New Standards and Jayhawks announce December hometown gigs, with new twists

Two Twin Cities bands music fans love to see perform at home around the holidays, the New Standards and Jayhawks each announced their December 2024 gigs on Tuesday with a few days’ notice before tickets go on sale.

The New Standards’ 17th almost-annual holiday concerts at the State Theatre will take place Dec. 6 and 7, including two 8 p.m. shows both days plus a 4 p.m. matinee performance on Dec. 7. New this year: The theater’s box office will open at 11 a.m. Friday so fans can buy tickets an hour before they go on sale via Ticketmaster. Seats will range in price from $30 to $130.

“This is our way of saying, ‘We love and appreciate you,’” the New Standards’ band members said in their newsletter about the early in-person sales. A sure sign it’s true love: They also promised free donuts for fans who line up in person.

As always, the jazzy revisionist trio — led by the Suburbs’ Chan Poling and Semisonic’s John Munson, with wizardly vibraphonist Steve Roehm — is keeping other details of the 2024 holiday concerts under wraps, including who to expect among the usual cavalcade of guest performers. Last year’s roster, for instance, included Dan Wilson, Davina Lozier, Jeremy Messersmith, Storyhill and comedian Lizz Winstead.

The Jayhawks aren’t keeping it a secret who’s going to join them at their two hometown December gigs this year: Fellow early ’90s Americana pop-rock darling and longtime pal Matthew Sweet is coming up from Omaha to open both shows, which are scheduled Dec. 20 and 21 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Prior installments of these home-for-the-holidays gigs — which date back to the early ’90s, when the band spent the rest of the year on the road — have taken place at the Palace Theatre and First Avenue in recent years.

The venue isn’t the only thing new about this year’s Jayhawks run: Gary Louris and his crew also will change things up musically and play more of a stripped-down set each night.

“The shows this year will feature a more ‘acoustic’ presentation, which presents all kinds of exciting possibilities for the setlists and staging,” the band wrote in a post promoting the gigs.

Tickets for the Jayhawks’ dates go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via AXS.com starting at $45, with presale options beginning Wednesday.