The year is winding down, but there's still plenty of music being made or, at the very least, performed live for your entertainment.
Tuesday, December 10
Blue Tuesday: Dinner & Jazz @ Berlin
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunker’s
Shaun Johnson Big Band @ Dakota
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
JS Ondara with Courtney Hartman @ Icehouse
Cedar Avenue Big Band @ Jazz Central
Dan Gjetlen and Talking Strings @ Metronome
Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Timeless Tuesdays with Mixie @ Mortimers
Minneapolis Southwest High School @ Orchestra Hall
- Girl in Red with Sunday (1994) @ Palace Theatre—Racket’s style rules (we actually do kinda have them) forbid me from all-capping an album title just because the artist does. But I will defy that edict in the case of Girl in Red’s I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! because Marie Ulven Ringheim is just an all-caps kinda girl. “Hey I took a shower today,” she boasts on the lead track, “I’m Back,” which suggests that a bout with depression may have delayed the new release while acknowledging that “time doesn’t stop for a sad little girl.” (Her last album was in 2021, which wasn’t all that long ago, but three years can feel like forever when you’re 25.) Unashamed enough of her neediness to call a song “Pick Me,” Ringheim gets dumped and rejected a bunch here, often (she says) because she’s too intense for them. Hell, I thought she was a little much myself till Chappell Roan set the bar for pop star overexuberance so high. The music world can always use another queer pop girl, but a Norwegian with no chill? Now that’s a breakthrough in representation.—Keith Harris
Jeffrey Foucault (Album Release) with Erik Koskinen @ Parkway
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Works
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Mike Munson @ 331 Club
December Conspiracy Series featuring El Drifte, Jared McCloud @ 331 Club
DL4 with Cole Diamond @ White Squirrel
Izzy Cruz with Willing Done, Woodzen @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, December 11
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
The Passion Park Experience @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase with Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe
Imminent Standards Trio @ Berlin
We’re Singing Up Joy 4 Christmas @ Crooners
Kathleen Johnson’s Holiday Hang @ Dakota
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Luminare Christmas @ Fitzgerald Theatre
Big Woods Brass Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mortiholics Residency @ Mortimers
Sarah Jane Music School Showcase @ Pilllar Forum
Connor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Fend, Admiral Fox, NATL PARK SRVC, and Joe Bartel @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Jeff Ray and the Stakes @ 331 Club
Rooin, Dog Gamn, & Dream Vandals @ Underground Music Venue
Colin Stough & Will Moseley @ Varsity
Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers @ White Squirrel
Lords of the Universe with Home Team Quarterback, Alpine Shepherd Boy @ White Squirrel
Thursday, December 12
Natalie Fideler with Cassandra Johnson & Corzine @ Amsterdam
Tim Sparks & Ben Abrahamson @ Berlin
Nathan Hanson’s Rope Ladder @ Berlin
Outfront Queer Homecoming @ Black Hart
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Neon Night: Cyberpunk Edgerunners @ Can Can Wonderland
Mr. Sun Plays Ellington’s Nutcracker @ Cedar Cultural Center
We’re Singing Up Joy 4 Christmas @ Crooners
The Outcats, Red40 @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Fever Candlelight Christmas Carols @ Granada
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Cornbread & Friends Holiday Blues Show @ Hook and Ladder
Orange Goodness and the Nunnery @ Hook and Ladder
Kiss the Tiger with the Controversial New “Skinny Pill” @ Icehouse
Rooms on Fire @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Our Eyes At Last Shall See Him @ Orchestra Hall
The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s
Tina Schlieske & Friends @ Parkway
Cervesa Muscular with Matt Caflisch’s B, and Street Hassle @ Pilllar Forum
Just Luv, Inc @ Schooner Tavern
Daphne Jane with Ella Luna, Ava Levy and Kiernan @ 7th St Entry
Said Kelley, Rachel Kurtz, Katacombs @ 331 Club
The Silent Treatment, The Heavy Sixers (EP Release), Muun Bato, and The 99ers @ Turf Club
NoNo with Asteroid, Somewhere Nice, Someday @ White Squirrel
Friday, December 13
1947 (Single Release) @ Acadia
Waste (EP Release) @ Amsterdam
