Skip to Content
Music

Jazz Ghazals, a Disney Snake, and Multiple Australians in This Week’s Compete Concert Calendar: October 10-16

Pretty much all the live music you can catch in the Twin Cities this week

Photos provided|

Nellie McKay, Genesis Owusu

If you want to go hear some live music this week, I have some very good news for you: There will indeed be live music featured in multiple establishments.

Tuesday, October 10

International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers

  • Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily @ Cedar Cultural CenterThis stylistically varied trio’s appearance at the Cedar is the most anticipated jazz-adjacent event of the fall. Aftab’s melding of South Asian ghazal with Western pop forms has won her an audience beyond “world music” fans (or whatever we’re calling that slice of the marketplace these days). A cerebral composer who practices what he calls “creative music,” Iyer has been bridging genres throughout his career, incorporating Asian music and contemporary Black music, including hip-hop, into jazz. Ismaily is a distinguished multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits, and Nels Cline. These three big names teamed up this year for Love in Exile, on which Aftab’s husky anti-grav voice floats over Iyer’s inventive piano figures and synth textures while Ismaily’s supportive bass holds everything together. They don’t exactly groove, but this music isn’t static either; it drifts, probes, and queries. In a live setting it may well be transporting.

Scottie Miller Band @ Dakota

St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood

Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Reneé Rapp @ Fillmore

Kevin Gamble Trio @ Green Room

Cedar Avenue Big Band @ Jazz Central

Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe

The Teddy Bear Orchestra @ Mortimer's

DJ Nanobyte @ Palmer's

Snõõper with Citric Dummies and Dummy @ 7th St Entry

Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar

Worker’s Playtime with John Louis @ 331 Club

October Conspiracy Series featuring the Ya Ya Boys @ 331 Club

Margo Cilker with Christy Hays @ Turf Club

  • The Chats @ Varsity TheaterI checked out these acerbic Aussies' latest album, Get Fucked, because I giggled at this (approving) review of “I’ve Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane” from Pitchfork's Stuart Berman: "Kind of what Wire’s Pink Flag would sound like if all the lyrics were Yelp reviews." The only other tracks I remember vividly is "Panic Attack," which sounds like one, and "The Price of Smokes" (too high!) but that's enough to convince me that their hearts are in the wrong place and they're tickled to be getting away with the nasty din they kick up. Are there countless punk bands out there doing this same exact thing better? Probably. Are there countless punk bands out there doing this same exact thing worse? Absolutely

Two Steppin’ Tuesdays feat. Dan Lowinger with the Cole Diamond Band @ White Squirrel

Whispered the Rabbit Tuesday Residency with Stay at Home Astronaut, Brüder, Denim Matriarch @ White Squirrel

Wednesday, October 11

Christian French with Devon Gabriella, Lisa Heller @ Amsterdam

MN Songwriter Showcase hosted by Nick Hensley @ Aster Cafe

Dylan Salfer @ Bunkers

Bitch with Crys Matthews @ Cedar Cultural Center

Maggie's Wednesdays: Andrew Crowley @ Crooners

  • Nellie McKay @ DakotaSeems just like yesterday that McKay emerged as the enfant adorable of self-conscious neo-cabaret with Get Away From Me. (It was 20 damn years ago, actually.) After establishing her songwriting bona fides with a few tartly comic albums, she began showcasing herself as a smart interpreter on her terrific 2009 Doris Day tribute Normal as Blueberry Pie and her only slightly less terrific collection of reinterpreted '60s rock, My Weekly Reader, a few years later. This summer, McKay released her first album of original material in over a decade, Hey Guys, Watch This, a collection so sprightly and lulling on its surface that you'll be compelled to go back and listen again more closely when you hit the closer, the story of a young black woman who wants to be Jeffrey Dahmer (and, sure, President of the United States, why not?) when she grows up.

Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34

The Bad Companions @ Eagles 34

Ava Levy, Lana Leone, Dark Bunny @ Green Room

Bob Frey & Friends with Emmy Woods @ Icehouse

Monique & Xperience @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Willow Waters @ Palmer's

Connor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern

Próxima Parada with Olive Klug @ 7th St Entry

  • Bonnie Raitt with Roy Rogers @ State TheatreIf your Raitt familiarity starts with her Grammy-winning 1989 comeback Nick of Time, you’re in for a treat—her run of ’70s albums, where she explored a warmer and folkier version of the blues than was being warped into hard rock and metal elsewhere at the time, stacks up against the work of just about any of your faves, especially the white ones. And if you stopped listening sometime in the ’90s when “Longing in Their Hearts” and its ilk suggested she’d committed the rest of her years to VH1 adult mush, you’re missing out too. In fact Just Like That…  (not to be confused with the similarly titled Sex and the City sequel), the 2022 album her tour is named for, is the kind of ace collection of songs that seems so easy to put together till you realize how few others do—plus the usual killer slide guitar and a voice that made her sound mature back when she was a kid.

Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Drew Peterson @ 331 Club

Todd Snider Tribute with The HIGH Rev and Brady Perl @ 331 Club

Rum Ragged with Jeff Plankenhorn @ Turf Club

CMJ's Sub Art For Mass Consumption, Vol. 3 @ Underground Music Venue

Molly Maher & Her Disbelievers @ White Squirrel

John Prine & Tanya Tucker Tribute Night @ White Squirrel

Thursday, October 12

DJ Sci-Fi @ Acadia

Dead On A Sunday with Night Spins & Andrew Paley @ Amsterdam

Kismet Roundezvous + Emmy Woods @ Aster Cafe

Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers

Arne Fogel Presents Kinda Dukish: A Duke Ellington Songfest @ Crooners

Sue Scott's Island of Discarded Women with Guests Pat Miles + Kelley Hunt @ Crooners

Jordan Johnston and The Elevation @ Crooners

Damien Escobar @ Dakota

B & the Sting @ Driftwood

Mark Nesse & Friends @ Driftwood

Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Joseph Walker + Friends @ Eagles 34

  • Genesis Owusu with Godly the Ruler @ Fine Line"Better run/There's a god/And he's comin' for me" Owusu sings on the opening track of his latest album, Struggler, over a bassline that does indeed sound like it's chasing him. I don't always know what to make of the spiritual battles of a guy who quotes Kafka and the Killers in the same verse, but this Ghanaian-Australian's melange of rap, rock, and funk is always immediately engaging.

Bahamas with Fortunate Ones @ First Avenue

Whiskey Rock 'n' Roll Club, 13 Arrows, Valors, Gentleman Speaker @ Green Room

Dale Watson with Matt Hillyer @ Hook and Ladder

Chokecherry, Lifestyle Shakes, Goatroper @ Hook and Ladder

Collin Roycroft @ Jazz Central

Steffi Brill @ KJ's Hideaway

Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe

No Limits: The B Side @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Freak Hoe Horror Show @ Mortimer's

Haydn’s Evening Symphony with Abel Selaocoe @ Ordway

The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs @ Palmer's

Basketball Divorce Court, Diet Lite @ Pilllar

Speakeazie (EP Release) @ ROK Music Lounge

The Zillionaires @ Schooner Tavern

Skizzy Mars with Luke Wild and Matt Corman @ 7th St Entry

Trey Songz @ Skyway Theatre

Freight Train @ Terminal Bar

Minneapolis Songwriter Round, Hosted by Alexis Politz @ 331 Club

Noah Gundersen with Casey Dubie @ Turf Club

Bella Larson and the Scene Kids @ White Rock Lounge

The Monday Club @ White Squirrel

Friday, October 13

Mustard Service with JW Francis @ Amsterdam

The Maeflies @ Aster Cafe

Luther Vandross Tribute @ Bunkers

CorVoce Presents “Words That Sing” @ Capri Theater

Adrian Legg with Phil Heywood @ Cedar Cultural Center

Ahmed and the Creators @ Crooners

Maggie's Afterglow: Jennifer Grimm and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Martin Sexton @ Dakota

