I try to stick to recommendations here—you don't need me to suggest shows to avoid. But I took a few detours this week to lambaste a has-been or two and explain, as best I could, Malcolm Todd to over-40s (I hear there are few of them in our readership).
Tuesday, October 6
- Chance the Rapper @ Armory—Hard to believe that 34-year-old Chance is already reduced to anniversary tours, but yes, this show will celebrate his breakthrough, Coloring Book, released just 10 years ago. Three years later, the energetic Chicagoan would drop The Big Day, or maybe I should say that The Big Day would drop him—somehow a joyful album about his wedding instantly dried up all the goodwill Chance had accumulated. As not just an apologist but an actual fan of that album, I’ll stand by what I said at the time: “A lot of people who feel uncomfortable calling gospel and/or grandmas corny are super-eager to tell you they’re too cool for love songs.” In any case, the 2016 mixtape still sounds great: If gravity brings us all down to Earth, that doesn’t mean Chance couldn’t momentarily defy it. Whether he’s able to levitate back up to its level live remains to be seen.—Keith Harris
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
Johnny Kovarik & the Mighty Kind @ Carbone’s
- Rufus Wainwright @ Dakota—Though he’s been touring concert halls with his Judy Garland: Wanted revue, the singer-songwriter won’t be featuring Ms. Gumm’s material in her home state. For this solo Dakota stand, he’ll be sticking with his own material, along with some songs by Jean Renoir, Leonard Cohen, and his pop, Loudon, who’s no stranger to the Dakota stage himself.—Keith Harris
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Sex Pistols @ Fillmore—Rake in that filthy lucre while you can, boys. It's what Malcolm would have wanted. I hear the PiL show at First Ave last month was pretty great.—Keith Harris
- Tricky @ Fine Line—How perfect for the trip-hop avatar to re-emerge just in time for spooky season. Different When It’s Silent, Tricky’s first album as Tricky since 2020, is a return to form that also flips the script. His m.o. remains: hypnotic, hydraulic grooves, his own demonically grizzled voice contrasted with a more angelic singer up top. But where in the past femmes have played that role, a Bristol alt-rocker by the name of Mitch Sanders glides in here. It ain’t Maxinquaye, of course, but fear not—Tricky’s setlist features plenty from that monstrous debut, including his paradigm-shifting cover of PE’s “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.”—Keith Harris
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in Concert @ Fitzgerald Theater
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Bluewater Kings Showcase @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Bill Simenson Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Old Time Music Workshop and Jam @ Padraigs
sunn O))) with Stebmo & Bill Herzog @ Palace Theatre
Mississippi Mosaic, Ditch Pigeon, J-Mo and the Lighters @ Pilllar Forum
Elizabeth Nichols, Soren Anderson @ 7th St Entry
October Conspiracy Series feat. Ditch Pigeon, Whispers the rabbit, Girdle of Judith @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Paul Bergen @ 331 Club
Chasing Abbey, Áit Ait @ Turf Club
Our Lady Peace @ Varsity Theater
Thomas Sticha @ White Squirrel
Main Street Free, Aly Dyg, Fiona Hayes @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, October 7
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
Cinema Sorcery feat. Thunderbolt Pagoda & Witching Hour @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
National Park After Dark @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Songs and Musings of Warren Zevon @ Crooners
Cornbread 99—Live Recording @ Crooners
- Rufus Wainwright @ Dakota—see Tuesday's listings.
