Christmas is coming, and the concert calendar is starting to reflect that, with seasonal fare nudging its way in to your favorite clubs. Here's the whole shebang.
Tuesday, December 6
Rainbow Kitten Surprise @ Armory
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunkers
Randy of Trailer Park Boys @ Cabooze
Moore By Four: For The Holidays @ Crooners
The Mary Louise Knutson Trio with Patty Peterson @ Dakota
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
The Soft Moon with Nuovo Testamento @ Fine Line
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show Live @ Fitzgerald Theatre—FEATURED IN EVENT HORIZON
Spiked: A Holiday Variety Show @ Granada
Heart to Gold with Gramma, killusonline, and Lapdogs @ 7th St Entry
November Conspiracy Series featuring Wain McFarlane, Miles McFarlane @ 331 Club
Workers Playtime, Jim Walsh @ 331 Club
DL4 Takes Over Two Steppin Tuesdays @ White Squirrel
Crush Scene (Tuesday Night Residency) with Zeros @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, December 7
MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe
Chris Burkeka + Nat Harvie @ Cedar Cultural Center
A Bluegrass Christmas with Monroe Crossing @ Crooners
Queen Jeanne, Mik Cool @ Driftwood
Pond with Cryogeyser @ Fine Line
Willie Wisely, Weatherball, and Special Guests @ Granada
Ryan Gebhardt and J.E. Sunde with Hannah Mae @ Icehouse
Palmer's Songwriting Showcase with Max Markin, Becky Kapell, Luc Parker, and Michael Gay @ Palmer’s
Getting By, Ray Gun Youth, Trash Catties, Pure Shifter, and Go Go Boot Camp @ Palmer’s
Aberdeen + The NYChillharmonic @ Parkway
Wingtip and Harbour with Lisa Heller @ 7th St Entry
KFAI House Party Presents LaPlant Road @ 331 Club
Bosso Poetry Company with Special Guests @ 331 Club
Tom Waits Birthday Tribute @ White Squirrel
Thursday, December 8
Creeping Charlie (Residency) @ Amsterdam
Skarlett Woods with Grant Dawson @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers
The Riverside Swing Band @ Crooners
Cafe Accordion Orchestra: Cafe Christmas @ Crooners
Gypsy Mania Hot Club Holiday Show @ Dakota
MN Power Company, Bliss My Heart, Cheeky Rooster @ Driftwood
Patrick Watson with Dana Gavanski @ Fine Line
- The 43rd Annual John Lennon Tribute @ First AvenueYou gotta admire Curtis A's commitment. John Lennon was murdered 42 years ago on December 8. That year and each going forward, the local rocker has gathered a group of friends and neighbors to celebrate the late Beatle on this date. The first tribute, hastily assembled when the news broke, was held in the Entry, with Curt and Slip Dunlap and the club's scheduled band, Safety Last. In the years since, it's become a real institution. And this year, in addition to taking over the Mainroom, the tribute will be livestreamed as well, a newer, pandemic-driven tradition that began by necessity in 2020.
Candlelight: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Scores @ Granada
Full Catholic + Gabe Barnett and Them Rounders + Apocalypse Girlfriend @ Icehouse
The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s
Minneapolis Songwriter Rounds with Tyler Haag, David Bunch, Nick Maurer, Nate Jackson @ 331 Club
Son Little, Lizzie No @ Turf Club
Friday, December 9
Mendoza Open Door Fund Benefit Show @ Amsterdam
Sarah Morris (EP Release) @ Aster Cafe
Tableaux featuring Laura Caviani and David Milne @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow with Rick Carlson and Rachel Holder @ Crooners
Simon and Garfunkel Tribute, Anthony James Roos & the Red Quarters @ Driftwood
The Eagles and the Stiffs @ Eagles 34
Emo Nite with Tom Higgenson (of Plain White T's) @ Fine Line
- The Lemonheads with Juliana Hatfield, Bass Drum of Death and On Being an Angel @ First Avenue — FEATURED IN EVENT HORIZON
DD the Spektrum & Friends @ The Garage
- Trailer Trash's Trashy Little Xmas @ Hook and LadderSpeaking of holiday institutions. For 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, and since, like Santa himself, they've taken their show on the road. This year, these fellers are just about everywhere this Xmas season—they've already played the Parkway and a couple out of town gigs. Upcoming they've got a Granada show on Sunday (see below) and they're decking the halls of the Turf Club on December 16 and 17. Ho, ho, holy shit.
