days. But if you’re just getting caught up, It’s Sorted, released in January, is a fine place to start. Their jitter-funk can suggest a very online Talking Heads or blossom into seriously playful melodies as kiddie-for-adults as They Might Be Giants, and they continue to spread out musically: “I Am Continuing to Do My Thing” sounds like the Gang of Four with a sense of humor. And they continue to wisecrack their way through our anxious age, with Greg Katz sing-talking calls to action like “Success is cringe/I wanna be on the fringe,” “The future is now/Unfortunately,” and “I hate sending mixed messages/I love sending mixed messages.” This show was bumped up from the smaller Entry (where they played the last time in town), so Minnesota’s Cheek Freaks must be growing in number.
- Dan Weiss, Even Odds ft. Miguel Zenon + Matt Mitchell @ Icehouse—Like a lot of jazz players, drummer Dan Weiss works in a variety of contexts: various duos, consistent sideman gigs, and Starebaby, his metal/jazz outfit. Now, with Even Odds, he has himself a hell of a trio. Miguel Zenón’s sax tends toward the staccato and pianist Matt Mitchell arpeggiates with jagged lyricism, so that Even Odds can sound like a three-man rhythm section or a witty conversation between friends. Weiss constructed it from the drums up, recording patterns first then sending the tracks to his bandmates to augment. There are a few good inside jokes here—“Max Roach” plays off the drummer’s work on "Klactoveedsedstene," and “Ititrefen” riffs off the Wayne Shorter title spelled backwards—though “Children of Uvalde” is every bit as thoughtful as you’d hope.
Lowdown Dirty Fools Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mullet, Sunglaciers, Time Room, the Envies @ Mortimer's
Søndergård, Gerstein and Rachmaninoff @ Orchestra Hall
Cut Rate Clones, Bird Bass, Atomic Lights, Fierro @ ROK Music Lounge
Scent Reality, Sunshine Emblem @ Schooner Tavern
Bad Decision Thursdays @ Studio B
Majoon Travellers, Tomboyy @ 331 Club
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Los Straitjackets feat. Daddy-O Grande with Wasted Major @ Turf Club
Lucky The Unfortunate, Stereogo, Wartro, Blizzy Tunes @ Uptown VFW
The Monday Club @ White Squirrel
Friday, May 3
RuDeGiRL, Mad Banners, & Lost Island Society @ Amsterdam
BTSM Night 1: Anime Show with Must Die!, Canabliss, Heyz, + Shanghai Doom @ Armory
Joe Strachan/Adam Linz @ Berlin
Stevie Wonder Tribute @ Bunkers
Coleman's Afro-Cuban Concerto @ Capri Theater
Bánh Mì Jazz Combo @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Neuroot, War//Plague, Shatter, Bad Idea @ Cloudland
It’s My Party! Dane Stauffer and Dan Chouinard @ Crooners
A Look Bacharach with RetroFizz @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Rick Carlson and Arne Fogel @ Crooners
Jenny Klukken: Marimbista @ Crooners
Roy Rogers & Delta Rhythm Kings @ Dakota
Katia Cardenas Quartet @ Eagles 34
- BER with Raffaella @ Fine Line—Don’t you hate when critics are like “Believe the hype!” First off, that wasn’t even a clever thing to say 30 years ago (see also: any riff on “don’t call it a comeback”). More importantly, critics are the ones who hype things! “Believe the hype!” is as untrustworthy as saying “Trust me!” But… well… um, the hype around overnight sensation and Current darling Berit Dybing? It is, erm, quite credible. Ber’s 2023 EP Halfway, among my favorite local releases of the year, was a perfect antidote to wishing you were young again, chronicling the dating frustrations of today’s under-30s with humor and depth. And performing as part of First Ave’s Best New Bands in January, Ber came across as an onstage natural. Judging from her two 2024 singles about fear of commitment, “Room For You” (about overcoming her own) and “It’s Impressive” (about being hurt by some boy’s), she seems to be headed in the direction of balladic sincerity, which may be a wise career decision as long as it doesn’t sacrifice her candor, which it hasn’t so far. ‘Cause she’s the real deal. Trust me. (I guess you did—it's sold out.)
