Scheduled — and rescheduled: Your guide to 2022 concerts in Sioux Falls

Patrick Lalley

January 24, 2022

The most common word in the 2022 concert schedule is “rescheduled.”

Rage Against the Machine, Matchbox Twenty and Backstreet Boys are all scheduled for dates at the Denny Sanford Premier Center this year after multiple pandemic-related delays.

Guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke has an upcoming show at the Orpheum – hopefully – after four attempts to reschedule.

For the sake of this discussion, we’re going to assume society can weather the omicron wave and the scheduled shows will happen.

The challenge for the national tours recently isn’t so much that the artists don’t want to perform, but that when a band member tests positive for COVID, it knocks them off the road, said Jered Johnson, president of Pepper Entertainment.

Johnson’s company books and promotes acts across the country, as well as at The District and The Alliance locally. Venues and fans have gotten good at adapting to situations. Promoters learned that when a show must be postponed, it’s important to announce the rescheduled date immediately.

“We want to keep consumer confidence up,” he said. The quicker you can get it rescheduled and announce the new date the better. We are seeing very few refunds. People get it.”

It’s still early in the year, but looking at the next few months in Sioux Falls, there’s a clear trend. It’s a good time for fans of big classic metal shows.

NOTE: If you’re not a metal fan, or metal curious, or you really hate metal, please skip down to where you see “Iron Maiden” and pick up the thread. Just as a preview, you’ll see the likes of Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Steve Vai, Backstreet Boys (really), Cole Swindell and DROELOE (they’re Dutch).

Megadeth and Lamb of God are on the second leg of “The Metal Tour of the Year” and will stop in Sioux Falls on April 24. That date also includes Trivium and In Flames.

So either it’s going to be a really long night or more of a highlights reel, like the Dick Clark tours from the ’60s. With metal.

Either way, fans are sure to be pleased.

Before that big-room show at the Denny — I always wanted to just call it “The Den,” who’s with me? — rock-n-roll legend Alice Cooper is playing the Washington Pavilion on April 3. This continues a trend of ’70s acts doing theatre shows. Styx, Foreigner, et al.

Cooper has been to Sioux Falls many times, notably through his association with the former Brennan Rock & Roll Academy. No word if this is an “intimate night with Alice Cooper” or a blow-the-roof-off situation.

Either way, fans are sure to be pleased.

Then, things really get going for the metalheads — or at least hardrockers — among us.

Shinedown comes to The Den on April 11, touring in support of their seventh album, “Attention Attention.” It’s a fair point to say they are more rock than metal, but they have their metalish moments, so there you go.
Either way, you get it. The band has a decorated 20-year history and lots of fans who will be pleased.

Rage Against the Machine with Run the Jewels had planned to be in town May 13. The tour now starts July 9 and will be in town on a future date. Eventually, this is going to be a thing. All the cool kids will be there. They’re not kids anymore, but they’re still — probably — cool.

RATM has been a staple on the festival circuit since Lollapalooza. Is it considered metal? Who can know? But it’s going to be a pretty, pretty big show.

Then, looking all the way down the road to Oct. 3, it’s Iron Maiden. They’re old, they’re British, and they’re legends in the field. Can we call it roots metal?

OK, if you were skipping the metal section, this is where you pick up. Thanks for hanging in there.

A couple of shows for people who love great guitar players, regardless of genre.

Steve Vai is at The District on March 22. This is an all-ages show, so all the aspiring teenage rockers can see how it’s done. Vai is the real deal of rock-n-roll, associated with Frank Zappa, Ozzie Osborne and David Lee Roth. He also has won three Grammys, composed classical music and invented some guitar technology.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd is an equally celebrated guitar player in the blues-rock genre. He has played with everybody from Buddy Guy to Stephen Stills, has a ton of hits and is married to Mel Gibson’s daughter. He’s at The District on May 3.

