Etran de L’Aïr with Diles Que No Me Maten @ Turf Club—With their great 2018 debut, No. 1, this family band from Niger secured its place among the premier practitioners of bluesy Saharan rock, with its circular melodies, triumphant ululations, and flashy improvisations. The group’s 2022 follow-up, Agadez, was even more impressive—a bit more virtuosic, the rhythms less choppy. You’ll hear far less Hendrix in Etran De L’Air’s attack than you will in the heavy flights of Mdou Moctar, the most successful practitioner of this genre stateside. But judging from last year’s two-track Live in Seattle, they rock plenty. I missed ’em when they hit the Turf last July, and I’m not about to make that mistake again.

The Chalkboys, Mayfly Moon, and 3leaf @ Underground Music Venue

Paul Bergen (Residency) @ White Squirrel

Lord Jeremy with Enemies with Ira Haze & the Straze, Woodzen @ White Squirrel

Thursday, July 11

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

Diane + Riffin' Trio @ Aster Cafe

Tina Schlieske Quintet @ Berlin

Woodzen @ Bryant Square Park

Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker's

The Hot Summer in the '70s Singalong @ Crooners

Swinging Motown @ Crooners

Swinging Aces @ Crooners

Arturo Sandoval @ Dakota

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

The Light in the Ocean @ Eagles 34

OK Go with Winona Forever and MIRTHQUAKE @ First Avenue

Snapped: Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room

Lissie with Tyler Ramsey @ Hook and Ladder

Kommuna Lux: A Benefit for Ukraine @ Icehouse

Mary Bue with the High 48s @ Mears Park

Stablemates (Dale Alexander, Gary Raynor, Jay Epstein) @ Metronome

Lojo Russo @ Minnehaha Bandstand

Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Envelop Deep Listening @ Mirror Lab

Karaoke After Dark @ Modist Brewing

GALA Choruses Festival 2024 @ Orchestra Hall

The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs @ Palmer's

Edie Rae Band, Matt Arthur Band @ Schooner Tavern

Pit Stop, Tommy Goodroad, Filthy Kittens, and the Envies @ 7th St Entry

James Hype, Jake Shore @ Skyway Theatre

Cassandra Lewis @ Surly Brewing

Eli Gardiner @ 331 Club

The Dangerous Summer with Bad Luck., rosecoloredworld, and Brooklane @ Turf Club

Summer Slurpee @ Underground Music Venue

Jeezy @ Varsity Theater

Dr. Mambo's Combo @ Webber Park

Diminished, Infantile Diseases, Mommy Sez No, Left in Rot @ White Rock Lounge

Goatroper with Laura Hugo, Clayton Ryan @ White Squirrel

Friday, July 12

Velvetwolf @ Acadia

GRAVEZIG, Kobb, & Cretin Avenue Hop @ Amsterdam

Holy Hannah! ft. Tom Peterson & Stan Kipper @ Aster Cafe

Freak of the Week @ Beast Barbecue

Lasse Corson/Ted Olson @ Berlin

ThoughtCast @ Berlin

Alex Rossi @ Bunkers

Last Chance for Love @ Can Can Wonderland

Miloe, Fenix Dion, Lasalle, Covalent Blonde @ Chop Shop

Fret Rattles, Sparrowhawk, Los Outsiders, DJ Rock the Monkey @ Cloudland

Fresh Vibes @ Crooners

Reminiscing: '75-'79 @ Crooners

Maggie's Afterglow: Charmin Michelle and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Kavyesh Kaviraj (Album Release) @ Dakota

Mechanix @ Eagles 34

Steve Clarke & the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34

Dangerbad, Animal D @ Eagles 34

Rich Larson & Friends, Ratik & Kartik Jain @ 50th & France

Social Animals with Yellow Ostrich and Aesha Minor @ Fine Line

The Blue Party with Moose the DJ and Domita Sanchez @ First Avenue

50th Anniversary of Prairie Home Companion @ Fitzgerald Theater—Eww.

Maddie & Ben @ The Freehouse

Kalopsya, Echoes of the Fallen, Blame the Witness, Cynaside @ The Garage

Rightful Heirs @ Ginkgo Coffee

Dial Tone (EP Release), Harlow, Creeping Charlie @ Green Room

Lissie with Lamaar @ Hook and Ladder

Jon Sullivan with Twine @ Icehouse

Sarah Navratil Quartet @ Jazz Central

MN Sinfonia @ Lake Harriet Bandshell

Marvel Years & Vincent Antone @ The Loft

Blue Ox Quintet (Album Release) @ Metronome Brewing

Panza @ Minnehaha Bandstand

Monique & Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Juice! Presented by Love @ Modist Brewing

Los Dos Carnales y Gerardo Diaz @ Myth Live

GALA Choruses Festival 2024 @ Orchestra Hall

Josh Quinn @ Padraigs Brewing

Hiatus Kaiyote @ Palace Theatre

UnderCurrentMPLS 13 Year Fartaversary - Benefit for Carly! @ Palmer's—Over the past 13 years, UnderCurrentMPLS has shot video of a ridiculous number of live performances, creating an invaluable document of local punk and more as it happened. And if we’ve still got an internet in 13 years, this archive will be a true gift to historians. There are way too many acts to shout out individually playing this two-day extravaganza (Friday night, all day Saturday) but RIOTGRRRLDARKO, Shrimp Olympics, and Citric Dummies are among the names that leap out. And if there's anyone you don’t recognize, it’s a safe bet you’ll be able to research them on UnderCurrentMPLS’s YouTube channel. This event is also a fundraiser for Carly Olds, the former UnderCurrentMPLS documentarian who’s been diagnosed with ALS.

Space Monkey Mafia and BYOBrass with Runaway Ricochet and Beneath Green @ 7th St Entry

New Havoline Supremes @ Schooner Tavern

Maria and the Coins with The Minks and Clare Doyle @ 7th St Entry

Dharma Hounds @ Terminal Bar

Night Jobs, Unstable Shapes, Bev @ 331 Club

Becky Kapell and The Fat Six, Terry Walsh and 2 A.M. and Curtiss A and the Dark Click @ Turf Club

L.A. Blind (Birthday Show) @ Underground Music Venue

Get Busy: An Afrobeat and Reggae Dance Party @ Uptown VFW

Grace Potter with Nathan Graham @ Utepils Brewing

X @ Varsity Theater—X is one of those veteran bands you go to see out of respect and leave shaking your head at their impossible durability. John Doe and Exene Cervenka will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their divorce next year, yet they still bark out memories of their anarchic union like it was yesterday. Billy Zoom props himself up in the corner and shoots off his arsenal of readymade rockabilly riffs without breaking a sweat. And let us now praise D.J. Bonebrake, the drummer who holds it all together—dude hasn’t lost a step. But great live band or no, nobody expected X’s 2020 album Alphabetland, the band’s first in 27 years, to fume and bristle and rush headlong into the abyss so convincingly. Exene, a conspiracy theorist in real life, sounded merely angry and confused here—and, well, who amongst us isn’t? They’ve got another album, Smoke & Mirrors, due in August, and I wouldn’t rule out a second lightning strike.

WKND BNDR & Friends @ Velee Northeast

Cemetery Rapist, Tony Montana, Stern Look @ White Rock Lounge

Johnny Sincerely with The Old Smugglers @ White Squirrel

Parachute Pandas, Oak and the Woods, Mind out of Time @ Zhora Darling

Saturday, July 13

M.A.Y. @ Acadia

Flip Phone presents… Chappell Roan Dance Party @ Amsterdam

Michael Gay, Devin Champlin, + Marshall Tinnermeier @ Aster Cafe

Joan Hutton/Mike Wolter @ Berlin

Cole Pulice/Lia Kohl/Andrew Broder @ Berlin

Chase & Ovatiopn @ Bunkers

Tsuruda x Onhell @ Cabooze

Paranoia Pop Up @ Can Can Wonderland

Payne Ave Fest 2024 @ Caydence Records & Coffee

Bad Idea, Vacant, the Burn Vault @ Cloudland

Bastile My Heart @ Crooners

Wayne Anthony & The Ballare Orchestra @ Crooners

Over the Rhine @ Dakota

The Right Here, Valors, and American Muscle @ Dusty's

Mighty Mofos, Eleganza, Just Luv, Inc. @ Eagles 34

Hometeam Quarterback, Lykoi Fel, and Flintlock @ Eagles 34

Choices @ 56 Brewing

BTS Club Night—11th Anniversary Kpop Party @ Fine Line

50th Anniversary of Prairie Home Companion @ Fitzgerald Theater—I repeat, eww.

