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.
So, the first (and last) time I saw Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Miller High Life Theatre, it felt like I was at a revival of sorts. Cave worked his gothly rock ‘n’ roll poet magic by playing on his fans’ emotions. He sauntered through the aisles, the spotlight following his lanky form as he gracefully clambered over his cheering and swooning audience while his band revved in the background.
I’d always imagined that was what it would be like to see him, and I wasn’t sold short. To see Cave solo is a totally different experience, which I’ve also had — way more subdued but equally impressive. In either setting, Cave is a poet at heart. He plays on your emotions, ready to make you either cheer or cry. When he’s with the Bad Seeds, it’s usually the former.
Touring on his most recent (and 17th) album, Wild God, Cave brings the Bad Seeds back to the Miller High Life Theatre this Wednesday, ready to revival it up. But don’t expect a spectacle, necessarily. Cave will likely warm up his audience until he has them eating from the palm of his hand, clapping for more. Hopefully, he’ll dish out those extra deep cuts fans have come to expect in addition to some of the new slow-burners.
If you want to save your live-music energy for later in the week, Milwaukee’s got not one but two local album releases to choose from: Milwaukee’s musical nomad Brett Newski and his band The Bad Inventions will share their newest at Falcon Hall on Friday, and soft-spoken folkie Jacob Slade will put the spotlight on his record this Saturday at Vivarium.
— Erin Wolf, 88Nine music director
A quick bonus pick before we get to the full list: Ben Folds with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) this Saturday night. We’re fortunate to have one of the country’s top orchestras when it comes to artistic excellence and community engagement, and Saturday’s show welcoming Folds to the Bradley Symphony Center is a prime example of both.
If you were fortunate to catch Chris Thile’s performance with the MSO just a few weeks ago, you know how special these “pops” shows can be — particularly when you have a true music nerd (I use the term lovingly) as the guest performer. Thile and Folds both fall under that category, and to hear their already-brilliant compositions elevated by a full orchestra is not to be missed.
— Brett Krzykowski, director of digital content
Best Milwaukee concerts this week
- April 30: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds @ Miller High Life Theatre, 8 p.m.
- April 30: G.M.G., Glitzy, Brindled, Lightninging @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- May 1: Frail Talk, Blacktop, Maximiano @ Anodyne, 7 p.m.
- May 1: Bronco, The Keystones, JACK, Killer High Life @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- May 1: Whitehall, Cal in Red, Alley Eyes, Bowvee @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- May 2: The Arcadian Wild w/River & Rail @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- May 2: Salford Lads Club (farewell show) w/Pretend, DJ Paul H @ Mad Planet, 8 p.m.
- May 2: Brett Newski & The Bad Inventions (album release) @ Falcon Hall, 8 p.m.
- May 3: Ben Folds w/Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra @ Bradley Symphony Center, 7:30 p.m.
- May 3: Jacob Slade (album release) @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- May 3: The Ghost Club, The Burkharts @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m.
- May 6: The Magnetic Fields (69 Love Songs anniversary) @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
