We’re trying something new with our weekly gig roundup: recommendations! (OK, new to us.) This week, the State Fair obviously dominates, but there’s plenty to do off the Fairgrounds as well.
Tuesday, Aug 23
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunkers
Coco Montoya & Ronnie Baker Brooks @ Dakota
St Dominic’s Trio @ Driftwood
- Bellows + Nat Harvie + The Nunnery @ Icehouse
COVID essentially made all music into bedroom pop, but Oliver Kalb was ahead of the game, and on his latest, Next of Kin, he sings like a sunnier Elliott Smith, with none-too-stripped down arrangements that never intrude on the intimacy. Similarly, Duluth’s Nat Harvie nimbly treads the fine line between small-scale and tastefully augmented on his latest, Married in Song. Rounding out the bill is the Nunnery (aka Sarah Elstran), whose Floating Gardens is more ornate and lush than your typical ambient release, and all the more engaging for it.
Pkew Pkew Pkew with Loss Leader and The Right Here @ 7th St Entry
August Conspiracy Series featuring Johnny Sincerely’s Traveling Blues Orchestra, the Good Time Gals @ 331 Club
Workers Playtime, Pop Wagner @ 331 Club
The Gefroh Brothers Concert @ Water Works
Trevor McSpadden & Mary Cutrufello @ White Squirrel
Nate and Hannah (Tuesday Residency) @ White Squirrel
Wednesday, Aug 24
Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, Lil 88 @ Amsterdam
Hannah von der Hoff (August Residency) with Maya Elena @ Aster Cafe
Dylan Salfer @ Bunkers
Jearlyn & Fred Steele @ Dakota
Vic Volare Anyswing Goes Party, Closer to Indigo @ Driftwood
The Veldt + the Muatas + Selectrra @ Icehouse
Mommy Log Balls, Tang and the Tabs, Everyday Trebles, Cannabis Kiss @ Mortimer’s
Futurebirds with Anima @ 7th St Entry
KFAI House Party Presents Chemistry Set @ 331 Club
St Anthony Mann, Arlo Cristofaro @ 331 Club
Jhariah @ The Treasury
- Seratones with Jackie Kean @ Turf Club
With Love and Algorithms, these soulful Louisianans have found the precise midpoint between dreamy yet driven R&B they’ve been searching for. Beats and textures are immersive, but singer AJ Haynes is the reason to listen up—she adapts to hard electro-funk or spaced-out jams without ever sounding like anything less than herself.
DL4 with Cole Diamond Trio @ White Squirrel
Thursday, Aug 25
- Leon Bridges @ Armory
This Texan R&B revivalist is always best when he balances his throwback tendencies with a modern thrust. (Even better when he exits his element, as on his collaborations with Lone Star psych-rockers Khruangbin.) So his backward-glancing latest, Gold Diggers Sound, kinda misses the point of the idols he emulates—the old guys had songs, not just a sound. But he’s got the style and the vocal chops to make it a smooth, swooning night at the old war-shed.
Hyooman + the Key Kids @ Aster Cafe
Jay Bee & the Routine @ Bunkers
Deicide with Kataklysm and Inhuman Condition @ Cabooze
Greg Herriges @ The Commons
Ginger Commodore @ Crooners
Zacc Harris Presents: The Music of Pat Martino @ Crooners
Armchair Boogie @ Dakota
Pearl and Friends @ Driftwood
Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin, Bush, The LIFE Project @ Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota Musicians Concert Series @ Hook and Ladder
Bethany Larson and The Bee’s Knees with Faith Boblett @ Icehouse
The Good, the Bad and the Funky @ International Bazaar Stage, Minnesota State Fair
Papa Bleu @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Eddie Montgomery @ Leinie Lodge Bandshell Stage, Minnesota State Fair
OWTH @ Mortimer’s
B & the Sting @ Minnehaha Park
The Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs @ Palmer’s
Jordan Gressman with Joey Mayer & Paytonn, Bridgewrld and GetUpDJ! @ The Treasury
Minneapolis Songwriters Rounds: Pat Keen, Arlo Cristofaro, Dexter Wolfe, Hemma @ 331 Club
Parker Millsap with Laura Hugo @ Turf Club
Brenda’s Birthday Bash @ White Squirrel
Friday, August 26th
Alpha Wolf with Bodysnatcher, Vatican, and Contrition @ Amsterdam
Senor Blues + Jennifer Skilar @ Aster Cafe
Dylan Salfer @ Bunkers
- Martina McBride @ Canterbury Park
McBride’s such an unprepossessing star you can forget she’s racked up as strong a catalog as any ’90s-spawned country singer. The abuse revenge anthem “Independence Day,” the marital bonding anthem “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” the comically exasperated “Teenage Daughters”—that’s quite a range, and all true to life. Life ain’t all trucks and clichés about small town life, after all.
