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.
For all the different ways you can get recommendations these days, nothing carries weight quite like good old word of mouth. Hearing about someone’s personal experience — especially someone with excellent taste — will often give you that extra nudge to do something you might not otherwise.
That brings us to the two shows at the top of our Milwaukee Concert Picks, both of which earned our hearty co-sign in part because they both walked on stage in our performance space and blew us away with two instantly memorable Studio Milwaukee Sessions.
Playing first this week are The Lemons Twigs, who will make a stop at Turner Hall Ballroom this Thursday as they enter the final stretch of their North American tour. The brotherly duo of Brian and Michael D'Addario visited us for a session during our Fall Membership Drive back in 2023, putting on a performance many of our team had never seen before or since.
Even confined to a mini-set of just four songs, The Lemon Twigs put on a classic rock ‘n’ roll show. Big guitar riffs. Big energy. Big jumps with mid-air splits. It was a jolt of energy that energized everyone in the room, from our members to our staff, right when we needed it.
The band was promoting Everything Harmony at the time, have since dropped 2024’s equally excellent A Dream Is All We Know and are now preparing to share new album Look For Your Mind! Get a taste of the upcoming record and all of their throwback goodness Thursday at Turner Hall Ballroom, with Josephine Network opening.
Our second pick of the week brought a different approach to their Studio Milwaukee Session but delivered the same smile-inducing vibes — something that’ll follow Iron & Wine to their Turner Hall Ballroom appearance Friday night.
Sam Beam has always transmitted a laid-back wavelength through that project, and the same could be said of his physical presence in our space. The Carolina native was California cool from the moment he walked in the building and offered a friendly greeting to everyone he crossed paths with before his funny, warm and low-key joyful session.
Light Verse was the primary source of that 2024 performance, and new release Hen’s Teeth pulled songs from the same recording session to create a sort of sibling relationship between the two albums. Iron & Wine will play plenty from both at Saturday’s Turner Hall Ballroom show that’ll get started with opener Improvement Movement.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- April 29: Gladie, Noun, Buena Cara @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- April 30: The Lemon Twigs w/Josephine Network @ Turner Hall, 8 p.m.
- April 30: Tlalok @ The Argo, 6:30 p.m.
- April 30: Dicot w/Shontrail @ Falcon Nest, 8 p.m.
- April 30: Happy Accccdent, Pareidolia, Shoobie, Heavy Bend @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- May 1: Thanks! I Hate It, Sundressed, Barely Civil, No Thanks to You @ Sugar Maple, 7 p.m.
- May 1: Mama’s Broke, Creekbed Carter Hogan, Bitch Creek @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- May 2: Iron & Wine w/Improvement Movement @ Turner Hall, 8 p.m.
- May 2: Brett Newski & The Bad Inventions w/Max & The Fellow Travelers @ The Argo, 7:30 p.m.
- May 2: Phoneboy, Heart Attack Man, Slow Joy, Pony @ The Rave, 6:30 p.m.
- May 2: Remember Sports, Cusp, Health Club @ X-Ray Arcade, 8 p.m.
- May 2: The Jesse Garwood Club, John Stanford, Ann-Marie & The Fever Dreams @ Anodyne, 7:30 p.m.
- May 2: 5pm To Nowhere, Bowvee, Cozy Danger @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.
- May 2: Battle of the Bands 2 @ Falcon Hall, 8 p.m.
- May 3: David Byrne @ Miller High Life Theatre, 8 p.m.
- May 3: Big Richard w/Bitch Creek @ Falcon Hall, 8 p.m.
- May 4: The Head & The Heart w/The Brudi Brothers @ Riverside Theater, 7:30 p.m.
