I'm intrigued by Wednesday's city-sponsored Mile of Music, which stretches along Nicollet and also Main in northeast from 4–8 p.m. The events that are part of that are indicated below. And, of course, there's plenty beyond that.
Tuesday, August 18
Narcotic Wasteland @ Amsterdam
- LCD Soundsystem, Victoryland @ Armory—James Murphy and his crew have now been reunited for a full decade, which is longer than they'd been around when they suckered all of NYC into celebrating their big farewell in 2011. Probably still a fun night out too.
Greatest Jam on Earth @ Blues Saloon
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood Char Bar
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Perfect World @ Father Hennepin Park
Pity Party, Doll Chaser, Afters @ Green Room
Cafe Cantante @ Metronome Brewery
Mac Hoffman @ Minnehaha Bandstand
River City Jazz Orchestra @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Five Finger Death Punch @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Ginger Snapz, Chairman Chair, Kilroy, Hurtquake @ Pilllar Forum
Artist Showcase @ Sociable Cider Werks
August Conspiracy Series feat. Soul Tribe, Rada K and the Cicadas, Peaches & Club @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with Becky Kapell @ 331 Club
The New Havoline Supremes @ White Squirrel
Alex & Toke’s Acoustic Tuesdays feat. Joan of Profile, Meghan Kreidler @ White Squirrel
Woolly Mack, Anslem, Cohen Bros, Mike Midwestern @ Zhora Darling
Wednesday, August 19
Mpls Mile of Music: Havana Quartet @ Aster Cafe
Miki Yamanaka Trio with Nicole Glover @ Berlin
The Cherry Pit Open Jam @ Berlin
Mpls Mile of Music: Beer Choir @ Brühaven
1 Mic, 1 Cable, 30 Minutes @ Carbone’s
Mpls Mile of Music: Daniel the Violinist @ Copper Hen
Will Kjeer and Patty Peterson @ Crooners
The Songbook of Bonnie Raitt, Carly Simon, and Rosanne Cash @ Crooners
The Twin Cities Céilí Band @ Dubliner Pub
Miss Shannon Presents Monday Club @ Eagles 34
Mpls Mile of Music: Kevin Washington & RA Spirit, SoulFlower, DJ Digie @ Eat Street Crossing
Mpls Mile of Music: Xina @ Electric Fetus
Kill Lincoln, JER, Bad Operation, and The Best of the Worst @ Fine Line
Wrath of Sanity, Stepback, Elegy @ Flying V
Open Mic with Neal Dimick @ Ginkgo Coffee
Flavor Camp Summer Jam @ Green Room
Mpls Mile of Music: Heatbox and Friends @ Hell’s Kitchen
Dizgo, Hot Like Mars @ Hook and Ladder
Mpls Mile of Music: Joel Shapira and Charmin Michelle @ Hyatt Regency Hotel
Mpls Mile of Music: Kyle Motl, Davu Seru, Paul Metzger @ Icehouse
Mpls Mile of Music: Jake Baldwin Quintet @ Jazz Central
La Danse Fatale @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Boiled in Lead @ Landmark Center
Mpls Mile of Music: Genet Abate @ Lulu EthioVegan
Pat Donahue and Friends @ Midway Saloon
Karaoke Blast with Chazz @ Minnesota Music Cafe
- Outlaw Festival: Willie Nelson, Avett Brothers, Lukas Nelson @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater—An August night lounging on the turf listening to Willie sounds pretty ideal, if you don't mind schlepping out to Shakopee.—Keith Harris
Mpls Mile of Music: PaviElle French @ Orchestra Hall
Mpls Mile of Music: Nate Hance @ Peavey Plaza
First Out, Welt, True Stories @ Pilllar Forum
Mpls Mile of Music: Jamecia Bennett, KJ Gant, Jhadiya Steele @ Pimento Kitchen
Mpls Mile of Music: DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ Roxy’s Cabaret
Swamp Poppas @ Schooner Tavern
Mpls Mile of Muisc: Enso Daiko @ Taiko Arts Midwest
