Fall 2026 Concert Guide: What Is Coming to the Twin Cities
Fall 2026 Concert Guide: What Is Coming to the Twin Cities
Fall is the best season for live music here, and it is not close. The touring circuit routes through the upper Midwest between the end of festival season and the holidays, the State Fair hands off directly into September, and the small rooms fill back up as everyone stops spending weekends at the lake.
Here is what the next three months look like.
September
The month opens loud. The State Fair grandstand runs its final week with Rod Stewart, AJR, Brad Paisley, Hardy, and TLC with Salt N Pepa closing things out on the fifth.
Downtown, The Armory has a heavy month: O.A.R. on the first, Dermot Kennedy on the fourth, JUNGLE on the ninth, Social Distortion on the twentieth, and Foster The People on the twenty-eighth.
First Avenue runs Peter Hook and The Light on the first, Kamelot on the fourteenth, Altın Gün on the fifteenth, Chat Pile on the seventeenth, The Format with the Get Up Kids on the nineteenth, and Public Image Ltd on the twenty-second. Sugar plays a three-night stand in the middle of the month.
Over at the Fillmore, Masego on the fifth, LP on the eleventh, and Jane Remover on the fifteenth.
Arena-scale: Childish Gambino at Grand Casino Arena on the eighth, Kacey Musgraves at Target Center on the twenty-second, Phoebe Bridgers at Grand Casino Arena on the seventeenth, and Weezer there on the twentieth. Mystic Lake Amphitheater runs Slayer, Lil Wayne, Iron Maiden, Dan and Shay, and Pitbull across the month.
The small-room picks are the ones worth circling. Turf Club has Dean Johnson on the eleventh and The Bros. Landreth on the eighteenth. 7th Street Entry has Bayonne on the twenty-ninth. Fine Line runs Dua Saleh on the twenty-fifth and Bahamas on the twenty-sixth. Green Room has The Tear Garden on the twenty-third.
October
The busiest month of the three, and the most varied.
Palace Theatre in St. Paul carries an unusually strong run: DJ Shadow on the first, Mon Rovia on the second, Mastodon with Deafheaven on the third, UB40 on the ninth, Muna on the eleventh, Sammy Rae and The Friends on the twenty-second, The Dresden Dolls on the twenty-seventh, Dweezil Zappa on the twenty-eighth, and The Tallest Man on Earth on the thirtieth.
Varsity Theater books more shows in October than almost anyone: Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats, Boy Harsher, Kelela, Our Lady Peace with The Verve Pipe, GLAIVE, The Menzingers, Blondshell, SiM, and The Longest Johns.
First Avenue has They Might Be Giants on the second, Pinhead Gunpowder on the seventh, Daði Freyr on the seventeenth, Sylvan Esso on the twenty-third, and All Them Witches on the twenty-seventh.
The Fillmore runs the Sex Pistols lineup with Frank Carter on the sixth, JPEGMAFIA on the eighth, Toad The Wet Sprocket on the sixteenth, Digable Planets celebrating thirty years of Blow Out Comb on the seventeenth, and Periphery on Halloween.
Orchestra Hall does the fall pops run: Return of the Jedi with the Minnesota Orchestra on the eighth, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis on the thirteenth, Ben Folds with the orchestra on the twenty-fourth, and Vertigo in concert on the thirtieth and thirty-first.
Big rooms: Doja Cat at Target Center on the fourth, Journey at Grand Casino Arena the same night, Beck at the Orpheum on the seventh, Sting on the thirteenth and fourteenth, Robert Plant at the State Theatre on the fourteenth, Buddy Guy there on the eighth, Smashing Pumpkins at Grand Casino Arena on the thirteenth, and Zac Brown Band at Target Center on the twenty-third.
Small rooms worth the trip: Cheekface at Fine Line on the fifth, Chasing Abbey at the Turf Club on the sixth, gnash at Amsterdam on the sixth, Red Leather at 7th Street Entry on the eighth, Armand Hammer at Fine Line on the fourteenth, Fruit Bats on the twenty-second, Tank and The Bangas on the twenty-third, and Akeem Ali at the Entry on the twenty-ninth.
November
The Armory owns the month: Jack White on the eighth, a three-night Tape B run on the nineteenth through twenty-first, Sabaton on the twenty-second, and Underoath playing Define the Great Line in full on the twenty-third.
First Avenue has Allison Russell on the first, The Damned on the second, Basement on the third, Ax and the Hatchetmen on the fifth, Low Cut Connie on the twelfth, Julia Jacklin on the thirteenth, and The Living Tombstone on the nineteenth.
The Fillmore runs Pouya, Arch Enemy with The Black Dahlia Murder, Saosin playing the self-titled record, Fetty Wap, and Whitechapel.
Target Center has SOMBR on the first, KATSEYE on the seventh, and Motionless In White on the tenth.
Quieter and good: Donny Benet at 7th Street Entry on the first, Post Sex Nachos there on the third, Hovvdy at Fine Line on the twelfth, Andrew Bird with the Minnesota Orchestra on the twenty-first, and the Fleetwood Mac singalong at Varsity on the eleventh.
A note on how to use this
This is the headline layer. It is the touring circuit, the shows with tickets on sale months out, the ones you plan around.
It is not the whole scene. On any given night in this metro there are local bills at the 331 Club, the White Squirrel, Eagles Club 34, Mortimer's, and a dozen other rooms that never appear on a list like this because there is nothing to sell in advance. Those shows are where the scene actually renews itself, and they are usually the best ten dollars you will spend all month.
Use this guide for the tentpoles. Use the full calendar for everything else.