Two great annual traditions occur this week: the Lakeside Guitar Festival and the Uptown Porch Fest. What else? Well, you'll have to read on to find out.
Tuesday, August 11
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
Land o’ Dixie, Rented Mules @ Bryant Square Park
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Mickey and the Motorcars, Savannah Smith @ Cedar Cultural Center
Stanley Clarke N*4EVER @ Dakota
Como Chorus Casade @ Dock and Paddle
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Tiny Tuesdays @ Eagles 34—Ever wished that a band’s set was shorter? Well, there's no shame in that—you’re a busy person, and we live in a fast-paced modern society! The Eagles' monthly Tiny Tuesdays series is for you. Every second Tuesday of the month, five performers are allotted 12 minutes each, which adds up to a solid hour of music, leaning on the experimental side, and that's plenty for a Tuesday. This time ‘round, performers include True Green, who have a great album out this year in Hail Disaster, as well Living Bloom, Third Date, Change Of, and Boy in the Rose Garden.—Keith Harris
Buster Phalen @ Father Hennepin Park
Marie Nelson, Open Door Policy, Public Service Announcement, Seafoam Green Tangerine @ Green Room
- Nelson Devereaux Trio @ Indeed Brewing—Local saxman Devereaux has quite the resume (from Miley to Magdalena Bay). On his own, he employs delay and other effects to create a layered sound akin to minimalist repetition. Percussionist Dave Power and bassist Cody McKinney round out the trio, and the group's one-take, fully improvised 2025 debut, Three Lights in the Dark.—Keith Harris
B N’ the Spice Cabinet @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Piss With Style, TumbleDown Dick, Safety Knife @ Pilllar Forum
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
August Conspiracy Series feat. Soul Tribe, J-Mo on the Beat, Wain Anthony McFarlane @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Jack Klatt @ 331 Club
Honky-Tonk Jump @ White Squirrel
Alex & Toke’s Acoustic Tuesdays feat. Clovers Daughter, Colin Campbell @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, August 12
Vandahlia, Tainted Canyon, Milk, Bottlerocket @ Acadia
The Mexico City Experiment feat. Terrell X @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
Other Country Ensemble, Makam Baklava Trio @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Deb Brown and Brian Zemniak @ Crooners
The Phil Aaron Trio @ Crooners
Harmonic Relief Show Choir @ Dock and Paddle
Tom Dahill and Ginny Johnson @ Dubliner Pub
Sparrowhawk, the Straight A's, the Pyongyang Metro, Whispered the Rabbit @ Eagles 34
Willow Avalon, JD Clayton, Slater Nalley @ Fine Line
MAKR Spins the Classic @ Icehouse
Niny Salem @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Pat Donahue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Watson Twins @ Parkway Theater
Philip St. John @ Peavey Plaza
Stacked Like Pancakes, Hiahli, Otter Heist @ Pilllar Forum
Connor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Riff Wood with Willowake @ 7th St Entry
Mary Flower & Leon Cotter @ 318 Cafe
The What-Have-Yous, Mike Gunther and the Total Crapshoot @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with David Robinson and the Dedicated Friends @ 331 Club
Lexie Modica, Kaity Joan, Zoe Grigsby, Helen @ Underground Music
Cole Diamond’s Whiskey Wednesdays @ White Squirrel
Thursday, August 13
Moon Medallion, Victimless Progress, Sonata @ Acadia
Nocturne: Anna Johnson, Kenneth Gregory, Sophia Deutsch @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Coleen Raye & Benny Weinbeck @ Crooners
Shane Cox & the Funky Spuds @ Crooners
The Meshes, First Out, Virgo @ Eagles 34
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Dock and Paddle
House of Music Showcase @ Driftwood Char Bar
Leslie Rich and the Rocket Soul Choir @ Dubliner Pub
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Mothkid, Twisted Pigeon, Hairless Twin, Gauze @ Flying V
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Sarah Something (Album Release), Wren + Wilde @ Hook and Ladder
Yazmin and Beat Zero (Album Release), Lady Midnight, Havana Quartet @ Hook and Ladder
Obi Original & the Black Atlantics @ Hopkins Downtown Park
Ghais Guevara and student 1 @ Icehouse
Lindsey Stirling @ Ledge Amphitheater
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
Dean Magraw and Suwal Singh @ Metronome Brewery
The Umamies @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Mary Elias’s Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Cole Swindell @ Mystic Lake Casino
Modest Mouse, Califone @ Palace Theatre
