April 2025 Recap

with Bob Dylan, AC/DC, My Morning Jacket, and more!

MMJ at The Armory:

4.4 Bob Dylan at Mankato’s Mayo Clinic Event Center

That loveable yet cranky old Bobby Z doesn’t allow pictures of any kind at his shows so I’ve no pictures or videos of the show. Couldn’t risk getting thrown out of the 6,000 capacity hockey arena. Dylan also played the same venue in April of 2024. I believe this was my 14th time seeing the legend and he continues to switch up the melodies and lyrics of his songs. I’ve always thought that was so that he doesn’t have to listen to people singing along, and also to keep things interesting for himself. Some highlights of the 17 song set were “I Contain Multitudes”, from the tour’s namesake 2020 album Rough And Rowdy Ways, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”, “Desolation Row”, and “Watching The River Flow”. The whole evening had a mysterious vibe to it as the stage was barely lit at all. The 83 year old didn’t play guitar, as has been the case in recent years. Instead he spent most of the night at the piano and had several rollicking turns on harmonica.

4.10 AC/DC at US Bank Stadium

It’s Thursday evening around 7pm, and I’m on my way to the promised land. I’m on the Highway To Hell, better known as Park Avenue, going 3 miles north of home to the Vikings stadium for one of the most High Voltage rock bands of all time. Tens of thousands of fans, hundreds (or probably thousands?) of whom were wearing freshly purchased plastic, flashing, red devil horns, were in place for opening act The Pretty Reckless just moments after 7pm. People brought children as young as about 7 to see what promised to be an electric night of classic rock radio staples and sheer power.

It felt like an honor to be the first stop on this Power Up tour, named for their 2018 album. Founding member and lead guitarist Angus Young was in spectacular form, still sporting his trademark schoolboy uniform complete with jacket, tie, and shorts. He continued his longstanding tradition of paying tribute to his idol Chuck Berry with his/their famous duckwalk. Lead singer Brian Johnson, who joined the band in 1980, left due to hearing problems in 2016 and returned in 2018, sounded fantastic, especially for a 77 year old. His gravelly delivery rang through that stadium clearer than any other act I’ve seen at that terrible venue. I’ve learned that the trick is to never go above the main concourse, regardless of where your assigned seat is. Rhythm guitarist Stevie Young replaced his late uncle Malcolm in 2014.

The band tore through 21 songs from 11 albums in about two hours. Highlights for me included “Thunderstruck”, “Hell’s Bells”, “Shoot To Thrill”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and the main set closer, “Let There Be Rock”, featuring a grandiose solo from Angus Young in front of the larger than life stacks of Marshall amps (were those real?) The double whammy encore of “TNT” and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” sent us into the night as fulfilled rock and roll devotees.

“Back In Black”:

“Hell’s Bells”:

4.12 Cole Diamond at Schooner Tavern

The Schooner hosts great music 4 nights a week (Wednesday-Saturday nights) but I don’t make it there often. That’s a shame because there’s never a cover charge and the beer is about as cheap as anywhere in the Twin Cities. Still it’s on my list of places to check. This evening had honky-tonk crooner Cole Diamond and his band that features pedal steel, one of my favorite instruments. A great selection of classic country tunes was played, including hits from Dwight Yoakum, The Kentucky Headhunters, Randy Travis, George Strait and Willie Nelson:

Guitars, Cadillacs

Dumas Walker

Looking For Love

The Fireman

Devil in Disguise

Neon Pink Moon

Hopes Up High

On The Road Again

Fast As You

Diggin’ Up Bones

4.13 Shotgun Ragtime Band at Driftwood

#721, with Demitri Rallis filling in on lead guitar, and a HBD to Faith! Crowd was so amped up that we got a rare second encore!

I

MS Half Step >

Lazy River

Me and My Uncle

Mexicali Blues

CC Rider

Wang Dang Doodle

Shakedown Street

II

Help

Slipknot

Foolish Heart

Terrapin Station

Drums and Space

China Doll

China Cat>I Know You Rider

E

Good Lovin’

E II

Deal

A rockin’ transition form “China Cat” > “I Know You Rider”:

4.17 Greater Goods at 331 Club

Kevin Fowke and Aaron Pederson’s newish project is gaining steam, with dual lead guitars, Ryan Vee keeping the beat and Brett Mac on bass.

4.18 Bigfoot County at Tuttle’s

Tutt’s was hoppin’ and the two acoustic guitar team of Mitch Johnson and J Flad sounded excellent.

Tim B on vox on “Lay Lady Lay”:

“Feel Like A Stranger”:

“Viola Lee Blues”:

Bob Marley’s “The Real Situation”:

4.20 My Morning Jacket at The Armory

Sunday night's show at the Armory was at least my 5th time seeing My Morning Jacket. They played Rock The Garden in 2011, and were part of the AmericanaramA tour at Midway Stadium in 2013 that also featured Wilco and Bob Dylan. All six members of Trampled by Turtles joined MMJ that day for "Wonderful, The Way I Feel". About halfway through Sunday's set, Dave Simonett of Trampled by Turtles was welcomed to the stage to sing a verse of that same song, bringing daughter Lucy to the stage for a memorable moment.

In 2016, Brianna and I saw them at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, just about a week after Prince passed away. In tribute to the artist, MMJ played a lovely "Purple Rain". It was really special to again hear the band play "Purple Rain" Sunday, this time on the eve of the 6th anniversary of Prince’s untimely passing. For this version, opening act Grace Cummings joined in to contribute vocals.

MMJ's most recent stop in the Twin Cities was to St. Paul's Palace Theater in 2023. At a capacity of 2600, Jacket had no problem filling it. This time around, on Easter Sunday, the 8000 capacity Armory was perhaps half full. I speculated that maybe the view from the stage of all that empty space was disheartening for the band, affecting the energy of the band and resulting in what I thought was a bit of a lackluster show. All that space meant plenty of room to move around though, and I got to hear some of my favorite MMJ songs: “Compound Fracture”, the new and pretty “Time Waited”, which has thus far in 2025 has been my number one source of stuck tune syndrome, the driving “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2” featuring Jim James aka Yim Yames on omnichord, and perhaps their best known banger, the anthemic “One Big Holiday”. The sound was near perfect as usual at The Armory, even close to the front. The lights were radiant and Jim James' voice soared as always. He alternated between acoustic, electric, and Flying V guitars, and delighted the crowd with his shamanistic stage antics.

Although it may not have been my favorite performance overall, I still had a blast and the band procured a generous set of nearly two and a half hours!

Dave Simonett joining for “Wonderful The Way I Feel”:

“Purple Rain”:

4.24 WE Collective at Gluek’s

Featuring Yonke, Jon Ross, Joe Dunn And Snowman

Baby Got A Bird

They Call Me The Breeze

Simple Man

Midnight Rider>

John the Revelator

II

Staying Alive

This Must Be The Place

Franklins Tower

Cross-eyed and Painless teases

Can You Get To That

Wicked Game

4.25 Kiss The Tiger, Lighter Co, Gully Boys, Bad Bad Hats at Amsterdam

The Current and Radio Heartland sponsored this event with four of the top indie type bands in the area, although you might call one straight up pop, one punk, one power pop and one rock and roll.

Bad Bad Hats:

Gully Boys:

Kiss The Tiger:

Lighter Co:

Lighter Co with Dylan Salfar: