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November? More Like YESvember. It’s Your Complete Concert Calendar: Nov. 19-25

Pretty much all the music you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

Photos provided|

White Boy Summer, Jess Williamson

I know you're slowing down, staying in, entering hibernation mode. But something on the list below might just rouse you from your spirit-sealed slumber.

Tuesday, November 19

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

Mr. Sam with Michael Gay @ Aster Cafe

International Reggae All-Stars @ Bunker's

  • Jess Williamson @ DakotaVarious gems are scattered throughout the discography of Jess Williamson, though the L.A.-based singer-songwriter evolved into her finest form with last year’s Time Ain't Accidental. On it, the Texas-born indie vet embraces twang, constructs a cohesive universe of cosmic heartache, and cements herself as an S-tier lyricist. Top to bottom, it was far and away my favorite album of 2023. Williamson, similar to her Plains bandmate Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), is able to deliver emotional haymakers via expert inflection and detail—find me a more devastating song than “Stampede.” But she’s also funny, paging through Raymond Carver at a poolside bar during a doomed romantic rendezvous, and musically adventurous, deploying drum machines and horns to liven up the country-folk foundation of her songs. Fans of Townes and Lucinda should run—not walk!—to the Dakota, where Williamson will be performing solo and acoustic.—Jay Boller

Johnny "Hot Hands" Kovarik @ Dark Horse

St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood

Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

  • Say Anything @ FillmoreWhen Max Bemis arrived on the emo scene, nothing about his 2004 Say Anything debut, ...Is a Real Boy, suggested the band was destined for a smooth career. That album, which is being celebrated in full tonight, is considered a masterpiece of the genre—sprawling, complex, fun, frustrated, and lyrically adventurous. It came with a prepackaged origin story about how Bemis suffered a full-on mental breakdown while recording it, and 20 years later fans still worry about the frontman, now a 40-year-old married father of five. The latest Say Anything album, May’s …Is Committed, has moments of brilliance ("Say Anything, Collectively, Made Love to God," "Psyche!"), but it also has a song titled “On Cum” and another, “I, Vibrator,” written from the perspective of his wife’s sex toy. (We, correctly, slammed the latter song here.) Like most of the mostly strong entries into SA’s discography, you take the good with the ummm. Thankfully, Redditors report this run of Real Boy anniversary shows is going off without a hitch.—Jay Boller

Toni Romiti with Karson Blu and AkediaTheRapper @ Fine Line

Amigo The Devil with TK & The Holy Know-Nothings and Rattlesnake Milk @ First Avenue

HebbaJebba (Album Release) with USPop & Nikki Lemire with Burning Blue Rain @ Green Room

Accordo @ Icehouse

Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central

Fuzzy Math @ Metronome Brewing

River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ Jen-E @ Mortimer's

New Band Night @ Palmer's

Native Sun with Northern Hammer and Mystery Meat @ 7th St Entry

Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks

Cody Manson with Avion, Big Smoke, $edulous, Ice Kings @ Studio B

Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar

Worker’s Playtime with Borrowed Light Press @ 331 Club

November Conspiracy Theory featuring Sammie Jean Cohen, Wild Lyre @ 331 Club

Ballyhoo with Keep Flying @ Turf Club

Wednesday, November 20

Shady Baby's Open Mic @ Acadia

Phora with Tyla Yaweh @ Amsterdam

  • White Boy Summer (Thomas Abban & L.A. Buckner) @ BerlinTwo local musicians with chops to spare (Abban on guitar, Buckner—as you read here—on drums) team up to "explore the entire spectrum of the African musical diaspora with reckless abandon." That spectrum might just be too expansive to cover in one night, but it should be fun to watch them try. Oh, and Buckner and his regular band, BiG HOMiE, will also be at the Dakota on Friday.