Charlie Parr with Mama’s Broke and Marisa Anderson @ First Avenue
- KFAI's 46th Anniversary Community Celebration @ Hook and Ladder—Man, KFAI rocks. We’ve already declared Radio K the best radio station in the city, but let this blurb institutionally cement KFAI as our No. 2 overall pick in the power rankings. Tonight is a great opportunity—some say the best opportunity—to celebrate the community station’s 46th anniversary, though it’s also a fine excuse to check out Hook & Ladder for free. Gospel-infused jazz drummer L.A. Buckner and his group Big Homie will be performing (click here for a recent Carbon Sound interview), as will the wonderfully named jazzy psychedelic outfit Shrimp Olympics and pop/rock/cumbia collective America y Los Sentimientos. Audio and visuals of the b-day bash will be recorded; you can expect them to eventually appear on KFAI.—Jay Boller
- Dan Weiss, Even Odds ft. Miguel Zenon + Matt Mitchell @ Icehouse—See Thursday's listings.
Black Carl, Copycatt @ The Loft
Johnnie Brown @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård, Gerstein and Rachmaninoff @ Orchestra Hall
- Crimes Against Ravers @ ROK Music Lounge—As recently profiled by Michaelangelo Matos. Who says Racket doesn't cover dance music? (Well, OK, we don't cover it as much as we might, true.)
Craig Clark Band @ Schooner Tavern
Sweet Pill with Equipment and Taking Meds @ 7th St Entry
Foxby, Sunsets Over Flowers, Bryn Battani @ 331 Club
North of Dodge, Smilin' Cowboys @ Terminal Bar
Theme No Meme @ Underground Music Venue
DJ Dimitry Killstorm @ Uptown VFW
It Is Dead/Nekrotisk/Tenant/Visceral Reaction @ White Rock Lounge
The Gated Community with Daisychain @ White Squirrel
Saturday, May 4
The New World Players @ Amsterdam
Nate Hance/Keith Yánes @ Berlin
Lonefront + Jesse Whitney @ Berlin
Stevie Wonder Tribute @ Bunkers
WORLDWIDE CHAOS, BBZ, DROOGZ, 2FLYY, AK Oxy, HOMELESS THE CLOWN, ME @ Caydence Records & Coffee
- Kith + Kin Chorus with Humbird @ Cedar Cultural Center—On the wonderful new Humbird album Right On, Siri Undlin streamlines her songwriting and production without losing any of the idiosyncrasies that set her apart. (Has it really been over two years since I profiled her?) She'll be sharing the stage tonight with Kith + Kin, the 76-member community choir that's wrapping up its seventh season with two shows, early (4 p.m.) and a late (8 p.m.). And they've got some arrangements of songs by Queen, Kasey Musgraves, Fleetwood Mac, and Tina Turner to share as well.
Rad Owl, Black Dots, Night Jobs @ Cloudland
David Huckfelt with Jeremy Ylvisaker and Scott McPherson @ Clown Lounge
Charmin Michelle's Birthday Bash featuring Sam Miltich @ Crooners
Let’s Misbehave: Mistress Ginger Sings Cole Porter @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Tom Hunter @ Crooners
Alejandro Escovedo with James Mastro @ Dakota
The Customers, Scott Allen and the List, Chemistry Set @ Eagles 34
SiM with Fame on Fire, Within Destruction and Crystal Lake @ Fine Line
Gear Daddies with Chad Johnson and The Minnesota Transplants @ First Avenue
Mprpheus Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
River Rhapsody @ Orchestra Hall
Coleman’s Afro-Cuban Concerto @ Ordway
Mommy Log Balls, Battery Eyes, New Confusion, Shop Vac, Tonal Whiplash, and Shoplifting Kink @ Palmer's
Silent Thunder @ ROK Music Lounge
Thunderheads @ Schooner Tavern
Sam Evian with Hannah Cohen @ 7th St Entry
Disclosure vs. Fred Again: Tribute Dance Party @ Studio B
Moon Pail, Galleon @ Terminal Bar
Porch Knights, Gladden, Grand Courriers @ 331 Club
- Lady Midnight (Album Release) with Hooks, Ziyad, and DJ Cassieopia @ Turf Club—Pursuit and the Elusive came out long enough ago to make my list of the 20 best local albums of 2023. But Adriana Rimpel is not a woman to rush things; four years passed between Death Before Mourning and this more straightforwardly electronic album of what she calls “pain-pop.” “A more companionable Sade,” I once called her, and the cool of her vocals still emanates from an amicable distance. But where previously she worked with multiple producers, here all beats come courtesy of Night Stone, as ICETEP and Lazerbeak call themselves, and so whenever she’s tempted to dwell on the past, the rhythms keep pushing her forward.
