Milwaukee’s concert scene has a lot going on, so we look at the shows coming up to find the ones you’ll look back on and be glad you went. Then we add them to our weekly Milwaukee Concert Picks, sponsored by Urban Ecology Center.
The only thing better than putting a show from one of the city’s fast-rising bands at the top of Milwaukee Concert Picks is putting TWO of them. We have that luxury this week thanks to snag, whose celebratory Saturday at Cactus Club starts with an early gig at 6 p.m. and a late affair at 9 p.m.
The twice-as-nice booking comes courtesy of snag’ new album, All the Cages Holding Us Will One Day Turn to Dust, which ventured out into the world last Friday. The band’s first release for national indie label Deathwish Inc. has attracted notice from well-respected outlets like Stereogum and plucky public-media institutions like us, both of which had nothing but positive things to say about the record’s lead singles.
The reaction to the full album has been the same, with Boolin Tunes providing a pretty decent summary of the project: “It’s part emo battle cry against ecological disaster, part violent backlash to chronic illness and mental health stigma. In short, it’s eleven tracks of rude, crude and emotional music that will set crowds giddy and moshpits wild this summer.”
You’ve got two opportunities to put that to the test this Saturday at Cactus Club, with Angelica and Frantic Repair opening the 6 p.m. show, followed by Garden Home and Viscacha as openers for the 9 p.m. performance.
Some chronological quickies worth highlighting as well start Thursday night at one of Milwaukee’s newer live-music outposts: the Jackalope Lounj located inside the Wicked Hop, which will welcome the always-excellent Caley Conway for a 7 p.m. show. The folk-centric singer-songwriter popped by the DJ Takeover earlier this year to talk about her most recent album, Partner, and what the future might hold — but stay in the present for now and catch her in the Third Ward this Thursday.
Friday night takes us to a slightly bigger venue, as The Strokes visit the American Family Insurance Amphitheater with their “Reality Awaits” tour. The new album that shares the tour’s name was originally scheduled for release by the time the New York-based band came to town, but the project got pushed back a couple weeks and is now slated for July 24. That makes this show a chance to hear some of the new stuff and all of those classic Strokes tracks, all in one felled swoop.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- July 16: The Fray w/Dashboard Confessional @ Landmark Credit Union Live, 7 p.m.
- July 16: Nike Lowe & Los Straitjackets @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- July 16: Lucas Jon Turner @ The Argo, 6:30 p.m.
- July 16: Joseph Huber Band w/Lily Slay & The Vertebrae, Joe’s Truck Stop @ Falcon Hall, 8 p.m.
- July 16: Caley Conway @ Jackalope Lounj, 7 p.m.
- July 17: The Strokes w/Cage the Elephant, Thundercat @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater, 7 p.m.
- July 17: Pedro the Lion w/Advance Base @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- July 18: snag (record release) w/Angelica, Frantic Repair @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m.
- July 18: snag (record release) w/Garden Home, Viscacha @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
- July 18: Oh Well OK w/LOBI, TOOMS, Disposable Thumbs @ Linneman’s, 8 p.m.
- July 19: Rainbow Cobra (album release) w/Teenage Ice Age, Poor Ridley @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
