To the delight of anyone who’s yearning for a night on the town this summer, various businesses are welcoming back patrons to enjoy the luxuries missed during isolation, including dine-in services, live music and lifted COVID-19 restrictions. With the city’s lifted mask mandate, citizens are greeting each other again with smiles as they reenter urban nightlife.

For those who aren’t terribly interested in a stinky college bar, there are other options available in the Cities to ensure FOMO doesn’t mess with hot girl summer.

Coffee-lovers, foodies and anyone in need of a night out — or a strong drink — should check out these venues when planning their next get-together.

Icehouse: Located in south Minneapolis on Nicollet Avenue South near the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Icehouse offers both indoor and outdoor shows this summer. Featuring an industrial aesthetic and situated on Eat Street, this venue is perfect for a first date or a girl’s night. Begin your night getting drinks at one of the many restaurants along Nicollet, such as Black Sheep Pizza or the Bad Waitress, and then head over to see a show at Icehouse to wind down the night with an order of their short ribs with a chocolate espresso rub or pan-seared shrimp and grits. Satisfy your sweet tooth before you leave with a campfire apple crisp or raspberry lemon tart.

Aster Cafe: Conveniently housed near Marcy-Holmes, Aster Cafe is a great place to end your day after exploring Father Hennepin Bluff Park and taking Instagram shots on the Stone Arch Bridge. Watch the sunset through the trees outside the cafe as you sip a Summer Buzzer cocktail and munch on focaccia and artichoke dip. With laid back vibes and a killer menu, Aster is guaranteed to make your night worthwhile. Those interested in attending a show at the cafe must make a reservation beforehand either by phone or on their website.

The Hook and Ladder Theater and Lounge: Along Minnehaha Avenue and housed in an old firehouse, Hook and Ladder offers a variety of shows, including comedy shows, concerts, literary events, craft shows and theater. Dedicated to low-waste events and partially solar-powered, the venue has two indoor stages, a lounge with beer and wine available and a full production theater. Anyone interested in the arts can find a show at Hook and Ladder to welcome themselves back to live entertainment. Grab a burger and milkshake before a show at Hi-Lo Diner nearby or seafood tacos at Sonora Grill.

Vibia Fagdalene, also known as Tony Burton, is a recent University graduate and founder of Loring Collective, a queer artist collective devoted to the empowerment and progression of queer visual and musical talents in the Twin Cities.

On June 25, Fagdalene released the first single, “Urban Queens,” off of her upcoming album of the same name. This is Fagdalene’s first drag album and Burton’s first time doing drag.

A&E spoke with Fagdalene to discuss her journey into drag, the Twin Cities drag community and the inspiration behind “Urban Queens.”

How did you get started in drag?

“I was interested in drag for a while and then COVID hit. I was like, ‘This is the perfect time to start trying out.’ My boyfriend is a go-go dancer at the Gay 90s, so he already knew about the drag community and he brought me to the 90s. I started meeting the queens and asking them questions. They encouraged me to come to the 90s amateur drag night and, since then, I’ve performed twice.”

I love your name! How did you choose it?

“‘Vibia’ is inspired by an ancient gay Greek love affair involving the Roman emperor Hadrian and his mister Antinous. Hadrian’s wife’s name has been altered throughout history and time but one name I came across for her was Vibia and I really connected to it. Because Tony’s last album was called “Hadrian & Antinous,” and tells the story of their affair, I was thinking about how I could put an aspect of Tony in my name but also give myself my own spotlight. ‘Fagdalene’ was inspired by one of my favorite albums, “MAGDALENE” by FKA twigs. As I was listening to it, I thought ‘I would love to perform this one day,’ so to be kind of tongue-in-cheek I decided on Fagdalene.”

What is your favorite part about doing drag?

“Escaping expectations. When I was in high school, I did theater and I loved performing but I could never be the female lead. I wanted to play the musical divas my girlfriends got to play in the shows but I couldn’t because society didn’t think a man was capable of playing those roles. Drag allowed me to play those parts for the first time. It’s finding yourself in a whole other light.”

What was the inspiration for “Urban Queens”?

“It’s based on the expectation that drag is glamorous, but the reality is that a lot of these queens are broke and they have to be really creative to put on a show. I was thinking of a way to represent that and give it a name. Like, yes, they’re queens but there’s also this grittiness or grossness to urban life that I love.”

What is something you want people to know about drag?