- Freak of the Week @ Beast Barbecue—We’re really, really hoping at least one reader begins their day at the alpaca farm (see Saturday's picks for best local events), only to end up in the basement of a BBQ joint dancing their ass off. Because, as Racket readers know, Beast has evolved into one of the hottest dance clubs in town. “I crank it down to 60 degrees before dance parties, because it gets up to 80 by the end,” says John McKinney, Beast’s co-owner-operator and a noted ’90s raver. “Even in the winter, I’m turning on the air conditioner.” For tonight’s special holiday edition of the house/disco/techno/funk party Freak of the Week, you’ve got Berlin’s DJ T-1000 spinning as a headliner, plus veteran local DJ/producer/promoter Nola Rave and fellow local Dedicated Enemy.—Jay Boller
Dan Carpel/Chris Graham/Miguel Hurtado @ Berlin
Nudie Nubies Burlesque @ Black Hart
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
Supertask, TRIPP ST, & Mousai @ Cabooze
The Customers, Mean Magic, Tim Casey & the Martyrs @ Cloudland
Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners
Dorothy Doring and Adi Yeshaya @ Crooners
Glycerin Tears and Friends @ Driftwood
Dead by 50, Bong Reaper, Die Ghost @ Eagles 34
Steve Clarke & the Working Stiffs with Miss Shannon @ Eagles 34
Santa Rave⏤The Ultimate Holiday Themed Rave @ Fine Line
Emo Nite with Derek Sanders (of Mayday Parade) @ First Avenue
Pity Party, Quietchild, Cause for Concern, Emily and the Space Butterflies @ The Garage
Yam Haus with brotherkenzie @ Green Room
Trailer Trash’s Trashy Little Xmas Show @ Hook and Ladder
Sarah Morris Holiday Show @ Icehouse
Chris Bates: BCE @ Jazz Central
Man Cub with KEPIK, Red Comet, Panduhh, and Psychodelix
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin @ The Lyric
The Champagne Drops @ Metronome
GB Leighton @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Crimes Against Ravers Nu Metal Night @ Mortimers
John Denver: A Rocky Mountain Holiday @ Orchestra Hall
VocalEssence: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio @ Orchestra Hall
The Walker Brothers Band @ Padraigs
- Wilco @ Palace Theatre—I’m not nearly as big a fan of Jeff Tweedy and his crew as someone with my demographic stats should be. I appreciate Nels Cline’s improvisatory ability, Jeff Tweedy’s songcraft, and the band’s willingness to dramatically recast its material in a live setting, but their music rewards my concentration without ever quite commanding it, to put it politely. Something in Tweedy’s pleasant but narrow voice just homogenizes their emotional palette. Still, I don’t begrudge the faithful this three-night stand at the Palace, a reconfiguration of a seasonal event the band once called “Winterlude” (also the name of one of my favorite Dylan nonsense songs). They promise no repeats over the course of the weekend, and the only other cities where it’s happening are Tulsa and Austin (the Texas one).—Keith Harris
The Slow Death, Lutheran Heat, and the Right Here @ Palmer’s
The Blenders @ Pantages Theatre
Tina Schlieske & Friends @ Parkway
Den of Thieves @ Pilllar Forum
Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern
Greg Downey with Some DJ, Montoni, Trance Jesus @ Skyway Theatre
Illiterate Light with Palmyra @ 7th St Entry
Pay Dirt, Darkling, Velour Tomb @ Seward Cafe
Threads Electric, Son/Boy, Poolboy @ 331 Club
A Tribute to the Replacements feat. The Melismatics @ Turf Club
An Electrifying Evening of Black Sabbath & Iron Maiden @ Uptown VFW
Devil Dodger with Mammoth Moth @ White Squirrel
Absolutely Yours with Real Numbers, True Lust @ White Squirrel
Pleezer, Piece of Cake, SMILE Like You Mean It! @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, December 14
Ninety-Five Ninety-Six (Ugly Holiday Sweater Party) @ Acadia
The Farewell Season with Echoes At Midnight @ Aster Cafe
Jovon Williams & Marvelous @ Berlin
Sunshine and the NIghtwalkers, Mild Manner @ Can Can Wonderland
Black Co-MingL Navity @ Capri Theater
Poison Ivy and the People, Spit Takes, Tomboyy @ Cloudland
Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners
Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Dorothy Doring and Larry McDonough @ Crooners
The Fabulous Hackmasters @ Driftwood
Toussaint Morrison with J.E.M. @ Dusty’s
The Boot R+B, Slow Death, Deadly Cyclamates @ Eagles 34
Heart to Gold (Album Release) with Gully Boys, Gramma and Scrunchies @ Fine Line
The Last Revel with Two Runner @ First Avenue
Lemonbrass Quintet @ Gambit Brewing
Your Last Breath, The Losing Hope, Linus, Moxen @ The Garage
Yam Haus with Misty Boyce @ Green Room
Dean Granros: 58 Belvedere @ Jazz Central
Chassi with Chango, Mile32, Iman, Speedshift, & Abyss @ The Loft
Rock U Music School @ Metronome
The Champagne Drops @ Metronome
Funktion Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
PV$$Y CNTRL feat. Shannon Blowtorch + Sophia Eris @ Mortimers
VocalEssence Bach’s Christmas Oratorio @ Orchestra Hall
- Wilco @ Palace Theatre—See Friday's listings.
