Brandi Carlile stayed on brand at the Target Center on Saturday (2/21) in Minnesota by raising over $600,000 at her benefit show to support human rights.
Carlile's show at the arena, billed as Be Human: A Concert for Minneapolis, was part of The Human Tour. Monies for the performance at the home of Minnesota's NBA Timberwolves went to the Minnesota-based Advocates for Human Rights.
In a Facebook post the next day, Carlile wrote, “Last night was something I’ll never forget. Minnesota is so deeply inspiring to me and the whole country. I can’t believe I got to sing for you and WITH you last night. So many people came together to celebrate your strength and conviction.”
The Twin Cities, but especially First Avenue and now Target Center have been hot spots for benefit shows by big named acts to raise awareness and funds surrounding human rights in the wake of federal agents killing two Minnesotans.
Who can forget several weeks ago (1/30) when Tom Morello welcomed Bruce Springsteen to his Defend Minnesota benefit at First Ave where The Boss live debuted "Streets of Minneapolis."
Then on (2/15) Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner and local artists including Hippo Campus and Justin Vernon, participated in the ICE OUT! Mutual Aid Benefit at First Ave. where all proceeds went to families impacted by escalating federal enforcement.
Carlile's benefit though was the largest at 14,000 in attendance, dwarfing the gigs at the 1,500 capacity First Ave across the street.
“I couldn’t bring myself to get onstage in Minneapolis in front of over 12,000 people without recognizing what Minnesotans are going through,” Carlile said in a news release.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to harness the power of music and raise funds for The Advocates for Human Rights, who need our funding to heal generations of trauma at the hands of ICE," she continued. "What affects one of us, affects all of us and we need to continue to look out for each other.”
A good portion of the money that was raised came from the $30 live stream mixed by the great Springsteen engineer Bob Clearmountain.
The audiences both at the venue and at home heard a wide assortment of the Grammy-winners catalogue including covers of Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time,” Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” and Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.” Carlile got some help with the latter from members of The Head and the Heart who also served as the opening act.
Carlile also included two songs in her setlist she co-wrote with Elton John: “Who Believes in Angels?” and “You Without Me" - both songs appear on the collaborative LP she made with John called Who Believes in Angels? which was released last year.
Sandwiched between the Coldplay and Alanis covers was “Church & State," where video of local protesters appeared screens behind her.
Carlile told the crowd, “You’re special people. There’s nothing like you. I’ve never been more inspired in my life by a city.”
Sounds like Brandi is inviting you to raise the bar, LA. She will be playing the Forum tonight followed by gigs up the west coast and then one in South Carolina.
Then she heads to Europe in October. Tix available on her website.
The Human Tour 2026
2/27 Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA
3/4 Moda Center, Portland, OR
3/6 Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
5/29-5/31 Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
6/7 The Cistern at College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
10/15 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
10/18 Co-op Live, Manchester, United Kingdom
10/19 OVO Hydro, Glasgow, United Kingdom
10/21 The O2, London, United Kingdom
10/23 La Seine Musicale, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
10/24 THE HALL, Dübendorf, Switzerland
10/26 Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
10/27 AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
10/29 Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
10/30 Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden
