After selling more tickets than ever before for its popular outdoor concert series last year, the Hook & Ladder team is trying to do more with less in its Under the Canopy 2024 lineup announced Tuesday.
Local favorites such as the Big Wu, Jeremy Messersmith, the Flamin' Oh's and Belfast Cowboys will play in the tented stage outside the nonprofit venue in south Minneapolis, along with rootsy touring acts like Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, John "Papa" Gros and Albert Castiglia. Special events also dot the schedule, including a two-day Irish music and dance fest, a Pride party and the return of the Reggae Summer Splash.
Tuesday's initial Under the Canopy announcement featured only 22 shows, though, compared with the 36 gigs released this time last year. There are more to be announced — but not a whole lot more.
The venue is having to scale back on the number of shows in the series because of city restrictions on outdoor event permits. Those restrictions were waived when the series was launched in 2021, to offer more outdoor entertainment amid lingering COVID-19 restrictions. Four years later, the Hook & Ladder is being required to work within pre-pandemic guidelines again.
"We can't change the law, at least not this year," said Under the Canopy's talent booker Jesse Brodd, "but we're maximizing what we can do in the meantime."
This year's Under the Canopy schedule is thus entirely built around weekends, when one permit can be used for multiple days. It is also ending sooner than usual, with a cutoff in early August (compared with early October last year). The venue is allowed 12 permits for the season.
Already the Hook & Ladder has announced some events happening inside its theater space that took place outside in previous years, including Cornbread Harris' 97th birthday party on April 25 and the return of UltraBomb with Hüsker Dü's Greg Norton on May 9. Attendees will still be able to hang outside in the Under the Canopy space on the nights there are indoor shows — there just cannot be any music out on the patio space.
Because there are fewer shows in the Under the Canopy series, Brodd warned, "We probably are going to see a higher demand for tickets."
Those tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via thehookmpls.com. Presale options begin Wednesday for members of the nonprofit venue's Patreon membership club, and on Thursday for its newsletter subscribers.
Here's the initial Under the Canopy 2024 schedule:
May 3: KFAI's 46th Anniversary Celebration
May 4 & 5 (daytime): Bealtaine showcasing Irish music and dance
May 5 (night): Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys / Kinda Fonda Wanda
May 10: Cornell '77 Turns 47: A Grateful Dead Concert Re-creation
May 11: John "Papa" Gros / Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound
May 17: The Belfast Cowboys / The de'Lindas
May 18: Albert Castiglia / Indigenous
May 24: Summer Breeze Yacht Rock Party with the Lonesome Losers
May 25: Reggae Summer Splash with Socaholix, Innocent, International Reggae All Stars
May 31: Morel Feast Fundraiser
June 7: Heatbox
June 8: Our House: Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young with Taming the Tiger
June 19: Soul of the Southside Juneteenth Fest
June 20: Jeremy Messersmith
June 22: The Big Wu
June 27: Pride Party at the Hook with Venus DeMars & All the Pretty Horses, Big Salt, Spit Takes
June 28: Steeling Dan (two sets)
July 13: Parkinson's Foundation Fundraiser with Flamin' Oh's
July 26: '90s Dance Night with You Oughta Know
July 27: ELnO with Slippery People
Aug. 3: Built to Last Festival (Jerry Day)
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