September 2025 Recap

With Damian and Stephen Marley, Saltydog, Neal Francis, Farm Aid, Twine, Killer Mike, and more!

Oct 01, 2025

9.1 MN State Fair with Ber and Sean Ardoin

(Crop Art at the MN State Fair)

Local pop sensation Ber played the Bandshell in the evening, while in the afternoon, fairgoers had another chance to hear music from Louisiana, this time from accordion wielding Zydeco artist Sean Ardoin.

Ber:

Sean Ardoin:

9.5 Damian and Stephen Marley at The Fillmore

Bob Marley was among the most beloved and respected musicians ever. His sons carry on the legacy of peace and unity and anti-colonialism and anti-capitalism (even though they played a venue owned by the most despised, vampiristic company in music, LiveNation akaTicketbastard). The evening’s setlist consisted of about a third Bob songs, a third Stephen songs, and a third Damian songs. I’d seen Stephen perform at least twice in the past, at Austin City Limits Festival in 2007 and at First Ave in 2023. His voice is to me the closest sounding to his father, evoking a sense that Bob’s spirit is present.

I was thrilled to hear "Trenchtown Rock" set the pace early in the show, with it's opening line declaring "One good thing about music - when it hits you feel no pain...".

"Punky Reggae Party", from Bob's excellent live album Babylon By Bus was a highlight, and "Exodus" felt like a spiritual experience.

"So Much Trouble In The World" was all too current, despite having been written in 1979. War, famine, forced relocation and displacement of indigenous populations, and a terrifying rightward lurch of our own government top the list of troubles nowadays. And check out these lyrics:

You see men sailing on their ego trips
Blast off on their spaceships
Million miles from reality
No care for you, no care for me

Being in the same space as any Marley is, for me, to be among royalty and is profound. It's impossible to overstate how much the patriarch’s catalog means to me. There are dozens of righteously rebellious and optimistic songs that a lot of folks are unfamiliar with that do not appear on Legend or Natural Mystic. A few albums I would recommend are Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, Babylon by Bus, Survival, and Uprising.

I'm looking forward to seeing the oldest and the third of the most prolific and musically active brothers, Ziggy, with another reggae legend, Burning Spear, on October 9 at Mystic Lake!

“Punky Reggae Party”:

“So Much Trouble In The World”:

“Exodus”:

“Could You Be Loved”:

9.6 Mikel Wright and the Wrongs and Saltydog at Bunker’s

The debut performance of Saltydog at this legendary Washington Avenue music bar, as they opened for Mike Wright and the Wrongs!

MK and the Wrongs:

“Franklin’s Tower”:

“Makisupa Policeman/What I Got”

Vinh Nguyen on guitar:

Saltydog:

9.8 Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio at The Dakota Jazz Club

I’d seen DLO3 once before, when he played the lovely Hopkins Center For The Arts a couple years ago. This time around he had a different guitar player and drummer, the latter having only been part of the trio for 7 shows. Despite that, the three sounded fantastic together and this was a great way to spend a Monday evening! They started out with a meandering take on Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much”, which Lamarr remarked they’d just learned that afternoon and decided to give it a try. He didn’t seem too happy with the results, but I thought it was a great bop. The Dakota is one of the classiest venues in the state, with excellent food, superb sound, and near perfect sightlines from anywhere in the restaurant.

Brice Calvin on guitar:

9.11 Neal Francis at Turf Club

The retro soul keyboardist brought his 70’s era Clavinet with custom whammy board to add to his band’s funky sound.

9.13 Dead Days of Summer at Day Block Brewing

While playing Blues For Allah for the first set, the band remarked on the difficult nature of the songs. “Slipknot” in particular seems very technical and like it would be very hard to learn. Nonetheless this was a group of pros who made it look easy. This incarnation of Dead Days of Summer featured Art Hoffman on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mike Corcoran on lead guitar and vocals, Robert Eubanks on bass, Patrick Wright on keys, and Leif Rasmussen on drums.

Help on the Way

Slipknot

Franklins Tower

King Solomons Marbles

Music Never Stopped

Crazy Fingers

Sage and Spirit

II:

Shakedown Street

Sugaree

Estimated Prophet

Eyes

Mr. Charlie

Broken Arrow

St Stephen

Morning Dew

E: Keep Your Day Job

“Summertime done come and gone, my oh my.”

“US Blues”:

“Eyes of the World”:

9.19 Twine at Tuttle’s

Somehow this was the debut performance of Twine at Tuttle’s (!?), which is consistently the best bar/restaurant/bowling alley for music on the west side. The band started out the evening as a four piece with Will, Snowman, Scott and Jon Hanson and were later joined by Alex Gelking on guitar and Twine’s fifth member, Jon Miller. Towards the end of the night, the band was joined by renowned violinist Bettina V. Bettina and Snowman had a fun exchange during “Not Fade Away”.

