Welcome to Event Horizon, your weekly roundup of the best events in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
WEDNESDAY 10.19
NNAMDÏ
7th St Entry
Musicians used to complain about being pigeonholed even when they deserved it, but a new hybridized cadre has finally made it impossible for us lazy hacks to take shortcuts. For instance, this Chicago multi-instrumentalist and his… electro-R&B flavored indie-pop? Let’s start there, anyway. Back in 2017, when he still used his surname, Ogbonnaya, NNAMDÏ enticed me with DROOL, then won me over three years later with the acrobatically crafted BRAT. His latest, Please Have a Seat, continues in that vein, full of unexpected instrumental shifts (the heavy guitar punctures the synths of “Dibs”) and curlicued tunes (like a lot of effortlessly melodic writers, NNAMDÏ twists and turns when he gets bored). Holding it all together is a falsetto that (to quote, um, me) “modulates along a continuum between Frank Ocean and Bon Iver without succumbing to the temptations of self-absorbed electro-sensualism.” Songs like “Some Days” (“I wake up ready to run”) suggest he’s afflicted with his share of free-floating anxiety, and he’s not crazy about flying either. So his playfulness in the face of it all is a real achievement. What a fun, weird, inventive, restless guy. With Joshua Virtue and Daphne Jane. $15. 8 p.m. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; more info here.—Keith Harris
THURSDAY 10.20
Twin Cities Horror Fest XI
Crane Theatre
Horror isn’t just a movie genre; it also works really well onstage, where audiences are trapped in the confines of a dark theater. For over a decade, TCHF has been demonstrating how versatile horror can be, whether a production offers creepy vibes, psychological mindfucks, or all-out gore. The fest returns this fall with a hearty dose of all three of those things and more. There’s Bad Egg, a retelling of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that follows Veruca down the chute after she’s deemed “rotten.” In Third Floor Studio’s Dead Mountain, a researcher enters Russia’s treacherous Ural Mountains to try to solve the Dyatlov Pass Incident in which nine experienced campers died under mysterious circumstances. In Dangerous Productions’ All Your White Darlings, a Black man must survive white paranoia after a white person turns up dead, while Victor Invictus follows Frankenstein’s creature, who is presented as a life-size bunraku puppet (creepy!). Other offerings include horror musicals, improv, and a queer storytelling cabaret that promises to be like “Goosebumps, only gayer.” 2303 Kennedy St. NE, Minneapolis; find tickets and the complete schedule at tchorrorfestival.com. Through October 30 –Jessica Armbruster
Demetri Martin
State Theatre
Around 2009, when his Comedy Central show Important Things with Demetri Martin debuted, it seemed Martin might be positioned for mainstream stardom. That never quite panned out, but the smart, silly, palindromic one-liner star of ‘00s alt-comedy can still pack a theater. Babyfaced and bookish as ever at 49, Martin currently voices one of the titular bears on Cartoon Network’s We Bare Bears; his most recent special, Netflix’s The Overthinker, arrived in way back in 2018, so you can expect all new material from the Hedberg/Wright disciple at the State. $42.50. 7 p.m. 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. —Jay Boller
Twin Cities Film Fest
Showplace ICON
It’s that time of year again, and I ain’t talking about foliage here. The Twin Cities Film Fest is back, cramming 140 films into 10 days of screenings with a hybrid event that augments in-person screenings at St. Louis Park’s Showplace ICON with plenty of online options. Opening night tosses a mess of big names at you: the Emmett Till biopic Till, the Billie Eilish-spearheaded climate change doc Overheated, and Harry Styles in The Policeman. Other anticipated titles include James Gray’s Armageddon Time, and the Colin Ferrell/Brendan Gleeson pic The Banshees of Inisherin. Personally, I’m hyped for Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun. But look past the big names for as wide a selection of independent film as you’re likely to see in these parts, with a focus on local filmmakers. 1625 West End Blvd., Minneapolis; find showtimes, prices, and more info here.Through October 29—Keith Harris
Charlie Berens
Ames Center
