The weekends do not seem to be slowing down as autumn overtakes us—if anything, it's like people are trying to cram as much activity in before winter comes as they can.
Tuesday, September 29
Whiskey Ginger, Josiah Shipp, Lucky Crayfish, Aeris and the Piggies @ Amsterdam
Doug Collins & the Receptionists @ Animales
SNL Presents Flags of the East @ Bazemnt
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Two Sundays Big Band @ Jazz Central
- Knocked Loose & Denzel Curry @ Myth Live—Not only is Myth still open for business, but the club even books the occasional live show. And this particular show should be exceptionally live—both Kentucky hardcore unit Knocked Loose and Florida rapper Curry tear it up on stage. The latter's latest EP with producer Kenneth Blume (aka Kenny Beats), ii, distills his strengths into nine tracks adding up to 24 minutes. Look for lead track "Gone Fishing" on my 2026 playlist if I ever get a few spare minutes to add to it again.
Irish Trad “Blue Moon” Session @ Padraigs
Bayonne, Bad Snacks @ 7th St Entry
September Conspiracy Series feat. Dan Tanz & the Wildfire @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Pop Wagner @ 331 Club
King 810, Guerilla Warfare @ Turf Club
Sorry Ghost @ Underground Music
Dying Fetus, Sanguisugabogg @ Uptown Theater
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Neptune IV. Rightful Heirs. the Cheater Brothers @ White Squirrel
Quicksand, Girlfriend on the Moon, Baldosa @ Zhora Darling
Wednesday, September 30
Novagrex, Zophia Dadlez, Dr. Faustus @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
10 Years of 22, a Million @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
Sangjaru @ Cedar Cultural Center
Minnesota Guitar All-Star Summit @ Crooners
Mick Sterling + Cate Fierro @ Crooners
Leslie Vincent + GATL (feat. Kellie Reichert) @ Crooners
- Vieux Farka Touré @ Dakota—The son of the late, great Malian not-quite-bluesman Ali Farka Touré has inherited the family business, and just like his papa, he's a born collaborator. His most recent recording, with Texas globalists Khruangbin in 2022, is called Ali, a tribute to you-know-who.
Miss Shannon Presents @ Eagles 34
Jervis Campbell with Nathan Colberg @ Fine Line
Mico, Will Linley @ First Avenue
Pat Donahue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Dan Popp & the Beer Holders, Yeah Doggos, Nephilim @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Baby Mahi Presents: Drain Bramage Residency @ Mortimer’s
Bryson Tiller @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Sarah Bareilles @ Orpheum Theatre
Rich Mattson & the Northstars, the Hobbled, Sidewalk Diamonds @ Pilllar Forum
BZ3 Organ Trio @ Schooner Tavern
- Cain Culto, Xina @ 7th St Entry—An evangelical Kentuckian of Colombian and Nicaraguan descent, Andrew Estevan Padilla changed his name to Cain Culto after coming out as gay. As you might expect from that mini-bio, there's a lot going on in this fella's music. "I’m like if a hillbilly hick/Was a big booty bitch/Wearing a lil’ femme fit/With witchy ass shit," he boasts on his 2025 single "KFC Santeria," which is included on his first full-length, Culto, out just last week. And let's not forget that he released perhaps the greatest anti-ICE anthem, "¡Basta Ya!"
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Bill Finke and Pete Meyer @ 331 Club
Ian McConnell @ Underground Music
Better Mistakes, Day Old Donuts @ White Squirrel
DJ Buster Baxter @ White Squirrel
Rachel Bochner @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, October 1
Mississippi Hot Club @ Aster Cafe
Max Johnk + Allweather @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Kaatwalk (Album Release) @ Crooners
Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Martinez @ Dakota
Jim Walsh and the Dog Day Cicadas @ Driftwood Char Bar
Amanda Standalone @ Dubliner Pub
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Alana Springsteen, Erin Kinsey @ Fine Line
They Might Be Giants @ First Avenue
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Jon Sullivan, Jezebel Sweet, Fern Spores @ Hook and Ladder
Voulouse, Jake Manzi, CB @ Icehouse
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
- DJ Shadow, DJ D Sharp @ Palace Theatre—Back again, who is he? Just your favorite DJ savior. Yes, Endtroducing… came out 30 years ago, raising the eternal question: Did you have to be there? Alas, that’s not for me to answer, ‘cause I was there, and it did not take a lot of critical acumen on my part to hear this Cali cratedigger’s debut full-length as the instant classic that so many of us did. Obsessively layering vocal snippets, breakbeats, and prog samples from records both obscure and everyday, Josh Davis created a work so multifaceted you could build a whole career by following just one of its streams, yet it was inimitable as well. (I mean, who’d want to put in all that work, for starters?) It really was, to haul out a critical cliché, “a journey,” and Shadow’s never topped it (though The Private Press is a worthy runner-up, and let me put in a good word for 2023’s Action Adventure). Rest assured, even if you know the album backward and forward, he’ll tinker with it until it somehow sounds even more like itself.—Keith Harris
Tab Benoit, Ghalia Volt @ Pantages Theatre
Live From Laurel Canyon @ Parkway Theater
Adam Paddock, Infrared @ Pilllar Forum
Crowd Pleaser Thursdays @ Red Sea
Mary Strand & the Garage, Self Neglecters @ Schooner Tavern
Owen Riegling, Payton Smith @ 7th St Entry
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Ashtyn Barbaree @ White Squirrel
Taiyamo Denku, Fernando Mendoza @ White Squirrel
Piss with Style, Druthers, Knife Emoji, Threads Electric @ Zhora Darling
Friday, October 2
Edgehill, Trophy Wife @ Amsterdam
Crankdat, YDG, Cyclops, Austeria @ Armory
Paul Hecht’s Pyrography @ Berlin
Drinkwine With Friends Band @ Blues Saloon
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
- 3 Year Party with Lady Heat @ Cloudland—Three years of rock shows in Longfellow—now that's something to dance about. And the DJ collective Lady Heat (Christy Costello, Chris Dorn, Emily Nay Nay, and Danielle Morris) are here to supply the soundtrack.
