Folks, I am sunk deep in the February doldrums, not gonna lie. Maybe getting out of the house (once it breaks 0 degrees again) will help.
Tuesday, February 18
Dark Pony & Friends @ Aster Cafe
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
All Sweet Things: A Celebration of Black Love @ Dakota
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Winter Sensory-Friendly Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Funk n' Spuds Funk Jam @ Indeed Brewing
Gossamer with Zero Fox and Rock Melon @ Pilllar Forum
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
February Conspiracy Series featuring Elour, Cold Sweat (of Hiahli), Said in Stone @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Mike Munson @ 331 Club
Apocalyptica Plays Metallica @ Uptown Theater
The New Havoline Supremes with Cody Braun @ White Squirrel
Ditch Pigeon (Residency) @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, February 19
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Presents: Bible Study @ Berlin
The Strum Brothers @ Can Can Wonderland
Buddy Holly: Oh Boy @ Crooners
- Cécile McLorin Salvant @ Dakota—Salvant is a frequent visitor to the Twin Cities. Her last time through in 2023 she presented her song-cycle, Ogresse, at the Walker with the aid of a 13-piece chamber orchestra, arranged and conducted by big band innovator Darcy James Argue. It’s the story of a monster who lives, like many fairy tale monsters, in the woods. (“She falls in love! She eats the guy! She dies!” is how Salvant summed up the plot.) Salvant has been all but universally acclaimed as the most inventive jazz vocalist to emerge in recent years—on her 2022 album Ghost Song, her idea of “standards” takes in both Kate Bush and that “You’re out of the woods” song from The Wizard of Oz. (It’s called “Optimistic Voices”—who knew?) Savant hasn’t released new music since 2023, so tonight’s performance might provide a hint at where she’s going next.
Dive Bar Duo, Tony & Lisa, Let Me Know Trio @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
BoomBox with Angel Beloved of MPLSHOUSE @ Fine Line
A R I Z O N A with Moody Joody @ First Avenue
Open Mic with Host Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Flavor Jam: Fancy @ Green Room
Starlight Song-Swap with Misty Boyce & Nat Harvie @ Icehouse
Marijuana Deathsquads @ Icehouse
Songbird Singer/Songwriter Spotlight Series @ Metronome Brewery
Karaoke with Chazz @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Eddie Spaghetti with Metal Marty @ Mortimers
Cole Diamond Presents Whiskey Wednesdays
In Solid Air with Galleon and The Grieving Pines @ Pilllar Forum
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Stephen Day with Abbey Cone @ 7th St Entry
The American Muscle Band @ Terminal Bar
Stephanie Was, 13 Howell @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with The Gentlemen’s Anti-Temperance League @ 331 Club
Mary Cutrufello & Cody Braun @ White Squirrel
- Seculants with Brian Tester @ White Squirrel—Not sure how many of you remember Triangle, a local electropop duo from the turn of the '00s that later moved to Oakland, but they were one of my faves. Brian Tester was half of Triangle, and while I can't say I've kept up with his music, I'm certainly interested to hear where he's at.
Thursday, February 20
Big Wiz & Mike the Martyr @ Acadia
Eva Markham & Anna Devine @ Aster Cafe
Tina Schlieske Sextet @ Berlin
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Kinda Fonda Wanda @ Can Can Wonderland
Modern Wildlife, Velahsa, Sunken Planes @ Cloudland
Billy Stritch feat. Maud Hixson & Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
Sweet Honey in the Rock @ Dakota
Mayfly Moon, Sunnbather, Absolutely Yours, and M.A.Y. @ Day Block Brewing
Dead Equity, Guy Who Used to Work Together, Pogo Ballet @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Jamie Miller with Alex Sampson and Garrett Adair @ Fine Line
Ready or Hot with DJ Tricky Miki @ First Avenue
Satsang with Sierra Marin @ Icehouse
Dark Click with Curtiss A @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer’s
Corsicana with Walker Rider and Lana Leone @ Pilllar Forum
Mubbla Buggs, Pullstring @ Schooner Tavern
Skinny Lister with Jared Hart and Emmy Woods @ 7th St Entry
Cross Pollination, Knife Emoji, Third Date @ 331 Club
Devaney & Friends with Jim Walsh @ White Squirrel
Thomas Sticha @ White Squirrel
Friday, February 21
SEPTICFLESH with VLTIMAS and EX DEO @ Amsterdam
Logan Metz & Molly Brandt @ Aster Cafe
Charlie Bruber & Jack Barrett @ Berlin
Lucia Sarmiento Quintet (Album Release) @ Berlin
Queer Cumbia Dance Party Night @ Black Hart
Chelsea Drugstore, Rattle & Hum, and Revved UP @ Cabooze
Local Dope S#%T @ Can Can Wonderland
Cedar-Riverside Time Machine: Part 2 @ Cedar Cultural Center
Deep Fakes, Material, Magenta Vice @ Cloudland
The Cameras featuring Anything You Want and Asparagus @ Day Block Brewing
No Time for Fame, Dogpile @ Driftwood
Muscadine Bloodline with Lance Roark @ First Avenue
The Smallweeds @ Ginkgo Coffee
The Sidemen: A Super Jam @ Green Room
Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder
Erik Koskinen & Band @ Icehouse
Take That Back featuring Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield @ Jazz Central
Function Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Los Primos del Este, La Zenda Norteña, La Pocima Norteña @ Myth Live
Vocalessence Presents WITNESS Young People’s Concert: Eyes Still on the Prize @ Northrop
USPOP, Pageant Dress, and Danser @ Palmer’s
Alex Delzer with Bella Girtz and Nasty Boys @ Pilllar Forum
Tommy Bentz Band @ Schooner Tavern
Manplanet with Kepi Ghoulie Electric @ 7th St Entry
Rittz with Doc Backer @ Studio B
Duck Bomb, Hometeam Quarterback, Chick Singer @ Terminal Bar
UltraBomb with The Melismatics, Cindy Lawson, and Mary Strand & The Garage @ Turf Club
Michael Cera Palin, Your Arms Are My Cocoon @ Underground Music Venue
BIG LOVE featuring E-Tones, Jocko 69, & Pet Sounds @ Uptown VFW
Betty & the Rubble with Jealous Brother @ White Squirrel
Michael Monroe, Timothy Frantzich, Ann Reed, & Joan Griffith @ Woman’s Club
Saturday, February 22
Wanderer, Melpomene, Frotted, Datura Dread, (X:)1zTy, Pointless Animal @ Amsterdam
Billy Johnson with Pete Strom and Angie Rae @ Aster Cafe
Lucia Sarmiento Quintet (Album Release) @ Berlin
The Willie August Project @ Berlin
Dan Ristrom & the Big Throwdown @ Bunker’s
Better Broken, Impossible Prom Kings, Courier, Silence in Numbers @ Can Can Wonderland
The Craft: Hip-Hop Songwriters Showcase @ Cedar Cultural Center
Neva Dinova, Val Son, Lana Leone @ Cloudland
The Oscar Song Sing-Along with Dan Chouinard @ Crooners
Colleen Raye with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Ghosts of the Forest Revisited: Phish Tribute with About to Run @ Day Block Brewing
The Great Northern, Em and the Gems @ Driftwood
Unattractive Giant Monster, Shrimp Olympics, and Monarch @ Dusty’s
Dancing in the Moonlight ⏤ A Yacht Rock Party ft. DJ Jake Rudh and Private Oates @ Fine Line
Free Fallin’, Our House, Taming the Tiger @ Fitzgerald Theater
Molchat Doma with Sextile @ First Avenue
Afrobeats N' Friends Tour with DJ Prince @ Green Room
The Current’s 2025 Winter Dig Out @ Hook and Ladder
Ryan Picone Quartet @ Icehouse
Poetic Roots 1-Year Anniversary @ Icehouse
Larry McDonough Quartet @ Jazz Central
The Garrett Jones Quartet @ Metronome
High and Mighty @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Dirty Kitty @ Modist Brewing
Heartstrings St. Paul @ Myth Live
Art Beagle’s Backup Band @ Padraigs
