There's some rockin' goin' on during the first week of Rocktober, but as my brilliant headline points out, there's a lot of country and hip-hop as well. Plus Jlin!
Tuesday, September 30
Creekbed Carter Hogan, Anna p.s., The Weeping Covenant @ Amsterdam
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Symbio @ Cedar Cultural Center
Tim Sparks, Ben Abrahamson, Tom Lieberman @ Dakota
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Willi Carlisle with The Lowest Pair @ Fine Line—Carlisle’s queer, class-conscious country music just keeps getting angrier and hornier. His latest, Winged Victory, starts off with the self-explanatory “We Have Fed You For 1000 Years,” proceeds to the some-explanation-required downhome waltz “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears,” and then wallops you upside the libido with the beyond-explanation “Big Butt Billy,” a verbal ogling of a nonbinary diner waitron that climaxes with a 12-line ejaculation of wonder from Carlisle you’ve just gotta hear for yourself.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with Humanist @ First Avenue
Bobby Rethwish, Demos and Deadlines, Flicker, and Robin Wood @ Green Room
Two Sundays Big Band @ Jazz Central
Pop Punk Princess @ Mortimer’s
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Irish Trad Session: Blue Moon Edition @ Padraig’s
Sombr with Devon Gabriella @ Palace Theatre
Dicqbeats with KFC Murder Chicks and Bejalvin @ Pilllar Forum
- Water From Your Eyes with Her New Knife @ 7th St Entry—As a true man of The People, I recoil in principle from indie obscurantists like Nate Amos and Rachel Brown. In practice, though, I love their new album, It’s a Beautiful Place—sorry, The People, you lose again. The new album is a little more focused than the duo’s debut, Everyone’s Crushed, without assaying anything like pop. But listen up and you’ll hear Brown’s wan vocals non-obscurely express quotidian sentiments like “I just want to fight you ’cause I’m tired,” and Amos just imaginatively guitars all over the place—ordinary song structures would just fence him in. It’s a Beautiful Place is also very funny musically, which is a plus if not a necessity when offbeat time signatures are your specialty.
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
September Conspiracy Series featuring We Are The Willows, Nick Elstad (Sleeping Jesus) @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Paul Bergen @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Kneeland & Moreno (Residency) with Daniel Johannes & Rachel Wyre @ White Squirrel
LOUM, Finesse, Darkling I Listen, & Spectres of Desire @ Zhora Darling
Wednesday, October 1
jadu heart with Abby Sage @ Amsterdam
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Presents: Bible Study Open Jam @ Berlin
Michael Grooves Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Céilí Dancing @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
- Tune-Yards with Kassa Overall @ Fine Line—The Oakland duo Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner have never been more straightforward than on the latest Tune-Yards album, Better Dreaming. By their standards, that is—the two retain a complicated relationship with the beats and arrangements of R&B. The downside of this accessibility move is that it curtails some of the expressive eccentricities that make Garbus herself in favor of a vocal strength that’s remarkable but hardly unique. The plus is that it brings Brenner’s melodic basslines front-and-center. Oh, and tracks like “Limelight,” which is straight up Dazz Band funk with Garbus chanting that it’s “seven years until the Jubilee” when “We all get free,” might just net ’em a few more listeners. And if not, there’s always the four-song follow-up EP Tell the Future With Your Body. Forward-thinking, genre-defiant jazz drummer Kassa Overall is the perfect opening act; on his latest CREAM, his band jazzes up hip-hop standards by the likes of Biggie, OutKast, and of course, Wu-Tang.