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Pinhead Gunpowder @ First Avenue
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Red PK, Walker Rider, Chutes @ Green Room
Jon “Papa” Gros with Demetrious Rallis @ Hook and Ladder
- Wren + Wilde (Album Release), Haley E. Rydell @ Icehouse—Hilary Yoder’s warm, assured voice and writing stand out on local country outfit Wren + Wilde’s debut album, Serial Dreamers. You gotta admit the pluck of the title track, about pursuing one unrealized dream after another. Filling out the sound are a number of notable Twin Cities players, including opener Rydell, whose fiddle adds drama to half the tracks here.—Keith Harris
Pat Donahue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Tytus Canby @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- Beck, Ioanna Gika @ Orpheum Theatre—Heartfelt Beck is the worst Beck, and his new album, Ride Lonesome, is the worst heartfelt Beck.—Keith Harris
Leonid & Friends @ Pantages Theatre
Sylvia May & the MayDays, Joan of Profile, Third Goodbye @ Pilllar Forum
Robert Wilkinson, Steve Brantseg @ Schooner Tavern
The Bright Light Social Hour @ 7th St Entry
Open Mic with Grant Dawson @ 318 Cafe
Bosso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Drew Peterson @ 331 Club
Chris Housman, Creekbed Carter Hogan @ Turf Club
The Second Stringers @ White Squirrel
Maybe So, Scruffian, Tommy Boynton @ White Squirrel
Thursday, October 8
Matty & the Subtle Validation @ Acadia
Nikki Lemire Trio @ Aster Cafe
Effy & Kwey Present Off-Wax feat. Mack OC @ Berlin
Chris Graham, Dan Carpel @ Berlin
Crates: Karpeh by Cautious Clay @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Anna Johnson (Album Release), Matthew Rahaim & Davu Seru, Glass @ Cedar Cultural Center
Katie Gearty and Frank Merchlewitzin @ Crooners
Mia Dorr Presents Barbra Streisand @ Crooners
Ellie Jackson, Hemma, We Are the Willows @ Cloudland
Leslie Rich and the Rocket Soul Choir @ Dubliner Pub
Interstellar Signals @ Dusty’s
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Amélie Farren, Lilith Max, Rabbitology @ Fine Line
Zoso—The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience @ Fitzgerald Theater
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
32nd Street Jazz @ Metronome Brewery
Rooms on Fire @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mary Elias’s Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Return of the Jedi in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
FreeWhenSees, Weald, Fruit Form @ Pilllar Forum
Mary Rancone & Last Chance @ Schooner Tavern
Dana and Alden, Alex Amen @ 7th St Entry
Sarah Morris, Dave Mehling, Emily Haavik, Andy Ulseth @ 318 Cafe
Laura Hugo, Seth Conover, Maybe So @ 331 Club
Deerhoof, Intercourse @ Turf Club
Bessie Snow Presents: Appètit, a Burlesque Review @ Volstead’s
Hellvin with Cap’n Seabird @ White Squirrel
Ex Rodeo, Grim Lot, Briefcase @ White Squirrel
Busey, Whippets, Bruder @ Zhora Darling
Friday, October 9
Let’s Create, Loveless Blvd. @ Acadia
Funk Friday feat. Big Fat Money @ Animales
- Malcolm Todd @ Armory—If you haven’t been paying attention, add “a white Steve Lacy” to your list of “things you didn’t even know you didn’t need.” Like his preferable sis Aubrey Hobert, this to-the-industry-born 23-year-old former theater kid turned pop star isn’t quite Gracie Abrams even if his folks surely knew somebody who knew somebody and encouraged him to express himself, lord help us. He paid his dues the old-fashioned way—went viral on TikTok, with a monotonous, unforgettable jingle about losing your earrings in your estranged situationship’s bed and being too chicken to hit her up about it. He’s followed up the aptly titled Malcolm Todd with the aptly titled Do That Again. At his best, he’s such a good-natured cad that you can hear why girls his age and younger convince themselves he’s boyfriend material. Oh, well. They’ll learn.—Keith Harris
Dark Pony, Dukes of the Prairie @ Aster Cafe
Sarah Navatril Quartet (EP Release) @ Berlin
Copeland, Jenny Dee @ Cedar Cultural Center
Elton John/Billy Joel Tribute @ Crooners
Zacc Harris’s American Reverie @ Crooners
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Crooners
Ladies of Soul, Vol. 5 @ Dakota
Baseline Bad @ Driftwood Char Bar
Release the Craicen @ Dubliner Pub
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Polka Bash feat Ukrainian Village Band @ Eagles 34
Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34
Ooga Minneapolis @ Eat Street Crossing
Sweet Pill, Spaced, Hey, Ily! @ Fine Line
Starbomb feat. DJ Commander Meouch with Scoochie Boochie @ First Avenue
3Beards Unplugged @ Ginkgo Coffee
John Prine Birthday Show @ Hook and Ladder
The Wretched, Mystigaard, Hex Neurotica @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Return of the Jedi in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
SPCO: Richard Goode Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 @ Ordway
Chastity Brown, Laurels String Quartet @ Parkway Theater
Fend, One Big Quilt, SLOG, and Anita Velveeta @ Pilllar Forum
Aural Fixation @ Resource Mpls
Bebe Stockwell, Khatumu @ 7th St Entry
Leap, Out in Front @ Turf Club
Rowsheen X Dimitry Killstrom @ Uptown VFW
Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa @ Varsity Theater
