We are well into June now, friends, and that means outdoor music. Let's hope the rains (and the smoke) cooperate.
Tuesday, June 10
Johnny Lied, Dylan Hicks @ Aster Cafe
Justin Spenner Presents B-Sides @ Barely Brothers Records
Caroline Rose @ Bryant Lake Bowl
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Larry Wish, Spaceport, Time Room @ Eagles 34
New Band Night: J-Mo On The Beat, Sammie Jean Cohen, The Black Notes, Topiary Blush @ Green Room
Chicks and Trogs @ Father Hennepin Park
Explosion Big Band @ Jazz Central
City of Lakes Community Band @ Loring Park
Steve Haskin Ensemble @ Metronome Brewery
Thea Ennen and Dave Ja Vue @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
SWEET SPINE with Another Heaven @ 7th St Entry
June Conspiracy Series featuring John Magnuson Trio+ and Frannie Crego @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Doyle Turner @ 331 Club
Sawtooth Witch (Residency) with Taylor James Donskey @ White Squirrel
Green Jelly, From This Day Forward, Lost Evidence, Bloodgeon, Mommy Sez No @ Zhora Darling
Wednesday, June 11
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
Minneapolis Local Music Variety Hour @ Amsterdam
Raegan Boehmer & Rachel Bearinger @ Aster Cafe
Freedom to Listen (feat. Peter Brendler, Jon Irabagon, and Mark Ferber) @ Berlin
Ted Olsen (Album Release) with Eric Mayson @ Cedar Cultural Center
Al Scorch, Advance Base, Little Mazarn, Walker Rider @ Cloudland
Way Way Back Wednesdays @ Day Block Brewing
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
- Blondshell with meg elsier @ Fine Line—The Times recently dubbed Sabrina Teitelbaum an “alt-rock supernova,” whatever that could possibly mean in 2025. Like her pal Alicia Bognanno in Bully, Teitelbaum revisits and personalizes a commercial style decades past its sell-by date. Where her self-titled debut was harried, her recent follow up, If You Asked for a Picture, feels more resigned as it continues to survey the perils of life as a woman attracted to men. “I don’t wanna be your mom,” she tells one loser she sleeps with anyway. “Sometimes it feels like you’re not enough/ 'Cause you’re not self-centered,” she tells a keeper as she pushes him away. “Why don’t the good ones love me?” she asks no one in particular. A bummer of an album, but sharply observed and deeply lived in. She’ll also be at Surly on Thursday for the Current’s free “happy hour.”—Keith Harris
Ashe with Bo Staloch @ First Avenue
Faster Pussycat with SUPERSUCKERS, The Rumours, & The Lonely Ones @ Hook and Ladder
Starlight Vinyl Night: MAKR Spins the Classic @ Icehouse
Barb Ryman @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Innocent Reggae Band @ Marjorie McNeely Conservatory
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Big Woods Brass @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals @ Palace Theatre
Mike Wolter & Friends featuring Polem @ Palmer’s
Moxen with Heilocene, APHID, and Homunculus Rex @ Pilllar Forum
WCCO Blues Band @ Schooner Tavern
The Get Together with Nothing But Joy, Honeymoon Madness, and Wizards of SoL @ 7th St Entry
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Said in Stone @ 331 Club
Emmy Woods, Lake Davi, Tomboyy, and Pine & Fire @ Turf Club
Paul Bergen & Friends @ White Squirrel
Lord Jeremy with Thor Leseman & The Breadwinners, A Sunken Ship Irony @ White Squirrel
Thursday, June 12
Red Maker, Fine Dials, No Regard @ Amsterdam
Nathan Hanson’s Rope Ladder @ Berlin
Brilliant Colors Jazz Trio @ Bryant Square Park
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
YEARBOOK: Class of ’77: Great Songs from 1973-1977 @ Crooners
River: The Music of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon @ Crooners
Sue Scott’s Island of Discarded Women @ Crooners
John’s Garage, Boxed Goods, Agony in the Living Room @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Lowertown Sounds Vinyl Afterparty @ Gambit Brewing
