Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and beyond.
TUESDAY 10.17
Kevin Gates
Armory
Not long after this Baton Rouge rapper released his fantastic debut Islah in 2016, a felony weapons charge sidelined him. Much of what he released after he became a free man again, including the rat-a-tat “Intro” track that leads off Khaza, his latest, had me worried that time served had excessively hardened a rapper whose great strength was his three-dimensional emotional range. Good news, though: That album showcases the same alternately warm and prickly personality of a committed Muslim with a soulful drawl and a honeyed flow that won so many of us over on Islah. The hooks aren’t as bountiful as they were seven years ago, but whether demonstrating his criminal bona fides or softening up on a track called simply “I’m in Love,” Gates remains a singular rapper. So far this year, he’s re-released two 10-year-old mixtapes, The Luca Brasi Story and Stranger Than Fiction, and a handful of singles, including the firm but not quite arrogant “I Don’t Apologize.” With BigXThaPlug and DJ Chose. $57+. 8:30 p.m. 500 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
THURSDAY 10.19
TC Horror Fest XII
Crane Theatre
Put down your remote and stop binge streaming horror flicks: You can experience terrors live and in person at Crane. TC Horror Fest has been freaking us out with subtle spooks, old-fashioned thrills, terrifying comedies, and all-out gorefests for 12 years now, and it's back this season for another go. There’s Girls in Bins (The Rachel Teagle Effect), the story of a pregnant true-crime podcast fan who discovers a case that’s a little too familiar; Lock-In (WizardWax Productions), in which a pastor tries to solve a mystery from 1985 via a church overnighter; and Overtoun (Spiral Theater), the tale of a Scottish town with a bridge where dogs frequently jump to their death. Other productions include disembodied body parts, brain-stealing AI, and the never-not-creepy Rasputin. $15 per show; $70 special passes available. 2303 Kennedy St. NE, Minneapolis; find tickets and the complete schedule at tchorrorfestival.com. Through October 29—Jessica Armbruster
Wicked Weekend: ’90s Party
Inbound BrewCo
As the youngest Racket staffer, nothing makes me feel the horrifying passage of time quite like a themed party set during the decade I was a kid. (On one hand, of course old age comes for us all. On the other hand… even me??) “Dig out your denim jackets, bucket hats, and jelly shoes,” the folks at Inbound implore, for a weekend of ’90s fun that includes a Cake tribute band among other cover bands, decade-specific trivia from Trivia Mafia, and, of course, a costume contest in Inbound's Wicked Weekend photo booth. And I mean… bucket hats? Baby tees? Low-rise jeans? Fanny packs? Enough of this stuff has come back around that the ‘fit should be no problem. There’ll also be an arcade lounge all weekend long, plus ’90s-themed slushies and maybe even some new beers. Free. 7-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday. 701 N. Fifth St., Minneapolis. Through Saturday—Em Cassel
Twin Cities Film Fest
Showplace ICON
This is one of the big ones, folks. For the next two weeks, TCFF will cram over 140 films into 10 days of screenings. While some shows will stream online, most will be at Showplace ICON in the West End. (The full schedule is finally up online.) Highlights include Downtown Owl, the locally filmed movie based on Chuck Klosterman’s 1980’s tale of a deadly North Dakota snowstorm, and The Holdovers, a flick about an unpopular teacher (Paul Giamatti) stuck at school with a student over the holidays. This year’s categories include MN-made movies, LGBTQ works, healthcare documentaries, pieces by Black filmmakers, tons of horror (‘tis the season!), and spotlights on shorts. Non-screening events include director talks, red carpet parties, and a discussion with Terrence Howard, who will be in town to discuss his career past, present, and future. 1625 West End Blvd., Minneapolis; find showtimes, prices, and more info here. Through October 28—Jessica Armbruster
FRIDAY 10.20
Ms. Pat
Pantages Theater
At just 51, Ms. Pat has lived a lot of very colorful lives. We can’t recommend her 2014 appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast enough. In it, the real-life Patricia Williams talks about being shot and beaten as a drug-dealing young mother, among many other harrowing biographical topics. Things worked out alright: The Ms. Pat Show was just renewed for a fourth season on BET+, the special Y'all Wanna Hear Something Crazy? debuted last year on Netflix, and she’s playing theaters across the country. We’re glad the very funny Atlantan is enjoying a well-earned, later-in-life career victory lap with the current “Ya Girl Done Made It” tour. $30-$40. 7 p.m. 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Drag Tea Time