Dream Addict @ Driftwood

Betty & the Rubble @ Driftwood

Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34

They Live, Die Ghost, The Gubers, Mommy S3z No @ Eagles 34

Emo Nite with Travis Clark (of We The Kings) @ Fine Line

Jessie Murph with Henry Verus @ First Avenue

The Zombies with Turn Turn Turn @ Fitzgerald Theater

Chutes, Dom Mooney, Colin Bracewell, Green @ Green Room

14th Annual Big Fat Love: Celebrating John Prine’s Birthday @ Hook and Ladder

Rogue Valley (Album Release) with Molly Maher @ Icehouse

Ross Clowser @ Jazz Central

Joe and the Mechanics @ KJ's Hideaway

Alexander Craig Trio @ KJ's Hideaway

R Factor @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Dingus/Boss’ Daughter/The Slow Death/Tim Schumann (Loss Leader) @ Mortimer's

Valčuha Conducts Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 @ Orchestra Hall

Haydn’s Evening Symphony with Abel Selaocoe @ Ordway

Ghost Kitchen, Fern Spores, and High Tiny Hairs @ Palmer's

Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin @ Pantages Theatre

Pals, Falcon Arrow, Strange Frequency @ Pilllar

Descend: Darkwave Night @ ROK Music Lounge

Easy Honey with FènixDion and Connor McLaren @ 7th St Entry

Nazmo King @ Schooner Tavern

San Holo @ Skyway Theatre

Brian Setzer with Yates McKendree @ State Theatre

King Sized Coffin, Gentleman Speaker @ Terminal Bar

Dashed, HOLYROSE, ahem @ 331 Club

underscores with torr @ Turf Club

Welcome to the Dark @ Uptown VFW

Everything Everything @ Varsity Theater

XNOMADX @ White Rock Lounge

Twin Citizen with Moonlit Mushroom, Labrador Wild @ White Squirrel

Saturday, October 14

Jo Jo Green with Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty, and Cassandra Cole @ Amsterdam

Zhu with Noizu @ Armory

Katy Tessman and the Turnbuckles Album Release Show with Nikki Lemire @ Aster Cafe

Luther Vandross Tribute @ Bunkers

Sonia De Los Santos and the Okee Dokee Brothers @ Cedar Cultural Center

Cafe Accordion Orchestra: Afternoon In Paris with Diane Jarvi @ Crooners

Maud Hixson Presents: Moon River and Mercer @ Crooners

Kieran and Zach's Rock and Roll Call @ Crooners

Keri Noble @ Crooners

Maggie's Afterglow: Jennifer Grimm and Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Turn Turn Turn @ Dakota

Goodluck.Alaska @ Driftwood

The Red Quarters @ Driftwood

The Fab Hackmasters @ Driftwood

DJ Don Greene @ Dusty's

Fleetmac Wood @ Fine Line

The California Honeydrops @ First Avenue

The Dalmatian Club, Rosie, Daphne Jane, Soul Flower @ Green Room

Signal Decode 1 Dance Party @ Hook and Ladder

Gypsy Mania Hot Club @ Icehouse

Model/Actriz with Conjunto Primativo @ Icehouse

Take That Back featuring Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield @ Jazz Central

The Gated Hideaway @ KJ's Hideaway

Manzanita Quintet @ KJ's Hideaway

Nitepunk @ The Loft

The Good, the Bad & the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe

The Assortment feat. Michael Grey @ Mortimer's

Fall Sensory-Friendly Concert @ Orchestra Hall

Valčuha Conducts Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 @ Orchestra Hall