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Jason Chavez for Ward 9 Pride Drag Show Fundraiser @ Hook and Ladder
The Twins of Franklin with Ty Pow of The Holy North @ Icehouse
- Kingfield Porchfest @ Kingfield—At the risk of sounding like a sappy, grandiose townie, these are the types of community events that make Minneapolis the greatest city on the face of the Earth. The idea is simple: Recruit a giant bill of talented local musicians—from punk to Afrobeat to singer-songwriter—and let ‘em play from porch fronts all over the Kingfield neighborhood. (Residents are also asked to volunteer their yards/stoops/driveways as performance spaces, so it’s not strictly a porch affair.) As an attendee, your only duty is to wander around, soak up the sounds, and feel like you’re part of something beautiful. As an anecdotal aside, I’ll note that I recently received intel from my mother that the Kenny neighborhood now hosts its own porch-based festival—the failsafe concept seems to be spreading.—Jay Boller
- Flamin’ Oh’s with Faith Boblett, Lonesome Dan Kase @ Mears Park—Downtown St. Paul could use a flicker of good news, and that's what we're here to provide: Lowertown Sounds, the reliably terrific—and free!—summertime concert series at Mears Park is back for 2025. More than half of this year's genre-spanning local performers are LTS first-timers, according to organizers, and as always they’ll be joined throughout the summer by craft bev vendors (Gambit Brewing, Pryes Brewing, Utepils Brewing, Alexis Bailly Vineyard) and a rotating fleet of "almost 10 food trucks” (we’re guessing that means eight or nine). This week’s headliners are veteran rock 'n' rollers the Flamin' Oh's, who've been doing it locally since 1977; they’ll be joined by supporting acts Faith Boblett and Lonesome Dan Kase.—Jay Boller
Global Jazz Collegium @ Metronome Brewery
Women’s Drum Center @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Rooms on Fire @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård Conducts Rachmaninoff @ Orchestra Hall
The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s
Edie Rae Band, International Treasures @ Schooner Tavern
Molly Brandt and Mojohand with Luke Callen @ 7th St Entry
- Blondshell @ Surly Brewing—See Wednesday's listings.
Nick Hensley, Emmy Woods, Sasha Mercedes @ Tattersall
Dead Larry with Socktopus, Sam Licari and The Sweet Tease, and Lost Island Society @ Turf Club
Pelicant, Lenwood, Jeff Goldsmith @ Underground Music Cafe
Gasoline Lollipops, Clarence Tilton, Becky Kapell @ Uptown VFW
Jennifer Marie @ White Squirrel
Dusty Forever, Aldrich, & Canary Room @ Zhora Darling
Friday, June 13
Sea Wolf with Cat Ridgely @ Amsterdam
John Magnuson, Mammoth Moth @ Barely Brothers Records
Tacheny Family Players @ Berlin
Solomon Parham Sextet @ Berlin
Nude Nubies Burlesque @ Black Hart
Glitter & Be Gay in the U.S.A. @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Gemini Birthday Bash @ Cabooze
Neuromancer @ Can Can Wonderland
World’s Greatest Dad, 12th House Sun, Allergen @ Cloudland
Colleen Raye, Rick Carlson @ Crooners
The Ronny Lowe Band @ Crooners
Sophisticated Lady - A Tribute to the Life & Music of Natalie Cole @ Crooners
Thomasina Petrus & the Selby Avenue Brass Band @ Crooners
Jon Sullivan Band @ Day Block Brewing
Alibi, Rockin’ Iguanas @ Driftwood
Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34
The Teardowns, GUP! @ 50th & France
Zippy Laske (EP Release) with Mama Rose, Chastity Brown @ Green Room
REVENTÓN: Reggaeton Party @ Green Room
Saint Small, The Mood Swings, & Little Man @ Hook and Ladder
Pierre Lewis B3 Organ Night @ Jazz Central
The Belfast Cowboys @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
