Last week, it was announced that the Minneapolis Sound icons Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will be returning to Minnesota this winter to curate 10 days of free concerts in downtown Minneapolis during the Super Bowl, providing headlining entertainment for the “Bold North” Super Bowl Live festivities taking place on Nicollet Mall from January 26…

For a 20-something who grew up in Minnesota, it seems almost sacrilegious that I’ve never been to the Xcel Energy Center. Most of the big shows I’ve been to end up at First Avenue or Target Center, so walking in to see Arcade Fire, I had no idea what I was in for. The first…

What a stupid grin I have on my face. I keep picturing moments from the show at the Fitzgerald Theater last night, a vibrant event called “The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound” after the subtitle of Andrea Swensson’s new book Got to be Something Here. It served as a book launch; a history lesson; and most…

Update: This article previously stated that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would’ve announced the Super Bowl Live line-up on Oct. 27 if their flight hadn’t been delayed. Instead, they were simply planning to appear in Minneapolis to share their excitement. About a hundred people and a squad of cameras gathered in the IDS Building’s Crystal…

One of the most significant sites in Prince history is also one of the most mysterious: the site of Prince’s legendary purple house, on Lake Riley in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Prince lived there in the first half of the 1980s, and recorded portions of Controversy, 1999, and Sign O’ the Times in the house. With 1999 celebrating its 35th anniversary today,…

Al Church, “Tambourine Feel” Al Church and his band dive feet-first into “Tambourine Feel” — in more ways than one, since the video for this single was filmed underwater. Watch for Church’s new album Night Games later this year. John Maus, “Touchdown” Minnesota native John Maus must be the encouraging sort. “Go for the touchdown,” he…

The Star Tribune reports that Minnesota music legends Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will be standing next to a giant “LII” ice sculpture in the IDS Center’s Crystal Court tomorrow to kick off the 100-day countdown to the 2018 Super Bowl — and to announce that they’ll be curating ten days of free concerts to…

When Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile are onstage together, their musical conversation parallels their friendship and working relationship. Much of last night at the Palace Theatre was about letting things evolve and finding the natural groove rather than forcing it. Perhaps that’s why Barnett and Vile fit so well together; they allow each other to…

The Xcel Energy Center audience were firmly asked not to use phones — at all — so it was a darkened mass of fans who surrounded the simply lit stage at one end of the arena. There were also no video screens, so all faces were turned directly towards the man at the piano, testing…

It’s not every day you get a program walking into a concert. But at last night’s Guthrie Theater affair, a grand triple bill showcasing Irma Thomas, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the Preservation Hall Legacy Quintet, no extra step felt out of bounds. A magnificent pink chiffon flower atop Ms. Thomas’s shoulder? Oh so…