Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
MONDAY 10.31
Illuminati Hotties
Fine Line
The best bands, in my humblest of opinions, balance the heartfelt with the yuks, a needle that bandleader Sarah Tudzin threads with the best of ‘em. On last year’s Let Me Do One More, her second LP as Illuminati Hotties, the singer/songwriter/producer/engineer celebrates cracking poolside beers, sneers at health goths, and laments capitalistic decay with rippin’ pop-punk guitars and a mischievous grin. We’re major fans down here at the Racket office. On this spooktacular date, expect the reliably evocative Tudzin to put on one helluva show; the crowd shout-along to “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA” will be a guaranteed hoot. Enumclaw and Guppy open. $20-$38. 7 p.m. 318 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
First Ave Haunted Disco
First Avenue
You know what’s really scary? Going out on a Monday night. But First Ave’s annual Halloween costume contest, dubbed the Haunted Disco this year, is a special start-of-the-week treat for all y’all who didn’t cheat and celebrate over the weekend. (Or even if you did, I guess.) The DJ lineup includes DJ Rowsheen, DJ Michael Gray, Izzie P, Chico Chi, and DJ Smitty, and it’s all hosted by Zeke from the Current. There’s a costume contest with cash prizes, and you know you’ll look your best because friend of Racket Darin Kamnetz, ace photog and all-around swell guy, will be snapping the pics. Oh, and if you pop in next door at the Entry, you can catch recent Racket feature subject Monica LaPlante and her band doing ’80s Madonna hits as Madonica. $15. 8 p.m. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; more info here.—Keith Harris
WEDNESDAY 11.2
Flo Milli
Amsterdam
Rap has no shortage of trash-talking women these days, and it can never have enough. This Mobile, Alabama, brat is one of the most wickedly playful of the crop, fluent in every form of insult and boast. She emerged in 2020 with a mixtape that asked the eternal question Ho, Why Is You Here? spouting an assured, unruffleable comic confidence. Naturally, she followed that up this year with an even more pressing question: You Still Here, Ho? She’s pure smack-talk, true to the spirit of the old school if not the letter, and I appreciate that one of her best brags is that she’d wear the same clothes four days in a row. With Monaleo. All ages. $20. 7 p.m. 6 W. Sixth St., St. Paul; find more info here.—Keith Harris
Whitmer Thomas
Turf Club
You know his voice from FXX’s Stone Quackers; you know his standup from HBO’s The Golden One. Don’t know either of those things? Check ‘em out! Fans of Bo Burnham definitely should, as Thomas hilariously intertwines comedy, music, biographical poignancy, and social commentary on Golden One. (Burnham was a producer on the special.) Self-billed as an “aging emo kid,” the Alabama-born standup has honed a singular comedic voice. The Turf is a perfect location to hear it. $18. 7 p.m. 1601 University Ave. W., St Paul; find more info here.—Jay Boller
THURSDAY 11.3
Vijay Iyer
Dakota
Vijay Iyer is the kind of 21st century improvised music performer you can’t sum up in a blurb. His corpus demands something more formal—a cv, or a testimonial, something like that. I’m not teasing—Iyer is one of the finest examples of the new breed of musician, equally at home in the academy or the club, committed to an overarching vision that hews to no particular style. He’s done the trad thing, he’s done the jazz with electronics thing, he’s done all manner of unclassifiable in-between things. His latest trio album, Uneasy, with bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, is a good place to start if you’re curious, and as long as you realize that its music may give you no guidance as to where he’ll go in his Dakota performance. $30-$40. 7 p.m. 1010 Nicollet Mall; find more info here.—Keith Harris
FRIDAY 11.4
Northeast Fall Art Crawls
Various Locations
Didn’t make it to Art-a-Whirl this year? Or did you go and miss it already? Well you’re in luck, because this weekend pretty much every major artists’ building in Northeast is doing something special before the gift-giving season really cranks up. What to expect? At each stop there will be hundreds of open studios hosting a variety of happenings, including sales, meet-and-greets, special receptions, pop-up shops, and shop-and-sip events. Some places will have food trucks (Solar Arts, Casket), some will boast live music (Casket Arts), some will have coffee (California Building, Casket), some will have beer (Indeed is at Solar!), and others will have a bunch of free workshops and classes (California Building). The general hours for events: 5-10 p.m. Friday; noon to 8 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.–Jessica Armbruster
The venues:
Art this Way at Solar Art Building, 711 15th Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Art Attack at Northrup King Studios, 1500 Jackson St. NE, Minneapolis.
