Amid hot and volatile weather, this year’s electro-centric Summer Set Music & Camping Festival had its ups and down but definitely had a lot to offer. This weekend featuredacts ranging from local jam bands to old-school hip-hop acts to Top 40 hitmakers. Summer Set is becoming one of the area’s biggest annual music festivals, and it’s clear that…

When a chunk of First Avenue’s ceiling collapsed Wednesday evening, the story was covered by media outlets across the country and beyond. How is this Minneapolis institution seen by people outside of Minnesota? The coverage gave us an opportunity to find out. Unsurprisingly, mentions of Purple Rain were all but mandatory; the Replacements and Hüsker Dü also…

Record producer Bob Johnston has died, at age 83, in a Nashville hospice. Johnston worked on some of the most acclaimed albums of the rock era, including Bob Dylan‘s Blonde on Blonde, Johnny Cash‘s At Folsom Prison, and Simon and Garfunkel‘s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. It was Johnston to whom Dylan was speaking when he said, “Is it rolling, Bob?” at…

After almost two years in the making, the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (DEMO) Center For Music will finally be opening in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. Expected to be functional for many purposes, the space’s proprietors hope to host music lessons, workshops, discussion groups, and live performances for all ages. The driving force behind the center…

Back in February, I wrote an article called “10 Twin Cities Bands to Watch,” a roundup of brand-new acts I liked. Somehow, over the course of the past six months, all of those bands found each other and decided to put together a two-day showcase. They asked me to host the whole thing, and I…

On a Saturday morning you’re likely to find Kerry Alexander, Noah Boswell, and Chris Hoge enjoying the view of the mighty Mississippi over a pulled pork hash at the Mill City Farmers market. These three Minneapolis-based musicians are better known as the indie rock band Bad Bad Hats. They released their first album Psychic Reader on July 17…

Miguel’s sold-out Saturday night show at First Avenue’s Mainroom has been moved to the State Theatre, as inspections and repairs continue in the wake of a partial ceiling collapse in the Mainroom on Wednesday night. “All purchased tickets for the Mainroom show will be honored at the State Theatre show,” according to First Avenue’s website. With the…

It would have been possible to make a great small film about the genesis of N.W.A.: an intimate portrait of five kids who grew up in Compton and found their voices on the stage and in the studio. These guys, though, don’t do anything small. Straight Outta Compton unfolds over 147 minutes as an American epic—telling…

In a new Rolling Stone feature on the 100 all-time greatest songwriters, Minnesota native Bob Dylan comes out on top. “Dylan’s vision of American popular music was transformative,” writes Rolling Stone. “No one set the bar higher, or had greater impact.” Runners-up were Paul McCartney (#2), John Lennon (#3), Chuck Berry (#4), and Smokey Robinson (#5). Tom Waits has penned a poem in…

Last night, legendary Minneapolis club First Avenue experienced a partial collapse of the Mainroom’s interior ceiling. The Mainroom was hosting approximately 750 fans for a show by Canadian hard rock band Theory of a Deadman; the adjoining 7th Street Entry was hosting a tour kick-off event for local bands What Tyrants and Stereo Confession that was…