The location, layout and general vibe may be very different this year. Like Taste of Minnesota festivals of old, however, the free music lineup Saturday in the revamped event’s new downtown Minneapolis site offered an oddly mish-mashed, nostalgia-heavy but crowd-pleasing mix.

Country music veteran Martina McBride, ’90s adult-rock hitmakers the Wallflowers, and homegrown alt-country veterans the Gear Daddies were the top-drawing acts for the first of two days in Taste’s second year in a setting that also feels quite hodge-podgey.

The fenced-off Taste grounds are spread out between empty parking lots and blocked-off streets around the Minneapolis Central Library and the north end of Nicollet Mall. It’s not the prettiest of sites, and finding somewhere to sit is harder than spotting a low-calorie food option.

However, the new digs did smoothly accommodate the strong turnout amid Saturday’s golden weather, with organizers reporting more than 35,000 attendees through the gates by 3:30 p.m.

Considering the festival’s old location on Harriet Island has been flooded in recent days, the new spot certainly felt sufficient for Taste’s many offerings — including a new fleet of food trucks, four music stages, an amateur wrestling ring and even a zip line.

The biggest of the four new Taste stages is in a crumbly lot sandwiched between the library, Four Seasons Hotel and other tall buildings. Thanks to this site, U.S. Bank Stadium may no longer hold the distinction of being Minneapolis’ most echoey music venue. A mid-afternoon set by rapper and DJ Sophia Eris with beatmaker pal Makr was especially muddied by the bouncing acoustics and other technical issues.

The sound and vibe at the Jazz 88 stage on the north end of the Taste layout was much more appealing, in part because it’s one of the few places you’ll find trees or grass. Local jazz stylist Jennifer Grimm had fans there cooling in the shade and singing along to Billie Holliday’s “I’ll Be Singing You,” and the BZ3 Organ Trio with all-star drummer Kevin Washington had them up and grooving through an instrumental cover of Prince’s “Controversy.”

Since none of the other mainstage acts enjoyed huge Instagram followers or TikTok numbers, it was no surprise that many of the attendees who stuck by the big stage looked old enough to have regularly attended Taste of Minnesota’s prior iterations, evolving over the mid-1980s to the late 2000s on Harriet Island and the State Capitol grounds in St. Paul.

Performing between Eris and an ultra-hyping intro by comedian Fancy Ray McCloney, Gear Daddies’ frontman Martin Zellar joked that his band was “going to cut the energy in half.” Of course, their old favorites such as “Zamboni” and “Stupid Boy” did the opposite and sparked big, smiley audience singalongs. Even the downers in the Daddies’ set were well-received, including “Color of Her Eyes” and “Cut Me Off.”

The Wallflowers started out feisty and loud with songs off their last album, highlighted by “The Dive Bar in My Heart” — reminiscent of Minnesota legends the Replacements, whose bassist Tommy Stinson was watching from side-stage. Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan greeted the crowd by cheekily noting that, unlike his dad Bob, he did not qualify as a taste of Minnesota.

“You guys do know I’m not from here, right?” he cracked. “But I thank you for this as some kind of homecoming.”

Despite personnel changes over the years and a long lull in the 2010s, the rock scion’s band sounded as rock-solid and full-spirited as ever as it revisited some of their best-known tunes, including a rootsier-styled “6th Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight.” Instead of offering a taste of (Bob) Dylan for the Minnesota fest, Jakob paid tribute to Tom Petty with covers of “Refugee” and “The Waiting” at the end of their set.

In the headlining slot, McBride played to a smaller crowd but showed why she’s endured in the male-dominated Nashville music biz for three decades. Her 1993 breakthrough hit “My Baby Loves” kicked off a series of feel-good love songs, including “Safe in the Arms of Love” and “Love’s the Only House.” Her covers of country classics “Rose Garden” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man)” came off sweet, too, given they were launched by two female country music legends. Too bad Taste’s spotty sound system cut out during the former song.

Taste of Minnesota continues Sunday with a music lineup that is more truly Minnesotan — and should attract a lot of Prince fans — as Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Morris Day and other members of the Time are slated to stage a rare reunion tied to the 40th anniversary of “Purple Rain,” preceded by Sounds of Blackness and more.

UPPER MARLBORO, M.D. (KFYR) – Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson has died in an overnight car accident. The rookie was 24 years old. The Minnesota Vikings confirmed it on their X social page this afternoon.

According to Maryland police, Jackson was one of three killed in the crash. Former college football players Anthony Lytton Jr. and Isaiah Hazel, who were in the car with Jackson also died. Jackson was not driving.

Jackson was a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. He spent his final year of college at Oregon, earning First-Team All-Pac-12 honors in his lone season with the Ducks. He spent the previous two seasons at Alabama.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell posted about the rookie’s passing.

“I am absolutely crushed by this news. Khyree brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team. His confidence and engaging personality immediately drew his teammates to him. In our short time together, it was evident that Khyree was going to develop into a tremendous professional football player, but what was more impressive was his desire to become the best person he could be for his family and those around him. I am at a loss for words. My heart goes out to Khyree’s family, friends, teammates and coaches,” said O’Connell.

Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.

Minnesota United FC (8-8-5, eighth in the Western Conference) vs. LA Galaxy (11-4-7, second in the Western Conference)

Carson, California; Sunday, 10:30 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Los Angeles -168, Minnesota United FC +368, Draw +337; over/under is 3.5 goals

BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota United visits the LA Galaxy looking to end a four-game road slide.

The Galaxy are 10-3-5 against Western Conference opponents. The Galaxy have a +13 goal differential, scoring 41 goals while allowing 28.

United is 5-7-4 against Western Conference teams. United is sixth in the Western Conference drawing 119 corner kicks, averaging 5.7 per game.

The matchup Sunday is the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The last meeting ended tied 2-2.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dejan Joveljic has scored 11 goals with five assists for the Galaxy. Gabriel Pec has four goals and six assists over the past 10 games.

Tanitoluwa Oluwatimikhin Oluwaseyi has scored seven goals and added three assists for United. Bongokuhle Hlongwane has three goals and four assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Galaxy: 6-2-2, averaging 1.9 goals, 6.0 shots on goal and 4.7 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.0 goal per game.

United: 2-6-2, averaging 1.5 goals, 4.1 shots on goal and 4.9 corner kicks per game while allowing 2.2 goals per game.

NOT EXPECTED TO PLAY: Galaxy: Jonathan Perez (injured), Gaston Brugman (injured).

United: Hugo Bachrach (injured), Tanitoluwa Oluwatimikhin Oluwaseyi (injured), Dayne St. Clair (injured), Carlos Harvey (injured), Teemu Pukki (injured).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.