Open Casket at Casket Arts, 681 17th Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Blok-Party at 2010 Artblok, 2010 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis.
California Dreaming at the California Building, 3134 California St. NE, Minneapolis.
Art Ache at Grain Belt Bottling, 79 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Fall in Q.arma, 1224 Quincy St. NE, Minneapolis.
Holland Days at Holland Arts, 607 22nd Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Thorpe Warp at the Thorpe Building, 1618 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis.
Will Sheff of Okkervil River
Cedar Cultural Center
You know who's an underrated songwriter? You guessed it: Will Sheff, whose effortless literary flair and sneaky humor fill a top-to-bottom strong Okkervil River discography. Plus the Austin, Texas-launched indie lifer was once a local, having matriculated to Sex Bell University–aka Macalester College. (I interviewed Sheff years ago and asked where he partied during those years; he laughed and said he was "as quiet as a church mouse.") Sheff is touring in support of his just-dropped, warmly received solo debut, Nothing Special, a mournful, distinctly Okkervillian collection of songs that have spurred speculation about whether his band is kaput. Ben Weaver opens. $20-$25. 7 p.m. 416 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
SATURDAY 11.5
Día de los Muertos Festival
La Doña Cervecería
This Saturday, La Doña brings back its daylong fest of family, tradition, and tunes. From noon to 6 p.m. folks will be able to shop from 11 local women-owned businesses selling things like clothing, jewelry, and airbrush art. Mariachi tunes and traditional dance will be onstage earlier, with DJ tunes and live music bringing people to the dancefloor later in the evening. QueTal Street Eats will be stopping by, and there will be a calaveras contest if you feel like showing up fancy. If you’d like to honor your loved ones via the “virtual cemetery” ofrenda, send pics to manager@dameladona.com. $10/$15. Noon to 2 a.m. 241 Fremont Ave. N., Minneapolis.–Jessica Armbruster
Grainville Cereals, Inc.
At a Seeeecret Location
Can a bowl of cereal give you a sense of dread? Yes, especially if it’s coming from Grainville Cereals, a creepy corporation with General Mills vibes that uses ad speak that is just too good to be true. Commutator Collective has gone all in for their latest theatrical production. There’s Grainville’s oddly unsettling website, with lots of images of corporate buildings and promises that their cereals “contain 100% plants.” Also creepy: The play, written by Marge Buckley, will be performed inside what they describe as a “nearly-abandoned acrylics factory” in northeast Minneapolis. Sounds like a corporate-approved spooky time! Audiences receive more details on the location after they purchase tickets, which you can do here. Through November 6–Jessica Armbruster
ONGOING
Smoke and Ground
Public Functionary
In 2019, Public Functionary closed their gallery at 1400 12th Avenue NE with the promise of returning bigger and better. And that’s exactly what they did. That same year, local artist Leslie Barlow joined the crew to helm PF Studios, a program offering mentorship, affordable gallery space, and other resources for (often low-income) BIPOC artists just starting their career. (You might recognize Barlow from this year’s official State Fair artwork.) Then, in 2020, the PFunc gang secured a much bigger space in the Northrup King Building. Now, you can check out their new 7,000-square-foot gallery and performance space at the official grand-opening, which will feature artists from Barlow’s Studios program. For this group show, curator Adrienne Doyle asked artists to consider the question: Where do our memories live in our landscape and how do they tie or sever us from place? See how different artists answer. Northrup King Building, Studio 144, 1500 Jackson St. NE, Minneapolis. Through November 6–Jessica Armbruster
पौर्णि मर्णि ा: Gazing Into The Full Moon Night
Soo Visual Arts Center
