Yes, there are certainly shows that deserve to be highlighted here besides Usher. But honestly I took last Friday off and I just haven't had the time. (That one was left over from our Fall Arts Guide.) My paycheck will be docked accordingly.
Tuesday, October 29
International Reggae All-Stars @ Bunker's
The Eclectics feat. Phil Nusbaum @ Dark Horse
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Orion Sun with Cruza @ Fine Line
Wyatt Flores with Bo Staloch @ First Avenue
Colonel Mustard's Mechanical Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Big Woods Brass @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Palmer's Songwriters Showcase Hosted by Max Markin @ Palmer's
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime with Mike Munson @ 331 Club
October Conspiracy Theory featuring Ditch Pigeon, Ledges, Ethan Caviness, Illicit Energy @ 331 Club
Cowboy Bebop Live @ Varsity Theater
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Homunculus Rex (Tuesday Residency) with Squinny, Blue Driver @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, October 30
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
Enter the Void Presents: Further @ Berlin
Ficshe: Goth Night @ Can Can Wonderland
Chicky Rooster Halloween @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Miles Smith with Lily Fitts @ Fine Line
Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country @ First Avenue
Alli and I, Stoney Point, Pyrrhic Victories @ The Garage
Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers with Fox Royale @ Green Room
GWAR with Dark Funeral and Squid Pisser @ The Lyric
The Will Kjeer Trio @ Metronome
Rooms on Fire @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Lazy Scorsese (October Residency) @ Mortimer's
Karaoke Crime Scene @ Palmer's
New Confusion with whenthedustsettles, Lovegirl, Pointless Animal @ Pilllar Forum
BZ3 Organ Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Blu & Exile with Fashawn, Sirplus, and Juice Lord @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Tony Cuchetti @ 331 Club
Triple Threat Tribute Night @ Turf Club
The Electric Honeycomb with Wooden @ White Squirrel
Thursday, October 31
Double Feature: A Halloween Burlesque @ Amsterdam
Take That Back feat. Joan Hutton & Sue Orfield @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker's
The Suburbs & the Scarlett Goodbye @ Cabooze
Halloween Party @ Can Can Wonderland
Jazz in the Twilight Zone @ Crooners
Tom Waits for Halloween @ Crooners
Monstrous Melodies Cabaret @ Dakota
Califeia Cowboys, Dive Bar Orchestra @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Durry with Keep for Cheap @ Fine Line
First Avenue’s Annual Halloween Party and Costume Contest @ First Avenue
Hip-Hop Halloween @ The Garage
Ganja White Night -Wobbleween @ Granada
Snapped Live Band Open Night @ Green Room
Bearly Dead with Mark Joseph @ Hook and Ladder
Will Kjeer Halloween Hang featuring Charlie Lincoln & Anthony 'Ty' Johnson @ Jazz Central
Bleak Sabbath @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Vänskä and Ross @ Orchestra Hall
Throwback Thursdays with DJ Bootsy Ballins @ Palmer's
Scott Allen and the List, Elour @ Schooner Tavern
A Nightmare on 7th St ft. Gramma, she’s green, WHY NOT, Psylo, and berzica @ 7th St Entry
Horror on Hennepin Night 2 – Adventure Club @ Skyway Theatre
Gothess Halloween KILLER PARTY with Die Sexual @ Turf Club
Family Dinner, Weald, Bloom or Bust @ Underground Music Cafe
Crimes Against Ravers @ Uptown VFW
M.A.Y. with VIN, Sweetalk, Solshade @ White Squirrel
Night Moves with Material @ Zhora Darling
Friday, November 1
Mark Mallman @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Feed the Dog & Saltydog @ Cabooze
John McEuen & The Circle Band with the Eclectics @ Cedar Cultural Center
Shower Curtain, Another Heaven, Pew! Pew! @ Cloudland
Scottie Miller Trio feat. Greg Schutte & Dan Carpel @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Arne Fogel with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Hay Bale, Ukrainian Village Band @ Driftwood
Katia & the Upswing @ Eagles 34
Dirtwire with the Spooklights @ First Avenue
Basic and Boring, Zero Fox, Rock Melon @ The Garage
Angry At Numbers, The Rockford Mules, Whiskey Rock n Roll Club, Modern Dads @ Hook and Ladder
New Orleans Suspects with Twine @ Hook and Ladder
InMotion: Halloween @ Icehouse
Doug Haining and the Cannonball Collective @ Jazz Central
Tiedie Ky and Potions @ The Loft
The Adam Wolff Jazz Trio @ Metronome
The Legendary Johnnie Brown @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Boo-ty Bash 2024 @ Modist Brewing
The Envies (Album Release) with Mullet and Kansas Plates @ Mortimer's
Vänskä and Ross @ Orchestra Hall
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony @ Ordway
Gus the Bardic Troubadour @ Padraigs
Birth Order, The Central and Ashbringer @ Palmer's
"No Spooky Futures" with Makeshift, Chameleon, Finick, Early Eyes @ Pilllar Forum
Deep Alley Desires II @ Red Sea
Greazy Gravy with Sonny Earl @ Schooner Tavern
Cancer Bats with No Encore and Wanderer @ 7th St Entry