Black On @ Granada

River Beats Sunset Cruise - DANCE AGENDA @ Green Room

Jackson Peters & Nate Baker Music @ Herbie's on the Park

Flamin' Oh's with Annie & the Bang Bang @ Hook and Ladder

Brotherhood of Birds, Annie Frazier Band, Qlivia, and Will Effertz @ Icehouse

Ted Olsen Quintet feat. Aby Wolf @ Jazz Central

Minneapolis Pops @ Lake Harriet Bandshell

Corrupt @ The Loft

Sunship @ Metronome Brewing

The Good the Bad & the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing

GALA Choruses Festival 2024 @ Orchestra Hall

Schubert’s The Great C Major Symphony with Richard Egarr @ Ordway

Bonnie Drunken Lad @ Padraigs Brewing

UnderCurrentMPLS 13 Year Fartaversary - Benefit for Carly! @ Palmer's—See Friday's listings.

Kendra Glenn @ Papa Legba Lounge

Oister Boy, Jonger, Easeupkid, Amatuer Hour @ Pilllar Forum

Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern

The Grogans with Lighter Co. and Mik Cool @ 7th St Entry

Wiggle Room III: Horsin' Around @ Squirrel Haus Arts

53 Thieves with Rachel Ana Dobken @ Studio B

Andrew Bird and Nickel Creek with Haley Heynderickx @ Surly Brewing Festival Field

Maude Caillet Quartet @ Terminal Bar

Tomb Mold with Horrendous and Maniacal Force @ Turf Club

Voltage Controller @ 331 Club

Kruddler, The Stayres, Rank Strangers @ 331 Club

Malamanya @ Uptown VFW

Electric Feels: Indie Rock + Indie Dance Party @ Varsity Theater

RaceTraitor, Pillars, Infuriate, It Is Dead, Oath @ White Rock Lounge

Fort Road Folk Festival @ White Squirrel

Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago @ Xcel Energy Center

The Cold Casuals (Album Release), The Knotties, Eldest Daughter @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, July 14

Quaery @ Acadia

Bastille Day @ Alliance Francaise MSP—Today’s your day, Francophiliacs: After celebrating America’s France-assisted independence earlier this month with hot dogs and fireworks, we turn to a national freedom fest that’s more about crepes, macarons, and stinky cheeses. You’ll find all of that and more and Alliance Francaise MSP’s annual Bastille Day bash, which promises: live music (Whale in the Thames, Afrocontigbo, Francine Roche Trio, Maude Caillat), a vintage Citroën cars parade, kiddos storming the bouncy castle, drinks, food (Oh Crêpe!, The Brick Oven Bus, Boulangerie Marguerite, Nikkolette's Macarons, France 44), and a whole lot more. Organizers are also promising an appearance from “Marie Antoinette herself”... curious what that means. At 8 p.m., there'll be a ticketed “French Transmission” afterparty with DJ Jake Rudh.—Jay Boller

Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Leaneagh & Company (Residency) @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo's Combo @ Bunkers

Marimba Matt @ Can Can Wonderland

Trailer Trash @ Crooners

1967: Summer Of Love with Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs @ Crooners

Jana Anderson @ Crooners

Davina and the Vagabonds @ Dakota

Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood

Rogue Tango @ Eagles 34

Robinson Roundup @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

DayFunk 1 Year Anniversary: Ron Carroll @ Eat Street Crossing—As discussed by Michaelangelo Matos here on Racket earlier this year, DayFunk offers a monthly opportunity to dance while the sun's still up, and maybe bring the kids too. For their anniversary, they're bringing in veteran Chicago house DJ Ron Carroll.