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.
The summer is finishing awfully strong for Milwaukee’s concert scene. It seems like that list of “best concerts” down below gets longer and longer every week, and we couldn’t be more thrilled for the city’s music fans to have so many solid options.
This one has us looking a little further ahead than usual — all the way to next week, when Arlo Parks visits for a long-overdue (but understandably delayed) Tuesday night show at The Rave.
The celebrated indie-alt talent was all set to appear at the Pabst Theater almost exactly two years ago before taking a moment to check in with herself and realize 18 months of almost uninterrupted touring had worn her down. “I pushed myself unhealthily, further and harder than I should’ve. I find myself now in a very dark place, exhausted and dangerously low,” she said in a social post.
“My hope for the future is that we, as artists, find balance, that people are protected from burnout, that health is put first before all else,” she continued. “I think a gentler, more empathetic approach to artists and their limits would re-infuse touring with the joy it so naturally contains.”
The joy seems to be back, thankfully, and she’s on the road in support of her well-received 2023 album, My Soft Machine. Our listeners voted the track “Eugene” one of the year’s best and have been enjoying Parks on our airwaves since Rhythm Lab Radio featured her in 2019. It’s time to get the in-person experience as Parks headlines a show with local favorites Social Cig opening.
Two quick honorable mentions this week. If you jumped on this story right away Wednesday, you’ve still got time to make plans and catch Bizhiki at Vivarium. Music director Erin Wolf featured their single, “Rez News,” on What’s All This just a couple weeks ago, and we were fortunate to book Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings of the Bad River Ojibwe, Joe Rainey of the Red Lake Ojibwe and multi-instrumentalist S. Carey for a Studio Milwaukee Session a few hours before the show.
Our other rapid recommendation also has ties to Studio Milwaukee, which welcomed the wonderful Victoria Canal last October. The talented pianist/guitarist/vocalist first visited our space for Grace Weber’s Music Lab in November of 2019 and returned to promote her WELL WELL EP released last year. That cycle saw her perform at the Milwaukee Public Library’s Centennial Hall, and now she’ll bounce over to Vivarium for a Monday night performance with special guest Lucy Clearwater.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Sept. 11: Bizhiki @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 12: Chris Porterfield w/Field Report (EP release) @ The Cooperage, 6 p.m.
- Sept. 12: Ben Mulwana, Sirsy @ Anodyne on Bruce, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 13: Mat Kearney w/Darren Kiely @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 13: cosmicTrick feat. Cyrus Chrome @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
- Sept. 14: Charly Bliss w/Raffaella @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 14: Buena Vista Social Orchestra @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 15: Oh Geeez Not Again, 5pm to Nowhere, Luke Frees @ Anodyne on Bruce, 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 15: Wire and Nail (Milwaukee Record Halftime Series) @ Cactus Club, noon
- Sept. 15: Adam Paddock, Micah Emrich, Colin Bracewell @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 16: Victoria Canal w/Lucy Clearwater @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 17: Arlo Parks w/Social Cig @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- Sept. 17: Great Lake Swimmers @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
