This Week in Milwaukee: July 6-12, 2023

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Thursday, July 6

The Bluegrass All Stars at South Milwaukee Downtown Market (1101 Milwaukee Avenue), 5 p.m.

The Bluegrass All Stars are a collection of fun-loving veteran musicians who grew up in bluegrass music. As the years rolled on, other forms of music and steadier paychecks helped stretch their sound. Returning to their bluegrass roots, these musical experiences melded to produce the All Stars’ sound. Scruggs, Crow, Hank and Haggard are all represented in any given show. Featuring Tom Schwark on mandolin and fiddle, Dan Nimphius on hard driving banjo and dobro, Steve Hajduch on guitar and Jimmy Meyers on stand-up bass.

Sparks @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.

Ron and Russel Mael have released 26 albums since 1971’s debut under the name Halfnelson. One of rock’s best kept secrets for 50 years, Sparks relies on a quirky image to go along with genre-hopping music and intelligent lyrics stuffed with cultural refences, but they never quite hit the big time. The 2021 documentary The Sparks Brothers is a deep dive into the Mael’s history that includes gushing praise, seemingly from everyone not named Grohl or Bono.

Eric Jacobson: Latin Sessions: Noche Bossa Nova @ Transfer Pizzeria Café, 6:30 p.m.

Eric Jacobson (flugelhorn) and Bony Benavides (percussion) are joined by Steve Peplin on guitar and Jim Paolo on bass to form an all-star quartet anchored in the rhythms and melodies of bossa nova, the “soft samba.”

Summerfest kicks off the final weekend. Thursday early pick is Steve Cohen & Eric Noden at Johnsonville Summerville. Jenny Lewis (shepherdexpress.com/summerfest/jenny-lewis) is touring hew new album Joy’All and headliners Dinosaur Jr. (shepherdexpress.com/summerfest/dinosaur-jr)  crank things up.

Friday, July 7

Spidora w/ Pearl Earl and The Women @ Promises, 8 p.m.

This might be the week’s bang for the buck, with cover working out to $3.33 per act. Pearl Earl are a neo-psychedelic rock project from Denton, Texas, Milwaukee’s Spidora are a Tropicalia psych face melting band and the evening also includes heavy, dirty, garage metal band, The Women.

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Lou Barlow @ Ursa, 6 p.m.

Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou Barlow doesn’t get a day off after his Summerfest show. He plays an intimate show at URSA, the perfect setting for the homemade sounds he came up with in Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion.

Summerfest picks include Newski (shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/newski-and-the-strength-of-collaboration) and Galactic Featuring Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph, the New Orleans group that has kept the torch burning through five U.S. presidential regimes, the turn-of-the-century, Hurricane Katrina, a Global Pandemic. The Pretty Reckless play two shows. According to their bio the band “gave rock n roll the jumpstart it needed for a new generation—but they did so entirely on their own terms. [They] didn’t simply throw the rulebook out the window; they set the fucker on fire on the way down. Introducing a bold vision unlike anything else this era had seen.” Decide for yourself.

Saturday, July 8

Summerfest winds down with the great Smokey Robinson. Is it a miracle that Robinson is still active as a performer at age 83? In 2019 he spoke at an event honoring fellow Motown legend Marvin Gaye with a commemorative postage stamp. He certainly is an American treasure, so isn’t it time to honor Robinson with a stamp of his own? His songs long ago became woven into the firmament. Here’s a few: “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “I Second That Emotion,” “The Tears of a Clown,” “My Girl,” “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game,” “First I Look at the Purse,” “Ain’t That Peculiar” and “When The Words From Your Heart Get Caught Up In Your Throat.”

The Mountain Goats latest album Bleed Out has been described as “a cinematic experience unto itself. One song about preparing to exact bloody revenge begat another song about the act of exacting bloody revenge and then more songs about and the causes and the aftermath of being driven to exact bloody revenge, each delivered with the urgency and desperation deserving of their narrators and circumstances.” Also recommended is The Beaches, who play a pair of shows. The group’s “‘70s aesthetic, unapologetic attitude and electrifying sound all fit harmoniously in a modern rock context.”

Sunday, July 9

Ukrainian Picnic @ Croatian Park Beer Garden (9220 S. 76th St. Franklin), noon

A day of Ukrainian food, games, and entertainment organized by the members of the Wisconsin Ukrainian community. The annual Ukrainian picnic is free and open to the public and will offer live entertainment, souvenirs, delicious Ukrainian food, a silent auction, and a play area with activities for children.

All proceeds from the event will go towards supporting Ukrainians in need. This is a great opportunity to celebrate Ukrainian heritage and culture and connect with the local Ukrainian community.

Wisconsin Ukrainians Inc. is a grassroots, volunteer-led, non-profit organization hosting this event to raise funds for items that are difficult to access in Ukraine. These items are distributed throughout the war-ravaged country to help ease the suffering of the people and support Ukrainians in defending their land and freedom. For more information about Wisconsin Ukrainians Inc., see wisconsin-ukrainians.org.

Monday, July 10

Adopt-A-River Milwaukee Kayak Clean Up & Networking Happy Hour @ Milwaukee Kayak Company (318 S. Water St.), 3 p.m.

Pitch in for a kayak clean up on the Milwaukee and Menomonee River hosted by the Great Lakes Business Network (GLBN) and partners Milwaukee Riverkeeper, and Purevant Living. The GLBN brings together business leaders across the region who are committed to protecting the Great Lakes. Adopt-A-River is a program of Milwaukee Riverkeeper. This event will bring business leaders together for environmental stewardship, networking and fun.

Tuesday, July 11

Bella Brutto and Barbara Stephan - Chill on the Hill @ Humboldt Park

Bella Brutto, the long-running eclectic pop quartet, is joined by Barbara Stephan, whose 2019 album Come on Over to Me, is a Motown-inspired album backed by a 10-piece band.

Dramatic Lovers @ Anodyne Coffee

With roots in Decibully, The Promise Ring, Temper Temper, and Maritime, Dramatic Lovers draws from those bands while looking back to the sounds of their youth, notably ‘80s and ‘90s shoegaze, emo & Brit-pop. Dramatic Lovers frontman BJ Seidel will be taking a year off, so here’s your chance to catch the band before the hiatus. And here is a look back at their debut single: shepherdexpress.com/music/on-music/dramatic-lovers-look-and-ignore-past-debut-7-inch.

Wednesday, July 12

Puddles Pity Party @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Described as “Pagliacci by way of Pee-Wee Herman and David Lynch,” Puddles Pity Party appeared on America’s Got Talent, with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, was in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s 2010 tour, opened for The Eels and appeared on television show The Connors. What other seven-foot clown in whiteface has that kind of resume?