Ron Trent

On sale: Friday, March 8 at 10:00am CT

After hosting Detroit legends Moodymann in 2017 and Carl Craig in 2018, a question we got quite often was “where do you go from here?” We puzzled over this question ourselves until the answer made itself clear: you go to Chicago, a crucial member of the Midwest Funk Association, where our 2019 guest DJ has been getting deep for 30 years.  

Few living artists can claim to encapsulate the Chicago sound better than Ron Trent. Ron was only 14 years old when he produced “Altered States”, a track which would take Chicago and eventually the rest of the world by storm, and is still considered a classic 30 years later. He would go on to be one of the chief architects of Chicago deep house, both as a solo artist and through his output with Chez Damier released on their legendary record label, Prescription Records.  

Trent would go on to release numerous dance floor hits throughout his career, and has even branched out into doing remixes for the likes of Erykah Badu and Tony Allen. His funky, soulful, and deep sound make him a perfect guest for this event. As attendees have come to expect, the night will feature a rare chance to witness a Midwest icon making his Minneapolis debut in a very intimate setting. He will be taking us on an extended 3 hour sonic journey through his interpretation of what Midwest Funk means to him at this event.  

Joining Trent on the bill is local heavy hitter Midnight Music Club (aka Craig Lambert), who just became a label mate of Ron’s on the respected Chicago record label Headphoniq, as they recently released his debut full-length album Swing Easy. Lambert will be representing Minneapolis with a live set of his original tunes. Local DJ Aaron Brooks rounds out the bill.  

As we mark the third rotation since Prince left this Earthly Plane, we gather once again not to hang our heads and cry but to celebrate the spirit of the patron saint of Minneapolis, on the dance floor, where it is meant to be done. On this night, we pay tribute not just by playing music he created, but by exploring the sounds that influenced him and that he influenced. On this night, we are not from Minneapolis, or from Chicago or Detroit. We are from the Midwest. And that is what this event is all about.