Marijuana is legal in Minnesota now, and if you haven't tried it yet... well, you're in for a treat! Here's some music you can check out, stoned or straight.
Tuesday, August 1
Colin Bracewell @ Bryant Square Park
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Hip-Hop, History and The Arts (hosted by Chadwick “Niles” Phillips) @ Father Hennepin Bluff Park
- Legalized It with Rep. Ilhan Omar, Marijuana Deathsquads, New Primitives, Maria Isa @ First Avenue—Did you hear? We legalized it, man. That fact isn’t lost on the organizers of this celebration, which will benefit The Great Rise. Headliners include Rep. Ilhan Omar and "the Music Rockers," a group that's apparently a re-branded version of longtime experimental bruisers Marijuana Deathsquads. Also appearing are local reggae vets New Primitives, rapper-turned-lawmaker Maria Isa, jazz/funk quintet JoJo Green, and a whole mess of DJs. No narcs.
Bill Simenson Orchestra Open Rehearsal @ Jazz Central
Colin Roy Monette @ Loring Park
ORTHODOX with Momentum, Chamber and CELL @ 7th St Entry
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime with Becky Kapell @ 331 Club
August Conspiracy Series featuring Emmy Woods, Joan of Profile @ 331 Club
OK Cool, The Dreaded Laramie, Zippo Man, & NATL PARK SRVC @ Underground Music Venue
Trevor McSpadden & Mary Cutrufello @ White Squirrel
Desert Islands presents: "The 5th Anniversary" Tuesday Night Residency @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, August 2
Hannah von der Hoff (August Residency) @ Aster Cafe
The Flamin' Oh's @ Como Park Conservatory
Maggie's Wednesdays: Tom Hunter @ Crooners
Café Accordion Orchestra @ Dakota
Bryan Scott Miller & the Best Meds @ Driftwood
Patty and the Buttons @ Eagles 34
Disgusting Brothers Organ Trio @ Green Room
John Swardson and Claire Doyle @ Icehouse
Certainly So + Pleasure Horse @ Icehouse
Garden Street Band @ KJ's Hideaway
RuDeGiRL @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
The Craig Clark Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Clutch with Dinosaur Jr. with Red Fang @ Palace Theatre
Karaoke Crime Scene @ Palmer's
Gary Rue and Leslie Ball @ Parkway Theater
The Sonder Bombs with Girl K and Allergen @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Maurice Jacox @ 331 Club
War Hippies with Monique Smaz @ Turf Club
- Rema @ Uptown Theater—You might not realize it here in the musical backwater that is the 21st century U.S., but this Nigerian pop star is huge. "Calm Down" may or may not be the most popular African song ever, as some have claimed, but it's certainly the continent's biggest hit from the streaming era, and it ain't hard to hear why: it's smooth, catchy, with an insinuating beat derived from South African amapiano music. It even eventually became a hit over here—though of course they had to tack on a Selena Gomez feature first.
THE CHUMSHIP with Balloon Race, Prophets of Mothra @ White Squirrel
- Paramore @ Xcel Energy Center—There’s something that’s been very healing to me about watching Hayley Williams and Paramore thrive. (I know, I know, parasocial relationships are bad and weird, but… what about ParaMOREsocial relationships?) She literally invented having bright orange hair [citation needed], and now she runs her own super-cute dye brand. Just last year, she started performing “All I Wanted” live, something fans long speculated would be impossible given the dramatic vocal range the song requires. There’s just a tremendous sense of ease, and also joy, about her these days, and from the live videos I’ve seen it’s translating into an incredible show-going experience.
