Morris Day & the Time headed up the all-MN opening concert at @MysticLakeAmp, and fans got/gave their first impressions of the ambitious new venue in Shakopee. www.startribune.com/mystic-lake-...

"How can you not be romantic about baseball?"

Who’s playing (and for how much), what to eat and drink (and for how much) and everything else to know as Live Nation’s new outdoor concert venue opens Saturday in Shakopee. www.startribune.com/cost-saving-...

With our first look at Mystic Lake Amphitheater comes our first taste of Live Nation being a much bigger player in the Twin Cities concert scene. www.startribune.com/new-shakopee...

Mystic Lake Amphitheater opens Saturday, and I got a quick preview w @chrisrstrib.bsky.social today! The GA lawn is pretty slick, with lots of standing areas to set your drink and no upcharge for different sections of it.

Heard the new Semisonic banger yet? It kicks off a comeback run that culminates with their MN Yacht Club fest gig next month. www.startribune.com/semisonic-ne...

For the first of two nights at the Ordway Concert Hall (one of the best-sounding rooms in town!), Mavis Staples delivered old and new songs that spoke to the times and sounded as powerful as ever. I'm genuinely in awe of her. She returns there tonight. www.startribune.com/mavis-staple...

Urban Lights is the Twin Cities’ only Black-owned record store.

Eyedea (Mikey Larsen) was a force the Twin Cities music scene hasn't seen before or since, and now his work is bringing about something else we've never seen: a new album featuring entirely AI-generated vocals cloning his voice. www.startribune.com/minnesota-ra...

One of the o.g.'s of the early-'00s craft-beer boom, Dangerous Man has bounced back with a new owner (but same head brewer!) and taken over the former HeadFlyer taproom on E. Hennepin Ave. Opening to the public Saturday. www.startribune.com/dangerous-ma...

Some guy from some jam band, one of the dudes from Vampire Weekend, a couple bonafide American music legends, a Molly Brandt album release party, a big punk-rock brewery bash and a lot more in this week's Big Gigs concert roundup. www.startribune.com/mavis-staple...

President Obama should go to one of the next Knicks games wearing a tan suit.

Steve Almaas of the Suicide Commandos has passed, ending a 50-year run of torching Twin Cities stages, igniting a punk/indie scene here (see also: Husker Du, Replacements) and making some pretty fiery records as Beat Rodeo and under his own name. www.startribune.com/steve-almaas...

COOL! After he performed for the Prince Celebration this past weekend the Time has been formally announced to headline the June 20 all-Minnesotan opening concert at Mystic Lake Amphitheater with Motion City Soundtrack, Ber and Rocket Club. www.startribune.com/morris-day-a...

If no one films it, will Phoebe's Grand Casino Arena concert really happen? We'll find out. Pre-sale starts Tue. Her first Twin Cities gig since 2021. www.startribune.com/phoebe-bridg...

Prince reps announced the posthumous album “Timeless” will be out Aug 28 with 10 unreleased songs from throughout his career. app.startribune.com/story/601853...

The return of the Last Dinner Party (who were a blast the first time around!), some cool Prince Celebration gigs, a new location/same wild roster for the Caterwaul festival and lots of free show mentions in this week's Big Gigs. www.startribune.com/prince-celeb...

The Star Tribune will be laying off 15% of its staff, including many who worked tirelessly to cover the Hortman assassinations, the Annunciation school shooting, social services fraud and Operation Metro Surge. Here is the statement from the Star Tribune Guild that represents newsroom employees:

All systems go for All Pints North, as the MN Craft Brewers Guld's 11th annual beer fest returns to Duluth's Bayfront Park on Aug. 1. Tix on sale now (and they usually sell out). www.startribune.com/all-pints-no...

Breweries are still in the concert biz in 2026, but Utepils and Bauhaus are out and Indeed and Pryes are stepping it up this summer. www.startribune.com/summer-conce...

Concerts at Bluestem amphitheater and several other Fargo-Moorhead venues have been canceled as longtime indie promoter Jade Presents announced it's going out of business. www.startribune.com/bluestem-amp...

One of my fave psychedelic throwback bands the Black Angels and a prominent tribute to most people's fave psychedelic band, Brit Floyd, are in this week's Big Gigsalong with the buzzy Hemlocke Springs and another fine Roots, Rock & Deep Blues Fest. www.startribune.com/black-angels...

Morris Day wasted no time disputing the claim by Trump's Freedom 250 team that he and the Time would be playing their event on the National Mall in late June. www.startribune.com/morris-day-t...

New amphitheater. New festivals. Newcomers to catch. We made a point of spotlighting a wide variety of concerts between now and Labor Day... including free options! www.startribune.com/summer-conce...

Sunday’s Celebration of Conrad at @first-avenue.com included a couple proclamations, 7 of 10 Sverkerson siblings, 8 music sets and a ton of stories of the man who ran the shows there for 37 years. www.startribune.com/first-avenue...

What one of the stores in town has in store today.

Not really any big names in Big Gigs this week but some major talent, including the Joy Formidable, Robert Glasper, NOLA twangers the Deslondes and Portland folkie Marisa Anderson. www.startribune.com/joe-jackson-...

A roundup of some new or newly relaunched beers to consider this summer. www.startribune.com/six-pack-sum...

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong will play his first show in 29 years at First Ave on Oct. 7 with his side project Pinhead Gunpowder. www.startribune.com/billie-joe-a...

Like everything else, attending concerts is getting more expensive and confusing. Here are tips for trying to nab more affordable tickets to the big shows and other ways to save money; like attending the littler shows that still offer big fun. www.startribune.com/ways-to-save...

Parents from Annunciation Catholic Church and School sent Democratic lawmakers individual bags of snacks that with notes that thanked them for “standing up (and sitting in) for our children.” Two children were killed and dozens injured at Annunciation last summer.

What’s on your list for Art-A-Whirl music? Here’s mine. I started doing this tip sheet 10+ years ago inspired by the methods I used to navigate SXSW in Austin for many years. www.startribune.com/hour-by-hour...

Bad news ahead of its biggest and most festive weekend: Bauhaus is going to close at the end of June. www.startribune.com/bauhaus-brew...

Courtney Barnett, Kingfish Ingram, Art-A-Whirl, a release party for a killer Fret Rattles record and that Lil Ol' Band from Texas are in this week's Big Gigs concert highlights. www.startribune.com/zz-top-court...

In a year when the word “free” will automatically add buzz, the Minnesota State Fair will deliver a lot of bang for no bucks with the newly announced 2026 lineup for its free stages. www.startribune.com/minnesota-st...

From bands funded by beer donation money in Lisa Elias' metal studio and wild gigs on pontoons in the middle of the Mississippi to hi-fi festival-like setups at breweries. What live music at Art-A-Whirl used to look like and what it is now. www.startribune.com/art-a-whirl-...

Live Nation has not been very open with information about its massive, new Twin Cities amphitheater, opening just over a month from now. So we took a drone images of the venue and tried to find out what we could, including (gulp!) prices to expect. www.startribune.com/sneak-peak-m...

From Cheap Trick and Joan Jett last year to clearly a cheaper talent budget this year. But as all-local lineups go, this year's Taste of Minnesota packs a big bang for 4th of July festivities. www.startribune.com/taste-of-min...

Big Gigs options for Twin Cities concerts in the coming week include Mdou Moctor, Bruno Mars, Psychedelic Furs, Yungblud, Afghan Whigs and Women Who Cook. www.startribune.com/mdou-moctar-...

Motion City Soundtrack, Ber and a headliner TBA will play a $20 soft-opening concert on June 20 at the Live Nation-run Mystic Lake Amphitheater. www.startribune.com/mystic-lake-...

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are coming home to celebrate the Minneapolis Sound at the MN State Fair, and they're bringing A LOT of their talented friends. www.startribune.com/jimmy-jam-te...

First Ave & Minnesota Orchestra reps joined city officials and community leaders for an official groundbreaking ceremony today at the Upper Harbor Terminal amphitheater site, coming "summer 2027" to the riverfront north of downtown Minneapolis. www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...

Great! I think this means political reporters now have to cover his concerts instead of music critics.

RIP Michael Yonkers, experimental Twin Cities rocker plucked from obscurity in 2003 when @subpop.bsky.social reissued a long-shelved 1968 album: "If this stuff had been heard, we think it would have influenced the Stooges, Velvet Underground and the acts we love.” www.startribune.com/michael-yonk...

4 songs into @bandofhorses.bsky.social playing their debut album in full…

Iron & Wine, Bizhiki, Demi Lovato, St. Paul & the Broken Bones and Mac DeMarco are among the highlighted concerts for the next week. www.startribune.com/demi-lovato-...

I’m loving what I’ve heard of Kacey’s new record, and I’m loving the story around her album-release gigs this weekend at my old (very old) haunt Gruene Hall. She’s playing Target Center in September. www.startribune.com/kacey-musgra...

Hardy will headline the MN State Fair grandstand on Sept. 4 playing such poetic modern classics as "Truck Bed," "Wait in the Truck," "One Beer," "Rednecker" and "Unapologetically Country as Hell." The guy who sings "Bible and a Bar" opens. www.startribune.com/hardy-minnes...

Never mind Bon Iver, meet Bon Dylan. Justin Vernon explains his plans to "try to be Bob Dylan for a night" at this summer's Eaux Claire fest and offers a taste of how they'll sound. www.startribune.com/justin-verno...

Northbound Smokehouse led the pack of Minnesota breweries to win World Beer Cup medals this week, which also included beer makers in Duluth and Rochester. www.startribune.com/minnesota-br...