7 places Mick Jagger should visit in the Twin Cities this weekend

You know you're at a cool bar when nobody is paying any attention to the world-famous rock icon sipping a beer right outside the front door.

Bragging rights for that special designation now belong to the Thirsty Beaver Saloon in Charlotte, N.C., after Mick Jagger inconspicuously visited the historic watering hole last month before the first date on the Rolling Stones' fall 2021 tour.

The next day, Twitter couldn't shut up about the quiet little visit. Mick's handlers famously tweeted out a photo of him standing by the doorway as if he were, you know, just waiting on a friend.

A similar viral reaction was sparked before the Stones' Nashville show two weeks ago. Jagger's team once again tweeted out photos of him walking around Music City USA. It came out later that he even supposedly crashed a bachelorette party there.

There's something sweetly reassuring seeing a 78-year-old man who has supposedly seen it all excitedly posting photos of his travels on social media, like he's just another college kid trying to impress a girl at home; never mind that Jagger's current girlfriend at home actually isn't that much older than college age.

Assuming he's looking to go somewhere other than the tourist-baiting Mall of America, here are some places Mick might like to visit this week before his band's big gig at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday night.

1. Palmer's Bar. Not only is it a famous old dive bar like the Thirsty Beaver, but it is owned by a low-key-cool musician, bassist Tony Zaccardi of Romantica and Eleganza. Also, one of the Stones' peers in early-'60s white-guys-playing-the-blues circles is a regular there, Spider John Koerner of the influential trio Koerner, Ray & Glover. (500 Cedar Av. S., Mpls.)

3. The Dakota. If it was good enough for his late bandmate Charlie Watts, who played there with his jazz group in 2015, the downtown Minneapolis club should suffice as a cozy hangout for Mick. And if it was good enough for Prince to be a regular there, it's clearly a place that knows how to treat rock royalty to some privacy and comfort. (1010 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.)

4. Danceland Ballroom site. A story that gets dragged out like old Christmas tinsel every time the Stones come to Minnesota, Jagger supposedly was inspired to write "You Can't Always Get What You Want" after waiting in line futilely for a cherry cola with Jimmy Hutmacher at Bacon's Drug Store near the Lake Minnetonka area ballroom where the Stones performed to fewer than 300 largely unimpressed fans in June 1964. None of those buildings remain, but a bench honoring "Mr. Jimmy" and a pleasant lakefront stroll make for good Instagramming now. (Water St. & Second St., Excelsior)

5. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It'd be fun to see the man who once copped Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster" for a Stones single pay a visit to our big blue rooster (aka Katharina Fritsch's "Hahn/Cock" statue). On the other hand, "Spoonbridge and Cherry" might seem a bit too, um, loaded for someone in a band with a guitarist busted five times for heroin possession. But Mick could pop into the neighboring Walker Art Center to see pieces by his old cohorts Andy Warhol and Yoko Ono. (725 Vineland Place, Mpls.)

6. Mickey's Diner. For starters, it literally has his name on it. The historic dining car also has the right kind of local-icon status, yet low-frills aesthetic, that Jagger seems to appreciate. Alas, it remains closed because of COVID-19, but a Mick selfie outside the famed eatery would go a long way to boost its prospects for reopening. (36 W. 7^th St., St. Paul)