Syence @ Underground Music Venue
- Kenny Chesney @ U.S. Bank Stadium—This is the best thing ever written about Kenny Chesney. Or at least the best thing I've ever written about Kenny Chesney.
PERREO360 with Cristian Baca @ Varsity Theater
Woodzen, Shrimp Olympics, Flatwound @ White Rock Lounge
Severed, Form, Bound by Unity @ White Rock Lounge
Scott Hefte and the Bury ‘Em Deep, Gentleman Speaker, Katie Marshall @ White Squirrel
Confucisaurus @ White Squirrel
Bora York (Album Release), Toilet Rats, Aldrich @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, May 5
Lost Evidence, Waar Party @ Acadia
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Haley (Residency) with Diane @ Berlin
The Big Soft Rock Singalong @ Crooners
Sounds of Santana Starring Joe Cruz @ Crooners
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Chris Vondracek, Tony Cuchetti & the Second Stringers, Cowboy Thoughts @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
The 502s with Daniel Nunnelee @ Fillmore
Music of Taylor Swift with Bri & The Antiheroes @ First Avenue
Todd Day Wait with Michael Gay @ Green Room
Old Country Buffet @ Green Room
Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys with Kinda Fonda Wanda @ Hook and Ladder
Pop Wagner & Hampden Rounders @ Icehouse
Sunny Sauceda @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
Wild Party with JACK @ 7th St Entry
The Scarlett Goodbye @ 331 Club
The Hip Abduction, Vana Liya @ Turf Club
Sanguisugabogg, Jesus Piece, Gag, Peeling Flesh @ Underground Music Venue
Daigoro, Heel, True Stories, Challenger @ White Rock Lounge
Sammy Jean Cohen @ White Squirrel
Jeremy & KC McKee @ White Squirrel
Monday, May 6
Yot Club with Boyscott @ Amsterdam
Marc Anderson & Not Always So featuring Jacqueline Ultan, Pat O'Keefe, and Carin Vagle @ Berlin
- Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet feat. Ava Mendoza @ Cedar Cultural Center—The co-founder of relentless '90s Miami noise-rockers Harry Pussy has released dozens of albums, solo and collaboratively, over the past 15 years, but 2022's Music for Four Guitars was a standout. For that album, Orcutt multitracked chiming guitar patterns, sometimes overlapping, sometimes in unison, and though admirers have namechecked early '80s NYC noise guru/Sonic Youth mentor Glenn Branca, I hear its spiritual ancestor as Sonny Sharrock's 1988 masterpiece of overdubs, Guitar. Less noisy and more catchy than either though—Orcutt's tone is typically clean and precise here. For the live show, Orcutt performs with three other musicians (a guy's only got so many hands) and if you want a taste of how this will or won't differ from the original recordings, check out his new release, Four Guitars Live, or this mesmerizing Tiny Desk Concert.
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Teenage Fanclub with Euros Childs and DJ Jake Rudh @ Fine Line
blssm.mpls with Room 3 + No Lingo @ Icehouse
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmers
Jorma Kaukonen with John Hurlbut @ The Parkway
Bach to Rock Event @ Pilllar Forum
Brenn! with Nick Folwarczny @ 7th St Entry
The Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
Blind Guardian @ Varsity Theater
Conversation, Sonic Sea Turtles, Contrition @ White Rock Lounge
Enter the Void @ White Squirrel
Chrisette Bany, Alex Persaud, Ethan Poindexter, & Emily Rubbelke @ Woman's Club