- DJ OMGIGI Presents: 613 Day @ Lush—What’s 613, besides the date? Well, he said knowingly and as though he didn’t just learn this, if you’ve ever seen a Black woman with platinum blonde synthetic hair, the color was probably 613. This event, celebrating that hue’s legacy of fabulousness, is put on by Friend of Racket Gigi Berry, who informs us: “I searched the entire internet (yes i did Keith!) and NOBODY has had a party like this,” adding that “it’s cute, camp, BLACK, and QUEER.” She’ll be DJing as DJ OMGIGI, joined by DJ Sasha Bangzz. Drag performers include Priscilla Es Yuicy and Ken Doll and there will also be a cypher for attendees to express themselves.—Keith Harris
Kellan Christopher Cragg @ The Lyric
Jack Schabert (Residency) Chris Bates, Patrick Adkins @ Metronome Brewery
Glycerin Tears @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Kvsket, Cymothoa, Mvrrow, Endless Reign @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård Conducts Rachmaninoff @ Orchestra Hall
Palomazo Norteño @ Orpheum Theatre
Art Beagle’s Backup Band @ Padraigs
Sunshine & the Night Walkers, Creekbed Carter @ Schooner Tavern
Florry with Lily Seabird @ 7th St Entry
Hunt The Dinosaur with Fight From Within, VVOLF MASK, Courier @ Studio B
IdlFlo, The Grieving Pines, John Forest & Model Citizens, Fauna Suana @ Terminal Bar
Scottie Miller Trio @ 318 Club
Pretty Pretty Please, The Grieving Pines @ 331 Club
Rage Against the Regime ft. Diane @ Turf Club
Brother Buffalo @ Underground Music Cafe
Lazenlow, Elour, Jamie Quinn, Mathias Saint John @ Uptown VFW
Chief Opossum with Plumstar @ White Squirrel
Bimbo with Doom Gong and Two Weeks Past Never @ White Squirrel
Saturday, June 14
Michael Cain Trio (with Barbara Cohen & Terrell X) @ Berlin
Mary Brewster’s Sparkle @ Black Hart
Glitter & Be Gay in the U.S.A. @ Bryant Lake Bowl
Mick Sterling and the Stud Brothers @ Bunker’s
The Minneapolis Southside Reunion @ Cabooze
The Powerpop Girls @ Can Can Wonderland
The Great Northern + The Strolling Clones @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Dart, Black Widows, Fret Rattles @ Cloudland
Mancini 101: The Moods of Henry Mancini with Maud Hixson and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
The Fabulous Hackmasters, Em and the Gems @ Driftwood
Baltic Avenue, Neighborhood Watch, Clash Minne Rockers, the Th3 @ Dusty’s
Panel (Record Release), Heather the Jerk, Makin Out, Dustin James @ Eagles 34
- Sleigh Bells with Sophie Hunter @ Fine Line—The conventional wisdom re: Sleigh Bells is that the duo peaked with its first album, which is what people typically say when a band emerges with its sound fully formed and listeners have fond memories of the moment. But on Reign of Terror and Bitter Rivals, the songwriting was sharper and the sound finetuned. Still, their edgy exuberance has waned in the years since, even as they’ve re-amassed cred as hyperpop godparents. They sound more ersatz than ever (complimentary) on the new Bunky Becky Birthday Boy, as pert-voiced Alexis Krauss plays it silly rather than tough and one-man-band Derek E. Miller has fun with jumbo guitars and balloony synths. They’re less like a band trying to recapture the old magic than one confident in who they are now.—Keith Harris
Hot in Herre ⏤ 2000s Dance Party @ First Avenue
I’m With Her with Mason Via @ Fitzgerald Theater
Chutes with Social Cig and Mike Kota @ Green Room
Mae Simpson with Feed The Dog, Rebel Queens @ Hook and Ladder
InMotion: Wild N'Out @ Icehouse
- WORT Tour @ Insight Brewing—If you’re anything like me, you spent your awkwardest years attending Warped Tours and recording New Found Glory’s debut album onto MiniDiscs (still waiting on my investment into that format to pay off…). The folks at Insight Brewing are hoping your nostalgia for that pop-punk/emo/ska era pays off at Wort Tour, a DIY riff on the punky teen lifestyle fest that ran from 1995 until 2019. (Warped Tour is actually returning this summer in a limited, three-city capacity.) Among the rad activities planned for Wort Tour: a goddamn pop-up skate park on which pro skaters will shred and amateurs can compete for prizes, one of which will involve barrel jumping; the flash tattoo trend Racket just wrote about; limited-edition merch; food trucks, including recent RacketCast guests Angry Line Cook, and specialty beers, including a lemon lager dubbed Vertical Inclinations. In terms of live tunes, you've got Linus, Umbrella Bed, Cheap Bouquet, Quarter Life Crisis, and Racket faves Gully Boys.—Jay Boller
