Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and beyond.
MONDAY 10.21
Touche Amoré
Fine Line
Jeremy Bolm seems like a pretty intense guy. On 2016’s Stage Four, the Touche Amoré frontman confronted, explicitly and fiercely, the death of his mother from cancer at age 69. There are songs I often skip because they make me too sad—and I still have both my parents!—so forgive me for feeling some relief that these tour dates might draw more heavily from the post-hardcore band’s just-released sixth album, Spiral in a Straight Line. Not that Spiral is any less intense, per se; it’s still intimate, still heavy, still mucking about in the struggle and looking for a way through in the way Bolm and co. have since 2007. With Soul Glo, Portrayal of Guilt, and Soft Blue Shimmer. 18+. $25/$30-$40. 7 p.m. 318 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; more info here.—Em Cassel
Twin Cities Film Fest
Marcus West End Cinema
This summer, Minneapolis asked Sundance to consider considering us when considering a new location for the indie film fest. That didn’t pan out, but hey—there’s still Twin Cities Film Fest. Now in its 15th year, this enduring celebration features over 140 flicks screened over 10 days. Of those movies, over 20 will be free to attend, and over 70 will also be available for folks who prefer to stream at home. The full schedule is out, and includes Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s award-winning novel of friendship in a Florida reform school and Steve McQueen’s Blitz, where a boy sent off to safety in the U.K. countryside during WWII tries to make his way back to East London. This year’s special themes also include a series of pieces on the American healthcare system, documentaries on climate change, and collections focused on women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and Minnesota filmmakers. Other happenings: red carpet fun, special happy hours, and parties. 1625 West End Blvd., Minneapolis; find showtimes, prices, and more info here. Through Saturday—Jessica Armbruster
TUESDAY 10.22
Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn
Dakota
Since freeing herself of Danity Kane and Diddy Dirty Money, Richard has become one of the most versatile R&B artists of the 21st century. Her early solo work was dense and intricate stuff that gradually opened up in more accessible ways as she incorporated the influences of her native New Orleans as well as the house music she loved. Most recently, Richard has stepped in a chamber jazz direction, working with the neoclassical producer Zahn. The duo released their first album together, Pigments, in 2022; its follow up, Quiet in a World Full of Noise, came out earlier this month. $35/$40. 7 p.m. 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
NE Farmers Market After Dark
Bauhaus Brew Labs
If you’re a night owl like me, your typical farmers mark can sometimes be difficult to rally for. This event at Bauhaus is for us. Each year, the Northeast Farmers Market gang hosts this summer series, which spills into fall. Tonight is the last event of the season. Expect a good mix of locally grown greens and other garden goods, artisan pantry eats, tasty treats (including vegan oatmeal cream sammies), and creative makers. Best of all, you can do it with a beer in hand, and there’s usually live music. Free. 6-9 p.m. 1315 Tyler St. NE, Minneapolis.—Jessica Armbruster
THURSDAY 10.24
TC Horror Fest XIII
Crane Theatre
The Twin Cities Horror Fest is turning 13 this year?! Super spooky! But then, this annual curation of creepy theater has always offered a lot to be scared about, with productions ranging from all-out bloodbaths to subtle, subconscious seeds. This season’s collection features pieces from locals and travelers. That includes monster enthusiast Reverend Matt, who seems to be going for some sort of world record with the epically named The Night Parade of A Hundred Demons (In Which the Honorable Reverend Matt Employs The Winding Sheet Outfit to Help Him Tell One Hundred Ghost Stories and Absolutely Nobody Gets What They Came For). What can you expect from him this time? I think it’s all there in the title, folks. Dangerous Productions’ Dr. Clown mines a topic filled with woe and despair: the American healthcare system. Puppet masters at Phantom Chorus Theatre will be working in blacklight for The Alchemist’s Bargain, while Spiral Theater’s tragicomic Ghostrunners follows a baseball fan’s, uh, spiral into madness after his fav player is killed by a fastball. Other troupes hoping to scare the shit out of you this Halloween include Rogues Gallery Arts, Oncoming Productions, Occasionally Employed Productions, and Wheeler in the Sky. $15 per show; $70 five-show pass. 2303 Kennedy St. NE, Minneapolis; find tickets and the complete schedule at tchorrorfestival.com. Through November 3—Jessica Armbruster
Kyle Kinane
Acme Comedy Co.
