So Minnesota: The Dakota has brought world-class music talent to the Twin Cities for decades

One music club has brought world-class talent to the Twin Cities for decades.

The Dakota in downtown Minneapolis has become a legendary music venue for the last four decades.

“I thought I was going to be a lawyer,” Dakota owner Lowell Pickett said. 

Growing up in Austin, Minn., Pickett had an early love for music. With that love for music, Pickett in 1985 opened the Dakota in St. Paul’s Bandana Square.

“When we first opened, the music was all artists from the Twin Cities,” Pickett said.

A few years later, McCoy Tyner, one of America’s greatest jazz musicians, performed at the Dakota. The rest is history.

“That introduced us to national artists at the Dakota for a higher ticket price,” Pickett said. “I think it was $8 we charged.”

In 2003, the Dakota relocated to Minneapolis’s Nicollet Mall and has hosted some of the biggest names in music, including Prince in 2013.

“I think this is the smallest room that Prince has performed a ticketed show in decades,” Pickett said. “He did three nights, six shows, two shows a night, that was special.”