{{Midwest}} TO DO: Minneapolis 07.16-07.20

1. Book Reading of “Girls’ Guide to Rockingâ€
Thursday, July 16 7:30PM
Put down your “Guitar Hero†for a night, get off the couch and head over to Magers & Quinn Thursday evening to learn what it really takes to be a musician. Jessica Hopper visits Minneapolis this week to read from her recently penned book: “Girls’ Guide to Rocking.†Hopper is a music-obsessed Chicagoan who has done time as a tour manager, band publicist, DJ, touring bassist, and fanzine publisher and that now moonlights as an author. Her book goes over “how to start a band, book gigs, and get rolling to rock stardom.â€
Magers & Quinn Booksellers | 3038 Hennepin Ave. S. | Minneapolis | Free | All Ages
2. Rock & Roll Minneapolis
Friday, July 17 7:00PM-9:00PM
Sauce Spirits & Soundbar’s innagural art exhibit is what happens when the line between music and the visual arts blurs after one too many cocktails. Sauce is the newest club in the Minneapolis scene (they took over the spot where the now defunct La Bodega used to reside.) The brand new venue features performances by local and touring bands each week, as well as quarterly art exhibits. Their opening art reception will feature visual artwork and photography created by local musicians.
Sauce Spirits & Soundbar | 3001 Lyndale Ave. S. | Minneapolis | Free
3. Tour de Fat
Saturday, July 18, 9:00AM-4:00PM
As someone that desperately needs to purchase a bicycle, this is one of the many events that I will miss out on until I buck-it-up and buy one. The Tour de Fat festival encourages more people to commit to commuting via bike rather than car. As said by the Tour de Fat website: (Bikes) “help stave off some of our most wicked ills: Traffic, obesity, and pollution. Tour de Fat has a solution: ride this day, every day, and definitely when Tour de Fat heads your way.†As a side note- Tour de Fat is named for the only kind of fat that is good to put in your body, which is New Belgium’s Amber Ale; Fat Tire.
Parade Field | 600 Kenwood Pkwy. | Minneapolis | Free | 21 to drink
4. Summer Music and Movies 2009
Monday, July 20 7:00PM
Monday kicks off the first night of the year for the Walker Art Center’s “Music and Movies in the Park†set-up across the street in Loring Park. This summer’s series comes with a Paul Newman theme for the films featured. Screening on Monday will be “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof†following the musical stylings of Halloween, Alaska.
Loring Park | 1382 Willow St. | Minneapolis | Free | All Ages
Photograph for Rock & Roll Minneapolis by Jaron Childs