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 Educators Credit Union.
You can go a couple different directions after summer’s end: Ramp down your activity to ease into the winter months or do as much as humanly possible before snow and cold urges us to huddle at home.
The Milwaukee concert calendar seems to prefer the latter approach because the week ahead has way too many options for even the most energetic concert-goer. But feel free to give it a shot, starting with our tippity-top pick: MJ Lenderman & The Wind at Turner Hall next Monday.
The guitarist from Wednesday and Waxahatchee collaborator has rapidly built a solid reputation for his own project, which last month released Manning Fireworks to great acclaim. Like his other two gigs, Lenderman’s output with The Wind is lyrically straightforward and unflinching in its honesty while doling out plenty of wit to go with the wisdom. Above all, the stuff he sings about is relatable or at least accessible, even while singing about characters with beach homes and houseboats and a wristwatch that’s a pocket knife and a megaphone.
Lenderman’s up-and-coming-ness quickly graduated this Monday’s show from Vivarium to Turner Hall, which wasn’t enough to stop the show from selling out. We’re still including it as our top pick in the hope you’ll be able to scrounge up a ticket between now and then.
The great thing about concert weeks like this is that even if you can’t score a spot (or a babysitter) for your first option, there are so many others — including two shows featuring artists we’re going to welcome to our performance space for a pair of Studio Milwaukee Sessions.
Nada Surf is up first this Friday at Vivarium in support of new album Moon Mirror, which added even more rock-solid material to a catalog that seems to have an endless supply of the stuff. The NYC band have been at it for more than 30 years and, as the quality of their latest record indicates, haven’t lost anything off their fastball.
They’re sure to throw a lot at you Friday night at Vivarium and will tease that performance with a Studio Milwaukee Session we’re opening to the public at noon the same day.
Finishing up our back-to-back sessions are Hotline TNT, who will hit up Radio Milwaukee HQ at noon Saturday prior to their show that night at Cactus Club. They’re about a year removed from the release of Cartwheel, an album that received just as many plaudits as the other artists we’ve selected this week. Like the guys from Nada Surf, Hotline TNT aren’t afraid to add liberal dashes of pop to their sonic stew, and the approach netted very positive results on Cartwheel.
That would be enough for us to recommend catching Hotline TNT at Cactus Club on Saturday. Then they went and lined up Madison’s Disq as an opener, leaving us no choice but to put them in the spotlight — both here and at a Studio Milwaukee Session (members only) at noon Saturday.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Oct. 9: Illuminati Hotties w/Daffo @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 9: Sway Wild w/Alison Mahal @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 10: Vanity Plates, Faye, Angelica, DJ Big Janitor @ Cactus Club, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 11: Horseshoes & Hand Grenades w/Ladybird @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 11: Nada Surf @ Vivarium, 8:30 p.m.
- Oct. 11: Lake Drive (EP-release show) w/The Keystones, Micah Emrich, Superglue @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 11: dak duBois (album-release show) w/HOSTS, Bro. Malik @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 12: Hotline TNT, Disq, Cry Baby @ Cactus Club, 8:30 p.m.
- Oct. 12: Jamming for Jimmy feat. BoDeans @ Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 12: Becky G @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 12: Judah & The Lion w/Abe Parker, Wildered @ The Rave, 7:15 p.m.
- Oct. 12: City Slang w/The Mighty Deerlick @ Linneman’s, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 14: MJ Lenderman & The Wind w/Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band @ Turner Hall, 8 p.m.