Thursday, August 3
Monophonics with Yellow Ostrich @ Amsterdam
TJD Presents: Maya Elena @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Sue Scott's Island of Discarded Women with Gaelynn Lea @ Crooners
On the X, Burning Blue Red @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Joe Hall and the Louisiana Cane Cutters @ Eagles 34
Nanna (of Of Monsters and Men) with Indigo Sparke @ Fine Line
Suki Waterhouse with jane. @ First Avenue
Ryna Bynum and the Green Room House Band @ Green Room
Matthew Fowler + Apocalypse Girlfriend @ Icehouse
Derecho Rhythm Section @ Icehouse
Tony Cuchetti (Album Release) with Bonnie Stewart @ KJ's Hideaway
- Jaedyn James with Twin Citizen @ Mears Park—Proper, functioning cities should rock. With the annual, free, weekly, outdoor Lowertown Sounds program, St. Paul is privy to this in ways Minneapolis could really learn from. When this year’s lineup was announced, organizers noted that over half of the acts are new this summer. Non-musical offerings include great beer from Utepils and Wabasha Brewing Co., wine from Alexis Bailly Vineyard, and a rotating cast of 20 food truck
Pavel Jany Trio @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Lowdown Dirty Fools @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- Nur-D, Fanaka Nation @ Minnesota Zoo—Imagine a zoo with nary a child, one where you can sip wine and watch animals do their thing as the sun sets. Impossible, you say? Nope! We’re talking about Wild Nights at the Minnesota Zoo, a summer series for grownups. During these events folks can explore all the trails and exhibits until 8 p.m. (hilariously, they note that food and drink is not allowed in the Llama Trek walk-through exhibit). Each installment will feature a variety of concerts, all themed that night around a specific genre and tonight it's "hip hop and reggae," which is a rather expansive category.
Dreadnaught, Immorta @ Mortimer's
"Knockturnal" with Greenery @ Palmer's
Casii Stephan, Dani Erin and Druzy Rose @ 7th St Entry
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Danielle Nicole with Brandon Miller @ Turf Club
Meanest Genus with Math Emergency, Corduroy Cool @ White Squirrel
Friday, August 4
Zoë Says Go + Freaque @ Aster Cafe
Dan Ristrom & The Big Throwdown @ Bunkers
Adam Meckler Orchestra @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Colleen Raye and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Davina and the Vagabonds @ Dakota
My Buddy Eric & Dolcat @ Driftwood
Ivers with WHY NOT, Aiden Intro and Parachutes @ Fine Line
Party Like It's 1983 with Dr. Mambo's Combo @ First Avenue
Nightchurch Anniversary @ Green Room
Church of Cash @ Hook and Ladder
Abinnet Berhanu Trio @ Icehouse
Jennifer Knapp with Thunder and Rain @ Icehouse
Few Miles South @ KJ’s Hideaway
Adam Brandt with Rev Ezra @ KJ's Hideaway
Fénix Dion @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
World Beat Connection @ Loring Park
Trevor McSpadden @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Kathleen & Rhonda Johnson with Lamont Keten @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- With Iowa In Between and Doggy @ Mortimer's—I added With Iowa in Between on my local playlist this week and Doggy last week. This is the last show for both of them. Good thing I don't believe in any woo woo shit or I'd start to think there's a Racket Curse. This double as a release show for WIIB's new album I Tried.
- The Teskey Brothers and Joy Oladokun with Thomas Abban @ Palace Theatre—A queer, Black child of Nigerian immigrants based in East Nashville, Oladokun offers great support for “not all country music” arguments, though she’s a bit too stylistically hybrid to slot neatly as Americana. What’s most country about her latest album, Proof of Joy, is how she conveys sincerity through plainspoken commonplace lyrics like “If we can't be family/Better friends than foes.” Key to her effectiveness is emotional restraint. The tiniest bit of self-pity would sink a memory like “In the school yard when I was a kid/I gave everyone my address/Said come on over/And it turns out that nobody did. Swimming alone's how I spent my eighth birthday.” As sung it’s as devastating as the upbeat “We’re All Gonna Die” is inspiring. Co-headliners the Teskey Brothers are soulful and bluesy in the engaging, brawny manner of Chris Stapleton, though hardly world-altering.
