Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Rodriguez at Fitzgerald Theater, 5/15/13

Rodriguez Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul Wednesday, May 15, 2013This historic week in downtown Saint Paul continued at the Fitzgerald Theater as a sold-out audience paid witness to the first public concert locally from Rodriguez. The now-famous Detroit singer/songwriter finally became a household favo ... More >>

The best Twin Cities concerts: 5/15-5/21

Finally! The weather is starting to catch up with the time of year. Just in time for Northeast's annual celebration, Art-A-Whirl. Featuring creative works from all over Minneapolis, the 331 club will be hosting local favorites such as Gospel Gossip, Carroll, Prissy Clerks, Crimes and more. Minneapol ... More >>

Country Music Festivals: The good, the bad and the smelly

Ohhh, the weather outside is... not as bad as they said it was gonna be? Okay, it still sucks. But soon -- yes, soon... too soon in fact! -- it will be summer, and it will be really stupidly hot, and we'll be going to music festivals and become reacquainted with the sweet summer smell of a beer-and- ... More >>

RIP George Jones, country legend (1931-2013)

To begin a remembrance of George Jones, one need look no further than his song lyrics. "He stopped loving her today, they placed a wreath upon his door." "Yabba Dabba Doo, the King is gone, and so are you." Jones died this morning at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, after being hospitalized the ... More >>

The best Twin Cities concerts: 4/24-4/30

It's the last week of April, and the snow is finally melting away. Wednesday, local favorites Poliça play a show in the First Avenue Mainroom, while songwriter Josh Ritter plays a set the next night. Mill City Nights also welcomes Mindless Self Indulgence as new local band Ginkgo plays a set at the ... More >>

Food Network's Ted Allen talks about Dining Out for Life

This Thursday more than 180 restaurants around the Twin Cities will take part in a national fundraiser to help raise money and awareness for the fight against HIV/AIDS. Dining Out for Life is an annual event in which restaurants from across the country donate a portion of their evening's proceeds to ... More >>

Fleetwood Mac

T.I. at Epic, 4/19/13

T.I. Epic, Minneapolis Friday, April 19, 2013 Some nights you walk into a club wondering if an MC is still relevant. Then you watch a 32-year-old pro blast through more than two dozen songs in a little more than an hour, flaunting a nimble flow and basking comfortably in the familiarity of his hits ... More >>

Bob Dylan unveils tour dates with Wilco and My Morning Jacket -- St. Paul in July

Bob Dylan is now a 71-year-old force to be reckoned with on his own. With Tempest, he proved for the umpteenth time that he's still got the mind and the artistic means to topple anyone in the exclusive club of Americana musicians. And, the guy never stops touring, it seems.After he does some dates f ... More >>

Ricky Skaggs at Dakota Jazz Club, 4/18/13

Ricky Skaggs With Kentucky Thunder Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis Thursday, April 18, 2013I've seen Ricky Skaggs perform now at three different venues, each as different as the next. He played alongside Little Jimmy Dickens and Eddie Stubbs before an immense theater of country music fans and blastin ... More >>

Ricky Skaggs: Music is a cleansing; it's life

Ricky Skaggs is not old -- he'll turn 59 in July -- but his actual chronological years belie the elder statesman status he's achieved in country, bluegrass, gospel and neo-traditional music. Rare talent, a bevy of stories, an enthusiastic attitude and a passion for performing have a lot to do with i ... More >>

GImme Leaks #3: Three Twin Cities hip-hop albums you may have missed

There's a glut of hip-hop coming out of the Twin Cities, and it can be a lot to try to digest. In the spirit of the Gimme Noise Mixtape series that ran on this blog, we now present to you a more focused album roundup, selecting three recently released albums by local rappers that deserve recognition ... More >>

