Best concerts of the week: Bank of Horses at State Theatre, Black Market Brass rides good buzz with debut album

Your guide to the Twin Cities' must-see shows this week.

November 10, 2016 at 5:59PM
ANDREW STUART
Band of Horses
Band of Horses plays the State Theatre on Saturday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Tedeschi Trucks Band: This year's "Let Me Get By" is the third and most fully realized effort by the wife-and-husband group. Susan Tedeschi's vocals sound more confident and convincing; Minneapolis' own Mike Mattison shines on "Right on Time"; David Bowie sideman Tim Lefebvre adds a jazzy touch on bass, and Derek Trucks soars as usual on guitar. The material here adds considerably to what has always been a terrific live soul/blues/funk/rock/jazz/gospel band. (7:30 p.m. Fri. $35-$75. Orpheum, Mpls. ticketmaster.com)

Mandolin Orange: This North Carolina-reared boy/girl acoustic duo charmed early-arriving fans at Festival Palomino in September and is back for a more intimate show promoting the new Yep Roc album, "Blindfaller." (9 p.m. Fri., Turf Club, $15-$17.)

Band of Horses: Ben Bridwell's shimmery, atmospheric Americana rock quintet typically comes around only once per album — which isn't enough, because its albums have been unusually consistent going back to its 2006 Sub Pop debut, "Everything All the Time." The latest one, "Why Are You OK," certainly keeps the streak going. Its rocky, J. Mascis-accompanied single "In a Drawer" stands out from what's otherwise largely a batch of mellower but not mopey songs that should fit well in a theater setting. Chicago's funky soul-pop sibling band Wild Belle opens. (8 p.m. Sat., State Theatre, sold out.)

Black Market Brass: After sparking sweaty dance-offs over the past two years at too many block parties and club gigs to remember, Minneapolis's 10- to 12-member Afrobeat/funk band hit the road last month with a good buzz in support of its debut album for Secret Stash Records, "Cheat and Start a Fight." The LP's 10 original, all-instrumental tunes are kept tight and compact by Afrobeat standards, with grooves changing from manic-paced fire-starters to slower-steaming psychedelica. Boasting members of Sonny Knight's Lakers, Black Diet and Nooky Jones, the band is coming home to the newly rechristened historic space that used to house Patrick's Cabaret. (9 p.m. Sat., Hook & Ladder Theater, 3010 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls., $8-$10, TheHookMpls.com.)

Todd Snider: The Nashville-via-Austin country/folk songwriter has gotten to know St. Paul's historic theater almost as well as he knows Jerry Jeff Walker's song book. He's returning with a new album, "East Side Bulldog," based around a fictional character named Elmo Buzz. (8 p.m. Sat., Fitzgerald Theater, $25-$28.50.)

NOFX: California's enduring and endearingly bratty punk vets are back at it on their just-issued 13th album, "First Ditch Effort," with such yep-it's-NOFX song titles as "I Don't Like Me Anymore" and "Transvest-lite." (9 p.m. Sat., Cabooze, $30.)

Alejandro Escovedo & the Flatlanders: Some of the forefatherly giants who made Austin, Texas, a haven for rootsy musicians in the '70s and '80s happen to be playing Minneapolis's jazz haven on back-to-back nights. Escovedo is up first supporting his truly smoldering new album, "Burn Something Beautiful," produced by R.E.M./Minus 5 cohorts Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey with the standard stellar songwriting. Alt-country pioneers Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore don't have a new Flatlanders record, but they have enough classic songs and time-tested chemistry between them to keep playing through the next election. (Escovedo: 7 p.m. Tue., $38-$45; Flatlanders: 7 p.m. Wed., $40-$60; the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., DakotaCooks.com,)

Rusted Root & Devon Allman: Pittsburgh's feel-good world-beat rockers of "Send Me on My Way" fame have paired up with Gregg Allman's hard-boogying Southern rocky band for a truly groovy twofer tour. (8 p.m. Tue., Cabooze, $25-$30.)

Amanda Palmer: The goth-poppy piano rocker who rose to fame with the Dresden Dolls has been playing stripped-down shows for most of this year, including some dates with her long-estranged father after they made a folk record together. Now a part-time western Wisconsin resident and mother since marrying renowned author Neil Gaiman, she will likely offer a mix of DD tunes, solo material and covers at this intimate show with no opening act. (7 p.m. Wed., Assembly at the Woman's Club, 410 Oak Grove St., Mpls. sold out.)

Peter Wolf: While his moth-balled group, the J. Geils Band, is on this year's ballot for the Rock Hall of Fame, dynamic, soulful frontman Wolf is on tour with his Midnight Travelers, featuring guitarist Duke Levine. Wolf is showcasing his 2016 solo disc, the eclectic and rootsy "A Cure for Loneliness," which covers everything from doo-wop and a country waltz to originals that evoke Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen to a bluegrass reading of Geils' "Love Stinks." Expect a few Geils faves from the always wired Wolf, who last appeared in the Twin Cities in 2008 with Kid Rock. (7 p.m. Thu. Dakota, Mpls., $45-$65, dakotacooks.com)

Three Women & the Truth: A not-so-ironic name for what promises to be a spirited in-the-round-style tour with acclaimed folk/Americana songwriters Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters and Eliza Gilkyson, the latter of whom earned a Grammy nomination last year off her latest album for St. Paul's Red House Records, "Nocturne Diaries." (7:30 p.m. Thu., Cedar Cultural Center, $30-$35.)

Black Market Brass performed at First Avenue. ] (KYNDELL HARKNESS/STAR TRIBUNE) kyndell.harkness@startribune.com Black Market Brass performed at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Min., Friday July 31, 2015.
Black Market Brass the Hook & Ladder Theater (formerly Patrick’s Cabaret) on Saturday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writers

about the writers

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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