The Golden Smog show originally scheduled for April 4, 2020 has been rescheduled and will take place on April 2, 2022. All tickets purchased for the original date will be honored. If you prefer a refund and bought tickets from AXS online, or if you’d like to exchange for tickets to the Sunday, April 3, 2022 show, sign into your account via the AXS app, or use the AXS Request Form. Otherwise, refunds are available at your original point of purchase. Please note: Refund or exchange requests for this show must be submitted by February 10, 2022.

Celebrate First Avenue’s Anniversary (50+ years!) with us in person at this show

Effective immediately, all concerts and events at First Avenue and associated venues will require either proof of a full series of COVID-19 vaccination, or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken in the prior 72 hours. More info HERE.

Doors open at 7PM | Show starts at 8PM | 18+ | $50

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The exact origins of Golden Smog are lost in the hazy backwaters of the late 1980s Minnesota music scene. Initially a loose-knit outfit featuring members of notable bands like The Jayhawks, The Replacements, Soul Asylum and Run Westy Run, early Golden Smog wasn't much more than a jokey cover band side project. Within a few years, the lineup solidified around a core of Gary Louris and Marc Perlman from The Jayhawks, Dan Murphy from Soul Asylum, and Kraig Johnson from Run Westy Run. The punny On Golden Smog, an all covers EP, came out in 1992 complete with fake identities and wacky Chris Mars cover art.

With Wilco's Jeff Tweedy now on board, two mid-'90s releases, Down By the Old Mainstream and Weird Tales, put Golden Smog on the map in a big way, featuring first rate original songs and inspired performances, aided by drummers Noah Levy and Jody Stephens, and violinist Jessy Greene. Often labeled as "Americana," these two landmark albums encompassed an impressive array of sounds and styles. It would be 10 years before the next Golden Smog album, Another Fine Day (2006), a sprawling, adventurous work of art that remains a true lost masterpiece. A follow up EP came the following year; a greatest hits album was released in 2009.

Golden Smog live shows, and especially tours, have always been something of a rarity given all the conflicting schedules. The last full-length tour was in 2006 followed by a handful of one offs and tribute shows. For the most part, the last decade has been very quiet in Smog world. In July 2019, that silence was broken with a stealthy full-blown Golden Smog show in an off-the-radar basement event space in Minneapolis' St. Anthony Main neighborhood to celebrate Dan Murphy's birthday. Things fell into place naturally, the band sounded great and a good time was had by all.

Which brings us to #goldensmog2020 and a high profile show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of First Avenue, one of the most important venues of the rock era, just about 30 years after Golden Smog played their first show on a smoky stage somewhere that nobody can quite remember now. Who knows what the future will bring? Stick around and find out.

Tina & the B-Sides formed in the late ’80s, with Tina Schlieske citing Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Janis Joplin, and Elvis Presley as influences for her brand of roadhouse rock ‘n’ roll. The band self-released several CDs and sold upwards of 50,000 copies in the back of their van during the process. A chance meeting in an elevator with Sire Records president Seymour Stein led to a deal with the famed label and two more albums, 1996’s Salvation and 1998’s It’s All Just the Same.

Throughout the 1990s, the band formed a reputation for packed, high-energy shows as they toured incessantly, playing in bars and clubs across the Midwest. Their popularity quickly grew in the region as they developed a cult following that endures to this day. They were often called "the best bar band in America" by fans and critics alike. They are known for their chemistry on stage, especially between Tina and her sister Laura, whose powerhouse vocals evoke a tent revival at times.

The band has been awarded several Minnesota Music Awards, as well as having their music featured in major motion pictures. They have also earned a much-coveted 'Star' on the wall outside of the infamous Minneapolis venue, First Avenue for their multiple sold-out shows there.

The band "officially" took a hiatus 1999 but reunited in 2014 to record and release their first studio album in more than 10 years, Barricade, to critical acclaim. The band continues to play shows around the Midwest.

Band members are Tina Schlieske on guitar and vocals, Laura Schlieske on vocals, Jeremy Plumb on bass, Troy Norton on guitar and vocals, Ron Caron on drums, and Brian Ziemniak on keyboards.

Kiss the Tiger pounced onto the Twin Cities’ music scene in late-2016 and have been making big waves ever since. In February of 2017 Kiss the Tiger were the runner-up in Star Tribune’s ‘Are You Local?’ Best New Band competition. In 2019 they were recognized as a “Picked to Click” band by City Pages, an end-of-year round-up of the best local bands voted on by their peers. That same year they headlined the Star Tribune stage at the Basilica Block Party, the largest outdoor musical festival in Minneapolis drawing around 25,000 attendees. The Current included their music video for “Bad Boy” off of their full-length album Let Me Bleed in their Best Minnesota Music Videos of 2019.

Kiss the Tiger's second studio album Vicious Kid, released on June 3, 2021, has received favorable attention locally and abroad. Star Tribune named it one of the Best Minnesota Albums of 2021 so far. Their song “Hold On To Love” off of the new album was inducted into The Current's Chart Show Hall of Fame on August 11 after spending 9 weeks at #1.