I will forget immediately that I even pretended to try to make "Raptember" happened, but this week you've got Wu-Tang, Isaiah Rashad, the Sugar Hill Band with Melle Mel and Scorpio (but without, let me say again, Doug Wimbish), hip-hop-tinged drummer Kassa Overall, and encyclopedia of rap sample Bob James so it's not that much of a stretch?
Tuesday, September 1
State Fair: The Fabulous Armadillos @ The Bazaar
- Kassa Overall with Melvin Gibbs @ Berlin—I first learned of hip jazz drummer Kassa Overall in, depending on your perspective, the hippest or lamest way: through his collaborations with Kool A.D. of Das Racist, which led me back to his loose take on early '10s pop and rap, Stargate Mixtape. Overall has grown up some since then but remains playful, committing to jazz without abandoning hip-hop. His latest album, Cream, is styled as Elvin Jones tackling rap standards, which here means not just jazzy rap like Tribe and Digable Planets but Biggie, OutKast, Dre, Juvenile, and, as the title suggests, Wu-Tang, along with Eddie Harris’s “Freedom Jazz Dance” for good measure. His band for this engagement consists of Matt Wong on piano and Emilio Modeste on sax, who perform on the album, and Giulio Xavier stepping in on bass.—Keith Harris
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
The Neighborhood Quartet @ Carbone’s
St. Anthony Park Band Community Band @ Dock & Paddle
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Aeris and the Piggies @ Father Hennepin Park
Ugly Kid Joe, Platinum Moon @ Fine Line
Peter Hook & the Light, DJ Jake Rudh @ First Avenue
Nick Elstad Trio @ Indeed Brewing
Bill Simenson Orchestra @ Icehouse
State Fair: Sugar Hill Band with Melle Mel and Scorpio @ Luther Auto Bandshell
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Jim Pellinger @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Bluewater Kings Showcase @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- Wu-Tang Clan @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater—It’s never a bad idea to read the fine print with these nostalgia tours, especially with such a sprawling crew, but this is the real Wu. Everyone except the late Ol’ Dirty (represented here by his son, named—what else?—Young Dirty Bastard) is along for the ride, even honorary member (or did he get sworn in at some point?) Cappadonna. The tour, dubbed Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber, began a full year ago, and its 30-song set typically includes solo tracks from Meth, Ghost, Rae, and GZA. Sounds like a hell of a victory lap for a hip-hop institution. If you’re looking for a way to end this summer, this show, my friends, is nothing to fuck with.—Keith Harris
Old Time Music Workshop & Jam @ Padraigs
Murder Medication, Bluedriver, Refute @ Pilllar Forum
State Fair: Keith Secola and the Rangers, Gary Farmer @ Schilling Amphitheater
Steel Beans, Tarias and the Sound @ 7th St Entry
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
September Conspiracy Series feat. Burbillies @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Jeff Ray @ 331 Club
Thomas Sticha @ White Squirrel
The Balcony, Sigtones, Woodzen @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, September 2
Tonal Whiplash and New Friends @ Amsterdam
State Fair: The Global Get-Together @ The Bazaar
- Kassa Overall with Dzwunder @ Berlin—see Tuesday's listings.
