Turf Club

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1601 University Ave. W. St. Paul, MN 55104

651-647-0486

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3 User reviews Write A Review

Best Celebrity Sighting
Award Winner 2011

Entertainment: Live Entertainment

Description

Few bars in St. Paul can boast the kind of bang-per-buck ratio as the Turf, where a twenty will get you in to see a three or four-band set -- usually featuring notable local and national indie-rock acts -- and enough drinks to last you pretty much all night. Upstairs features a classic, unpretentious '40s-vintage bar atmosphere, while the Clown Lounge downstairs hosts weekly jazz nights.

Mark Sultan

9:00 p.m. May 26

Mark Sultan may not be a household name, but he's an incredibly busy and influential musician. Typically thrown into the "garage punk" genre, he's ...
Hairy Karaoke

9:00 p.m. every Sun.
Cactus Blossoms

9:00 p.m. every Mon.
Mystery Train, the Sights, Rat Catcher, Diver Dress

9:00 p.m. May 31
The Real McKenzies

8:00 p.m. June 1

with Civet.

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2011 | Best Punk Rock Literary Series

There is something about literary readings that can feel a bit awkward and not that much fun. But Riot Act Reading Series takes the stick out of poetry's butt by infusing punk rock energy into the lit--two fine arts that work great together, with the presence of alcohol smoothing the way. Since 2006, Paul D. Dickinson, formerly of the legendary punk rock/art venue Speedboat Gallery, has been captain of this ship, along with his lovely co-host, Laura Brandenburg, both experts at keeping... More »
2011 | Best Concert of the Past 12 Months (Local)

How long is 78 hours, really It's the length of a four-day, three-night vacation. It's the ultimate all-nighter, longer than anyone should ever stay awake in one stretch. And it's enough time to rally more than 100 musicians behind one lofty, maniacal goal; enough time to form dozens upon dozens of one-off bands, all in the name of the marathon. When Mark Mallman set out to perform his longest continuous song yet, all the usual questions came up: Will he be able to stay awake Are there... More »
2011 | Best Celebrity Sighting

Have you heard the one about the identity thief It goes like this: A Madonna impersonator walks into a bar, but not just any bar. Our bar, our hometown bar, our Turf Club, and all the Twin Cities forgets for a moment that she's a mere copycat, a charlatan in corsets and dead animal flesh. When Lady Gaga, fresh from her show at the Xcel early in the morning on the First of September, walked into the Turf Club, she made us forget that the storied bar and venue is about rock music--real... More »
2011 | Best Hipster Hangout

New Year's Eve at the Turf Club ended with another wildly successful Cover Band Night, featuring a variety of local acts covering their favorite bands, from the Beatles to Suicide. As bands and fans cleared out at bar close, many planned to return the next night to see another potential barnburner featuring Marijuana Deathsquads. But just hours before the doors were to open, the show was called off, and staff reporting to work found the place locked, the lights out, and a sign on the front... More »
2011 | Best Bathroom Graffiti

The graffiti adorning the walls of the women's bathroom outside the Clown Lounge on the lower level of the Turf Club is a schizophrenic menagerie reflecting the variety of eras the Turf Club has lived through. It's a mixture of weird sponge art from some bygone era (the '90s) and more topical, contemporary additions: some painted tribal art, something about a girl band from a handful of years ago, and inspiring quotes like, "The Midwest is the epicenter for the revolution!" Add to that the... More »
2010 | BEST JAZZ CLUB

Jazz has been in a state of quiet crisis ever since first-wave boomers started rejecting the '60s and '70s tendency toward innovation in favor of fare they could easily talk over. Hence the problem at some metro jazz clubs: No matter how storied or formidable the talent at the area's most esteemed institutions, too many patrons are likely to treat the music as a backdrop for conversation. But the Turf Club's Monday night Jazz Implosion, hosted for over half a decade by local/international... More »
2008 | BEST ROCK CLUB

St. Paul's Midway neighborhood can be a desolate place. There's something defeating about those chain stores and DMV outposts gazing imperiously on Snelling and University from their bituminous moats. But nestled here in this wasted economic hub is St. Paul's crown jewel of live music, glowering in the rough like a guerrilla sniper. With a capacity of over 250, inviting booths pushed far enough back from the stage to accommodate a crush of crazed concert-goers, and a staff of world-wise... More »
2006 | BEST ROCK CLUB

