Billy Strings picks Target Center for his first Minnesota arena concert

The Aug. 9 show will cap off the rootsy Michigan guitar picker’s steady rise through local venues since 2017.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 25, 2025 at 9:21PM
Guitar guru Billy Strings performed at Pine Knob in his native Michigan in 2023. (John T. Greilick/The Detroit News)

After steadily climbing his way up the Twin Cities venue ladder from the Turf Club in 2017 to First Avenue, the Palace, Surly Field and the Armory in the interim, Billy Strings had nowhere else to go than up to a local arena for his summer 2025 tour.

The Michigan-reared singer/songwriter and bluegrassy flatpick guitar wiz has confirmed an Aug. 9 date at Target Center, his first arena-headlining date in Minnesota. Tickets for the Saturday night concert in Minneapolis go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via axs.com, with presale options beginning Wednesday. No opening act is scheduled.

Fresh off winning the Grammy for best bluegrass album with his concert LP, “Live Vol. 1,” Strings is known for playing long, improv-filled, Deadhead-y style live shows. He is also booked to play Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum on Aug. 8 and Fargo’s Scheels Arena on Aug. 12.

about the writer

about the writer

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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