Phoenix Theater
Dinner and a show? How about a cup of tea, a show, and a side of gossip? This week, Dark Muses Performing Arts is hosting a free drag tea time where guests can grab a cup, enjoy some snacks, and celebrate BIPOC-focused drag with performers Aranya, Kamaree Williams, and Lady Cummeal. How is all this free? According to the event site: “This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.” Sweet! Dark Muses invites you to put on a cute outfit, live your best life, and "spill the tea"; it’s what that Kermit the Frog meme would want. Free; reserve a general admission spot on Eventbrite. 8 p.m. 2605 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.—Makenzi Johnson
SATURDAY 10.21
Fall Forward Festival
The Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts
This multi-date mega-showcase of all kinds of dance features a different mix of troupes and choreographers each weekend. Concerto Dance, Kaleena Miller Dance, and Afoutayi Haitian Dance, Music, and Arts Company are up the first week (Oct. 21-22), with new works from drum-based Afoutayi and modern rhythms from Kaleena. The second week celebrates the past and present, with traditional pieces and modern mashups from Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca, STRONGmovement, and Yuki Tokuda (Oct. 28-29). The final week has it all, with pieces touching on environmental destruction (Katha Dance Theatre), the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 (Shapiro & Smith Dance), and black holes and alternative dimensions (Alternative Motion Project). $30; Sunday shows are pay-as-able. 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find tickets here. Through November 5—Jessica Armbruster
Dia de los Muertos Festival
Union Depot
Now in its 11th year, this Day of the Dead party has ballooned into a broader celebration of Hispanic culture. This year the Depot will play host to not uno, not dos, but tres bands from Mexico (Tijuana No!, Mare Advertencia, Los Cogelones), plus performances from locals Lady Midnight, DJ Talia Knight, and DJ Superbrush427. There’ll also be towering puppets, alebrijes on bikes, face painting, dancing, spoken-word poetry, mucho art, and food from chef Hector Ruiz of Cafe Ena. $10-$15 ($5 for kids and elders; free for kids four and under). 2-11 p.m. 214 4th St. E., St. Paul; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Ciderfest
Minneapolis Cider Company
It’s a scientific fact that October is the best month for drinking large quantities of cider, be it hot or cold, mulled or not, alcoholic or the NA jugs of stuff you get at any farmstand. Ciderfest, organized by the Minnesota Cider Guild, is a cider celebration that brings together a number of local and regional cideries for an outdoor party at Minneapolis Cider Company, where they’ll also have food trucks (including The Anchor and KCM Eggrolls), live music, and more. $50-$60; $10 designated driver pass. 1-5 p.m. 701 SE Ninth St., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Em Cassel
Flyer Fest
HeadFlyer Brewing
Years ago City Pages published a delightful, deeply reported story about the Midwest-specific cultural importance of booyah—a thick stew cooked up in a giant kettle that’s ladled lovingly at large gatherings. Star Tribune Media Co. nuked the CP archives so… you'll have to read it via the Internet Archive! In any case, this booyah bash at HeadFlyer will have the meat pros from nearby Beast Barbecue cooking up the good stuff, as well as brats and other goodies. The brewery is collaborating with neighboring coffee shop Five Watt on a pumpkin-spiced porter (they’re no stranger to making a killer version of that seasonal Starbucks sweet treat), and the stage will be set for live music from Harlow, Frogleg Duo, and other surprise acts. $5. 2-10 p.m. 861 E. Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Lil Uzi Vert
Armory
Six years ago, with "XO Tour Llif3” and its haunting chorus of “Push me to the edge/All my friends are dead,” Uzi devised a kind of fist-pumping goth-rap that you might classify as this era’s nu-metal. In 2020, with Eternal Atake, the Philly rapper proved they had enough tricks at their command to fill an entire album. But Uzi’s best-selling 2022 follow-up, Pink Tape, is one of those overlong monstrosities that critics politely call “ambitious” before never listening to it again. They cover System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” They cop a melody from “I’m Blue” in the same year Bebe Rexha scored a hit by doing the same. Their guests include not just Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj but Babymetal and Bring Me the Horizon. Mess that Pink Tape is though, a fair amount of Uzi’s charisma and talent pokes through, and anyway most of its material is meant to be chanted along to in throngs at shows like this one. $120 and up. 8 p.m. 500 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
