March 2026 Recap
With Margo Price, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Saltydog's Hook and Ladder Residency, and more!
Bruce Springsteen 3.31:
3.1 Margo Price at First Ave
By my count this would be my fifth time seeing her, having enjoyed her opening for Tedeschi Trucks Band for a couple shows at The Armory in 2024, then at Farm Aid and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival last fall. She recently joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors, cementing her commitment to the cause. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter was her debut album and it came out ten years ago this month (on Jack White’s Third Man Records!). Her new song “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down” has been getting a lot of airplay, and yeah that’s good because we all need that reminder frequently, as the bastards seem intent on getting the whole world down. As was the case the other times I’d seen her, Miss Margo’s band was dynamite - a high octane honky tonkin’ outlaw country outfit. Margo set down her acoustic guitar to pick up a tambourine a few times, took a brief break backstage while her band kept on arockin’, and then let her band take a breather while she did a solo acoustic section mid show. She’s really made “Maggie’s Farm” her own, she really wails on that as she did when she played it at Farm Aid with Billy Strings and Jesse Welles. It’s so refreshing to see a contemporary female country artist taking up the mantle of Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings, whose song “Kissing You Goodbye” she sang and has also made a part of her repertoire.
Though I wasn’t present, I later saw that Margo went down to Bunker’s after her show to catch Dr. Mambo’s Combo. I should have known she was cool enough to do that and been there!
Opening act Meels led the packed house in singalongs of “Don’t Let Me Down” and John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery”.
Opening act Meels:
3.5 SaltyDog at Hook and Ladder Theater
The first of a four Thursday residency at the Hook! The ‘Dogs have certainly garnered a whole lot of new fans in the past year so the Mission Room had a healthy and excited crowd even before the rocking Americana band Wise Jennings’ impressive opening set began.
Saltydog hit their stride early in the show and launched into their trademark bouncy groove that I so enjoy. “Karaoke At The VFW”, “Yeehaw”, and “Come Home Soon” were a few highlights.
3.7 Dead Days of Winter - Country is Dead at Icehouse
Perhaps my favorite show yet in the series, this was a band of absolute all-stars: JT Bates on drums, Jim Hinkley on bass, Lee Martin on pedal steel, Gavin Haskin on electric mandolin, Bettina V on fiddle, Alex Gelking on guitar, and Art Hoffman on keys. The Grateful Dead songbook is brimming with tunes about drinkin’, gamblin’, fightin’, death, and the heartache of gaining and losing lovers. Many of those themes and songs were represented. Hearind these songs done in a fresh way with this unique combination of musicains and instruments was a great time. I appreciated the way each member of the band sang at least a song or two - again, a wildly talented collective!
“He’s Gone” became a somber tribute to ALex Pretti, who was tragically killed about a block south on Nicolett, when his name was called out by a band member during the song. “He’s gone, he’s gone, and nothing’s gonna bring him back.”
Setlist included:
Box Of Rain LM
Peggy O GH
Sing Me Back Home LM
Lazy River Road JH
Dark Hollow LM
TN Jed AG
Friend Of The Devil TB
Eyes of the World JH
Me and My Uncle GH
UJB JH
II
Mexicali Blues AG
It Must Have Been The Roses
Catfish John JTB
Brown Eyed Women AG
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Cumberland Blues
Pancho and Lefty JH
Loser GH
Wild Horses GH
New Speedway Boogie AH
He’s Gone JH
I Know You Rider BV
3.12 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder Theater
This week’s event was held in the main theatre room of The Hook, and Famer Josh opened the show. Josh had along with him Forrest Hunter on bass, who took a turn singing one of his original songs up front. Josh was also joined by a bassist and keyboardist from Southern Minnesota where he runs a farm.
Saltydog’s set featured one of my favorite tunes of theirs, “Barfly”. I think that one really represents the creative and clever songwriting of Jacob. The evening ended with an improvised “Doozy” that featured Farmer Josh sitting in for a spin on Jacob’s guitar.
