At least we've still got music.
Tuesday, February 4
Dark Pony & Friends @ Aster Cafe
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Bill Simenson Orchestra @ Jazz Central
Red Planet @ Metronome Brewery
Bluewater Kings @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The American Symphonic Tapestry @ Orchestra Hall
Palmer’s Songwriters Showcase @ Palmer’s
Cold Casuals and Phantom Fields @ Pilllar Forum
OpenMic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
February Conspiracy Series featuring Elour, Boots & Needles, Joe & the Mechanics @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Derek David Johnson @ 331 Club
Paul Cauthen @ Varsity Theater
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
- Tyler, the Creator with Lil Yachty, Paris Texas @ Xcel Energy Center—Tyler has a knack for crafting intriguing albums that I rarely feel like returning to. Partly, I suspect, because full engagement with his music requires a deep interest in Tyler himself—his unfolding lore, his ever-shifting personae, his personality—and if you haven’t grown up alongside him over the past 15 years, his personal development is likely to hold only passing interest. But the reformed Odd Future troll tugged my ear by showing a little actual empathy on his eighth Chromakopia—sure there’s the obligatory “never trust a bitch,” but on “Hey Jane” he’s cool with a pregnant partner’s choice, either way, and on “Judge Judy” he refuses to talk shit about a girl who’s into wild sex. Hardly Feminist of the Year stuff, but hey, the bar is very low for men, people. And if that’s all a little soft for you, don’t worry—I’m sure Tyler’ll move on to a new mood soon.
Wednesday, February 5
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Presents: Bible Study @ Berlin
Enter The Void: Xochi's Birthday Show @ Can Can Wonderland
Sarah Morris & Matthew French @ Como Park Conservatory
The Music of Eric Clapton with Vinnie Rose @ Crooners
Garfunkel, Manilow & Campbell: The Music of The Masters @ Dakota
Bad Weather, Alpine Shepherd Boy @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
Open Mic with Host Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Noslo with Lasalle, Fever Field, & Callback @ Green Room
Smiling Cowboys @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The American Symphonic Tapestry @ Orchestra Hall
Karaoke Crime Scene @ Palmer’s
MOLD, Eudaemon, Pointless Animal, Fishing with Explosives @ Pilllar Forum
Umbrella Bed @ Schooner Tavern
Max McNown with Theo Kandel @ 7th St Entry
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
Bosso Poetry Company @ 331 Club
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Kismet Rendezvous @ 331 Club
Eric Bellinger @ Varsity Theater
The Second Stringers @ White Squirrel
Plumstar with Billy The Shoe, Big Strong @ White Squirrel
High Speed Snowshoes, Anything You Want, Flicker @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, February 6
Superior Siren & The Weeping Covenant @ Aster Cafe
Berlin & UNBOTHERED Present: Joy Guidry @ Berlin
A Celebration of Black Burlesque @ Black Hart
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Nordic Roots Series: Lena Jonsson Trio with Ponyfolk @ Cedar Cultural Center
Suburban Muscle, Couch Potato Massacre, the Right Here @ Cloudland
Russians Against War @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Toro y Moi & Panda Bear with Nourished By Time @ First Avenue
Greenway Buskers @ Ginkgo Coffee
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
The American Symphonic Tapestry @ Orchestra Hall
Throwback Thursdays with DJ Bootsy Ballins @ Palmer’s
Charlie Doesn't Surf, Phyrric Victories, Ray Gun Youth @ Pilllar Forum
Mind out of Time, Swamp Donkeys @ Schooner Tavern
Max McNown with Theo Kandel @ 7th St Entry
Northeast Invitational @ 331 Club
Papa John Kolstad @ White Squirrel
Poor Lemuel with Splash, Surprise Mystery Guest @ White Squirrel
Friday, February 7
- Ice Climber with Allergen, ¿WATCHES?, ihavenoloveformenlikeyou, Corina Lucas, & Joe Addict @ Amsterdam—This “genre-bending, shape-shifting acid rock collective” (to use their own words) has, from what I gather, seven members at the moment. They’re celebrating three years of existence with their first album, called Ice Climber, an exuberant collection of heavy and sometimes funky rock with new wave saxophone and the charismatic Xochi de la Luna declaiming their sometimes wry, sometimes heartfelt musings on top. Among my faves are the danceably skeptical "No Yeah, For Sure,” “Consistently Inconsistent” (about being a fuckup), and the moving climax “All I Know Is Death,” a litany of Xochi’s dead friends. On Instagram they promise that ”there will be cake and piñatas,” which I originally read as “pilates,” but this makes much more sense. Please don’t sue them, Nintendo.
