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The Setlist: Where to hear live music April 30-May 2, 2025

KAXE | By Malachy Koons
Published April 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM CDT
"The Setlist" and "Duluth, Bemidji, Grand Rapids" written over a crumpled paper background.
Maria Hileman
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KAXE
Live music taking place April 30-May 2, 2025 in Northern Minnesota.

KAXE's weekly list of concerts near you features the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival, Chastity Brown and Dilly Dally Alley, Kathy Mattea and Sam Miltich & Friends.

From Duluth's annual Homegrown celebration to a KAXE/KBXE hosted free concert in Bemidji, here are our picks for live music to checkout this week.

The Duluth Homegrown Music Festival is going on now through Sunday, May 3, with live music every evening at multiple venues in a different neighborhood of the city. The annual event is one of Minnesota's premier local music festivals. All performers must live or have lived in the Twin Ports to be eligible.

This Thursday, the Get Downtown with KBXE concert begins at 5 p.m. at The Loft in Bemidji. We are bringing the folk, blues and soul fusing Chastity Brown and jazzy rock group Dilly Dally Alley to you in a free and open to all concert. Space is limited!

Music
'Get Downtown with KBXE' at a free show with Chastity Brown
Chastity Brown and Dilly Dally Alley will perform at the Loft Event Center in downtown Bemidji, Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Also Thursday, country and bluegrass singer Kathy Mattea will be at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids. She released her debut album in 1984, won a Grammy in 1990 for the song "Where You've Been," and since 2021 is the host of radio show Mountain Stage. 7 p.m.

First Friday at Rapids Brewing is here again, meaning Sam Miltich & Friends are playing the brewery at 6 p.m. This month's friends are jazz vocalist Charmin Michelle, drummer Nathan Norman and trombonist Dave Graf.

Through Sunday, May 3

  • Homegrown Music Festival - all evening, multiple venues, Duluth, $15 (weekday single day), $25 (weekend single day), $40 (weeklong)

Thursday, May 1

  • Chastity Brown and Dilly Dally Alley - 5 p.m., The Loft, Bemidji, free
  • Kathy Mattea - 7 p.m., Reif Center, Grand Rapids, $39 (advance), $44 (door)

Friday, May 2

  • Sam Miltich & Friends - 6 p.m., Rapids Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, free
Several ducks fly over open water.
Conversation
Events Up North April 29-May 4: Middle school art exhibit, smelt fry
Events this week also include a Hwy 87 construction meeting in Hubbard, astronomy day and Ojibwe Star Wars in Hibbing, CHAIR's grand opening in Virginia and a craft event in Bigfork.

The weekly live music spotlight is made possible by the citizens of Minnesota through the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
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Minnesota Music KAXEMade Possible by the Minnesota Arts & Culture Heritage FundThe Setlist
Malachy Koons
Malachy started his radio career in 2017 at a college radio station, where he played weird music in the middle of the night to possibly no one. On a good night maybe his parents were listening. Nonetheless, he was hooked on public radio and is still doing it today.


He joined Northern Community Radio in 2022, where he gets to share his passion for local music as Producer of Minnesota Mixtape, an all Minnesota music show airing Fridays at 10 a.m. and Saturdays at 3 p.m. You can also find him hosting Headwaters and curating The Setlist.
See stories by Malachy Koons