“Doozy” improv with Farmer Josh:
Farmer Josh’s opening set:
3.13 Patti Smith at O’Shaughnessey Theater
It was a wonderful evening of stories and songs from the High Priestess of Punk Poetry! Smith was in town for what turned out to be three shows, the first of which was billed as Songs and Stories of Solidarity, and featured numerous readings from her new memoir Bread of Angels. She read an exerept about Bob Dylan and played his “Man In A Black Coat” as well as George Harrison’s “Isn’t It A Pity” and Charlotte Day Wilson’s “Work.” For her own material, she did “Dancing Barefoot” and “Grateful”, a song she wrote following the death of Jerry Garcia. She told the story of meeting her late husband Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith, and later writing “People Have The Power” with him.
Before performing it, Smith also told the great story of Jimmy Iovine insisting that she cut a version of a song that Bruce Springsteen had started but not finished - “Because The Night”. She was resistant to doing it and avoided listening to it because she wanted the album to be all her own material, but when she finally gave it a listen she knew Iovine was right and it would be a hit. She is a masterful storyteller, obviously, and has plenty of good ones.
She was scheduled to play the Parkway Theater the folowing night, and announced during her book reading that due to the snowstorm she would be stuck in town Sunday and decided to play a second Parkway show. I hear those were also very powerful performances but I’m glad I was able to be in the audience for the special, intimate evening at the O’Shag.
Smith did an interview with The Current’s Jill Riley wherein she praised the resilience of the Minnesota resistance, that can be heard here:
https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2026/03/09/interview-patti-smith-shares-about-new-memoir-bread-of-angels-navigate-grief-with-gratitude
3.14 Railroad Earth at Fine Line Music Cafe
It was like the Fine Line had transformed into some mythical ancient Pagan church with the brightly colored and lit stained glass style backdrop. The rootsy New Jersey septet opted to play one long, two-hour set instead of their standard two set show due to the impending snowstorm. With St. Pat’s just a few days away, RRE had their Celtic influence on display with the fiddle and mandolin prominently up front along with the two singers.
Tom Waits’ “Cold Water”:
3.15 Shotgun Ragtime Band at Driftwood
Cold Rain and Snow (for the blizzard)
Dark Hollow
Whiskey in the Jar
Finnario
Jack A Roe
The Maker
Don’t Ease Me In
II
Truckin’>
New Speedway Boogie>
Bird Song>
Truckin’>
He’s Gone>
Drums and Space>
The Other One
Phil with his cool robotic voice effect during “The Other One”:
3.18 LaMP at Icehouse
Well there’s an instant contender for show of the year, at least thus far. The trio made up of Russ Lawton on Drums, Scott Metzger on guitar, and Ray Paczkowski on Hammond B3 and keyboards was simply magnificent. Right from the start they fell into some ferocious grooves that had the sold-out Icehouse moving. Lawton and Paczkowski play in the Trey Anastasio Band in its current form, with horns/backup singers and an added percussionist, as well as ‘Classic TAB’ with Trey, Russ, Ray and bassist Dezron Douglas. Scott Metzger is one of the two guitar players in Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, or JRAD, who are widely considered the preeminent Grateful Dead touring act. Suffice it to say that these three are all-stars - a power trio if there ever was one. Lawton is an absolue beast on drums, and it was amazing to be just a few feet from him. A few freinds talked with him after the show and he mentioned how he wrote the drums parts for what started out Trey songs but became Phish songs: “First Tube” and “Sand”. Both incredible songs with complex and mezmorizing drum parts. The only tune I was familiar with of theirs is “Japer’s World” (clip below) that I’ve been hearing on Sirius XM’s Jam On 309.
It was a dazzling display of jazz and funk from this recently formed trio. At the end of the show, Paczkowski gave a heartfelt “Thanks for everything you did” to Minneapolis. I was able to say hi and commend Metzger and Paczkowski separately on their amazing show and they generously allowed me to snap photos.
