Explore Racket's entire 2024-25 Winter Guide: comedy, holiday happenings, holiday shopping, and festivals/art/theater/dance.
Yes, the time of outdoor concerts and festivals is gone, and some more delicate touring acts won’t come here in the frigid months. But we found plenty of upcoming gigs to keep you entertained in the months ahead.
Cyndi Lauper
Target Center
For a proper distillation of the Cyndi Lauper aura, I urge you to consult this 1984 Letterman clip. In it, we see peak Lauper—an unusual, irrepressible punk-rock girl from Queens who, yes, just wants to have fun. And write hits. She has had so many hits, from the oft-covered “Time After Time,” to her own cover of Roy Orbison’s “I Drove All Night,” to penning the music and lyrics for the Broadway hit Kinky Boots. Now 71, Lauper just embarked on what’s being billed as her farewell tour, and the early reviews are mostly positive; Variety praised the setlist selection, including a revisit of her 1983 cover of Prince’s “When You Were Mine,” as well as Lauper’s feminism-forward monologues that lend a VH1 Storytellers quality to the show. Gayle, a 20-year-old pop-rocker from Texas, opens the Minneapolis tour stop. $17-$174+. 7 p.m. 600 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. December 4—Jay Boller
Extreme Noise Records 30th Anniversary Show
First Avenue
Extreme Noise is like the beating heart of punk culture in the Twin Cities, a rare tactile place to feel a sense of community between house shows and message boards. The all-volunteer crew behind it started celebrating the 30th anniversary this past summer with a string of very loud showcases, and now we’re getting what appears to be the main event: an all-ages Mainroom bash with hometown punk greats Dillinger Four, their only local gig of the year. "With these shows, the emphasis is on all ages and bringing all the different generations of the punk scene together as much as possible,” longtime Extreme Noise volunteer Phil Schwarz explained to Racket in July. Schwarz will be spinning with other DJs at First Ave, where there’ll be a fun sampler platter of opening bands: Home Front, Canal Irreal, Condominium, and Buio Omega. All ages. $30-$35. 5 p.m. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. December 7—Jay Boller
Pissfest
Varsity Theater
If the old punk guard’ll be at First Ave this Saturday, the younger, queerer cohort will be at the second annual Pissfest. That’s where buzzy local pop-punk trio Vial—whose thoughts on TikTok and touring are available via Racket—will lead a showcase featuring NYC-based Hopeless Records signees Sorry Mom, Virginia punks Destructo Disk, Picked to Click finisher Anita Velveeta, and the wonderfully named MC/drag performer Kenty Poussée Fatale. Why is it called Pissfest? Well, Vial timed the inaugural one to the 2023 release of their Nirvana cover, “Territorial Pissings,” and it seems they figured: Why interrupt a good thing mid-stream? $28-$69. 6 p.m. 1308 SE Fourth St., Minneapolis; find more info here. December 7—Jay Boller
Meshell Ndegeocello
Walker Art Center
At 56, Ndegeocello is far from the brashly androgynous neosoul precursor who broke on MTV in the ’90s. On her recent albums, the nimble bassist mixes jazz, funk, and poetry in equal measure; her latest, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, is a conversation of sorts with Audre Lorde as well as Baldwin, keyed to a belief that Black liberation will require art as well as power. I’m curious to see how the record, which includes appearances from multiple spoken-word poets, takes shape in a performance that’s being called “a theatrical live rendition.” $25+. 6:30 & 9 p.m. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis; find more info here. December 7—Keith Harris
Wilco
Palace Theatre
I’m not nearly as big a fan of Jeff Tweedy and his crew as someone with my demographic stats should be. I appreciate Nels Cline’s improvisatory ability, Jeff Tweedy’s songcraft, and the band’s willingness to dramatically recast its material in a live setting, but their music rewards my concentration without ever quite commanding it, to put it politely. Something in Tweedy’s pleasant but narrow voice just homogenizes their emotional palette. Still, I don’t begrudge the faithful this three-night stand at the Palace, a reconfiguration of a seasonal event the band once called “Winterlude” (also the name of one of my favorite Dylan nonsense songs). They promise no repeats over the course of the weekend, and the only other cities where it’s happening are Tulsa and Austin (the Texas one). $65-$125. 6:30 p.m. 17 Seventh Place W., St. Paul; find more info here. December 13-15—Keith Harris
The Bad Plus
Dakota
Maybe the Bad Plus aren’t quite jazz elders—how can they be, they’re only my age!—but nearing a quarter-century into their existence (in one form or another), they are a Twin Cities jazz institution. And their annual Christmastime stand at the Dakota is becoming a holiday tradition, if a little less predictable than most traditions, since once jazz ceases to surprise you, it’s ain’t jazz no more. Their latest album, Complex Emotions, is their 16th, and their second since Chris Speed’s tenor saxophone and Ben Monder’s guitar filled the gap left by pianist Orrin Evans’s departure. The new guys sound a touch more comfortable than last time, and the rhythm section of Reid Anderson and Dave King still defines things—rhythm sections tend to do that in jazz. The band will perform eight shows in all. $40/$45. 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; find showtimes and more info here. December 25-28—Keith Harris
Shrimpnose
7th St Entry
I’d never call him pop, but L.A.-relocated former Minnesotan Riley Smithson’s skeletal acoustic guitar figures, spectral voices, and percussion stutters add up to something lovely and inviting rather than grim and forbidding. Shrimpnose’s new album, The World Pushed Against You, develops the musical ideas that Smithson scattered through his recent EP Toward Heaven, with delicate and deliberately off-centered beats echoing classic dubstep (as in Burial, not Skrillex). Not sure if we’re still calling this stuff “folktronica,” or if we ever should have, but I’ll toss that genre tag in there as a guidepost for the curious. Of note: Shrimpnose played the Entry this same time last year, so maybe this homecoming is now a December tradition. With Daedelus, Wicker's Portal, TaliaKnight, Student 1. $15/$20. 8 p.m. 701 N. First Ave.; find more info here. December 28—Keith Harris
Ber
First Avenue
By now, Ber’s lore should be familiar to local music fans. She grew up in Walker, Minnesota, kicked around in Norway for a bit, then went to school in Leeds. She moved into an aunt and uncle's south Minneapolis basement in late 2020 and, according to her citation-heavy cited Wikipedia page, "with no friends in the area, she began using Tinder and Hinge"—which is a truly rude thing to put on someone's Wikipedia page! But her songs began to have some success on social media, and by 2023, once Minnesota noticed her music, it fully accepted her as its own. And what better seal of local approval could there be than headlining the Mainroom? On her latest EP, Room for One, Ber leaves behind the bratty pop of “Slutphase” and “Your Internet Sucks,” honing her craft as she matures. And though her new album won’t be out by January, we’ll hopefully hear previews of some of the material. “A lot of the songs have been coming from conversations that I've been having with people,” she told Racket in October. “Then you get to poetically sum up this thing that you can relate to someone about.” $25. 7:30 p.m. 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; more info here. January 11—Keith Harris
Jamie XX
Armory
Weekends at the Armory are often given over to multi-night EDM events for club kids to flaunt the superhuman endurance they oughta enjoy while it lasts. But here’s a superstar dance night for the olds. Jamie’s latest, In Waves, condenses the emotional extremes of the all-night rave into a 45-minute synopsis for homebodies; tonight, presumably, those tracks will reacclimate themselves to a room full of warm bodies. As befits a producer who’s best known as the glue that holds an indie band together, tracks here cohere into songs, often cluttered with an excess of hooks that many producers would process out—this music doesn’t just come in waves, but in ripples, wobbles, thumps, stabs, and all other sorts of electro-motion. Honey Dijon, Robyn, the Avalanches, and Jamie’s pals Romy and Olivier from the XX all swing by for crucial contributions, but the one that gets me is an unidentified voice, soulful on the verge of hysteria, declaring “All we got to do is treat each other right.” It’d be a start, at least. $46+. 7 p.m. 500 S. Sixth St., Minneapolis; find more info here. January 18—Keith Harris
Drone Not Drones
Cedar Cultural Center
We all know the origin story: After discombobulating a Rock the Garden crowd in 2013 with a noisy, extended version of "Do You Know How To Waltz?,” Low’s Alan Sparhawk said, simply, “Drone, not drones.” (Personally, I am a RTG Low-drone truther, and believe that while the performance might have slightly annoyed some in the crowd, it was hardly as divisive as urban legend has it. Then again, I wasn’t there.) From those three words sprung the idea for an event that’s now in its 10th year: A weekend of drone-based music serving as a benefit for Doctors Without Borders. The lineup hasn’t yet been announced, but expect the usual mix of ingenious local folks and out-of-town ringers, with more than 50 acts coming and going over the course of a 28-hour period. And you’re welcome to bring bedding and make a weekend of it. $35/$40. 7 p.m. 416 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. January 24-25—Keith Harris
The Current’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
First Avenue
