I always feel cheated when we get to the end of February and it's not a Leap Year.
Tuesday, February 25
Dark Pony & Friends @ Aster Cafe
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunker’s
St. Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Snakeworld!, Cute Intentions, The Violet Press, Psychodelic @ Green Room
Kevin Gamble Brewing @ Indeed Brewing
Bluewater Kings Showcase @ Minnesota Music Cafe
RAGEFUTURE Open Mic @ Palmer’s
The Dark Horse Revue @ Parkway
Post Sex Nachos with VEAUX @ 7th St Entry
February Conspiracy Series featuring Elour, Red Eye Ruby, Izzy Cruz @ 331 Club
Worker’s Playtime with John Lewis @ 331 Club
Ali Grey’s Country Jamboree @ White Squirrel
Ditch Pigeon Residency @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, February 26
Shady Babies Open Mic @ Acadia
MN Songwriter Showcase @ Aster Cafe
The Cherry Pit Presents: Bible Study (feat. Freaque) @ Berlin
C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band @ Dakota
The Outcats, Storm Coffee @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Swing Night @ Eagles 34
The High Kings @ Fitzgerald Theater
Hannah Harder @ Metronome Brewery
Maurice Jacox and the We Still R Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
The Matt Arthur Contraption @ Palmer’s
BZ3 Organ Trio @ Schooner Tavern
Nina Luna (EP Release) with anni xo, Harlow, and Emily Rhea @ 7th St Entry
Breaker’s Paradise @ Terminal Bar
Harold’s House Party on KFAI with Ray Barnard and Friends @ 331 Club
The Wonderlands with the Over Unders @ Underground Music Venue
Sarah Morris and the Sometimes Guys @ White Squirrel
Nights With Tim @ White Squirrel
Thursday, February 27
MNAKED: Makeready & Michael Chris Cain @ Aster Cafe
Andre1000 Presents Black Boy Joy @ Black Hart
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunker’s
- Guitar Band (Album Release) with Fake Accent and Miami Dolphins @ Cedar Cultural Center—On their self-titled album, the SEO-proof Guitar Band live up to their name. They’re a band of eight guitarists: Joey Crane, Mark Engelmann, Erik Fratzke, Toivo Hannigan, Gus Murphy, Toby Ramaswamy, Daisy Swimmer, and Adam Zahller. (There are also two drummers who contribute when needed.) Zahller’s apparently the mastermind/conceptualist, and I'm happy to report that on two tracks, spread over a half hour, they're too committed to detail to zone out completely. Recommended to fans of repetition, amassed guitars, overlaid melodicism, and repetition.
JAZZMN Orchestra feat. Morgan James @ Dakota
Giant Valley String Band, Open Mic @ Driftwood
LGBTQ+ Twin Cities Latin Dance @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with On Call Entertainment @ Eagles 34
Collectiva: Women’s + Non-Binary Jam @ 56 Brewing
3rd Annual Bangers-Only Ball with Poliça and Papa Mbye @ First Avenue
Snapped Live Band Open Mic @ Green Room
Atim Opoka, Queen Drea, Dameun Strange @ Icehouse
Room3 (Single Release) @ Indeed Brewing
Drums of Navarone @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Deerskin, Linnea Grace, and Casey Gerald @ Palmer’s
CTM Music Collective, Love is Anarchy @ Pilllar Forum
Scott Allen and the List, Mortiholics @ Schooner Tavern
Blockhead with Shrimpnose and Moonlit Mushroom @ 7th St Entry
Highway Heroes ⏤ A Tribute To The Outlaw Poets @ Turf Club
The F* All, The Broken Rule, The Staboteurs @ Underground Music Venue
Phantom Fields with Better Devils @ White Squirrel
Lakes Area Music Festival: Songs Without Words @ Woman’s Club
Friday, February 28
Jack Cassidy with Pat Donohue & Steven C. Anderson @ Aster Cafe
Housewerk #34 @ Beast Barbecue
All Terrain Vehicle (Zacc Harris/Dave Power/Cody McKinney) @ Berlin
Nona Invie (Album Release) @ Berlin
2 Dykes Walk Into a Bar @ Black Hart
Some Shitty Cover Band @ Bunker’s
Malamiko, Unstable Shapes, Small Animal Hospital @ Cloudland
YEARBOOK: Class of ’77 • Great Songs from 1973-1977 @ Crooners
Charmin Michelle with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Heart & Soul: The Music of Huey Lewis and the News @ Crooners
Davina and the Vagabonds @ Dakota
Blue Lake, Gonzo’s Planet @ Driftwood
Miss Shannon’s Sock Hop @ Eagles 34
Up North Rollers Brass Band @ 56 Brewing
Emo Nite with Secondhand Serenade @ Fine Line
O’Keefe Brothers @ Ginkgo Coffee
Latin Nights with Salsa Del Sol, DJ William EL Buenon @ Granada
OMNIRA with Venus De Mars and All The Pretty Horses, Diminished @ Hook and Ladder
Spaceport, Mouthful, full catholic @ Hook and Ladder
Erik Koskinen & Band @ Icehouse
Bach Society Mobile Mini-Concert @ Metronome Brewery
Mill City String Quintet @ Metronome Brewery