Twine @ Bunker's

Kinda Fonda Wanda @ Can Can Wonderland

Bad Posture Club with Voulouse @ Cedar Cultural Center

Diego Figueiredo @ Crooners

Haley @ Dakota

Kitchen Patrol and Joe @ Day Block Brewing

Giant Valley String Band @ Driftwood

Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34

G-Eazy @ Fillmore

Easy Honey with The Dalmatian Club and Kiernan @ Fine Line

Open Mic with host Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee

Vic Volare's Cocktail Karaoke @ Granada

Flavor Jam @ Green Room

JCS: Creative Collaborations @ Jazz Central

Emmy Woods @ Metronome Brewing

Maurice Jacox & the We Still R Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Mortiholics Residency @ Mortimer's

Cole Diamond @ Palmer's

Palace the Band with Luciana Grace and Jist @ Pilllar Forum

Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern

Hunter Root with Eli Gardner @ 7th St Entry

Breakers Paradise @ Terminal Bar

Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Brother Jon and Frensz @ 331 Club

Lenz & Frenz @ 331 Club

Cameron Whitcomb with Emmy Woods @ Turf Club

My Cousin's Girlfriend's House @ Underground Music Venue

St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel

DC Leonhardt @ White Squirrel

Story Night, Buried Animals, & Paper Beast @ Zhora Darling

Thursday, November 21

Groovetronix @ Acadia

Leanna Firestone with Brye @ Amsterdam

Matthew Griswold + Joan of Profile @ Aster Cafe

Fiesta: Breaks Edition @ Bar Zia

Michael Gold Trio @ Berlin

Wave Cage @ Berlin

Queer Cumbia Dance Party @ Black Hart

Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker's

Paul Metzger with Krissy Bergmark @ Cedar Cultural Center

Joyann Parker @ Crooners

Eric Benét @ Dakota

Emily and the Space Butterflies (Album Release) @ Day Block Brewing

Simple Motion, the Outcats, the Sigtones @ Driftwood

KFAI's Funkraiser @ Dual Citizen

LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34

Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34

Dangerbad, Paper Beast, Moon Pail @ Eagles 34

Snotty Nose Rez Kids with Travis Thompson and Bigg Kiaa @ Fine Line

Nate Smith with John Morgan @ First Avenue

Chastity Brown @ The Garage

Greenway Buskers @ Ginkgo Coffee

Fever Candlelight: A Tribute to Queen @ Granada

Snapped Live Band Open Night @ Green Room

Give to the Maxi – Pad Fundraiser with Afters, Charlie Boy, Dani Erin & Katy Tessman @ Hook and Ladder

Sound on Screen Feat. Patti DeMay, DGS, The Johnny Sincerely Orchestra, and Freaque @ Hook and Ladder

Drew Christopherson Vinyl DJ Night @ Icehouse

Better Lovers, Cloakroom, Full of Hell, Spy @ The Lyric

The Brian Givna Quartet @ Metronome Brewing

Curtiss A & Dark Click @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Mary Elias's Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Mega Musicals featuring Andrea Ross @ Orchestra Hall

Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer's

Ecphasis with Timberiver, Disembodied Humanity @ Pilllar Forum

Mubbla Buggs @ Schooner Tavern

Adam Ezra Group with Josh Joplin @ 7th St Entry

  • Sun Dogs @ NorthropThis Liquid Music event, which pairs up film and music, with new soundtracks performed by the ensemble Alarm Will Sound, could be something special. Among the directors are Thai slow cinema great Apichatpong Weerasethakul and the French crafter of West African reveries Mati Diop. Composers include Blood Orange-man Devonté Hynes and ghazal reworker Arooj Aftab.

Cross Pollination @ 331 Club

Tall Heights with Dug and Seven Pines @ Turf Club

The Braymores, Chutes @ Underground Music Venue

Sunshine Emblem and friends 01: A Sunken Ship Irony @ Uptown VFW

Eleusis Events Presents KATHARSIS: An Eclectic Dance Ritual.@ Uptown VFW

Devaney & Friends with the Changeups, Stone Arch Rivals @ White Squirrel

Friday, November 22

Heliocene @ Acadia

The Motet with Ethno @ Amsterdam

Atliens with Ghengar, Ravenscoon B2B Ahee, Stoned Level B2B Muerte, and Gunpoint @ Armory

