Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and beyond.
MONDAY 11.11
Billie Eilish
Xcel Energy Center
As brother Finneas pursues his love of lush textures and the star herself gets so torchy you might think she’s got another musical Billie on the brain, Eilish’s latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, often hits soft. But it still does hit, with the singer finding comfort in her own body and fending off internet rumors as she… hmm, what’s that euphemism again? Ah yes, “explores her sexuality.” Sometimes, those explorations are sweet, as on “Birds of a Feather,” but I’m more partial to the carnal “Lunch” (“it’s a craving not a crush”), the furthest into the red Billie has pushed her libido—at least until she popped up on the remix of “Guess” slavering about how she wants to get in Charli XCX’s undies. With Towa Bird. $199.50+. 7 p.m. 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
TUESDAY 11.12
We Miss You, George Floyd Launch Event
Moon Palace Books
Shannon Gibney’s latest picture book, We Miss You, George Floyd, tells the story of George Floyd’s murder and the 2020 uprisings from the perspective of a young Black girl, who's based on Gibney’s own daughter. Featuring beautiful illustrations from Leeya Rose Jackson, the book portrays the young girl’s questions, confusion, emotions, and abolitionist dreams. “I feel very strongly that the job of the writer and the job of the artist is to help people imagine a different way forward. Not just in the outside world, but inside ourselves, you know?" Gibney recently told Racket. An all-around Minnesota literary treasure, Gibney is the author of several award-winning books, including a speculative memoir, young adult novels, and picture books. She’s a Bush Artist, a McKnight Fellow, and 2023’s Educator of the Year at Minneapolis College. Tonight's We Miss You, George Floyd launch event will feature readings, discussions, a Q&A, and kid-friendly art activities with Gibney and Jackson. Free. 6 p.m. Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Deborah Copperud
WEDNESDAY 11.13
Sound Unseen 25
Multiple Venues
Sound Unseen is old enough to rent a car. Yes, the festival that celebrates movies about music in the broadest sense—not just concert films and documentaries but films that just have a particular kind of musically subcultural vibe—has been at it for a quarter-century now. After a Tuesday night launch party at Pryes Brewing, the fest kicks off tonight with the acclaimed new doc DEVO at the Parkway. (You can also catch that band, performing as DOVE, in M-80, a film of the Walker’s 1979 “New-No-Now-Wave Festival” that featured the Suicide Commandos and the Suburbs). Personally, I’m looking forward to Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, Johan Grimonprez’s look at how the 1961 U.S.-backed assassination of the Congo’s prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, coincided with major jazz tours of Africa; Alex Ross Perry’s meta-/quasi-/miscellaneous other qualifying prefixes “documentary” Pavements; and Fifty Years in Sixty Minutes, a collection of rare and unseen footage from the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa. But those are just my picks: You’ll wanna scour the full lineup yourself. There are also events at Cloudland, including two nights of Lydia Loveless. The festival is taking an indefinite pause after this year, but will continue to screen a film monthly at the Trylon. Find more info here. Through Sunday—Keith Harris
The Flying Luttenbachers
Icehouse
For over 30 years, Chicago’s Weasel Walter has been tinkering with an ungodly amalgam of every kind of musical irritant at his disposal, from no wave to death metal to what he’s dubbed “brutal prog,” in both improvisational and composed contexts, with a variety of players gathered under the Luttenbachers aegis. Walter recently released Losing the War Inside Our Heads, the 17th album credited to the group; though it’s mostly a solo affair, with the current Luttenbachers’ rhythm section (bassist Luke Polipnick, drummer Charlie Werber) appearing on just one track, its taut mayhem (which includes a bit of an Olivier Messiaen composition) may offer an indication of Walter’s current flight path. $18/$23. 9 p.m. 2528 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
THURSDAY 11.14
Steve-O
State Theatre
The craziest member of Jackass has… aged gracefully into a funny interviewer/storyteller who headlines classy theaters? Now sober and sneakily thoughtful, the man who once lit fireworks out of his butthole hosts popular podcasts (Wild Ride! with Steve-O) and authors books (A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I've Learned from a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions) aimed at the audience that grew up watching him destroy himself on MTV. Reviews suggest that Steve-O, now 50, blends standup comedy with multimedia clips for his current “Super Dummy Tour” live show, which also hits the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Tuesday. $35.75-$55.75. 7:30 p.m. 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Full Moon Puppet Show