“You don’t need to identify with the binary to do drag. Often in the queer and drag communities, they just focus on drag queens and although drag queens are amazing, there are so many other identities in drag that need to be lifted up, like drag kings and nonbinary performers.”

When do you plan to release the album?

“I’d like to release it on my birthday, November 28.”

Can you give us any sneak peeks off the album while we wait for it to release?

“The last song on the album is called “Red Light Special” and it features Tony. It’s an eerie, serious song that showcases a bit of a conflict between myself and Tony because we’re both such strong individuals. In the song, it’s hard to distinguish who is singing, representing the unknown future of their musical careers. Who will produce the next album, me or Tony?”

This interview has been edited for length, grammar and clarity.

To the delight of Minnesotans across the state, the Great Minnesota Get-Together announced on June 11 that the fair would be back this summer with only a few key differences from prior years.

The fair will run from Aug. 26 to Labor Day, Sep. 6, 2021, and will not feature daily capacity limitations or mask requirements resulting from the statewide mask mandate lift. However, those who are not vaccinated are “strongly encouraged” to mask up, according to the fair’s press release.

Nora and Tom Rush, the owners of West End Creamery, an ice cream shop that has served fairgoers for over 50 years, said they are not concerned about COVID-19 because of Minnesota’s high vaccination rates and because their venue is outdoors, decreasing the likelihood of contracting the virus.

The owners said they have been preparing for the fair since May, after enjoying last summer off work. In response to COVID-19, for the first time in its history, the creamery will accept credit card payments compared to its previous “cash only” policy.

“It was a nice break,” the owners said. “It’s a tremendous amount of work.”

Now, Nora and Tom are ready to work at the fair again alongside their son and daughter, Frank and Emmy, in the shop’s stand in West End Market.

Previously housed in Heritage Square on the fairgrounds, the creamery was the only business asked to reside in the new West End Market because of their loyal customer base and consistently delicious products, including hand-scooped, old-fashioned ice cream and over 40 different milkshake flavors with new flavors added to the menu each fair season.

The owners said they employ mostly high school and college students, many of them University of Minnesota students trying to earn some money before the fall semester.

With many University alum in their family, Nora and Tom said the fair marks the end of summer for them and welcomes back to school season for those still in school.

“We’ve put a lot of kids through college,” Nora Rush said. “They’ve grown up in the stand.”

Jerry Hammer, the general manager of the state fair, said the fair employs around 70 full-time staff members, usually hiring an additional 350-400 people to set up the fairgrounds.

Last year, the fair didn’t hire any seasonal workers to help with the setup because of the possibility of the fair getting canceled. After it was canceled in May 2020, Hammer said he and the staff remained hopeful for the future where they could reopen to the public “better and stronger.”

“It’s a lot more work having no fair than having a fair,” Hammer said.

Until the state lifted its COVID-19 state restrictions, Hammer said they didn’t know what the fair was going to look like, but now that regulations have changed, the state of the fair is clearer.

Spread across 322 acres, fair vendors and exhibits will be spaced out to decrease crowd congestion, and sanitization stations will be dispersed throughout the fairgrounds, according to the press release.

Notable events that will miss the fair due to limited planning time include the Giant Sing-Along and the Miracle of Birth, an event featuring livestock birth.

According to Hammer, the fairgrounds have been around since the 1800s, and they’re “soaked with memories” of not only Minnesotans but people from across the country, hosting over 2 million people at the most recent state fair in 2019.

“This is the place where we really all come together and celebrate our humanity,” Hammer said.

In the next few weeks, the fair plans to release its summer entertainment lineup, including the Grandstand lineup and new foods.

Tickets purchased for the 2020 fair are valid for the 2021 fair, according to the fair’s website.

“If you’re ready to come to the fair, we’re ready to welcome you,” Hammer said.

When Imani Jackson was a child, she was a picky eater, often refusing to eat specific foods at dinnertime. Today, she runs a successful catering business where she uses her love of cooking to provide fresh, sustainable food to marginalized communities in the Twin Cities.

Jackson founded Chopped & Served in 2017, a year after she began attending courses at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College. The company’s mission is to aid in community youth development by providing quality, nutritious meals with a long-term goal of leading young people successfully to postsecondary education.

Chopped & Served hosts pop-up events, cookoffs and community outreach programs throughout the year along with their regular catering service events.

Following the murder of George Floyd, Chopped & Served hosted several pop-ups throughout Minneapolis to provide fresh food to hungry children and families in surrounding neighborhoods. Jackson said they were there to create a safe space for residents amid the unrest.