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Andy Cohen and Friends @ 331 Club
Meltt, Los Eclipses @ Turf Club
My Cousin Dallas @ Underground Music
Ye-Ye Pow, Les Souvenirs @ White Squirrel
Lord Jeremy, Enemies, the Limns, Woodzen @ White Squirrel
J-Mo On The Beat & the J-Lighters, Mike Horvath, D.Santos @ Zhora Darling
Thursday, August 20
The Black Note, Caleb Nesbit, Khoa Nguyen, Jordan Weber, Ataa Mensah @ Acadia
Karaoke Hosted by Al Church @ Animales
Witness Trips, Sela Runn @ Aster Cafe
Crates: On the Corner by Miles Davis @ Berlin
Jaybee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
Deb Brown and Brian Zemniak @ Crooners
Matt McIntyre Trio feat. Toussaint Morrison @ Crooners
Second Hand Dan, Larrikins, Moneybones @ Day Block Brewing
2nd Arrangements, Steely Dan B Sides Tribute @ Day Block Brewing
Pan-Handlers Steel Drum Band @ Dock and Paddle
Bastards of Fine Art, Nobody From Nowhere @ Driftwood Char Bar
Kismet Rendezvous @ Dubliner Pub
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke With On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Creekbed Carter Hogan & Dani-Rae Clark @ Eagles 34
Willis, the Braymores, the Flukes @ Fine Line
Snapz Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Dirty P’s Thirsty Third Thursday Club @ Hook and Ladder
Our House, Taming the Tiger @ Hook and Ladder
Kelly Blau Trio @ Hopkins Downtown Park
The Australian Pink Floyd Show @ Ledge Amphitheater
Acoustic Thursdays @ Mainstreet Bar
Christian Morena Cova Group @ Metronome Brewery
Women’s Drum Center @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Dark Click with Curtiss A @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Backyard Boogie @ Pimento Jamaican Kitchen
Mubble Buggs, Jeffrey Becker & the Gentlemen @ Schooner Tavern
Father Paranoia, 3MP0R3R D4N73, Lil Censei, HAUNT, DJ Snaka777 @ Studio B
- Girl Tones @ Surly Brewing—Did you know 89.3 the Current has been hosting a free Happy Hours concert series at local breweries and cideries all across this damn state? Freakin’ Hiss Golden Messenger performed last month! Jeez… makes ya wonder what else ya don’t know. [Ed. note: You’d know if you read our weekly Concert Calendar.] Now armed with this potentially new knowledge, you can hit up the next installment: sisterly duo Girl Tones, who are coming all the way from Kentucky to apply their classical music training to rock ‘n’ roll. “While the White Stripes—their most obvious comparison—were about controlled energy, Girl Tones are proudly imperfect,” Rolling Stone once raved. Upcoming Happy Hours gigs include the Castle with Blessing Jolie in Rochester, MT Jones at Insight Brewing in Minneapolis, and Nur-D at Pizza Luce in Duluth.—Jay Boller
Cross Pollination with Knife Emoji, One Big Quilt @ 331 Club
Raynes, Pretty Pretty Please @ Turf Club
- Sound for Silents: Bizhiki @ Walker Art Center—Every August, the Walker invites cutting-edge local musicians to ransack the institution’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection and create a montage to soundtrack. This year the honor falls to Bizhiki, the trio of Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Joe Rainey, and S. Carey. Bizhiki’s 2025 full-length, Unbound, expanded on how Rainey’s breakthrough album, Nineta, melded traditional Indigenous singing with electronic beatcraft. They’ll be joined by omnipresent guitarist Jeremy Ylvisaker, and we can only hope that maybe this year it won’t rain.—Keith Harris
Lent, Gills, Boomdagger @ White Squirrel
