I Took A Brat Pilgrimage To Minneapolis & Lived That Life Von Dutch

When Charli XCX announced the North American dates for her Brat Tour at the end of 2024, one destination stuck out. “Minneapolis?” I questioned.

If it were a longer tour, then sure, I could see a large hub like the Twin Cities getting Charli’s show — but this was only four stops: Austin, Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis. Among those other entertainment metropolises, the Mini Apple felt like an idiosyncratic choice. Could a locale that’s literally known for its signature “nice”-ness appreciate the decidedly un-Midwestern concept of Brat? After a weekend soaking in the city’s music scene, thanks to an opportunity from Explore Minnesota, I finally saw the vision.

While the “Minnesota nice” stereotype did prove true in all of the exceptionally kind and helpful people I met, Minneapolis has an edge hidden just beneath the surface. Two of my favorite movies — 1999’s Drop Dead Gorgeous and 2011’s Young Adult — both relish in bringing a dark edge to quaint-seeming Minnesota towns. Most recently, I savored the underhanded chaos of the drama-filled Love Is Blind season set there. And of course, the most famous Minneapolis celebrity is also perhaps the most unconventional, boundary-pushing superstar ever: Prince.

Newly emboldened to embrace the bratty bite hidden behind the Midwestern smile, I set off to explore Minneapolis a couple of days before Charli’s concert. Here’s how it went.

Thursday, April 24

1:30 p.m.: Shop and drop (literally) at the Mall of America

After my flight landed on Thursday afternoon, I beelined it to the attraction most synonymous with the Twin Cities: the Mall of America. Contrary to the Drop Dead Gorgeous quote (“You'd think they'd build the parking lot of America to go with the Mall of America!”), I found there was plenty of parking.

Along with over 500 stores, the gargantuan shopping center is perhaps best known for its theme park-scale rides. The simulator FlyOver America offered a fully immersive flight showcasing natural wonders across North America, like Niagara Falls and Crater Lake. The little sprays of water during the approximately 10-minute ride were particularly refreshing after getting off an airplane.

Before I left, I also rode the Pepsi Orange Streak roller coaster, which weaves throughout the mall’s theme park section. It’s a great way to get a lay of the land, without too many scary thrills (there are other rides for that).

4 p.m.: Check into the Hewing Hotel

With the Mall of America accomplished, I got settled into where I’d be staying. The Hewing Hotel is a historical building in the heart of the North Loop neighborhood, which is full of nice restaurants and shops. Although the hotel has a luxe vibe, I really loved how the exposed brick throughout the building and in the rooms made everything feel more comfortable and homey.

7 p.m.: Eat dinner at Spoon and Stable

For my first meal in town, I went to Spoon and Stable, a nearby restaurant that had recently been nominated for a 2025 James Beard Award. Like with my hotel, I was struck by its non-intimidating mix of fancier high culture with a more rustic, genial atmosphere. I had the steelhead trout, a filet that practically melted in my mouth, especially combined with a sorrel cream sauce. It came with a hearty side of mushrooms, oysters, and dumplings.

Friday, April 25

9 a.m.: Start the morning at Fairgrounds Craft Coffee

After a night in, I was ready to really get into the Minneapolis music scene during my first full day. But first, I strolled over to Fairgrounds Craft Coffee, a coffee shop just up the street from my hotel. I ordered a veggie breakfast sandwich with egg, spinach, kale, tomato, and goat cheese. The best part was the giardiniera aioli covering everything. For my caffeine fix, I got the matcha miel latte, which adds cinnamon and honey to a usual matcha latte.

While I ate, I read a few pages of If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio, a 2017 novel about a murder mystery set in a school of Shakespeare students. Highly recommend for any fellow recovering English majors.

12 p.m.: Take a private tour of the First Avenue nightclub

My favorite location of the whole trip was First Avenue, a legendary nightclub that I wasn’t familiar with before I got to tour it. It used to be a bus depot before becoming a music venue in 1970, so it has a pretty unique look. The outside is completely black and covered with white stars, each of which is scrawled with the name of a band or artist who has an important history with First Ave. Prince’s star is the only golden one.

Prince is also the name most famously associated with the club. He was known to frequent the DJ booth to test out how audiences would respond to music he was working on, and had a penchant for playing so late into the night (or, more accurately, morning) that the police would intervene. Most notably, several scenes from 1984’s Purple Rain were filmed in First Ave.

The club is still iconic for both hosting huge megastars as well as lifting up local rock acts. Lizzo got her start playing showcases at the venue, and more recently, I was surprised to learn that huge acts, including Billie Eilish and Gracie Abrams, played the much smaller 7th Ave Entry stage, which only holds a little over 200 people, to give their fans super intimate performances in a storied space.

2:30 p.m.: Explore Paisley Park with a VIP tour

After getting a taste of Prince at First Ave, I was ready for a full meal of his artistry about a half-hour away at his purple palace, Paisley Park. My phone was locked away for most of the VIP tour of Prince’s estate, but after wandering through his four recording studios, basketball court, and the kitchen where he served his famous pancakes (shout out to that New Girl episode), I was able to snap some shots in the superstar’s massive soundstage.

