On Sunday night at the Dakota, Cowboy Junkies singer Margo Timmins reminisced about their first performance in the Twin Cities: On a dark little stage with a big disco next door from which people were occasionally wandering in and wondering what was going on. What? Who knew the Junkies played at the 7th Street Entry? I always thought their 1989 sold-out Fine Line show was their Twin Cities debut . It turned out that the Dakota Jazz Club was the perfect dark little room in which to experience the Junkies. After performances at the Guthrie, Minnesota Zoo, State, Fitzgerald, Fine Line and 7th Street Entry, the Dakota – sold out for two shows -- was the right environment for the Junkies' druggy noir blues. The Junkies have pretty much two styles of music: slow and slower. And the Dakota allowed a SRO crowd to appreciate the subleties of Michael Timmins' guitar and Jeff Bird's mandolin and harmonica as well as the nuances of Margo's hushed voice. The 90-minute set was more generous than almost all the opening sets I've seen at the Dakota. (No, we didn't get "Sweet Jane," their radio favorite, but no complaints here.) What set this performance apart from other Cowboy Junkies' Twin Cities gigs was that Margo now has short hair (though she still managed to hide behind it much of the time) and she declared the band's new ambitiousness after some 25 years together. They plan to release four albums in the next 18 months, and, on Sunday, they previewed the first one, "Renmin Park," due next month, with a couple of new numbers. Highlights of the opening set included the uncharacteristically melodic but minimalist "Dreaming My Dreams with You" featuring mournful mandolin, a simmering cover of Neil Young's "Don't Let It Bring You Down" and "Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park" showcasing Margo's seldom-heard full-throated wail. Here is the set list of Sunday's first performance: I Don't Get It/ Blue Guitar/ Misguided Angel/ Shining Moon/ Sit Sadly by My Side (new) / Stranger Here/ Hold On to Me/ Working on a Building/ ACOUSTIC Floorboard Blues/ Rake (Townes Van Zandt) / Renmin Park (new) / FULL BAND Don't Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young)/ Dreaming My Dreams with You/ Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park ENCORE A Common Disaster