It seems a requirement for a musical artist to produce a Christmas Album: Bing Crosby a White Christmas. Frank Sinatra a Jolly Christmas. Ella Fitzgerald a Swinging Christmas. Then there is Death Row Records and Snoop Dogg with "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto": Holla at ya folks, boy, it's goin' down Ain't no help from no elves, just Tha Dogg Pound…

Twin Cities punk band Oister boy headlined an acoustic show to highlight their new EP at White Squirrel Bar and were in the holiday mood with proceeds going to charity.

anni xo at 7th St Entry (Dec 18, 2025) It was my last show to cover for the year, and of course there was a blizzard with all the ice, wind and blowing snow that comes with it.  People definitely weren’t easing down the road on their way to The Wiz at the Orpheum. The marquee at the Pantages urged: …

read more Kansas City Music Guide TRIVIUM at Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO (2025-12-11)    All Photography by JASON DOMINGUES     TRIVIUM with Jinjer at Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO  TRIVIUM SETLIST Capsizing the Sea (taped intro) In Waves Like Light to the Flies Strife Into the Mouth of Hell We March Throes of Perdition Until the World Goes Cold Bury Me With My Screams…

Front Bottoms Setlist -- Back On Top Set -- Motorcycle Summer Shandy Cough It Out HELP Laugh Till I Cry Historic Cemetery The Plan (F**k Jobs) Ginger 2YL West Virginia Plastic Flowers Tighten Up Joanie -- Set 2 -- Outlook Wolfman Bae Vacation Town Rhode Island Punching Bag Peach Twin Size Mattress NOBRO Setlist Where My Girls At A.I. Sexbots…

read more Kansas City Music Guide CHIODOS and HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS with HOLYWATR at Harrah's Voodoo Lounge, North Kansas City MO (2025-12-08)    All Photography and reporting by JASON DOMINGUES     CHIODOS and HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS at Harrah's Voodoo Lounge CHIODOS SETLIST Prelude All Nereids Beware One Day Women Will All Become Monsters There's No Penguins in Alaska Expired in Goreville No Hardcore Dancing in the Living Room…

A night of garage and surf rock at Dusty’s Bar in Minneapolis had band members swapping across the three bands, and was headlined by the record release for High Tiny Hairs.

I was going through old photos and came across a photo of a ticketstub of Stereo Total (with Momus) at 7th Street Entry for November 3, 2001. 21+ and standing room #26 for $10.

Sublime tribute band 40 Oz to Freedom, along with local opener Lost Island Society, held a ska-infused rock evening at St. Paul’s Turf Club.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra at T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO 2025-12-06 (matinee show) TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA SETLIST Night Enchanted Winter Palace The Lost Christmas Eve The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve Story - Intro Video (from tape) O Come All Ye Faithful / O Holy Night Good King Joy Christmas Dreams Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) (Savatage cover) Christmas Canon Rock What Child Is This? (William Chatterton Dix cover)

Your Smith returned to the First Avenue stage at the end of a tour in support of the new album The Rub. The nearly sold out audience was treated to a special pre-holiday treat.

The Lemonhead at Fine Line (December 6, 2025) The Lemonheads Setlistt Deep End In the Margin It’s About Time Mallo Cup Togetherness Is All I’m After Hannah & Gabi Bit Part Confetti To Live Is to Fly (Townes Van Sandt cover) Rudderless It’s a Shame About Ray Tenderfoot Townes (Smudge cover) My Drug Buddy Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (John Prine cover)

I was with my family in Chicago for Thanksgiving, and my wife surprised me with a ticket to A Night of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Opera at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House.  This limited engagement show is celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Smashing Pumpkin’s seminal double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness with a reimagined approach. 

Willie Wisely with the Tommy Barbarella Organ Combo played a great set of 60’s inspired originals and covers in a wonderful concert at St. Paul’s High Hat.

read more Kansas City Music Guide archives / read more Lawrence, KS archives December 8-14, 2025, Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City, MO /Lawrence, KS metro)   Happy Holidays as the season is in full swing- All the recent music talk has been about Spotify Wrapped, which summarizes your listening habits and choices for the year, and their estimation of your “Musical Age”, based on the time periods your most listened-to artists, made the most impact.

An evening of local alt rock at the Turf Club in Saint Paul had four bands giving their all to the brave souls who came out in the coldest day of the season.

Ryan Smith is a talented and busy Twin Cities musician, playing lead guitar for Soul Asylum, co-fronting The Melismatics and so much more. Read our interview as we dig a little deeper with a lot of those different projects.

read more Kansas City Music Guide archives / read more Lawrence, KS archives November 24-30, 2025, Upcoming concerts / shows (Kansas City, MO /Lawrence, KS metro)   With a chill in the air and snow on the ground, we’ll focus on six months from now, when temps are much warmer, and KC’s newest music venue, Morton Amphitheater begins their first season. The “big salt shaker” has announced a handful of big-name concerts, with more to come.

This technically isn’t a Flashback article, as it was originally published on Saturday, 24 March 2012, but, however, the Cursive at the 400 Bar article never transitioned over to the new blog, so I’ve gone through my archive backup and reformatted it for WordPress.

The Home Team at Varsity Theater (Nov 29, 2025) Dinkytown was not an easy place to get around on Saturday night.  I left early due to the falling snow, but I didn’t account that many Gopher football fans would still be celebrating their victory over the Wisconsin Badgers into the evening.  The streets were packed with snow and traffic as I sat through eight cycles of traffic lights at 15th Ave and 5th St.  

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featured violinist Kyu-Young Kim playing Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto in a strong finish to the Thanksgiving weekend.

read more Minneapolis Music Guide BRYAN ADAMS with Pat Benatar / Neil Giraldo- Target Center, Minneapolis MN (2025-11-26)  All Photography by JOHN RAFALSKI     BRYAN ADAMS at Target Center, Minneapolis, MN BRYAN ADAMS SETLIST Can't Stop This Thing We Started (Acoustic - B Stage) Straight From the Heart (Acoustic - B Stage) Let's Make a Night to Remember (Acoustic - B Stage)

The Ike Reilly Assassination continued their annual Thanksgiving Eve tradition at First Avenue and brought a lot of joy with their blues rock sound.