Dan & Megan Rodriguez @ Icehouse
Joyann Parker Band @ KJ’s Hideaway
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos @ Ordway
Whispered the Rabbit, Serious Machine and Superior Siren @ Palmer’s
Azizi Gibson with JUST JIMI @ 7th St Entry
Poolboy, Val Son, Pleasure Horse @ 331 Club
Pullstring with Scalise, Paul Cerar and Ginny & The Fizz @ Turf Club
A Tribute to Dimebag Darrell with Black Garden and Gravezig @ Uptown VFW
Destroy Lonely @ Varsity Theater
Tragic Hands with Street Hassle, Warcake @ White Squirrel
Saturday, December 10
Taylor Fest–Taylor’s Birthday @ Amsterdam
Blue Felix, Astral Tramps, Toxzik @ Cabooze
- Minneapolis Afrobeats Dance Party @ Cedar Cultural CenterAfrobeats, as you should know by now, is the urbane Nigerian club music expanded beyond West Africa to entrance Europe and, to a slightly lesser extent, the U.S. And now Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat, Fela fans) comes to the Cedar, as the venue continues to expand its programming to include more contemporary global styles. There will be sets from DJ Fawzi and DJ K-Little, as well as performances by Carolyne Naomi and Faraka Nation. Sounds like a fun night.
Erin and Jay Cabaret’s Naughty and Nice Holiday Extravaganza @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow with Rick Carlson and Judi Vinar @ Crooners
Fab Hackmasters, the Audacity, Hoot Gibson @ Driftwood
Twin Citizen, Airship Caravan, The Knotties & Trading Faces @ Eagles 34
Lissie with Cat Clyde @ First Avenue
Trailer Trash's Trashy Little Christmas @ Granada
GRRRL SCOUT: ‘Don the GAY APPAREL’ @ Hook and Ladder
Michael Perry & the Long Beds with Harlow @ Icehouse
DJ Shannon Blowtorch Presents Y2K @ Icehouse
Johnny Sincerely (Single Release) @ KJ’s Hideaway
Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra @ KJ’s Hideaway
Super Flasher, Big Salt, Goodbye Mordecai, Dusty Forever @ Mortimer’s
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos @ Ordway
The Unnamed, Tiny Daggers, and That's What You Get (TWYG) @ Palmer’s
Total Gaze, Las Cruxes, Loser Magnet @ 331 Club
Dream Of The Wild’s Holiday Special @ 331 Club
Voltage Controller 12 @ 331 Club
Burning Blue Rain with Mary Jam, and Sylvia Dieken @ The Treasury
Linus, Junior Choir, Gentleman Speaker, and Birdhole @ Underground Music Cafe
- Death Is Not The End Vol. 1 @ Uptown VFWNorman Truman, a punk mainstay nobody in the community had a bad word to say about, died in August 2021 due to brain swelling, quite likely caused by a "non-lethal" round fired by MPD. (The city settled with his widow, Alisha, for $15,000 earlier this year.) Now an assortment of bands, from Chicago's the Crombies, locals Askerozos and The Rope, and Antagonizers from Atlanta to celebrate their friend's life.
Bethany Larson & The Bees Knees with Riley Skinner, Whit @ White Squirrel
Sunday, December 11
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Kelley Smith (Album Release) with My Grandma’s Cardigan @ Aster Cafe
My Favorite Things with Charmin Michelle @ Crooners
Nancy Harms featuring Ike Sturm @ Crooners
Super Duty, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Maria and the Coins @ Icehouse
Ben Cook-Feltz and Friends @ KJ’s Hideaway
Cornbread Harris: Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
Kai Brewster’s Millions @ Palmer’s
Anthony Shore’s Christmas With The King @ Parkway
Curve with MURF, Upright Forms @ White Squirrel
Monday, December 12
Moore By Four: For The Holidays @ Crooners
Hot Sardines Holiday Stomp @ Dakota
Open Mic with Scott Woolridge @ Driftwood
Erin McCawley’s Harrison St. Band @ KJ’s Hideaway
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Wayfarer with SUNLESS and VOID ROT @ 7th St Entry
The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
Sciurus Sequencia: Jazz and Creative Music Series @ White Squirrel
