As with most holiday weekends, there won't be a lot of touring bands in town in the upcoming days. But that gives you a chance to catch up on some locals you've overlooked—and it's a great week for release parties.
Tuesday, November 21
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
A Night of Classic Rock @ Dakota
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Coven and Lucifer with Early Moods @ Fine Line
Kevin Gamble Trio @ Green Room
Creatures of Prometheus + Dylan Hicks @ Icehouse
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
River City Jazz Orchestra and Century Big Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Defacto Thezpian, Nur-D, The Pale Goblin @ Pilllar
NATL PARK SRVC with The Dalmatian Club, Yonder, and BIG DELICIOUS @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Leadbelly Mpls House Concert Memorial Show @ 331 Club
November Conspiracy Series featuring ELOUR, Pandylion, Juniper Fly @ 331 Club
Two Steppin’ Tuesdays with Mary Cutrufello & Dan Lowinger @ White Squirrel
Unattractive Giant Monster (Residency) with Linus, Drug League @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, November 22
Thankful For Taylor feat. Taylor’s Version & Stuck In The Middle @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe
Maggie's Wednesdays: Tom Hunter @ Crooners
Rogue Valley & Sophia Shorai Trio @ Dakota
The East Lakers, Gently, Gently @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
- Noname with Stout @ Fine Line—This Chicago rapper has such a daunting sense of responsibility—to her craft, to her people, to herself—that she often comes off as her own harshest critic. On her new song “Namesake” she not only calls out superstars like Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar for playing the Super Bowl halftime show (“propaganda for the military complex”) but then criticizes herself for playing Coachella. (I mean, we all gotta pay rent.) The success of her brilliant 2018 album, Room 25, had public repercussions, including an online tiff with J. Cole, and Noname pledged to retire and dedicate herself to activism. I hope she doesn’t regret her decision to get back in the game, because with its multilayered vocal approach, jazzy feel, and gospel choirs, her latest, Sundial, is a lush achievement, as generous musically as it can be demanding lyrically. It deserves to find the broader Black audience Noname has been yearning for; if not, at least white well-wishers like me can appreciatively learn a little something.
The Ike Reilly Assassination with The Shackletons and The Belfast Cowboys @ First Avenue
Friendsgiving feat. Miss Christine @ The Garage
- Cindy Lawson (Release Party) with Spit Takes and Surly Grrrly @ Hook and Ladder—The return of Lawson, the onetime Clam, after too many years away, is one of Minneapolis's happier recent music stories. Her new EP, Don't Come Crying to Me, builds off the garagey momentum of her comeback, New Tricks, and she's been playing out so regularly her band is now a fine-tuned machine.
ELnO + DJ TimeMachine @ Hook and Ladder
Josh Granowski and Toivo Hannigan @ Icehouse
All Tomorrow's Petty @ Icehouse
The Good, the Bad & the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Kung Fu Hippies + You Enjoy Yourself @ The Parkway
Glass Eyed Brother @ ROK Music Lounge
King Kustom & the Cruisers @ Schooner Tavern
Boy Golden with Molly Brandt @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Nikki Mattson and Rich Rue @ 331 Club
Nur-D @ Underground Music Venue
Classic Transmission @ Uptown VFW
Hardcore for Hardcore @ White Rock Lounge
Nights with Tim @ White Squirrel
Thursday, November 23
Jearlyn & Fred Steele @ Dakota
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Disco Kings @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Palmer's Thanksgiving @ Palmer's
The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs @ Palmer's
Thanksgiving Night Jam @ Schooner Tavern
Friday, November 24
Colin Bracewell with League Two, Moonglow, & Bobby Rethwish @ Amsterdam
The 70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Bunkers
Introducing Becky M @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Kat Perkins: North Country Christmas @ Crooners
Nachito Herrera & Ginger Commodore @ Dakota
Radio Jo and the Jazzbos @ Eagles 34
Drug League, Cult Vibes, Butter Boys @ Eagles 34
God Johnson with Pleasure Pause and Geoffrey Fischbein @ Fine Line
Atmosphere with HEBL and NOFUN! @ First Avenue
Timisarocker, SYM1, Yhante, and Comrade Tripp @ Hook and Ladder
Thomas Strommen @ Jazz Central
Pat Mallinger Quartet @ KJ's Hideaway
Decimate X Boss Mode @ The Loft
In a Funk @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Gabriel and Jeffrey Kahane @ Ordway
Sun Wave Mountain Cave, Larkspur, and Luverne @ Palmer's
Petty Comes Alive @ The Parkway
Mia Dorr's Funkin' Blusers @ Schooner Tavern
Pardyalone with Jon Wiilde @ 7th St Entry
Afro Preachah, Pee Wee Dread, and DJ Boom @ Terminal Bar
SolidState, Super Flasher, John Don’t & the Morticians @ 331 Club
- Halloween, Alaska (Vinyl Reissue Release) with Dosh @ Turf Club—Well, ain't that a blast from the past. Twenty years ago, James Diers and his crew released their self-titled debut, which I'd say sounds like if Ben Gibbard had brought Death Cab's moody introspection along when he went electronic with the Postal Service if that didn't undersell Halloween, Alaska's own originality.