“Jasper’s World”:
3.19 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder Theater
Week three kicked off with a young Minneapolis powerpop trio called The Lamellas, who, among some originals, turned in energetic covers of Hendix’s “Foxy Lady” and an Iggy Pop song I cannot recall the name of.
Saltydog’s set was another dynamite hour and a half plus of high energy, bouncy jams that again had the crowd moving.
Opening band Lamellas:
3.26 Saltydog at Hook and Ladder Theater
It’s safe to say at this point that Saltydog has solifiied a significant fan base in Minneapolis. Having been top billing in Duluth for years, they’ve been steadily branching out, playing festivals and gigs throughout the Midwest more recently. Their album release in January at the Turf Club was sold-out, and the crowd at this year’s March residency grew each week. The finale of the Thursday series was again augmented by phsychedelic lights from Visual Vinyl (@vinyl.visual.lightshow on insta).
After the opening trio played a mix of originals and a couple GD numbers, Saltydog kicked off a two set show with “The Barfly”, before “Farmer Norm” and “Come Home Soon”. The band’s former keyboardist joined for a song that featured an epic final solo for one guitar before Jacob mercilessly smashed it to pieces to close the first set with a bang.
“Come Home Soon”, “Yeehaw”, and “Karaoke at the VFW” were also highlights. The ‘Dogs have upcoming shows in LaCrosse, Winona, Lutsen and St. Cloud.
Overall, I’d say the March Residency was a Smashing Success and I hope they do iot again next year! Here’s Jacob’s guitar smash to conclude the first set:
Opening act Spenny & Raenelle of Afflatus:
3.27 WE Collective at Hook and Ladder’s Mission Room
This show was a benefit for The Space Between, a support group for working musicians. There was a raffle for tickets to every show at The Hook and Ladder for the rest of the year, including all the Under The Canopy shows over the summer. I wish I would have won that! EFMI was the first band up, followed by the evening’s WE Collective of Will, Scott Yonke, Brian ‘Snowman’ Powers and a drummer unknown to me. Travis of EFMI joined for a couple numbers as well.
The theatre room had a Prince and Primus night happening that was fun to check in on a couple times.
bonus clips:
Jacuzzi Puma - “Controversy”:
Jacuzzi Puma’s take on the “Purple Rain” solo:
The Primus tribute:
3.28 No Kings Rally at MN State Capitol
It was an inspiring and heartening day on the Great Lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol, where an estimated 200,000 people gathered to peacefully protest the grotesque and unconstitutional policies of the Trump administration, and to recommit to the American tradition of having NO KINGS. The crowd was dense, but cheerful and determined to have their voice heard. As the flagship protest of more than 3,000 across the country, all eyes were on Minnesota and we had some heavy hitters of American culture and some of the nation’s most outspoken progressive leaders. After a brief speech, Governor Tim Walz introduced Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen, an absolute hero of mine, was in town in January to perform his righteous anthem “Streets Of Minneapolis” for the first time live, on the stage of First Avenue. Saturday’s performance of the song was only the third ever, as Bruce played the song at a celebration of Democracy Now’s 30th anniversary.
I’ve never been in such a huge yet revereant crowd - Bruce was given proper deference and all in attendance, and I’m sure countless others tuned in on tv or online, were hanging on his every word. Bruce delivered his ode to Minnesota’s resistance movement and Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It was powerful with simply an acoustic guitar and an eneregetic turn on harmonica. I’m looking forward to seeing Bruce perform the song again at Target Center.
Jane Fonda delivered remarks written by Renee Good’s wife that were both heartbreaking and a call to action. My Congresswoman Ilhan Omar delievered a strong rebuke of the administration’s domestic and foreign policies, many of which are unconstitutional, and/or cruel and/orcounterproductive. Bernie Sanders gave the longest speech of the day, rallying against the emerging oligarchy, Trump’s corruption, and Citizen’s United. A humourous moment was when Bernie refered to the liar in chief as Honest Donald Trump. The level of corruption and dishonesty coming from the White House is just staggering.
