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Ho, Ho, Ho! Time to Unwrap 2 Full Weeks of Your Complete Concert Calendar: Dec. 17-30

Pretty much all the music you can catch in the Twin Cities in the next two weeks.

Photos provided|

The Steeles, Trailer Trash

Your pals at Racket are taking some much-needed time off to be with our families next week, and we won't be back at our (virtual) desks till January 2. That means a whole mess of listings coming down your chimney today. (Don't worry, though, I'll sneak a concert calendar in there on New Year's Eve Day, just so you don't miss nuthin'.)

Tuesday, December 17

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers

Will Kjeer, Billy Peterson, and Kenny Horst @ Crooners

Monroe Crossing @ Crooners

The Peterson Family @ Dakota

Alex Gelking @ Dark Horse

St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood

Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Emerging Artist Night @ The Garage

JS Ondara with Molly Dean @ Icehouse

Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central

Above Average Tuba Quartet @ Metronome Brewing

River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe

New Band Night @ Palmer’s

Boysintherosegarden with Annika and carter quinn @ Pilllar Forum

MoonLander and Barely Trev with Broderick Jones and Jake Luke @ 7th St Entry

Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks

Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar

Worker’s Playtime: Jake Manders @ 331 Club

December Conspiracy Series featuring El Drifte, The Beavers @ 331 Club

The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel

Ursa Minor, the Grieving Pines @ White Squirrel

Wednesday, December 18

Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia

Castor Volor @ Amsterdam 

MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe

Nelson Devereaux/Toby Ramaswamy @ Berlin

Twine @ Bunkers

Monroe Crossing @ Crooners

Sentimental Christmas (Wink!) @ Crooners

Esera Tuaolo @ Dakota

Kitchen Patrol & Joe @ Day Block Brewing

Senor Blues @ Driftwood

Southside Aces @ Eagles 34

Boney James @ Fitzgerald Theater

Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee

Jingle Bell Jukebox with Ashley DuBose & Friends @ Icehouse

JCS: Creative Collaborations @ Jazz Central

Emmy Woods @ Metronome Brewing

Mortiholics Residency @ Mortimers 

Cole Diamond @ Palmer’s

Lost Evidence with Better Devils, and Millennial Falcon @ Pilllar Forum

Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern

anni xo with Anna Devine, The Penny Peaches, and Dilly Dally Alley @ 7th St Entry

Nora's Xmas Karaoke Party @ Terminal Bar

Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Dylan Salfer Band @ 331 Club

Lenz & Frenz @ 331 Club

St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel

Products Band with Spaceport, Drey DK @ White Squirrel

Thursday, December 19

Noctiluca Duo @ Acadia

Born of Osiris with Reflections & By the Thousands @ Amsterdam 

The Teddy Holidays + Thomas Sticha @ Aster Cafe

Lasse Corson @ Berlin

HeyArlo @ Berlin

Pumps & Pearls @ Black Hart

Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers

The Strum Brothers @ Can Can Wonderland

An Elvis Gospel Christmas @ Crooners

Stanley Jordan @ Dakota

Waterline with Green Line Quartet and the Grieving Pines @ Day Block Brewing

GUP! @ Driftwood

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Caitlyn Smith with Ben Goldsmith @ Fitzgerald Theater

Adam Bohanan Birthday Show with Jordan Johnston @ Green Room

Annie Frazier Band and Buffalo Galaxy @ Hook and Ladder

The Cusp: A Winter Solstice Party @ Hook and Ladder

Kiss the Tiger with Ahem @ Icehouse

The Peter Kogan Quintet @ Metronome Brewing

Dark Click with Curtiss A @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer’s

Judy Collins @ Parkway

Alexander Natalie with Nice.and.Blue, Allergen @ Pilllar Forum

Fractal Geometry @ Red Sea

Mubbla Buggs, Sand Palace @ Schooner Tavern

Upright Forms, Curve, In Lieu, and Unstable Shapes @ 7th St Entry

Cross Pollination @ 331 Club

A Charlie Brown Christmas ft. Blue Ox Trio @ Turf Club

Teleport @ Uptown VFW

Martin Devaney (Album Release) with Mike Gunther & The Total Crapshoot @ White Squirrel

