If you’re one of those immersive concert goers, you’ll love the idea of being able to see a show at one of the coolest venues (right by Lake Michigan) AND be art-adjacent to boot.
The Lakefront Festival of Art is where you can sit alongside the Milwaukee Art Museum and watch not only the wings of the Burke Brise Soleil, but also local musicians as they set songs into flight June 13-15. The festival’s lineup includes Caley Conway, Ellie Jackson, Evan Christian, Zach Pietrini, Known Moons, Maximiano and plenty more (see the whole schedule right here).
If that’s not enough fest-ing for you, we’ve got another festival and a season kicker-off-er rolled into one this Saturday, June 14. Happily ushering in summertime here in Milwaukee, Summer Soulstice is one of the notable “good ones” on the calendar. Yes, it heralds beautiful weather, but it’s also decidedly homegrown and local-centric that it feels like a true celebration of the scene. As the organizers say, “It’s all about the music of Milwaukee.”
The full lineup includes sets from Blood, NilexNile, Ladybird, Wave Chapelle, Bug Moment, Hanna Simone, Gego y Nony, The Hallelujah Ward and Collections of Colonies of Bees. Check out the schedule for all six stages and make plans to bask in the music (and sunshine, hopefully!).
If you’ve got energy to spare Saturday, you can head to the south side to catch Milwaukee dreampop and showgaze-dealers Shrinestone. Friends and fellow music-makers Ted Brusubardis, Sam Lozoff, Liz Barton, Brandon Birchbauer and Jason Todd make up this new project, and although they’re still pretty shiny, they’ve already got a debut EP in the books called Zed (due in August)
Shrinestone might already feel vaguely familiar — either because you got acquainted with their EP via 88Nine’s spins of the track “Disdance” or because frontman Jason “J” Todd has been around Milwaukee’s music scene for decades in projects like Def Harmonic and Cashfire Sunset, just to name two.
The band provides a swirling sound perfect to drift and dream to, which should make for a sweet, atmospheric soundscape in a live setting. Chicago post-rock band FACS (featuring Brian Case of Disappears) plays after Shrinestone warms up the stage at Cactus Club this Saturday, June 14.
Best Milwaukee concerts this week
- June 12: Sleeping Trees, Shoulderbird, The Hallelujah Ward @ Anodyne, 7 p.m.
- June 12: Social Cig, Chutes, Beauty Filter @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- June 12: dak duBois @ Third Space Brewing, 6 p.m.
- June 12: The Unlikely Candidates, Bloom The Arctic, Well + Good @ Falcon Hall, 7 p.m.
- June 12: Diva Bleach, 5ever, Risk, Lolitslea, Lake Drive @ X-Ray Arcade, 6:30 p.m.
- June 13: Ledisi w/Marsha Ambrosius @ Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
- June 13: Peter Mulvey w/Trapper Schoepp @ Anodyne, 7:30 p.m.
- June 13: Glitzy, Blind Hill, Dicot @ Cactus Club, 10 p.m.
- June 13: Take Me Back to Warped Tour II — Callback, ourVanity, Gold Steps, Lake @ Falcon Hall, 7 p.m.
- June 14: Back to Wiscansin Fest @ The Rave, 2 p.m.
- June 14: Wisconsin Space Program (album release) w/Dead Feathers, Blind Hill @ Linneman’s, 8 p.m.
- June 15: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs w/Shannon McNally @ Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
- June 16: Empty Heaven, Buena Cara, Frantic Repair, Striped Cow @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
