“I thought this show would be like going back to college,” gushed a friend of mine as we left First Avenue after Tegan and Sara‘s June 16 show. “And it was!” I appreciated her sentiment, but to me the show felt more like going back to grad school: a little less raucous, a little more measured,…

Charlie Parr and Ben Weaver, Ramblin’ Bones Outlastin’ You Today on Chaperone Records, Northern Minnesota troubadour Charlie Parr and Twin Cities “indie/pop/dirt” singer-songwriter Ben Weaver release a split 7″ featuring Parr’s “Outlastin’ You” on one side and Weaver’s “Ramblin’ Bones” on the other. Each musician guests on the other’s track. “Charlie and I have always talked about doing something together,” said…

Guided by Voices broke out of Dayton, Ohio in the ’90s with their bevy of brief power-pop anthems, and since then the prolific five-piece has issued a seemingly endless supply of guitar-fueled earworms and albums. The band seemed to strike a chord with a generation of four-trackers figuring out how to do it themselves; their lo-fi,…

Paul D. Dickinson, the punk rock legend of Frances Gumm fame, does not balk at stacks of books or rows of records or tubes of posters. He revels in them. He revels in them so much—in their artfulness, in the communities these objects brings together, in the ideas and songs and pictures they hold—that he,…

Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game is an occasion for popular players from disparate teams to come together on the same field, so it’s appropriate that Minneapolis indie hip-hop legends Atmosphere will share a stage with Top 40 rockers Imagine Dragons at a concert associated with the All-Star Game. On July 12 at TCF Bank Stadium,…

After years of planning and construction, the Twin Cities are finally ready to welcome Metro Transit’s Green Line, providing direct light rail service between the downtowns of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Here at the Current, we’re proud that the line rolls right past our doorstep. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the line, as seen from…

What’s that saying? All killer, no filler? This week’s Friday Five practically assembled itself as some of the state’s most recognizable and talented artists released one music video after another. Haley Bonar Haley Bonar takes the “You will get back on the plane” metaphor literally in the video for “Kill the Fun,” which is the…

Friday, June 13 Stone Arch Bridge Festival Kick-Off Water Power Park, Minneapolis 6 p.m., free, all ages Country and roots aficionados the Cactus Blossoms, Frankie Lee, and Mike Munson perform down at Water Power Park to help kick off the three-day Stone Arch Bridge Festival, which will bring over a 100 musicians and 250 visual…

What will be the songs of the summer this year—the new songs that people will be playing as they enjoy relaxing in the warm weather? Last week, staff at the Current shared our picks, and we invited you to share yours. You weighed in on our site, on Twitter, and on Facebook. Here are some…

“I know what it feels like to know that it’s time to share with others on another level, and not have the proper connections, know-how or resources to be able to do it,” says Kristoff Krane in a press release. “Carnage opened that door for me when he vouched for me back in the day…