FRIDAY, APRIL 29
Deftones w/ The Dillinger Escape Plan and Funeral Party @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
A metal band with a reputation for incorporating unlikely influences—including '80s modern rock like The Cure and Depeche Mode, and more recently arena-sized alt-rock a la the Smashing Pumpkins—the Deftones rose to popularity in the shadow of nu-metal bands like Korn, but came into their own through constant experimentation. Never underestimating their audience, they were one of the few popular, turnof-the-century metal groups not afraid to turn the volume down.
The band's latest is 2010's Diamond Eyes, , a more hopeful, uplifting album inspired by bassist Chi Cheng's near-fatal 2008 car crash.
Rock of Ages @ Milwaukee Theatre, 8 p.m.
Remember Constantine Maroulis, the long-haired, Nickelback-covering, fourth-season “American Idol” contestant who helped break the barrier for rock singers on that show? These days he's embracing his theatrical tendencies by starring in a touring production of Rock of Ages, , the jukebox musical built from hair-metal hits by '80s acts including Twisted Sister, REO Speedwagon, Bon Jovi and Poison. The plot centers around a small-town girl who falls for a city boy destined for rock stardom. (Multiple performances through Sunday, May 1.)
Adam Carolla @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
After a decade sharing sex and relationship advice with Dr. Drew on “Loveline,” comedian Adam Carolla left late-night radio for a dream job taking over Howard Stern's morning slot on Los Angeles' KLSX-FM. When the station dropped its talk format and canceled his program three years later, Carolla turned to the Internet, creating a popular podcast that better plays to his strengths as an improviser and amateur philosopher, allowing him ample time for long rants about culture and human nature. Carolla's live performances retain the conversational feel of his podcast, typically featuring a loosely scripted stand-up routine, a slide show about Carolla's modest upbringing, and a round of the audience-suggestion game “What Can't Adam Complain About?”
|
|
Westside Artwalk @ Multiple Locations, 5-9 p.m.
While Milwaukee's Third Ward may claim the most dense population of art galleries, over the last decade Milwaukee's West Side has seen a boom in local galleries and boutiques as well. More than two dozen businesses along North Avenue, Vliet Street from 43rd to 60th streets and in the village of Wauwatosa will showcase themselves as part of the Westside Artwalk on Friday, April 29, from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a day that also celebrates the new Milwaukee Artists Resource Network at 5407 W. Vliet St.
Motionary Comics 2.0 @ Moct, 5 p.m.
For Gallery Night last year, two dozen painters, cartoonists and live models worked together to create a sprawling, life-sized comic-book mural over the course of an evening while a photographer documented the process for an event called “Motionary Comics.” Tonight they give it another go. This time around, they'll spend six or seven hours working on a comic book based on local real-life superheroes The Watchman and Blackbird. WMSE DJ
Dori Zori will provide music while
they work.
SATURDAY, APRIL 30
Chris Pureka @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
A Massachusetts singersongwriter who has often performed with Milwaukee folkie Peter Mulvey, Chris Pureka built on the stripped-down Americana of her previous solo releases for her latest album, 2010's How I Learned to See in the Dark. Co-produced by Merrill Garbus of the experimental pop project Tune-Yards, How I Learned is Pureka's most sonically ambitious album yet, incorporating lovely strings and moody atmospherics that complement her somber songs about strained relationships and self-destructive instincts.
Delhi 2 Dublin w/ Plight of a Parasite and DJ Marcus Doucette @ Club Garibaldi, 9 p.m.
Even by the anything-goes standard of modern world music, Delhi 2 Dublin's fusion of world sounds is particularly wild. The Canadian sextet electrifies traditional Celtic and Indian Bhangra music with turntables and electronic sitars, rock guitars, dub rhythms and manic club beats. One of the best-received acts at last year's Global Union festival in Humboldt Park, the group returns to Milwaukee tonight for this show at Club Garibaldi.
SUNDAY, MAY 1
Bowling for Soup w/ The Dollyrots @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Perhaps no other band stretched Blink-182's pop-punk to zanier extremes than Bowling for Soup, the Texas outfit that spun whimsically nasally vocals and wacky pop culture references into chart glory on a run of novelty singles last decade, including “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” “Almost” and “1985.” The band is touring behind its latest album, Fishin' for Woos, another collection of jokey pop-punk that only a direct-to-DVD National Lampoon's Van Wilder sequel could love.
Martin Lawrence @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Like his Bad Boys co-star Will Smith, Martin Lawrence has parlayed the success of his '90s sitcom into a long film career, though Lawrence's film credits haven't been as prestigious as Smith's— he hasn't been nominated for an Oscar, but he has donned the Big Momma fat suit in three movies. For his “Doin' Time Comedy Tour,” Lawrence returns to stand-up after a long hiatus for a show that promises blunt commentary on relationships and a good dose of physical comedy.
MONDAY, MAY 2
D12 w/ Young Buck, Static, Trick-Trick and Steelo @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
Eminem left his formative Detroit rap posse D12 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre, but he returned to the group after his rise to stardom, lending his celebrity to their 2001 and 2004 albums Devil's Night and D12 World. After some tough years during Eminem's hiatus from music that saw D12 member Swift incarcerated and Proof killed in a nightclub altercation, the band returned this spring with a new mixtape, Return of the Dozen 2, a hard-edged new single, “Kill Zone,” and a new member, Fuzz Scoota, a veteran of D12's earliest incarnation.