Partial setlist:

They Call Me The Breeze

Liz Reed

You Can't Always Get What You Want

The Bug

John the Revelator

Midnight Rider

Lou and Luna

Fishwater

Forever Man

Them Changes

Take Me to the River

Not Fade Away

Alex G on guitar:

9.20 Farm Aid at Huntington Bank Stadium

This will surely go down as one of the most historic and memorable music events in Minnesota history. In it’s 40th, year Farm Aid came to our state for the very first time, and brought an astonishing lineup of 15 artists. I was thrilled to be there for a full 12 hours and missed very little music.

Governor Tim Walz proclaimed September 20th, 2025 to be Farm Aid Day in Minnesota. The Gov, also a supporter of the 60,000 family farms in MN, introduced Willie Nelson before the headlining set started, just after midnight. Walz described Willie as “A man who truly embodies the American Spirit - fiercely independent, generous, kind, irreverent, decent, and a bit of a hellraiser.” Amen.

Singer-songwriter Jesse Welles was the reason I successfully endeavored to be in my seat by 1pm, and he was outstanding. A breath of fresh air. His song “Horses” has been getting a lot of play on The Current recently, and I have been struck by his sharp lyrics. The fiddle in that song is reminiscent of that in Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”, and I’ve gotta think that is not a coincidence.

He didn’t actually play “Horses”, what must be his biggest hit, which was fine as I got to hear some of his other material. As thousands of attendees were filing in, I was reassured to hear and feel Dylan’s influence on the younger generation, represented by this 32 year old Arkansas native who played acoustic guitar, wailed on a harmonica, and was unafraid to confront the capitalist power structure, as in “Walmart” and “The Poor”, a few verses of which are below:

‘If you worked a little harder
Then you'd have a lot more
So, the blame and the shame's on you
For being so damn poor
It ain't the price gouging
And it ain't the inflation
It ain't everyone above ya tryna make a buck from ya
And screwin' the whole congregation

I had that reduced lunch
I had the benefit cards
Never occurred to me to blame my family
For life being so damn hard
I should've paid attention
Back when I was in school
Then I could figure up the tax
I would know a lot of facts
I missed the class where they taught the rules

I was memorizing capitols
I was in the spelling bee
I must've missed the part
Where they taught the art of private equity
I was selling chocolate bars
I had a disorder
I was cuttin' up a frog
Got lost in the fog
Learnin' how to play a recorder’

I enjoyed the earnestness and simplicity of “Bugs” - “I like bugs and I’ll tell you why, they’re alive and so am I”. His song “War Isn’t Murder” (just ask Netanyahu) was timely and poignant as well. I’ll be listening to much more of him, and he’s playing two shows at First Ave in the Spring.

Eric Burton of Black Pumas followed, and captivated the gathering crowd with just his impressive falsetto and an electric guitar.

Wynona Judd has more hits than I’d remembered, and her set was chock-full of them. Mega hits from 80’s and 90’s - “I Saw The Light”, “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain”, “Rock Bottom”, “She Is His Only Need”, and “Why Not Me” have been stalwarts on country radio for decades. Closing number “No One Else on Earth” is another banger that you’ve heard a thousand times, if country is your jam. She’s a seasoned performer and her voice sounded great. I was happy to see her for the first time ever!

Trampled by Turtles, the only Minnesota act aside from Bob Dylan, were superb for their set, featuring some of their best known songs. “Victory”, “Codeine”, and “Alone”, were powerful, and the emotional crescendo in “Alone” was particularly impactful. “Whiskey” provided a somber singalong opportunity and “Wait So Long” contained one of Ryan Young’s trademark frenetic, almost off the rails fiddle solos. Aside from Willie Nelson attire, I’m certain I saw more TBT shirts and hats than any other act playing. I’m so happy for the success of Dave, Dave, Tim, Erik, Ryan, and Eamonn. I still feel fortunate to have seen the original four get started in basements of house parties and lil ol’ Pizza Luce in Duluth more than twenty years ago. What a phenomenal band, and what a great bunch of guys. It was just wonderful that they were included in this event.

“Victory”:

Steve Earle was just given the honor of becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry a couple days before Farm Aid. He played two short solo sets that included a few stories and his best known tune, 1988’s “Copperhead Road”. Earle had fantastic turns as an actor in Treme and The Wire, and if you haven’t seen one or both of those shows, his performances are reason enough to watch them, though there are many other reasons.

Nathaniel Rateliff brought the energy of a big top preacher at a revival and The Night Sweats upped the ante , with their horns for their late afternoon set. Closing number “S.O.B” pretty much brought the house down. Rateliff and the Night Sweats performed at Farm Aid 2019 at Alpine Valley (they were one of six acts that would play again in 2025) and the final Rock the Garden festival in 2019. They are a reliably great live band.

