I picked the wrong weekend to go out of town—gonna miss some excellent shows. But you'll be here, right? Lucky you!
Tuesday, October 7
Open Mic with DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia
Signs of the Swarm with Mental Cruelty, Ten56, Carcosa, Face Yourself in St Paul @ Amsterdam
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
- Brad Mehldau @ Dakota—A lil twofer for you Mehldau-heads, as I'm almost certain the jazz pianist's fans call themselves. He's doing a solo set tonight, and he'll be joined by ace bassist Christian McBride tomorrow, also at the Dakota.
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Elbow with Mike Kota @ First Avenue
Bill Simenson Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Bluewater Kings @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Contact Haiii with Byzarra @ Mortimer’s
The Criticals with New Translations @ 7th St Entry
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
October Conspiracy Series featuring Ditch Pigeon, One Big Quilt, the Delviles @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Jack Klatt @ 331 Club
Between Friends @ Varsity Theater
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Sammy Jean Cohen (Residency) @ White Squirrel
Dummy with IE and Linus @ Zhora Darling
Wednesday, October 8
Songwriter’s Showcase @ Aster Cafe
David Bixler Trio Incognito @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
Lovesick Blues: The Music of Hank Williams @ Crooners
- Christian McBride and Brad Mehldau @ Dakota—See Tuesday's listings.
Tom Dahill and Ginny Johnson @ Dubliner Pub
Irish Céilí Dancing @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
- Grandaddy with Greg Freeman @ First Avenue—A quarter-century ago, Jason Lytle understood the future better than Radiohead ever would. On The Sophtware Slump, he envisioned a world that never quite ends or crushes your soul completely, but just runs down and leaves us surrounded by detritus, where singing about how lonesome you are while crafting open-aired synthscapes might not make you feel better, but it’ll make you feel something. The future, in other words, is basically the suburbs, and the android Lytle mourns isn’t paranoid—he’s depressed, his name’s Jed, and he drinks himself to death. “The fact that this album has gotten this sort of acclaim only reconfirms to me what a load of shit this business is,” Lytle has said of his career-best record, which just shows you yet again how much you can trust artists’ opinions of their work. Anyway, I’m glad he’s caved in to public opinion, and has mounted a 25th anniversary tour.—Keith Harris
Celtic Thunder @ Fitzgerald Theater
- Clem Snide with David Huckfelt @ Icehouse—Coming up on 30 years after he first named his band for a William S. Burroughs character that his songwriting has always been too humane to deserve, Clem Snide’s Eef Barzelay remains a wry spiritual quester. Barzelay call their/his latest, the eight-track Oh Smokey is, a collection of “slow, sad songs about God and death,” the joke being that he’s not joking. As produced by Bonny Light Horseman-man Josh Kaufman, the music gets muzzier than I like my slow, sad hymns, but Barzelay remains capable of images like “We were an airshow disaster waiting to be.” Minnesotan stalwart Huckfelt is slated to premiere songs from his upcoming 2026 album at the Cedar next month. Maybe we’ll get a preview of a few of ’em here.—Keith Harris
Pat Donohue & Friends @ Midway Saloon
BB Machine with Third Date and Do Not Crush @ Pilllar Forum
Wandering Suns @ Schooner Tavern
Far Caspian with A Beacon School @ 7th St Entry
Symphonic Band @ Ted Mann Concert Hall
Todd Snider Tribute with the HIGH Rev and Friends @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Andy Cohen @ 331 Club
Aidan Bissett @ Varsity Theater
Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers @ White Squirrel
Cole Diamond’s Whiskey Wednesdays @ White Squirrel
Thursday, October 9
Mother Coyote & Conzemius @ Aster Cafe
- Sunpearl & Friends @ Berlin—Psst, don't say you heard it from me, but word is that one of the "friends" who'll be joining the ambient duo of Isabel Fajardo and Toby Ramaswamy is Shahzad Ismaily.
