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Recommended Events

Free First Saturday: Rock Out! Walker Art Center	Sat., November 7, 10:00am-3:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Art Art - Museums Family Events
This daytime family event would be fun even if it didn't feature a rare reunion performance by American punk pioneers the Suicide Commandos, or a maze of mirrored pavilions created by conceptual-art renaissance man (and punk critic) Dan Graham. As is, the kids' activities—including... More >>

Perfect Parties The Woman's Club of Minneapolis	Sat., November 7, 10:00am-2:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Expos Parties & Receptions
Throwing some holiday parties this year? Looking to do something a little more modern or interesting than recreating last year's red wine, popcorn balls, and mistletoe shindig? This event should be on your weekend to-do list then. During this afternoon of pre-party planning, guests can sample... More >>

Lisa Landry Acme Comedy Co.	Daily from Tue., November 3 until Sat., November 7, 8:00pm more dates/times	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Comedy
Though she has a toddler, comedian Lisa Landry doesn't talk a whole lot about motherhood onstage. "I try to talk about other things," she says. "It's awesome to have a kid, but there's obviously a lot more going on in the world than diapers and booties." She does admit that her lifestyle has... More >>

KISS Target Center	Sat., November 7, 7:30pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
Yeah, these guys. No, not the guys, at least technically not the ones you might've bought action figures of in the '70s, or, if you're a speculative collector, the '00s -- Ace Frehley and Peter Criss are still off doing their own thing, their roles filled by Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. (I'm... More >>

The Mountain Goats The Cedar	Sat., November 7, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle (pictured) is a serious literary type whose songs, stretching back almost two decades, detail human failings, foibles, fears, feints, and fables, sometimes stripping emotion down to its wiring, exposing tragedies inherent in the mundane. For many years he... More >>

Old Crow Medicine Show State Theatre	Sat., November 7, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
The old-time string band rolls back into town for a show at the State just weeks after their last appearance in the Twin Cities, playing for fan Garrison Keillor, who books them frequently on A Prairie Home Companion. Like that legendary radio show, the music of Old Crow Medicine Show sounds... More >>

Suicide Commandos Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant	Sat., November 7, 11:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
Should we call this a full-fledged reunion phase for Minneapolis' ur-punk legends? Maybe, since they've had a remarkably active 2009: playing a benefit at Nick & Eddie for the Bush Tetras' Laura Kennedy back in January, another set at the 501 in August that capped a night of side-project debuts... More >>

The Affair Minneapolis Convention Center	Daily from Sat., November 7 until Sun., November 8, 10:00am-6:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Expos
Look out: Minneapolis is about to get decadent. The Affair with the Chocolate Extravaganza is back again this year, showcasing the finest chocolate, fashion, wine, food, and entertainment just in time to help with any sumptuous holiday soirees you're planning. The festivities at the Convention... More >>

Minnesota Dance Theatre: Carmina Burana LAB Theater	Sun., November 8, 7:00pm more dates/times	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Dance
According to the press release, this evening of music and dance promises to be "a portrayal of love and lust, desire and longing, with raucous and bawdy good fun." Sounds about right; the original text is a mix of religious satire, love songs, and drinking games, after all. And it's good to get... More >>

Othello Open Book	Every week Friday, Saturday, Sunday from Fri., October 23 until Sun., November 8, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Theater
The gods of theater are capricious, and not without a certain sense of humor. For roughly four weeks starting next month, an inordinate amount of Twin Cities acting talent is going to be laboring on Shakespeare's story of jealousy and betrayal. And they're going to be doing it on two different... More >>

Rebecca Theatre In the Round	Every week Friday, Saturday from Fri., October 16 until Sun., November 8, 8:00pm more dates/times	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Theater
Daphne Du Maurier's stage adaptation of her novel was Goth before there was Goth (in the sense we know it, anyway. I'm sure the ancient Romans would beg to differ). It's 12 kinds of creepy, as a young woman marries a rich widower and moves off to his country estate only to find everyone there... More >>

Cadillac vs. Cornbread Palmer's Bar	Every week Sunday, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
Don't let that "vs." fool you: eighty-something local music vet James Samuel "Cornbread" Harris isn't so much a rival to rockabilly revivalist Cadillac Kolstad as he is a mentor. The two pianists have been sharing double-bills in a number of local music hot-spots, including their regular Sunday... More >>

Open Mic Night Acme Comedy Co.	Every week Monday, 7:30pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Comedy
If you think you're funny because your co-workers feign laughter at the little jokes and puns you dispense at the water cooler, please think again. If you're convinced you're a comic tour de force because drunk people at parties giggle at you and tell you you're funny, please consider the... More >>