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
Robert Wilkinson & Steve Brantseg @ Carbone’s
Son Lux, Alone-A @ Cedar Cultural Center
La Vie en Rose: An Edith Piaf Tribute @ Crooners
- Cornbread 99 @ Crooners—It's never too late to record a live album. The grand old man of Minneapolis music will record his first over the course of two sets tonight. And yes, 99 is his age, of course.—Keith Harris
- Bob James @ Dakota—His name might not be familiar, but I guarantee you've heard the music of this lite jazz titan. It's hard to imagine the first decade of recorded rap without him: Run-D.M.C. is just one of the crews that jacked the beat from his recording of Paul Simon's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras," and the bassline from "Nautilus" underpins both Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500" and Slick Rick's "Children's Story." And that's not to event mention the theme to Taxi, which I don't think anyone has sampled. Must be pretty old, you're thinking, and yes, he's 86 and still touring.—Keith Harris
Sleeping Dogs Lie, Cymba @ Driftwood
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon, SSA, Tony Balluff Band @ Eagles 34
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
State Fair: AJR, Quinn XCII, Avery Cochrane @ Grandstand
Wolves of Glendale @ Green Room
Brilliant Colors Jazz Trio @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
State Fair: Yacht Rock Revue @ Luther Auto Bandshell
League Night @ Metronome Brewery
Pat Donahue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Tytus Canby @ Minnesota Music Cafe
State Fair: The Cactus Blossoms @ Schilling Amphitheater
John Magnuson Trio, Fever Pitch @ Schooner Tavern
Impulse Noise, Meat Sweatz, Mollywopped @ Seward Cafe
Bosso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI Becky Kapell & the Fat 6 @ 331 Club
The Second Strings @ White Squirrel
Nick Elstrad Trio, Seje, Cowboy Thoughts @ White Squirrel
Thursday, September 3
Alekseev, Ukrainian Village Band @ Amsterdam
State Fair: The Global Get-Together @ The Bazaar
White Boy Wasted 3 @ Bazemnt Lounge
Crates: Of Earth and Wires by Dua Saleh @ Berlin
Larry McDonough Birthday @ Crooners
- Bob James @ Dakota—see Wednesday's listings.
Noah Schmitt, Johnny Williams, Raymnd @ Day Block Brewing
Tapestry Road @ Driftwood Char Bar
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Americana Roots Thursdays @ Eagles 34
State Fair: Brad Paisley, Jake Worthington, Laci Kaye Booth @ Grandstand
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Ideas by Ab, BaileyRP @ Icehouse
Get Trashed With Trashley, Colin’s a Trainwreck @ Last Call MN
State Fair: Yacht Rock Revue @ Luther Auto Bandshell
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
Hidden Glade (Album Release) with TRAM @ Metronome Brewery
Maygen & the Birdwatcher @ Mia
Megastellar Open Mic Night @ Midway Saloon
Minneapolis Police Band @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Lowdown Dirty Fools @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Young Relics @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Slippery People, REVO @ Parkway
Bongcrawler, Pals, Onlytime @ Pilllar Forum
Crowd Pleaser Thursdays @ Red Sea
State Fair: The Cactus Blossoms @ Schilling Amphitheater
Wandering Suns @ Schooner Tavern
- Clovers Daughter, Call Me Fritz, Bright Young Things @ 7th St Entry—A peripatetic childhood eventually deposited Noor Shami in Eau Claire, a stepping stone to Minneapolis. Not before a pit stop in Vegas, though, where she formed her trio with Navid Fana and Tyson Agawa. Shami says the band's new album, Out of Character, spotlights "the roles we take on when a relationship starts to fall apart [as] told through different personas," and her powerful voice adjusts to each accordingly. Classic rockers will find plenty to enjoy in Fana's guitar: "Same Old Act" features both Sabbath double-up and Neil Young stagger.—Keith Harris
