The Format has scheduled two $52 ticketed concerts at Minneapolis’ First Avenue on Sept. 18 and 19, followed by a free 2 p.m. show on Sept. 19. The free performance is part of the band’s Saturdays in the Park series, although the Minneapolis event is being held at First Avenue rather than in a park, MinnPost reported. First Avenue’s Mainroom holds 1,550 people and began as a Greyhound bus depot in 1937 before becoming a music venue; it was also featured in Prince’s film Purple Rain, according to Meet Minneapolis.
The benefit release
The band is directing proceeds from “The Bar Is Set So Low” and a long-sleeved T-shirt to four organizations: the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, Immigrant Defense Network, Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Latino Memphis. The song became available on streaming services Aug. 14, after previously being released through Bandcamp, with all proceeds designated for those groups, according to mxdwn Music.
MinnPost reported that Nate Ruess wrote the lyrics in 2024 about the treatment of immigrants in the United States. The Format performed the song at its Phoenix album-release show in January 2026, then re-recorded it for the later release, mxdwn Music reported. Ruess and Sam Means are the band’s members; Ruess also formed fun. and co-wrote “We Are Young.”
The Minneapolis setting
Immigration in national context
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018-2022 five-year American Community Survey estimates, the nation’s foreign-born population grew by more than 5 million over the previous decade to 45.3 million people, or 13.7% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That national estimate does not provide the share of Minneapolis residents who are immigrants or who speak a language other than English at home.
The shows come after Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration-enforcement operation that deployed more than 2,400 Department of Homeland Security agents across Minnesota between December 2025 and February 2026, according to the Minnesota Reformer. The operation included two fatal shootings and one death in ICE custody.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs intensive-care nurse, was fatally shot by Border Patrol officers in Minneapolis on Jan. 24, 2026, while recording agents and helping a bystander, according to The 19th. Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent inside her vehicle on Jan. 7, according to PBS News.
Band’s return
The Format broke up in 2008 and had planned a 2020 reunion tour that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ABC Audio. The Minneapolis dates are part of the band’s long-delayed return to touring. Local organizations are also expected to speak between sets about ways concertgoers can participate, a detail reported by MinnPost.