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Talisk and Gardiner Brothers @ Cedar Cultural Center
Orchid Club, Dirt Magnet, Selfish Teammate @ Cloudland
Tommy Boynton and Ted Godbout @ Crooners
Wonderful Tonight: The Music of Eric Clapton @ Crooners
Midso with Cain & Co and Eldest Daughter @ Day Block Brewing
The Get-Up Mondays, Frannie Crego @ 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
Stop Light Observations with Jack Fortune @ Fine Line
Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners with Field Medic @ First Avenue
The Jazz Room: Tribute to Soul @ Granada
Mumford and Sons @ Grand Casino Arena
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
TCC4 Slay: Drag Cabaret & Fundraiser @ Hook and Ladder
Bit Brigade Performs Super Mario World + F-Zero @ Icehouse
Howdy Partner Country Dance Night @ Lush
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar & Grill
Curtiss A Presents the Sutcliffes @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Talisk and Gardiner Brothers @ Pantages Theatre
Edie Rae Band, Institutional Green @ Schooner Tavern
Kayko with Lost Stars @ 7th St Entry
Stardust, Laura Hugo @ 331 Club
Jesse Roper, the Holy North @ Turf Club
groove scenario: ariesfirebomb, glitterdark (dj set),elysium alps,lomotion (dj set) @ Uptown VFW
Joey McIntyre @ Varsity Theater
Bessie Snow Presents “Apetit” @ Volstead’s
Thomas Sticha @ White Squirrel
Guest Rooms with Modern Wyldlife & Ramson @ White Squirrel
Friday, October 10
DJ Snuggles, Yana, the Moon Cricket, Count Mack, Purple Queen Zen @ Acadia
Aloysius the Band (Record Release), Haters Club, Andy Ulseth @ Amsterdam
Dead North with Kray Klaas @ Aster Cafe
A Study of Ahmad Jamal by Mike Vasich, Josh Granowski, and Chris Hepola @ Berlin
DJ D-Mil, Maiden Dixie @ Boardwalk
Savannah Dexter & Brabo Gator @ Cabooze
Extraterrestrials, Scott Yoder, May and the Ladies @ Cloudland
Sarah Morris (Album Release) @ Dakota
Entundra, Lost Evidence, Witch Syndicate @ Day Block Brewing
Wilson Parc, Seafood Green Tangerine @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Oktoberfest Polka Bash @ Eagles 34
Closed City Terror @ Eagles 34
Quadeca with rozey @ Fine Line
Can't Feel My Face: 2010s Dance Party @ First Avenue
Celtic Thunder @ Fitzgerald Theater
Out 4 Blood, Enervate, Dose, Eyes of Sorrow, Another Enemy @ Flying V
Latin Nights with La Clave Orchestra, DJ William El Bueno @ Granada
Jonas Brothers @ Grand Casino Arena
Wub Club Vol. 4 ft. MeSo & Tripzy Leary @ Green Room
16th Annual BIG FAT LOVE: Celebrating John Prine’s Birthday @ Hook and Ladder
Bob Mould with David Barbe @ Icehouse
Cody Steinmann Trio @ Jazz Central
Vincent Antone with Megan Hamilton @ The Loft
Tank (Top) Night with DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ Lush
Reckless at Tiffany’s @ Mainstreet Bar & Grill
30 Howell with Tiny Traces @ Memory Lanes
32nd Street Jazz: Kind of Miles @ Metronome Brewery
Funktion Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Kavakos, Mozart and Shostakovich @ Orchestra Hall
- Mickey Guyton @ The O'Shaughnessy—Guyton is far from an overnight sensation. She moved to Nashville in 2011, dropped her debut single in 2015, and seemed unjustly consigned to be shuffled into the pack of country never-wases with dynamite voices who deserve better shortly after that. Then, in that brief window five years ago when corporations felt duty-bound to feign interest in Black America, she rose to the moment with the brilliant “Black Like Me.” That anthem, along with the scalding feminist-realist ballad "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?" appeared on her brilliant 2021 debut album, Remember Her Name. On her equally impressive 2024 followup, House on Fire, she left the big political statements behind, as was her right—being a Black Nashville star is political statement enough—though you don’t have to wonder long what color folks’ skin is on “My Side of the Country.”—Keith Harris