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Clung Tight (Single Release), d’Lakes, Therapy Culture @ Turf Club
The Snotty Rottens, RuDe GiRL, the Joy Sub Division @ Uptown VFW
Kat Wilmes @ Wooden Ship Brewing
Friday, September 4
Keefin, Spazzo, ECHO, Thankujonah @ Acadia
Funk Friday feat. Art Dept. @ Animales
Dermot Kennedy, Hunter Metts @ Armory
State Fair: Salsa del Soul @ The Bazaar
Lucia Sarmiento Quintet @ Berlin
Joe Kaplow, Cassandra Johnson, Ducksmithson @ Birdhaus
Drinkwine with Friends Band @ Blues Saloon
Yellow Swans, Feel Free Hi Fi @ Cedar Cultural Center
Madrean Sky, Emma Moy, Pageant Dress @ Cloudland
Remembering Prince with the R Factor @ Crooners
Larry McDonough Birthday @ Crooners
Cécile McLorin Salvant @ Dakota
Space Motel, Buckls, Cole Allan @ Day Block Brewing
The Dirty Shorts Brass Band @ Dock & Paddle
The Lost Marbles @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Adam Wish and Friends @ Eagles 34
Katia & the Upswing @ Eagles 34
The Teardowns, Julia Wissink and Eloise Leckrone. @ 50th & France
- Isaiah Rashad @ Fillmore—As the great rap critic Paul Thompson has put it, “It seems as if Isaiah Rashad only makes comeback albums.” For sure, this Top Dawg Entertainment signee doesn’t work fast: His latest, It’s Been Awful, is just his third album in a decade, and his first since The House Is Burning five years ago. It’s not quite the bummer that the title suggests, but dealing with a leaked sex tape, substance abuse, and a world where “Elon diggin’ through the cell phone records/Everything for sale, even hell” will wear on a guy. After TDE’s top dawg himself, Kendrick Lamar, called Rashad’s rhymes too “puzzle-y,” the Chattanooga-bred rapper simplified his style (“I’m just trying not to write in hieroglyphics,” he told Billboard) but he’s still denser than your regular diaristic rapper. “I promise you the new sublime,” he declares on the lead track, and if being your boyfriend doesn’t work, he offers to be your girlfriend.—Keith Harris
Black Marble, Public Circuit, Jimmy Cicero @ Fine Line
State Fair: Hardy, McCoy Moore @ Grandstand
The Silk Lounge: Soul Train @ Green Room
Radiochurch + KG4 present the Lullaby Lounge @ Icehouse
Nick Bhalla: Big Blue Moon @ Jazz Central
Dan Israel @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Mushroom Cloud x Montycler @ The Loft
State Fair: Revelation: A Retrospective of the Minneapolis Sound @ Luther Auto Bandshell
Weekend Rockstar @ Mainstreet Bar
Meatraffle Ska @ Minnehaha Bandstand
The Rockabilly Knockout Special @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Slayer @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Honest 2 Betsy @ Parkway Theater
Orchid Mantis, Walker Rider, Embahn @ Pilllar Forum
Pivot—The Party @ 7th St Entry
Grim Lot, Model Model Homes, Ditty Wash Band @ 331 Club
Jason Aldean @ Treasure Island
Red Desert, Heavy As I, Dad’s Nighttime Friends @ Turf Club
Comes a Time Duo @ Utepils Brewing
The Throckmorton Trio, Stephanie Was @ White Squirrel
Mid Death Calm, Hot Press, Velvet Ghoul @ White Squirrel
ECID with OKNice and DJ Adatrack @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, September 5
Mira’s Big Virgo Bash @ Acadia
Qurrrky, Queen Jeanne, Riley and the Urban Revival @ Amsterdam
Cornbread Harris & Friends @ Animales
Blues Night feat. Boozewater @ Animales
State Fair: Salsa del Soul @ The Bazaar
Luxe ‘n’ Ivory @ Bazemnt Lounge
Charlie Bruber/Jack Barrett @ Berlin
Will Kjeer Trio feat. Dave King & Charlie Lincoln @ Berlin
Megasound, Kate Malanaphy @ Birdhaus
Jumpsuit! Funk & Disco Dance Party @ Black Hart
Demitri Rallis Band @ Bunker’s
Scottie Devlin & Shane Akers @ Carbone’s
- The Slow Death, Obsess Tact, Cover My Shift @ Cloudland—Nothing wrong with some good ol' wallet-chain punk, even if it's hard to make me savor those old familiar flavors in 2026. But I finally caught up with the Slow Death's 2025 album No Light to See (what was I waiting for?) and Jesse Thorson's growl and Alex Bammel's guitar blast past middle-aged fatalism and other pitfalls of the genre with an extra push from drummer Jack Gribble, who made the news earlier this year for getting arrested at Maple Grove ICE protest Anthemic and grounded, a good pairing. And the Hank Williams cover art is a nice touch.—Keith Harris