Twenty years ago I wrote one of my first-ever stories, for the Academy of Holy Angels student newspaper, about a plucky public radio upstart that—get this—played indie-rock music. Now, was my atrociously written and unsourced article published months after 89.3 the Current launched, thus sapping it of any value or newsiness? It was, but hey, this blurb isn’t about me: It’s about the Current turning 20, an anniversary that’ll be celebrated with back-to-back Mainroom showcases. For the first night, the station recruited king Pixie Frank Black to perform his 1994 solo album, Teenager of the Year, in its entirety; Picked to Click runners-up She’s Green will open alongside DJ Jake Rudh. Saturday’s bill is headlined by Chicago rockers Beach Bunny, with local faves Bad Bad Hats and newish Sophia Eris project MAKR AN ERIS opening things up. This is a Jake Tapper-approved event, people! $35. 6:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. January 24-25—Jay Boller
The Get Up Kids
Fine Line
Here’s an interesting tidbit I learned from listening to multiple podcasts featuring Matt Pryor, frontman of the Get Up Kids: While 1999’s Something to Write Home About is rightly regarded as an emo classic, the catalyzing force behind its angst isn’t romantic—the band was really pissed at their old record label. Relisten today and the songs take on whole new music-biz meanings rather than lovelorn ones. Or you can take this newfound knowledge to the Fine Line, where GTUK will be performing their sophomore album in its entirety. The Kansas City band have always voiced misgivings about helping launch the mall-emo boom of the ‘00s, mostly because they arrived via a very different underground rock scene that was more Our Band Could Be Your Life than Hot Topic. And that authenticity bubbles throughout rock-solid TGUK discography, with the band ripping through the blistering, synthy emo of Something to the mellow Americana of its follow-up, On a Wire. A mid-’00s breakup couldn’t stop the Get Up Kids from becoming the scene institution they are today, riding high on the 25th anniversary reissue of Something to Write Home About—an album that Pitchfork finally got right. The Smoking Popes open. $30-$55. 7 p.m. 318 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. January 28—Jay Boller
Tyler, the Creator
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. With Lil Yachty and Paris Texas. $133+. 7:30 p.m. 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; more info here. February 4—Keith Harris
Guy Davis
Cedar Cultural Center
Kinda makes sense that the friendliest of folk blues revivalists started making the finest albums of his career as he entered his ’70s—Davis has always had more Mississippi John Hurt in his soul than most of his peers did. His latest, The Legend of Sugarbelly, is an excellent follow up to 2021’s Be Ready When I Call You, mixing folk tales with gently finger-picked tales of rambling and setting still. The mood is placid if not reassuring, putting him over the head of dummies who buy the old lie that the blues is about feeling bad (or about any one thing at all). And you know he’s got the stories to go along with them. Confession: Somehow I only recently learned Guy was Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis’s son. Maybe I shoulda been paying more attention all along. $25/$30. 7:30 p.m. 416 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. February 11—Keith Harris
Dua Saleh
Fine Line
Dua Saleh operates best on a small scale: At 32 minutes, their debut full-length, I Should Call Them, isn’t much longer than the three EPs that preceded it. But the formerly Minneapolis-based singer (now out in L.A., like so many formerly Minneapolis-based singers) doesn’t need a lot of time to cover a lot of emotional ground. Their always stylistically elastic voice ranges more broadly than ever on the new album, with their sinuous upper range getting a particularly rigorous workout; proximity to simpatico duet partners Serpentwithfeet and Sid Sriramhas keeps Saleh thinking on their feet. The tracks, crafted by a crew of producers including Andrew Broder, are less murky than Saleh’s norm, all the better to showcase their playful sexual boasting. Related: I am just now finishing up the final season of Netflix’s Sex Education (in which Saleh plays the trans student Cal) and I am going to miss those kids! With Sam Austins. $25. 7:30 p.m. 318 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. February 16– Keith Harris
Morgan Wade
First Avenue
Don’t let Wade’s album titles—Reckless, Psychopath, and, most recently, Obsessed—lead you to mistake her for some dumbass shit-kicker. Her songs reveal a woman possessed by an intense desire, the sort of gal who tells a lover she’s been longing for on the road, “I might crush your bones with the power I feel running through.” But while Obsessed is true to its title, the new album also has its share of wistful post-breakup reveries and the borders of romantic and friendly love blur on several of these songs. I wouldn’t say Wade is softening up, though, not when she sings to a lover/pal, “There’s two types of people/We hate’em both.” She’s also a lot craftier than those album titles suggest, as any good country songwriter should be: She’s collaborated with pop A-lister Julia Michaels, and when I saw her at First Ave in 2023, she covered Miley Cyrus and Tom Petty. $35. 8 p.m. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. March 7—Keith Harris