A battle-tested club vet who still amuses and surprises, Kinane burst onto the scene in 2010 with his debut album, Death of the Party. At that time his list of peers in the exploding Chicago standup scene included Kumail Nanjiani, Hannibal Burress, T.J. Miller, Pete Holmes, and Cameron Esposito—what a wild list of names! Kinane’s latest special, this year’s wonderful Dirt Nap, was recorded at our very own Acme Comedy Co., and it features more introspection and no fewer laughs than previous hours. 18+. $39.25. 8 p.m. Thu.; 7 & 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 708 N. First St., Minneapolis; find more info here. Through Saturday—Jay Boller
FRIDAY 10.25
Elif Batuman
Pillsbury Hall, University of Minnesota
Elif Batuman’s two novels, The Idiot and Either/Or, follow the collegiate path of Selin, a certain kind of bookish student in the late ’90s who tries to apply what she’s learning in class to her social and romantic life—aren’t the liberal arts about learning how to be human, after all? The results are occasionally a disaster for Selin but always very funny for us readers. As in her nonfiction, which is full of quippy insights into Russian literature and personal anecdotes, Batuman can feel like an A student playing up to her professors at times—I mean, she was born to write for the New Yorker. But she captures gifted undergraduate cluelessness like no one else, and unless you’re a professor yourself, she not only knows more about Isaac Babel or 12th-century Uzbek poetry than you do, but often she makes you want to know more. Free. 7 p.m. 310 Pillsbury Dr SE, Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
Ben Schwartz & Friends
Orpheum Theatre
I’m not sure how canceled or uncancelled Thomas Middleditch is these days, but I can say with confidence that attending Middleditch & Schwartz, his two-man longform improv team that performed at the State Theatre in 2019, is perhaps the loudest I’ve ever laughed in public. Watching Mr. Schwartz (Parks and Rec, Comedy Bang Bang, Sonic) do improv is like watching a magic show, and I’m equally confident the “and friends” promised for this show will produce must-see stuff. (Last year those live pals included such Comedy Bang! Bang! favorites such as Jessica McKenna, Gil Ozeri, Colton Dunn, Drew Tarver, Mary Holland, and Eugene Cordero.) Outside of improv, Schwartz has kept busy with roles in the Nic Cage vampire movie Renfield and the Roku show Die Hart 2: Die Harter. $50-$80. 8 p.m. 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Drive-By Truckers
Uptown Theater
Over a quarter of a century into their career, the Truckers have so many classic albums under their belt that picking a favorite can feel arbitrary. Released in 2002, Southern Rock Opera may not be their best, but it’s certainly their biggest statement, addressing the sins of George Wallace, the complexity of the American South, and, above all, how much Lynyrd Skynyrd fuckin’ rocked. (Note past tense—let’s set aside for now how little brother Johnny has tarnished Ronnie Van Zant’s legacy since the band’s plane went down.) If its reach exceeds its grasp, don’t you wish you could say that about more rock albums these days? And there’s always been more Crazy Horse than Skynyrd to the Truckers’ barrage, an irony I’m sure that both Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young would appreciate. Also Saturday. $42 and up. 7 p.m. 2900 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
SATURDAY 10.26
Halloween Happenings
Various Locations
For the next two weeks it’s spooky season. So get your freak on before the focus shifts to holiday shopping, spiked eggnog, and Die Hard. There’s lots of Halloweeny stuff to do this Saturday for sure. Palmer’s haunted patio party will feature cover band jams, with tributes to the Cure, Madonna, and the Talking Heads, plus sets featuring country and punk classics. Broken Clock Brewing is hosting a people and pet costume contest that’s sure to be super adorable, and mixmasters Backyard Boombox will be spinning tunes for 11 hours straight at Bauhaus during their Nightmare on Tyler Street event. Otherworldly Arts Collective will celebrate their group show, “Beyond the Veil,” where you can enjoy cocktails from Norseman while taking in pieces exploring communication beyond the grave. They’ll also be hosting three seance sessions, one family-friendly, one goofy, and one full on calling of the spirits. Last, but absolutely not least, folks are invited to paddle along Lake Nokomis this Saturday in costume. Watch or participate; either way it’s sure to be a good time. Looking for more? I’ll be posting a Halloween mega-list later this week.—Jessica Armbruster
BeltramiSCARE: Goatpocalypse NOW!
