Top Tickets

Luke Bryan/Metallica

U.S. Bank Stadium opens for business with two back-to-back massive concerts: country star Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights tour, followed by Metallica/Avenged Sevenfold the next day. Bryan is beloved by the beer-and-bullets crowd, and Metallica is making one of its few appearances of the summer. Neither show has much symbolic significance for the occasion, but they will attract rowdy crowds and create a lot of noise, which is a good test for the football season to come. For everyone’s sake, though, let’s hope the acoustics inside the Vikings’ new home are better than the echo chamber that was the Metrodome. (For a somewhat mellower vibe, Wilco is playing the same night as Metallica, outside on Hall’s Island in north Minneapolis.)
Aug. 19-20, U.S. Bank Stadium, Mpls., usbankstadium.com

Louis C.K.

The reigning king of both stand-up comedy and television sitcoms isn’t playing the Orpheum or the State Theatre, he’s taking over Target Center—that’s how big he is. Not bad for a self-loathing depressive with anxiety issues, a pot belly and a very shiny head. The great thing about Louis is that he is not an overnight success, he’s a regular guy who spent 20 years on the road, grinding away, doing stand-up in any club, bar or Holiday Inn that would have him. That’s why he’s the best now, because he’s been through the worst.
Aug 2, Target Center, targetcenter.com, 612-673-0900

Arts Picks

Powderhorn/Uptown Art Fairs

For many years, the Powderhorn Park and Uptown Art Fairs teamed up with the Loring Park Art Festival to create an impressive trifecta of art-and-craft commerce. This year, the Loring festival broke away to do its thing a weekend earlier (July 30-31), leaving the Powderhorn and Uptowners to continue the tradition of critical mass that Twin Citians have come to expect. One other thing to remember: In Uptown the festivities begin on Friday, rather than Saturday, and last three days, not two.
Aug. 5-7, Mpls., powderhornartfair.com, uptownartfair.com

600 Years

Finding a play to see in August can be a challenge, but Sandbox Theatre can generally be counted upon to make staying inside feel like a good decision. Sandbox is an experimental, ensemble-style company that creates its own work. 600 Years peers six centuries into the future, to a time when murder and deceit have been vanquished, and women are (still) the only hope for human salvation.
Aug. 26-Sept. 18, Southern Theater, Mpls., southerntheater.org, 612-326-1811