Soccer Mommy
First Avenue
If you’re anything like us, you could relisten to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, then a surging Democratic presidential candidate, saying “Socca Mummy” over and over again. Well before that political nod, Sophia Allison, still just 27, was at the forefront of mining ‘90s indie-rock sounds for a new generation of fans. The Swiss-born, Nashville-raised singer-songwriter debuted in 2018 with Clean, an album that cleaned up with an impressive array of year-end list finishes. The crunch, the slack, the sneaky hooks—Allison felt like a Gen Z Malkmus, the Pavement-fronting indie icon for whom she’d later open. Subsequent albums mellowed, veering into darker and shoegazey-er directions, but October’s Evergreen is being heralded as an ambitious return to her *Bernie voice* Soccer Mommy roots. Hana Vu opens. $30-$35. 6:30 p.m. 701 N. First Ave., Minneapolis; find more info here. March 13—Jay Boller
Mary J. Blige
Xcel Energy Center
Today has been the first day of the rest of Mary J. Blige’s life for more than 30 years now. Whether pioneering her soon-to-be-dominant rap/R&B hybrid on What’s the 411? or gliding along to throwback beats on her latest, Gratitude, Blige has consistently pledged herself to overcoming drama, treating herself better, and staying true to her vision of herself. (Though clearly she’s done some backsliding along the way, or she wouldn’t always be recommitting to those goals.) There’s no more human a diva, grasping for the beauty a Whitney or a Bey assumes effortlessly and, when through sheer will she approximates it, retaining that edge of Yonkers grit to remind us who she is. That makes her my kind of diva, and ensures that she’s a treat live, where she flaunts the too-much imperfections of her voice—in fact, the 1998 live album The Tour is where I still go when I want to hear her early hits get roughed up a little. With Ne-Yo and Mario. $59.50+. 7 p.m. 199 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; find more info here. March 16—Keith Harris
Carly Pearce
Treasure Island
I’ve never seen Pearce live, so I can’t promise that she’s worth the hike out to Red Wing (or the traffic jam after the show). But I can tell you that her latest, Hummingbird, is my favorite country album of 2024, topping solid releases from lovelorn wisecracker Megan Maroney, Morgan Wade (see above), and the queen herself, Miranda Lambert. As on 29, her brilliant concept EP about a short-lived marriage to fellow country singer Michael Ray (and 29: Written in Stone, the full-length she padded it out to), Pearce collaborated on Hummingbird with the cream of Music Row (namely writers/producers Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne), and together they cover all the old familiar ground with fresh perceptiveness. After the statement of purpose “Country Music Made Me Do It” (“Everything that I've done wrong or I've done right”), Pearce gets stuck in and/or breaks free from dead-end relationships, sulks and gets over it, and, yes, sets a truck on fire. My personal favorite number is the vulnerable “Pretty Please” (as in “tell me I’m…”) but I even reluctantly chuckle along to the prissy “Heels Over Head,” an eloquently mean-spirited jab at a girl who’s more fun in bed. $39+. 8 p.m. 5734 Sturgeon Lake Road, Welch; find more info here. March 20—Keith Harris
Shabaka
Walker Art Center
Shabaka Hutchings has been at the center of the resurgence of British jazz for a decade now, receiving acclaim stateside primarily as the saxophonist for the galvanic combos Sons of Kemet and the Comet Is Coming (both of whom have passed through town). But last year he announced that he was setting his saxes aside indefinitely, and he’s turned largely to flutes (including the Japanese shakuhachi and the Slavik svirel) and clarinet. His 2024 album Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, is as ruminative as you might expect from a flautist’s record, with big improvisatory names including harpist Brandee Younger, pianist Jason Moran, and fellow flute-convert André 3000, while Moses Sumney, Saul Williams, and Elucid are among the vocalists who contribute. Unspiritual fella that I am, harps have never eased my jangled nerves and my favorite song here is the busiest, “Breathing.” But for neo-New Age, this is smart stuff, and Hutchings is such a titan I’ll be at the show regardless. $25. 7:30 p.m. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis; find more info here. March 20—Keith Harris