Ashbringer (Album Release) with Lungs + Eudaemon @ White Rock Lounge
Rat Castle Jazz Ensemble with Sunsets Over Flowers, Quarterback Club @ White Squirrel
Saturday, November 25
In Search Of Solace with Maul, Soulkeeper, and Careful Gaze @ Amsterdam
Step Sister, Grassface, Mold Wine @ Cloudland
Gypsy Mania Quartet @ Crooners
Bree Turner: Celebrating Tina @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Kathleen Johnson Presents: Classic Aretha @ Dakota
The Valors, Moy Dukksen, Alley Mattress @ Dusty's
Dream Addict, Teapot Tempest @ Driftwood
New Riverside Ramblers @ Eagles 34
James Frickle's DJ event @ Eagles 34
Megan Hamilton and The Sponges with MNTRA @ Fine Line
- Night Moves with Solid Gold and Ivers @ First Avenue—Eons ago, back in the golden age of blogs, Night Movies emerged from Minneapolis as a “buzz band,” which was a term we veterans of the blog era used to deploy rather indiscriminately to promising '00s and ’10s indie bands. Unlike many of their peers, Night Moves managed to forge a rock-solid discography of twangy, psych-tinged rock that carries frontman John Pelant’s mesmerizing voice. After 2019’s Pennied Days, their third LP, the band didn’t make much of a peep until the release of last year’s The Redaction EP via Domino Records. On single “Fallacy Actually,” longtime producer pal John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Hold Steady, Sonic Youth) coaxed perhaps the most danceable, mainstream-friendly sounds from Night Moves yet.
Nightchurch DiscoHouse @ Green Room
Urban Heat, Rare DM, and Stranger Gallery @ Hook and Ladder
Trinny Cee Presents: Give Thanks For Soca! @ Icehouse
Pavel Jany and World Jazz Collegium @ Jazz Central
Beatles Reimagined @ KJ's Hideaway
Atlantis Quartet @ KJ's Hideaway
High & Mighty @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Eat 30 After Party @ Myth Live
Home Alone in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Gabriel and Jeffrey Kahane @ Ordway
Atmosphere with HEBL and NOFUN! @ Palace Theatre
Joe's Bday Bash! with Betty Won't, Joe Roberto & Poverty Hash, Slim Stone, Mumblin' Drew @ Palmer's
Minnesota's Last Waltz @ The Parkway
JustHANO, DELTA9LIVES, SOLANA @ ROK Music Lounge
The Magnolias with North of Grand and Blow The FM Radio @ 7th St Entry
Jimmi & the Band of Souls @ Schooner Tavern
Chad Erickson & The Untimely, Renagade Escape, Ezekiel LaFostecasse @ Terminal Bar
Ruben, Ty Pow & The Holy North @ 331 Club
- Dwynell Roland x Lazerbeak (Album Release) with MAKR AN ERIS, Demon Marcus, Mack OC @ Turf Club—I'm Not Mad, I'm Flattered, the new collaboration between rapper Dwynell Roland and Doomtree producer Lazerbeak, is an excellent showcase of both men's talents. Roland is good-natured but hardly a pushover, and he nimbly rhymes over Lazerbeak's melange of soul samples and hooky, danceable beatsmanship.
Lucky Turkey Dance Party @ Uptown VFW
Superfloor, Matt Caflisch, and Rank Strangers @ White Squirrel
Saturday is Instrumental with Big Trouble @ White Squirrel
Clidesfeld with Loser Magnet, Nothing But Nice @ White Squirrel
Pentatonix @ Xcel Energy Center
Sunday, November 26
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Mark Cameron Band @ Aster Cafe
The Big 70s Singalong, Vol. 2 @ Crooners
I Honestly Love You: Tribute to Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray @ Crooners
Mother Banjo Band (Vinyl Release) @ Dakota
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Floodwater Angel, Dani Erin, Majoon Travellers @ Green Room
10.10.20 Project: Vocal & Shamisen Concert @ Hook and Ladder
Bethany Larson and the Bee's Knees with Andy Ulseth @ Icehouse
Home Alone in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Gabriel and Jeffrey Kahane @ Ordway
Church of Cornbread: Cornbread Harris and His Band @ Palmer's
Black Widows' Greatest Open Mic Ever @ Palmer's
The Larry McDonough Trio @ The Parkway
Carpool Tunnel and Chase Petra with Similar Kind and Greentop @ 7th St Entry
The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club
Maxo @ Underground Music Venue
St. Paul Songwriter Rounds @ White Squirrel
Monday, November 27
Hexis with Sunless, Midwestlust, All You Need Is Kill, and Nothingness @ Amsterdam
Benefit for Lyndale Neighborhood Association with Heartfelt @ Driftwood
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
World Music Monday @ Eagles 34
Liz Draper (November Residency) @ Icehouse
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer's
$IAH, MVRROW, Popstar, and Identity Crisis with Bigg Kiaa @ 7th St Entry
Pop Wagner’s Honky Tonk Ranch @ 331 Club
The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
Hank Williams Tribute with Dan Newton, Dan Neale, and Dan Halen @ White Squirrel