Haydn’s Evening Symphony with Abel Selaocoe @ Ordway

So Long Patio 2023 @ Palmer's

Mary Jam @ Pilllar

Travorama Fafafa a Go-Go @ ROK Music Lounge

Geese with PACKS @ 7th St Entry

Garden Street @ Schooner Tavern

Sunken Ship Irony, Heatwave and the Landmen @ Terminal Bar

Voltage Controller Vol. 22 @ 331 Club

Inland Coastal, Dave’s Manual, The Owl-Eyes @ 331 Club

Molly Burch with Christelle Bofale @ Turf Club

Arizona @ Uptown Theater

Malamanya @ Uptown VFW

Phillip Phillips @ Varsity Theater

Lucinda Williams Tribute Matinee with Carolyn Young and West Seventh Band, Mary Cutrufello @ White Squirrel

Pelicant with Fairy Boat @ White Squirrel

Luke Bryan @ Xcel Energy Center

Sunday, October 15

Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

David Harland with Cierra Alise Hill @ Aster Cafe

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunkers

Esmé Patterson with bathtub cig @ Cedar Cultural Center

Joyann Parker Presents Acoustic Gospel Roots @ Crooners

Red Hot Django Peppers @ Crooners

Mick Sterling and the Stud Brothers @ Crooners

Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood

Irish Set Dance @ Eagles 34

Swinging Country Band @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

tobi lou with grouptherapy. @ Fine Line

Gospel Brunch: The Experience with Darnell Davis & the Remnant @ Icehouse

Twin Cities Flamenco Collective @ Icehouse

Sphinx Virtuosi @ Ordway

Church of Cornbread: Cornbread Harris and His Band @ Palmer's

West Bank Social Club @ Palmer's

Briscoe with Sam Johnston @ 7th St Entry

Robert Wilkinson @ 331 Club

Jake Manders @ 331 Club

Protest The Hero with Moon Tooth and The Callous Daoboys @ Turf Club

The Cambion @ White Rock Lounge

Kaylee Kitzman with Daguerreotypes, Gabe Keller Flores @ White Squirrel

Halloween on Planet Venus with Venus DeMars, The Tender Years, Petals @ White Squirrel

Monday, October 16

Adi Yeshaya Big Band feat. Jennifer Grimm @ Dakota

Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34

Square Dancing @ Eagles 34

Boys Like Girls @ FIllmore

Claudio Simonetti’s GOBLIN @ Fitzgerald Theatre

Brian Courage with Courageous Endeavors and Polipnick / Courage / Healey. @ Icehouse

RiFFs: Jazz and Comedy @ Jazz Central

Fuzzy Math @ KJ's Hideaway

Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s

DJ Still Hot Dave @ Palmer's

Taylor Ashton with Eliza Edens @ 7th St Entry

Open Mic @ Terminal Bar

Red Thread @ 331 Club

The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club

Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club

Billy Raffoul with Peter Raffoul and The Indiana Drones @ Turf Club

Bad Religion @ Uptown Theater

Charlie Parr @ White Squirrel

Enter the Void Third Monday: Akira Yamaoka @ White Squirrel

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Racket

It’s the Year of Yia: Vinai Racks Up More National Accolades

Plus BCA finally confirms detail in Winston Smith's death, hurting colleges attempt to go big, and a Target Center tragedeigh trifecta in today's Flyover news roundup.

December 3, 2024

December Is Here, and So Is Your Complete Concert Calendar: Dec. 3-9

Pretty much all the music you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

December 3, 2024

MN’s Giant Roadside Oddities Get Substantial NYT Coverage—Finally

Plus grad student worker union gains, investigating why Honeycrisps suck now, and Rainforest Cafe's local angle in today's Flyover news roundup.

December 2, 2024

Rampaging Santas, Pissfest, Gingerbread Parties: This Week’s Best Events

Plus U.S. Bank Stadium opens for workouts, Dillinger Four returns to First Ave, and last call for the Minneapolis Uprising murals art show.

December 2, 2024

Who’s That Guy in the White Suit Coat Walking Down 38th Street?

Meet the famous Neal Baxter—and then go on a guided neighborhood stroll with him.

See all posts