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For 40 years, the Dakota has welcomed musicians from across the world to take a seat at its piano. Saturday, the downtown Minneapolis nightclub will celebrate this rich history with the artists and community who have shaped it.
To honor the history of the club, a free block party runs from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday both outside the Dakota and on its indoor stage. Two stages will host a lineup of local musicians, while the club’s signature cuisine and food pays homage to the New Orleans roots of jazz.
Described as a human encyclopedia of music, Lowell Pickett opened the club in 1985 to create an experience for patrons.
“I wanted there to be elements that would attract my friends and I,” Pickett said. “For me, those things were good, chef-driven food, a good wine-by-the-glass list, outdoor dining and music.”
For 18 years, the club called Bandanna Square in St. Paul its home, fitting in with the industrial buildings and history under the name Dakota Bar and Grill. Ken Goff served as the executive chef at the time, with music oriented toward the local jazz scene.
The club soon earned a national reputation after jazz piano sensation McCoy Tyner performed in October of 1988. He was the first nationally recognized artist to play the club, followed soon by Moore by Four and Harry Connick Jr., who celebrated the new year on an NPR broadcast later that year.
“That progression lasted through the end of the 1900s, into the 2000s,” Pickett said. “And by that time, we’d become a venue that presented some of the greatest jazz artists in the world, many of them on a pretty regular basis. And we had become known for that around the country.”
Move and expansion
In 2002, local producer Richard Erickson joined Pickett as a business partner. A year later, the Dakota relocated to its current home at 1010 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.
Since then, the club has expanded beyond jazz to include the diverse sound of the Twin Cities.
“The musical culture of the Twin Cities is extraordinary. When you compare to other cities of the same size, they don’t compare,” Pickett said.
One of its most notable regulars was Prince. In 2013, the Purple One performed a sold-out, four-night performance. The Dakota was the only small venue besides Paisley Park where Prince played before his death three years later.
“I was backstage, looking out behind the band into the front of the house. Prince is just shredding his guitar while a wall of humans, just inches from him, stood awestruck in the moment,” said director of operations Joe Doermann in a news release.
Doermann started at the Dakota 19 years ago as a patio server, handing in his resume the day he moved to Minneapolis. He described the most rewarding part of the job as the people who come through the door.
“Lots of people have traveled just to come to events here,” Doermann said. “It’s new every single day, it’s never the same thing. There’s always a different band. There’s always a different genre.”
One of the genres introduced was Americana rock, the signature sound of Davina Sowers, who discovered the Dakota on a whim after moving to Minneapolis.
“I was a street performer,” Sowers said. “And when Lowell called me, I was just tickled pink that he gave me the opportunity.”
Her band, Davina and the Vagabonds, has been playing at the club for nearly 20 years. Sowers will headline the indoor stage at the anniversary event, an honor and testament of her love for the venue, she said.
“I don’t think I would be anywhere in my career or musically if it wasn’t for Lowell giving me that phone call 20 years ago,” Sowers said. “He’s given me so many opportunities to share my voice and my music.”
Grew up with club
Some current performers have grown up alongside the Dakota, the club a staple of their early introduction to music. Musician Tina Schlieske attended shows at the club when she was young, and soon formed her own band, Tina and the B-Sides.
Now, she performs music from across her catalog, mixing rock and jazz to complement the shifting signature sound of the club.
“Its incredible,” said Schlieske, who is performing Saturday. “The Dakota to me is a lot like First Avenue in some ways because of the history of the artists that have graced the stage — to be amongst those artists is a privilege.”
In an effort to grow leadership, Erickson’s two sons, Lucas and Tyler, joined the ownership group of the Dakota in 2024. Tyler, having grown up in the club and working in the bar as a teenager, took on the new role with pride.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is how we’ve always put the artist first. Lowell has always been an incredibly passionate and (strong) advocate and supporter of musicians,” Tyler said. “That’s something you don’t find everywhere.”
Throughout the decades, the Dakota has grown with its artists and audience. The club has made itself a home in its celebration of music and food, and now wants to give back to its community in gratitude with its block party.
“It’s a celebration of the musical community that we’re so fortunate to live in,” Picket said.