In the near term, the most interesting event featuring local artists is Sun Daze at Monks Ale House on Jan. 29. Sun Daze is the collaboration between Wes Eisenhauer and Brandon Phrommany. It’s an electronic vibe with vocals that shift and move with wonderful subtlety. (I basically made that up, but I couldn’t just say it’s cool and move on. But it’s cool. Let’s move on.)

Eisenhauer is well known as the co-founder of Soulcrate Music and multiple projects since. Phrommany is best known as a member of the Tenenbaums, a local rock outfit.

They’re worth your time.

Johnson of Pepper Entertainment said the outlook for touring bands is strong for the foreseeable future, particularly with the onset of warm weather and the predicted decline of omicron infections.

“I think the summer is going to be huge,” he said.

There is good news for fans of more intimate settings as well. Total Drag, the vinyl-centric store at 307 E. 12th is hosting live shows again following the pandemic hiatus. On March 13, Portrayal of Guilt performs with Yashira.

More announcements will be coming soon, said Dan Nissen, who owns Total Drag with his wife, Liz.

“Whatever we do this year is gonna be rad,” Nissen said. “We’re not super sure of how everything will go. We’ll book what we want to bring. It’ll be less than in the past, but what we do book is gonna be great and packed I’m sure.”

There’s not a lot of local music scheduled yet, including the schedule and lineups for the various festivals through the summer. And the Levitt at the Falls hasn’t released its lineup, other than to say it’s going to be back to 50 dates. We’ll have to come back and do a summer preview in a few months.

Here’s the list of everything we know so far, with apologizes if we missed someone.

Tuesday, Jan. 25
Kate Pierson; R Wine Bar & Kitchen; 7 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 27
Live Jazz with Jazzed; R Wine Bar & Kitchen

Friday, Jan. 28
Hairball; Sanford Pentagon; 7 p.m.
Elisabeth Hunstad; Severance Brewing

Saturday, Jan. 29
Sun Daze; Monks Ale House

Saturday Feb. 5
Scotty McCreery; The District; 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 11
“I Am, He Said,” A Celebration of Neil Diamond; Washington Pavilion; 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 12
Hegg Brothers; DaDa Gastropub; 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 19
Ward Davis; Bigs Bar; 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 26
Leo Kottke; Orpheum Theater; 8 p.m.
Night Shield’s Birthday Bash and CD Release; Bigs Bar; 9 p.m.; Ages 18 and up

Friday, March 4
DROELOE; Orpheum Theater; 8 p.m.

Thursday, March 10
Morgan Wallen; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 12
Work of Wolves, More than Enough, Lost Harbor and Great Odin’s Raven; Icon Lounge; 8 p.m.

Sunday, March 13
Portrayal of Guilt with Yashira; Total Drag; 7 p.m.

Tuesday, March 22
Steve Vai: Inviolate Tour; The District; doors open at 7 p.m., concert at 8 p.m.; all ages

Friday, March 25
Cole Swindell; Sanford Pentagon; 7:30 p.m.

Friday, April 1
Lainey Wilson; The District; doors open at 7 p.m., concert at 8:30 p.m.; all ages

Sunday, April 3
Alice Cooper; Washington Pavilion; 7:30 p.m.

Monday, April 11
Shinedown; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7 p.m.

Sunday, April 24
Megadeth and Lamb of God; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 6 p.m.

Thursday, April 28
Mercy Me; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3
Kenny Wayne Shepherd; The District; 8 p.m.

Friday, May 20
Kansas; Swiftel Center in Brookings; 7:30 p.m.

Friday, June 10
Matchbox Twenty; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, June 14
Trace Adkins; The Alliance; doors open at 7 p.m., concert at 8 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 5
Old Dominion; W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds; 8 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 11
Backstreet Boys; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 15
Jackyl; The Alliance; doors open at 6:30 p.m., concert at 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 3
Iron Maiden; Denny Sanford Premier Center; 7:30 p.m.

TBD: Rage Against the Machine with Run the Jewels; Denny Sanford Premier Center

Editor’s note: Rage Against the Machine was postponed after publication of the original version of this story.

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