In addition to the shows listed below, keep in mind that Saturday is also Record Store Day, and many local shops will be throwing parties.
Tuesday, April 16
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
Capri Glee! Choir @ Capri Theater
Jon McLaughlin with Chris Peters @ Dakota
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
- Obi Original & The Black Atlantics (Residency) feat. Brandyn Lee Tulloch and Mack OC @ Green Room—Nigerian-born singer, guitarist, and bandleader Obi Original is as much at home with West African highlife as he is with modern Afrobeats, not to mention good old American funk, and he's lined up some terrific local acts for this five-week residency. Night three serves up Brandyn Lee Tulloch and Mack OC, while night four brings us Miloe and Klon Rose. Finishing things off on April 30 will be Bouchet Boyz and Bigg Kiaa. Good stuff.
Night Club with Rosegarden Funeral Party and DJ Set by JPEG@ Icehouse
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Grooves feat. DJ Jen-E @ Mortimer's
Kiernan Tollefson, Chase Rabideau, Jack Swagger @ Pilllar Forum
All Nighter Tuesdays @ ROK Music Lounge
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime: Becky Kapell @ 331 Club
April Conspiracy Series feat. Dan Schwartz and Nick Salisbury @ 331 Club
The Bros. Landreth @ Turf Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Lulu & the Shoe (Residency) with Jonger, Atomic Lights @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, April 17
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
Adam Harder Nussbaum Quintet @ Berlin
Cathedral Bells, Leaving Time, Rew @ Cloudland
Maggie's Wednesday: Linda Peterson @ Crooners
Miss Shannon's Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Nascar Aloe with Walt!, DIRTYBUTT and Emotional Xan @ Fine Line
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Burning Blue Rain (Residency) with Pierre Lewis and Nikki Lemire @ Green Room
Erik Koskinen (Album Release/Residency) with Dandy L. Freleng @ Icehouse
JCS: Creative Collaborations @ Jazz Central
Korpiklaani with Visions of Atlantis and Illumishade @ The Lyric
Steve Daly, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Mortiholics + The Stondest, Railroad Island, Bobcat One Man Band, Neon Suns @ Mortimer's
Cole Diamond Presents Whiskey Wednesdays @ Palmer's
MURF, Baumgardner, Sleeper Cell @ Pilllar Forum
Dance Church Open Deacks @ ROK Music Lounge
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
ThxSoMch with SWEET SPINE @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with The Neighborhood Quartet @ 331 Club
Stephanie Was, The What-Have-Yous @ 331 Club
Slothrust with Weakened Friends @ Turf Club
Orchid Club, Luddgang, TV for Dogs @ Underground Music Venue
Todd Rundgren @ Uptown Theater
Spanish Love Songs & Oso Oso @ Varsity Theater
St. Paul Mudsteppers @ White Squirrel
Thursday, April 18
Oak Pantheon with Silva, Nekrotisk, & RAHVN @ Amsterdam
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, Night of Joy, Raygun Youth @ Cloudland
Tim Sparks (Album Release) @ Crooners
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On-Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
El Panasueco, Noslo, Tarias and the Sound @ Eagles 34
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Shane Cox & the Funky Spuds with Trumpet Band @ Icehouse
Dark Click featuring Curtiss A @ Minnesota Music Cafe
April Music & Mindfulness @ Orchestra Hall
Beethoven and Tchaikovsky @ Orchestra Hall
Riddim Driven with DJ I Roach @ Palmer's
Jules Quinn, Amateur Hour, Dark Bunny, Emily Rhea @ Pilllar Forum
Screaming Hours, New Confusion, Scatter @ ROK Music Lounge
Mubbla Buggs, the Rodents @ Schooner Tavern
First to Eleven with Daytona Beach 2000 and Brooke Surgener @ 7th St Entry
Josh Teed with DMTree @ Turf Club
Sweetalk, VIN, Neighbor Dog, Feegee @ Underground Music Venue
Devaney and Friends @ White Squirrel
Friday, April 19
- MMYYKK, Reiki, Xina, Zora @ Amsterdam—As part of its Minnesota Music Month celebration, The Current is presenting a great roundup of local Black musicians, all of whom deserve to be experienced live. Take in singer and keyboardist MMYYKK's spacey soul-jazz, Reiki's hard-hitting rock, Xina's arty eclecticism, and Zora's inventive dance-pop—all in one night.
The Long Goodbyes with Brad McLemore @ Aster Cafe
Dale Alexander/Dan Carpel @ Berlin
- Derecho @ Berlin—Been meaning to check out Alan Sparhawk's funk band? Why not now, when the weather's so warm even a New Yorker contributor from Portland couldn't complain.
