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.
Album-release shows pop up on the calendar pretty regularly in Milwaukee, giving us the chance to double support our local artists by picking up their new tunes and hearing them live. What Zach Pietrini and Wildered lined up for this Friday at Anodyne takes that double and doubles it again, as both artists celebrate new releases live in concert.
It’s a very on-the-nose approach for Petrini, whose contribution to this party is an actual live album — and an unplanned one at that.
The Milwaukee heartland rocker (and possessor of one of the finer mustaches in the local music scene) gathered his trusty musicians and headed to Wire & Vice Studios for what was supposed to be a three-song recording session/video shoot. They knocked out three takes for the three songs, looked around and realized they had some time left.
“I'd look up after a take and ask ‘Wanna do one more?’” Pietrini shared in notes about the new release. The answer kept coming back in the affirmative until “one more” became an eight-song album with all the energy of Pietrini’s raucous live shows. Pragmatically titled Live at Wire & Vice, the project is available now on his website and gets its proper introduction to the world this Friday at Anodyne.
So, with their frequent collaborator Pietrini set to release a live album, Wildered said (not literally), “Oh yeah? We’ll see your live album and raise you a DELXUE album. And also let’s play a show together.”
The project led by Nate Bjorge put out Emezov in June of 2023 and decided to put a little more meat on that bone with a supersized version that is waiting patiently for this week’s show before emerging into the sunlight. The deluxe release and Petrini’s live offering make for a solid night of Americana-adjacent tunes this Friday at Anodyne.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Feb. 26: Yam Haus w/Bizzy, Modern Joey @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 27: Brennan Wedl, Max & The Fellow Travelers, Alewives @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- Feb. 27: Sister Wife Sex Strike, Doom Scroll, Dusty the Kid, Rat Bath @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 28: Zach Pietrini (album release) w/Wildered @ Anodyne, 7:30 p.m.
- Feb. 28: Lowdown Brass Band w/TAE & The Neighborly @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 28: Well + Good (EP release), The Keystones, Orange Element, Mas Verde @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m.
- March 1: Logan Ledger w/Mason Via @ Anodyne, 7:30 p.m.
- March 2: Mizzy, I H8 It Here, Thotcrime, Bejalvin, Cocojoeyyy @ X-Ray Arcade, 6:30 p.m.
- March 2: Dusk, Graham Hunt, Misprints, Innuendo @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- March 2: HR of Bad Brains w/special guests @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- March 4: Clem Snide @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
