QUICKSAND
8 p.m. • First Avenue • 18-plus • $25
A cult-loved New York band solidly stuck between the grunge and hardcore punk scenes in the early '90s, Quicksand played a hometown reunion gig and Jimmy Fallon's show over the summer, and things went well enough for the band to launch its first tour in 13 years. The quartet only released two crushing albums in its day, "Slip" and "Manic Compression" -- both of which stand up surprisingly well today -- before abruptly splitting in 1995. In the interim, bassist Sergio Vega became a member of the Deftones, and frontman Walter Schreifels produced for the likes of Hot Water Music. They were always a monstrous live act, and recent clips suggest they still very much are. Canadian band Single Mothers opens. CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
TIM SPARKS AND PHIL HEYWOOD
6 p.m. • Hope Christian Church, 4911 Hodgson Rd., Shoreview • $5-$7
Two of Minnesota's best acoustic guitarists for a bargain price. Sparks is known for his mastery of swing and bop jazz, Balkan music and traditional Jewish melodies, plus his ever-popular reworking of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" for fingerstyle guitar. Heywood's specialty is also fingerstyle guitar, which he applies to a few blues and folk classics, and lots of evocative original compositions in the "American Primitive" vein. Heywood has recorded five solo albums and played duets with legends including Leo Kottke (on a national tour) and Chet Atkins (on "A Prairie Home Companion"). TOM SUROWICZ