The New Riverboat Ramblers @ White Squirrel
Weedeater, Zeke, Royal Thunder, A Homage to Little Matt @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, October 10
Family Gathering Concert Series @ Animales
- Shaboozey, Kashus Clupepper @ Armory—How do you top a smash like “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”? You don’t, of course. You gamely go through the motions with “Cowgirl” (“Here’s another bar song for you and your friends”) and hope some of the folks who liked the hit will stick around for the cowboy yarns you’d rather tell. Judging from The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other Western Tales, ‘Boozey’s no Charlie Crockett, though he is able to pull in Jamie Foxx, Teyana Taylor, and Sam Neill for bit parts, and “If I Was an Outlaw,” which imagines life as a bank robber, is almost as fun as the smash was.—Keith Harris
Gustavo Cortinas Trio @ Berlin
SYML, Roger Weeks @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Silent Treatment, the Slow Death, Most of a Horse @ Cloudland
Don Powell Presents: Cole Porter… Night and Day @ Crooners
Patty and Ricky Peterson @ Crooners
The Belfast Cowboys @ Crooners
Faded Glory @ Driftwood Char Bar
NorthStar Big Band @ Dual Citizen
Edith Head, Hot Press and the Reach Outs @ Dusty’s
Safety Knife, Boomdagger, Getting Worse, Economic Headwinds @ Eagles 34
It’s a 2000s Party @ Fine Line
Waylon Wyatt, Tristan Trincado @ First Avenue
Swaying, Greydeet, Bejellian @ Flying V
Juanito Pascual Trio @ Granada
Andrew Linden Quintet @ Jazz Central
Show Me Your Hits @ Mainstreet Bar
Bill Giese @ Metronome Brewery
The Good, the Bad, the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Return of the Jedi in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
SPCO: Richard Goode Plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 @ Ordway
Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy, Brennan Wedl @ Palace Theatre
Mary Jam, Critter Thing, the Publik, Gradience @ Pilllar Forum
Andra Suchy & the Cat Ladies @ Schooner Tavern
Little Big Town @ State Theatre
Jung Min-Noh, Cowboy Thoughts, Loan Sum @ Terminal Bar
Pat Frederick and Notorious Rebel Fiddle @ 318 Cafe
Fistful of Datas, Robots From the Future @ 331 Club
Olivia Rodrigo Night @ Uptown Theater
Catfish Troy & Friends, Sammie Jean Cohen @ White Squirrel
Steve McPherson’s 50th Birthday feat. 20 Minutes, Big Trouble, Catfish Blue @ White Squirrel
Joan of Profile, Cassandra Johnson, Eldest Daughter @ White Squirrel
Sunday, October 11
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
Sounds From Planet IE (feat. Little Obsessions & LXD) @ Berlin
Billboard’s Best Songs of the ’70s @ Crooners
Women on the Moon with Lori Dokken @ Crooners
Who Are They?: A Tribute to the Who @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Crown of Clover @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Sawyer Hill, Never Ending Fall @ Fine Line
Juanito Pascual Trio @ Granada
Return of the Jedi in Concert @ Orchestra Hall
- Muna, Hemlocke Springs @ Palace Theatre—The three members of this L.A. indie-pop band know they’ve cultivated one of the most dedicated queer fanbases in music; so much so that, in 2020, Queerty magazine literally named ‘em queer heroes. But with their new album, May’s Dancing on the Wall, Muna gently pushed away from being the "queer joy mini-skirt rollerblade band," as they’ve half-jokingly dubbed themselves, and instead released a politically charged "dark, poppy, intense, sweaty, funky dance album." Outside of the Immortal Technique-indebted subtlety of “Big Stick,” Dancing is still a Muna LP—big, shimmering synths and shout-along choruses, where the political is mostly personal. Expect no shortage of queer joy and mini skirts (though probably no rollerblades) tonight in St. Paul. Opener Hemlocke Springs, who recently played the Varsity, released her first full-length, The Apple Tree Under the Sea, earlier this year. The album sounds well-crafted but not excessively labored over. The singer deploys an arsenal of gripping voices over a variety of theatrically pop settings, with tracks like the domestic fantasy "w-w-w-w-w" and the manically revving “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Ankles” serving up confections more complex than your average sugar rush.—Jay Boller/Keith Harris
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Karina Rykman, Tarias and the Sound @ 7th St Entry
Emmy Woods & Friends @ 331 Club
Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School @ 331 Club
Nici Peper, Sarah VanVolkenberg, Doyle Turner, AJ Schieber @ White Squirrel
Potential New Boyfriend, Clawhammer Mike & the Old-Time Barnstormers @ White Squirrel
Mason Thomas, Damn Phibian, Ditch Pigeon @ Zhora Darling
Monday, October 12
Bella Larson & the Scene Kids @ Acadia
Sheridan Zuther and Ted Godbout @ Crooners
New Musical Theatre Exchange’s 2026 Fall Cabaret @ Crooners
Hiromi: The Trio Project @ Dakota
Sea Shanty Sing @ Dubliner Pub
Free Community Concert @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Monday Jam @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Stonewalker, Nice and Blue, Her Cure @ Pilllar Forum
Erik Brandt & the Folksingers @ 331 Club
Acid Mothers Temple, Magick Potion @ Turf Club
Schaffer the Darklord @ Underground Music