Beltrami Park
You simply gotta give it up for the Lower Northeast Neighborhoods Association (LNNA). They could have gone the safe, PR-conscious route in naming this Halloween event, but instead they went ahead and called it, and I quote, “the 10th annual BeltramiSCARE: Goatpocalypse NOW! (How I learned to stop FEARING and LOVE the goat).” Bravo. Now, what does that entail? Tours every 15 minutes of the famously haunted Beltrami Park, of course. (Here’s the son of City Council Member Michael Rainville—huh!—writing a nice history of the spooky past/present there.) But LNNA wasn’t content with the canonical lore, so they added the following dramatic embellishment to gin up excitement for this year’s bash: “The year is 2057 and NE Minneapolis is now a desolate Mad Max-ish landscape, lone survivors come across what was once Maple Hill Cemetery for ghoulish discoveries of the past!” Incredible. It’s unclear how/when goats enter the equation, but organizers stress that the evening will begin with more kid-friendly tours and get progressively scarier as darkness falls. Free. 5:30-8 p.m. 1111 Summer St. NE, Minneapolis; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Celebrate 40 Years of Public Access
SPEAK MPLS
It’s wild, it’s boring, it’s offensive, it’s amazing: It’s public access television, and Minneapolis is celebrating 40 years of it this weekend. It’s basically the same deal it’s been for decades: a platform for people to share their knowledge and experiences, get creative, and connect with folks. On any given day on public access, you might find: a high school tennis match, someone helpfully distilling the best bits from most recent public school board meeting, a local rock group jamming out, or a preview of your neighborhood garage sale. At tonight’s celebration, folks from past (MTN!), present (SPEAK MPLS!), and future (RYSE MPLS!) eras of local public television will celebrate and reflect, with plenty of live music, video montages, food and drinks, games, and more. “They just want to let other people shine,” says Fancy Ray McCloney, who spoke with us last week for our feature story about getting his start on MTN. “Where else can anyone get a platform like this where they can let their star shine?” He’ll be hosting tonight’s party, which will also be airing on channel 16 and streaming live. Free; RSVP here. 6-9 p.m. 2429 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis.—Jessica Armbruster
Richard Thompson
Fitzgerald Theater
Sure the revered British singer-songwriter has a new album—Ship to Shore it’s called, and it’s not a bad one, as late-in-life song-batches go. But you’ll be showing up to see if the old guy can still shred, and having witnessed him unloading on “Genesis Hall” at First Ave, I can attest to the fact that he damn sure could as recently as 2018. Expect a setlist that stretches from his years with groundbreaking Brit folk-rockers Fairport Convention through his celebrated collaborations with ex-wife Linda to his long solo career—maybe even a new song or two. Though Thompson tours plenty, he prefers to travel light and perform acoustic shows. So when he gets a full band together and plugs in, you want to be there. With Kacy & Clayton. $35. 8 p.m. 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul; find more info here.—Keith Harris
SUNDAY 10.27
Boonion Depot
Union Depot
Last year I reported a story on how terrified you should be about the state of U.S. railways. “It feels like, now, you’re running right on the edge of a razor,” a rail worker told me, terrifyingly. “Every train that passes by, you’re like, ‘God, I hope if they derail, it’s not in a community.’" Bone-chilling stuff! Anyway, little has been done to improve conditions since the train-crash disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, but it’s best not to think about stuff like that. Instead, let’s think about the boo-tastic shenanigans at this spooktacular family-friendly Halloween party! We’re talkin’: arts 'n' crafts, DJs, face painting, balloon artists, and a whole lot more. Costumes are encouraged, and may we suggest the scariest one of all? The modern-day U.S. rail baron executive! Free. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 214 Fourth St. E., St. Paul; find more info here.—Jay Boller
Stevie Wonder
Target Center
Let’s start with the caveats: Stevie leads every night off with his sentimental new political ballad “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart” and he hands over the middle of the show to a protégé named Sheléa. Which only leaves you with… well, 20-some classic songs performed by America’s greatest living musician, who hasn’t been through town in nearly a decade. Honestly, this seems like it should be a bigger deal. As someone lucky enough to have attended his Songs in the Key of Life tour in 2015, I’ll just say that you deserve to be in the same room with the man at least once, to experience the sheer joy he derives from being Stevie Wonder. It’s downright inspirational, and you might even experience twinges of patriotism, as Stevie’s implicit argument this election season is that if the United States can produce a Stevie Wonder it must have something going for it. $54-$999. 8 p.m. 600 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here.—Keith Harris
ONGOING
Last Call: Sever’s Fall Festival
Sever’s Farm
Folks, we live in a corn state. In fact, Minnesota is the fourth-biggest corn producer in the country, producing 1.5 billion bushels annually. So it makes sense that one of our most enduring fall traditions involves heading out to Shakopee to get lost in a corn field. You can do that at Sever’s, which has hosted an epic maze each year since 1997. The challenge takes about 30 minutes, but there’s plenty to see and do once you escape, with corn pits for kids to dive into, obstacle courses, a zip line, and friendly goats and llamas in the petting zoo. $16-$26; $45 season pass. Find tickets and more info at seversfestivals.com. 3121 150th St. W., Shakopee. Through October 27—Jessica Armbruster
Are You With Me?
Rosalux Gallery
“My paintings are inspired by the magical, in-between world of the bar, offering a no invitation necessary social setting for friends, acquaintances, and strangers,” artist Mary Gibney explains. She’s interested in many bar aspects (yes, beyond the alcohol): the camaraderie, the power dynamics, the visual clutter, the idea that “Anything Could Happen.” And she explores it in a colorful and overloaded style that often includes cats, skeletons, and ghosts. There will be a conversation with guests Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant, authors of the local dive bar history Closing Time, on Sunday, October 20, at 1 p.m. 315 W. 48th St., Minneapolis; more info here. Through October 27—Em Cassel
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
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
