Best Live Music in Minneapolis-St. Paul This Fall

Wu-Tang Clan 
Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Sept. 1

Quite possibly your last chance to catch one of hip-hop’s most quintessential groups, and imminent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Shakopee is one of the only “Final Chamber” stops featuring a fierce appearance by Mobb Deep, too.

O.A.R. 
The Armory 
Sept. 1

Minnesota’s semi-annual O.A.R. Family reunion.

Peter Hook & The Light
First Avenue 
Sept. 1

Who needs the rest of New Order when you can make a bass sound like that? Building on the strength of more than a decade with his band The Light, this Peter Hook production features a complete run-through of New Order’s well-received reunion (2001’s “Get Ready”) and a generous set of all the hits that’ll make post-punks weep.

Brad Paisley
Minnesota State Fairgrounds 
Sept. 3

Grand Ole Opry great Brad Paisley dips into his deep catalog of No. 1 hits and shows the rest of the country scene how to absolutely shred.

Young Thug
The Armory
Sept. 3

The elastic and elusive flow of Young Thug makes its first Minnesota appearance since 2018.

Slayer
Mystic Lake Amphitheater 
Sept. 4

When Slayer announced just two 40th anniversary renditions of its revelatory thrash-metal album “Reign in Blood” earlier this year, they mentioned LA and… Shakopee? Indeed. 

If you like things loud and were looking for an excuse to see the metro area’s Best New Venue, this is the show — doubly so considering it also stars Hatebreed, Suicidal Tendencies, and the sludgy NOLA supergroup Down, which has ties to Crowbar, Pantera, Eyehategod and Corrosion of Conformity. 

See you in the pit with all the other aging metalheads? 

Isaiah Rashad
Fillmore Minneapolis 
Sept. 4

Ten years and two days after dropping the woozy cult classic “The Sun’s Tirade,” Chattanooga rap original Isaiah Rashad brings his languid, TDE-honed bars to the Fillmore.

Black Marble 

Fine Line 
Sept. 4

Still reeling from Peter Hook’s New Order nods on Sept. 1? Enjoy an encore presentation of that icy yet irresistible sound here, courtesy of longtime Sacred Bones artist Chris Stewart.

TLC and Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue 
Minnesota State Fairgrounds 
Sept. 5

A no-skips night of MTV-era mainstays like “Waterfalls,” “Free Your Mind,” “Shoop,” and the Voltron-like Salt-N-Pepa/En Vogue smash “Whatta Man.” There's a reason why it's called the "It's Iconic" tour! 

Setting 
Sept. 8
Cedar Cultural Center 

Tune in and drop out alongside a trio with ties to such bands as Pelt, Mind Over Mirrors, and Sylvan Esso. Be sure to arrive early for a rare performance by modular synth master Keith Fullerton Whitman.

Sugar 
First Avenue
Sept. 10-12

Minnesota royalty Bob Mould brings his post-Hüsker Dü project back from a three-decade break for a heavy First Avenue homecoming featuring special guest J. Robbins of Jawbox.

Chief Keef
The Armory
Sept. 13

Chicago drill architect Chief Keef pulls from his blueprint for warped, melodic rap — a sound that helped shape artists like Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert.

Ceremony
Fine Line 
Sept. 13

California’s most restless punks toast their most complete statement yet: “Tell Me Your Dream,” a perfect encapsulation of all the left turns their sound has taken over the past 20 years.

Lil Wayne
Mystic Lake Amphitheater 
Sept. 15

Two decades of mixtape dominance and Carter-era classics get a well-earned victory lap, with fellow rap heavyweight 2 Chainz in tow.

Eric Clapton 
Grand Casino Arena
Sept. 15

A band of blues all-stars backs guitar demigod Eric Clapton at his sixth arena-sized St. Paul show.

Brandon Flowers 
Palace Theatre 
Sept. 15

The Killers’ frontman goes country.

Frankie Rose
Cloudland Theater 
Sept. 15

Frankie Rose wedges a rare headlining date between her opening run for The Charlatans UK. Just three days before her latest zero-gravity LP (“HILA”) drops, too.

Liz Phair 
Palace Theatre 
Sept. 16

The patron saint of oversharing, supported by the kindred spirit Frankie Cosmos.