Maggie Rogers, who I am not all that familiar with but I did see sit in with Dead and Co at MSG in 2019, sang one of her songs before bringing Joan Baez to the stage for Bob Dylan’s "The Times They Are A-Changin'". Rage Aginst The Machine’s Tom Morello joined them to take a verse, changing the lyrics to “Minneapolis, Minnesota is beyond your command”.
“Streets Of Minneapolis”:
“The Times They Are A’Changing”:
3.28 Suicide Commandos at First Avenue
Suicide Commandos were pioneers of the Minneapolis scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and this was a 50th anniversary jubilee! The band were major influences on several other important and influential Minneapolis bands, such as The Replacements, Huker Du and The Hold Steady.
Chan Poling, keyboardist and lead singer of The Suburbs, joined the Commandos for a song from his band’s catalog, “Love Is The Law”. The song was the unofficial soundtrack to the 2014 Marriage Equality campaign that was ultimately approved by Minnesotans at the ballot box. Next, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady (and Lifter Puller) joined the band on stage. Bob Mould, whose star on the wall outside First Avenue is just below Prince’s, is perhaps the most accomplished guitar student of Commandos’ guitarist Chris Osgood, and he joined for a song before all guests were brought out for the finale. Steve Almaas the bass player was not able to be present so Steve Price of The Suburbs stepped in. Thanks to my good friend Jim Walsh, who knows more about the history of the Minneapolis music scene, and particularly the early punk scene, for bringing me along to this historic show!
SC with Flaming Ohs lead singer Robert Wilkinson:
SC with Billy Batson of Hypsters and Mighty Mofos:
SC with Chan Poling:
“Love Is The Law”:
“Complicated Fun” with Bob Mould:
“Burn It Down” with all guests:
3.28 St. Dominic’s Trio at Schooner Tavern
Man that Suicicde Commandos show was over at about 930pm so there was plenty of time to check out some more music. Just a few miles away, The Schooner is the among the finest dive bar purveyers of music on the south side. Terry Walsh and St. Dominic’s Trio play a lot of Van Morrison and plenty of other classics and countless originals, and often consists of up to 5-6 members of The Belfast Cowboys. They play every Tuesday at the Driftwood a little further south and west and it’s a reliably good time.
On the Schooner stage, Jim Walsh hopped on stage to join his brother for “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and was then assigned ipad holding duties for Billy Bragg’s “City Of Heroes”. Terry and several bandmates play on a yet-to-be-relased studio version of the English folk troubadour icon’s sing, cut during the winter’s abominable ICE invasion.
The Brothers Walsh performing Billy Bragg’s “City Of Heros”:
The Billy Bragg version:
And here’s an interview with Billy Bragg about the song, its artwork (picture was taken by Jim Walsh at the downtown Minneapolis protest in January):
https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2026/02/05/interview-billy-bragg-talks-about-city-of-heroes-and-shares-words-solidarity-minnesota
3.29 Nick Hexum and Water Tower at Turf Club
Nick Hexum is the primary singer and co-founder of Omaha, Nebraska legends 311, and he was touring with LA based bluegrass band Water Tower. This one almost flew under the radar for me, but as a 311 fan I was very interested to hear what Hexum’s solo material sounded like. I would not have guessed that he would’ve paired up with a traditional bluegrass band, but after hearing him discuss how his father’s record collection that consisted a lot of classic Americana and roots music was an essential part of his early exposure to music, it all made sense. Then again, this was hardly a strictly traditional bluegrass band - while they all wore stylish bolo ties, they also had “Water Tower” stenciled on the backs of thier conventional black suit jackets, played a song they co-wrote with MXPX’s Mike Herrara called “Drink, Smoke”, and covered Rancid’s “Radio” and Katie Perry’s “Califirnia Gurls” during their engaging opening set.
