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Let's Hear Music Critic Scouting Reports on Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Not from Racket's music critic; Keith Harris was derelicting his duty while enjoying vacation in New Jersey. But Ross Raihala of the PiPress and Chris Riemenschneider of the Strib trekked out to Shakopee for last Saturday's soft-opening show at the 19,000-capacity, Live Nation-operated Mystic Lake Amphitheater. (While sharing a preview piece, Riemenschneider reported that Live Nation's local boss shut the interview down when Chris used the word "monopoly.")
Here's what our peers liked and didn't like at the suburban venue that's set to host 30 shows per year—including MGK on Monday night.
The Layout
"Ber and the other performers had ample room to spread out. So did Saturday’s 8,000 or so attendees, who got to choose between the general-admission pit area in front of the stage, the large artificial turf lawn at the back of the venue or the thousands of canopy-covered seats in between, all for the same ticket price (only for opening night). Only the wide swath of VIP areas required special access, reserved for the season-ticket holders and various sponsors," Riemenschneider writes.
The Sound
"The sound was top notch for an outdoor venue and was actually cleaner up on the lawn than it was a few rows back from the stage on the far left," Raihala writes.
The Food/Drink
"Overpriced beer and cocktails are seemingly everywhere, but most of the food options are located out of sight from the stage," Raihala writes.
"A few trouble spots popped up Saturday. Fans had trouble locating water fountains; mobile water filling stations with spouts seemed to be the only option. It was also impossible to find the $13 beer advertised at many of the bars on the ground level of the venue; the cheapest brews in stock at those stands were actually $16.50 24-ounce cans of Busch Light, while higher-end cans of Warpigs Foggy Geezer IPA tallboys went for $21. (Bars near the back plaza area, however, were selling 12-ounce cans of Rolling Rock for $5.)," Riemenschneider writes.
The Lines
"With the smaller crowd, traffic before and after the show was not a problem, and neither were lines at the many concession stands and bathrooms scattered all around the site. Those will all be fully tested with next week’s higher-selling concerts," Riemenschneider writes.
The Artificial Lawn
"It helped that the weather was just about perfect, but the overall vibe on the lawn was terrific. The amphitheater’s design makes it feel more intimate and closer to the action than any of the other arenas and stadiums in town. It is on a somewhat steep slope, though, which may be increasingly difficult to navigate after a few of those $5 beers. Whatever the case, in this era of jaw-dropping prices for concert tickets and concessions, it’s great to know there’s a bargain like the lawn out there," Raihala writes.
Better Know (and Appreciate) MN's "Trash Fish"
Bigmouth buffalo can live for 100+ years. The tasty drum hoovers up invasive zebra mussels. Gar, with their gnarly needle noses, look cool as hell.
Along with redhorse, quillback, suckers, and bowfin, they're among Minnesota's native "rough fish" or "trash fish," a Dangerfieldian class of species that, as we learn in Monday's Minnesota Reformer, is finally *tugs at necktie* getting some respect.
In 2024, our state became the nation's first to grant "a modicum of protection" to trash fish via the Native Fish Bill, Frank Bures writes for the Reformer. Three years earlier, University of Minnesota researchers contributed to a paper in Fisheries called “Goodbye to ‘Rough Fish’: Paradigm Shift in the Conservation of Native Fishes," which argued that less desirable native fish actually provide “ecosystem services" but they're "vulnerable to overfishing and decline.”
Bures chats with kid anglers, bowfishers, and others who celebrate trash fish—and worry about their fate with no catch limits in many stations, including Wisconsin. (Click over to Reformer to see wild photos of fish-teeming dumpsters.)
“It definitely makes you think twice when you’re shooting a fish that’s older than your grandparents," bowfisher Vern Bachmann says. "That fish survived for a 100 years, and now you’re just throwing it in the weeds. It’s like... what a waste. We’re literally wiping them out of existence.”
Huh: Introducing... the Twins Rally Dancers
Your 38-41 Minnesota Twins, who sit remarkably just 3.5 games outta first in their abysmal division, entered 2026 knowing gameday fun needed to be a bigger draw than baseball itself. That means more drink specials, more kiddo activities, and, as announced Monday, more 10-member dance crews called the Twins Rally Dancers.
"Made up of 10 members from throughout Twins Territory, the Twins Rally Dancers are ready to up the energy at Target Field with their high-octane dance routines and spontaneous fan interactions," according to the team. Uh huh... well, meet the likely talented TRD ladies, who'll perform at eight games through the rest of the summer:
If you're thinking the methodical, always-churning game of baseball doesn't seem conducive to "high-octane dance routines," you're thinking like 24 of 30 MLB teams; Joe Nelson of Bring Me the News could only find five other teams that employ dance squads. "Once again: the Pohlads will do literally anything but invest in the roster," reads the top-voted reaction to the Twins Rally Dancers news over on the Twins subreddit.
Reminder: Don't cross the picket line at tonight's Twins-Dodgers game—you can bring your food into Target Field!
Ironic Cap of the Summer? Become "MN Mao."
Did you know Alpha News recently released a dogshit documentary titled Minnesota Mao? It's an investigation into the communist past (and present?!) of Gov. Tim Walz, the same guy who bailed on union nurses, didn't stand up for rideshare drivers, and shut down talk of taxing the rich.
With its latest merch rollout, Alpha News is betting big that you have heard of Minnesota Mao because otherwise, well, this $30 hat is sure to baffle just about everybody who encounters it. (The $25 mug, meanwhile, at least depicts Walz as a badass-looking Chinese Communist Party revolutionary.)
Now, we're not advising that you give any amount of money to those MAGA grifters, but an irony-pilled leftist (we know you're out there) could have a lotta fun wearing a cap that sorta suggests you, the wearer, are Minnesota's answer to late CCP Chairman Mao Zedong. Mao famously said "serve the people," and you'll be serving lewks in this locally angled pro-communism fashion accessory!