Friday, December 20

Big Wiz @ Acadia

Son Little with Kyah Bratz @ Amsterdam

Aaron Tinjum and the Tangents + New Seven @ Aster Cafe

Charlie Bruber & Jack Barrett @ Berlin

Karaoke @ Black Hart

Dragged Out @ Black Hart

70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Bunkers

Last Chance for Love @ Can Can Wonderland

Katz & Dogs with Olivia Katz & Michelle Kinney @ Cedar Cultural Center

A Grand Ole Opry Christmas @ Crooners

Bryan Eng @ Crooners

Katie Gearty and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Rachael & Vilray @ Dakota

Swingin’ on a Star @ Eagles 34

Mechanix @ Eagles 34

Chapel Hart with Molly Brandt @ Fine Line

The Jayhawks with Freedy Johnston @ Fitzgerald Theater

Skippy Stone, Greenstone, Emily and the Space Butterflies @ The Garage

Chas Somdahl @ Ginkgo Coffee

Luttrell @ Green Room

The Belfast Cowboys @ Hook and Ladder

Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder

"Impromptu Project" Presents: Christmas Live! 2024 @ Icehouse

Christian Swenson @ Jazz Central

Slushii @ The Loft

Nat Hance Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas @ Metronome Brewing

The Good, the Bad, & the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Elf in Concert @ Orchestra Hall

Christmas with Cantus @ Ordway

Barstool Bandit Duo @ Padraigs

CHRISTFITS, The Sex Rays, The Unnamed, and DJ Megan O @ Palmer’s

Intoxicats: After Dark Swingin’ Holiday with Jake Rudh @ Parkway

Asparagus with Lana Leone, SoL @ Pilllar Forum

Jiggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern

RIFFLORD with MURF and DUG @ 7th St Entry

Detty December @ Studio B

Ditch Pigeon, Iiluna, the Hyperbolic Age, Frank & Janea, Illicit Energy @ 331 Club

  • Trailer Trash @ Turf ClubFor 22 years, these local, good-humored, tireless country music fellers set up their Santa's workshop in Lee's Liquor Lounge, where, over the course of several sets, they'd pull one Christmas novelty after another from a seemingly bottomless bag of songs. Disputes with new management prodded the band out of Lee's in 2015, a few years before the bar shut down. Ever since, like Santa himself, Trailer Trash have taken their show on the road. They’re just about everywhere this Xmas—they've already played the Parkway and a two-night stand at the Hook & Ladder. Now they’re closing out their season with three nights at the Turf. Ho, ho, holy shit. 

Tape B @ Uptown Theater

Electric Feel: 2000’s Indie Rock & Pop Party @ Uptown VFW

Audrey Q with Eldest Daughter @ White Squirrel

K.E.V.I.N. w. Aeris & The Piggies, Sine Iris @ White Squirrel

Bizarre @ Zhora Darling

Saturday, December 21

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

Larry McDonough Quartet @ Aster Cafe

Sarah Navratil & Emma Garau @ Berlin

Bryan Nichols Quintet @ Berlin

Queer Cumbia Dance Night @ Black Hart

The Good, the Bad, & the Funky @ Bunkers

Michael Kosta @ Cedar Cultural Center

Pretty Boy Thorson & the Falling Angels, Black Widows, Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band @ Cloudland

Deb Brown and Friends @ Crooners

A Very Diva Christmas @ Crooners

Colleen Raye & Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Rachael & Vilray @ Dakota

About to Run: Twin Cities Phish Tribute @ Day Block Brewing

Tom, Dick, and Harry’s All Night Long Xmas Party @ Driftwood

The Jazz Outlaws Play A Charlie Brown Christmas @ Dusty’s

Silverteens @ Eagles 34

Hot Freaks with Sleeping Jesus and Products Band @ Fine Line

The Big Wu with The People Brothers Band @ First Avenue

The Jayhawks with Freedy Johnston @ Fitzgerald Theater

Justin Barts @ Gambit Brewing

Tiny Moving Parts, Action/Adventure, Greywind @ Green Room

Yuletide Sweater Ball feat Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins’ with Brotherhood of Birds, Feeding Leroy @ Hook and Ladder