Art Brut Triple Rock Social Club	Mon., November 9, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
Because they sound a little like The Daily Show's John Oliver fronting the Pixies in the spoken-punk-rap style of Flipper or Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," Art Brut are inevitably judged as comedy rather than music—more Beatles press conference than Beatles album. But like fellow... More >>

Dr. Mambo's Combo Bunker's Music Bar & Grill	Every week Monday, Sunday, 9:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
1987 was a notable year for Minnesota: the Twins won the World Series, Prince released one of his best albums in Sign 'O' the Times, and St. Louis Park's own Coen Brothers released their first great comedy Raising Arizona. 1987 was also the year that Dr. Mambo's Combo was formed, and it just so... More >>

Dirt on Delight: Impulses that Form Clay Walker Art Center	Daily from Sat., July 11 until Sun., November 29	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Art Art - Museums
It's funny to think that something as simple as earth can be used to create such a variety of items. Clay can be put to practical use when formed into pottery pieces such as plates, ashtrays, and goblets; it can spruce up a home when glazed and fired into intricate sculptures; and it can bend... More >>

Robert Irwin: Slant/Light/Volume Walker Art Center	Daily from Thu., August 6 until Sun., November 21	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Art Art - Museums
The July/August issue of the Walker's member magazine contained a piece penned by visual arts curator Elizabeth Carpenter explaining Robert Irwin's untitled 1971 piece (going on display at the museum this weekend). She quotes the artist as saying, "All those things I did in the '70s, basically... More >>

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant	Every week Tuesday, Wednesday from Tue., November 10 until Wed., November 11, 7:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
This long-married couple separately made indelible marks on the pop landscape in the 1960s. Trumpeter Herb Alpert was leader of the phenomenally successful, mariachi-influenced Tijuana Brass, which repeatedly topped the charts with a series of brash instrumentals, eventually selling some 72... More >>

The Weekly Triple Double Triple Rock Social Club	Every week Tuesday, 9:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
What softens a recession's bite as effectively as cheap booze? Nothing...except free entertainment. While "Triple Double"—the Triple Rock's freshly reinvented Tuesday bacchanal—offers both commodities by the truckload, the night's ever-changing DJ roster and floating-genre music... More >>

Haegue Yang: Integrity of the Insider Walker Art Center	Daily from Thu., September 24 until Sun., February 28	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Art Art - Museums
Haegue Yang's greatly varied work has a uniquely personal and political edge to it. "Integrity of the Insider" will be her first solo museum exhibition in the U.S., though you may already recognize her from the Walker's 2007 "Brave New Worlds" group show. Exhibition curator Doryun Chong first... More >>

Faith Healer Guthrie Theater	Every week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday from Fri., October 23 until Sun., December 6, 7:30pm more dates/times	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Theater
In a recent conversation, Guthrie kingpin Joe Dowling was game to talk about his American acting debut in Faith Healer, if a little bemused that anyone would want to make a big deal about it. "It's been 20 years since I rehearsed and played a role," he noted, during which time his primary... More >>

Transmission Clubhouse Jager	Every week Wednesday, 10:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
"Retro" is a tricky niche to slot a dance night into. Usually you've got to find yourself an era and a genre, hew towards the hits, and maybe garnish it with an outsized wink, a double-pistol-point and a smirking acknowledgement that you think the past is, well, kinda goofy. Clubhouse Jager's... More >>

The Great American Trailer Park Musical Illusion Theater	Every week Sunday from Sun., November 22 until Sun., November 22, 2:30pm more dates/times	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Theater
The artists of Minneapolis Musical Theatre in recent years have, most of the time, deftly sidestepped potential accusations of taking themselves too seriously. They've brought us a musical Jerry Springer, the queer splendor of Zanna, Don't!, and the resolutely daft Chess (which, if memory... More >>

Othello Minnesota Opera Center	Every week Friday, Saturday, Sunday from Fri., November 13 until Sun., November 15, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Theater
The gods of theater are capricious, and not without a certain sense of humor. For roughly four weeks starting next month, an inordinate amount of Twin Cities acting talent is going to be laboring on Shakespeare's story of jealousy and betrayal. And they're going to be doing it on two different... More >>

Little Dragon 400 Bar	Fri., November 13, 8:00pm	Minneapolis (Downtown)	Music
Some of the people who became enamored with Gothenburg, Sweden's Little Dragon via the left-field jazz-tinged and R&B-flavored indie pop of their self-titled 2007 debut might be in for a shock. The band's new album Machine Dreams is distinctively less warm and smooth, an abrupt jump to new wave... More >>