Hexum demonstrated his appreciation for a wide range of American music with covers of The Everly Brothers’ “All I Have To Do Is Dream”, Billie Holiday’s “Solitude”, Turnstile’s “Blue By You”, and Chappelle Roan’s “California”. He mentioned how he related to the story in that Chapelle Roan song and how it mirrored his own journey growing up in a small town. Hexum’s new solo record is his second, and he played a number of songs from that as well a few 311 songs, among them “Don’t Dwell” and “Champagne”.
311’s “Don’t Dwell”:
“All I Have To Do Is Dream”:
Chappelle Roan’s “California”:
Water Tower:
3.29 Shotgun Ragtime Band at Driftwood
Grateful Sunday #771 had an 8 piece SRB w both keys and Ben Bukstein on drums.
China Cat > Rider
Women Are Smarter
Crazy Fingers >
Drums > Space >
Senor
One More Saturday Night
E: It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
3.30 Cass McCombs + Band at Turf Club
California born singer songwriter Cass McCombs has put out over a dozen records since the early aughts, and for this visit he played the entirety of his most recent album Ineterior Live Oak with a backing band (named + Band) consisting of bass, electric guitar, and drums. McCombs, whose sound you might say is phsychedelia tinged power pop, alternated between acoustic and electric guitars and for a few songs jumped on keyboards to add synths, as on the bouyant “Juvenile”. The show was at points quietly melodic, highlighting his clever yet plainspoken lyrics, and firecely rocking - as the songs went on they oftern picked up stream and sounded like they could have been jammed out for another ten minutes if there weren’t more songs on the album to get to.
3.31 Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at Target Center
Sensational. Inspriring. Emotional. Uplifting. Consequential. 20,000 or so fellow Americans and I left the arena with Hope And Dreams and purpose and reinvigorated patriotism.
The Land of Hope And Dreams Tour started right here in Minneapolis, and began with Bruce Springsteen praying for the safe return of our men and women serving overseas. He then directed his mighty 18 piece E Street Band “to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. We are here in celebration and defense of our Ameican ideals: Democracy, Our Constituion, and our sacred American Promise…” before launching into a powerful “War” and “Born In The USA” opening combo. Anthemic, immediately. Throughout the show, he offered praise for Minneapolis and the way the city’s resistance movement inspired the country, and disdainful words for the president and his corruption and illegal and immoral policies.
In 27 songs over 3 exhilarating hours, Bruce and The E Street Band offered a high powered and earnest rock show that matched the intensity of a tent revival. My City Of Ruins, American Skin (41 Shots) - that’s how many times NYPD fired at unarmed Amadou Diallo in 1999 when they killed him, The Rising, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Bob Dylan’s Chimes Of Freedom, 10th Avenue Freezeout, Hungry Heart, Dancing In The Dark, Badlands, Because The Night (that Bruce gave, unfinished, to Patti Smith) and PURPLE RAIN!? (played for the first time in 10 years) were all just fantastic. “Land Of Hope And Dreams”, (featuring bits of the traditioanl gospel song “This Train Is Bound For Glory” and Curtis Mayfiled and The Impressions’ “People Get Ready”, was also a highlight.
It was as inspiring and optimistically patriotic as I’d hoped, exceeding even my high expectations. At 76 years old, Bruce isn’t sliding across the stage as he memorably did during his Super Bowl performance or hopping up on the piano as I’ve seen him do before, but we don’t need that in this moment. He still has plenty of spirit and commands a stage like noone I’ve ever seen. This tour was put together in a much shorter time frame than normal, with tickets going on sale less than six weeks before the tour opener. But like “Streets Of Minneapolis”, this tour was urgent.
Bruce is a beacon of moral leadership, revered all over the world. Those are two things the president will never be, and has a lot to do with why Trump never passes up an opportunity to desperately call one of the biggest rock stars on the planet “washed-up” etc.
