MINNEAPOLIS — Plan on more outdoor concerts, especially for fans of country music and classic rock. And more country music, period. Jazz should get a nice, little bump, too. Maybe, just maybe, the biggest K-pop act in the world will also finally pay us a visit.

These are some of the main talking points for Twin Cities music lovers looking ahead into 2026. Here’s a closer look at what we can expect among concerts and other music trends in the new year.

1. Opening of the Twin Cities’ first real amphitheater

There’s a lot of hype — and money — going into Mystic Lake Amphitheater, a new 19,000-person outdoor venue under construction near Canterbury Park in Shakopee. We’re still waiting to hear when and what the opening concert will be, but the tiered, VIP box-lined facility should at least be ready by July 12 for surfy strummer Jack Johnson’s gig. The rest of the bookings so far look a lot like typical State Fair offerings, including Train (Aug. 9), Lynyrd Skynyrd (Aug. 16) and Mötley Crüe (Aug. 21). However, the Aug. 8 date by Guns N’ Roses with Public Enemy hints at bigger guns to come.

2. A new downtown country music festival

The producers of the resoundingly successful Minnesota Yacht Club festival are working on an all-twang offshoot on the same site, St. Paul’s Harriet Island. It will be named (what else?) Minnesota Country Club and is expected July 10-11, the weekend before its rock ‘n’ roll sibling’s third annual run. Details are still under wraps and being finalized. With shared production costs between the two festivals — plus the Twin Cities’ reputation as a Top 10 country music market — it sounds like a sure thing.

3. A new Uptown area jazz club

When R&B singer Johnnie Brown got a look at the quaint one-story space at 2756 Hennepin Av. opening up next to Isle Bun & Coffee, he was smitten enough to try something he never dreamt of: becoming a club owner. His almost-namesake venue, the Brownstone Jazz Club, will feature tables and seating for about 140 people and music five nights a week in a part of town still trying to regain its nightlife mojo. Its expected opening date has been pushed back to spring, with some soft-opening events planned in the meantime.

4. The return of Eaux Claires

As we first mentioned in November, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame is bringing back his cult-loved summer camp for hipsters along the Chippewa River in his hometown of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 90 minutes east of the Twin Cities. The festival boasted names like Paul Simon, Wilco, the National, Mavis Staples and then-newcomers Phoebe Bridgers and Chance the Rapper in its three-year mid-2010s run. All we know so far are the dates: July 24 and 25.

5. A national music convention

Concert professionals from around the country will converge on Minneapolis for the fifth annual National Independent Venue Association Conference, scheduled June 7-10 at various venues. While largely an event for music insiders affiliated with NIVA — created during the COVID-19 lockdown to “save our stages” — the convention will include live performances and serve as a showcase for the city as a live music hub. For a taste of how it will hard sell the scene, check out the promotional video with local road hound Cory Wong at nivassoc.org.

6. The Twin Cities debut of K-pop’s kingpins

Coming off a three-year hiatus for its members’ military fulfillments — after being stymied by COVID-19 before that — South Korean boy band BTS’ first North American tour in eight years reportedly will include 30 North American cities. That would almost certainly put Minnesota on the group’s itinerary for the first time ever. In the meantime, another K-pop phenomenon, the girl group Twice, is set to perform April 12 at Grand Casino Arena.

7. A Target Center revival

The hottest venue in town for major pop, rock and hip-hop concerts this year? It could be Minneapolis’ old basketball arena. After decades of playing second-string to Grand Casino Arena (fka Xcel Energy Center), Target Center boasts an impressive 2026 concert list that so far includes Conan Gray (Feb. 19), Brandi Carlile (Feb. 21), Cardi B (March 12), Florence + the Machine (April 8), Olivia Dean (July 29) and Doja Cat (Oct. 4).

8. No good reason to hit U.S. Bank Stadium

That BTS show could land there, but otherwise many music fans could go a whole year without having to step inside the infamously echoey Vikings stadium for a concert. After a bustling 2025, the mega-sized venue’s only showsr booked for this year so far are the April 10-11 two-nighter with the mega-underwhelming Morgan Wallen and the Aug. 15 return of nice guy Ed Sheeran. Anyone else planning to shampoo their hair those nights?

9. Maybe some long-awaited returns

This one is all conjecture, but here goes: Our new amphitheater could be the bait to finally hook outdoors-loving jam band gurus Phish into their first Minnesota gig in a decade and only second this century. It’s been a lot longer since we’ve hosted Radiohead — 29 years! — and the British rockers are a lot harder to predict, but their late 2025 European trek has fans hopeful of a U.S. tour. If it happens, how big a bunch of creeps would they have to be to not finally make us one of their stops?

10. A hallmark moment in Prince’s legacy

April 21, 2026, will mark the 10th anniversary of the world music icon’s death. Yes, it’s been that long. While not exactly a great excuse for a party, it could lead to some more meaningful tributes in his hometown this year and up the excuses for fans here to keep going crazy in his honor.

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