Open Eye Theater
Minneapolis, as you may have read on the pages of this very website, is a biiiig puppet town. And while BareBones’ annual Halloween show, probably the city’s most well-known event of this variety, may have wrapped for the season, there’s so much more puppetry to explore. This week, for example, Open Eye Theater presents a “rowdy adult puppetry slam” with local puppeteers performing 10-minute original shows. Howling at the moon is encouraged, and there’s live music from Adam Zahller's Sick Eagle in between sets. $18. 7:30 p.m. 506 E. 24th St., Minneapolis; more info here. Through November 16—Em Cassel
Tinashe
Fillmore
In the decade since the irresistible “2 On,” Tinashe has dealt with label complications and often struggled to retain an audience, despite releasing music that’s both challenging and ingratiating. But she regained her footing this year with “Nasty,” as the malleable memeability of its challenge “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” proved irresistible to TikTok. That song appears on the eight-song album Quantum Baby, which more than matches the freak of that hit single. Guess why she’s “Getting No Sleep” or what happens “When I Get You Alone.” Tinashe is on the prowl, y’all. But please, “No broke boys/No new friends/I'm that pressure/Give me my 10s.” $49+. 7 p.m. 525 N. Fifth St., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
FRIDAY 11.15
Andrea Jin
Camp Bar
A super funny, dirty, and loopy up ‘n’ comer from Canada, Jin won a 2021 Juno Award for her debut comedy album, Grandma's Girl. In its “Comedians You Should and Will Know in 2023” article, Vulture described the Shanghai-born, L.A.-based comic as “the poster child for Gen-Z comedy. Online, she’s a slightly messy older-sister type, speaking to TikTok in its native language by talking about core memories and past-lives regression. Onstage, she’s droll yet fashionable, seeming a little bored by the act of speaking and slightly offended when people laugh at her (a very fun bit for a comedian to have).” Jin recently scored a day job writing for Andy Samberg and Neil Campbell’s very funny animated Indiana Jones spoof Digman! on Comedy Central. $20-$28. 8 p.m. Fri.; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Sat. 490 Robert St. N., St. Paul; find more info here.—Jay Boller
SATURDAY 11.16
Craig Finn
Fitzgerald Theater
Craig Finn is the only major rock star who wears a Twins jersey on stage and sings about Minneapolis-area driving directions in his songs. His main band, the Hold Steady, marked their 20th anniversary last year with both a tour and a handsome coffee table book, The Gospel of The Hold Steady: How a Resurrection Really Feels, which Michael Hann wrote with the band. But over that time, the longtime Edina resident and Breck graduate has built up a large and respected body of work as a solo artist. And that’s largely what he’ll draw on at tonight’s “Solo Songs & Stories” tour stop at the Fitz, following a month of European dates in September and an East Coast swing earlier in the month. Be sure to check out Racket’s soon-to-drop conversation with Finn, which touches on the Twins, David Carr, and the legacy of THS (including his thoughts on our hit bumper sticker). Katy Kirby opens. $29.50+. 7 p.m. 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; find more info here.—Stephen Silver
Kumail Nanjiani
Pantages Theatre
Old-school fans of Nanjiani might worry that he’s lost a step after getting jacked as hell for Marvel movies. Stop worrying! Based on the handful of podcasts I’ve heard him on this year, our man still brings it. Born in Pakistan, Nanjiani moved to the Midwest for college and fell into an absolutely stacked ‘00s Chicago comedy scene that included Kyle Kinane, Hannibal Burress, super canceled T.J. Miller, Pete Holmes, and Cameron Esposito. He would influence a generation of comedy nerds as a host at L.A.’s NerdMelt Showroom, before winning over a national audience as Dinesh on HBO’s fantastic and prophetic Silicon Valley. Then, ya know, he became a big movie star with Eternals and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. $44.75-$54.75. 7 & 9:30 p.m. 710 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
SUNDAY 11.17
Smash Burger Fest
Forgotten Star Brewing
If you’re partial to burgers of the smashed, sizzled, skirted variety, this is the food fest for you. Forgotten Star is bringing Burger Daddies (formerly Salsa Collaborative), Station No. 6 (whose cult-loved burgers we profiled here), and Hodgepodge to their Fridley taproom for a smashy celebration. You can watch the Vikings on the brewery’s 15-foot outdoor screen, win gift cards, and, at 1:30 p.m., compete in Bob’s Burgers trivia. (Did you know there are 15 seasons of Bob’s Burgers? I didn’t until this very second. What a world.) Burgs are available until they’re sold out—wear your stretchy pants! Free. 11 a.m. 38 Northern Stacks Drive, Fridley; more info here.—Em Cassel
