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.
It’s always a special occasion when a songwriter like Bob Dylan makes his way back to Milwaukee (especially for two nights). But when another legend like Lucinda Williams also plays mere blocks away for one of those nights? That’s — in Dylan’s words — “When the Ship Comes In.”
Dylan makes his return to Milwaukee for a pair of shows this week at The Riverside Theater: tonight (Oct. 11) and tomorrow (Oct. 12), with the second of those dates happening the same night Lucinda Williams takes over The Pabst Theater just three blocks away.
Dylan and Williams have new music to celebrate — Williams’ Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart was released at the end of June, and Dylan’s Shadow Kingdom arrived earlier that same month — and the freshly 82-year-old Dylan is still on his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” worldwide tour, which kicked off nearly three years ago in Milwaukee.
In addition to Kansas City, Chicago and Toronto, Milwaukee is one of only four cities with multiple dates on this tour. Milwaukee, in particular, feels extra special thanks to a local legend who came before.
In his tour kickoff show in 2021, Rolling Stone noted that Dylan made a point to honor “The Waukesha Wizard” during his time onstage in Milwaukee: “We wanna play this whole show tonight for Les Paul,” Dylan said. “Les Paul, we know he was from here, and we wanna honor him tonight with this show.”’
To have Dylan round back to Milwaukee surely seals that honorary remark. Catch him at The Riverside Theater on Oct. 11 and 12, and Lucinda Williams at The Pabst Theater on Oct. 12.
More shows worth a go
- Oct. 12: Brief Candles w/Cult of Lip, Dialogues @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 13: Geese @ The Back Room @ Colectivo, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 13: Low Cut Connie w/Matthew Logan Vasquez @ Shank Hall, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 14: Social Caterpillar (record-release show) w/snag, Caley Conway @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- Oct. 14: Diet Lite w/Chapped Lips, Basketball Divorce, Zippo Man @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 14: Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals w/The Jack Moves @ The Riverside Theater, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 14: Jacob Slade w/Sleepy Gaucho, Smushie @ The Back Room @ Colectivo, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Sheer Mag w/Hotline TNT, Innuendo @ X-Ray Arcade, 6:30 p.m.