2hollis with nate sib and Rommulas @ First Avenue
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Eilen Jewell @ Hook and Ladder
Makr Presents the Collection @ Icehouse
Pat Donohue & Friends @ Midway Saloon
Titus Canby @ Minnesota Music Cafe
d'Lakes (Residency), Thoughtcast, Alonzo, Mortiholics @ Mortimer’s
King Kustom & the Cruisers @ Schooner Tavern
- Oddisee with Mati and JuneThaKid @ 7th St Entry—This unflaggingly thoughtful and decent D.C.-area rapper is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his breakthrough, The Good Fight, where he proved he had the skills to make “unflaggingly thoughtful and decent” as vital a rap persona as any of the nasty alternatives. And though I think he peaked a couple years later with The Iceberg (one of only two albums he’s released since), The Good Fight both holds up as a statement of purpose and serves as a terrific introduction if you’ve slept on him. As a bonus, you’ve got two great local rappers on the undercard.
Sleep Token with Thornhill @ Target Center
Open Mic with Grant Dawson @ 318 Cafe
Bosso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Drew Peterson @ 331 Club
Worlds Worst with Peeler @ Underground Music
Silent Planet/Invent Animate @ Varsity Theater
Hunny Bear (Residency) with Chroma, B' N The Spice Cabinet @ White Squirrel
Thursday, October 2
Anna Houston and Kenzie Hanley @ Aster Cafe
Nelson Devereaux Trio (Album Release) with headtriiip @ Berlin
Nat Harvie & Skyler Hawkins @ Berlin
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
The Belfast Cowboys @ Crooners
Vagaduex & Zoe Says Go @ Driftwood Char Bar
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Ruston Kelly with Sam MacPherson @ Fine Line
Low Cut Connie with Monica LaPlante and Judy Blank @ First Avenue
The Cameras with LaSalle, FènixDion, & Pullstring @ Hook and Ladder
Fuchsia’s Return Show @ Icehouse
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar & Grill
Megastellar Open Mic @ Midway Saloon
Dirty Lowdown Fools @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Royel Otis with bby @ Palace Theatre
Ditch Pigeon with the Delviles and Smokin' Joe @ Pilllar Forum
Bobby J’s West Band Social Club @ Schooner Tavern
Noeline Hofmann @ 7th St Entry
Jason Paulson with Mike Gleason & Nate O'Connor @ 318 Cafe
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Frankie and the Witch Fingers with Population II @ Turf Club
SYNASTRY: girlblunt, Luzia Fuschia, PRSPHNE, starthirl @ Uptown VFW
- Jlin @ Walker Art Center—No one makes music like Jlin. While still working at a Gary, Indiana, steel mill, she devised her own take on the fast-paced Chicago ghetto house descendant called footwork. There was a rigorous logic to Jlin’s compositions, even when they were theoretically designed for the dancefloor, so it’s somewhat predictable that she’s gone the gallery route. (And hell, it’s probably steadier work.) In the past she’s worked with late hyperpop genius Sophie and compulsive collaborators Kronos Quartet without blunting her style. Tonight, she performs n! = 3! (Permutation of Three), working with improvisatory dancer Leonardo Sandoval, violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, and members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. I know pretty much what it’ll sound like. And yet, if you get my drift, I also have no idea what it will sound like at all. My most anticipated show of the fall.
Chris Davies & the Afterparty with the Appetizers @ White Squirrel
The Over-Unders with Creechers, John Forest & the Model Citizens @ White Squirrel
Friday, October 3
French Police with Riki @ Amsterdam
Dabin with Trivecta, Chyl, and Tisoki @ Armory
Kevin Washington & RA Spirit @ Berlin
Y2K Party/Nigeria Independence Party @ The Bazemnt
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
Grilled Cheese Jamboree @ Cabooze
Kingfishr with Scout Willis @ Cedar Cultural Center
1971: The Beat Goes On with Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs @ Crooners
Glass Eyed Brothers with Sleepy Eye @ Day Block Brewing
The Great Northern, the Cody Steinmann Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
The Northerly Gales @ Dubliner Pub
The Working Stiffs with Miss Shannon @ Eagles 34
The Party of a Showgirl @ Fine Line
- Rico Nasty with Sadboi @ First Avenue—Rico can rap-rock with the nastiest of ’em, emote with the emo-est of’em, and ride an 808 till dawn. Her best albums are like minefields she traipses through, setting off joyful mayhem. But despite its all cap song titles, even the most punk-ass bitches out there can survive her latest, Lethal. That’s no reason to stay home though, not if Rico even puts on half the show she did when I caught her two years ago at Amsterdam.