The best Twin Cities concerts: 4/17-4/23

This week marks several musical events in the Twin Cities. Duluth folk-bluegrass stars Trampled by Turtles celebrate ten years with three sold out shows (Wednesday - Friday) at First Avenue/7th Street Entry. Saturday, April 20 marks a very special occasion that is celebrated internationally, that's ... More >>

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

REO Speedwagon, Styx

Prof: If I can justify it and be smart enough, I can say anything

Minneapolis rap troublemaker Prof has pushed all our buttons for over a decade now. A mixture of party-starters, gross-out tales, and personal exploration fills the three volumes of his Kaiser Von Powderhorn mixtape series, his King Gampo album, the Recession Music collaboration with St. Paul Slim, ... More >>

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's six-month lockout to end

For six months, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has had to cancel its concerts, as musicians and management tangled over the terms of a new contract.The labor dispute began when the musicians' old contract expired at the end of September 2012. Three weeks later, musicians were locked out. Now, after ... More >>

80/35 Music Festival 2013 lineup: Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne & St. Vincent, and more

The sixth annual 80/35 Music Festival lineup is here! The yearly downtown Des Moines music event has hit upon some eclectic notes for headlining talent with New York rap heroes Wu-Tang Clan, and the David Byrne & St. Vincent collaboration leading the way in 2013.The event takes place Friday, Jul ... More >>

Bernie Worrell Orchestra

Paquito D'Rivera & the Assad Brothers

On the Replacements' long shadow, and achin' to be out of it

Makes No Sense At All captures the visions, ramblings, and memories of Chris Strouth, a Twin Cities-bred master of music, film, and everything else.The Catholic Church figured out something during the middle ages: If you build a church to look like a castle, the serfs will feel safe in its massive ... More >>

The Cedar Cultural Center repeats as Best World Music Venue

The Cedar Cultural Center has long been a somewhat unsung musical jewel of the West Bank of Minneapolis. But lately, the venue has been receiving some well-deserved praise for consistently hosting compelling, eclectic performances by genre-bending bands and musicians that run the gamut from indie-ro ... More >>

Top 10 Twin Cities hip-hop venues

It's hard to believe with the reputation it now holds that there was a time when the Twin Cities wasn't booking too many hip-hop acts. Once we were still flyover country to many of the national touring acts, and the local underground scene had yet to rise to prominence and prove the power of homegro ... More >>

Misterman

Hayes Carll at Cedar Cultural Center, 3/30/13

Hayes Carll With The Warren Hood Band Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis Saturday, March 30, 2013He's been called a troubadour, a Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt for the younger generation. Austin-based country singer/songwriter Hayes Carll's sold-out appearance at the Cedar Saturday night proved he's ... More >>

Lollapalooza 2013 full lineup: The Cure, Nine Inch Nails and more

A bit of the Lollapalooza 2013 lineup trickled out a couple weeks ago, but today this year's offerings got taut, dark, and -- most importantly -- official. Though the plan initially was to drop the full, gargantuan list of bands in two more weeks, the timeline got pushed up when a pre-April Fool's p ... More >>

Lianne La Havas: I would do any kind of anything with Prince

Lianne La Havas is the latest national treasure to pour out of Britain's seemingly endless pool of talented singer-songwriters. She's the girl with the warm, soulful voice, offbeat style (like nerd-girl-hot, with buttoned-up-to-the-collar shirts and a tight bun piled on top of her head and pulled to ... More >>

Flashdance — The Musical

Pitchfork Music Festival releases full 2013 lineup

The Pitchfork Music Festival lands at Chicago's Union Park July 19-21, and after the initial tease of R. Kelly, Björk, and Belle & Sebastian, the full lineup is now here!One of the main curiosities for Twin Cities music fans is how the acts announced might filter into First Avenue's music festi ... More >>

Haphduzn: I've kind of got a lot of experience with struggle

Haphduzn recently dropped his debut album Whittier Alliance, a collaboration with Wide Eyes' producer Dimitry Killstorm, and it sits comfortably in the pantheon of the Rhymesayers artists with whom he recently got off tour. A brutally honest and personal record, the straightforward raps come from a ... More >>