Rank Strangers (Album Release) with High Tiny Hairs, Bev, & Spit Takes @ Hook and Ladder

The Dollys @ Icehouse

Club Soda - A Sober Friendly Party @ Icehouse

The Reid Kennedy Trio @ Jazz Central

Hostage Situation with High Zombie @ The Loft

Nat Hance Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas @ Metronome Brewing

Jay Bee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe

The Assortment with DJ Michael Grey @ Mortimers

Elf in Concert @ Orchestra Hall

SPCO Presents Handel’s Messiah @ Ordway

Mill City Hot Club @ Padraigs

Pleezer, Ezekiel LaFosteCasse, The Hamm Sammies and The Slippery Slopes @ Palmer’s

  • The Steeles @ Pantages TheatreThese musical siblings—J.D., Fred, Jearlyn, Jevetta, and Billy—have been putting on their annual Christmas show for 40 years now, taking their first bow at the Cricket Theater on Hennepin in 1984. Over the course of their career, they’ve become some of the most versatile gospel-rooted performers around, with starring roles in the noted soulful Sophocles adaptation The Gospel at Colonus and more backup gigs than I could list here. A true Minnesota institution, and if you’ve never seen them, this two-night holiday stand gives you a chance to make up for that omission.

Dan Rodriguez and His Band @ Parkway

Little Lebowski Urban Achievers with Arthur Conrad, Boots & Needles, Toilet Rats, Challenger Disaster Conspiracy @ Pilllar Forum

Maurice Jacox & We Still R @ Schooner Tavern

Extreme Noise Records 30th Anniversary Show @ 7th St Entry

Rolling Xmas Revue @ Terminal Bar

Mind out of Time, Big Salt @ 331 Club

Glitterdark: 3125, m4plefields, shepherdess, mother3k + luziafuchsia @ Uptown VFW

The Driftless Revelers @ White Squirrel

Pop Wagner & the Tavern Trio @ White Squirrel

The Hazy Phase with the Climbing Trees @ White Squirrel

Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ Xcel Energy Center

Boy Hero & Friends @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, December 22

Fever Pitch with Dive Bar Orchestra @ Acadia

Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Curated by Ross Hutchens (feat. ollo11) @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunkers

A Winter Solstice Sound Bath @ Cedar Cultural Center

A Very Diva Christmas @ Crooners

Dan Chouinard @ Crooners

The Andrew Walesch Big Band @ Dakota

Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood

Johnny No Cash @ Eagles 34

Rogue Tango @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

Matt Weiman and Co., Dinheiro, Minty Hippo, Whitetail @ The Garage

A Choctaw Christmas with Mark Billy @ Granada

Play House Day Party @ Green Room

Synastry Sundays @ Green Room

Demitri Rallis @ Icehouse

Joyann Parker Band @ Icehouse

DJ Minnie Blanco @ Mortimers

Elf in Concert @ Orchestra Hall

Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s

West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s

Sam & J @ Pilllar Forum

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern

Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks

Tom Feldmann @ 331 Club

The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club

Jack Werner @ White Squirrel

East Lake Jazz Christmas Show @ White Squirrel

Greg Volker & the River with Heidi Holton, Izzy Cruz Band @ White Squirrel

Monday, December 23

Carinda’s Variety Open Mic @ Acadia

Ella Grace MNtet Holiday Show @ Berlin

Dan Chouinard @ Crooners

Alicia Witt @ Dakota

Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34

World Music Monday @ Eagles 34

19th Annual Eve Eve Benefit Show @ Icehouse

Christian Swenson Trio @ Jazz Cental

MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewing

Autotune Karaoke @ Mortimers

The Matt Arthur Contraption @ Palmer’s

Sounds of Blackness: The Night Before Christmas @ Pantages Theatre

Twin River with Barnacle, Sunsets Over Vlowers, and Jaa.sc (DJ Set) @ Pilllar Forum 

Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks

Open Mic @ Terminal Bar

The Dans @ White Squirrel

Class City Rockers @ White Squirrel

Tuesday, December 24

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood

Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Pop Punk Princess with DJ Hot Topic Fanclub + Dimitry Killstorm @ Mortimers 

Irish Trad Session @ Padraigs

Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks

Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar

Wednesday, December 25

  • The Bad Plus @ DakotaMaybe the Bad Plus aren’t quite jazz elders—how can they be, they’re only my age!—but nearing a quarter-century into their existence (in one form or another), they are a Twin Cities jazz institution. And their annual Christmastime stand at the Dakota is becoming a holiday tradition, if a little less predictable than most traditions, since once jazz ceases to surprise you, it’s ain’t jazz no more. Their latest album, Complex Emotions, is their 16th, and their second since Chris Speed’s tenor saxophone and Ben Monder’s guitar filled the gap left by pianist Orrin Evans’s departure. The new guys sound a touch more comfortable than last time, and the rhythm section of Reid Anderson and Dave King still defines things—rhythm sections tend to do that in jazz. The band will perform eight shows in all. 

Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34

Mortiholics Residency @ Mortimer’s

The Mary Cutrufello Band @ White Squirrel

Thursday, December 26

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe

Black Tie Riverend @ Berlin

Tommy Boynton Quartet @ Berlin

Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers

Minnesota Boychoir @ Crooners

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room

Drums of Navarone @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ Mortimers

The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s

Father Paranoia @ Pilllar Forum

Scott Allen & the List, Edie Rae Band @ Schooner Tavern

Mike Munson @ 331 Club

The Honeydogs with The Penny Peaches @ Turf Club

Billy Johnson @ White Squirrel

Phantom Fields @ White Squirrel

Friday, December 27

Billy Gleason @ Acadia

Socktopus (Album Release) @ Amsterdam

Lucid Nights – Svdden Death presents: VOYD @ Armory

Rich Mattson @ Aster Cafe

HouseWerk @ Beast Barbecue

The Abinnet Berhanu Three feat. Godbout & Carpel @ Berlin

Will Kjeer Quintet @ Berlin

Karaoke @ Black Hart

Andre1000 Presents Black Boy Joy @ Black Hart

Dan Ristom & the Big Throwdown @ Bunkers

Arne Fogel and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Twine’s Funkified Holiday Party @ Day Block Brewing

Miss Shannon's 4th Friday Sock Hop with the Monday Club @ Eagles 34

J-Mo on the Beat @ Eagles 34

American Girl Doll Rave @ First Avenue

Matt Yetter @ Ginkgo Coffee

Salsa Del Sol, Charanga Tropical, DJ WilliamEL Buenon @ Granada

Aiden Intro with Ryan Kemp x Anna Devine @ Green Room

Mark Joseph’s Annual “Tea For The Tillerman” Concert with New Line Riders @ Hook and Ladder

Sarah Navratil @ Jazz Central

Fee Me @ The Loft

Abby Scalise @ Metronome Brewing

In a Funk @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Gothess @ Mortimers

The Double Stops @ Padraigs

Murder Curious, Bad Idea, and Far Far Away @ Palmers

BLACKOUTMOB with Big Kiaa and the Spektrum @ Pilllar Forum

Jimmi & the Band of Souls @ Schooner Tavern

Jaki Blue with KAYCYY and Sophia Eris @ 7th St Entry

Nekobus/Tri Polar Disorder @ Terminal Bar

Bethany Larson and the Bee’s Knees, Boots & Needles, Secret Special Guest @ 331 Club