This time last year, hipsters were all aflutter about the impending doom of this much loved venue. The Turf Club had changed hands--bought by a guy who ran Irish pubs, no less!--and the Clown Lounge had been stripped of all its disquieting Barnum and Bailey flair. But as with the rebirth of First Avenue not long before, the Turf Club came back better than ever. Walls were knocked down, relieving the narrow venue with a little extra breathing room. And breathing room was needed, as... More »
2004 | BEST CONCERT VENUE

Go ahead. Show us a musician who doesn't like strutting under the glimmer of Christmas lights or sucking up a beer beneath the velvet paintings in the Clown Lounge downstairs. Show us a fan who hasn't shown up early for Raleigh's Tacos (Tuesdays and Fridays), or crowded into the photo booth, or leaned over the bar to chat with ever-affable bartender Dave Weigardt. We'll show you a loser whose zeal for live music probably ended with the last lyre concert on Mount Olympus. Both Brooklyn... More »
2004 | BEST JUKEBOX

The jukebox at the Turf Club is one of the most underutilized musical treasures in the Twin Cities. There's a simple, obvious reason for this: Most people go to the Turf Club to hear live music. Consequently, the jukebox stays dormant during the bar's busiest hours. The old skells and pool players who populate the Turf in the pre-dusk hours aren't really ones to toss away dollar bills to hear some Thin Lizzy. Like the other first-rate jukeboxes in town (C.C. Club, Grumpy's, Triple Rock... More »
2002 | BEST ROCK CLUB

You know that a musician-frequented club is a good one. On any given night down in the Turf Club's Clown Lounge, one can find drummer JT Bates cracking a beer, Exercise's Preston Olson cracking a joke, or any number of riled-up local drummers looking as if they might want to crack some heads. In fact, you can gain so much from just people-watching in this place that you almost forget there's music to be heard. Yet drag yourself away from the bar and toward the stage, and you'll find some of... More »

Amy Ray/The Shadowboxers

By Rick Mason | Wed, May 16, 2012

Long established as the edgier, rock half of the Indigo Girls (vividly complementing Emily Saliers's folk lyricism), Amy Ray has further indulged her fiercer inclinations on a series of solo albums, including the recent, roots-oriented Lung of Lov... More »
Big Freedia

By Erik Thompson | Wed, May 09, 2012

Twin Cities music fans are still shaking something after Big Freedia's wild local debut back in December. And she didn't keep us waiting too long for a return engagement. While area fans weren't quite sure what to expect at Big Freedia's last show... More »
White Denim / Hundred Visions

By Rick Mason | Wed, April 18, 2012

The writhing knot of delights White Denim pack into every tune can drive you crazy if you're foolish enough to try to unravel it. Expect that you'll be lunging at boogie, gawking at gnarly prog-rock tendrils whipping between guitarists Austin Jenk... More »
Heiruspecs' Third Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Show

By Erik Thompson | Wed, April 04, 2012

St. Paul hip-hop collective Heiruspecs still remember where they came from, and keep giving back to the students of their alma mater, St. Paul Central High School. All the proceeds from these two performances at the Turf Club go to the Heiruspecs ... More »
Vicious Vicious

By Rob van Alstyne | Wed, April 04, 2012

White dudes trafficking in come-hither R&B can be broken down into two schools of thought. There's imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery revivalism ("The Mayer Hawthorne"), or intentionally over-the-top deconstruction ("The Har Mar"). For ne... More »
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henry.travis28 | Minneapolis, MN | 26 Reviews

| Fri, August 27, 2010

All I got to say is the Clown Lounge. If your scared of clowns stay up stairs.
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HeatherK | Minneapolis, MN | 88 Reviews

| Tue, March 17, 2009

This place is cool for a show. They have a colorful atmosphere with a photobooth and a second bar downstairs in what used to be called the clown lounge due to its attire. Now its more like a up north cabin.
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emilyutne | Minneapolis, MN | 17 Reviews

| Tue, January 20, 2009

Best place to see First Communion Afterparty, you never know when they will get up on stage and sing with the Von Bondies Check out the Clown Lounge if the music sucks upstairs!