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.
Halloween falling on a Saturday — the best concert-going day of the week — makes it hard not to lean into the holiday theme for our latest Milwaukee Concert Picks. One of the picks having the last name “Graves” makes it impossible.
In a wonderful bit of serendipity, Alejandro Rose-Garcia brings his Shakey Graves project to Turner Hall Ballroom this Thursday and helps us ramp up to All Hallow’s Eve with a new batch of songs about a truly terrifying topic: parenthood.
Fondness, Etc. came out this past May as Rose-Garcia marked two years of being a dad, and the album reflects his new reality. The tracks run through the steps many of us are familiar with, from remembering wilder days to imagining life as a couple with less responsibility to accepting the ups and downs of the road ahead. Thursday’s show at Turner Hall will include a good chunk of that newer material, plus the Shakey Graves classics we’ve come to love over the years.
Things get even more Halloweenie the following night in Riverwest, as local acts Wire & Nail and Another One play dress-up (not literally … we think) for a Tom Petty vs. Grateful Dead showdown at Falcon Hall.
Based on some quick research, those two legendary artists never put their fans in a position where they had to pick one over the other. In fact, they shared several stages during an all-too-brief run of shows way back in 1986 that featured a lineup of the Dead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Bob Dylan. Wire & Nail will fill Petty’s shoes Friday at Falcon Hall, while tribute act Another One will ably handle the Grateful Dead side of things.
Our final recommendation takes that format a step further Saturday at Linneman’s, which will play host to four tribute acts with Milwaukee twists — both in name and the local artists representing them. The lineup for the show benefitting Girls Rock MKE includes:
- Chappell Hoan (Caley Conway)
- Lana El Rey (members of The Hatchets)
- Fleetwood MKE (unknown)
- Taylor & Gracie (as in “Swift” and “Abrams,” performed by Sabrina Prochaska)
Throw on your best costume — music-themed or otherwise — and come to the 7 p.m. show for a night of alter egos in support of an organization helping make Milwaukee a more creative place.
Best concerts in Milwaukee this week
- Oct. 29: Shakey Graves w/Wild Pink @ Turner Hall, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 29: New Constellations w/Vox Rea @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 29: Sawdust Symphony @ The Argo, 6:30 p.m.
- Oct. 29: Tom West, Wildered, Josh Trimble @ Anodyne, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 29: Sweeping Promises, Youth Energy, Brief Candles @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 29: Stacked Like Pancakes, Space Monkey Mafia, Something to Do, Courtesy of Tim @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 30: Red Quean w/Lily Slay & the Vertebrae, Iris Marlowe @ Linneman’s, 8:30 p.m.
- Oct. 30: The Jesse Garwood Club @ The Argo, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 30: Flamingosis @ The Cooperage, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 30: Wire & Nail, Another One (Tom Petty vs. Grateful Dead) @ Falcon Hall, 8 p.m.
- Oct. 31: Chappell Hoan, Lana El Rey, Fleetwood MKE, Taylor & Gracie @ Linneman’s, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 2: Radiator Hospital, Noun, Bad Crime @ X-Ray Arcade, 7:30 p.m.
- Nov. 2: Lowheaven, Orange Colored Sky, Laurent, 9eyes @ MKE Ultra, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 3: SOMBR @ Fiserv Forum, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 3: Tigernite @ Anodyne, 6 p.m.
