As Minnesotans have continued to stand strong against masked ICE agents who have intimidated observers, detained US citizen, and murdered Reneé Good and Alex Pretti, there has been an outpouring of good actions at every turn. People protecting schools, daycares, and restaurants. Community members organizing to deliver food, give rides, and support our at risk population. Protests and observers through the cities. And musicians have gotten into the act, with a number of benefits helping to raise money for those local efforts as well as raising awareness nationally and internationally about the current situation. The sheer number of these events has been hard to track, and many have sold out extremely quickly. While we were lucky enough to get to the Tom Morello & Rise Against (with Bruce Springsteen!) concert at First Avenue, so many others have popped up with just as little warning. At yet another sold out benefit, local legends The New Standards led Our Neighbor: A Benefit Concert at The Dakota in Minneapolis. To maximize donations for five deserving local charities, The Dakota also added a livestream, which is how I viewed the show (and of course, all photos are courtesy of The Dakota’s wonderful stream).

The New Standards are a celebrated Twin Cities group with Chan Poling (The Suburbs) on piano, John Munson (Semisonic, among others) on bass, and Steve Roehm (Billy Goat) on vibraphone. The band is doing exactly what it says on the tin, as they do clever arrangements of songs that they believe should be part of the modern canon. As they got started, it also became clear that Munson was the organizing force for the event, and hearing that over ten thousand dollars had already been donated showed the value of that livestream option. Starting with Gone Baby Gone by Violent Femmes was a great example of their style, and the addition of guitar and drums for the evening added a nice depth to their otherwise more minimalist sound. Poling noted that the evening was all about “songs of protest and songs of love” as the band covered The Suburbs’ hit Love Is the Law. Like many of these benefit concerts, it quickly transitioned to the first of the guests. Dylan Hicks and Small Screens came to the stage as a jazz septet (Hicks was part of the pandemic era project Munson-Hicks Party Supplies). Their first song, Christ Came Down a Stranger, was a gorgeous song with the cello and brass and was also a touching song that perfectly fit the evening. After premiering Visible Concrete, written in the aftermath of Reneé Good’s murder, The New Standards came back to stage with Lucy Michelle, who we last saw at 2025’s Art-A-Whirl. Michelle’s vocals made for a haunting feel on the first of her two numbers and that was a strength of this particular benefit concert with many of the guests adding on to The New Standards musicality.

Jeremy Messersmith was the next guest and he came with his new song (with all proceeds since it was released going to mutual aid orgs) F*** This. The quiet rage of this musically placid number was brilliant and oh so very culturally Minnesotan. As Messersmith said, the next songs would be musical whiplash and a cover of Won’t You Be My Neighbor? certainly did the trick. Ending with the sardonic Boomers, Messersmith was an early highlight to the evening. The stage then cleared for the duo of Eric Mayson and Aby Wolf, who we saw in January 2025. That quieter sound with vocals, piano and occasional percussion was a well-sequenced change of pace, and they are both excellent singers and songwriters. Vulture, a song referencing John Brown, was a good number even in this stripped down version. After a quick audience sung number of Be the Change You Wish to See, there was a brief break with beloved former Minneapolis mayor R.T. Ryback, who gave an effective and stirring talk about this moment where Minnesota is truly leading the resistance to tyranny.

Matt Wilson (a member of the band Trip Shakespeare alongside Munson) got the back half of the music started. His two original numbers, Rain and Descender, were perfectly in line with the evening and were enhanced with The New Standards in support. We got a bit of fire with Tina Schlieske up (recently at The Dakota’s 40th anniversary) with a great version of the protest song Compared to What a particular standout. When Dave Pirner and Ryan Smith of Soul Asylum were next up, the crowd at The Dakota was really amped up and Misery was the right call for their first song. They also nailed it on their third and final one with a rousing version of CSNY’s Four Dead in Ohio, with vocal hatred dripping on that opening lyric of “tin soldiers and Nixon coming”. The night wrapped up with Curtiss A bringing in the John Lennon vibes. An encore with all of the performers on Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) was as good a way as any to finish the music and a true benefit concert to continue to care for all our neighbors.