Hey there, sad music fans, here's something to make you even sadder: The National and Zach Bryan are playing on the same night this week. To whom shall you weep? Choose wisely.
Tuesday, August 8
Colin Bracewell @ Bryant Square Park
International Reggae All Stars @ Bunkers
St. Dominic's Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Dave Velk @ Father Hennepin Bluff Park
The Dandy Warhols with Muun Bato @ Fine Line
Philip Labes, Corzine @ Green Room
Cedar Avenue Big Band Open Rehearsal @ Jazz Central
Nova Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Scrunchies, Strobobean, IE @ Palmer's
Industrial Strength with DJ Sin @ Terminal Bar
Worker’s Playtime with Scott Keever @ 331 Club
August Conspiracy Series featuring Ghost Kitchen @ 331 Club
Cindy Lee and Freak Heat Waves @ Turf Club
Trevor McSpadden & Mary Cutrufello @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, August 9
- The National with the Beths @ Armory—Matt Berninger is a damn menace. Whether insisting that his soon-to-be ex keep their Afghan Whigs CDs or that his mate’s optimism is driving him even deeper into depression, the moody baritone does what he does best on the National’s latest, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, makes middle-aged male despair not just emotionally affecting but kinda sexy. In some ways, the new National album is a retreat from its predecessor, I Am Easy to Find, which opened up the claustrophobia by incorporating a series of female vocalists. (Guest appearances here from Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift here don’t quite count.) But what justifies Berninger’s melancholy is his writing, which always roots his dejection in some concrete life situation, and a quality in his voice that suggests (to this despairing middle-aged male, anyway) that he’d rather not feel this way. As for show openers the Beths, I’ve waxed euphoric plenty about them in the past.
Hannah von der Hoff (August Residency) @ Aster Cafe
Hassan Shahid and Alicia Thao @ Cedar Cultural Center
Maggie's Wednesdays: Linda Peterson and Jason Peterson DeLaire @ Crooners
The Experience and Friends, Mommy Sez No, Casanova Mob @ Driftwood
Disgusting Brothers Organ Trio @ Green Room
Florina (Album Release) + Knifeworld + DJ Gila Man @ Icehouse
Bend in the River Big Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Monique & Xperience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Colonel Mustard's Mechanical Orchestra @ Palmer's
Karaoke Wednesday @ ROK Music Lounge
Connor McRae Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Diggin Dirt with Dylan Salfer @ 7th St Entry
- Boz Scaggs @ State Theatre—You know what? I bet a 2023 Boz Scaggs show is pretty enjoyable. I'm not saying he's Bonnie Raitt or nothing—his heyday was even narrower than most '70s pop-soul stars, and now he's pushing 80. But the last album of his I bothered to check out, A Fool to Care, was a real treat. Of course, that was also eight years ago.
- Zach Bryan @ Target Center—This 27-year-old Navy vet is the kind of popular phenomenon that heartens music lovers who worry over whether mass success can still occur outside the constrictions of the pop machine. Bryan’s 34-song major label debut, American Heartbreak—two-hours of melodically ambient and vulnerably macho country-folk that never distracts you from more pressing matters with such tawdry concessions to pleasure as radio-friendly hooks or contemporary beats—hit the top 10 on its release in 2022. Sure Billboard’s chart methodology favors overlong albums, but even so this Oklahoma boy’s aesthetic (unrelenting heartland fatalism as singalong mood music) hit home with a not insignificant fan base. Personally, I wish he wouldn’t prove his upstanding downhome decency by regularly presenting himself as the wronged party when it comes to love. But he seems like a good dude, as such things go—his live album is called All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster, and he’s taken steps to protect his fans from jacked up prices.
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Don Scott and Rosanne Licciardi @ 331 Club
Gigi Amal & the Gemnize @ 331 Club
The Mattson 2 and Paul Cherry with Jaguar Sun @ Turf Club
Vulgar Tongue, BobaBoba, and Tusk @ Underground Music Venue
The Drums with Cold Hart @ Varsity
Lars-Erik Larson & The 2nd Stringer @ White Squirrel
Thursday, August 10
Grant Glad, John Lewis, AJ Scheiber @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Hunker'd Down Big Band @ The Commons
The Laura Caviani Trio @ Crooners
Cafe Accordion Orchestra @ Crooners
RIVER: The Music of Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon @ Crooners
- Steve Earle @ Dakota—Apparently Nickelback covered ol' Steve's "Copperhead Road" at the Xcel last night. It is to shudder.
