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.
Erin Wolf’s pick: Son Little | The Back Room | Dec. 7
Son Little’s soulful Like Neptune is a comfort even if the listener gets ensnared in the skillful layers — depth of mood, sound, arrangement and soul — Aaron Earl Livingston crafted in his doozy of a last album. It makes one sit down and stay awhile (and gladly).
Staying in a cabin overlooking the Delaware River in upstate New York while working on these new songs, the Philly resident got outside of himself to unpack and rearrange, doing a bit of healing in the process. “This is the first time I’m making music for the pure joy of creating.” Livingston said of the album.
His voice is an indicator — a consistent flame that burns brightly through genres of hip hop, R&B, blues and soul that is sure to translate to an incredible live show. Relive his Studio Milwaukee Session from 2015 below, then seek out that voice in the Back Room @ Colectivo tonight (Dec. 7) at 7 p.m.
Brett Krzykowski’s pick: Brat Sounds | Linneman’s | Dec. 10
A couple months ago, Scott Cary of Milwaukee’s Brat Sounds spared a few minutes to break down the news of the band’s end. Our conversation doesn’t feel that long ago, but here we are, on the verge of the group’s farewell show at Linneman’s.
If you’ve enjoyed Brat Sounds over the years, of course you want to be at this one. If you haven’t, it’s still a reco based on rock-solid album Nothing they released Oct. 14. As I noted in that interview, the band sounds very together throughout the LP, so why not hear them together live one more time?
More shows worth a go
- Dec. 7: Peter Mulvey, Katie Dahl, Anne Heaton @ Anodyne Walker's Point, 8 p.m.
- Dec. 9: MKE Music Night XXXVIII w/Pocket Change, The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken, Josh Trimble, Cosmic Love Child @ The Cooperage, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 10: Diet Lite, The Rosies, Fuzzysurf, Shoobie @ Cactus Club, 7:30 p.m.
- Dec. 10: The 1975, BLACKSTARKIDS @ The Rave/Eagles Club, 7:30 p.m.
- Dec. 10: The North 41, Moonglow, Social Cig @ The Back Room, 8 p.m.