Chopped & Served continues to serve meals in the city through paid gigs and food donations from local businesses. In July, they will be hosting a pop-up in George Floyd Square. Currently, Jackson said they are focused on what the future holds for food and social justice, including a possible physical location for the catering business.

“The real work is just beginning,” Jackson said.

In 2019, she transferred to the University of Minnesota and graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in Human Rights and Justice with honors.

According to Jackson, her adviser told her it wasn’t “ideal” or “realistic” for a student to work full-time with a complete course load. This only encouraged her to work harder.

“No statistic can tell me what I can and cannot do,” Jackson said.

As a first-generation college graduate, breaking down barriers is not new to Jackson. Growing up, she lived a “survival lifestyle” with her mother and two siblings, living in Section 8 housing and frequently relying on food pantries and shelves for essentials.

“Activism was my calling because I saw my mom struggle,” Jackson said.

Imani attended her early school years at a Spanish immersion school in St. Louis Park, a western suburb of Minneapolis. In 2014, she graduated high school where she played three sports — soccer, track and field and basketball.

Jackson’s mother, Tirzah Zimmerman, said Imani’s drive for activism comes as no surprise to her because Imani showed early signs of being a go-getter, unafraid to go after her dreams.

“She was always on the move,” Zimmerman said.

According to Tirzah, when Imani was 4 years old, she taught herself how to ride a bike. “I went outside and she was riding the neighbor’s bike without training wheels,” Zimmerman said. “She’s pretty amazing.”

Through Chopped & Served’s work, Jackson met her boyfriend of a year and a half, Tyler Phillips, who is also passionate about serving underprivileged communities.

They met when Jackson reached out to Phillips to collaborate with his coaching and mentoring business, Totally Committed, to host a youth event teaching health and wellness ideas to young people who may not be educated on these topics. k

“She said she thought we could create magic together,” Phillips said. “And we did.”

Phillips said he focuses on the physical and mental part of training, while Jackson focuses on the diet aspect, teaching about nutritional science and the importance of quality food intake. He said they make a good team and he’s constantly impressed with her accomplishments.

“She’s very passionate about changing the narrative when it comes to Black and underprivileged youth,” Phillips said.

In 2018 the Lake Street shoe store, Roberts Shoe Store, burned after a fire started in the boiler room. The fire destroyed not only the shoe store, but also the artist studio space housed above the shop, leaving neighborhood artists without affordable workspaces.

After the fire destroyed the building, the Graves Foundation, a youth-focused nonprofit with offices in the Midtown Exchange building overlooking the fire site, connected with the builder of the lot.

The foundation wanted to make sure they were including community members in development conversations.

“We’re making sure we’re being good neighbors,” Bill Graves, president of the Graves Foundation, said. The Graves Foundation purchased the lot themselves in March 2020 to hold the lot until residents decided what should be built.

“We’re not developers,” Graves said. “We’re just holding the land.”

After purchasing the lot, the foundation began working with local artists to form an advisory committee that included folks in the Latinx arts community of the area to discuss what they wanted the property to include.

Since then, the foundation has opened the space up to various artists in the cities to do “cultural work, community celebrations and healing work,” Graves said.

From the end of May to early June, the lot hosted a Haircuts for Change pop-up barbershop that included conversations around healing and processing after the year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.

There are several other events planned for the summer: in July and August, the Weisman Art Museum will facilitate an open dialogue about truth-telling and repair to engage the surrounding diverse communities along Lake Street.

“There’s more diversity in this area than anywhere,” Carla Goodwin, the director of operations of the Graves Foundation, said of the neighborhood.

Other events include a small pop-up art fair in late June and early July hosted by the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association (PPNA) to preview its 30th annual Powderhorn Art Fair, which takes place online the first weekend of August.
The pop-up allows the public to preview artists whose work will be sold at the fair, including paintings, jewelry, clay and fiber arts, and will also feature live music.

Tabitha Montgomery, the executive director of PPNA, said the association was involved early on in the planning process for the lot.

“Residents should have agency and some say in what gets developed and supported in shaping the community,” Montgomery said about the importance of including residents’ desires.

Montgomery said she hopes the future development includes working studio space for artists to replace those that were destroyed in the 2018 fire, and the most crucial feature should be its affordability and accessibility to its residents.

According to Graves, the foundation plans to sell to a developer by the end of this year with a long-term lease tenant approved by the community advisory group. Currently, they have their third community advisory group meeting scheduled to discuss the goals of the lot.

