Music
THEATER | "American Idiot" rages against the machine
"Every generation sends a hero up the pop charts," sang Paul Simon. And every generation, in due time, selects a couple dozen of its most agile young representatives to take to the stage and dramatize its defining struggles in the form of musical theater. The Baby Boomers had Hair, Gen X had Rent, and now the Millennials have their own generational pageant in the form of Green Day's American Idiot.MORE »
TUESDAY PICK | Don't call it a comeback: Del Fuegos at the Varsity Theater
"She's the one who would have taken me to my first all-ages show," sings Juliana Hatfield in "My Sister" (1993). "It was the Violent Femmes and the Del Fuegos, before they had a record out, before they went gold." That would have been about 30 years ago now; the Boston garage rockers led by brothers Dan and Warren Zanes started playing together in 1980, hit it beer-commercial big in 1984, and broke up in 1990. Last year the Del Fuegos got back together for the first time since the breakup, and their reunion tour stops at the Varsity Theater on February 28. Catch 'em while you can.MORE »
Hannibal Lokumbe mentors and performs for Black History Month
Vocalessence is presenting its annual Witness concert this Sunday at the Ordway Center in St. Paul. This Black History Month tradition always features a guest artist and a commissioned new work. This year the guest is trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe. His new work is called "In the Spirit of Being."MORE »
MUSIC | Dr. Dog play it cool at First Avenue
Are Dr. Dog the coolest band on the road today? That may seem like a far reach, but consider: what exactly is it that makes a band cool?MORE »
Gregg Inhofer's "Music for the Upright Walking" does almost everything right
Singer-songwriter Gregg Inhofer (piano, organ, guitar), to say the least, gets around pretty good. To the extent that even if you haven't heard him, if you've been anywhere near Twin Cities music over the past year, you had to've heard of him playing somewhere or other every time you turn around. Fact is, the man is a well-respected veteran of going on half a century with a reputation he certainly didn't fall in his lap out of a box of Crackerjacks.MORE »
FRIDAY PICK | Dandara shakes it at Carnaval Brasileiro
Carnaval Brasileiro is claimed to be "the biggest celebration in the world." Really? It sounds like another press-release ploy, doesn't it? But browsing Wikipedia's definition of the Brazilian Carnival, it might actually be true: The country stops completely for almost a week and the consumption of beer accounts for 80% of its annual total. Fine Line Music Cafe is adopting Brazil's non-stop party for Friday and Saturday night with three shows where Brazilian sensation Dandara is headlining. Extending Fat Tuesday into the weekend is easily justified this year.MORE »
MUSIC | Heartless Bastards at First Avenue show Minneapolis some love
Concert goers at First Avenue were in for a treat on Saturday evening with two great performances by Hacienda and Heartless Bastards, two bands based in Texas that had the place bouncing.MORE »
FRIDAY PICK | First waltz: Dr. Dog at First Avenue
Philadelphia's Dr. Dog are one of the most interesting bands on the indie circuit, distinguishing themselves with talent and ambition despite the fact that their sound, when described in words, sounds the same as every other shaggy-boy band to lope into town and steal Minneapolitans' hearts. With multiple songwriters who are also evocative vocalists, a shambling sound that hides a formidible instrumental attack, and a taste for unusual and complex song structures, the closest point of reference is The Band; locals who enjoy the flannelled-and-bearded men of the Fleet Foxes, Dawes, Mumford et al (you know who you are, and so do I) should be well-pleased. Dr. Dog headline First Ave's Mainroom on February 17, with Purling Hiss.MORE »
MUSIC | Poliça and the New Minneapolis Sound
In the 80s, people talked about a "Minneapolis Sound": a smooth electrofunk exemplified by Prince and the Time, spread further via the producing efforts of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Since I started covering the local music scene in 2007, I've heard a new sound emerging from a similarly like-minded collection of artists: a languid, atmospheric, surging sound that merges elements of 70s and 80s pop with 21st century electronic experimentation. Is this the New Minneapolis Sound?MORE »
MUSIC | The Darkness camp out at First Avenue
The first unmistakable wave of 2000s nostalgia I've experienced at First Avenue came courtesy of a band who could have stepped straight out the 1970s.MORE »
We're people-powered journalism! Click on story links (below) to see more story information, and then email editor@tcdailyplanet.net if you want to report.
• 