Matthew French with Superior Siren @ Aster Cafe

Sorry For Party Rocking @ Bar Fly

58 Belvedere @ Berlin

Adam Harder Nussbaum Quintet @ Berlin

Haihli with Jantzonia @ Bryant Lake Bowl

GB Leighton @ Bunker's

Flowtus, Natalie Fideler, EFMI @ Can Can Wonderland

Monarch, Syfn, Leslie @ Caydence Coffee & Records

The Band of Heathens with Chris and Ari Silver @ Cedar Cultural Center

Loss Leader, Miracle Debt, Dingus, Powerdam @ Cloudland

Maggie's Afterglow: Dorothy Doring with Rick Carlson @ Crooners

The JoAnn Funk Trio @ Crooners

Mick Sterling @ Crooners

LA Buckner & BiG HOMiE feat. Kavyesh Kaviraj @ Dakota

Cronwood, My Cousin Dallas @ Driftwood

Umbrella Bed @ Eagles 34

Miss Shannon's 4th Friday Sock Hop with Honky Tonk Jump @ Eagles 34

Mark Ambor with kenzie @ Fine Line

Dylan Gossett with Waylon Wyatt @ First Avenue

Super Hecking Valid, The Dirty Pretty, The Esoteric Revival, Down on Curfew @ The Garage

Tin Cash Telephone, Roady Tate @ Ginkgo Coffee

Quarter Life Crisis @ Granada

Samabo @ Green Room

Trent Romans Band, JoJo Green, Clay Fulton & The Lost Forty @ Hook and Ladder

LAAMAR with The Holy North and Yonder @ Hook and Ladder

Dilly Dally Alley with 26 Bats!, Rabeca, + Big Blue Moon @ Icehouse

Chris Hepola: House on Fire Band @ Jazz Central

Devault @ The Loft

Lux String Quartet @ Metronome Brewing

Corey Medina & Brothers @ Minnesota Music Cafe

Juliet Farmer Release Show with The Envies + Absolutely Yours @ Mortimer's

Søndergård Conducts Mozart’s Requiem @ Orchestra Hall

Ray Covington @ Papa Legba

Ophiuchus! with Los Pinches Gûeys, Black Wine @ Palmer's

The High 48s with LaPlant Road @ Parkway Theater

Zaq Baker with Dingus and Big Lex Noens @ Pilllar Forum

Jiggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern

Dogpark with Meyru @ 7th St Entry

Joe Bonamassa @ State Theatre

Galleon, Cause for Cancer, In Solid Air @ Terminal Bar

  • Ahem, Vanity Plate, Wish Wash @ 331 ClubWhat a great little local indie lineup. Both Ahem's Avoider and Wish Wash's self-titled are worth your time, and the latter sounded great when I caught them at the 331 last month. Vanity Plate I'm less familiar with, but on first listen, their new Garden Path EP, defined by Jazmine Schultz's chirpy vocals, is a keeper. And of course this is a 331 show so it's free (but bring cash to tip the bands, ya cheapskate).

Not Quite Brothers with Rebel Queens @ Turf Club

Final Decision, Habeas Corpus, Exiled IA, Kalot @ Underground Music Venue

50 Years of T-La @ Uptown VFW

Allie X @ Varsity Theater

Kelly Hunt & Kelley Smith @ White Squirrel

Queen Jeanne with the Sparks @ White Squirrel

MegaMusicals featuring Andrea Ross @ Woman's Club of Minneapolis

Second Hand Dan @ Zhora Darling

Saturday, November 23

DJ Cam Jones @ Acadia

Moneygang Empire @ Acadia

Joel Kim Booster @ Amsterdam

Dylan Hicks & Small Screens with Sam & I @ Aster Cafe

BZ3 Organ Trio @ Berlin

Carpel/Goodroad/Hurtado @ Berlin

El Niño Indigo @ Berlin

70s Magic Sunshine Band @ Bunker's

Pretty Pretty Please, Owen Trelstad, and Administrative Leave @ Can Can Wonderland