Lily Allen
The Armory 
Sept. 16

Lily Allen leaves the earth scorched with a complete performance of her comeback album “West End Girl.”

Phoebe Bridgers
Grand Casino Arena
Sept. 17

The meteoric rise of indie-confessional icon Phoebe Bridgers continues with a major sold-out show in St. Paul.

Iron Maiden 
Mystic Lake Amphitheater 
Sept. 19

Heavy-metal hellions Iron Maiden ring in their 50th (!) by raiding their first nine records for maximum gallop-and-scream glory. Thrash titans Megadeth open as part of their multi-year farewell tour. Beavis & Butt-Head would be thrilled.

Talib Kweli 
Sept. 19
Dakota 

Downtown Minneapolis’ beloved jazz destination welcomes a conscious-rap cornerstone for a one-night residency.

Weezer
Grand Casino Arena
Sept. 20

Better show up early to this one, because The Shins and Silversun Pickups — headliners in their own right — are warming up the stage for Rivers and Co.

The B-52’s & DEVO
Mystic Lake Amphitheater 
Sept. 20

A beehive-and-energy-dome-optional night of weird new-wave and pure camp.

Show Me the Body
Fine Line 
Sept. 20

More like show me the banjo, am I right? 

Kacey Musgraves 
Target Center
Sept. 22

About as close as Target Center will ever come to a Texas dancehall.

Public Image Ltd 
First Avenue 
Sept. 22

John Lydon fires the first dub-inflected shots at his former Sex Pistols bandmates, who hit Minneapolis’ Fillmore with new frontman Frank Carter two weeks later.

YHWH Nailgun 
Zhora Darling 
Sept. 24

Good luck keeping up with the whiplash-inducing left turns of these noise-rock nihilists.

Black Label Society & Zakk Sabbath
The Ledge Amphitheater 
Sept. 25

Ozzy Osbourne’s longtime guitarist, Zakk Wylde, works overtime with both of his bands at a former rock quarry. Can’t get much more metal than that!

Pitbull
Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Sept. 26

Mr. Worldwide is back to help close out Mystic Lake’s first concert season.

Beth Orton 
The Parkway Theater
Sept. 26

Beth Orton brings three decades of blurry, beat-and-synth-spliced folk to a throwback movie theater.

Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry
Myth Live 
Sept. 29

Hardcore and hip-hop collide on a crash course in suburbia.

DJ Shadow 
Oct. 1 
Palace Theatre

Thirty years after rewriting the rules of instrumental hip-hop, DJ Shadow rebuilds his landmark “Endtroducing…..” LP sample by sample, loop by loop.

Bright Eyes 
First Avenue 
Oct. 3

Conor Oberst kicks off his fall tour with group-therapy greatness and a rare appearance by his Bright Eyes bandmates’ Lullaby for the Working Class project.

Mastodon 
Palace Theatre 
Oct. 3

The underground metal bill of the year, starring a savage Mastodon and the prickly one-two punch of Deafheaven and Alcest.

Doja Cat
Target Center 
Oct. 4

Pop-rap personified.

Boy Harsher 
Varsity Theater 
Oct. 4

Dance like nobody’s watching in the dark.

Rufus Wainwright 
Dakota
Oct. 5-7

Rufus Wainwright right-sizes his operatic pop grandeur for an intimate three-night stand at the Dakota.

Kelela 
Varsity Theater 
Oct. 5

Future-shocked R&B with just the right amount of fuzz.

Chance the Rapper 
The Armory 
Oct. 6

One of Chicago’s favorite sons hits rewind on the gospel-tinged mixtape that made him a star.

Tricky 
Fine Line 
Oct. 6

Ground zero for the trip-hop revival.

sunn O)))
Palace Theatre 
Oct. 6

There will be riffs.

Beck
Orpheum Theatre 
Oct. 7

A welcome return to theaters for alt-rock’s original loser, who returns to his "Sea Change"-style lonesome troubadour side on the new album "Ride Lonesome." 

Shaboozey
The Armory 
Oct. 10

Barroom country blown up to arena-pop proportions.

Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail 
Palace Theatre 
Oct. 10

Double-strength diary entries.

