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.
Nov. 9: City and Colour @ Pabst Theater
Dallas Green, the Canadian musician behind City and Colour, has worn his heart on his sleeve since 2005 to bring us songs that make us laugh, cry and fall in love. Somehow, his folk-driven indie rock dug even deeper on his latest full-length album, The Love Still Held Me Near, which he wrote during what he described as “the most difficult time of his life”.
In “The Girl,” a standout from 2008 album Bring Me Your Love, Green sings: “If you were to leave, fulfill someone else’s dreams, I think I might totally be lost.” Fifteen years later, he displays the aftermath of having actually lost some of the things he held closest.
His most expansive project yet came after the death of his cousin Nicholas Osczcypko, as well as City and Colour producer and engineer Karl Bareham, who drowned while on tour in 2020. All this occurred while he was separated from his wife of over 11 years, believing their marriage to be over. Needless to say, the record sounds heavier and feels heavier.
Singing about hard times is nothing new for City and Colour. It's a necessary way for Green to process the highs and lows of life. Even in the dark throws of The Love Still Held Me Near, there is a familiar feeling of hope. City and Colour continues to be light peaking through clouds after an unrelenting storm.
Inside Dallas Green are two wolves. One is a heart wrenching indie folk project. The other is his early hardcore alter ego, Alexisonfire. The unspoken influence of pop-punk in City and Colour, especially in their early work, speaks to Green’s true nature. His current state serves as a throughline to both projects.
This Saturday, you’ll have the chance to experience the first of the two wolves during a night of catharsis as City and Colour take the stage at the Pabst Theater.
Nov. 6: Caley Conway (album release) @ Anodyne
Folk-leaning, ethereal indie rocker Caley Conway has produced some of her finest work to date on new album Partner, the Milwaukee musician’s first full-length since 2019 and a record that feels like a conversation with a friend. By the end of the 10th song, it’s like you forget you’re on Facetime, believing your bestie to be in the same room as you.
Conway accepts the listener with open arms and asks them to do the same as she tackles the heavy, the mundane and the beautiful through a musical dreamscape. After giving us a week to absorb the record, she’ll celebrate its release Wednesday night at Anodyne on Bruce with support from Cathedral Becomes Tomb and The Hatchets.
Nov. 11: Standstill, Lightninging, ULNA @ Cactus Club
The dream sequence continues next Monday at Cactus Club. where Milwaukee shoegazers Standstill and Lightninging will support Chicago DIY-Elliott Smith-adjacent artist ULNA.
The two openers are both somewhat reincarnations of past projects, jigsawed together by seasoned Milwaukee musicians. Dream-pop outfit Standstill pulls in current and some former members of Crawlspace, Cream Vellum, Dog Bad, Barflord and Rainbow Cobra. Lightninging’s melting pot of jazz, rock, electronic and pop is made possible by former members of Gauss, Social Caterpillar, Frenia, The Naima and King of Salad.
See and hear how those puzzles came together — and then cap your night with ULNA — at Monday night’s Cactus Club show.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Nov. 6: Caley Conway (album release) w/Cathedral Becomes Tomb, The Hatchets @ Anodyne on Bruce, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 7: The Surfrajettes, Black Widows, Fuzzysurf @ X-Ray Arcade, 6:30 p.m.
- Nov. 7: Eugene Mirman @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Nov. 7: Killer High Life, Scorched Waves, Secondhand Souls, Oh Well OK @ Anodyne on Bruce, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 8: Brian Dunne @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
- Nov. 8: Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Rami Gabriel @ Anodyne on Bruce, 7:30 p.m.
- Nov. 8: Diet Lite, The Shackletons, Lunar Moth @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 8: Robot Witch w/Local Legends, Convoy @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 9: City and Colour w/Pedro the Lion @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- Nov. 9: Haley Heynderickx w/Lily Breshears @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Nov. 9: Good Night & Good Morning, Haunter, Apollo Vermouth @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 9: Gold Steps, When the Sun Sets, Mighty Vices, Lake Drive @ Anodyne on Bruce, 7:30 p.m.
- Nov. 10: Cursive, Gladie @ X-Ray Arcade, 6 p.m.
- Nov. 11: ULNA, Standstill, Lightninging, DJ Rooney @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 11: Sorry Mom, Aubrey Del Mar, Carb-Ho Hydrate, Rat Bath @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 12: Blitzen Trapper w/GoldenOak @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