Lamont Cranston @ Crooners
From Paris to Rome with Chronofon @ Crooners
Tom Hunter Band @ Crooners
- Kamasi Washington @ Dakota
The brawny tenor saxophonist and expansive bandleader, who’s been more commonly extending the reach of new jazz to unfamiliar audiences via rock clubs and festival dates, takes over the Dakota with his 10-piece band for the weekend. In the seven years since the three hours plus The Epic opened ears, Washington has been working with collaborators in hip-hop and electronic music, playing a key role in Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. To hear his band cut loose in a small jazz club should really be something.
Elvis Costello Night, Saint Small @ Driftwood
Friday I’m in Love – A New Wave Dance Party @ Dusty’s
IDKHOW and Joywave @ Fillmore
Dirty Honey with Mac Saturn @ Fine Line
Airship Caravan with Lost Evidence, Fix the Glitch, and Bookowski @ The Garage
Counting Crows, the Wallflowers @ Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair
Stray Gray Duck @ Icehouse
- Freaque + Sara Elizabeth + Lydia Liza @ Icehouse
As Freaque, Gabriel Rodreick crafts a sometimes spooky, always vivid, never gloomy sort of folk. His latest EP, Victim of a Rose, is an excellent place to make his acquaintance. And the two sharp singer-songwriters with two first names who open are absolutely worth showing up on time for.
The Good, the Bad and the Funky @ International Bazaar Stage, Minnesota State Fair
Tina, DJ Shannon Blowtorch @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Eddie Montgomery @ Leinie Lodge Bandshell Stage, Minnesota State Fair
dr Ozi @ The Loft
Maria and the Coins @ Minnehaha Park
All the Pretty Horses, the Stardust Collective @ Palmer’s
Lady Heat Presents~”All Dressed Up & Nowhere To Go But Palmer’s!” @ Palmer’s
Durry @ Schell’s Stage Schilling Amphitheater, Minnesota State Fair
Monica Martin with Jake Sherman @ 7th St Entry
Nate Mills & Kashi @ Studio B
Colonel Mustard’s Orchester Mecanique, The Real Chuck NORAD @ 331 Club
The Local Garden Showcase @ The Treasury
Hazelcreak, Waldemar and St. Anthony Mann @ Turf Club
Cariah Brinaé @ Uptown VFW
Carpenter Brut with Sierra @ Varsity Theater
Jung Yeller with Malamiko & Getting By @ White Squirrel
Saturday, August 27th
Mustang 87 @ Aster Cafe
International Reggae Allstars @ Bunkers
Maud Hixson @ Crooners
Jamecia Bennett @ Crooners
Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs @ Crooners
Kamasi Washington @ Dakota
Powderfinger: Neil Young Tribute @ Driftwood
The Supper Club Collective in the Green Booth @ Duffy’s
Portugal. The Man, Manchester Orchestra, Bad Bad Hats @ Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair
Mae Simpson Music @ Hook and Ladder
Cornbread Harris Ensemble @ Icehouse
Kavyesh Kaviraj Trio @ Icehouse
The Belfast Cowboys @ International Bazaar Stage, Minnesota State Fair
Le Percheron with Imminent Standards Trio @ KJ’s Hideaway
Dred I Dred @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
- Caitlyn Smith @ Leinie Lodge Bandshell, Minnesota State Fair
After giving Nashville a go, this Cannon Falls-born country singer-songwriter has come back to us. Hardly in defeat—she’s written for some of the best (and also Meghan Trainor) and continues doing business on Music Row. But her performing career is now centered in her home state, and this State Fair gig should be a nice kind of homecoming.