All Tomorrow's Petty with Turn Turn Turn @ Turf Club

Haute Carl Presents Vinyl + Vibes Vol. 3: Housin’ for the Holidays @ Uptown VFW

Bruce Bednarchuck @ White Squirrel

Dangerbad with Paper Beast, Grudd Wallace @ White Squirrel

Saturday, December 28

Queen Jeanne @ Acadia

Take Cover @ Amsterdam

Lucid Nights – Seven Lions @ Armory

Matt Caflisch @ Aster Cafe

Sophia Kickhofel & Jackson Wheeler @ Berlin

Gifted Handz @ Berlin

2 Dykes Walk Into a Bar: A Lezbigay Cabaret @ Black Hart

Shoeless Revolution @ Bunkers

Troll Foot Frass with Nectarous and Stay At Home Astronaut @ Can Can Wonderland

The R Factor @ Crooners

Arne Fogel and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Garret Nasset, Colby Kent, and Zander @ Dusty’s

Samba Meu Brazilian Dance @ Eagles 34

Larry Wish and His Guys, Creatures of Prometheus @ Eagles 34

Soul Asylum with Tommy Stinson @ First Avenue

Abdu Kiar Feat. Nigusu Tamirat @ Green Room

Barbara Cohen & Little Lizard with Adam & Ava Levy @ Hook and Ladder

Henry Berberi @ Jazz Central

Borgore @ The Loft

Roof Access (Album Release) @ Metronome Brewing

High & Mighty @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Supportive Parents + Blue Ox + Rad Owl @ Mortimers

Art Beagle Backup Band @ Padraigs

Personhurter, Ret Marut, Van Halen cover band @ Palmer’s

Finick with Delicate Friend, Sylvia Dieken @ Pilllar Forum

RLB @ Schooner Tavern

  • Shrimpnose with Daedelus, Wicker's Portal, TaliaKnight @ 7th St EntryI’d never call him pop, but L.A.-relocated former Minnesotan Riley Smithson’s skeletal acoustic guitar figures, spectral voices, and percussion stutters add up to something lovely and inviting rather than grim and forbidding. Shrimpnose’s new album, The World Pushed Against You, develops the musical ideas that Smithson scattered through his recent EP Toward Heaven, with delicate and deliberately off-centered beats echoing classic dubstep (as in Burial, not Skrillex). Not sure if we’re still calling this stuff “folktronica,” or if we ever should have, but I’ll toss that genre tag in there as a guidepost for the curious. Of note: Shrimpnose played the Entry this same time last year, so maybe this homecoming is now a December tradition.

Velhasa Velahsa. Michael Grooves, Perv Goggles @ Terminal Bar

Night Audit, North Innsbruck, wolfbabycup @ 331 Club

Wild Ryde: Newbie Night @ Uptown VFW

All Tomorrow's Petty with A Little Too Short To Be Stormtroopers @ Turf Club

Mark Ross and the Three-Nineteens @ White Squirrel

120 Minutes @ White Squirrel

The Weeping Covenant @ White Squirrel

Sunday, December 29

Carlton Swank @ Acadia

Nu Year’s Eve 24 @ Amsterdam

Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Curated by Ross Hutchens (feat. Toby Ramaswamy & Jaak) @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunkers

Fresh Starts and Showstoppers: A Night of Broadway and More @ Crooners

Soul Train and American Bandstand Celebration @ Crooners

The New Standards @ Dakota

Jeffry Becker Band @ Eagles 34

TC Ramblers @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

DeVotchKa with Superior Siren @ First Avenue

Synastry Sundays @ Green Room

Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s

West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern

Qmoe with bdifferent and Mack OC @ 7th St Entry

Craig & Edie @ 331 Club

Becky Kapell and the Fat 6 @ 331 Club

Decadence @ Uptown VFW

Aaron James with Bury ‘Em Deep, Wolf Baby Cup @ White Squirrel

Lucinda Williams Tribute Night @ White Squirrel

Monday, December 30

Medium Zach (feat. Mankwe Ndosi) @ Berlin

Connie Evingson @ Crooners

Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners

The New Standards @ Dakota

Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34

Big Woods Brass Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe

MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewing

Autotune Karaoke @ Mortimers

Cowaoke @ Palmer’s

Grudd Wallace with Crimson Boys and Pew Pew @ Pilllar Forum

Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks

Open Mic @ Terminal Bar

Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club

Andrew Kneeland with Little Fevers, Sun Patches @ White Squirrel

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