This Week in Milwaukee: December 15-21, 2022

Here are the Milwaukee events we are looking forward to coming up this week.

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World class improvised music in Bayview, Zappafest XXIV featuring Ike Willis, holiday music at the Domes with David HB Drake, Timothy Kloss in the spotlight for Poet’s Monday, a visit from Kevin Kinney and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, Dec. 15

Bruiser Queen w/ Ian Olvera (Daydream Retrievers) and Daniel James (Indonesian Junk) @ Bremen Café, 9 p.m.

Nashville Garage duo Bruiser Queen stop by on their Midwest tour, Ian Olivera makes a rare solo appearance, and Daniel James digs into his bag of hook-infected tunes influenced by everyone from Nikki Sudden to Alice Cooper.

Friday, Dec. 16

Model Citizens Comedy Showcase @ Club Garibaldi, 7 p.m.

Deck the halls with an evening of standup comedy. Chicago’s Michael Meyers headlines, with host Connor O’Hara and Joshua Buckhaulter, Robert Rule, Hunter Hirsh, Bodeany and Erica Switzer.

Stein / Smith / Shead Trio @ The Sugar Maple, 8 p.m.

The trio of Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Damon Smith (double bass), and Adam Shead (drums) features some of the most influential, creative, and prolific musicians currently working in the fields of jazz and improvised music. The group has been described as "undiluted free jazz with energy as its calling card and attention as its driver" by Mark Corroto of All About Jazz.

Saturday, Dec. 17

An Evening with Denny Rauen and Friends @ Bar Centro, 8 p.m.

When he’s not working his day job as a master luthier, restoring and repairing guitars, Denny Rauen makes guerilla documentary films on Indigenous Rights and the effects of climate change on the Colorado river. On rare occasions he’ll take the stage himself. This performance is with singer-songwriter Jesse Thayer and classical guitarist Bootz Bootzin.

Milwaukee Zappafest XXIV featuring Ike Willis @ The Cooperage, 8 p.m.

Few musicians cultivated a more devout following than form-breaking musician and composer Frank Zappa, who has inspired his share of disciples in the Milwaukee music scene. Since 1999, some of those Zappa enthusiasts have come together for this annual concert, the longest running Zappa tribute concert in America.

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Once again, Zappa band member, vocalist/guitarist Ike Willis (the voice of Joe on Joe’s Garage), is the featured headliner, performing with Gozortenplat. Also, The Swivels, and local legend The Fly (Dr. Chow's Love Medicine, Dummy Club).

Sunday, Dec. 18

David HB Drake “Let There Be Light!” Concert @ Mitchell Park Domes, 2 p.m.

“Let There Be Light!” is a concert of folk songs, popular tunes, original songs and traditional carols, covering the spectrum of seasonal music from little known folk songs to everyone's favorites, spiced with sing-alongs and good cheer. The program ranges from the first carol sung in North America to English wassails, French carols, and memories of real Christmas trees, performed on a variety of handmade folk instruments including mountain banjo, mountain dulcimer, concertina, Native American flute and guitar.

Monday, Dec. 19

Timothy Kloss – Poets Monday @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7 p.m.

When his schedule switched from the night shift a few years ago, Timothy Kloss made it a point to go to the lakefront and watch the sunrise. “It makes the whole day seem like a year, when you are able to see the sunrise. It fills up everything,” he said in a podcast interview.

Perspectives like that have served him well as a poet. Kloss has hosted Milwaukee’s longest-running poet’s open mic, Poet’s Monday, since 2000. Instead of emceeing, this is Kloss’ turn to be the feature. Kloss’ poetry presence can be traced back to the early ‘90s at Cafe Mélange in the Hotel Wisconsin, the bohemian diamond of a space Downtown, that also featured The John Schneider Orchestra, dramatic performances and eclectic music.

Kloss took over as host when the Mondays moved to Thai Joe’s in the Bangkok Orchid—located in the lower level of the Prospect Mall—eventually finding a home at Linnemans. Kloss’ creative writing talent might just be genetic; decades ago, his father, Gerald Kloss wrote a regular column for Milwaukee Journal’s Green Sheet.

Tuesday, Dec. 20

Vanity Plates w/ Crawlspace and Night Again @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.

Here’s a triple bill of young bands looking to shake things up early in the week. Milwaukee’s Vanity Plates plays alt-pop for overthinking underachievers. Femme-fronted Crawlspace teeters between sweet folk and alternative rock. Milwaukee/Chicago group, Night Again, play angular emo-rock (ex-Temple, Bad Wig, Midwestern Charm).

Wednesday, Dec. 21

Kevn Kinney w/Miles Nielsen @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

https://shepherdexpress.com/music/artists-beating-covid-19/kevn-kinney-returns-to-the-parking-lot/

To most people, Kevn Kinney is best known as leader of the Southern Rock band Drivin N Cryin, but for his homecoming shows at Shank Hall, Kinney is often best remembered as a key part of Milwaukee’s musical revolution. Along with David Luhrssen, Kinney created the photocopied punk fanzine that became the Express half of the Shepherd Express. Kinney enrolled in Rock and Roll 101, as a roadie for The Haskels, then forming his own group The Prosecutors. By 1985 he was on his way to a career with Drivin N Cryin, with tangents to collaborations, solo albums and a WAMI Hall of Fame honor.