“It’s still in the very early stages,” Graves said. “Hopefully in two or three years, it’s a beautiful space where culture is vibrant and people connect.”

It’s going to be a hot summer for the Minneapolis indie punk band VIAL.

Along with the release of their newest single “Roadkill,” the band announced the release date for their long-awaited sophomore album, “LOUDMOUTH,” on Tuesday with plans to release two other singles in late June and mid-July.

Featuring 12 tracks, “LOUDMOUTH” will be released on July 30, followed by an album release show at the Fine Line on July 31, the band’s first live performance since the pandemic began.

“LOUDMOUTH” offers a glimpse into what VIAL went through after the recording of “Grow Up” and how they’ve developed together as a band, according to keytarist Taylor Kraemer.

“It’s a lot of angry, punkier songs,” Kraemer said.

According to the band, the title refers to being unapologetically outspoken and unwilling to cross personal boundaries for the sake of others.

Bassist Kate Kanfield said some of the angriest tracks are about the negative experiences the four of them had while playing at local shows when the band first began performing live.

Quarantine gave the band space away from the music scene, allowing them to reflect on instances where they felt taken advantage of at times.

“With that space came reflection,” Kraemer said. “And with reflection came some really angry songs.”

Erik Aas, a close friend of the band, said he remembers the band forming when he was roommates with Kanfield and later practicing their instruments in the living room.

Aas initially expected VIAL to remain a DIY band, creating music for the love of music, as with the crowdfunded garage-recorded “Grow Up,” but TikTok proved to have other plans.

Over quarantine the band went viral on TikTok and gained followers from around the world, which enabled VIAL to promote their music on a global scale. Now the band has over 120,000 followers and 2 million likes on TikTok, according to their account.

“It’s phenomenal to see your friends absolutely kill it,” Aas said.

Emmet Lang said he saw the band for the first time in the summer of 2019 and he “immediately fell in love with their music.”

In the eight months leading up to the pandemic, Lang said he attended almost 20 of VIAL’s shows, eventually becoming close with the band after interacting at the end of shows.

“I feel an immense amount of pride,” Lang said of their success and upcoming album release. “They really do deserve it.”

Drummer Katie Fischer said performing live this summer is going to be in stark contrast to before the pandemic as the band transitions from small house shows to popular packed venues.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” guitarist KT Branscom said.

In just two years, VIAL has moved from performing at house shows and recording in garages to performing at the Fine Line and recording their second album in a studio alongside a producer.

“Shit is starting and it will not be stopping,” Kanfield said.

As the weather warms up and masks mandates are lifted across the state, local businesses are slowly opening their doors to guests once again, offering pre-pandemic joys such as dine-in services and live music performances.

First Avenue is among the multiple venues that have announced the return of in-person shows, recently releasing a list of over 30 shows set for 2021 and 2022, featuring a variety of local and national artists.

The announcement came Tuesday, amid the lifted Minneapolis city mask mandate as COVID-19 cases decrease and vaccinations increase.

“We haven’t opened yet, but we’re really feeling like we’re back,” Ashley Ryan, the director of marketing for First Avenue, said.

The venue received the green light for live performances for the beginning of June, but they are waiting an extra month before reopening to give artists a chance to acclimate back to the Twin Cities music scene after quarantine separated band members from each other.

Well known artists such as Soccer Mommy, Beach Bunny, Watsky, girl in red and Princess Nokia will take the stage as well as local gems such as Gully Boys and miloe throughout the rest of 2021 through the beginning of 2022.

According to Ryan, First Avenue plans to announce an additional 25 shows next week and this number may increase as bands and artists continue to coordinate their return to the stage with local venues.

“For a lot of the year, bands couldn’t even get together to practice,” Ryan said. “Music kind of took a weird pause.”

But now, it’s back right in time for summer concerts.

Quarantine also gave artists the opportunity to focus solely on their music and as a result, Ryan said “there’s going to be a boom of new music.”

“There are a lot of venues that are hanging on by a thread right now,” Ryan said. “It feels so special to have the chance to reopen and have one of the best music scenes in the country.”

According to Ryan, the venue continues to adhere to state and citywide COVID-19 guidelines. Masks will not be required at shows unless COVID-19 guidelines change, and shows will be held at full capacity.

A new metaphysical shop, We the Starborne, opened in the St. Paul Hamline-Midway neighborhood in March, is focused primarily on offering ethically sourced crystals, tools and books to the community.