The Experience and Friends @ Driftwood
Mommy Sez No, Casanova Mob @ Driftwood
Interstellar Signals (DJ Night) @ Dusty's
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Havok and Toxic Holocaust with I AM and Hammerhedd @ Fine Line
Uzzah, Gora Ireke, Lil Orphic @ Green Room
Stillhouse Junkies @ Hook and Ladder
Cole Diamond + Paisley Fields @ Icehouse
Good News Big Band @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe
No Limits: The B Side @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Front Porch Swingin' Liquor Pigs @ Palmer's
Bebel Gilberto @ Parkway Theater
FREAKOLOGY! Vinyl Night @ ROK Music Lounge
Lolo's Ghost with Edie and the Blaze Kings @ Schooner Tavern
Nicotine Dolls with Adam Bonomo @ 7th St Entry
- Pink @ Target Field—Look, if I could do all that acrobat shit, I'd show off too.
Minneapolis Songwriter Round: Matty Hertel, Planetless, Monica Livorsi @ 331 Club
Danielle Nicole with Brandon Miller @ Turf Club
Witness with Daycare, Ginger Bones @ White Squirrel
Friday, August 11
The Neighborhood Quartet @ Aster Cafe
- Lakeside Guitar Festival @ Como Lakeside Pavillion—We’re sure tedious pieces about the death of the guitar exist, considering the recent three-decade affinity for bleepy/bloopy music that persists in popular music. (Confirmed, they do exist.) The noble six-string is alive and well at the Lakeside Guitar Festival, however, a three-day, 17-act celebration of all things shreddable. Friday features Duluth folk institution Charlie Parr; Saturday's headliner is genreless NJ guitar ace Marc Ribot (Minnesota's Last Waltz keeps the party going with a ticketed event afterward); and Ribot will return Sunday for a ticketed afterparty at the Turf with John Medeski, Carrie Rodriguez, and Klezmerson. Throughout the Music Mission-organized event you'll find a guitar pedal swap, silent auction, and, on Saturday morning, a community "strum along/sing a song."
Joel Shapira Presents: The Art of Solo Guitar--A Tribute to Joe Pass @ Crooners
Emil Campbell and the R Factor @ Crooners
Kathleen Johnson Presents Classic Aretha @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Maurice Jacox and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
- Steve Earle @ Dakota—See Thursday's listings.
Just the Shameless @ Driftwood
Lady Heat (DJ Night) @ Dusty's
Steve Clarke and the Working Stiffs @ Eagles 34
Alina Maira (Single Release), LAMAAR, General B & The Wiz, Clay Fulton @ Green Room
Hookstock – Celebrating the Influential Festivals, Artists, and Music of 1969 @ Hook and Ladder
Juliet and the Montagues (EP Release) @ KJ’s Hideaway
Tyler Haag Band @ KJ's Hideaway
The Alarmists @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
The Apple Cellar Trio @ Loring Park
Kung Fu Hippies @ Minnehaha Bandstand
The Original Westside Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Heavy Sixers, Muun Bato, and 5 Cent Reality @ Palmer's
Paul Cerar, The Thirties, and Sparrowhawk @ Palmer's
Sunshine & the Nightwalkers @ Schooner Tavern
Silver Warehouse with The Whips, Walking Phoenix and Airship Caravan @ 7th St Entry
Stay at Home Astronaut, Switching Fields, Dreams of Third Street @ Terminal Bar
Oyster World, Shrimp Olympics, Mr. Zipp @ 331 Club
Chris Pierce with Laura Hugo @ Turf Club
- The Challenger Disaster Conspiracy (Album Release) with The Right Here and Linus @ Underground Music Venue—I'm not about to ignore a band that names its album City Pages 2023 Band Of The Year, especially when its growly lead single, "Corncob Messiah," rips as much as it does. And the Challenger Disaster Conspiracy commits to the bit: They made a whole mini-CP Best of website. I wonder if the conspiracy has anything to do with the fact that the band's initials are the same as the Centers for Disease Control? Really makes you think.