Lifestyle Shakes, Crush Scene, Betty Won't & Ray Gun Youth @ Palmer's
Willow Waters & The Earthtones, Full Catholic and LVNDSCVPES @ Palmer's
Jackie Kean (Single Release), Dilly Dally Alley, Electric Church, and GardenStreet @ 7th St Entry
The Naughty Northern @ Studio B
Time Room, Orchid Club, Valors, BUSEY@ Terminal Bar
The Crimson Boys, Alley Mattress, Tony Sig and the Smokes @ 331 Club
Sunny War with Laamar @ Turf Club
Glitch Gum, Honey Creek, Unturned, and Anita Velveeta @ Underground Music Venue
Partyup! Prince and the MPLS Sound Dance Party with DJs Brian Engel & Noah Kurth @ Uptown VFW
Phil Berbig Trio @ Water Works
The Matt Arthur Contraption @ White Squirrel
- Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire @ Xcel Energy Center—A night of R&B comfort food. Richie has always been a charming cornball, crafty with a tune not groove-averse, comfortably unhip even when he was holding his own on the pop charts. Critic Jason King once called Earth, Wind & Fire "more than just a musical act—it's the concept of a band as a sensual rhythm machine," and that's just the sort of spirit they inspire. EW&F evolved over time from an ambitiously conceptual early '70s jazz-funk outlet to the sleek hitmakers whose songs you'll hear tonight. Some of the original members have passed (RIP especially to Maurice White, who we lost in the great musician die-off of 2016), but the concept—and the band—remains.
Saturday, August 5
Delicate Friend + Cassandra Johnson @ Aster Cafe
Silver Screen Songs: Maud Hixson, Rick Carlson and Dean Magraw @ Crooners
1967: Summer Of Love with Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs @ Crooners
Johnnie Brown: Love TKO, A Tribute To Teddy Pendergrass @ Crooners
Greats Gone 2 Soon Presents: The Men of Motown @ Dakota
Indecent Proposal with Jason Owen @ Driftwood
SELECTS, PT. XI ⏤ SPECTRUM ⏤ A night of proper house music @ Fine Line
I Would Dance 4 U @ First Avenue
McNasty Brass Band (Album Release), Porky's Groove Machine, Barlow @ Green Room
Indigo Girls @ Hilde Performance Center
Glittercakes Presents Burlesque Brunch @ Icehouse
DJ Shannon Blowtorch Presents Y2K: That's What I Call the 2000s @ Icehouse
Burning Blue Rain @ KJ’s Hideaway
Bryan Murray Trio with Early Planets @ KJ's Hideaway
Michael Monroe @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Heavy for the Hawk @ Minnesota Music Cafe
House Sessions feat. Michael Grey & DJ JEN-E @ Mortimer's
Cindy Lawson and The Short Fuses with The Unnamed @ Palmer's
BONZIE with Lovehouse and HONEY @ 7th St Entry
Favorite Things, Scott Sterling @ Terminal Bar
Present Company, Babe Corner, bathtub cig, and Haley Blais @ Turf Club
Hot Pink Hangover @ Uptown VFW
The Uptown R&B Showcase @ Uptown VFW
Zippy & Leslie @ White Squirrel
Johanna Mathews with Joanie Rich, Katie Henry @ White Squirrel
Sunday, August 6
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
The Larry McDonough Aster Sunday Jazz Series Presents: The Music of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans @ Aster Cafe
Sir Richard Bishop @ Cedar Cultural Center
Mick Sterling and the Stud Brothers @ Crooners
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Joeyy with MARLON DUBOIS, EERA and SHED THEORY @ Fine Line
Jeremy Messersmith @ Hewing Hotel
Potential New Boyfriend @ Icehouse
Bee Taylor with JoJo Green Trio @ KJ's Hideaway
Fourth Degree @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Issholll @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Church of Cornbread: Cornbread Harris and His Band @ Palmer's
Michael Gay's Old Country Buffet @ Palmer's
Happy Landing with Harbor & Home @ 7th St Entry
Eric Carranza @ White Squirrel
Monday, August 7
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Maisie Peters with Grace Enger @ First Avenue
Alex Brown (Monday Residency) with Illism and Adam Bohanan @ Icehouse
Jake Baldwin with Jason Fabus @ Jazz Central
Teapot Tempest @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Bluewater Kings Showcase @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
B & the Sting @ Nicollet Island
Arcy Drive with Lapdogs and Connor McLaren @ 7th St Entry
ARCHERS with Versus Me, Discrepancies and Odds of an Afterthought @ Turf Club
The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
Pretendians Band @ Water Works
- Nickelback @ Xcel Energy Center—Has any rock frontman ever had a more fitting name than Chad Kroeger? He doesn't sing—he kroegs.