Nick Offerman
Mystic Lake Casino
Can we talk about how damn good Offerman’s performance was in that single episode of HBO’s Last of Us? (If we can’t, Variety already did.) Just another example of the artistic range from a man who, for better or worse, is synonymous with his incredible Ron Swanson character from Parks and Recreation. Offerman, 53, is something of a Renaissance man—actor on screen and stage, woodworker, author, and occasional song ‘n’ dance man. That latter pursuit is teased in the promo material for his current stage show, which promises: “a night of deliberative talking, mirth, and music… If the evening is light on dance, the audience has only themselves to blame.” $59-$79. 8 p.m. 400 Mystic Lake Blvd. NW, Prior Lake; find more info here.—Jay Boller
SUNDAY 10.22
In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Native photography past and present are showcased in Mia’s latest exhibit, “In Our Hands.” The collection, curated by Indigenous artists and scholars, covers over 130 years with imagery from First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Native American photographers, from early historical documentation to thoroughly modern photoshoots. “I truly believe that it is important for the legacy of all photographers to know this history, and it is the history of the land you are more than likely standing upon,” says consulting curator Jaida Grey Eagle. With over 150 images on display, the exhibition isn’t tied to time and place, but rather presented in themes. The first section explores Indigenous connections to the natural world, with highlights from foundational, mid-century, and female photographers. The second collection explores Native leadership, past present, and future, while the final section celebrates perseverance. Related events include an opening party, group discussions, an educators’ evening, and meetups. $20; 17 and under are free. 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis. Through January 14, 2024—Jessica Armbruster
ONGOING
The Nightmarish Nineties
Trylon
From The Heights’ “How Do You Talk to an Angel?” to Joe Lieberman droning sanctimoniously on about video game violence, the ’90s were truly nightmarish in many ways. But this month the Trylon is focusing on the good kinds of nightmares that decade dreamed up, and their selection of films make a strong argument for the ’90s as a hotbed of horror invention. There was innovation in the multiplexes, as represented by Candyman and the meta-slasher pop of the first two Scream movies. Truly disturbing films came from Japan and Europe, such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure and George Sluizer’s The Vanishing. (Yes the second one is from the late ’80s but shh.) There were low-budget sleeper hits like The Blair Witch Project and Oscar-approved films like The Silence of the Lambs. There’s also Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which I thought was kinda silly at the time but has won a following over the years for its lurid imagery (or maybe you pervs are just there for the pale, heaving bosoms). 2820 E 33rd St, Minneapolis; find complete dates, showtimes, and more info here. Through October 29—Keith Harris
Sever’s Fall Festival
Sever’s Farm
Getting lost in a corn maze? Sounds like the start of a horror movie. But in reality it’s just wholesome fun. Since 1997, Sever’s has hosted a huge maze meant for you to get turned around and confused in. They’re not just about large-scale crop art though—this festival has all kinds of fall activities. There’s a petting zoo with feisty goats and playful pigs, there are hay rides, there are hay sculptures, there’s a live music stage, fields of pumpkins, zip lining, and not one, but two corn pits (one is labeled as an “extreme” pit!). Bring the fam or your friends. Find tickets and more info at seversfestivals.com. $19-$22 online/$23-$26 at the gate; $45 season pass. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sat.-Sun., plus Thu.-Fri. Oct. 19-20. 3121 150th St. W., Shakopee. Through October 29—Jessica Armbruster
Travail Haunted Basement Bar
Travail Kitchen and Amusements
Now, me? I like to keep my mayhem and scares separate from my dinner and drinks, lest the latter make a reappearance after a particularly gruesome fright. But you might feel differently! Plenty of people do, if the success of this ongoing collaboration between Travail and the Haunted Basement is any indication. Here, a terrifying 10-course tasting menu (with optional cocktail pairings) meets mayhem from the Haunted Basement team in Travail’s fully decked-out downstairs bar. Costumes are encouraged. $79+. Seatings at 5:45 and 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday—and a very special spooky evening on October 31. 4134 Hubbard Ave. N., Robbinsdale; find tickets and more info here. Through November 4—Em Cassel