Smashing Pumpkins 
Grand Casino Arena
Oct. 13

Billy Corgan leads his longtime band through not one, but two sets: a tribute to their peak-of-their-powers double LP and a catalog-skimming culling of cult favorites and smash hits.

Sting
Orpheum Theatre 
Oct. 13-14

Sting trims the Police-sized spectacle down to a taut trio for two nights downtown.

Robert Plant 
State Theatre 
Oct. 14

Robert Plant continues his decades-long refusal to revive Led Zeppelin, opting instead to revel in roots music alongside Saving Grace.

HUG
Walker Art Center
Oct. 14

Devendra Banhart brings a couple of friends along for an ambient-folk aside, presented by the impeccable Liquid Music.

Steve Aoki 
The Armory
Oct. 17

Let him have cake.

Digable Planets 
Fillmore Minneapolis 

Oct. 17

You wish you were cool like ‘dat.

Zac Brown Band 
Target Center 
Oct. 23

Arena country loosens its collar.

Sylvan Esso
First Avenue 
Oct. 23-24

Two nights of twitchy, body-moving electro-pop.

Ben Folds and the Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall
Oct. 24

A sweeping, widescreen expansion of Ben Folds’ piano-led pop.

Gilla Band
Turf Club 
Oct. 24

A 350-capacity pressure cooker of pure, yet strangely pleasant, discomfort.

Thundercat
The Fillmore
Oct. 27

Virtuoso bass playing for people allergic to virtuoso bass playing.

The Dresden Dolls
Palace Theatre 
Oct. 27

Revenge of the drama club dropouts.

Charlie Parr 
State Theatre
Oct. 30

Local corner bar hero Charlie Parr runs through his new record before digging deep into a career’s worth of weathered folk and blues.

The Damned 
First Avenue 
Nov. 2

Pay tribute to 50 years of frantic punk, with just enough hints of garage, psych and goth to keep everyone guessing.

Orville Peck
The Armory 
Nov. 3

Forget the mask. Just listen to that voice.

L7
Fine Line 
Nov. 3

One last blast of bruising, ravenous alt-rock.

Sleep 
First Avenue 
Nov. 4

A substantially reconfigured Sleep, now featuring Melvins drummer Dale Crover and cult D.C. hardcore guitarist Bubba Dupree, of Void and Dave Grohl’s mighty heavy-metal project Probot.

Death From Above 1979
Fine Line 
Nov. 6

Indie sleaze incarnate.

Die Spitz
First Avenue 
Nov. 6

Fairy doom and feral punk fly high at the Mainroom.

Bill Callahan 
Cedar Cultural Center
Nov. 6

A sold-out sermon from the artist formerly known as Smog.

KATSEYE 
Target Center 
Nov. 7

One year after making their concert debut at the Armory, KATSEYE take a catapult to Target Center.

Jack White 
The Armory 
Nov. 8

One of modern rock’s longest-running guitar heroes plugs in and plows through everything from the White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather to his restless solo records.

Patrick Wolf 
Amsterdam Bar & Hall 
Nov. 11

Find out what Tilda Swinton, Florence Welch, Patti Smith and Marianne Faithfull have long known.

Lucinda Williams
Dakota 
Nov. 13-14, 16-18

Lucinda Williams practically moves into the Dakota for five distinct nights of bruised Americana, blues and back-catalog gold.

Andrew Bird 
Orchestra Hall
Nov. 21 

Cutting-edge conductor Sarah Hicks leads the Minnesota Orchestra in a concert-long Andrew Bird collab that covers his classic “Mysterious Production of Eggs” album and other fan favorites.

Russian Circles 
Varsity Theater 
Nov. 21 

Instru-metal, featuring low-end lashings from a member of Botch, These Arms Are Snakes and Sumac.

Brother Ali 
Dakota 
Nov. 21

A local legend and cornerstone of the Rhymesayers crew plays two sets at the Dakota.

Bonobo 
First Avenue
Nov. 24

A full-band foray into mood-altering electronic music, flush with lush visuals.

Rickie Lee Jones 
Dakota
Nov. 27-29

The Duchess of Coolsville settles in for a three-night stretch.

Check out more things to do this fall, including a stellar theater season.