The Minnesota Twins will raise their batting average on at least one front this year: The lineup for their Midwest Music Showcase is better than ever,
Offering performances by Minnesota musicians at Wednesday home games, the series will kick off April 27 with rapper/rocker/wordsmith/part-time preacher Astronautalis, a night game against the Cleveland Indians. Subsequent weeks will feature (in order) Al Church, Are You Local? 2016 winners Holidae, Sean Anonymous, Bad Bad Hats, the 4onthefloor, Har Mar Superstar, Mark Mallman, Koo Koo Kanga Roo and Dem Atlas.
As usual, the acts will perform a short set before the game inside Target Field. They then perform sporadically between innings. We wrote about the inaugural series three summers ago based off a prior appearance by the 4onthefloor, who are playing a special Tax Day gig this Friday at First Avenue.
The choicest of this year's slots went to Bad Bad Hats and Har Mar. They landed nighttime interleague games against the Phillies and Braves, respectively (sure to draw bigger crowds). Organizers at the Twins and the Twins-owned radio station Go 96.3 FM caught some heat last year for not booking any women performers in this series, but they did better this year. Well, a little better. Two of the 2016 acts are led by women, Holidae and Bad Bad Hats.
Click here for tickets to any of Midwest Music Showcase games. Here's the full schedule:
- Astronautalis: April 27, 7 p.m., vs. Indians.
- Al Church: May 11, noon, vs. Orioles.
- Holidae: May 25, noon, vs. Royals.
- Sean Anonymous: June 8, 7 p.m., vs. Marlins.
- Bad Bad Hats: June 22, 7 p.m., vs. Phillies.
- The 4onthefloor: July 6, noon, vs. A's.
- Har Mar Superstar, July 27, vs. Braves.
- Mark Mallman: Aug. 10, 7 p.m., vs. Astros.
- Koo Koo Kanga Roo: Aug. 24, 7 p.m., vs. Tigers.
- Dem Atlas: Sept. 7, 7 p.m., vs. Royals.
