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The 10 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week

Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 2, 2025 at 1:00PM
Singer-turned-author Michelle Zauner returns to town with her band Japanese Breakfast Tuesday for a Palace Theatre gig. (Amy Harris)
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MUSIC

Japanese Breakfast

After signing off on a movie adaptation of her bestselling memoir, “Crying at H Mart” — about the influence of her dying mother and their Korean roots — Michelle Zauner is focusing her attention back on her similarly acclaimed and eloquent electro/chamber-pop band. The willowy voiced Oregon native and her Philadelphia-based group channel the Smiths, Cocteau Twins and lots of other sadly beautiful melody makers on their dramatic yet at times playful new album, “For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women).” Experimental groover Cameron Lew, aka Ginger Root, opens. (7 p.m. Tue., Palace Theatre, 17 W. 7th Place, St. Paul, all ages, $76-$167, axs.com)

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Courtney Barrnett at Rock the Garden 2015. (photo by Tim Campbell) ORG XMIT: mMTN1mFuIc6iQApHZufg
Courtney Barnett plays the Grand Rapids Riverfest on Saturday. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Grand Rapids Riverfest

This is Northern Minnesota’s answer to Minneapolis’ now-defunct Rock the Garden: A radio-sponsored outdoor music fest with a hip, eclectic lineup. In its fifth year in a 3,000-capacity amphitheater, the KAXE/KBXE-boosted fest boasts sharp-tongued Aussie alt-rocker Courtney Barnett, feisty alt-country star Margo Price, rootsy Toronto singer/songwriter Jeremie Albino and adventurous Duluth music maker Alan Sparhawk. (2 p.m. Sat., Grand Rapids Library Amphitheater, 201 Market Av. NW., Grand Rapids, $10-$134, grandrapidsriverfest.com)

JON BREAM

Molly Brandt is one of the new Americana/alt-twang acts playing Saturday's City Country Fest at the soon-to-close Palmer's Bar. (Anthony Souffle)

City Country Fest

It’s almost closing time at one of Minneapolis’ most beloved dive bars, and for its second-to-last weekend Palmer’s already had this third annual daylong alt-country fest lined up months ago. Torchy and poetic Iowa transplant Molly Brandt and outlaw songman Cole Diamond headline the patio stage, preceded by rowdier and rockier units Phantom Fields, Pleasure Horse and Jeff Larson & Kings of Neon, plus songwriters Emmy Woods and James Eugene Russell. Indoors later come Redwing Blackbird, Cowboy Thoughts and the Hilltop Pines. It’s a great way to peruse new talent while soaking up the old watering hole before it’s gone. (1 p.m.-1 a.m. Sat., Palmer’s Bar, 500 Cedar Av. S., Mpls., $10-$20, palmers-bar.com)

C.R.

"The Witcher in Concert" celebrates the 10th anniversary of "The Witcher" video game Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. (Mariusz Szacho/EventSnap)

‘The Witcher’

Being a lover of video games doesn’t mean just sitting at home anymore. If you’re a fan of the open world role-playing game “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” you can gather with like-minded folks to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a concert of its music, featuring a full orchestra. And, of course, there will be plenty of visuals from the game projected onto a screen above. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av., Mpls., $23-$97, hennepinarts.org)

ROB HUBBARD

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Two Candlelight Concerts will be held Thursday at the Granada Theater in Minneapolis. (Fever)

Candlelight Concerts

Listeso is a national booking agency that assembles string quartets made up of local musicians and places them at the center of a venue filled with glowing candles. At the Uptown venue once known as the Suburban World, there will be two concerts in one evening, the first featuring a quartet version of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” violin concertos, the second film music by Hans Zimmer. (Vivaldi: 6:30 p.m. Thu., Zimmer: 8:45 p.m. Thu., Granada Theater, 3022 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., $47.50-$59, feverup.com/en/minneapolis/candlelight)

R.H.