How aggressively Upper Midwestern are the comedic sensibilities of Charlie Berens? Motherfucker was just awarded the key to the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Seriously! Through savvy marketing of his homespun persona—bits about Kwik Trip, the phrase "uff da," soda vs. pop—Berens has carved out a viral niche; the L.A.-based Wisconsinite boasts 2.2 million Facebook fans and 1.5 million YouTube followers. The 35-year-old star of the popular Manitowoc Minute video series even sells an “Ope”-themed suite of merch. Gotta wonder how he plays on the coasts, but that doesn’t really matter: Berens has already sold out most of these Burnsville theater dates. $30-$47. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. 12600 Nicollet Ave, Burnsville; find more info here. —Jay Boller
FRIDAY 10.21
Maren Morris
Armory
When Morris emerged in 2016 with Hero, recorded with beatwise producer busbee, she seemed to portend a new direction in country-pop. But Nashville doesn’t like women rewriting the rules, and so, frustrated with threading Nashville’s stylistic needles, she teamed up with superproducer Zedd for the colossally huge “The Middle.” She’s kept a one-foot-in, one-foot-out pose since; her latest, Humble Quest, feels contemporary but only rarely pushes the needle into straight pop, with its high points a straightforward love song called “I Can’t Love You Anymore” and (though it pains this shorty to admit it) the comic “Tall Guys.” After Tucker Carlson recently called her a “lunatic country music person” because she stood up for trans rights, she popped the phrase on merch and made bank for Trans Lifeline and the GLAAD Transgender Media Program. In other words, she’s one of the good ones. With Lone Bellow. All ages. $47 and up. 8 p.m. 500 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis; find more info here. —Keith Harris
Pumpkins and Power Drills
Bauhaus Brew Labs
Look, those little orange pumpkin-carving tool sets, with their teeny-tiny saw blades and their toothy plastic scoops… they’re fine. But they’ve got nothin’ on the power tool selection at the Minnesota Tool Library. For the sixth year, the library invites you to carve out some time to stop by their fall fundraiser, fire up a drill, and make a super spooky gourd. You’ll get all the fun of carving and gutting a pumpkin—and the mess is Bauhaus’s to deal with! Feel free to BYOP or purchase a pumpkin at the brewery; all sales support the Minnesota Tool Library’s scholarship fund. All ages. Free. 3-7 p.m. 1315 Tyler St. NE, Minneapolis.—Em Cassel
Bananas Podcast Live!
Parkway Theater
At this late and oversaturated date, the “two-white-dude-comics-riffing” podcast genre is a tough nut to crack. But charming comedians Scotty Landes and Kurt Braunohler make it work with Bananas, their popular pod that features breezy news commentary, lots of kooky listener submissions, and top-tier visits from comic pals like Kristen Schaal, Maria Bamford, Lauren Lapkus, and Natasha Leggero. (On a recent ep, considerable time was devoted to an AI-generated article headlined “Does Megan Thee Stallion Want to Build a Mechanical Bird?”) “We're a strange news podcast with a really fun following—people come dressed as bananas/bananimals/tropical birds—and we LOVE Minneapolis,” Landes told Racket via email, sufficiently buttering our townie bread. $25-$35. 7 p.m. 4814 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. —Jay Boller
SATURDAY 10.22
Posters for Parks
Royal Foundry Craft Spirits
Minneapolis parks are pretty rad. We have parks where dogs can hang, parks with playgrounds for kids, parks with beaches, and parks where you can drink beer and listen to live music. For years, Posters for Parks has been celebrating all things parks while selling posters and raising money. This year’s installment features over 40 original park-inspired posters by local artists, including John Barlow, Lisa Engler, Matt Erickson, Caroline Royce, Melissa Sisk, and many others. Previous pieces (see some examples above) have ranged from modern, to retro, to old fashioned; reverent to humorous; colorful to monochromatic. Proceeds from purchases are split 50/50, with half benefitting the artists and the other half going to Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s People for Parks Fund. You can shop for pieces online from October 24-29, but folks who attend the free reception this Saturday get first dibs. Registration is required, but doesn’t cost a dime; save your coins for cocktails and posters. Free. 4-8 p.m. 241 Fremont Ave. N., Minneapolis. –Jessica Armbruster
Grainville Cereals, Inc.