The Cars Tribute: Candy-OH! @ Crooners
Jazz Standard Deviants: Barbara Piper and Larry McDonough @ Crooners
The Ronny Loew Band @ Crooners
Mary Rancone and Last Chance @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
SOS: The Recession Pop Party @ Fine Line
They Might Be Giants @ First Avenue
Mamma Mania — The American Tribute to ABBA @ Fitzgerald Theater
Big Tunzy x Cedriic @ Gidi Bar
Hurrey and Waite @ Ginkgo Coffee
- Midway Music and Arts Fest @ Hamline Midway Neighborhood—The timing here is perfect: As Hamline Midway is drastically overhauled (for the better, let’s hope), the neighborhood’s cultural fixtures would like to remind you that the place already has plenty to offer. Pat “Doc” Dougherty, who knows what they’re doing when it comes to DIY, is organizing the musical aspect of this festival. Venues participating include the Turf Club, Ginkgo Coffeehouse, and Sundin Hall at Hamline U, and among the artists scheduled to perform at the moment (the list is still growing) are Nur-D, Martin Devaney, Ditch Pigeon, Keep for Cheap, 26 Bats!, as well as Doc’s own Sawtooth Witch. Maybe I’ll just camp out at the Midway Motel all weekend.—Keith Harris
The Inspector Cluzo @ Hook and Ladder
Ben Noble (Album Release), Conzemius, the Weeping Covenant @ Icehouse
Mr. Niceguy and Friends @ The Loft
70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Mainstreet Bar
Lux Quartet @ Metronome Brewery
The Johnnie Brown Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Harlow (Album Release) with Horse Tornado, Ava Levy @ Mortimer's
Justin Moore @ Mystic Lake Casino
Art Beagle’s Backup Band @ Padraigs
Mon Rovîa, Sydney Rose, Sarah Julia @ Palace Theatre
Edith Marquez @ Pantages Theatre
Your Last Breath, Sonic Sea Turtles, Flowers for Guilt, Shot Down @ Pilllar Forum
Jellyjacket, Dive Bar Orchestra @ Schooner Tavern
Cardinal Bloom, Holdfast @ 7th St Entry
Cleveland Brown @ Sociable Cider Werks
All the Pretty Horses, Virgin Whores, Loss Leader, Count Spookula @ Surly Brewing
Scottie Miller & Cierra Alise Hill @ 318 Cafe
Mind Out of Time, Big Salt @ 331 Club
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats @ Varsity Theater
A Bling History, Paper Beast @ White Squirrel
Girdle of Judith w. Robyn Jamner & The Soft Skills, 1947 @ White Squirrel
Sexton of Gotterdammerung, Daguerreotypes, Tom Mobry @ White Squirrel
Genre Fluid with Shannon Blowtorch & Greenery @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, October 3
Bars Over Bars Showcase @ Acadia
Cornbread Harris & Friends @ Animales
Of the Trees, Eazybaked, Kursa, Alicia Kiah @ Armory
Green Line (Album Release) @ Berlin
- André Cymone @ Capri—Another centennial! For the opening night of Capri 100, a yearlong celebration of the North Side theater’s landmark birthday, Prince’s childhood friend and early collaborator André Cymone returns to showcase The Resurrection of Funk, his first album in nearly a decade. Recorded by Cymone as a one-man band, it’s a real party, owing as much to George Clinton as his own famous pal (that snare wallop in particular is very P-Funk) and powered by popping, wide-ranging bass lines. This opportunity to catch the homecoming of an often undersung co-architect of the Minneapolis Sound should slam live. No, scratch that—it will slam live.—Keith Harris
IAMJOY, Anna Houston, Maddie Thies @ Cedar Cultural Center
Girl in a Coma, Spit Takes, Surly Grrrly @ Cloudland
Our House: A Tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young @ Crooners
Christina Henson @ Driftwood Char Bar
Stephen Day, Brother Elsey @ Fine Line
- Bright Eyes, Lullaby for the Working Class @ First Avenue—When we last hyped a Bright Eyes show, last year’s Palace Theatre gig, the blurb expressed concern over the general health of bandleader Conor Oberst following erratic video clips and tour cancellations. If we’re to believe his recent appearance on the Popcast podcast, the 46-year-old songwriting great “came back from the brink” and is in a much better place today. Creatively, the Omaha native’s flexing new muscles, having just announced his directorial debut, Invention 13, a forthcoming short film featuring his very famous Better Community Oblivion Center bandmate, Phoebe Bridgers. (Revisit Keith’s glowing review of Bridgers’s St. Paul arena concert here.) With Oberst happy and healthy, contemporary Bright Eyes shows feature generous fan-forward setlists and a reliably shit-kicking band—we’re glad the man’s locked in again.—Jay Boller
They Might Be Giants @ Fitzgerald Theater
Cary Morin Duo @ Ginkgo Coffee
Wub Club feat. Shanghai Doom, Detre, Akashah @ Green Room
- Midway Music and Arts Fest @ Hamline Midway Neighborhood—see Friday's listings.
