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 seems like this regular feature of ours always says something to the effect of: “Holy crap, it’s an absolutely packed week of live music in Milwaukee.” So I won’t use those words exactly.
What I will say is that this particular stretch of the concert calendar is so very crowded that you could go to not one, but two different venues both Friday and Saturday, and leave feeling very strongly connected to this city’s music scene.
Let’s get the self-serving one out of the way quickly. Over that two-day stretch at Radio Milwaukee, our two stations — HYFIN and 88Nine — will host separate showcases for local talent. HYFIN’s Latest & Greatest is up first with Troy Tyler and Kia Rap Princess, and 88Nine’s State of Sound takes over our performance space the following night with Lauryl Sulfate & Her Ladies of Leisure, Shontrail, The Hatchets and Adorner. Plus, Discourse will be there to round out your concert experience with its always-well-thought-out lineup of beverages.
Use either of those links (or both!) to get tickets for the show (or shows!) of your choice, and we’ll see you this weekend.
Your other opportunity to post up and get familiar with one of the city’s live-music venues comes at the newest member of that club: Vivarium. The Pabst Theater Group just cracked the doors on the most recent addition to their portfolio, and it lined up a bunch of rock-solid performers who just so happen to hail from Milwaukee.
Leading things off Friday night are Diet Lite at the top of a bill that also includes Motel Breakfast and Ladybird. The Diet Lite boys put out one of my favorite MKE albums of last year, Into the Pudding, and are sure to sprinkle those new tracks throughout their set. Add to that their notoriously exuberant stage presence, and you’ve got yourself a nice little Friday.
The niceness continues into Saturday, when Buffalo Nichols brings his modernized blues sensibilities to the Vivarium stage along with openers Social Caterpillar. Nichols dropped The Fatalist last September and was kind enough to share a handful of those songs at a Studio Milwaukee Session during our fall membership drive. No doubt they’ll sound just as rich and well-crafted in the new East Side venue.
More shows worth a go
- March 1: Tyler Ramsey @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
- March 1: Adorner (single release) w/Hanna Simone, B-Free, Pretoria @ Linneman’s, 8 p.m.
- March 2: Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- March 2: Social Cig, Gold Steps, Triptych @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- March 2: Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound @ Anodyne on Bruce, 8 p.m.
- March 2: Lunasa w/Daoiri Farrell @ The Irish Cultural Heritage Center, 7:30 p.m.
- March 3: Hello Death, Code Noir @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m.
- March 4: Aimee Mann w/Jonathan Coulton @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