Craig Koehnen and Phil Kadidlo @ Crooners
The Shabby Road Orchestra @ Dakota
Venus and the Stars, Solana, Rada K & the Cicadas @ Day Block Brewing
The Everly Covers @ Dock & Paddle
Machinery Hill @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Piss With Style, T.O.D.D., the Dirty Pretty @ Dusty's
Next Level K-Pop Rave @ Fine Line
Sclera, Nile Flows Red, Amarak, Sensing Agony @ Flying V
Dj Enl x Lakeoo @ Gidi
Alice Di Micele @ Ginkgo Coffee
State Fair: TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue @ Grandstand
Reventon: End of Summer Bash @ Green Room
City Country Fest IV @ Icehouse
USPOP @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
State Fair: Revelation: A Retrospective of the Minneapolis Sound @ Luther Auto Bandshell
Jaybee & the Routine @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Bragolin, Carrellee feat. shadingthesun, cryptID @ Mortimer’s
Creed @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
The Tolerables with Shadow Lake, Halfway Down, Maelstrom in the Harbor @ Pilllar Forum
Tumblin’ Dice @ Schooner Tavern
Bethany Larson and the Bee’s Knees, Izzy Cruz @ 331 Club
Robert Lester Folsom, Oscar Lindsey @ Turf Club
Keep Flying @ Underground Music
Wade Haynes, Moon Lust, Michael Grey, and Sam Landman @ Uptown VFW
Ghost Channels, Michael Grey, lazenlow, and Yesac @ Uptown VFW
Gasolina Party @ Varsity Theater
David Stoddard & Nigel Egg @ White Squirrel
Miners & Gardeners, Matt Angeles @ White Squirrel
Freak of the Week with DJ Devil Girl, Nola Rave @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, September 6
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
State Fair: Rebel Queens @ The Bazaar
Harakat Hours @ Bazemnt Lounge
Brandon Wozniak Trio feat. Dave King and Bryan Nichols @ Berlin
Into It, Over It, JG Shadid, Grant Whiteout @ Birdhaus
Communion Season 20:14 @ Cabooze
Million.Point.Million, Spring Breeding, Lorraine, Time Room @ Cloudland
Joel Shapira’s Maggie’s Maison with Krin McMille @ Crooners
Ryan Picone Quartet @ Crooners
We the People: Singing and Speaking Truth @ Crooners
PORKTOBERFEST with Alec Collins, Aly Meier, Greater Goods, Harbor, Timmy Magdal @ Day Block Brewing
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
John Magnuson Trio @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Mustard Service with Pity Party (Girls Club), Manwolves, and Chicano Mosh @ Fine Line
Cedis Boyz X Vibes Maestro @ Gidi
State Fair: Amateur Talent Contest Finals @ Grandstand
Roseville Community Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Blueline @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
State Fair: Durry @ Luther Auto Bandshell
No Limits—The B Side, Tyte Phitt, Funktion Junction @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Autotune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
State Fair: Maygen & the Birdwatcher @ Schilling Amphitheater
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
The Obsessed, Hippie Death Cult, Impaler @ Uptown VFW
Wilkinson James & Barrel Flash @ White Squirrel
Hyer, Sammie Jean Cohen @ White Squirrel
Becca Murray & the Wildflowers, Brunch, Woolly Mack @ White Squirrel
Monday, September 7
State Fair: Rebel Queens @ The Bazaar
Massive Mondays Reggae @ Cabooze
The Great Irish Singalong @ Dubliner Pub
State Fair: CeCe Winans @ Grandstand
The Riff Rangers @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Dred I Dread @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
State Fair: Durry @ Luther Auto Bandshell
The Sound Buddies @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
State Fair: Maygen & the Birdwatcher @ Schilling Amphitheater
Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks
David Robinson and the Dedicated Friends @ 331 Club