The room that piqued my interest most was the nightclub Prince had attached to his estate, which he opened to the public and would sometimes wander onto the stage whenever he felt like playing some new music for whatever crowd happened to be there.

6:30 p.m.: Eat dinner at All Saints

I chose All Saints for dinner before coming on this trip because its menu boasted a lot of tasty-looking vegetable-forward dishes, and I’ve been trying to eat a bit healthier recently. But I couldn’t resist getting the scallops once I sat down to eat. They were served with a carrot hummus and walnut tabouli that gave the seafood dish a rich, woodsy feel, especially paired with the Cigarillo cocktail I ordered (made with rum, banana, and cacao).

9:30 p.m.: Turn up at the PowerPop Girls drag show

A big reason I was so excited to tour First Avenue earlier in the day was because of my plan to return at night for the ultimate pop girlie drag show. Inspired by the viral comparisons of Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan to the PowerPuff Girls, drag promoter Flip Phone put up a PowerPop Girls tribute act that I simply could not miss, especially on Brat Tour Eve.

Sasha Cassadine hosted the show in her Chappell red, kicking things off with the perfect party-starting semi-deep cut “Guilty Pleasure.” In terms of stunts, Iconica stole the show by performing “Pink Pony Club” atop an actual pink pony. Ken Doll served the whole short ‘n sweet fantasy by nailing Sabrina’s bedazzled towel reveal to “Juno.” The cameo of the night came at the end, when Aryana performed Charli’s part of the “Girl So Confusing” remix and was soon joined by Drag Race winner Aquaria dressed as Lorde.

I was already pumped to see Charli before this, but now my inner brat was fully awakened.

Saturday, April 26

10 a.m.: Grab a bite at Bryant-Lake Bowl

I had a more low-key breakfast to recover from my drag-filled night, ordering a simple scramble, toast, and coffee from Bryant-Lake Bowl. The unique diner is pretty interesting, since it has a bowling alley and a theatre in addition to its restaurant area. If you watched Season 8 of Love Is Blind, you’ll recognize it as the spot where Dave and Lauren finally broke up.

11 a.m.: Stroll through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Bryant-Lake Bowl is pretty close to Minneapolis’ famous sculpture garden, and since it was a super nice day out, I decided to walk my breakfast off while checking out the art. Of course, the only piece I was really familiar with was the sculpture of a spoon with a cherry resting on it that has become a Minneapolis landmark, officially titled Spoonbridge and Cherry.

The park wasn’t too large, and it was totally free, so I found it to be a perfectly pleasant way to enjoy a good 45 minutes of my Saturday.

6 p.m.: Fuel up for the concert at Graze Food Hall

My hotel was only about a 15-minute walk to the Charli show at the Target Center, and luckily, the perfect dinner spot was right on the path. I grabbed a bite at Graze Food Hall, a two-story hangout with eight different unique dining options. I decided on the Asian street food vendor, Umami, and got the Sweet Peanut Pad Thai Bowl.

The real star of the food hall is its bustling, open environment. After eating at one of the tables inside, my concert companion and I got a drink and sat by the outdoor fire for a while until it was time to fully go “Spring Breakers.”

7:30 p.m.: Bumpin’ that at the Charli XCX concert

The culmination of my northern pilgrimage finally arrived on Saturday night, as I found my spot to the right of the Brat Tour stage while opener Finn Keane (who has writing and producing credits all over Brat) spun his thumping beats.

I looked up Charli’s set list ahead of time (I know it’s controversial, but I like to know!), and there were no deviations from her Austin, Texas shows a couple of days prior. Still, the performance felt special, with Charli calling the bombastic audience “the motherf*cking craziest crowd.” “It’s the truth,” she screamed after a deafening “Club Classics” performance. “I’m not even playing around and doing that stage talk sh*t!”

At one point, Charli pointed out what makes her pop show unique: a total lack of backup singers, a band, or dancers. It really is just Charli going wild on an otherwise empty stage all show long. “I see the stuff online sometimes,” the pop star said, adopting a mocking tone, “‘It’s just her up there throwing herself around. How boring.’ And I’m like, ‘B*tch, you get up here and do it then, motherf*cker! I’d like to see you try!’”

She definitely took up the space, from flying high into the scaffolding for “Apple” to dancing in a caged runway for “365,” even spitting on the floor and licking it up in a particularly bratty show of defiance. The most memorable moment came at the end, as a pillar of rain soaked Charli while she performed cult-favorite “Track 10,” leading to her closing the show with tidal splashes as she threw herself around to “I Love It.”

After the show, I walked back to my hotel in a neon-green glob of people, the chorus to “Party 4 U” occasionally rising from different pockets of the moving Brat-hive. Yes, even among the cozy niceties of the Midwestern north, a brat can still thrive.