Skulpture, Warcake, and Two Ghosts @ Palmer's
The Blenders @ Pantages Theatre
Autumn with Observant, Darkling I Listen, Echo Signal @ Pilllar Forum
BASIC: Chris Forsyth, Douglas McCombs, Mikel Patrick Avery with Yr Knives and American Cream @ 7th St Entry
Everett Smithson @ Schooner Tavern
Malachite with Mvrrow, PolyD3monic, M.A.Y. @ Studio B
Robert Dixon, EFMI, West on Wellesley @ Terminal Bar
Del-Viles, Nathan Walker, Craig. Sensitive @ 331 Club
Martin Zellar with Laamar @ Turf Club
A Very Cozy Christmas Tour @ Varsity
The Bored with the Deeper Kind @ White Squirrel
Wolves Of Hubbard (EP Release) with Sun Patches, Ruben @ White Squirrel
MURF, The Cult of Nasty, & Müllet @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, December 15
Soulkeeper with Our Common Collapse, Bejalvin, Fallingwithscissors @ Amsterdam
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Curated by Ross Hutchens (feat. Sard) @ Berlin
Mary Brewster’s Sparkle @ Black Hart
Steve Saleka’s 24-Piece One-Man Band @ Can Can Wonderland
Riverside Swing Band @ Crooners
Sherwin & Pam Linton and The Cotton Kings @ Crooners
Phine and Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin CIties Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Music of Taylor Swift & More for Kids with Bri & The Antiheroes @ First Avenue
Brother Ali with Ant with Dee-1 and MaLLy @ First Avenue
Chosen by the Funk @ Hook and Ladder
Jack Schabert Jazz Orchestra @ Metronome
Sunday Jazz Series: NxtGen @ Metronome
Red Hot Django Peppers @ Metronome
Butter Boys, Ghost Kitchen, Deletist, Covergirl Hot 100 @ Mortimers
Merry and Bright @ Orchestra Hall
- Wilco @ Palace Theatre—See Friday's listings.
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer's
The Blenders @ Pantages Theatre
SimpleGifts with Billy McLaughlin @ Parkway
A Skylit Drive with Odds of an Afterthought @ 7th St Entry
Magical Holiday Gala @ Turf Club
Monday, December 16
Carinda’s Variety Open Mic @ Acadia
Joe Westerlund & Trever Hagen @ Berlin
Phil Heywood and Tim Sparks @ Crooners
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Other Country Ensemble @ Eagles 34
Josh Ritter @ Fitzgerald Theater
Aby Wolf with Kavyesh Kaviraj, Pete James Johnson, + Laurels String Quartet @ Icehouse
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer's
Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks
Acoustic Jam Session @ Utepils Brewing
Blue Earth Collective @ White Squirrel
Ausgang City with Canadian Girlfriend, Joey Thursday @ White Squirrel
Lori Dokken, Judi Vinar, & Rachel Holder @ Woman’s Club of Minneapolis