At a Seeeecret Location
Can a bowl of cereal give you a sense of dread? Yes, especially if it’s coming from Grainville Cereals, a creepy corporation with General Mills vibes that uses ad speak that is just too good to be true. Commutator Collective has gone all in for their latest theatrical production. There’s Grainville’s oddly unsettling website, with lots of images of corporate buildings and promises that their cereals “contain 100% plants.” Also creepy: The play, written by Marge Buckley, will be performed inside what they describe as a “nearly-abandoned acrylics factory” in northeast Minneapolis. Sounds like a corporate-approved spooky time! Audiences receive more details on the location after they purchase tickets, which you can do here. Through November 6 –Jessica Armbruster
ONGOING
Gods and Monsters Art Show
Artspace at Jackson Flats
Part gallery show, part party, “Gods and Monsters” has been showcasing artists specializing in creepy vibes for years. The 2022 installment will be no exception, with over 100 creatives sharing a variety of horror-themed art. There will be aliens, monsters from the lagoon, puddles of blood, Cthulhu, and other things that belong in nightmares (or at least in a fabulous B-movie). 901 18 1/2 Ave. NE, Minneapolis. Through October 30–Jessica Armbruster
Cozy
Rosalux Gallery
Hygge. Cuffing season. Stocking up on wine, making soup in bulk, and going on baking sprees. Here in Minnesota, we’re really into prepping and setting ourselves up for success for long stretches of isolation, be it winter related or pandemic. But that doesn’t always stop the anxieties about the outside world from coming in. For “Cozy,” Terrence Payne’s new collection of large-scale drawings, the Minneapolis-based artist explores our longing for comfort while living with the trauma of raging plagues, political upheavals, extreme inflation, and other modern-era bullshit. 315 West 48th St., Minneapolis. Through October 30 –Jessica Armbruster
Smoke and Ground
Public Functionary
In 2019, Public Functionary closed their gallery at 1400 12th Avenue NE with the promise of returning bigger and better. And that’s exactly what they did. That same year, local artist Leslie Barlow joined the crew to helm PF Studios, a program offering mentorship, affordable gallery space, and other resources for (often low-income) BIPOC artists just starting their career. (You might recognize Barlow from this year’s official State Fair artwork.) Then, in 2020, the PFunc gang secured a much bigger space in the Northrup King Building. Now, you can check out their new 7,000-square-foot gallery and performance space at the official grand-opening, which will feature artists from Barlow’s Studios program. For this group show, curator Adrienne Doyle asked artists to consider the question: Where do our memories live in our landscape and how do they tie or sever us from place? See how different artists answer. Northrup King Building, Studio 144, 1500 Jackson St. NE, Minneapolis. Through November 6 –Jessica Armbruster
पौर्णि मर्णि ा: Gazing Into The Full Moon Night
Soo Visual Arts Center
Projects by Roshan Ganu are less about straightforward gallery shows, more about presenting a storytelling experience. If that sounds pretentious, rest assured that it’s not—it just means that you’ll probably have a good time simply walking through “पौर्णि मर्णि ा: Gazing Into The Full Moon Night.” Her most recent collection is part space voyage, part romp through urban nightlife. There are starry landscapes, a rock that hangs like a disco ball, collages of Pan Indian serials, and neon signs. Language is a key player here, too. The Goa-born, Minneapolis-based Ganu speaks Marathi, English, Konkani, Hindi, Portuguese, and French. 2909 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis. Through November 12 –Jessica Armbruster
Harriet Bart: Reckoning
NewStudio Gallery
“We live in a broken world,” warns Harriet Bart. “‘Reckoning’ is a cautionary tale.” This time, the St. Paul-based, international artist cautions us through creating a unique, site-specific space filled with a variety of items. Some hold cultural significance (a bronze owl, a model of a barn), some have been found in nature (a burl, animal bones), and others have been tampered with in-studio (a gold-leaf embossed stone). Will you be able to decipher and heed the warning? 2303 Wycliff St., St. Paul. Through December 3 –Jessica Armbruster
Rosy Simas Danse: She Who Lives on the Road to War
Weisman Art Museum/All My Relations Arts
Part art installation, part dance performance, She Who Lives on the Road to War examines potential paths to a peaceful future via indigenous history. The exhibit’s title is inspired by the life of Jigonhsasee, an ancient Haudenosaunee woman, known as the Mother of Nations, who once touted war between tribes but eventually changed her ways and advocated for peace. Can you imagine what that kind of turnaround would look like in today’s world? That’s kind of the point of this show, which encourages people to rest, grieve, and “consider how we can all work towards reconciliation during the dual pandemics of systematic racism and COVID-19.” You can see installations at both WAM and All My Relations Arts, and both venues will host dance performances during the show’s run. RSVP for free tickets and find the entire performance schedule here. Weisman Art Museum’s (333 E. River Rd., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) show runs through February 5, while events at All My Relations (1414 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis) are through December 15. –Jessica Armbruster
We Are Working All the Time
Weisman Art Museum
Polish-born, Minneapolis-based artist Piotr Szyhalski creates posters that look like propaganda. But instead of promoting patriotism, he challenges the status quo, as his pieces proclaim things like, “Seek Truth From Facts,” “Rise Up!,” and “I can’t Breathe. If It’s No Covid, It’s the Police.” Szyhalski has been exploring “extreme historical phenomena” – think wars, labor movements, and protests against bad world leaders – since the ‘90s. In 2020, Szyhalski was set to have a retrospective exhibition at WAM. That show, of course, had to be postponed when the pandemic hit – an extreme historical phenomenon! During that time of lockdown and chaos, he entered another creative era, posting a new hand-drawn poster every day for 225 days. The resulting project, “COVID 19: Labor Camp Report,” was a hit, not just locally but internationally, with many pieces going viral. You can see some of these efforts in “We Are Working All the Time,” an epic exhibition showcasing Szyhalski’s 40-plus years of work, which includes posters, plates, installation, media, and other curious items. 333 E. River Rd., Minneapolis. Through December 31–Jessica Armbruster
