This Week in Milwaukee: Nov. 17-23, 2022

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Halftime punk with Widacre, a Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway from the Interchange Food Pantry, Title and Deed at Theatre Gigante, Good News in South Milwaukee, experimental music at Acme, benefits at Linnemans and Tonic, remembering Keith Pulvermacher and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, Nov. 17

Widacre @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.

While the Green Bay Packers season has been a crapshoot, the lineup of bands taking the stage during halftime at the Cactus Club remains a contender. For this rare Thursday primetime game, Widacre takes the stage. The group was born in Milwaukee and grew from a desire to make emotionally driven punk music. It’s the good-looking, not-so-well-behaved musical child of two buddies, that in time grew into a five-piece crew to ensure maximum radness. They’ll even go straight up hardcore on you. Just ask politely.

Friday, Nov. 18

Title and Deed @ Theatre Gigante, Kenilworth 508 Theatre (1925 E Kenilworth Pl.) Through Dec. 3.

Title and Deed is a monologue written by American playwright Will Eno, whom the New York Times referred to as “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation.” It is poetic stage mastery of the hilarious mundane, delivered by a man known to the audience only as “Man.” A hidden message delivered in carefully sculpted lyricism: enjoy the nothingness while you can. Actor Michael Stebbins will prove that it is not man who proves unreliable, but life itself. Title and Deed is a stunning, haunting, and often fiercely funny meditation on life as a state of permanent exile.

More info here: theatregigante.org.

Marisa Anderson with Dryhouse Ruins @ Acme Records & Music Emporium, 7 p.m.

Last year Marisa Anderson played a sold-out show at Acme with William Tyler. Her guitar work applies elements of minimalism, electronic music, drone and 20th century classical music to compositions based on blues, jazz, gospel and country music, re-imagining the landscape of American music. The New Yorker calls Anderson “one of the most distinctive guitar players of her generation.”

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The members of opener Dryhouse Ruins have been part of Sometimes Sweet Susan, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Field Report, Death Blues and All Tiny Creatures. Wielding “wholly improvised soundscapes that can morph into motorik German rock ala Neu!, or maintain a more experimental vibe,” the group promises nothing more than the unexpected. Masks are required.

Long May You Run - A Neil Young tribute, A Benefit for Planned Parenthood @ Linneman's Riverwest Inn, 7 p.m.

Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Here in the United States, women’s right have come under attack with the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

This event celebrates the music of Neil Young in an effort to educate and support a good cause. Emcee Tim Noble welcomes a slew of local artists including Tom Trisco, Francesca & Tom, Mother Goose on the Skids, Kari Lueneberg, Chris Haise, Chris Porterfield, Dallas and Anja, Bella Brutto, Floor Model and Panalure.

GOOD NEWS Expressing Freely, Hoping Fearlessly @ South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

This multicultural celebration features singers, dancers and musicians performing original music and traditional rhythms from India, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Ivory Coast. Good News is a reminder of what is essential to our humanity, our fundamental need and right to love, to express, and to hope for the future.

With a large cast of singers, dancers, and musicians, the performance features original music and lyrics by Kiran Vedula infused with traditional rhythms

Saturday, Nov. 19

Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway @ The Interchange Food Pantry (130 East Juneau Ave.),  10 a.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

The Interchange Food Pantry (IFP) is a faith-based organization consisting of seven congregations from the East Side of Milwaukee, with a core team of 50-plus volunteers who help each week. With a mission to improve the health and well-being of guests through nutritious food and compassion, IFP’s vision is to feed all guests who enter their door.

On Saturday and Sunday, IFP hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway for those in need. A total of 800 Thanksgiving dinners will be distributed between the two days, items include one turkey or ham, cranberry sauce, stuffing, yams, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, vegetable broth, along with 20 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables: collard greens, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, oranges, and apples.

At this time of year, please consider donating or volunteering your time. Also Sunday. More info here: interchangefoodpantry.org/about.

Ben Levin w/Johnny Burgin and Takuto Asano @ Kochanski's Concertina Beer Hall, 7 p.m.

At 22-years-old Ben Levin is barely old enough to legally enter the clubs he plays, yet the blues pianist/vocalist/songwriter mines a timeless groove with a sound that recalls New Orleans legends Fats Domino Archibald, James Booker and Professor Longhair. Perhaps reincarnation is possible? With three albums to his credit, Levin (who began playing in his dad’s band at age 13) just might be one of those “I saw him play back then” stories.

Sunday, Nov. 20

Hunger Task Force FUN'raiser @ Tonic Tavern, Noon

While Tonic Tavern’s Gigs 4 Good ended in June, this full lineup of music falls under that banner as well. This annual bake sale benefits the Hunger Task Force. Live music begins at 4 p.m. with Matt Tyner, Stacks Edward, Paul Jonas, Andy Pagel and Liv Mueller.

Monday, Nov. 21

Beyond Monet @ Wisconsin Center (through Jan. 8, 2023)

“Beyond Monet,” a testament to the work of Impressionist artist Claude Monet, includes 400 of Monet’s works and accompanied by an original score. It is a tribute to the struggles, depths, life and work of an artist who deeply believed in the message of his art, wrote Elizabeth Lintonen shepherdexpress.com/culture/visual-art/beyond-monet-makes-a-splash-in-milwaukee

“The Impressionists in general, and particularly Monet, are all about light. Everything is about light. Light is what he’s painting, never really the object, never really the subject. It’s about being inside of it, playing with it, having it surround you. It’s really about the movement of the brush strokes, the intensity,” says Fanny Curtat, the project’s art history consultant. “It’s about change, about subtle differences.”

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Ike Reilly Assassination @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Since his 2001major label debut, Salesmen and Racists, Ike Reilly has been making punk/folk/blues influenced rock and roll records that lean heavily on stories of outsiders with keen details and broad strokes that insinuate a crack in the American dream. In 2021, the former gravedigger released Because the Angels, oozing with “the flair and charisma of a streetwise poet.”

“Someday Tonight (Will Seem Like a Long Time Ago)” was written by Reilly in the days after the police shooting of Jakob Blake in Kenosha in 2020. Two of Reilly's children live in Kenosha and on the evening of the Jakob Blake shooting Reilly's son called him and sent him the video of the shooting. Protesters squared off against police and armed civilians. Illinois resident 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people and wounded another.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

For Keith: Keep On Keepin' On @ Turner Hall Ballroom. 7 p.m.

Milwaukee musician/songwriter Keith Pulvermacher lost his battle with Multiple Myeloma in July. A member of Sister Moon, LoveMoneys and Chasin’ Mason, Pulvermacher was well known in the area for both his music and generosity. 

To honor him and his music, the Keith Pulvermacher Band will perform his latest album 45 Story in its entirety with special guests Willy Porter, Greg Koch, Grace Weber, Michael Shynes, Jason Eskridge, Marcel Guyton, Rich Hoffman, Phil Norby, Joe Richter, Sam Llanas, Kevin Brandt, Rob Anthony, John Calarco, Ryan Rossebo, Tony Ayala, Steve Vorass, Nick Grider, Frank Calarco, Matt Meixner, Michael Cudahy and more with special performances by NEWSKI, Carvin Walls and The Belle Weather.

The multimedia performance will be hosted by Ted Perry from Fox 6 in collaboration with This Time Tomorrow Foundation, Givesong, and iHeart Radio. All proceeds from this event will go to a trust set up for Pulvermacher’s daughters. More info here: lite.event-forge.com/a0362734-9d20-40e6-bbeb-eef8835b9691/keith-pulvermacher/campaign/9.