Southern Resident Killer Whales @ Padraig’s
Mark Cohn and Shawn Colvin @ Parkway
Far Far Away with Portside Dive and Circle Circle @ Pilllar Forum
Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern
GUNNAR with Jared Benjamin @ 7th St Entry
Villain of the Story with the Wise Man's Fear, Execution Day, Divide the Fall @ Studio B
Billy Johnson & Paul Frantzich @ 318 Cafe
Bobby J’s West Bank Social Club @ 331 Club
Model/Actriz with Kassie Krut @ Turf Club
Cock E.S.P., Carcinolith, Diminished, Old Surgery, & Nicky Liminal @ Underground Music
AscenDance presents WEEB LIKE IT HOT: Pokemon Edition with Jimni Cricket @ Uptown VFW
VIOLET VS GOTTMIK @ Varsity Theater
- Shahzad Ismaily @ Walker Art Center—I gotta say, the Walker’s performance lineup this fall is flat-out killer. After Wadada Leo Smith/Amina Claudia Davis, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Jlin, we get this great, every discerning improvisatory musician’s sideman of choice these days. Spotlight-avoidant fellow that he is, Ismaily has organized a highly collaborative event, called Bitterness Is Not a Bridge. We’re told the multi-instrumentalist Ismaily will play (what else?) “multiple instruments.” In addition, there will be guitars from Alan Sparhawk and Nels Cline; vocals from Beth Orton (who’ll also play guitar), Audrey Chen (who’ll also play cello), and yuniya edi kwon (who’ll also play violin); keys and drums from Martin Dosh; and Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton of the band Ida on (again!) multiple instruments. You know it’s gonna be a good show when you’ve got to break out the semicolons while listing the band.—Keith Harris
The Flying T with the Roe Family Singers @ White Squirrel
Death Makes Time with Weald, Threads Electric @ White Squirrel
Saturday, October 11
- Lorde, the Japanese House, Empress Of @ Armory—Earlier this year New York Times critic Jon Caramanica asked, "Does Lorde Want to Be a Star?" And ya know what? It’s a fair question for pop’s artiest and most enigmatic practitioner. After reviewers and fans alike shrugged loudly at the Kiwi’s mellow and meandering third album, 2021’s Solar Power, Lorde bided her time away from the spotlight until June’s Virgin, which set the stage for a comeback. Instead, the real-life Ella Yelich-O'Connor rolled out a curious album cycle highlighted by observations about the Pam and Tommy sex tape, eating disorders, and gender identity—it feels like the 28-year-old artist is still very much figuring herself out in real-time. And that’s more or less the vibe on Virgin, an interesting-yet-uneven electropop artifact that does deliver slices of brilliance throughout. Lorde is too otherworldly talented to outright flop, but we’ll have to keep waiting for another masterpiece like 2017’s Melodrama.—Jay Boller
Greta Ruth (Album Release) with Neon Menhirs @ Aster Cafe
Lee Chenvert @ Barely Brothers
Jovon Williams & Marvelous @ Berlin
Tina Schlieske Sextet @ Berlin
Dan Ristrom & the Big Throwdown @ Bunker’s
Accepting Fate, Fragged Out, SLDG, Throw Me the Remote, Dead by 50 @ Can Can Wonderland
Betty Won’t (Album Release) with Makin' Out, Stolyette, and Little Fevers @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Belfast Cowboys @ Dakota
Boogie Nights @ Day Block Brewing
The Fabulous Hackmasters, Palomino Breeze @ Driftwood Char Bar
Michael Gay and His Dang Band, Creekbed Carter Hogan, Brandon Good @ Dusty’s
Stereolab with Dorothea Paas @ First Avenue
Evil Dead in Concert @ Fitzgerald Theater
The Jugsluggers @ Gambit Brewing
Gidipolis: A Night with Djames @ Gidi
Bed by 10 p.m.—30+ Daytime Clubbing @ Green Room
Hamell on Trial @ Hook and Ladder
ATL NIGHT feat. Mr. Peter Parker, DJ Arielsky and DJ Lester @ Hook and Ladder
Doug Collins with Thomas Sticha @ Memory Lanes
Bryan Murray, Davu Seru, Anthony Cox @ Jazz Central
Vastive, Future Exit @ The Loft