Lollapalooza 2013 lineup: Mumford & Sons, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend & more

What a difference a year makes when it comes to Lollapalooza, Chicago's destination music festival in Grant Park every summer. The first details of the lineup have emerged, and compared to the rockist-leaning 2012 bill it's looking very much like anything that can loosely fit within the antiquated " ... More >>

Tracy Morgan

LL Cool J unveils Kings of the Mic U.S. tour dates -- Minneapolis in May

Four rap institutions are linking up for the Kings of the Mic tour later this year. Though LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, and De La Soul have wildly different pedigrees and styles (and levels of movie stardom), this is a lineup that just keeps giving. When one ponders the sheer number of hits th ... More >>

One Direction's 1D World at Mall of America is a nostalgia presale

This past Saturday, the boy band One Direction opened a pop-up store at the Mall of America, and Gimme Noise decided to observe what sort of youth-cultivated bedlam might result. Called 1D World, the store will occupy the northwest corner of the mall's rotunda for the next six weeks.Upon receiving t ... More >>

Michele Bachmann says bloggers are a "miracle" and "where it's at!" during CPAC speech

Earlier today, Michele Bachmann addressed an adoring throng at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland -- an event she no doubt falsely characterized as "the best party of the year!"At the conclusion of her speech, Bachmann presented the award for "Blogger of the Year." It disappoin ... More >>

SFJAZZ Collective

The Nashville Network premiered 30 years ago today... and now it's back

Thirty years ago today, something big happened in country music. On March 7, 1983, just two years after MTV and the Buggles ushered onto our television sets a consistent -- well, for a time -- rotation of pop music programming, The Nashville Network premiered. It revolutionized the country music vid ... More >>

Soundset 2013 lineup: Atmosphere, Snoop Dogg, Mac Miller & more

"If we keep outdoing ourselves, who am I going to be playing after next year? Kanye?" was what Atmosphere rapper Slug said about last year's impressive Soundset lineup. Well, Soundset 2013 didn't get Mr. West, but it did land the G-funk legend Snoop Dogg. (Although, isn't he going by Snoop Lion thes ... More >>

International Women's Poetry Slam Championship: Last Chance Slam and Opening Night Party

Meek Mill

International Women's Poetry Slam Championship: Preliminary Bouts

International Women's Poetry Slam Championship: Preliminary Bouts

International Women's Poetry Slam Championship: Championship Finals

Local Frames: New videos from Van Stee, Aby Wolf, Gramma's Boyfriend, and more

As the Twin Cities music scene grows, more and more artists are creating music that demands our attention. Combine the music with talented filmmakers locally and beyond, and you have a fruitful mix of distinct skills that generates more locally connected music videos than ever before. While it's im ... More >>

Murs: My creative work doesn't seem organized to me

One of the icons of independent hip-hop for over a decade, Murs returns to the Twin Cities this Saturday for a show at the Fine Line with fellow West Coast natives Fashawn, Kosha Dillz and Black Cloud Music. The fearless leader of the Road to Paid Dues Tour, Murs is traveling coast-to-coast to sprea ... More >>

The Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis shines spotlight on '60s Greenwich Village folk scene

Locally bred Oscar-winning auteurs Joel and Ethan Coen have never shied away from drawing inspiration from their Minnesota upbringing to use in their films. Both Fargo and A Serious Man candidly reflect all-too-familiar aspects of life around these parts as well as lasting impressions that the creat ... More >>

The Pink Floyd Experience

Murs

Maroon 5

Too $hort: I've actually disappointed people by being polite

Gimme Noise got a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Bay Area rapper Too $hort this past weekend when he rolled through town with E-40. After a performance at Epic, B Fresh Photography's Rebecca McDonald got to hang backstage with the $hort Dog and ask some questions one-on-one. Watch her exclusive vid ... More >>