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.
There’s a lot happening in and around Milwaukee’s downtown area this week, and the impact has been felt in just about every area you can imagine. Fortunately, the city’s concert scene has a couple things going for it:
- It extends well beyond downtown and includes two great southerly located venues — Cactus Club and X-Ray Arcade.
- The thing occupying downtown wraps up Thursday, leaving us the weekend to get back to normal live-music programming.
Both of those factors come into play for today’s pick, which finds Tim Showalter bringing his Strand of Oaks project to Cactus Club this Sunday, July 21.
The show has a “familiar artist entering a new phase” feeling to it based on the wonderfully wide-ranging interview Showalter recently gave to 88Nine music director Erin Wolf. The dude went into the pandemic as an accomplished musician with six studio albums under his belt and emerged having released number seven (In Heaven) and becoming a painter AND becoming an actor.
You can find out all about those very legitimate new pursuits when the interview posts first thing Thursday morning, but for now we can summarize by saying Showalter went through a lot of productive changes in the last few years. So if you’ve experienced his music — recorded or live — in the past, you’re going to get something new at Cactus Club this Sunday. And if you haven’t, what a way to introduce yourself to this fascinating, well-rounded human being.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- July 17: Rosali w/David Nance & Mowed Sound @ X-Ray Arcade, 8 p.m.
- July 18: Mom Rock, Daisychain, Fellow Kinsman, The Thing With Feathers @ Cactus Club, 7:30 p.m.
- July 18: Linus, Mold, Overhand, Okay Omen @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- July 19: Chapped Lips, North Warren, The Kilroys, Oh Well OK @ Linneman’s, 7 p.m.
- July 20: Social Caterpillar (farewell, early show) w/Ellie Jackson, @ Cactus Club, 5 p.m.
- July 20: Social Caterpillar (farewell, late show) w/Garden Home, Ladybird @ Cactus Club, 5 p.m.
- July 20: Blind Pilot w/Angela Autumn @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- July 20: Lucky Daye w/Fana Hues @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- July 21: Strand of Oaks w/Lacey Guthrie @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- July 22: Colin Bracewell, Social Cig, Jacob Slade, Micah Emrich @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