The Roxxy Hall Band @ Minnesota Music Cafe
Søndergård, Mozart and Stravinsky @ Orchestra Hall
The Swongos, The 99ers, and Silverteens @ Palmer’s
Talisk and Gardiner Brothers @ Pantages Theatre
Wingbeaver with Homunculus Rex, Holyrose, Weeklong Weekend @ Pilllar Forum
Jack Knife & the Sharps @ Schooner Tavern
Nurko with Last Heroes, Synymata, Lost Prince, and Red Comet @ Skyway Theatre
Duck Bomb, Moon Pail @ Terminal Bar
Talk Soon, Chris Cashin, Car Spiders @ 331 Club
Pert Near Sandstone with Dig Deep and Katey Bellville @ Turf Club
Hope Hook, Pelicant, Solana and the Sunsets @ Underground Music Venue
The Mary Cutrufello Band @ White Squirrel
Ancient Waves with Threads Electric, Francis Emil Johnson @ White Squirrel
ORISKA, Silva, Dragged Out to Sea, Eudaemon @ Zhora Darling
Saturday, March 1
Emily Haavik & Dave Mehling @ Aster Cafe
The Neighborhood Quartet @ Berlin
Shoeless Revolution @ Bunker’s
Reventon Reggaeton Party @ Cabooze
Wren & Wilde @ Can Can Wonderland
Silent Halo @ Can Can Wonderland
Jesse Welles @ Cedar Cultural Center
Baby Tyler Band, Joust, Laugh Track, Orchid Club @ Cloudland
Soulful Saxophunk with The Ronny Loew Band @ Crooners
Before He Cheats: A Tribute to Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert @ Crooners
Charmin Michelle with Rick Carlson @ Crooners
Shave the Neighbor, Slap Hazard @ Driftwood
Michael Marcagi with Ashley Kutcher @ First Avenue
Martenitsa Bulgarian Dance Party @ Granada
Nunnabove Presents Red Noise @ Green Room
Barbara Cohen & Little Lizard with Adam & Ava Levy @ Hook and Ladder
Ficshe, Darkling I Listen, Selfish Teammate, and Ori the Ghost @ Hook and Ladder
The Other Ol’ Blue Eyes @ Icehouse
Dawson Redenius Septet @ Metronome Brewery
Søndergård, Mozart and Stravinsky @ Orchestra Hall
SPCO Musician Appreciation Concert @ Ordway
REVO, Snotty Rottens, and Cracked Actor @ Palmer’s
Pink Martini feat. China Forbes @ Pantages Theatre
Chris Hawkey and Michael Shynes featuring DGS @ Parkway
Everett Smithson @ Schooner Tavern
Grace Enger with Jake Minch @ 7th St Entry
Barely Alive with Hvdes @ Skyway Theatre
Them Diagram, Desert Object @ Terminal Bar
Soul Tribe, Sol and the Resonance @ 331 Club
Pert Near Sandstone with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes and Feeding Leroy @ Turf Club
Spaghetti Monette & the Sauce with Cosmoline @ White Squirrel
Anything You Want with Kat & The Kodachromes @ Zhora Darling
Sunday, March 2
Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
BRAINGIVER & DeCarlo Jackson @ Berlin
The Bard’s Quartet @ Can Can Wonderland
Monthly Bluegrass Jam @ Caydence Records & Coffee
The Shabby Road Orchestra @ Crooners
Phine & Friends, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Twin Cities Country Dancers @ Eagles 34
Karaoke with Reina Starr @ Eagles 34
Thrown with Varials, No Cure, and Heavensgate @ Fine Line
Drew and Ellie Holcomb @ Fitzgerald Theater
MN Hard Bop Collective @ Metronome Brewery
Explore Music and Art with Thomas @ Orchestra Hall
Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
West Bank Social Club @ Palmer’s
Pink Martini feat. China Forbes @ Pantages Theatre
- Freedy Johnston with Molly Maher @ Parkway—Well, this is getting to be a regular event, isn’t it? Johnston was at the Parkway this same weekend last March, but he’s certainly worth checking out once a year. It's been three decades since Can You Fly set a bar that everyone, maybe even this Kansas-born singer-songwriter himself, knew its maker would never top. And so what? Johnston hasn't released a bad record since then, which is a much rarer feat among rockers than busting out of the gate with the best that you've got. His latest, 2022’s Back on the Road to You, is top tier among the runners up, with lyrics that remain open-ended without being vague and Susanna Hoffs, Aimee Mann, and Susan Cowsill offering up harmonies, just to give you a sense of the craftswomen who appreciate his work. Highlights include "That's Life," an uncle's loving bedtime advice, and "There Goes a Brooklyn Girl" (on her way to work).
Brennan Wedl with Fend and Matthew Smith and the Menagerie @ 7th St Entry
Boots & Needles with Dan Newton & Elizabeth Rowan @ White Squirrel
The Friend Ship @ White Squirrel
Monarch with Eastern River Cooters & Glitter Pit @ White Squirrel
Monday, March 3
BCE Trio (Emma Garau/Chris Bates/Bryan Nichols) @ Berlin
Steve Clarke n’ Band @ Eagles 34
Tango Desperados Practilonga @ Eagles 34
Auto-Tune Karaoke @ Mortimer’s
Cowaoke with Ben Moooker @ Palmer’s
Open Mic Mpls @ Sociable Cider Werks
Lori Dokken with Emily Rubbelke and Jason Deiter @ Woman’s Club
