Best Concert Venue 2013: The Cedar Cultural Center
"As far as concert venues go, it's hard to find one that encapsulates so much of what's great about the Twin Cities better than the Cedar does. First off, it's always all-ages—an everybody's-welcome sort of policy that tends to be in short supply these days. Second, it's a true melting pot, the standard-bearer for a neighborhood that's evolved into one of our richest cultural microcosms, a venue that pays homage as equally to folk ensembles from West Africa as it does to indie rockers from the West Coast. But even beyond its second-to-none cultural breadth, the Cedar does its part to help nurture creativity, often finding ways to encourage its artists to present their work in new and unusual ways—be it with film scores, pajama parties, or, hell, just a good old-fashioned dance party. With the Cedar, the further outside the box, the better—and we wouldn't have it any other way."
Review: Terakaft at The Cedar 3/11/13
Submitted by bcorner on Tue, 03/12/2013 - 5:30pm
With fleet-fingered prowess that would make Swedish Metal virtuosos run in terror, the two men that make up the touring arm of Terakaft are very modestly some of the best guitarists I have ever seen. Aging lion Liya Ag Ablil, who performs under the name Diara, is the group’s rhythm guitarist and founder, and is joined by his nephew Sanou Ag Ahmed, who acts as the group’s utility man and alternated between guitar, percussion and vocals. Diara is well known internationally as a founding member of legendary African Rock pioneers Tinariwen, and while the years have weathered his skin like well-worn leather, he is still every bit a rock star. Like a Tuareg Keith Richards, the journeyman musician had an arsenal of effortless guitar licks at his disposal and, even more like Keith, a toothy pirate’s grin for women of the crowd.
Review: Red Baraat at The Cedar 2/23/13
Submitted by bcorner on Fri, 03/01/2013 - 10:32amIt takes a special kind of band to make septuagenarian Minnesotans shake their hips and shoulders like teenagers, but the Brooklyn-based Bhangra Brass group Red Baraat had a sea of balding heads doing just that last night at The Cedar. Fusing the clattering, triumphant music of Northern India with the swinging second-line horns of New Orleans and a healthy dose of contemporary funk and hip-hop, Red Baraat was a raucous and joyful sight to behold.
Annual Report 2012
Download The Cedar Cultural Center 2012 Annual Report
December 2012 calendar
Download and print a handy December 2012 calendar of events at The Cedar, including Dosh with Marijuana Deathsquads, Jane SIberry, Trailer Trash, Michael Johnson, The Okee Dokee Brothers, Fathom Lane, Grant Cutler and more!
November 2012 Calendar
Download and print a handy November 2012 calendar of events at The Cedar, including a terrific Thanksgiving weekend line-up featuring Low, Rogue Valley, and Peter Mayer; iconic Brazilian band Os Mutantes; beloved Canadian folkies The Be Good Tanyas; a double bill with singer-songwriters Pieta Brown and Sean Rowe; the return of enigmatic doom soul artist Cold Specks; the creative genius of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields (at First Avenue), and much more!
October 2012 Calendar
Download and print a handy October 2012 calendar of events at The Cedar, including album releases for Dark Dark Dark, Big Cats, and Orange Mighty Trio; the amazing Hindustani slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya; a trip back to the Sixties jugband era with Geoff Muldaur & Jim Kweskin, with special guest Spider John Koerner; guitar goddess Kaki King with a new album; the first tour in eons from Firewater (with a new album); Sea Wolf, Generationals, Tift Merritt, each with new albums; Galician piper and The Chieftains collaborator Carlos Nunez; comedian Pete Holmes and yet more.
September 2012 calendar
Download and print a handy September 2012 calendar of events presented by, or hosted at The Cedar, including Amon Tobin, Ani DiFranco, Y La Bamba, Chris Smither, Why?, Cheryl Wheeler, Nuala Kennedy Band, Ben Kyle with Carrie Rodriguez, our free, three-night Global Roots Festival, and much more!
The Cedar T-shirt: designed in St Paul, screened in Minneapolis
The Cedar is thrilled to offer new t-shirts just in time for our upcoming 24th season! This spring we put a call out to local artists to bring us their finest designs for a chance to be featured on our shirts. The chosen design was from Peet Fetsch, owner of Big Table Studio in St. Paul, MN.
Big Table Studio's turntable/tree stump design is featured on two different colored shirts in both men's and women's sizes and hand screened by Stroker Ace in Minneapolis:
Dark Charcoal with Sage ink (American Apparel tri-blend shirt)
Men's S-XXL
Women's S-L
Red with Black ink (American Apparel 50/50 blend shirt)
Men's S-XXL
Women's S-L
Cedar t-shirts are $20 and can be purchased at The Cedar during concerts from the merch table.
August 2012 Calendar
Download a handy calendar of August 2012 events, or visit the online version. In August, the Cedar presents or hosts Mickey Hart Band, Sharon Van Etten, Robert Earl Keen, the Gyuto Monks, Kishi Bashi with Tall Tall Trees, Wizards Are Real, Brooklyn Rider with Kayhan Kalhor, Leon Russell, and Amadou and Mariam.