Although few people in the area are familiar with this kind of shop, the owner, Caitlin Gottschalk, said the opening was met with “genuine curiosity and excitement” and “open arms.”

“This neighborhood is fantastic,” Gottschalk said. “People seem really excited.”

Sarah Olson, a University of Minnesota student who lives close to We the Starborne, said she is especially excited for a crystal store to be in her neighborhood because unlike in Minneapolis, there aren’t a lot of similar stores in the area.

“I got really into crystals during quarantine,” Olson said. “It’s so nice that St. Paul is getting a store that sells them.”

The shop features a variety of crystals, each with their own unique properties and uses, plant medicine and other gifts for those who want to get in touch with their spiritual side. The lounge space inside is devoted to tarot and astrological readings.

One of the most important things in maintaining a shop such as We the Starborne is ensuring the items are ethically sourced, an issue prominent in the metaphysical community, Gottschalk said.

“The farther away you get from the source, the more room there is for the unknown,” she said, describing the various ways that buyers can be misled, unwillingly supporting unethical mining practices.

Before the pandemic, it was easier to ensure the authenticity of crystals because buyers could go to shows around the country where they were able to speak with people who had a direct relationship with the mines or quarries.

Now that everything’s online, it is more possible for the source of crystals to be murky, but luckily the rock and crystal community has adapted, hosting shows online from their warehouses to ensure buyers that what they’re getting is real, Gottschalk said.

One example of the shop’s dedication to ethical sourcing is their palo santo, trees whose branches are burned and used for spiritual cleansing, that come from a single farm in Ecuador dedicated to repopulating palo santo.

Rather than tearing down the trees for their branches, the farm instead cuts the branches from dead trees in addition to planting new ones. The shop also sends a percentage of their palo santo sales back to the farm to help with repopulating costs.

ZRS Fossils and Gifts in Minneapolis is also devoted to ethically sourcing the crystals they sell, the owners, John McArdle and Kelly Lund, said.

Their store has been running in Uptown for thirteen years and Lund said each item in the store is “from someone we know personally or mined ourselves.”

Crystals featured in their shop are collected on regular trips to countries such as Morocco or Brazil where McArdle, Lund and others mine for crystals with the permission of landowners, sometimes paying them for the chance to mine on their land.

The owners said they are committed to not harming any land or person to obtain fossils, crystals and other treasures. They visit a village in Morocco about once every other year, bringing medical supplies with them.

McArdle and Lund also said they have no issue with paying more for products from conscientious vendors such as those who pay their employees a minimum wage.

“It’s a personal and professional passion,” McArdle said.

Whether they’re first-time buyers or metaphysical lovers, We the Starborne can help anyone on their spiritual journey to connect and learn more about crystals and other mystic tools.

“Ultimately it’s about connecting folx back to their magic or their intuition,” Gottschalk said.
The shop offers online shopping and is currently open for in-person shopping by appointment Friday through Sunday 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at 593 N. Hamline Ave.

Demi Lovato’s seventh album “Dancing with the Devil…The Art of Starting Over” gives her fans a glimpse into the struggles she faced in her private life, elaborating on her battles with addiction, relationships and fame.

Along with her new four-part docuseries on Youtube with the same name, Lovato has brought transparency in the music industry to a new level, sharing the story of her 2018 drug overdose and her lifelong struggle with mental illness and substance abuse.

The first part of the album is devoted to the theme of the singer’s rock bottom, beginning with the piano ballad “Anyone” where Lovato grapples with her loss of faith. “Anyone” tells the story of Lovato realizing that nothing — alcohol, music, her imagination, stardom — will fix her problems. Lovato reveals in the docuseries that she wrote “Anyone” in the days leading up to her overdose.

These feelings of discontent quickly turn into life-threatening repercussions in the second and third tracks, “Dancing with the Devil” and “ICU (Madison’s Lullabye).” Lovato admits in “Dancing with the Devil” that she almost died because of her overdose and in “ICU (Madison’s Lullabye)” she makes a promise to her younger sister, “I’ll be there, don’t worry/ ’Cause I was blind, but now I see clearly/ I see you.” These lyrics are in reference to the singer’s temporary blindness she experienced upon initially waking up in the hospital, leaving her unable to see her sister, according to the docuseries.

The second part of the album focuses on Lovato starting over, reflecting on her journey of self-love and discovery. Loneliness is a theme throughout the album with “The Art of Starting Over” expressing Lovato’s realization that no material thing or person will help her on this journey, especially not a man. She sings that the woman in her “Does not cry/ For a man who is a boy and he does not deserve this.” In “Lonely People” Lovato reminds her listeners that while loneliness is well, lonely, it is essential to becoming happier and healthier.

This doesn’t mean friends are not important, however. Lovato makes this clear on “My Girlfriends Are My Boyfriends,” featuring Saweetie, where Lovato emphasizes the high place her girlfriends hold in her heart. Why waste your time crying over boys when you could hang out with your friends? While the lyrics lack cleverness and wordplay, the song is catchy enough to earn a spot on any hot girl summer playlist.

Similarly, Lovato’s collaboration with Ariana Grande in “Met Him Last Night” is nothing surreal in terms of lyrical genius, but fans who have been charmed by a deceiving man before will be able to relate. Grande’s feature is sure to bring this track to the forefront of radio hits with its satisfying mix of Grande and Lovato high notes.

Alongside these lighter pop tracks, the lyrics of “Melon Cake” are a punch to the gut about Lovato’s struggles with eating disorders and maintaining the unrealistic image of Hollywood. She reveals that she’s witnessed someone getting fired for “chocolate in the back seat” and in a tender moment she apologizes to her younger self for what she’s been through, including depriving herself of birthday cake each year.

Overall, the album delivered on its title, featuring Lovato’s reflection on relapsing and accepting help along with her journey to self-made happiness. This is one of Lovato’s best albums in terms of lyrics with raw moments on tracks such as “Anyone,” “Melon Cake” and “ICU (Madison’s Lullabye).” The project benefits from the pop tracks dispersed throughout to serve as emotional relief from its harder hitting songs. Lovato has given us an in-depth look at her thoughts and insecurities and many listeners will see themselves inside, reminding them that although they might be lonely, they’re not alone.

Grade: B+

Spring break is almost here. If you’re experiencing the familiar school burnout, fear not. A&E has several recommendations to help you get through the last week of the grind before break.

Something to watch:

“Bad Trip”: Netflix released its newest buddy comedy “Bad Trip” starring Eric André and Lil Rel Howery on March 26. The film follows André and Howery as they embark on a cross country road trip to New York City and the chaos that ensues. The story is partly scripted, with the rest featuring hidden camera pranks on the unsuspecting public. Those who enjoy “The Eric Andre Show” will find the film full of André’s trademark dry, slapstick humor alongside Tiffany Haddish’s and Michaela Conlin’s talents.

“Big Time Rush”: Those who have been waiting for more Nickelodeon shows to hit Netflix can rejoice, as “Big Time Rush” seasons one through four recently became available on the streaming platform. Escape school stress with this childhood favorite that features four Minnesota native hockey players turned pop stars and follows their wacky adventures as they try to make it big time. Are you team Logan, Kendall, Carlos or James?

Something to listen to:

“Queering Community Health”: If your eyes can’t handle additional screen time, take a break and check out Shift MN’s new podcast called “Queering Community Health.” Through the podcast, Shift MN hopes to create space for those who have been and continue to be excluded from telling health-related stories, while also providing trustworthy information and resources. The first episode introduces host Azul and includes interviews with the project’s creators about their vision for upcoming episodes.

Something to tap your foot to:

“4/9” by Dad Bod: In Dad Bod’s latest single, “4/9,” the band combines steady drums and soft lullabylike guitar with lyrics of regret and longing to create this nostalgia-inducing record. Lead singer, Callie Marino, sings, “Sometimes I wish we hadn’t/I would grow old and/Forever miss a part of me I’d never meet/And just like the moon tugs at the waves/I’ll feel you pull me close across this cavernous divide” as the sound builds to a crescendo, ending the song with the same feeling of yearning as the lyrics. This record is perfect for spring rainy days when you want your music to be as relaxing as watching raindrops fall.

Something to try:

Keefer Court Bakery & Cafe: Located on West Bank at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Riverside Avenue, Keefer Court Bakery & Cafe is the only Chinese bakery in the Twin Cities and has served traditional handmade pastries since the 1980s, according to the bakery website.

Support a local business and try its mouth-watering coffee cream rolls or its vegan lemon custard bun. If you’re craving something more savory than sweet, try the barbeque pork pineapple topping bun or the meatless spring onion bun. The cafe also has an array of authentic Hong Kong-style entrees such as roast duck and shrimp wonton noodle soups. Keefer Court is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but you can grab takeout or curbside orders Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.