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunkers
Kiernan Tollefson @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Qwanqwa with Abinnet Berhanu’s Ahndenet አንድነት feat. Genet Abate @ Cedar Cultural Center
Gay Witch Abortion, Upright Forms, Oliver Phibes @ Cloudland
Travis Anderson Trio @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Rick Carlson and Charmin Michelle @ Crooners
Swingin' On A Star, plus Miss Shannon's dance lessons @ Eagles 34
Taylor Album Release Dance Party with DJ Onya @ Fine Line
NOCHE DE VERANO SIN TI with DJ Cristian Baca @ First Avenue
Jake Simon + Anderson Daniels @ Green Room
Stage Fright: A Tribute to Bob Dylan and the Band @ Hook and Ladder
VERSKOTZI (Album Release) with Chris Koza + Beemer @ Icehouse
Atlantis Quartet @ Jazz Central
Infekt with Automhate & Mad Dubz @ The Loft
Double Band Night @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Virgin Whores @ Mortimer's
Beethoven and Tchaikovsky @ Orchestra Hall
- Waxahatchee with Good Morning @ Palace Theatre—One of my biggest “music guy” pet peeves is a tendency for knee-jerk exaltation when a favorite artist does… literally anything. Annoying levels of fandom often lead to critical blinders, which is why I constantly check my impulse to say Waxahatchee mastermind Katie Cruchtfield just keeps leveling up. With that self-conscious throat clearing out of the way, yes, I do believe the 34-year-old Alabama native is at the top of her astonishing career. The trajectory should be well-known to anyone reading this far: Crutchfield began with scratchy, lo-fi confessions, graduated to roaring indie rock, and, with 2020’s Saint Cloud, made an obvious-yet-skilled pivot to warm country-rock. No matter the arrangements, everything is undergirded by generational songwriting talent and a voice that merges Lucinda’s personality with Patsy’s technical beauty. Tigers Blood, the sixth Waxa LP that arrived last month, seems cut from similar cloth, and all three advance singles have been (I swear I’m checking myself!) breathtaking; hot-shit guitarist MJ Lenderman and one of indie's safest producer bets, Brad Cook, helped make sure of that. What an absolute treat to grow up with this discography and watch it grow. (Update: Now that I’ve heard all of Tigers Blood, since the original publication of this blurb, I regret to inform you that it’s simply pretty good—rock-solid songcraft, but not a whole lot to say.)—Jay Boller
Wish Wash, Jarad Miles & The Ancient Waves, and Flatwound @ Palmer's
Tiger Blue, Linus, My Kid Banana @ Pilllar Forum
Peter Miller & Bethany Larson and the Bee's Knees @ ROK Music Lounge
Rich Mattson & the North Stars, Rob the Carpenter @ Schooner Tavern
Meatbodies with Population II @ 7th St Entry
Afrobeats to the World @ Studio B
Marsgarb, Colonel Mustard’s Or-chestre Mecanique @ 331 Club
Kane Brown with Tyler Hubbard & Parmalee @ Target Center
Bongzilla with Ruin Dweller and Tubal Cain @ Turf Club
Ray Gun Youth and Friends @ Underground Music Venue
Slippery People: The Music of Talking Heads with DJ Elsewhere @ Uptown VFW
Sigcell, Radiator Girl, Sunset Over Flowers, Majoon Travelers @ White Rock Lounge
Luke Callen with Old Pup @ White Squirrel
Saturday, April 20
Emily Haavik + Andy Ulseth @ Aster Cafe
Dale Alexander/Dan Carpel @ Berlin
Devin Gray/Russ Johnson/Mark Feldman @ Berlin
The Good, the Bad, and the Funky @ Bunkers
Strongly Disagree @ Caydence Records & Coffee
Leslie & the Lys with Neon & Nude and Friends of the Yarn House @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Customers, Cindy Lawson, Tim Casey and the Martyrs @ Cloudland
Remembering Doris Day with Maud Hixson @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Charmin Michelle and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Sinatra – My Way with Andrew Walesch & His Orchestra @ Dakota
The Bill Patten Trio @ Dusty's
Valentine Lowry-Ortega @ Eagles 34
Larry Wish + Rupert Angeleyes (Double Album Release) @ Eagles 34
Smallpools and Grayscale with Moody Joody and The Romance @ Fine Line
Caroline Rose with Ian Sweet @ First Avenue
Vs Self, Knumears, Lovescare @ The Garage
Ryan Picone and Ben Abrahamson @ Granada
The Rolling Stoners @ Green Room
Joey Van Phillips Trio @ Icehouse
Take That Back featuring Joan Hutton and Sue Orfield @ Jazz Central