The Rave’N: An Addams Family Ball @ Uptown VFW
Juliet & the Montagues @ Water Works
Pelicant with Madelyn Waves, Kiernan @ White Squirrel
Saturday, August 12
The Matt Arthur Contraption @ Aster Cafe
- Lakeside Guitar Festival @ Como Lakeside Pavillion—See Friday's listings.
The Birthday Club hosted by Dan Chouinard: Featuring Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
Billy Peterson Presents: Tom Peterson, Bill Carrothers, and Jay Epstein @ Crooners
Maggie's Afterglow: Maurice Jacox and Rick Carlson @ Crooners
JazzMN Orchestra Presents: A Night of Count Basie feat. Diane Schuur @ Dakota
Joseph Walker Band @ Driftwood
Hooker and Company, Thieves for Kings, Submarine Secrets @ Dusty's
Modern Things, Atomic Lights, Valors, and Littleton @ Eagles 34
CAN'T FEEL MY FACE 2010s Dance Party @ Fine Line
Flip Phone XXL ⏤ Short Shortz A Summer Dance Party starring Marcia Marcia Marcia @ First Avenue
GRRRL SCOUT: August Queer Dance Party @ Hook and Ladder
Gypsy Mania Hot Club @ Icehouse
The Symptones with Oftener and Hyooman @ Icehouse
- Nershfest @ Inbound BrewCo—Nershfest was once a collection of friends who, loosely inspired by Bill Nershi of the String Cheese Incident, crafted Spotify playlists to blast from stages in their backyards. Nowadays, the fest has grown into a first-rate Twin Cities block party with live music from local psych-rock standouts Night Moves, Mae Simpson, Arts Fishing Club, Foxgloves, and China Rider. Guests are encouraged to "nosh while you Nersh” at food trucks like KCM Eggrolls, Jamo’s New Zealand Pie Co., and Tacos Los 4 Carnale. Will there be rivers of beer, vendors, a silent disco, and, crucially, "ADDITIONAL FUN"? The titular Nersh, appearing on fest posters as some sort of demonic party animal, wouldn't have it any other way.
Kurt Allen Band @ KJ’s Hideaway
Steve Kenny Quintet Coltrane Show with Owen Walter Quintet @ KJ's Hideaway
And Then There Were Eight @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
The Good, the Bad & the Funky @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Rockford Mules and Little Man @ Mortimer's
The Slow Death, Loss Leader, Closetalker, and Flintlock @ Palmer's
Kill Palace, Grand Courrier, and Casey Gerald @ Palmer's
- Sandra Bernhard @ Parkway Theater—Does this count as "music," you wonder? Well, the comic pioneer is performing this event, dubbed "Spring Affair," with "the Sandyland Squad Band," so let's say yes.
- Pizza Lucé Back to the Block @ Pizza Lucé— After three years off, the Pizza Lucé Block Party is back, just like the name this year says. The long-running block party, which returns for the first time since 2019, is being touted as a celebration of the local pizza chain’s 30th anniversary this year, and it’s presenting a solid lineup of Twin Cities musicians. Among them is Dua Saleh, the charismatic Sudanese-born, St. Paul-raised rapper who, unless we missed something, hasn’t performed locally in a bit. (Appearing on Netflix’s Sex Education might have something to do with that.) Indie poppers Bad Bad Hats, who just celebrated the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough EP, It Hurts, will also perform, as will Vial, who just did a fun cover of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings.” Rounding out the announced acts are moody synth-poppers Graveyard Club and friendly local punks Supportive Parents. But wait, there's more: local Afropop collective Obi Original & Ozone Creations, dishy American siblings the Cactus Blossoms, and headliners Morris Day and the Time, who you just might have heard of.