Levi Schwartzberg @ Jazz Central
Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project @ Lake Harried Bandshell
Rusko with Subdocta @ The Loft
"In C" by Terry Riley - a Chris Stewart Performance @ Metronome Brewery
The Good, the Bad, the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Kayla Elsewhere @ Modist Brewing
PV$$¥ CNTRL: DJ Shannon Blowtorch & Sophia Eris @ Mortimer’s
Søndergård Conducts Rachmaninoff @ Orchestra Hall
Mozart’s Prague Symphony with Gábor Takács-Nagy @ Ordway
Meat Raffle Tonight @ Padraigs
Watchhouse with Two Runner @ Palace Theatre
Dan Israel Band, Gini Dodds and the Dahlias @ Schooner Tavern
- Stone Arch Bridge Festival @ Stone Arch Bridge—Yes the downtown side of the bridge is still closed for construction but the fest must go one. In addition to arts and food, there are two stages of music, and here are the full line-ups.—Keith Harris
- Doug Collins (Album Release) with Miss Georgia Peach @ Terminal Bar—There are plenty of country and country-adjacent musicians in these parts, but few have Doug Collins's deep appreciation—and affinity—for the wordplay of Music Row songwriting. Collins's new album, Lonely Memories, starts with a classic pun "She Loves Lyin" ("next to someone who's not me"); elsewhere he wonders what the "First Country Song," wonders if it's the whiskey or the girl who just walked in that's making him feel funny, and admits that AC can be as addictive as alcohol.—Keith Harris
Pat Frederick & Notorious Rebel Fiddle @ 318 Cafe
Wizards of Sol, The Record Club, Grand Lilac @ 331 Club
Julia Wolf with Worry Club and Ellis @ Turf Club
I Love the ’80s @ Uptown Theater
The Weeknd @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Thirst Trap: Pride Party @ Varsity
Hugo with John Swardson, Near An Open Flame @ White Squirrel
Billy Johnson @ White Squirrel
Aestis with Alpine Shepherd Boy, Dashed @ White Squirrel
My Kid Banana, Unattractive Giant Monster, & Busey @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, June 15
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Sundays With Nona (feat. Enhancement & Dungeon Synth Sunday Crew) @ Berlin
Peter Mulvey with Ben Weaver @ Cedar Cultural Center
Corky Siegel & Randy Sabien @ Crooners
Zach & Kieran's Dynamic Duos of the 1960s @ Crooners
Just Dave and the Rockin Allstars @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Irish Set Dance @ Eagles 34
TC Ramblers @ Eagles 34
Jet with Band of Skulls @ First Avenue
Co-MingL Presents The Heat @ Granada
Herkules with Ryan Oaks @ Green Room
Erik Koskinen & Molly Maher @ Hewing Rooftop
Heatbox with Maxaphone, Alex Steele, Reed Grimm, Nicholas David @ Hook and Ladder
Cantus @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Mozart’s Prague Symphony with Gábor Takács-Nagy @ Ordway
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s
A Tribute to Joey Molland @ Parkway
Samantha Crain with Quinn Christopherson @ 7th St Entry
- Stone Arch Bridge Festival @ Stone Arch Bridge—See Saturday's listings.
Switchyard, Tom Feldman, Eleven Degenerates @ 331 Club
Creeping Death and Kruelty @ Turf Club
Sweet Amanita with John Irwin, Tony Sig @ White Squirrel
Karaoke with Ally @ White Squirrel
BREKKA, Boy Dirt Car, Karl J. Palouček, & Timmy The Tapeworm @ Zhora Darling
Monday, June 16
Mizmor, Gates of Dawn, Apophany @ Amsterdam
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Other Country Ensemble @ Eagles 34
Square Dancing @ Eagles 34
Will Wood with Ruen Brothers @ First Avenue
Tom, Dick & Harry @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer’s
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Avery Lee, the Sweeties, Finick, & babytooth @ Underground Music Cafe