SFAM X UM.. @ The Loft
Pure Shifter, The Lucid Furs, Silt, Wannabianca @ Mortimer’s
St Paul & The Broken Bones with Wyatt Waddell @ Palace Theatre
The Right Here, Honey Dick, the Valors, and Butter Boys @ Palmer’s
The Nitty Gritty with DJs Brian Engel and Blue Funk @ Palmer’s
- Honeybutter @ Schell’s State at Schilling Amphitheater, Minnesota State Fair
Aw, the indie kids are discovering bossa nova again—does this old Cardigans fan heart’s good to hear the lighter side of lounge-revival revivalism revived. This local trio bounces and percolates with a fizzy charm that’s marked by sharp arrangements and the warm, bright voice of Clara Wicklund. Nothing wrong with a little elegance, you punks. Check ’em out here.
- Early Eyes, DNM, Products, and Butter Boys @ 7th St Entry
Local music lineup of the week? On their latest album, Look Alive!, synth-pop adventurers Early Eyes still draw on the Minneapolis Sound and various new wave trends, but they’re playfully rooting through a toy-box of sound where too many retro poppers are just proud of their recreations. You also get DNM (pronounced Denim), which is DeCarlo Jackson of Hippo Campus and some pals working in a poppy synth-folk vein, ace post-punks Products, and Butter Boys, who I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from .
UH2BT @ Studio B
Jarad Miles and the Ancient Waves (Album Release), Little Fevers @ 331 Club
The Return of Transmission @ Uptown VFW
Jeremy’s Birthday Bash with Dead Eye Haze & King Jeremy the Wicked @ White Squirrel
Sunday, Aug 28
Solar Fake with Whorticulture and Absynthe Of Faith @ Amsterdam
Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons @ Aster Cafe
Joyann Parker @ Crooners
Lori Dokken @ Crooners
Crystal Bowersox @ Dakota
Super Duty, Shotgun Ragtime @ Driftwood
Matt Nathanson@Fillmore
Brett Studer @ Granada
Pitbull, Iggy Azalea @ Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair
Amanda Standalone @ Icehouse
Sarah Walk @ Icehouse
Colores: A Service Industry Dance Night @ Icehouse
The Belfast Cowboys @ International Bazaar Stage, Minnesota State Fair
West Wind Swing Band @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
KGB (Kendra Glenn Band) @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
Caitlyn Smith @ Leinie Lodge Bandshell
Cornbread Harris: Church of Cornbread @ Palmer’s
The Sapsuckers @ Palmer’s
Honeybutter @ Schell’s State at Schilling Amphitheater, Minnesota State Fair
- BLK ODYSSY with Eimaral Sol @ 7th St Entry
Sam Houston and his crew explore the thicker, woozier side of funk and soul on their latest, BLK Vintage—think Funkadelic, not Parliament. It’s a head trip, with a fullness you can experience even on dinky laptop speakers. Live, it will no doubt engulf y’all.
Cults with Reptilians @ Turf Club
Pat Donahue @ 331 Club
Carlaoke @ White Squirrel
Monday, Aug 29
dr Mambo’s Combo @ Bunkers
The Beatles: Six Strings, Many Visions @ Dakota
The Beach Boys and the Temptations with Tower of Power @ Grandstand, Minnesota State Fair
The Bellwether Syndicate @ Hook and Ladder
Nelson Devereux’s Zones Residency @ Icehouse
Gypsy @ International Bazaar Stage, Minnesota State Fair
Atomic Beat @ Lake Harriet Bandshell
DSL: Dire Straits Legacy @ Leinie Lodge Bandshell
Telekinetic Yeti with White Hills and Thunderbolt Pagoda @ 7th St Entry
Erik Brandt and Urban Hillbilly Quartet @ 331 Club
The Roe Family Singers @ 331 Club
Matt Arthur Contration @ 331 Club
Chef Sounds (DJ Night) @ White Squirrel