The Original Westside Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- Crush Scene, Black Widows, Gay Witch Abortion @ Modist Brewing—For its eighth b-day party, North Loop brewhall Modist is leaning heavily into the 4/20 holiday by appealing to the inner stoner skater kid inside all of us (you know he’s in there!). In the taproom, folks will find a selection of arcade games, special beer and THC releases, and tunes from Mike Davis and Boombox. Starting around 5 p.m. it’s a skater gathering in their new(ish) event space. After Hours Skate Shop will be setting up with skate videos and a killer live music lineup featuring Crush Scene, Black Widows, and Gay Witch Abortion. Outside and in the warehouse? Well, that’s where you’ll find a THC market of sorts, with glass-blowing demos and local companies selling their wares. Other things on wheels at this party: food trucks and a beer truck offering even more beer.—Jessica Armbruster
The Assortment with DJ Michael Grey @ Mortimer's
Beethoven Symphony No. 8 @ Orchestra Hall
The Silent Treatment, Petty Larcenists, and The Reach Outs @ Palmer's
The Shabby Road Orchestra @ The Parkway
Gramma, Killusonline, Anita Velveeta, Mystery Meat @ Pilllar Forum
St. Dominic's Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Ethan Bortnick with ivri @ 7th St Entry
HAZY PHASE, Littleton, WAAR Party @ Terminal Bar
Is thing On?, Lazy Scorsese, Grand Couriers @ 331 Club
William Elliott Whitmore with Sug Daniels @ Turf Club
- Spring Jam 2024 @ U of M Lot 37—Gather ‘round as I regale you with the tale of Spring Jam '09. Back then, the University of Minnesota would book major national headliners—in that year’s case, poorly aged rapper Talib Kweli—to perform the annual boozy springtime blowout. But Mr. Kweli didn’t show which, combined with all that aforementioned booze, resulted in Dinkytown rioting, making national headlines. With that memory resurfaced, we’ll note that maybe this year’s lower-key affair is the correct way to ring in Spring Jam. This year will resemble something approximating a block party, with a trio of rising young music acts: locally launched rockers Why Not, plus L.A. hip-hop twosome Flyana Boss and L.A. indie-pop band Between Friends. The parking lot party will feature a battle of the bands, carnival rides, beer garden, food trucks, lawn and arcade games, and a whole lot more. Spring Jam obviously skews toward college students, though the general public is welcome to attend and feel impossibly old.—Jay Boller
2Gether: Celebrating the Life and Music of Prince @ Uptown Theater
Milkshake: 2000s Dance Party with DJ Dimitry Killstorm & Host Gym Kang @ Uptown VFW
Damon Locks's Black Monument Ensemble @ Walker Art Center
Cedric & Linus Kangas @ White Rock Lounge
Mammoth Moth with Railroad Island @ White Squirrel
Pop Wagner Tavern Trio @ White Squirrel
Altruit with Lo Mismo, Jason Probst @ White Squirrel
Tim McGraw @ Xcel Energy Center
Chastity, Andthecanaryfell, Gnaw @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, April 21
Wind Rose with Xandria @ Amsterdam
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
I Honestly Love You: Tribute to Olivia Newton-John and Anne Murray @ Crooners
The Brian Grivna Quartet @ Crooners
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Liquid Lunch, Oyster World, and Balaclava, Hot Pursuit @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
The Paul Stewart Show @ Eagles 34
The Arcadian Wild with Friend Dog @ Fine Line
Saint Motel with GIBBZ @ First Avenue
Alexander Natalie with Liam Bauman, Emma Jeanne, Anna Devine @ Green Room
Darnell Davis & the Remnant @ Icehouse
Twin Cities Flamenco Collective with Ben Abrahamson & Laura Horn @ Icehouse
Ghost Kichen + Foxy + Fumbler @ Mortimer's
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer's
Fundraiser for the 19 Bar @ Palmer's
Leslie Odom Jr. @ Pantages Theatre
May Erlewine with Packy Lundholm @ The Parkway
Berhana with Asha Imuno @ 7th St Entry
Coco with Sima Cunningham @ Turf Club
Thy Art is Murder @ Varsity Theater
The Bad Companions @ White Squirrel
Morning Sex and The Good Weed with Wally Neal @ White Squirrel
Monday, April 22
Jake Baldwin/Zacc Harris/Pete Henning @ Berlin
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
World Music Monday @ Eagles 34
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Your Neighbors with dreamfone @ 7th St Entry
The Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
The Dans: Dan Lowinger, Dan Newton with Lauren Asheim, Vaughn Asselstine @ White Squirrel