ONGOING
The Defiant Roles of Anna May Wong
Trylon
The first Hollywood star of Chinese descent has been increasingly celebrated over the past few years. Her face has been minted into a quarter, her image molded into a Barbie, and her story recounted in two recent biographies with somewhat overstated subtitles: Katie Gee Salisbury’s Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong and Yunte Huang’s Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History. Wong’s film career itself is one of hard-fought partial victories against racist compromises, and this series collects many of its high points. Wong holds her own against Marlene Dietrich in Josef Von Sternberg’s Shanghai Express (1932) and demonstrates her star appeal in the silent Pavement Butterfly (1929), with original accompaniment by the great Katie Condon. In Daughter of Shanghai (1937) she heads a cast of East Asian actors (a rarity in the era of yellowface); in King of Chinatown (1939) she does not—her father is played by a white guy who made his name as Charlie Chan—but she still busts stereotypes through her performance. $8. 2820 E. 33rd St., Minneapolis Find complete listings and more info here. Through November 26—Keith Harris
Art & Artifact: Murals From the Minneapolis Uprising
Katherine E. Nash Gallery
When George Floyd was murdered by police on May 25, 2020, Minnesotans took to the streets in protests, building owners boarded up their doors and windows, and artists created art. “I just felt so hopeful seeing the boards, seeing the plywood murals coming up, seeing the art around 38th and Chicago,” Leesa Kelly of Memorialize the Movement told Em Cassel at the time. As businesses reopened, she and her org have worked on collecting these pieces made from humble plywood and spray paint, which otherwise would have ended up in the trash, destroyed from outdoor exposure, or crassly sold online. The collection is now at over 1,000 boards; this fall you can view a selection of artworks in their archives, curated by former MM intern Amira McLendon, at the U of M. 405 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis. Through December 7—Jessica Armbruster
Kara Walker: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)
Weisman Art Museum
First published in 1862, Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War collects numerous contemporary maps, portraits, and other illustrations from Winslow Homer that appeared in the magazine during the conflict. As you might expect, there’s a genteel coffee-table stateliness to the proceedings, ideal for Kara Walker to disturb with her trademark cut-paper silhouettes. Walker’s style, which draws upon exaggerated Black stereotypes and other crude graphics, has become so familiar over the years that it may no longer be as immediately startling as it once was, but this 2023 exhibit, organized by the New Britain Museum of American Art and The Museum Box, showcases her continued vitality. Free. 333 E. River Pkwy., Minneapolis; find more info here. Through December 29—Keith Harris
Night Trains
Twin City Model Railroad Museum
Halloween is over, and you know what that means: It’s Night Trains season at the Model Railroad Museum! If you’ve never been to the Model Railroad Museum, this is the way to experience it. They’ll turn down the house lights and let the miniature train models show off their cozy glow while they weave through towns that are buried in blizzards or lit up with holiday decorations. It’s quaint as hell; you’re gonna love it. There are some special nights on the books—we hear Santa shows up on December 14 and 21—and did we mention that the museum turns 90 friggin’ years old this year? No better time to visit this St. Paul gem. $15; free for children four and under. 3-7 p.m. Saturdays (check online for bonus nights). 668 Transfer Rd., Suite 8, St. Paul; tickets and more info here. Through February 22—Em Cassel
Unveiling 1,000 Nesting Dolls
The Museum of Russian Art
Did you know that the largest collection of Russian nesting dolls in the U.S. is located right off the Diamond Lake entrance to I-35W? Now that you know, how do you feel about that? The Museum of Russian Art will begin presenting its Matryoshka dolls (to use the proper Russian term) to the public; they’ll be on display until March 9. And since it’s likely been a while since you popped in at TMORA (I myself am always overdue for a visit), while you’re there, be sure to take in Alexander Viazmensky’s watercolors of Russian mushrooms, a recently opened exhibit, and a Women in Soviet Art exhibition that closes on October 20. 5500 Stevens Ave, Minneapolis; find more info here. Through March 9, 2025—Keith Harris