Chase & Status with Skepsis & Siren @ Skyway Theatre
The Calaveras Dance III @ Studio B
Ausgang City, Emerson Island, Canadian Girlfriend @ Terminal Bar
Mondo Cozmo with Jane Leo @ Turf Club
GooseBump ‘N’ Grind 90s Halloween Party @ Uptown VFW
Tokyo Police Club @ Varsity Theater
Troll Foot Frass with The Tone Deaf Annies, Waar Party @ White Squirrel
The Johnny Sincerely Orchestra with Railroad Island @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, November 2
PawPaw Rod with Topaz Jones @ Amsterdam
Brad Paisley with Corey Kent @ Armory
Better Broken with Destroy The Planet, Callus Soul, PolyD3monic @ Bar Fly
Solomon Parham Sextet @ Berlin
Breymer (Album Release) with Rosie @ Berlin
Jumpsuit: Pour Hommes, Hardy, Real Girl @ Black Hart
The Bards Quartet @ Can Can Wonderland
Quietchild @ Caydence Records & Coffee
The Slow Death, the Unnamed, Mad Mojo Jett @ Cloudland
Adam Wolff Trio featuring Rachel Holder @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Arne Fogel with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
The Dream Police @ Day Block Brewing
Dive Bar Orchestra, Eddie Rae Band, Joe Fahey & the K-Tels @ Driftwood
New Riverside Ramblers @ Eagles 34
Tre Spiritus, Jeff Ray, and Mikkel Bee (Icehorse) @ Eagles 34
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets @ Fine Line
Hot in Herre—2000s Dance Party @ First Avenue
Gilded Cages, Gradience, Kalopsya @ The Garage
The Barb & Barrett Show, Casual Confusion, The Confused @ Green Room
Pullstring (Album Release) with The Dalmatian Club, Motherwind, Callback @ Green Room
New Orleans Suspects with Kung Fu Hippies @ Hook and Ladder
Brotherhood of Birds + Maygen & the Birdwatcher with Humbletown @ Icehouse
Cellar Dwellers @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing
Yuki’s BSMT EP Listening Party @ Modist Brewing
Rash Fest w/ Gash, Scrunchies, Despondent, Ira Glass, Shady Bug, Pulsr @ Mortimer's
La Arrolladora Banda Limon @ Myth Live
Vänskä and Ross @ Orchestra Hall
Beethoven's Fifth Symphony @ Ordway
Unstable Shapes, Deep Fakes, and Night Audit @ Palmer's
Fangs Out: A Vampire Nightclub Experience @ Red Carpet Nightclub
Becky Kapell & the Fat 6 @ Schooner Tavern
Zero 9:36 with Afterlife and Reece Young @ 7th St Entry
Live Material @ Steel Toe Brewing
Ninajirachi, MGNA Crrrta, Tsu Nami @ Studio B
- Usher @ Target Center—What a difference a decade makes. In 2014 I caught Usher Raymond at an awkward age, no longer a surefire hitmaker but not yet willing to give up on contemporary relevance, as he struggled to hold the attention of a half-sold Xcel Energy Center. He’s since matured from a has-been to a legacy artist, complete with Vegas residency and Super Bowl halftime show, and it’s a legacy worth celebrating. The boyish demands of “You Make Me Wanna…” the pop ascendance of “Yeah!,” the EDM-adjacent "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love," the late career peaks like “Climax”—it’s quite a catalog. And though you probably won’t hear much from his latest, Coming Home, on The Past Present Future Tour, any selections would fit right in.
Samhain featuring Nina Luna, Superior Siren, and Emmy Woods and the Red Pine Ramblers @ 331 Club
Run Westy Run with Faith Boblett @ Turf Club
Emily Hicks with Emily Haavik @ White Squirrel
Confucisaurus with Uff-Da @ White Squirrel
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats @ Xcel Energy Center
Sunday, November 3
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Last Chance for Love @ Can Can Wonderland
Monthly Bluegrass Jam @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Afghan Cultural Society Anniversary Arts Festival @ Cedar Cultural Center
Feeling Groovy: Simon & Garfunkel Tribute with a Twist @ Crooners
The Story of Django Reinhardt with the Ryan Picone Quartet @ Crooners
T. Mychael Rambo & Friends @ Dakota
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Lawnchair Dads, green, Woodzen, Waterline, Frostbeard @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets @ Fine Line
Synastry Sundays with DJ GirlBlunt @ Green Room
Hell or High Water – Hurricane Relief Show @ Hook and Ladder
Anna Tivel feat. Sam Weber + J.E. Sunde @ Icehouse
The Ladyslipper Ensemble @ Metronome
Minnesota Youth Symphonies Fall Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert @ Orpheum Theatre
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer's
M.A.G.S. with Barely Civil and Trash Date @ 7th St Entry
- Usher @ Target Center—See Saturday's listings.
2 Shadows @ Underground Music Venue
Sammie Jean Cohen @ White Squirrel
Jeff Becker Band @ White Squirrel
13 Howell with Tiny Traces @ White Squirrel
Monday, November 4
Roméo Poirier & Holly Hansen @ Berlin
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Steve Clarke 'n' Band @ Eagles 34
Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets @ Fine Line
Setting with Alpha Consumer @ Icehouse
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Cowakoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer's
BEAT - Belew, Vai, Levin, and Carey play 80s King Crimson @ State Theatre