The first major Twin Cities holiday concert already happened last week when Mannheim Steamroller headlined Mystic Lake Casino. But the floodgates for Christmas-themed shows will truly open after Thanksgiving and continue through the end of the year.
Fans looking for a show with no jingle bells or fa-la-la-las are in luck, as the coming week does offer some alternate choices, including jazz, folk and rock gigs as well as a new LGBTQ improv festival. Here’s a look at what’s on tap.
Twin Cities Jazz Sampler
The third “Twin Cities Jazz Sampler” collects recent music created by local jazz musicians including Red Planet, Fuzzy Math, Hoaxer, Joel Shapira, Adam Meckler Orchestra and Atlantis Quartet. Three more acts on the compilation – Ted Olsen Group, Lila Ammons Jazz Group and Steve Kenny Quartet — will perform at a release show that’s part of Saturday Night Jazz at the Black Dog Cafe. Curated by trumpeter/composer Steve Kenny, who also produced the “Sampler,” the weekly jazz night is approaching its 300th show. The third “Sampler” will be available for purchase on CD along with a special box set collecting all three volumes. 7 p.m. Saturday; Black Dog Cafe, 308 E. Prince St., St. Paul; suggested donation; 651-228-9274 or blackdogstpaul.com.
American Roots Revue
For the fifth year, singer/songwriter/troubadour Larry Long promises a show filled with songs from America’s musical traditions of blues, folk, rock, gospel and R&B during his annual American Roots Revue. Modeled after Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, the show has enjoyed more than 20 Twin Cities performances over the years and has also toured the region, including the Big Top Chautauqua outside of Bayfield, Wis. This year’s lineup includes Long, “Anishinaabe-Ojibwe Keeper and Singer of the Song” Waubanewquay Dorene Day, McKnight Artist Fellow Tonia Hughes, J.D. Steele (the eldest sibling of the Steeles) and gospel singer Robert Robinson. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday; Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Ave., Mpls.; $40-$25; 612-332-1010 or dakotacooks.com.
The 1920s Songbook
Singer Maud Hixson and pianist Rick Carlson perform the second installment in their series celebrating the Great American Songbook (mostly) by decade. This show is focused on the 1920s and includes “the slang, the stories, the songwriters and the singers of that era that shimmied and bootlegged and celebrated leaving the Great War behind.” 6 p.m. Saturday; Dunsmore Room at Crooners Supper Club, 6161 Highway 65 N.E., Fridley; $15; 763-760-0062 or croonersloungemn.com.
Queer and Funny Improv Festival
Minneapolis’ Huge Theater hosts the inaugural Queer and Funny Improv Festival, the state’s first festival dedicated to improv by and for people who are LGBTQ (although all are welcome). The day includes workshops at 10 a.m. (We’re Here. We’re Queer. Now What?: Exploring Queer Identity in Ensembles with Denzel Belin) and 2:30 p.m. (Queer Stories on Stage: Challenging Traditional Storylines with Hannah Wydeven), a free panel at 1 (Out of the Closet, Onto the Stage) and a free improv jam at 5. The evening’s main performance features Queer Ensemble, Invisibi, Sober Queer History and the Other Jeannie Retelle. 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday; Huge Theater, 3037 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls.; $40 (workshops), $15 (evening show); queerandfunny.weebly.com.
Helmet
Soon after Nirvana broke in 1991, major labels rushed to sign what they perceived as similar acts, which helped Helmet land a $1 million deal the following year. Interscope had big hopes for New York’s Helmet, who had previously recorded for Minneapolis label Amphetamine Reptile. But the group, led by vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton, was too abstract for mass success. They went on to release four albums for Interscope before going the indie route with 2006’s “Monochrome” (along with 2010’s “Seeing Eye Dog” and 2016’s “Dead to the World”). Helmet is currently on the road celebrating the band’s 30th anniversary and have a new record in the works. Hamilton is the only original member in the current lineup, which features three musicians who’ve joined Helmet over the past dozen years. 7 p.m. Sunday; Varsity Theater, 1308 Fourth St. S.E., Mpls.; $67.50-$20; 612-217-7701 or varsitytheater.com.
The Ike Reilly Assassination
Chicago rocker Ike Reilly has always had a special relationship with fans in the Twin Cities that was fueled by his now-legendary 2001 residency at the Turf Club. Reilly once told the Pioneer Press “there has never been a show where the Twin Cities let us down,” so perhaps that’s why he’s made it an annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition to headline First Avenue. He’s doing it yet again, this time with support from Southside Desire, the Violet Nines and Red Daughters. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; First Avenue, 701 First Ave. N., Mpls.; $22-$20; 612-332-1775 or first-avenue.com.
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