Minneapolis: March 25 to March 27, 2025

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

25 Mar 2025 Tuesday
Giovannie and the Hired Guns
with Aaron McBee
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Giovannie and the Hired Guns is touring in support of their fourth album, Quitter (in stores on March 14, 2025).

We saw Giovannie and the Hired Guns in Feb 2023 and wrote, “Any band that begins their ninety-minute set with the riffs from Pantera’s “Cowboys from Hell” immediately has our attention, and Giovannie and the Hired Guns instantly had the crowd in their hands for the rest of the night. The buzzing rock band melds metal, country. and Tejano music with some punk and power pop and is out supporting third full-length (and first for Warner Music), Tejano Punk Boyz after several previous indie releases. The band initially formed when front man Giovannie Yanez was working at a pawnshop in the small town of Stephenville, TX and has toured with Classless Act last year, also making a memorable Kansas City appearance at last summer’s Boulevardia Festival that still had people talking.”

Aaron McBee to open.

Tour Dates:

 

 

 

26 Mar 2025 Wednesday
Lunar Vacation 
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

Decatur, GA-based band Lunar Vacation is returning to Minneapolis on March 26, 2025. The band’s sophomore album Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire is out now on Keeled Scales.

 

We saw Lunar Vacation in Mar 2022 and wrote, “Opening the show was Atlanta’s Lunar Vacation… which surprisingly was very good. We didn’t know what to expect from them, only having heard their cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas” (which we wrote about…, er, last Christmas)….
During their set, they mentioned this was their last stop of the tour… and, in fact, they “lost a band member”. They quickly recruited Minneapolis’ progressive metal band Why Not member Isaac… who spent the day learning their songs.”

Tour dates:

 

 

27 Mar 2025 Thursday
Flamin’ Oh’s
with Jon Berg
at Turf Club
first-avenue.com

Local group Flamin’ Oh’s is headlining the Turf Club, in St Paul, on March 27, 2025. This may be the band’s first appearance in 2025… their last gig, at North by North Loop Music Fest, was cancelled due to trademark infringement claims by SXSW and poor ticket sales. I guess SXSW owns a stake in NXNE (North by North East), and that could be confusing to the North by North Loop name.

Currently the band line:

 

We saw Flamin’ Oh’s in June 2018 and wrote, “Next up were Flamin’ Oh’s … also from Minneapolis. The group were originally called Flamingo, but were forced to change their name to the Flamin’ Oh’s due to another group with the same/similar name. They actually broke up in 1987, but eventually reunited a decade later just in time for the Mill City Music Festival in 1997. Even with rotating band members, but having been around for so long, the group were completely comfortable playing the main stage. Seeing them make goofy faces and doing standard rock poses, they look like they were having a lot of fun.”

Jon Berg to open.

 

27 Mar 2025 Thursday
The Taxpayers
with constant insult, free candy
at Underground
undergroundmusicvenue.com

After a multi-year hiatus, long-running Portland’s experimental punk band The Taxpayers are back with
Circle Breaker, out on March 21 on Ernest Jenning Record Co.

Rob Taxpayer comments on the album, “Just as we began working on this album, our guitar player Andrew had a family member gunned down and murdered at a park near his home. The next day, the city came and cut down the cherry tree in front of his house. A week or two later, Andrew texted me a picture: the gnarled stump of the cherry tree had sprouted new growth. A new tree being born from the old. Death, Taxes… and Life.”

The Taxpayers have announced a series of midwest shows in support of Circle Breaker this spring in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit, along with summer shows on the east and west coast.

The Taxpayers Tour Dates:

 

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to vu@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time. Thank you.