Sylvia May @ Wooden Ship Brewing
Grave Society, Uxia, Hill of Crosses, & Ambivalent Chaos @ Zhora Darling
Friday, August 21
Tea Pot Dome Scandal, Big Wiz & Tek @ Acadia
Jay Webb, Caitlynne Curtis @ Amsterdam
Honky Tonk Dance Night feat. Cole Diamond @ Animales
Frequency Presents Why Dancez? @ Bazemnt
An Evening of Thelonious Monk @ Berlin
Matriarch (fka Dana Kazuko) @ Berlin
Lakefront Music with DJ D-Mil @ Boardwalk
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
Afro Dead, Demitrious Rallis Band @ Cedar Cultural Center
Bunny Blood, Wish Wash, Planer @ Cloudland
Suzanne Paris and Dale Alexander @ Crooners
Jearlyn Steele and Fred Steele @ Crooners
In Your Eyes: The Peter Gabriel Tribute @ Crooners
Efmi,Joe Dunn and Jimmy Rogers @ Day Block Brewing
Ladies of Soul Vol. 3 @ Dakota
Irish Music Session @ Dubliner Pub
Tre Spiritus, Ovrforwd @ Eagles 34
Miss Shannon Presents Sock Hop @ Eagles 34
Moyana, Iamjoy @ 50th and France
Doom Scroll, Hans Gruber and the Die Hards @ 56 Brewing
Bonus Joy ⏤ A New Comedy Variety Show @ Turf Club
Paris Bennet, Essjay the Afrocentricratchet, Maya Marchelle @ Green Room
Hipshaker MPLS @ Hook and Ladder
Spaceport, Cha Cha 9 @ Icehouse
July Fighter @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Shredding Flannel @ Mainstreet Bar
Kat and the Kodachromes, Sooflay, Bella Larson and the Scene Kids @ Memory Lanes
Manual Transmission @ Metronome Brewery
The Bad Companions @ Minnehaha Bandstand
Free and Easy @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Mötley Crüe @ Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Zaq Baker (Album Release), Two Harbors, Haikus for Emus, True Lust @ Pilllar Forum
Jimmi & the Band of Souls @ Schooner Tavern
anni xo, Huhroon, bathtub cig, lily blue @ 7th St Entry
Richard Kriehn, Nicole Wilder, Grace Savard, Jordan Hedlund @ 318 Cafe
The Red Hot Django Peppers @ 331 Club
Shinedown @ Treasure Island Casino
Johnnyrook @ Underground Music
Big Fuckin Skull, Virgin Whores, Sleeper Cell, Die Ghost, Goo Goo Mucks @ Uptown VFW
Aaron James, Bury ‘Em Deep @ White Squirrel
Dusk Rat, Tiny Traces, Fauna Sauna @ White Squirrel
Silva, Grand Demise of Civilization, Unsouling, Cavernous Maw @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, August 22
Heatbox, Confucisaurus (Album Release), and TH3 @ Amsterdam
Doug Collins and the Receptionists @ Animales
SNL Presents: Big Leo Celebration @ Bazemnt
Johnny Table All Stars @ Bear Cave
Rev Raven & Altar Boys, Westside Andy @ Blues Saloon
DJ Ys and Charlie Landa @ Boardwalk
Capri Big Band @ Capri Theater
Sicard Hollow, the Johnson Brothers @ Cedar Cultural Center
The Chair, Whispered the Rabbit, Laugh Track @ Cloudland
Tommy Boynton & Friends @ Crooners
Cole Diamond and Twang Time @ Crooners
Pat Donohue’s Guitar Summit with Mike Dowling and Tim Sparks @ Crooners
Fortunate Suns, Lazy River Road @ Day Block Brewing
Marie Nelson Band, Mill City Machine @ Driftwood Char Bar
Irish Diplomacy @ Dubliner Pub
Mad Mojo Jett, Star Jelly, Laura Larson @ Dusty’s
Keys to the Astral Gates, Mystic Doors From Wisconsin @ Eagles 34
Pajama Rave with OMGigi @ Fine Line
Eagles of Death Metal, Mountain Head @ First Avenue
KP Presents Birthday Bash @ Green Room
The Symptones, BEAR feat. Steady Range @ Icehouse
