Neal Francis has a pair of big shows in the area this week, the first of which is at Turf Club in Saint Paul Thursday, with Daisychain, an all female blues/psych band also out of Chicago, opening up.
Francis then heads to Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, Wisc., Friday with Duluth’s Saltydog and Danny Frank and the Smoky Gold opening.
Francis’ gigs top my weekly live music roundup, but, as always, there are so many other great options, including the very last day of Palmer’s Bar on the West Bank. The bar kept things going for 119 years, but sadly will end with an extended set from 98-year-old Cornbread Harris, who is believed to have performed on the first rock record produced in Minnesota. He’s also the father of Jimmy Jam.
Read on for gigs from Bonny Light Horseman, Wet Leg, Grateful Gals, Big Tasty, Willie Waldman, TWINE, a Tom Petty tribute show featuring Chris Castino of The Big Wu and Gregg Hall, Alex Rossi, Dead Days of Summer, Brewgrass featuring Mae Simpson, Feed the Dog and more, Mark Joseph and the last day of music for Palmer’s Bar after 119 years of live music (including but not limited to Shrimp Olympics and The Cactus Blossoms), Shotgun Ragtime Band and Dr. Mambo’s Combo.
Tuesday, Sept. 9
Bonny Light Horseman, which includes Minneapolis drummer JT Bates, plays Fine Line tonight, with Angela Autumn opening and the music starting at 8 p.m.
Wet Leg’s “North American Moisturizer Tour” hits First Avenue with mary in the junkyard opening and music starting at 8. The show is very sold out.
Tonight is the last night to catch the Zen Open Jam at Palmer’s hosted by Ruby Blu of Red Eye Ruby, Bryce Tuitt of Confucisaurus and Casey Factorial of Color Chord. The music goes from 8 to 11 p.m., and it’s free.
Brian “Snowman” Powers and Jon Miller help keep the improvisations interesting every Wednesday night at Bunkers in North Loop. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream
Wednesday, Sept. 10
TWINE keeps building momentum every Wednesday at Bunkers, as I have seen shooting pictures for the band every week since last November. The music kicks off at 9:30 p.m. and runs until about 1 a.m. It’s $10 at the door, and so damn worth it.
Grateful Gals, a trio of female singers covering the Grateful Dead, play a shot at Crooners’s Supper Club. Dinner and cocktail service starts at 5:45 p.m., and the 90-minute set starts at 7 p.m. The trio is Steph Devine, Katie Gearty, Tristana Ward backed by a band featuring keyboardist Kevin Dorsey, drummer Greg Schutte, bassist Chad Whittaker and others.
Arc De Soleil, the psychedelic funk project of Daniel Kadawatha, hits Varsity Theater in Dinkytown at 8 p.m. Kadawatha, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, was born in Sri Lanka but raised in Sweden. Arc De Soleil’s sound is quite similar to Khruangbin. It’s that Asian chill funk sound that was bound to be emulated.
Thursday, Sept. 11
Big Tasty, which includes members of Wookiefoot, and Willie Waldman Project play the Zen Arcade at The Hook and Ladder Theater in South Minneapolis at 8 p.m.
Francis’ Turf Club show kicks off at 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, Saltydog, Between Howls and Boss Mama and the Jebberhooch play Tom’s Burned Down Cafe on Wisconsin’s Madeline Island starting at 6 p.m.
Duluth’s Saltydog with their Bunker’s debut opening for Mikel Wright & The Wrongs last Saturday. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream
Friday, Sept. 12
Petty Comes Alive: An All-Star Tribute featuring Hall, Castino, Trent Norton, Dan Israel, Scott McPherson and Tim Carrow play The Hook and Ladder Theater in South Minneapolis. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Alex Rossi and his band play Bunkers starting at 9:30 p.m. There is a $10 cover.
Saturday, Sept. 13
Dead Days of Summer, with a lineup featuring Mike Corcoran and Annie Hagerty Hicks of The Jones Gang, Robert Hubanks of China Rider, Mark Munchie Collins of Shotgun Ragtime Band and others will be playing Day Block Brewing in downtown Minneapolis. The show, which includes songs from the Dead’s Blues for Allah starts shortly after 7 p.m.
56 Brewing is hosting Brewgrass, with the doors opening at noon. Maygen & The Birdwatcher start at 1:30 p.m.; Clare Doyle plays at 3:15 p.m.; Feed The Dog at 5 p.m.; Mae Simpson at 6:45 p.m.; and The Roe Family Singers at 8:30 p.m.
Minneapolis’ Shrimp Olympics is one of the many bands that will be playing for about 15 minutes on the last day of Palmer’s Bar, which is closing Sunday after 119 years. PHOTO BY JAVIER SERNA/@jaminthestream
Sunday, Sept. 14
The 119-year run at Palmer’s Bar comes to an end with a bunch of bands playing the last gig, and most of those bands getting only 15 minutes on the stage.
Here is the schedule, Doors at 10:30 a.m.; 11 Front Porch Swingin' Liqour Pigs; 11:40 Baby Grant Johnson; noon Jeffrey Robert Larson; 12:20 Dingus; 12:40 Dead Fashion; 1 Big Trouble House; 1:20 Doug Collins & The Receptionists; 1:40 The Union Suits; 2 Los Pinches Güeys; 2:20 Spit Takes; 2:40 Butter Boys; 3 The Sex Rays; 3:20 The Silent Treatment; 3:40 Fletcher Coulee; 4 Nato Coles and The Blue Diamond Band; 4:20 Shrimp Olympics; 4:40 Products Band; 5 Michael Gay & His Dang Band; 5:20 Jack Klatt; 5:40 The Heavy Sixers; 6 Whiskey Rock and Roll Club; 6:20 Mary Jam; 6:40 Scrunchies; 7 Supportive Parents; 7:20 Butchers Union; 7:40 Mind Out of Time Ft. Christy Costello, Orion Treon, Martin Devaney, Mike Schierman and Miss Georgia Peach; 8 Redwing Blackbird; 8:20 The Cactus Blossoms (Duo); 8:40 The West Bank Social Club; 8:55 The Brass Messengers (Parade/Second Line/Jazz Funeral) to the inside; 9:15 Cornbread Harris & Friends. The music ends at 10 p.m. and the bar is set to close at 11.
There’s a $10 cover with no advance tickets, so the bar advises folks to arrive early.
The Big Wu’s Mark Joseph plays a solo show at Missi’s Sip & Savor at the Confluence Hotel in Hastings at 3 p.m.
I always try to mention Shotgun Ragtime Band, which plays their long-time Dead tribute residency at the Driftwood every Sunday, with music starting at 6:30 p.m.
And, of course, Dr. Mambo’s Combo plays at Bunkers every Sunday starting at 9:30 p.m.