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, sponsored by the Urban Ecology Center.
The two shows we’re super excited about this week have a very simple thing in common: fun. As for how they create that atmosphere? Pretty darn different.
Up first is the straight-ahead indie rock of Friko, whose tour behind new album Something Worth Waiting For visits the Vivarium on Friday. Based out of Chicago, the band made a lot of noise — literally and figuratively — with debut record Where we’ve been, where we go from here in 2024 and haven’t shown any interest in turning down the volume on either front.
Across the two albums, they’ve shown a keen ability to tweak their sound from song to song, making sure your ears stay perked up throughout. But the general quality the vast majority of them share is a build-up of tension (the good kind) and energy that eventually bursts forth as a wonderful release. The approach lends itself to a live environment, and it’ll be particularly cathartic in a space like the Vivarium on Friday night, with Nine Perfect Lives opening the show.
Our other flavor of fun happens the following night with significantly more square footage to spare, as Weird Al Yankovic’s “Bigger and Weirder” tour invades Fiserv Forum on Saturday.
Besides never aging, Weird Al’s greatest achievement is his musical longevity. Or maybe it’s his ability to remain culturally relevant. Or maybe it’s his hair. Regardless, the guy keeps writing new chapters in his career, from food-based beginnings to Star Wars to rap fame.
Those parodies tend to overshadow his original compositions, which deservedly got their own tours in recent years and should be mainlined by anyone who only knows Al for his takes on popular songs (start with “Dare to Be Stupid,” which Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh called “the most beautiful thing I had ever heard”).
Based on the setlists so far, the tour coming to Fiserv Forum this Saturday contains a decent helping of originals and parodies, so you’ll get the full Weird Al experience at a show that opens with Puddles Pity Party.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Oct. 14: hey, nothing w/Crisis Crew @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Medium Build w/Bella White @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Hiss Golden Messenger w/Sam Amidon @ The Argo, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Jeffrey Foucault w/Whitney Mann @ Anodyne, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Maximiano w/Liv LaFluv, Moldy Tates @ Linneman’s, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 15: Nate Jenkins @ Jackalope Lounj, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 16: Friko w/Nine Perfect Lives @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 16: AFI w/Choir Boy @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 17: Weird Al YaBinkovic w/Puddles Pity Party @ Fiserv Forum, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 17: Hot Mess (release show), Alley Eyes, Minnesota Fatts, Nick Karcher, Fakeout @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 17: Tigernite (EP release) w/Resurrectionists, Video Sex Priest @ Linneman’s, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 18: Big Head Todd & The Monsters @ Pabst Theater, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 18: Son Rompe Pera @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 18: Girls 2 The Front w/Mala Mala, Milby, ICUP, Tiny Vamp, Outside Comfort @ Falcon Hall, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 19: Indigo Girls w/Linda Perry @ Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 19: Waterspouts, Pecking Order, Poor Ridley, Intac @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 20: Christy Costello & The CC Club, Jinksie, The DUIs @ MKE Ultra, 7:30 p.m.