Spin Doctors with Aortic Fire and Gina Schock of the Go-Go’s @ Palace Theatre
The Silent Treatment, Constant Insult, and My Kid Banana @ Palmer’s
Camping in Alaska with Eggbeater Jesus, Silver Fern, Lagrimas @ Pilllar Forum
Ax and the Hatchetmen with Easy Honey and The Back Alley @ 7th St Entry
Evernoir with Dead Amsterdam & Blame the Witness @ Studio B
Jack Foley (Single Release) with Damn Phibian @ Terminal Bar
Ron Pope with Andrea von Kampen @ Turf Club
Sincere Engineer @ Underground Music Venue
Crimes Against Ravers @ Uptown VFW
Sererio Mancieri with Luke Hendrickson @ White Squirrel
Sam Graber Band @ White Squirrel
Plague of Stars (CD Release) @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, February 23
Kxllswxtch and SXMPRA @ Amsterdam
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Thor Leseman & Duluth's Famous Kaylee @ Aster Cafe
- Battle of the Jug Bands @ Cabooze—So, the Cabooze confused a lotta concertgoers post-COVID. It remained seemingly shuttered and un-booked well past lockdown, causing some to fear the West Bank institution had closed up shop. Not the case! The Strib reported last fall that the Cabooze is still in business at age 50 (now 51), and, sure enough, its concert calendar is beginning to fill out. And by god, what a joy it is to see the Annual Battle of the Jug Bands, one of the venue’s longest-running traditions, on that calendar. Since 1980 the rules have been simple (hear ‘em here), the prize covetable (the Holliwood Waffle Iron trophy), and the vibes immaculate (the rootsy music competition doubles as a potluck dinner). Wanna make a weekend of it? There’s a pre-party and jug jam over at Palmer’s on Saturday (more info here). At the risk of pandering to you, the Racket reader, I’ll just keep saying it: We live in the greatest city on Earth.—Jay Boller
Twin Cities Music School Showcase @ Can Can Wonderland
Pop Wagner’s Honky Tonk Ranch @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Big 70s Singalong @ Crooners
Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton @ Dakota
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Pink Sweat$ with Aqyila @ Fitzgerald Theater
Lara Ruggles with Frog and The Bog, Daniels and Baker, Dominic Acito @ Green Room
TrioAmigos Presents Mediterranean Sundance @ Hook and Ladder
Gospel Brunch with Darnell Davis @ Icehouse
Pat Keen’s Bug Band @ Icehouse
Opera on Tap—Anything But Love @ Metronome
VocalEssence Presents WITNESS: Eyes Still on the Prize @ Northrop
- Fire Shut up in My Bones @ Ordway—You may know Terence Blanchard for the many scores he’s composed for Spike Lee films over the years, but in addition to a remarkable career as a trumpeter (he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers at 19) he’s composed the music for two operas. Tonight Blanchard and his E-Collective will present excerpts from his second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, with a libretto from Kasi Lemmons based on the memoir by New York Times columnist Charles Blow. This is a collaboration with the Turtle Island Quartet and visual artist Andrew F. Scott, and on vocal duties will be Scott Will Liverman and Adrienne Danrich.—Keith Harris
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
Patty Larkin, Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka, & Lucy Kaplansky @ Parkway
Kelsy Karter & The Heroines with Surly Grrly and Rebel Queens @ 7th St Entry
The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club
Lars Nelson Band with James “Mudkat” Grant @ White Squirrel
Jeffry Becker @ The Gentlemen @ White Squirrel
Cold Sweat with Durow, Jantzonia, Muja @ White Squirrel
Suzanne Vallie, Crystal Myslajek @ Wolf House
Matthew McNeal @ Zhora Darling
Monday, February 24
Masters of Hawaiian Music @ Dakota
World Music Monday @ Eagles 34
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Babe Corner with Creeping Charlie & Dad Bod @ Icehouse
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome
Metal Monday @ Schooner Tavern
Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks
Comeback Kid with Cancer Bats, ORTHODOX, and Daisycutter @ Turf Club
Embahn with Kat & The Kodachromes, Tricks @ White Squirrel
- Justin Timberlake @ Xcel Energy Center—Tickets are still very much available, to say the least.