House Proud with Rimarkable @ BEAST Barbecue
Liz Draper/Aida Shahghasemi/Sara Pajunen @ Berlin
Pavel Jany & Global Jazz Collegium @ Berlin
Radio Pocho (Miguel Vargas & Terrell LaMarr) @ Berlin
Transcendence Cabaret @ Black Hart
SPCO presents: Northside Series #2 @ Capri Theater
Samora Pinderhughes @ Cedar Cultural Center
Squinny, Another Heaven, Full Catholic @ Cloudland
Charmin Michelle & T.Mychael Rambo @ Crooners
Judi Vinar with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Greats Gone 2 Soon Presents: The Men of Motown @ Dakota
Fever Pitch, the Stretch @ Driftwood
Quarter Life Crisis with Joey Bonner @ Fine Line
tanzklub. vol. 4: Love from the Dungeon @ Hook and Ladder
Erik Koskinen and Band @ Icehouse
Craig Hill Presents: Gratz, Martin, Nau @ Jazz Central
Green Light Quintet @ Metronome Brewery
Johnnie Brown Experience @ Minnesota Music Cafe
PV$$Y CNTRL - A Dance Party by DJ Shannon Blowtorch + Sophia Eris @ Mortimer’s
Pretty Boy Thorson, Jeffrey Robert Larson, and James Eugene Russell @ Palmer’s
Ex Rodeo with Cold Casuals and Phantom Fields @ Pilllar Forum
Deep Alley Desires 3: Winter's Edge @ Red Sea
Jiggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern
Eleganza! with The Silent Treatment, Manias, and New Rocket Union @ 7th St Entry
Parker McCollum with Kameron Marlowe and William Beckmann @ Target Center
Chill Time Productions @ Terminal Bar
Brass Elephant, the Hobbled @ 331 Club
Cat Tales, Waterline, Wolf Baby Cup @ Underground Music Venue
Cassandra Johnson with the Gated Community @ White Squirrel
Jared McCloud with Leslie Rich, Katy Tessman @ White Squirrel
Connie Evingson with Mary Louise Knutson @ Woman’s Club
Bunny Blood, Glitter Pit, & Boobless @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, February 8
League 2 (EP Release) with Tewks @ Aster Cafe
Mary Brewster’s Sparkle @ Black Hart
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Tony Pacheco (Album Release) with Meat Racket Ska and Oak and the Woods @ Can Can Wonderland
Your Sweet Love @ Capri Theater
Larry & Joe with Mother Banjo @ Cedar Cultural Center
Little Man, Superfloor, Field Hospitals @ Cloudland
L.O.V.E. - Cafe Accordion Orchestra with Maud Hixson @ Crooners
Judi Vinar with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Funk n Spuds, the Confused, and Sunshine & the Night Walkers @ Day Block Brewing
A Tribute to Frankie Beverly & Maze @ Dakota
The Fabulous Hackmasters, Gossamer @ Driftwood
Doug Collins & the Receptionists, Charilly @ Dusty’s
Junkyard Hooligans @ Eagles 34
The Brothers Almanac with Slippery People @ First Avenue
The Sound of Gospel @ Fitzgerald Theatre
The Mayor, DJ McShellen, DJ Advance, Kwey @ Green Room
Belfast Cowboys @ Hook and Ladder
Six Ways From Sunday with Lunaderos & El Drifte @ Hook and Ladder
Final Hour Music Showcase @ Icehouse
Dirty Snatcha x Subfiltronik @ The Loft
Fiora Ensemble @ Metronome Brewery
Tony Rook Band @ Metronome Brewery
The Blank Bridge @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Electric Feel: A 2000s Indie Rock & Pop Party @ Mortimer’s
Los Inquietos del Norte @ Myth Life
Lunar New Year Celebration @ Orchestra Hall
Sparrowhawk, Haters Club, and High Tiny Hairs @ Palmer’s
Neil!: Martin Zellar’s Tribute to Neil Diamond @ Parkway
Celebrity Sighting and Scrunchies with Makin' Out @ Pilllar Forum
Dirty Half Dozen @ Schooner Tavern
Slynk and Phyphr @ 7th St Entry
Ray Gun Youth, Strange Frequency, Time Room @ 331 Club
Cymothoa (Album Release) @ Underground Music Venue
Caitlin Robertson with Alex Sandberg & Jeff Mueller, Art Vandalay @ White Squirrel
Unattractive Giant Monster with Box Eat Miah @ White Squirrel
Careful Gaze, Vin, Baltic to Boardwalk, Mother, Shrive @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, February 9
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Dan Chouinard with Jennifer Grimm @ Crooners
The Champagne Drops @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
TC Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Dayfunk with Stacy Kidd @ Eat Street Crossing
070 Shake with Bryant Barnes and Johan Lenox @ First Avenue
The Sound of Gospel @ Fitzgerald Theater
Bumblebee Music @ Metronome Brewery
Cabaret with Jen Burlleigh-Bentz & Friends @ Metronome Brewery
Retro Rhythms with DJ Kenny D @ Mortimer’s
Minnesota Youth Symphonies Winter Concert @ Orchestra Hall
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s
Emmy Woods & The Red Pine Ramblers @ 331 Club
Toni Wolff’s Dream Wedding with Dogwood @ White Squirrel
Matthew Smith & The Menagerie with Lowboy @ White Squirrel
Duck Bomb with In Solid Air, Popsicle Stick! @ White Squirrel
Monday, February 10
The Mystery Mic - Ian Maclean @ Acadia
Mantis (Jeremy Boettcher/Scott Burton/Sean Carey) @ Berlin
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Twin Cities Queer Contra Dancing @ Eagles 34
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
I've Never Been Here Before with Purity Control, lovergirls (X:)1zTyR @ Pilllar Forum
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