Tiny Daggers @ ROK Music Lounge
Marko & Friends @ Schooner Tavern
poptropicaslutz! with Sophie Powers, @ldrch and 6RIPS @ 7th St Entry
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats @ Surly Festival Field
Loser Magnet, Floodwater Angel, The Briefly Gorgeous @ 331 Club
voltage controller, EYEDUBS, PAPERBARK @ 331 Club
The Good Life with Cat Piss @ Turf Club
- Ed Sheeran @ U.S. Bank Stadium—According to my 2023 listening log, I have heard Sheeran's latest album, —, at least once, but damn if I can say much about it other than that it exists. You, a pessimist: Must not be very good then. Me, an optimist: But if it really sucked I'd remember. (That's title's a minus sign, by the way, completing Ed's math symbols quadrilogy, though I look forward to the rarities compilation, √ .) He deserved to win his recent lawsuit, I guess, even if it wouldn't have marked the death of human creativity if he'd lost, no matter what IP doomsayers said at the time. I didn't list his "intimate" show at the State on Friday night because it's way sold out. Everything else I've ever thought about Sheeran I covered here.
Lucinda Williams Tribute Matinee with Carolyn Young and West Seventh Band @ White Squirrel
Junior Choir with Splimit, Porcupine @ White Squirrel
Sunday, August 13
The Foxy Grandpas, Fauna Sauna, & The Staboteurs @ Amsterdam
Manchester Orchestra and Jimmy Eat World @ Armory
Swing Brunch with Patty & the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Thor Leseman with Pine and Fire @ Aster Cafe
Billy Peterson Presents: Tom Peterson, Bill Carrothers, and Jay Epstein @ Crooners
The Big 70s Singalong @ Crooners
Sophia Shorai & Tommy Barbarella @ Dakota
Phine Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Pop Evil with Eva Under Fire and Lines of Loyalty @ Fine Line
Oister Boy, Killed By Kiwis, Big Delicious, Lavender Daughter @ Green Room
Red Hot Django Peppers @ Icehouse
Eliza Blue with Elisha Marin and Afterwall @ Icehouse
Ben Varian + Jake Tobin with D'Lakes and Mary Grace @ Icehouse
Kenwood Symphony Orchestra @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Jewbalaya @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Maul, Closet Witch, Wanderer @ Mortimer's
Church of Cornbread: Cornbread Harris and His Band @ Palmer's
Mystery House with Chris Hepola and The Real Chuck Norad @ Palmer's
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats @ Surly Festival Field
- The Lakeside Guitar Festival Afterparty @ Turf Club—See Friday's listings.
The Centuries with Kinda Fonda Wanda & The 241s @ Uptown VFW
Less Than Jake @ Varsity—Let me, Jay, bore you with my two vivid LTJ memories. The first: Sulking around my family’s old cabin on my 13th birthday, depressed in a vague early teenage fashion, and finding slight solace in the Florida ska-punk band’s 1996 CD Losing Streak, which I’d acquired as a sad little b-day gift to myself. The second: Interviewing said band years later as a clueless college journalist; one unnamed member ripped a bong and made out with his girlfriend on the tour bus as I fumbled through one of my first-ever interviews. That’s a roundabout way of saying Less Than Jake, who’ve ridden the third-wave ska movement since ‘92, will be tootin’ and upstrokin’ through every last note of their very fun 1998 album Hello Rockview tonight at the Varsity. Gone is co-founder/drummer/lyricist Vinnie Fiorello, who jumped ship five years ago, though LTJ keeps chugging along, having released their ninth LP, Silver Linings, in 2020. This 25th anniversary celebration of Hello Rockview includes a superb opener in NYC ska greats the Toasters. (Barely-related: I recently enjoyed this “Teens React” video on ska.)
Trench Size Trio @ White Squirrel
St. Paul Songwriter Rounds @ White Squirrel
Neos Neos, Pagan Athletes, Jeff in Leather @ White Squirrel
Monday, August 14
Sona Japarteh @ Cedar Cultural Center
Tommy Castro & The Painkillers @ Dakota
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Todd Clauser + John Medeski + JT Bates @ Icehouse
The Zillionaires @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
B & the Sting @ Nicollet Island
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer's
Hey, ily! with she's green and Haze Gazer @ 7th St Entry
The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contraption @ 331 Club
Newgrounds Death Rugby, Weatherday, Bugsy, NATL PARK SRVC @ Underground Music Venue
Mumblin’ Drew’s Oldfangled Orchestrators Monthly Residency @ White Squirrel
