A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Allison O'Toole of Minneapolis:
1 Concerts at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. From the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra in July to the Jayhawks in mid-August, you can't beat this setting for great local music — and you can't beat the beer and popcorn.
2 Pizza Lucé Block Party. Back after a hiatus, this Warehouse District music fest on Saturday will feature so many great acts including Morris Day & the Time. I'm a child of the '80s.
3 Holly Humberstone, "I Would Die 4 U." Her version of the "Purple Rain" tune was featured on the Apple TV Plus series "Shrinking." I'm a Prince devotee and love the remakes.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 RIP Robbie Robertson. The leader of the Band, the Americana-defining Canadian-American ensemble, was a brilliant songwriter and expressive guitarist who created stories filled with indelible characters. His storytelling was cinematic, which is why he became an ideal soundtrack partner for Martin Scorsese's many movies including "Raging Bull," "The King of Comedy" and "The Wolf of Wall Street."
2 Indigo Girls perform "Country Radio" at Hilde Performance Center. While Jason Aldean's controversial pro-gun, don't-mess-with-us "Try That in a Small Town" was sitting at No. 1 on the country and pop charts, it was refreshing to hear a different take on small town attitudes as Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, on a peaceful night in Plymouth, sang: "I'm just a gay kid in a small town who loves country radio."