Chicken Wire Empire, The Brothers Allmanac @ Hook and Ladder
Autechre with Mark Broom @ Icehouse
Galaxy Express - Nils Westdal featuring Kavyesh Kaviraj @ Jazz Central
VLCA with Brainrack @ The Loft
Free and Easy @ Mainstreet Bar and Grill
Lux Quartet @ Metronome Brewery
Shotgun Johnny, Grieving Pines, & Catfish Troy @ Midway Saloon
The Johnnie Brown Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass @ O’Shaughnessy
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Yellow Ostrich (Album Release) with Kate Malanaphy and Bird Dog @ Pilllar Forum
Erin McCawley’s Harrison Street Band @ Schooner Tavern
Michael Minelli with The Color 8 and Dave Luv @ 7th St Entry
Afflatus, Cigarette Picnic @ 331 Club
The Stews with Moon Walker @ Turf Club
Lorraine-Deitrich, BLVCKBVRN, & SYFN @ Underground Music
Feral Dance: Gothic Gala @ Uptown VFW
Gasolina Reggaeton Party @ Varsity Theater
The Harrys with Middle States, Billy Dankert, & Andy Jensen @ White Squirrel
Wren & Wilde w. J.EM @ White Squirrel
Saturday, October 4
Pool Kids with Truth Club and PONY @ Amsterdam
Connor Garvey with Nova Mueller @ Aster Cafe
Charlie Bruber @ Barely Brothers
Nigeria Independence Celebration @ The Bazemnt
Jumpsuit Funk & Disco Dance Party @ Black Hart
Afrobeats to the World @ Cabooze
John McCutcheon @ Cedar Cultural Center
Rad Owl, Kids on Fire, Linus @ Cloudland
Southern Nights: A Tribute to Glen Campbell @ Crooners
Mr. Specific with Massive Green and Weald @ Day Block Brewing
The Record Club @ Driftwood Char Bar
Speed Riders, Yuhh, Spud and His Buds @ Dusty’s
Destroyer with Jennifer Castle @ Fine Line
- Garbage with Starcrawler @ First Avenue—Anniversary tours? What, them? As their contemporaries limp along through half-earned victory laps, these heartless alt-omatons continue to wham and bam and thank no man with the most solid late-career work this side of NiN—all while calling out genocide in Gaza. Their newest album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light tends too much toward the atmospheric after the foursquarely political No Gods No Masters. But “There’s No Future in Optimism” and Shirley Manson assures “Sisyphus” that “This little body of mine is gonna make things right.” Empathy isn’t exactly Shirley Manson’s strength, but she’ll do what she can.