THEATER

@RICHRYANPHOTO
Don Shelby and Nancy Nelson star in "Love Letters" at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. (Rich Ryan/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

‘Love Letters’

It was a personal challenge for Don Shelby to remaster his language skills after a recent stroke. The beloved news anchor teams again with another broadcast legend, Nancy Nelson, for A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” In this wry, minimalist work, Nelson and Shelby read the missives of childhood friends who maintained a 50-year correspondence, sharing their triumphs, tragedies and dreams. Originally directed by the late Michael Brindisi, “Letters” has been restaged by Janet Hayes Trow. Shelby and Nelson take questions and pose for pictures after performances. (1 & 7:30 p.m. Wed., 7:30 p.m. Thu., 1 p.m. Sat., 6:30 p.m. Sun. Pauses Sept. 21. Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, 501 W. 78th St., Chanhassen, $70, 952-934-1525 or chanhassendt.com)

ROHAN PRESTON

ART

At Interact's exhibtion, 35 artists display fiber work. (Interact)

‘Every Which Way’

Thirty-five artists explore the world of fiber arts, from felted sculptures to collaborative quilts. The artists all work with Interact, a visual arts studio and theater company that challenges perceptions of disability. Ends Sept. 26. (Noon-4 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 4-7 p.m. Thu. by appt. only, Interact, 1902 Minnehaha Av. W., St. Paul, free, 651-756-1246 or gallery.interactcenterarts.org)

ALICIA ELER

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Leesa Kelly oversees Memorialize the Movement, a Minneapolis nonprofit that collects and preserves hundreds of pieces of public protest art, most of it painted on sheets of plywood that were used to board up buildings after George Floyd's murder in 2020. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

‘Night and Day: Murals, Memory and Movement’

Memorialize the Movement presents its largest exhibition of plywood protest murals and archival materials from the uprising of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. On view at St. Kate’s art gallery and the Frey Theater, the murals serve as “living testaments to how communities organized, expressed grief, demanded justice, and protected one another when official systems failed,” curators Leesa Kelly and Amira McLendon said. Opening reception and curatorial talk Sept. 6, 5-8 p.m. Exhibition runs Sept. 6-Nov. 16. (Noon-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, Visual Arts Building, 2004 Randolph Av., St. Paul, free, instagram.com/stkatesgallery)

A.E.

DANCE

The interdisciplinary piece "From Tokyo to Brooklyn: A Jagged Journey" will play Northrop Auditorium Thursday, Friday and Sunday in Minneapolis. (Chris Cameron)

‘From Tokyo to Brooklyn: A Jagged Journey’

Choreographer Deborah Jinza Thayer, of Movement Architecture, mines personal history and identity in an experimental show at Northrop, taking place both outdoors and in a studio setting. For the interdisciplinary piece incorporating visual installation, video projection and an original score, Jinza Thayer explores the effect culture has on the human body, drawing on her experiences moving from Tokyo at age 6, where she lived with her grandparents, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where she subsequently ceased speaking Japanese. With a cast of 11 performers including four featured dancers, the work takes a deep dive into dual identities and movement. (5 p.m. & 8 p.m. Thu. & Fri., 2 p.m. & 5 p.m. Sun., Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. SE., Mpls., free, 612-624-2345, northrop.umn.edu)

SHEILA REGAN

OTHER

The St. Croix Vineyards Grape Stomp will be held Saturday and Sunday in Stillwater. (Peter Hemstad/St. Croix Vineyards Grape Stomp)

St. Croix Vineyards Grape Stomp

This is a messy yet entertaining affair where guests can stomp grapes the old-fashioned way and compete with others to win a prize. Those who’d prefer not to squish grapes between their toes can opt for a tour of the winery and surrounding vineyard. Throughout the two-day event, hear music by Retro Soul and the Westside Horns and Beatnik Brothers, enjoy a mini massage and taste wine and food from the Asian Invasion food truck and Aamodt’s Apple Farm. (10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun., St. Croix Vineyards, 6428 Manning Av., Stillwater, scvwines.com)

MELISSA WALKER

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Richard Egarr
Marco Borggreve/St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

The program includes works by George Frideric Handel, J.S. Bach and Beethoven.

Brandi Carlile performed "You And Me On The Rock" in concert Saturday, July 30, 2022 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. ]
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