Jonathan Richman returned to First Avenue with drummer Tommy Larkins for a phone-free night of unfiltered sincerity. Mixing new songs from Only Frozen Sky Anyway with old favorites, Richman danced between languages, laughter, and tenderness — proving again that simplicity, delivered honestly, can still rock a crowd.
Here is what is going on this week in Minneapolis/St Paul, ending on October 19, 2025: • DICE at Turf Club (Oct 14, 2025) • Paul McCartney at US Bank Stadium (Oct 17, 2025)
Rocktober! Here are some shows in Minneapolis/St Paul on October 16, 2025: • Jonathan Richman at First Avenue (Oct 16, 2025) • Chaparelle at Fine Line (Oct 16, 2025) • Noga Erez at Varsity Theater (Oct 16, 2025)
CNN wrote that concerts cancellations and postponements will be commonplace due to COVID-19 as Adele fights back tears when she announced her Las Vegas residency shows had been postponed.
British rock band Idles (stylized as IDLES) headlined the Palace Theatre, in St Paul, on Thursday, October 7th. The band released Ultra Mono during the COVID pandemic, so this is the first tour to feature those songs live… and as a special bonus, the band is previewing a new song from their forthcoming album Crawler, set for release on November 12, 2021, via Partisan.
Asa Brebner, the American guitarist, singer, and songwriter for The Modern Lovers has died at the age of 65. When Greg “Curly” Keranen left the band in 1977, he was replaced by Brebner (who would go on to play on The Modern Lovers Live (1978) and Back in Your Life (1979).
Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from March 15 to March 17, 2018.
Here are some shows taking place in the Minneapolis/St Paul area from March 25 to March 26, 2016.
Jonathan Richman has the kind of rock ‘n roll holiness reserved for someone like Leonard Cohen. But where Cohen is all hushed poetic passages and melancholy overtures, Richman inspires the kind of reaction that could only be found in a Baptist church on a Sunday morning. Dressed in yoga pants and slippers, with a long-sleeved green shirt over a black and white striped shirt, Richman padded across the Cedar Cultural Center’s stage looking like a Parisian street corner balladeer, his arms wide open ready to embrace the entire audience. An excited young fan near the front held up a glittery and feathered sign (“Jonathan, be my little dinosaur”) and Richman pointed at it and smiled and then patted his chest in gratitude as the entire room erupted in applause.
The Rich and the Free... Would you rather be rich or free? …. Or both?
Here's your guide on what's happening in Minneapolis in the next two days.
Whether you think Jonathan Richman is an untrained genius or an overrated man-child, you can’t deny that he’s entertaining. At last night’s show at Bowery Ballroom, he had the audience laughing, dancing, and occasionally ‘aww-ing’ at his painfully honest lyrics and campy dance moves. As endearing as he proved to be, he proved his chops with some fancy guitar playing, accompanied by his right-hand man, Tommy Larkin on drums. Richman started the show with one of his many songs about famous artists, “No One Was Like Vermeer,” and the audience giggled at his overly sincere delivery and rambling narrative. On an old favorite like “Pablo Picasso,” he changed the words a little, noting that the phrase “to pick up” a girl had a much creepier context in 2010. It was such improvisation that had everyone cooing over his every move. The audience, a slightly older crowd, was much more reverent than a typical Williamsburg mob. The only contrary moment occurred when someone yelled, “Show yer tits!” during a dance number. Richman, ever the gentleman, coyly shook his head.
I've always liked Jonathan Richman ever since the late Melinda introduced me to his song "Pablo Picasso" in the early 90s. Truth be told, I never really got into him, outside of a greatest hits compilation - but what I've heard, I love. His early stuff is really DIY-punk-ish, very raw and with a "don't care what you think" attitude.
It snowed non-stopped yesterday and it finally stopped this morning. I've been pretty much housebound today, watching The Food Network, Best Week Ever and Smallville. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to compile some snow-winter-related bands and songs.