“Streets Of Minneapolis” came out just days after Renee Good’s murder and a couple weeks after Alex Pretti was killed. It’s a furious and righteous song, where two of Trump’s artichetects of terror (one of whom has since been fired) are deservably and forever cast as Anti-American villains. We got to see it performed for the first time with the full band, Bruce having played it live only three times prior - on stage at First Avenue in January (for which he earned a star on the wall outside), at the 30th anniverary celebration of Democracy Now, and at Saturday’s No Kings protest at the Minnesota State Capitol, which was among the biggest protests the country has ever seen. (Bruce held up an audience member’s NO KINGS sign at one point at Target Center). Brianna and I got to witness Saturday’s “Streets Of Minneapolis” performance along with 200,000 or so other patriots after Gov. Walz introduced him. Over 8 million people at over 3,000 locations across the country took place in the NO KINGS protests, more than 1 out of every 50 Americans.
My first Bruce show was in 2006 for the Seeger Sessions Band tour, following the release of an album of the folk/protest icon Pete Seeger’s songs. Ther were around twenty people on stage and I was absolutely blown away. I love fiddles, banjos, mandolin, accordion, and they were all present and then some. Not a standard Springsteen show at all, but I instantly realized that he is one of the most dynamic perfomers ever. His love and appreciation for music and his fans and the way music brings people together is something he seems to both delight in and be humbled by.
Since then I’ve seen Bruce and The E Street Band a half dozen times or so and have been astounded each time.
Here’s the conclusion I drew after my first Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show in November of 2007:
“I left the show thinking, “That was among the most amazing things I have ever SEEN!” To clarify, not only was it one of the best shows I have ever seen, it was one of the most spectacular, awe-inspiring, magical displays of Humanity and Hope that I have ever witnessed.”
(https://612jams.blogspot.com/2007/)
That assessment applies once again.
Bruce left us with this sentiment:
“These are the hard times, but we’ll make it through. We’re the Americans. But I think — I know — for me, the hardest part about all of this is feeling the distance between your neighbors, your fellow citizens, and that distance… well, it can darken your soul. Now we have a leader who says he wishes nothing but ill upon the people he disagrees with, and who disagree with him. I don’t feel that way. America, from the beginning, was born out of disagreement. It was built on disagreement. We can argue about what course we thought the country should take while recognizing our common humanity, our dignity and, yes, our unity...
“I go back to thinking about Renée Good’s last words before she died, to the man who she was protesting against, the man who would take her life. She said, ‘That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad.’ God bless her.
“So tonight, when you go home, hold your loved ones close. And tomorrow, do as Renée did, find a way to take aggressive, peaceful action to defend our country’s ideals. And as the great civil rights leader John Lewis said, ‘Go out and get into some good trouble. Say something. Do something. Help! Sing something!’ If you’re feeling helpless, hopeless, betrayed, frustrated, angry … I know I’ve been. That’s why The E Street Band is here tonight. This is a tour that was not planned. We’re here tonight because we need to feel your hope, and your strength. And we want to bring some hope and some strength for you. I hope we did that. All I can say is God bless Alex Pretti, God bless Renée Good, God bless you, and God bless America.”
The opening two song combo of “War” and “Born In The USA” set the tone, and was broadcast live on nugs.net, and is on youtube:
Nils on “Because The Night”:
“The Ghost Of Tom Joad” with Tom Morello:
“My City Of Ruins”:
“Purple Rain” with incredible solos from Nils Lofgren (formerly of Crazy Horse) and Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine):
“!0th Avenue Freezeout” Catwalk:
Bob Dylan’s “Chimes Of Freedom”:
Also noteworthy and righteous af: Bruce is allowing the use of “Born In The USA” in an ACLU ad campaign in favor of the 14th Amendment to The Consitution:
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-launches-national-ad-campaign-featuring-bruce-springsteens-born-in-the-usa
Here’s a great piece about beauty in times of hardship from James Lucas, a writer I follow here on Substack.
Lastly, I’ve been encouraged by a friend and reader to provide a mechanism for kind folks who would like to support this crazy endeavor to do so. You can buy me a coffee for $5 or a beer for $10. (link only works on mobile)
The main event for April will be Phish at Sphere!