Grieves w/ Dem Atlas and Rahn Harper @ Cactus Club, 9/30 at 9 p.m.
The Milwaukee Film Festival kicks things off in style, while Stephen King and his son, Owen King, come to town to talk about the former’s latest eerie novel.
Thursday, Sept. 28
Milwaukee Film Festival Opening Night Party @ Good City Brewing, 9 p.m.
This is the moment Milwaukee film lovers dream of all year long: opening-night of the Milwaukee Film Festival. This year, the ever-growing festival kicks off with a screening of Stumped, a crowd-pleaser about a film teacher who turns to stand-up comedy after a bacterial infection forced the amputation of all of his limbs. Following the screening, attendees will head to Good City Brewing for a party that includes live music, Radio Milwaukee DJs and cold, local beer on a rooftop patio. The party is free for opening night film ticket holders and MMF2017 pass holders, $13 for Milwaukee Film Members and $15 for the general public. This year’s Milwaukee Film Festival runs through Oct. 12.
Friday, Sept. 29
Chicano Batman w/ Kruangbin @ Turner Hall Ballroom
There’s so much music coming out of L.A. these days, and most of it sounds… well, like music that came out of L.A. The Los Angeles quartet Chicano Batman has never had trouble standing out from the pack, though. The band’s psychedelic fusion of soul, funk, indie and Latin music sounds like the oldies but feels indisputably new; nobody else is making music quite like this. The group’s latest album, Freedom is Free, features more of the euphoric, modernized throwbacks that have made this band such a favorite on the festival circuit.
Saturday, Sept. 30
A Conversation with Stephen King and Owen King @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Where does Stephen King find the time? That’s a question other authors have pondered for decades, as the novelist has cranked out one best seller after another (54 novels and counting, on top of nearly 200 short stories). For his latest book, Sleeping Beauties, King worked with a first-time collaborator: His son Owen, who, like so many members of the King family, is also a novelist. Together, they’ve crafted an eerie story about a fairytale curse and the repercussions it has for a West Virginia woman’s prison. The two Kings will discuss the book and their writing habits at this sold-out appearance.
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Grieves w/ Dem Atlas and Rahn Harper @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Sometimes the label says it all. Since 2011’s Together/Apart, Seattle rapper Grieves has been part of the Rhymesayers Records roster, and sure enough, he specializes in the kind of smart, emotionally volatile hip-hop that the label has made its calling card. Like the best Rhymesayers artists, he shakes things up from album to album. On his newest, Running Wild, he finds an apt collaborator in Swedish producer Chords, whose beats are almost decadently soulful—all woozy synths and buttery bass lines with occasional licks of horns. That production tempers the bite of some of Grieves’ more intense verses.
DaNCEBUMS w/ Luxi and Ben Yella @ Riverwest Public House, 9 p.m.
Keyboardist-composer Eric Mayson is about as deeply ingrained in the Minneapolis music scene as they come, having worked with many of the scene’s most recent standouts, including Atmosphere, Lizzo, Dess and Droomtree. With his latest project, though, he looks beyond contemporary music and dips his toe into performance art. DaNCEBUMS is a five-piece modern dance ensemble that aims to bring modern dance “out of dark, stuffy theaters,” as he calls them, and to the party-minded masses. It’s dance music in the most literal sense.
Sunday, Oct. 1
Angel Olsen w/ Mount Moriah @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
A versatile songwriter with the wounded, otherworldly voice of an old blues singer, Angel Olsen made a mark with a series of haunting, stripped-down small releases that put that voice front and center, but she really came into her own with her 2014 Jagjaguwar Records debut, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. Produced by John Congelton, it was a more traditional indie-rock record than what came before, but its rough and tumble guitars complemented Olsen’s edgy songwriting. On last year’s My Woman, she pivoted, trading the moody folk and terse rock ’n’ roll of yore for a rich, expressive palette of synthesizers and pop hooks. For her upcoming album, Phases, due out Nov. 10, she digs through the vault, sharing a selection of B-sides, rarities and demos that span years. The sensational North Carolina indie-Americana act Mount Moriah opens.
Monday, Oct. 2
Gogol Bordello w/ Lucky Chops @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
New York’s Gogol Bordello, one of the wildest world-fusion acts, fuses the accordions and fiddles of traditional Romani Gypsy music with the combustible energy of punk rock. Their 2005 album coined a fitting term for their hybrid: Gypsy punk. Think of theirs as international drinking music: a hodgepodge of Bulgarian and Slovakian sounds with crashing percussion and a Pogues-like love for call-and-response with the crowd. Their latest album, 2017’s Seekers and Finders, features guest vocals from Regina Spektor on the title track, as well as some lively first-time production from frontman Eugene Hütz.
Wednesday, Oct. 4
Explosions in the Sky w/ Holy Fuck @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
Like most instrumental post-rock bands, Explosions in the Sky risk allowing their music to fall into an easy formula: build, build, build, crescendo, repeat. The novelty could wear off mighty fast, but on their latest album, 2016’s The Wildness, the Austin quartet continually finds new ways to keep their compositions fresh—fleshing them out with cinematic flourishes and rock-star grandiosity. The band nails all the big payoffs, of course, but some of its best moments are the small ones, when the album turns down the volume and gives listeners time to luxuriate in how intricate it all sounds. Explosions in the Sky share this bill with another instrumental band with a very different vision, Toronto’s Holy Fuck, whose electronic-leaning songs are more direct and overtly whimsical than most anything you’ll find on a post-rock record.
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Evoking the spirit of guitar great B.B. King, Tommy Castro belts out soulful R&B tunes that run the gamut from downtrodden blues to upbeat funk. Castro began his music career by playing with cover bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, which he followed with a short stint with The Dynatones. After 1991, Castro decided to front his own bands and, a decade later, he was invited to tour and perform with his muse, B.B. King. For this show, Castro is celebrating the release of his latest album, Stompin’ Ground, a record that looks back to his youth with covers of songs that inspired him in the earliest years of his career, in addition to six new songs.