Show Me Your Hits @ Mainstreet Bar & Grill
Bliss: The Music of Tori Amos @ Metronome Brewery
Heed Halloween Bash @ Midway Saloon
The Good the Bad and the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Kavakos, Mozart and Shostakovich @ Orchestra Hall
Classic Albums Live: The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers @ Ordway
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Brandy Clark @ Orpheum Theatre
Greensky Bluegrass @ Palace Theatre
Martin Zellar & the Hardways with Presley Haile @ Parkway
Blodwar with Dead Soul Symphony and the Vault @ Pilllar Forum
Cindy Lawson, Holly and the Nice Lions, Crush Scene @ Schooner Tavern
Molly Grace with Meg Smith @ 7th St Entry
Star Trek Pub Crawl with Fistful of Datas, Theology @ 331 Club
Bob Mould with David Barbe @ Turf Club
- John Anderson @ Treasure Island—Anderson hasn’t been a real commercial force in country music for close to three decades now. But back in the ’80s, beginning with the undeniable “She Just Started Liking Creatin’ Songs,” he served up a harder-edged alternative to Urban Cowboy boot-scootin’ that tided over no-frills types until the likes of George Strait arrived on the scene to serve up new traditionalism. On the evidence of his most recent album, Years, Anderson’s voice is still strong.—Keith Harris
Sofia Isella @ Varsity Theater
Lorraine-Dietrich @ White Squirrel
Economic Headwinds with the Comebacks @ White Squirrel
The Sounds Of Many with Magic Castles, Paul Cerar @ White Squirrel
Good Morning Midnight, In the Pines, Val Son, & Internet Dating @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, October 12
Fiddle and Flannels, AlecS @ Acadia
In Gloom, Errors of Humanity, Beheading the Icon @ Amsterdam
- Lorde, the Japanese House, Empress Of @ Armory—See Saturday's listings.
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Kathleen Johnson @ Aster House
Old and New Friends with Bryan Nichols: Nichols, King, Murray, and Carpel Play Monk @ Berlin
Counterparts with Thrown, 156/Silence, Split Chain @ Cabooze
Kat and the Kodachromes, Cruise Control, Makin’ Out @ Cloudland
The Birthday Club: October Edition with Dane Stauffer & Dan Chouinard @ Crooners
Phine and Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Release the Craicen @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Good Morning Midnight @ Eagles 34
Flash Dance with DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ Lush
Cabaret with Jen Burleigh-Bentz @ Metronome Brewery
Sleeping Jesus + We Are the Willows @ Parkway
Songs of Enchantment: Music for Voice, Viola, and Piano @ Plymouth Congregational Church
- Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern—Have you heard the Good News? Though Palmer's Bar is no more, Cornbread Harris has moved his regular Sunday ministry a little ways south to the Schooner.—Keith Harris
Goon with Beaming @ 7th St Entry
Presley Haile & Nick Brumley @ 318 Cafe
Emmy Woods, Jackie Rae Daniels @ 331 Club
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School @ 331 Club
FUSS: girlblunt, Akko, Jen-E, pesher, fatherdaddy @ Uptown VFW
Jeremy Zucker @ Varsity Theater
Open Jazz Jam with Toivo Hanningan @ Volstead’s
Sounds of Schmidt Art Crawl @ White Squirrel
King Falcon, Self-Titled, & the Over-Unders @ Zhora Darling
Monday, October 13
Quinnie with Operelly @ Amsterdam
Sea Shanty Sing @ Dubliner Pub
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Queer Contra Dancing @ Eagles 34
Black Pistol Fire with the Backfires @ Fine Line
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Big Big Brain with One Big Quilt and Leslie @ Pilllar Forum
Bambara with Malice K @ 7th St Entry
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Brent Fuqua & Friends @ 331 Clubf
Slate with Heffy @ Underground Music
Mumblin’ Drew’s Oldfangled Orchestrators @ White Squirrel
Close to Toast with Junior Choir & Portside Dive @ White Squirrel
