The Taxpayers, Ryan Cassata, Baby Mahi and the Sitters @ Underground Music—This largely Portland-based (OR, that is), Minneapolis-affiliated folk-punks got introspective last year. When Rob Taxpayer wondered "Where have all my oldest friendships gone?" in his yearning Weakerthan warble, the line was poignant even if you didn’t know that Circle Breaker was yet another album partially recorded in memory of August Golden, the local musician killed at punk house Nudieland in 2023. But 2026 called for defiance, and in league with L.A. singer-songwriter Ryan Cassata (also on the bill tonight), the Taxpayers stepped up. Somehow back in February I missed “Power Trippin’ Dipshits,” one of the year’s great ICE protest numbers about toting “water guns filled up with our piss” as they joyously take on the fascists. Cassata takes lead vocals on “We Don’t Fuck With Cops.” Both tracks will be available on a split 7-inch tonight, with proceeds going to immigrant families affected by ICE. This show itself is a benefit for Twin Cities Trans Mutual Aid.

…and i found a way, MΩTHER, Lungs, inflict., motée @ Underground Music

Synastry @ Uptown VFW

Gimme Gimme Disco @ Varsity

Letho & Wright @ White Squirrel

Deep Fortune, Storm Coffee, 4 Star Review @ White Squirrel

Freak of the Week with Mike "Agent-X" Clark @ Zhora Darling

Saturday, April 4

Breathe Eazy Entertainment @ Acadia

Cornbread Harris & Friends @ Animales

Beemer @ Animales

Midnight Til Morning @ Amsterdam

Thomas Sticha @ Aster Cafe

Coming to America with Mr. Mankato @ Bazemnt

Two Peace Suite @ Bear Cave

JVP’s Little Trio @ Berlin

Anthony Bruno Trio @ Berlin

Pastrami @ Berlin

Jumpsuit! @ Black Hart

Stereo Kitchen @ Bunker’s

Afrobeats to the World @ Cabooze

Dan Israel & Steve Brantseg @ Carbone’s

Mei Semones with John Roseboro @ Cedar Cultural Center

Erin and Jay Cabaret @ Crooners

Andrew Walesch and His Orchestra @ Dakota

The Great Northern, Witness Trips, Compass Rose @ Driftwood Char Bar

The Northerly Gales @ Dubliner Pub

Wildrose Fox @ Dubliner Pub

Jeffrey Robert Larson & the Kings of Neon, Devil Dodger, Chokecherry @ Dusty’s

New Riverside Ramblers @ Eagles 34

Underground Dance feat. Mix Phix, Exhume @ Eagles 34

Ungreatful Little String Band @ Eagles 34

Landon Conrath, Abby Holliday @ Fine Line

Dirtwire, Will Evans @ First Avenue

Fragged Out, Nile Flows Red, SLDG, Sclera, A Martyrs Dilemma @ Flying V

Immersion: Carnival of Dreams with Fallon @ Green Room

4onthefloor @ Icehouse

Take That Back feat. Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield @ Jazz Central

Loan Sum, Zuzu Black, Gelding @ Klash Coffee

Midnight T @ The Loft

Whiskey Stone @ Mainstreet Bar

MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery

Jaybee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe

DJ TNA @ Modist

Mammoth @ Mystic Lake

Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus: Wicked Wisdom @ Orchestra Hall

Mill City Hot Club @ Padraigs

Phantom Fears, In Your Eyes @ Parkway

Bellerpuss, Jaw Knee Vee, Bimbo @ Pilllar Forum

Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern

Boys Go To Jupiter, Clean Plate Club @ 7th St Entry

Jeff Dayton's Big Birthday Bash with Mark Bendickson & Gary Lopac @ 318 Cafe

Cole Diamond @ 331 Club

Eleganza and Friends @ Turf Club

Clayton Ryan, St. Rangers, Matcha Fever @ Turf Club

Rewind: The Ultimate 2000s Rave @ Varsity

Pogo Ballet, the Adjacents @ White Squirrel

Jeffry Becker and the Gentlemen @ White Squirrel

My Kid Banana, History Repeats Herself, Rat Fight @ White Squirrel

Kiss the Tiger, Tabah, Diane @ Zhora Darling

Mary Halvorson: Canis MajorPhoto provided

Sunday, April 5

Raq Baby @ Amsterdam

Boozewater @ Animales

Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe

Washington Express: Laeton Olaleye/Callum Schultz/Kevin Washington @ Berlin

Dr. Mambo’s Combo @ Bunker’s

Mary Halvorson: Canis Major with Nelson Devereaux @ Cedar Cultural Center—As Halvorson’s reputation and her innovation have grown, so have her ambitions. And so in recent years this singular jazz guitarist has worked with slightly larger, more sprawling ensembles, particularly sextets, as on her most recent album, About Ghosts. But with the quartet Canis Major, which she convened last year, she’s scaled back—in personnel, that is, not in artistry. Her smallest band in about a decade features frequent collaborator Tomas Fujiwara on drums along with trumpeter Dave Adewumi and bassist Henry Fraser. Minneapolis-based saxophonist Devereaux works in a broad range of styles, from traditional jazz to his synthy project Reel Mu$ic as Cool Nel D.

Jane Siberry @ Dakota

Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar

Tim on Tap @ Dubliner Pub

Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub

Country Doctors @ Eagles 34

Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34

Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34

Rosenau & Sanborn, Joe Westerlund @ Icehouse

Half Baked @ Midway Saloon

Tannins (Residency) @ Mortimer’s

Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern

Music Jam @ Schooner Tavern