Best 2011 live shows in the Twin Cities

Published Tuesday, 27 December 2011 1:20PM CST by in Media

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Best 2011 live shows in the Twin Cities

After looking at the City Pages’ staff picks for best 2011 concerts in the Twin Cities, it’s clear that I’m on another planet entirely. The only shows they list that I wish I’d seen are (in order):


  1. Lucinda Williams at the Dakota, 20, 21, and 22 February
  2. Justin Townes Earle at First Avenue, 14 February
  3. tUnEyArDs at First Avenue, 12 November
  4. Wilco at the State Theater, 6-7 December
  5. Middle Brother at First Avenue, 26 March
  6. Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson at Mystic Lake Casino, 11 February
  7. St. Vincent at the Walker Art Center 2 October

I really wanted to make it to at least one of the Lucinda Williams shows but it was about a month before my valve job and I just wasn’t up to it. The other shows I really regret missing was Steve Earle and Allison Moorer at the Pantages Theater, 23 July and Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover at the Dakota, 7 August. There were others, but those are the big ones.

Without further comment, here are my picks for the best 2011 live shows in the Twin Cities:

  1. The Radiators “Farewell to Minnesota” at the Cabooze, 12, 13, and 14 May
  2. The Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Minnesota Zoo, 26 and 27 August
  3. David Hildalgo and Louie Perez at the Varsity Theater, 18 November
  4. Rickie Lee Jones at the Big Top Chautauqua, 30 July (Bayfield, WI; close enough)
  5. Bela Fleck & The Flecktones at the Minnesota Zoo, 3 August
  6. Dean Magraw’s Red Planet at the Artists’ Quarter, 10 December
  7. Dean Magraw with Bruce Kurnow and Michael Bissonette at the Aster Cafe, 27 October
  8. Dean Magraw with Bruce Kurnow and Michael Bissonette at the Black Dog Cafe, 5 July
  9. Pieta Brown at the Dakota, 30 January

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