Peony Park, Joan of Profile, Garden Glow @ Pilllar Forum
Edie Rae Band, the Beavers @ Schooner Tavern
Casket Cassette, Stranger Gallery, Stare Away @ 7th St Entry
American Cream, Good Doom, Shadow Hex @ Turf Club
The Roundabouts @ White Squirrel
Pelicant, Ditch Pigeon, Fairooz Nazifa @ White Squirrel
James Whatton @ Wooden Ship Brewing
Friday, August 14
AM Gold Yacht Rock @ Allianz Field
Funk Friday feat. Arts Dept @ Animales
Brady Grey, Charlie Gruber @ Aster Cafe
Mary Louise Knutson/Steve Pikal @ Berlin
Julian Pujols Qualls’s Mamey @ Berlin
70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Bunker’s
Tommy Boynton and Friends @ Crooners
Joe Pulice’s Big Band feat. Ricky Peterson @ Crooners
Jaedyn James & Alex Browne @ Crooners
Davina & the Vagabonds @ Dakota
Stone Ark, Lost in Prati, Lipstinger @ Day Block Brewing
- Lakeside Guitar Festival @ Dock and Paddle—Guitars are back. Charli XCX’s irony-soaked “Rock Music” more or less declares the noble six-stringer is back in business, and we think the culture is better off for it. Since 2013 the Lakeside Guitar Fest has been less interested in pop music trends and more interested in delivering free, outdoor, genre-spanning live music in a gorgeous setting. (Watch LGF co-director Molly Maher tease this year's fest via KSTP.) Friday'll feature Zacc Harris, Chastity Brown with Terrell X, Jeronimo Gonzalez and Jorge Servin playing on a damn floating swan stage, and Virginia-launched fingerstyle phenom Yasmin Williams. Come Saturday you'll get Erik Koskinen with Nieves del Norte, Jeff Ray Trio, Obi Original and the Black Atlantics, and A Prairie Home Companion vet Pat Donohue with Richard Kriehn; true ax-heads can shut the night down with a ticketed performance from Minnesota's Last Waltz. Shred on! —Jay Boller
Witness Trips, Compass Rose, Neon Sons @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Wild Colonial Bhoys @ Dubliner Pub
Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34
Dan Israel, Clara Rose @ 50th & France
Can’t Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party @ First Avenue
Peg Meyer @ Ginkgo Coffee
Bret Michaels @ Grand Casino Hinckley
Clean Plate Club, Booster Pack, Fuchsia, La La and the Gents @ Hook and Ladder
Ait Ait @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
- Loring Alley Live @ Loring Alley—Built abutting Minneapolis’s Loring Park in 1911, the Fawkes Building is probably better known to you, the non-architectural historian, as the place that currently houses Gai Noi and once housed Nick and Eddie, Bar Lucat, the Loring Café, and, sure, whatever, The Bird. Through all those restaurant incarnations, the building boasted one of our town’s best throwback alleyways, and for the past five years Loring Alley Live has thrown a free mini music fest in that very spot. This year we’ll get Mediterranean-tinged pop-rockers Vittorio and the Bridges, local singer-songwriter star/former tiny house owner Jeremy Messersmith, soft-rockers Beemer, and violin ace Jillian Rae, plus there will be salsa dancing, a food truck, and alcohol, organizers promise. Sounds like a helluva deal.—Jay Boller
Tony May (Album Release) @ Lush
Splash! x Kaleb & the Nightingale Band @ Metronome Brewery
Dark Light Oblivion @ Minnehaha Bandstand
P Town’s White Out Bel Air Affair @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Empire of the Sun @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Global Jazz Collegium @ Padraigs
Lolo’s Ghost, Jellyjacket @ Schooner Tavern
Jaki Blue, Oscar Odd @ 7th St Entry
Matt Kearney, Jake Scott @ State Theatre
Dashed, Far Far Away, Peony Park Short Timer @ Terminal Bar
Night Audit, wolfbabycup, Be Wary @ 331 Club
Megasound, Agnes Uncaged @ Turf Club
Healing Gems, Black Widows @ Underground Music
DJ Leadfoot, DubTrio, Gemini Danger, DJ Salad @ Uptown VFW
Parisota Hot Club @ Volstead’s
The Thirsty River @ White Squirrel
Suzy Plays Guitar, Blue Red Roses, Rachel Melby @ White Squirrel
Climactic (Album Release), Rahvn, VVolf Mask, the Broken Rule @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, August 15
YNS LilChat, DJ Screwella @ Acadia
Rich Mattson and the Northstars @ Animales
G Herbo, K Camp, Hunxho @ Armory
Randall Webb & Friends @ Barely Brothers
The Willie August Project @ Berlin
Society of Chemists (Album Release) @ Berlin
DJ Amy Pickett, Allen Hz @ Berlin
Worldwide Discotheque @ Black Hart
The Good the Bad & the Funky @ Bunker’s
Strictly R&B: The Millennium Tour Reunion @ Cabooze
Rabeca, Full Catholic, Third Date @ Cedar Cultural Center
Maud Hixson and Bruce Carlson @ Crooners
The Bruce Henry Experience @ Crooners
- Lakeside Guitar Festival @ Dock and Paddle—see Friday's listings.
