White Boyfriend

Friday: Buzzy. name-changing locals drop LP at Entry. Plus: Suicide Commandos, Chicago Afrobeat Project.

January 15, 2015 at 1:07AM
Press photo of White Boyfriend; by Chloe Krenz
White Boyfriend (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

White Boyfriend

10 p.m. • 7th Street Entry • 18-plus • $5

Just as the band was catching some local buzz and priming its debut album, White Boyfriend is changing its (in our opinion) pretty cool name. Intended as a "sarcastic commentary on the normalization of whiteness," according to a Facebook post, the off-kilter synth-poppers grew wary of alienating (namely nonwhite) fans. The pop-sensible kooks celebrate their formerly eponymous album — laden with lo-fi synths spliced with organic instrumentation, dual female/male lead vocals and dreamy harmonies — and announce their new moniker tonight. With Fort Wilson Riot, up-and-coming synth-punks Yoni Yum, Lott and DJ Minnie Blanco. Michael Rietmulder

The Suicide Commandos with Craig Finn and Tad Kubler

8 p.m. • Turf Club • sold out

Held up as the Twin Cities' first punk band — and really one of the first in America to sign a sizable record deal — blasting and blustery trio the Suicide Commandos saves its reunions for special occasions. This one is the first in a series of 10 concerts marking 89.3 the Current's 10th anniversary. The Commandos will be joined by a couple of younger acolytes, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady. The onstage pairing is coupled with a limited-release 10-inch record of in-studio tracks from each band, which the public radio station is offering to members. Stiletto-heeled punkabilly quartet L'Assassins open. Chris Riemenschneider

Joe Henry

7 p.m. • Dakota Jazz Club • $35

During a raw but elegant set at the Dakota in December 2013, Henry shared old stories of his many Minneapolis ties — sleeping in beds with the Jayhawks' Gary Louris was a highlight — along with a handful of new tunes that wound up on last year's living room masterpiece of an album, "Invisible Hour." The record and the Dakota show harked back to the Michigan-bred song man's Americana-flavored albums of the early '90s, before he became a renowned producer for the likes of Solomon Burke, Bonnie Raitt and Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint. C.R.

Hotpants feat. Chicago Afrobeat Project

9 p.m. • Nomad • $5

Monthly vinyl-soul party Hotpants kicks off its new residency night with a very special guest — the Chicago Afrobeat Project. The celebrated ensemble, which features anywhere from seven to 14 players at a time, fuses classic Afrobeat influences (jùjú, highlife, American funk and Afro-Cuban sounds) with experimental jazz and rock elements. Tonight's show includes a live set from the band plus guest DJ sets, along with sets from Hotpants resident DJs Brian Engel and Benjamin Mena. Jahna Peloquin

Cash Only: A Tribute to the Man in Black

8:30 p.m. • Cabooze • 18-plus • $12-$16

First held in 2002 ahead of Johnny Cash's 70th birthday, "Cash Only: A Tribute to the Man in Black" was created to spotlight the American music icon's influence on rock music as much as country. It also seemed like a way to fill the Cabooze in the dead of winter. Thirteen years later, the tribute still delivers on all fronts, with Midwest country vet and Cash friend Sherwin Linton as the centerpiece, surrounded by rowdy honky-tonk outfits Trailer Trash and the White Iron Band, garage-rockers Ol' Yeller and Eleganza! and singer-songwriters Erik Koskinen and Jennifer Markey. C.R.

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