Nigeria Independence Party with Dj Ola, DJ Enl, and DJ Oracle @ Gidi’s Bar and Lounge
Pat Donohue and the Prairie All Stars @ Ginkgo Coffee
Caroline Kingsbury + Maris @ Green Room
The Belfast Cowboys @ Hook and Ladder
Vinyl + Vibes 6: BIRTHDAY BANGERS Edition @ Hook and Ladder
Shadowlands (feat S. Carey and John Raymond) @ Icehouse
Mary Petrich and OpenHand Quartet @ Jazz Central
Jacuzzi Puma @ Mainstreet Bar & Grill
Laura Hugo & Eldest Daughter @ Metronome Brewery
The Original Westside Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Alvaro Bermudez & Greg Zelek @ Northrop
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Fountain of Eternity: A Musical Journey Inspired by the Poetry of Rumi @ O’Shaughnessy
Jesse y Joy @ Pantages Theatre
Friendly Spectres with Time Room, River Sinclaire, and Darkling I Listen @ Pilllar Forum
The de’Lindas, Just Luv, Inc. @ Schooner Tavern
Fly by Midnight with Moon Tower @ 7th St Entry
- Aly & AJ with Amanda Shires @ Skyway Theatre—The Laurel Canyon-inspired Silver Deliverer that sisters Aly & AJ Michalka released this year may be a far cry from their output as kiddie TV stars two decades ago, but it’s still odd to see them touring with country dynamo Amanda Shires in support. Alongside—or rather, apart from—Jason Isbell, Shires is one half of the Great Americana Divorce of 2023, and her latest, Nobody’s Girl, is the “she said” to the “he said“ of Isbell’s Foxes in the Snow. (For more backstory, check out Natalie Weiner’s excellent Texas Monthly profile.) And damn, never marry a songwriter—or at least never dump her if you do. Think “He erases the details/And I'm history” sounds bitter? Wait for “The thing is, he justifies it, using me/And cashing in on our marriage.” But what comes across mostly on Nobody’s Girl is pain, as Shires cycles through all the responses to heartbreak we’ve each endured, even turning to Billy Joel’s The Stranger at one point. Also, the gal who got recruited by the Texas Playboys at 15 still plays a mean fiddle. Hope she joins the Michalkas on "Potential Breakup Song."
Bill Chadwick & Monica Livorsi @ 318 Cafe
The Hilltop Pines, Jeremy Porter, The Right Here @ 331 Club
Swervedriver with Porcupine @ Turf Club
Marina City and Stock Market Cinema @ Underground Music
Superfloor with Glass & Dick Williams Folk @ White Squirrel
Poor John Candy with Dirtbike Boyfriend & Dwell @ White Squirrel
The Hell & the Quiet @ White Squirrel
Harlow, The Part Timers, Lone Rock Bride, & Ava Levy @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, October 5
Splash, The Brothersons, Leaf, Tomas Flores @ Acadia
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Jessica Vines & Conor Lee @ Aster Cafe
Steven C & Friends @ Aster House
Old and New Friends with Bryan Nichols: Two Trios @ Berlin
Monthly Bluegrass Jam @ Caydence Records and Coffee
Nidia Gongora @ Cedar Cultural Center
Mary Louise Knutson Trio @ Crooners
Phine and Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Joel Shapira Trio @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Arcola, Glass Eyed Brother @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Mae and The Spill Canvas with Cheap Bouquet @ Fine Line
The Sword with Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol and Pink Fuzz @ First Avenue
Malevolent Melodies with Mark Billy, Kiegan Ryan, and Josh Wang @ Granada
Davina & the Vagabonds @ Hewing Rooftop
The Drift: A Night of Vinyl @ Mortimer’s
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead @ Palace Theatre
Jimmy Webb with Pete Mancini @ Parkway Theater
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Winter with Hooky @ 7th St Entry
Blackbraid with Lamp of Murmuur and Dödsrit @ Turf Club
Flagman, Million.point.Million @ Underground Music
Thou, Mycorrhizae, Kostnatění @ Underground Music
Jack Yoder & The Double Wide Disaster with Orchid Club & colin roy monette @ Uptown VFW
Mere Cats with the John Magnuson Trio @ White Squirrel
Miss Christine with Eldest Daughter & Joe Bartel @ White Squirrel
Monday, October 6
Massive Monday’s Reggae @ Cabooze
The Great Irish Sing-Along @ Dubliner Pub
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
MICO with vaultboy @ Fine Line
Hazlett with lighthearted @ First Avenue
Ches Smith Clone Row with Mary Halvorson, Liberty Ellman & Nick Dunston @ Icehouse
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Harvest: A Neil Young Tribute @ Parkway Theater
Runnner with Hana Eid @ 7th St Entry
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Taylor James Donskey with the Daily Norm, Jon Elconin @ White Squirrel
BrotherWonder with Halle Hanson @ White Squirrel
Martí Moreno, J Mo On the Beat & the J-Lighters, & Rada K and the Cicadas @ Zhora Darling