Val Son, Little Fevers, Delicate Friends @ Cloudland

Maggie's Afterglow: Dorothy Doring with Rick Carlson @ Crooners

Tommy Stinson @ Dakota

Slovechev, Soul Trustees @ Driftwood

Jef Cierniak Triptet @ Driftwood

5 Cent Reality, Chandlers House @ Dusty's

Kip Moore @ Fillmore

Broadway Rave @ Fine Line

Pond with Fazerdaze @ First Avenue

Justin Barts @ Gambit Brewing

Rise of the Clockwork, Corsair, Sons of Bliss, Good Trouble @ The Garage

Curtis & Loretta @ Ginkgo Coffee

Bollywood Party - All White @ Green Room

Gently, Gently with Crush Scene, & KYM and the Kick @ Hook and Ladder

Basement Apartment, Denim Matriarch, & Muun Bato @ Hook and Ladder

Bain featuring Nicolay (Album Release) @ Icehouse

Ethan Ostrow Quartet ft. Nick Marziani @ Jazz Central

WPK Trio @ Metronome Brewing

High & Mighty @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing

Souvin Khamchaifue and Hmoob Yan @ Myth Live

Søndergård Conducts Mozart’s Requiem @ Orchestra Hall

Art Beagle Backup Band @ Padraigs

Cory Wong ft. Mark Lettieri with Couch @ Palace Theatre

Mama Digdown's Brass Band and Southside Aces @ Parkway Theater

Bora Presents: Seep @ Red Sea

Erin McCawley's Harrison Street Band @ Schooner Tavern

Porch Light with Callback, Squirm and Emily Rhea @ 7th St Entry

Trivecta @ Skyway Theatre

Joe Bonamassa @ State Theatre

Bellerpuss, Atomic Lights, YUHH @ Terminal Bar

FénixDion, Valors, Corner, Chef!  @ 331 Club

Radiochurch with Aiden Intro and Beemer @ Turf Club

Huntsmen, Another Heaven, Mold, & Cache @ Underground Music Venue

Erik Koskinen Band + Robinella @ Uptown VFW

Jessica Audiffred Presents Rave New World @ Varsity Theater

Cassie Brady Trio with Taylor James Donskey @ White Squirrel

Color Chord with Red Eye Ruby, Joan of Profile @ White Squirrel

Dust of Suns Ensemble @ Woman's Club of Minneapolis

Products Band, Cult Vibes, & Panel @ Zhora Darling

Sunday, November 24

Bad Diver @ Acadia

Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Curated by Adam Linz (feat. Le Percheron) @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo's Combo @ Bunker's

12 Rods, Mellow Cassette @ Cloudland

Lori Dokken @ Crooners

Robert Everest (Album Release) @ Crooners

Corky Siegel & Ernie Watts @ Dakota

Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood

Emerson Woodshed Collective @ Dual Citizen

Johnny Cash @ Eagles 34

Rogue Tango @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

guardin with kennedyxoxo @ Fine Line

IDKHOW with ALEXSUCKS @ First Avenue

Synastry Sundays @ Green Room

Self-Evident, Museum of Light, Dug @ Icehouse

Sunday Jazz Series: NxtGn @ Metronome Brewing

DJ Minnie Blanco @ Mortimer's

Cory Wong ft. Mark Lettieri with Couch @ Palace Theatre

Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's

Eat Lava with Reticent, Briefly Gorgeous, Gridlick, H. Rex @ Pilllar Forum

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern

Nate Bergman with Ryan Gebhardt and Molly Maher @ 7th St Entry

Bumblebee Music @ Sociable Cider Werks

Jon Edward’s Trio (with Charlie and Mikkel) @ 331 Club

The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club

Eleven Degenerates @ 331 Club

Cain & Co. @ White Squirrel

The Stondest with Lost Evidence, Observant @ White Squirrel

Monday, November 25

Canin & Carinda's Variety Open Mic @ Acadia

Kindohm & Jesse Whitney @ Berlin

Irish Christmas in America @ Dakota

Twine Night @ Driftwood

Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34

World Music Monday @ Eagles 34

November Mondays, Curated by Mike Lewis @ Icehouse

Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s

The Th3 @ Palmer's

Boots & Needles, John Niemann @ Schooner Tavern

Open Mic @ Terminal Bar

HonkyTonk Ranch @ 331 Club

Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club

Krooked Kings with Caleb Dee @ Turf Club

The Dans @ White Squirrel

Graden Hill @ White Squirrel

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