And while the healthy and well-adjusted among us are reaching for the sun block and putting on their jogging shorts, the outdoors-averse and music-obsessed (you know who you are) are taking joy in the fact that the Twin Cities concert calendar is heating up like the temperatures.
For those who simply can’t stay away from speakers blasting in darkened clubs—regardless of how balmy it gets outside—Metromix is here to help with a guide to the best live music hitting the smaller Twin Cities stages this weekend.
Thursday
For true rockers, the weekend starts on Thursday night, and there are few better ways to kick it off then heading on over to the cozy wooded confines of the 400 Bar.
Kicking things off this month are local seven-piece Radio On, seven peeps who power their rock ‘n’ roll locomotive, which specializes in dance-friendly, keyboard-laden soul-pop. With song titles like “Whiskey Mountain” and “Bottles of Wine”, Radio On will have you reaching for the bar’s ginormous sized Summit bottles and shaking your rump before you can remind yourself that you’ve got work the following day.
Also, this is the first show of a weekly Thursday residence Radio On will be doing throughout the month, and considering that past 400 Bar artists in residence have included Mason Jennings the show could very well make for some nice “I was there way back when” bragging rights (9 p.m., $5 adv/$7 door, 18+).
Friday
For musical good times of a rougher kind, check out Canadian alt-country darling Kathleen Edwards who’ll be playing the Varsity Theater to support her just released third album, "Asking For Flowers", which once again finds the singer balancing shit-kickin’ country blues with dulcet acoustic material.
Twang ain’t your thang? Then head on over to the Triple Rock for some high decibel and heart-pumping rock courtesy of local newcomers All The Way Rider, who’ll be showing off tunes from "The Eagles Revenge", their just released debut album that excellently combines buzz-saw riffage and mathematic precision.
Saturday
If your ears have managed to stop ringing, and if your will to rock lives on, Saturday has plenty of enticing options on the docket. Those with an appreciation for mellow folk—and an early evening—and should head on over to the Uptown Cheapo for a free set from local newcomers Mercer who’ll be playing material from their recently released debut EP, recorded with the aid of local music icon Ed Ackerson of Polara. Expect plenty of smooth harmonies and winning riffs.
For a darker and dramatic slice of local music, head to the Uptown Bar and take in a set from Themes, a newer group whose baroque boy/girl pop strikes a nice balance between Tori Amos and spooky post-punk.
If downtown Minneapolis is more your speed head to First Avenue for a set from up and coming UK-popstress-with-a-potty-mouth Kate Nash . Nash’s rapid fire talk-sung verses get by on pixie-stick pep and slick electro-pop arrangements, plus plenty of cheeky digs at annoying ex-boyfriends (Sample lyric: “Thirty five people couldn't count on two hands the amount of times you made me stop/ Stop and think why are you being such a d---head for!”). You tell ‘em girl!
Sunday
Rage against the dying of the weekend by refusing to be sensible and stay in. Set your sights on the Turf Club , St. Paul’s local music mecca, and let the tasty roots music stylings of Duluth’s Charlie Parr wash over your ears. Whether accompanied by his trusty 12-string guitar or a banjo, Parr’s creaky kneed blues-folk has a creepy lived-in authenticity to it that can be faked. When Parr sings about dead cats and freighters the distance between the dust bowl and the internet age suddenly doesn’t seem quite as vast.