Flavor Crystals, Honeymoon Madness, the Get Together @ Hook and Ladder
Jackson Churchill @ Jazz Central
Ledgetober Flannel Fest @ Ledge Amphitheater
Bobby Jensen and the Dead Cowboys @ Mainstreet Bar
Jaybee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Tìm Lại Bầu Trời @ Mystic Lake Casino
Mastodon, Deafheaven, Alcest @ Palace Theatre
The Cactus Blossoms, Thomas Sticha @ Parkway Theater
2026 DJ Dance Ride Finale @ Perennial Cycle
Lost Island Society, the Prizefighters, Amateur @ Pilllar Forum
Jiggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern
Love Spells, Orca @ 7th St Entry
Lords of the Universe, Socktopus, Wooly Mack @ 331 Club
Opal in Sky @ Underground Music
Hot Flash Heat Wave @ Underground Music
Haute & Freddy @ Varsity Theater
East Lake Jazz @ White Squirrel
Freak of the Week with Freddy Fresh, Nola Rave, Noel Jean, & DJ Blue Funk @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, October 4
Scale EP/Libra Birthday Bash @ Acadia
Zolita, Pig’s Milk @ Amsterdam
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
W.I.T.C.H., American Cream Band, Van Glow Light Show @ Cedar Cultural Center
Radioactivity, Visual Learner, Cheap Glue @ Cloudland
Billy McLaughlin, Nathan Wilson @ Crooners
Jim Bierma and Nancy Bierma @ Crooners
Inatnas Orchestra: The Music of Asuka Kakitani and JC Sanford @ Crooners
The Peterson Family Presents Luis Salinas @ Crooners
Don Was & the Pan-Detroit Ensemble @ Dakota
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
- Circuit City @ Edna's Park—What if we told you that the prolific Alan Sparhawk (Low, Retribution Gospel Choir, Black-Eyed Snakes) had a new band? What if we told you that group includes the even more prolific Jeremy Ylvisaker (Alpha Consumer, Cloak Ox, Andrew Bird), Liz Draper (Low, Charlie Parr, Iris DeMent), and composer/drummer Tarek Abdelqader? What if we told you the press release teases this brand-new act as: “Heavy grooves through space. Findings of listening, practice and flow.” And what if we told you all of this is set to go down in the parking lot next to the Wienery, all for free? I’d tell you what I told my dad in 1997 when I wanted to buy Myst for PC: Take me to Circuit City! Jordan Malcolm Hamilton, May Klug, and Jerry’s Burger Burger Bin are also performing at this delightfully ramshackle West Bank party.—Jay Boller
Militarie Gun, Softcult, Shady Nasty, Dazy @ Fine Line
They Might Be Giants @ Fitzgerald Theater
The Eclectics, Triple Fiddle @ Ginkgo Coffee
- Midway Music and Arts Fest @ Hamline Midway Neighborhood—see Friday's listings.
Davina & the Vagabonds @ Hewing Hotel
The Cactus Blossoms, Hilary Thavis, Doug Otto @ Parkway Theater
Refute, Infllict, Small Animal Hospital, Kitty Baby @ Pilllar Forum
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Brass Messengers, Corpse Reviver @ 331 Club
Lorraine-Dietrich @ Underground Music
Rebecca Lake Fritz, Deep Pool @ White Squirrel
Sparrowhawk, Dead on Board, Coworker, Cattlesnake @ White Squirrel
Monday, October 5
AJJ, Greet Death @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Great Irish Singalong @ Dubliner Pub
Cheekface, Apes of the State @ Fine Line
Light Inside Everyone @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Monday Jam @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Ouija Macc @ Underground Music
- Kelela @ Varsity Theater—Even Kelela has gone shoegaze? So said some people upon sampling the R&B singer's latest, New Avatar, but, you know, some people say a lot of things. Still, her newer tracks are laced with more guitar than previously, as she integrates the rock (indie and otherwise) of her early musical forays into the electronic R&B she's known for. Also, she had some perceptive and funny responses for Pitchfork's 5-10-15-20 feature.