Poudre Canyon Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Release the Craicen @ Dubliner Pub
The Bill Patten Trio @ Dusty’s
Giant Valley String Band, Fog Behind the Holler @ Eagles 34
Massive Green, Northern Hammer, Lawnchair Dads @ Eagles 34
DEBÍ TIRAR MÁS FIESTAS @ Fine Line
The Crane Wives, Brye @ First Avenue
- Mr. Keillor’s Birthday Party @ Fitzgerald Theater—Barf.—Keith Harris
Reventon Perreo 360 @ Green Room
Hoochella with DJ Ibibaby @ Hook and Ladder
GRRRL SCOUT Presents: Indecent Exposure (Slow Burn) @ Icehouse
Urgent Emergent Performance Art Series, Volume Eight: It All Started With the DJ! @ Icehouse
Som Fest @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
38 Special, Chris Hawkey Band @ Ledge Amphitheater
Shot Down, Sensing Agony, Bestowed Upon Us, VVakefield, Slog @ Memory Lanes
Michael Gold Quartet @ Metronome Brewery
Knightnation Party with Q Bear @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing
Backyard Boombox @ Modist Brewing
We’ve Got You Covered @ Parkway Theater
Frost Found Us, Zero Fret, Stranger, Taste of Vervain @ 331 Club
- Big Thief @ Surly Brewing Festival Field—The sound of Big Thief’s 2025 album, Double Infinity, put me off at first because this band’s substance has been so bound up in their style. Bassist Max Oleartchik is gone, and with him, coincidentally or not, that sprung a sense of communal creation that was Big Thief’s hallmark. Then I got over myself, and I could hear that all-encompassing wash of reverb not as an airbrushing of idiosyncrasies but just Adrianne Lenker’s latest way of getting cosmic. Unlike most rock mystics, Lenker never comes off like she’s out to start a cult, which is one reason hers is so devoted. Now 34, she acknowledges her insecurities (“I’m afraid of getting older/That’s what I’ve learned to say,” “I’m happy with you/Why do I need to explain myself”) only to let them wash over her with a radical acceptance that appears also to ensure really good sex. Hand me my robe and point me to the compound, kind sister. “Swallow poison, swallow sugar,” Lenker muses. “Sometimes they taste the same.” Like elderberry wine, as another brilliant contemporary of hers might say.—Keith Harris
Joe Bonamassa and Gov’t Mule @ Treasure Island Casino
Mark Cameron Band @ Schooner Tavern
Bob Oxblood, Twin Citizen, Porcupine @ 7th St Entry
Xmas on Neptune @ Terminal Bar
Emily Nenny and Buffalo Nichols @ Turf Club
Levi’s Birthday Bash @ Underground Music
- Uptown Porchfest @ Uptown—Live music isn’t dead, but scalpers and Ticketmaster’s monopoly are doing their best to kill it. Entry-level tickets to see Noah Kahan at Target Field last week were going for $400–$500 on resale, so unless you’re willing to skimp on groceries for a bit, stadium tickets might be off the table. But music doesn’t really sound any better when it’s played on a massive stage, and the hottest low-cost venue this week is your neighbor’s porch. Uptown Porchfest brings local bands to local porches for a day of little free concerts. It’s a grassroots-organized tradition that’s just getting bigger every year. This week, a whopping 85 bands will perform from porches throughout the Minneapolis's Wedge neighborhood, covering a wide span of genres—everything from rock to classical to whatever “cute gaze mew-mew metal ethereal indie” is. (Check out Ditch Pigeon if you’re interested in that last one.) Food trucks and bathrooms will be available at Mueller Park, but attendees are encouraged to eat at local businesses as well.—Clare O'Connor
Fluid Frequencies: Late Night Drive Through feat. b!g mac @ Uptown VFW
Ed Sheeran @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Pleezer, Will Durie, Sam Saccoman @ Utepils
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
120 Minutes with Clash Minne Rockers @ White Squirrel
Blacklighter, Sweetland, Living Through Ghosts @ White Squirrel
Gravezig, Harsh Reality, Die Hard Corps @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, August 16
Johnny Child and the Poor Bastards @ Amsterdam
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
Curated by Leyton Olaleye: Crossroads @ Berlin
The Brothers Allmanac @ Crooners
Candy-OH!: The Cars Tribute @ Dakota
- Lakeside Guitar Festival @ Dock and Paddle—see Friday's listings.
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
American Football, Afternoon Bike Ride @ First Avenue
Candlelight: ’90s Unplugged @ Granada
The Scarlet Goodbye @ Hewing Hotel
Blluedog @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
The V Gees @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Jada Brown, Solana & the Sunsets, DJ Miguel Vargas @ Memory Lanes
The Jackson 5tet @ Metronome Brewery
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foreigner @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Obi Original and the Black Atlantics @ Icehouse
The Buckinghams @ Parkway Theater
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
American Vanity, Spiderlily @ 7th St Entry
Eleven Degenerates, Switchyard, Aaron Lee Kaplan @ 331 Club
Comehelpglo @ Underground Music
Customers, John Magnuson Band, El Drifte @ White Squirrel
Karaoke With Ally @ White Squirrel
Monday, August 17
Massive Mondays Reggae @ Caboose
Club Day Monday Cabaret @ Crooners
White Bear Big Band @ Dock and Paddle
Fleshpots of Egypt: Hymntap @ Dubliner Pub
Belvidere Oasis @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Mosaic Arts @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Monday Open Jam @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Okay Okay, Low Jam, Eudora @ Pilllar Forum
Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks
The Cottonwood Shivers, Nat Harriet @ White Squirrel
Torrentia, Social Pariah, Sweetland, Divinum Insanus @ Zhora Darling