Lukas Nelson and Promise of The Real welcomed Sierra Ferrell to the stage for a few numbers, including their recent collab “Friend In The End”, Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend”, and “Find Yourself”. Lukas is a wonderful songwriter who sounds eerily like his father, and he will undoubtedly be carrying on the family legacy for many years.

Billy Strings is at the top of his game and would have been a headliner at most any other event, if not for those dudes Dave, Bob, Neil, and Willie. His set featured an abbreviated “Away From The Mire”, a tune that he didn’t play at his recent show at Target Center. It may stretch to 15 minutes or so at a normal BMFS show but this one wrapped up after half that much time, but not before getting cosmic for a couple minutes. Billy’s set, and that track in particular, was among the day’s highlights for me. “New Country Blues” showed off his swift finger picking and the blazing speed of Alex Hargreaves’ fiddle.

Margo Price was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar, who mentioned that Price, the newest and youngest Farm Aid board member, lost her Illinois family farm when she was a kid. Price has been more and more outspoken on social media in recent months, establishing her bona fides as a fellow outlaw in the tradition of Willie, advocating for social justice and championing free speech. Her set ending cover of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” was one of the day’s highlights, featuring Billy Strings on guitar and Jesse Welles singing a verse.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds:

Bob Dylan’s four song set featured “All Along the Watchtower,” “To Ramona,” “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Highway 61 Revisited”. Gems, done in nearly unrecognizable ways, as he does. The stage was downright dark for his set and he was draped in a black hoodie so it was difficult to see him, even on the big screens. The ever enigmatic Bob may be somewhere in the dark in the photo below, further shielded by a piano. Still, he was more articulate and clear sounding than some of the other times I’ve seen him and he was deft on piano and harmonica. Having just finished the Outlaw Music Festival tour with Willie and many more amazing artists, Dylan decided last minute to join Farm Aid and was happily accommodated.

Neil Young took the stage as the second to last act and immediately tore into “Big Crime”, the strongly anti-Trump, anti-fascist statement he had debuted less than a month ago in Chicago. The crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium erupted into loud cheers and applause at the line “Don’t want no soldiers on our streets!”

“Rockin’ in the Free World” followed, continuing the theme. Neil, along with Willie and Mellencamp, has been a part of Farm Aid since the beginning and also sits on the board.

“Big Crime”:

It was close to midnight when Willie Nelson took the stage and opened with “Whiskey River” in classic Willie style. Joining Willie were sons Lukas, and Micah who sang his song “Everything is Bullshit”. Lukas joined his father for a lovely version of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe”.

As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said while introducing Willie, “There’s nothing more American than Willie Nelson”. That may be one of few things we can all agree on these days, as evidenced by the many Willie Nelson For President hats and t-shirts I saw throughout the day.

Willie is a student and scholar of the American Songbook and doesn’t shy away from covers, even though he’s written hundreds of songs and put out dozens of albums. I was surprised to hear Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf” from Willie, an honest reflection on an approaching end to life, before we heard more traditional spirituals in the same vein - “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and “I’ll Fly Away”. Willie and Family were joined by all performers from the festival except for Bob Dylan on those two, as well as on the closing "I Saw The Light". An optimistic tone to send us back into dark times.

At 92, Wille Nelson is the heart and soul of Farm Aid, as he has been since the beginning. He’s said that he’ll keep playing until he can’t any longer, and I will keep going to see him as long as he is playing. He is an absolute treasure.

Willie had Hawaii born, Outlaw Fest tour vet Lilly Meola perform "Will You Remember Mine" with him and that seemed to be when he was smiliest.

“On The Road Again”:

Finale of Hank Williams’ “I Saw The Light”!

9.25 WE Collective at Gluek’s

Will Effertz’s ongoing Thursday night gig Downtown can be counted on for a solid rotation of guests and this round featured Jon Miller, Nick Spielman and drummer Eric Juvonen. The three (along with fiddler Timmy Mac, who was not present) make up the excellent, Wisconsin based band Feed The Dog, and Jon Miller is also in Twine with Will.

9.26 Davey Knowles at Hook and Ladder

The Isle of Mann raised blues guitarist once fronted a trio called Back Door Slam that Brianna and I saw play at the 400 Bar way back in 2007. That band would later open for Gov’t Mule at the Pantages Theatre in 2008. Though Back Door Slam is not a band any longer, Davey is still an impressive guitar player and this was an intimate yet rocking show.

9.27 Killer Mike, Warren G, Afroman at Legacy Cup at Surly Brewing

The sixth annual event was held on Surly Brewing’s Festival Field, where there was lots of space for dozens of cannabis retailers and thousands of attendees to interact and check out the music.

Afroman: