A baseball nut who knows his ballparks, Billy Joel picked Target Field as one of only six he's playing this summer. The Twins' home is also one of only three stadiums where you can see the unexpectedly popular concert mashup of Florida Georgia Line, Backstreet Boys and Nelly.
Across downtown Minneapolis at U.S. Bank Stadium, three of rock's all-time bestselling bands, U2, Guns N' Roses and Coldplay, are all scheduled to play in the coming weeks, after Metallica delivered its one and only show there last summer. The new Vikings palace also would have hosted one of just six Justin Bieber stadium dates next month, but he canceled his tour Monday.
Never mind the Biebs, and take Nelly's word for it: It's getting hot in here.
The Twin Cities went nearly a decade without any stadium concerts (through most of the 2000s). Now, Minneapolis stadiums will play host to five big gigs over the next six weeks, counting three this weekend: Joel on Friday, Florida Georgia Line et al. on Saturday and the reunited GNR on Sunday.
The main reason for this steep uptick from a decade ago should be obvious to taxpayers who helped fund three giant new sports facilities in Minneapolis in the past eight years — also including TCF Bank Stadium, which temporarily gave up concerts for Major League Soccer this summer and next after hosting the Rolling Stones and Beyoncé the two prior years.
All three stadiums are much more attractive to bands and concert promoters than the dumpy old echo chamber that was the Metrodome. Exactly how much these new mega-venues are amping up our concert calendar is just now becoming clear, though.
"Minneapolis has transformed into a must-play concert market for most of these major tours," said Jerry Goldman, assistant general manager at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Twins' chief financial officer, Kip Elliott, bragged of Target Field, "I think it's up there with the greats like Fenway and Wrigley now as one of the best ballparks for concerts."