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.
With this week’s record-setting warm weather, the conditions are perfect to catch some legends — local and national — gracing Milwaukee’s most beloved venues.
Max & The Fellow Travelers, Winefred RT and The Alewives are three flourishing Midwestern folk bands taking over Cactus Club this Friday at 7 p.m. The trio are banding together on The Horse Runs Wild Through The Midwest tour, which will take them to another well-known triumvirate: Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Individually, each group has carved their own reputation in the local singer-songwriter/folk scene. Max & The Fellow Travelers bring a sound that a folk punk can only dream of, channeling their DIY roots through a distinct instrumentation that makes the room heat up. Combine intimate storytelling with a raucous fervor for chicken picking, and you’ve got a rollercoaster of sound that makes this group a must catch.
The Alewives bring a level of country rock that's angular and influenced by centuries of heartland country. This is a band that represents the blend of indie rock with twang that not only honors tradition, but pushes it to new forms. Stay tuned for new single “Runnin’” that’ll come out right before they hit the road.
Winefred RT brings a twist to the soundscape on this tour. Based in Chicago, her music is an amalgamation of the diverse Windy City indie scene. It’s intimate and dynamic while managing to retain a sense of emotional vulnerability that's realistically shaky. She captures the solemn anger that comes from life and channels it into music that’ll be an emotional blast to catch live.
Another local shoutout goes to Waterspouts, who premiered their single “Landscape” with us last December and will hit the stage at Linneman’s this Thursday. The band is tonally fuzzy with a heavier take on what alt-country can sound like, bringing the right amount of melancholy to their unique sound.
Joining them on stage from just a little further away is Nim, an emotional rock band from Kyoto, Japan, that blends elements of ’90s alt rock with a distinct lean to the grungier elements. Rounding out the geographically diverse bill are the Stratographers from Austin, Texas, and you can bet they’ll bring enough reverb to shake the walls. Tickets for the show this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. are available now.
Finally, we look to the national stage and legendary industrial alt-rockers Nine Inch Nails, who will bring their sonically dark and loud instrumentation to Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum for a Monday night show.
Trent Reznor started the project in the late ’80s, after he realized that the music he wanted to hear only existed in his head — so it was his job to make it a reality. It’s a testament to his skill that he played all the instruments and did all the programming himself for the majority of the project, giving him an opportunity to present his darker narratives and a dystopian worldview that permeates all of his music.
Reznor and his collaborators are known for crafting industrially abrasive music built on a pop foundation that’s equal parts catchy and tormenting. Perhaps most famously, he and Atticus Ross (an official member of NIN since 2016) have composed several movie soundtracks that presented further opportunities to spread their eclectic but sharpened taste. It’ll be on full display Monday night at Fiserv Forum.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Feb. 19: Listening Party (album release) w/Old Oaks, Chris Haise Band @ Anodyne, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 19: Squinny, Frantic Repair, Killer High Life, Human Ant Farm @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 19: Waterspouts w/Startographers, Nim @ Linneman’s, 8:30 p.m.
- Feb. 20: The Effigies, Poison Hand, The Mighty Deerlick @ X-Ray Arcade, 7:30 p.m.
- Feb. 20: Max & The Fellow Travelers, Winefred RT, Alewives @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 21: NEEDTOBREATHE w/Philip Bowen @ Riverside Theater, 7:30 p.m.
- Feb. 21: If I Knew the Way plays Dylan & The Dead w/Deadelijk @ Linneman’s, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 21: Paul McDonald & The Mourning Doves w/Sludge Hawking @ Falcon Bowl, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 22: Paul Cauthen @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 22: Skerryvore @ The Argo, 8 p.m.
- Feb. 22: The Knee-Hi's, Ione, Ellie Jackson @ Anodyne, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 23: Nine Inch Nails @ Fiserv Forum, 8 p.m.
Jonathan Joseph is a Milwaukee-based multimedia freelance journalist who specializes in art and culture writing (and all things Milwaukee), with work appearing on Radio Milwaukee and in Milwaukee Magazine. Contact him via email or find him on LinkedIn.