Projects by Roshan Ganu are less about straightforward gallery shows, more about presenting a storytelling experience. If that sounds pretentious, rest assured that it’s not—it just means that you’ll probably have a good time simply walking through “पौर्णि मर्णि ा: Gazing Into The Full Moon Night.” Her most recent collection is part space voyage, part romp through urban nightlife. There are starry landscapes, a rock that hangs like a disco ball, collages of Pan Indian serials, and neon signs. Language is a key player here, too. The Goa-born, Minneapolis-based Ganu speaks Marathi, English, Konkani, Hindi, Portuguese, and French. 2909 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis. Through November 12–Jessica Armbruster
Fall Forward Festival
The Cowles Center
The monthlong Fall Forward Festival is a crash course on the local dance scene, offering two to three new performances each evening from an impressive array of Minnesota dancers and troupes. Participating artists include Aparna Ramaswamy from Ragamala Dance; Black Label Movement, whose Riding the Maelstrom personifies chemotherapy; Twin Cities Ballet, who mix classic works with more experimental jaunts; and HIJACK, a long-running duo who describe themselves with words like “ecofeminist,” “queer,” “sex party,” “hoarder-house,” and “pandemic garden.” Whew. $30; find tickets here. 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 29-30, Nov. 5-6, 12-13, 19-20. 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Through November 20–Jessica Armbruster
Harriet Bart: Reckoning
NewStudio Gallery
“We live in a broken world,” warns Harriet Bart. “‘Reckoning’ is a cautionary tale.” This time, the St. Paul-based, international artist cautions us through creating a unique, site-specific space filled with a variety of items. Some hold cultural significance (a bronze owl, a model of a barn), some have been found in nature (a burl, animal bones), and others have been tampered with in-studio (a gold-leaf embossed stone). Will you be able to decipher and heed the warning? 2303 Wycliff St., St. Paul. Through December 3–Jessica Armbruster
Rosy Simas Danse: She Who Lives on the Road to War
Weisman Art Museum/All My Relations Arts
Part art installation, part dance performance, She Who Lives on the Road to War examines potential paths to a peaceful future via indigenous history. The exhibit’s title is inspired by the life of Jigonhsasee, an ancient Haudenosaunee woman, known as the Mother of Nations, who once touted war between tribes but eventually changed her ways and advocated for peace. Can you imagine what that kind of turnaround would look like in today’s world? That’s kind of the point of this show, which encourages people to rest, grieve, and “consider how we can all work towards reconciliation during the dual pandemics of systematic racism and COVID-19.” You can see installations at both WAM and All My Relations Arts, and both venues will host dance performances during the show’s run. RSVP for free tickets and find the entire performance schedule here. Weisman Art Museum’s (333 E. River Rd., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) show runs through February 5, while events at All My Relations (1414 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis) are through December 15.–Jessica Armbruster
We Are Working All the Time
Weisman Art Museum
Polish-born, Minneapolis-based artist Piotr Szyhalski creates posters that look like propaganda. But instead of promoting patriotism, he challenges the status quo, as his pieces proclaim things like, “Seek Truth From Facts,” “Rise Up!,” and “I can’t Breathe. If It’s No Covid, It’s the Police.” Szyhalski has been exploring “extreme historical phenomena” – think wars, labor movements, and protests against bad world leaders – since the ‘90s. In 2020, Szyhalski was set to have a retrospective exhibition at WAM. That show, of course, had to be postponed when the pandemic hit – an extreme historical phenomenon! During that time of lockdown and chaos, he entered another creative era, posting a new hand-drawn poster every day for 225 days. The resulting project, “COVID 19: Labor Camp Report,” was a hit, not just locally but internationally, with many pieces going viral. You can see some of these efforts in “We Are Working All the Time,” an epic exhibition showcasing Szyhalski’s 40-plus years of work, which includes posters, plates, installation, media, and other curious items. 333 E. River Rd., Minneapolis. Through December 31–Jessica Armbruster