- Your Smith @ Indeed Brewing—Billed as “THE BIG SHOW,” this new outdoor music configuration from Indeed promises “a totally unique concert venue the likes of which Minneapolis has never seen.” That’s certainly big talk, and honestly if it turns out just to be a stage in a parking lot, you’re still in good hands with Your Smith. The headliner first captivated Twin Cities music fans with her indie-folk outfit Caroline Smith & the Goodnight Sleeps, and, later, Smith dropped the band and transitioned to soul/R&B. Since the pandemic, she moved from L.A. back to Minnesota with her chef husband (more on their terrific Stillwater bar/restaurant here), re-enrolled in college, had two kids, and dropped her debut full-length as Your Smith, last year’s breezy, swinging pop-rock LP The Rub. It sounds like she’s in a great place. “It was just a really important lesson for me to learn how to find the joy in music again,” Smith recently told Iowa’s Studio One. “And now I feel like my career is on my terms.” Hippo Campus frontman Jake Luppen, who collaborated with Smith on The Rub, opens with his Lupin project.—Jay Boller
Sesay @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Varsity Rejects @ Mainstreet Bar
Crossroads Blues Band @ Memory Lanes
Fuzzy Math @ Metronome Brewery
Willie B Blues Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
DJ Bryan Angeles @ Modist Brewing
Inquietos del Norte @ Myth Live
Sugato Nag @ The O’Shaughnessy
Yolanda Del Rio @ Pantages Theatre
Damager, Good Morning Midnight, and Products Band @ Pilllar Forum
JIggs Lee Invasion @ Schooner Tavern
FINICK, Sallyforth, Lone Rock Bride, Woodzen @ 7th St Entry
Social Cues, Rhino Shrine @ 331 Club
David Huckfelt and the Unarmed Forces, the Nunnery @ Turf Club
BLXCKPUNKS @ Underground Music
32nd Street Jazz @ Water Works
Caitlyn Robertson @ White Squirrel
Francis Emil Johnson, Cody James, The Weeping Covenant @ White Squirrel
Sunday, August 23
Al Church’s Sunday Service @ Animales
Sunday Swing Brunch @ Aster Cafe
Leyton Olaleye Quartet @ Berlin
Communion Season 20:12 @ Cabooze
Dorothy Doring and Dale Alexander @ Crooners
The Big 70s Singalong @ Crooners
Steve Clarke’s Cabaret of Jazz @ Crooners
The Star of the North Jazz Orchestra Featuring Jen Burleigh-Bentz @ Crooners
The Devon Allman Project @ Dakota
The Fairlanes @ Dock and Paddle
Big Woods Brass @ Dock and Paddle
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime Band @ Driftwood Char Bar
Hurricane Harold Trio @ Dubliner Pub
Sunday Trad Session @ Dubliner Pub
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Dayfunk with Eddie Leader @ Eat Street Crossing
Umphrey’s McGee @ First Avenue
Leslie Vincent, Sarah Morris @ Hewing Hotel
About to Run: An Afternoon of Phish @ Icehouse
Obi Original and the Black Atlantics @ Icehouse
Robos @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Homeward Bound @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Tannins, Modern Wildlife, King Sized Coffin @ Memory Lanes
Gilbert & Sullivan Sing-a-Long @ Metronome Brewery
Out to Lunch @ Metronome Brewery
Jason Carter Band @ Parkway Theater
Frontal Assault, Bare Knuckle Brawl, Violence Condoned, Ex Cathedra @ Pilllar Forum
Church of Cornbread @ Schooner Tavern
Femme Forward 004 @ Slam Academy
Matty Harris Quintet, Doyle Turner @ 331 Club
Monday, August 24
Massive Mondays Reggae @ Cabooze
Dan Chouinard feat. Patty Peterson @ Crooners
Choro Borealis @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Mosaic Arts @ Metronome Brewery
Blues Jam with Moses Oakland @ Midway Saloon
Monday Open Jam @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Cat Crash, Fiona Hayes, 4th Curtis @ Pilllar Forum
Open Mic @ Sociable Cider Werks
