This Week in MKE Music: Aug. 1-7, 2024

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

by

Honky tonk songwriters at Shank Hall, legendary Graham Goldman of 10cc at the Pabst with a special guest, celebrate Black, Caribbean and Latin America culture, Soberfest IV and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!

Thursday, Aug. 1

Chuck Mead w/Jason Ringenberg @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

This past spring Chuck Mead released a new single, “Lonely Boy,” a song he co-wrote with Marty Stuart many years ago (shepherdexpress.com/music/music-feature/hardcore-honky-tonk-at-shank-hall), “I kind of reimagined it,” he says. “I do kind of a three-piece hillbilly trio. I call it ‘The Who on Haybales.’ I would like everybody to go out and stream that right now on Spotify just so I can get my numbers up because I’m proud of it. We recorded three songs, and I have a little 45 that I made that I sell at the shows, but only one of the songs has been digitally released.” Mead, who gained notoriety with BR549 will share the bill with Jason Ringenberg, best known as fronting Jason and the Scorchers.

Wisconsin State Fair – through Aug. 11

Easily the best people-watching event of the year. Also, the creampuffs, $1 chocolate milk, the products pavilion, the history exhibits, the main stage, the Skyglider, the livestock barns, the Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction, the midway’s rides and games, the main stage, the fried foods on a stick, NASCAR, the Exploratory Park, plein air art, live music stages and probably more. Full schedule here: wistatefair.com/fair.

Friday, Aug. 2

10cc w/Robin Zander @ Pabst Theater, 6:30 p.m.

What began as a quartet in the early ‘70s working in the studio, including albums by Neil Sedaka, evolved into the group who recorded “The Things We Do For Love,” “Rubber Bullets” and the haunting earworm, “I’m Not In Love.” Currently, only bassist Graham Gouldman is part of the band but his non-10cc resume is the stuff of legend. He wrote “Bus Stop” (the Hollies), “Evil Hearted You,” “For Your Love” and “Heart Full of Soul” (the Yardbirds), and also produced the Ramones album Pleasant Dreams. In a rare opening slot, Beloit folk singer Robin Zander may or may not perform songs from his eponymous debut solo album or the shy follow-up, Countryside Blvd. You never know, he may even drop a Cheap Trick tune or two into his set.

Friends of the Shepherd

Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly magazine.

LEARN MORE

Ray Bonneville @ Café Carpe (18 South Water St. West, Fort Atkinson), 8:15 p.m.

An acclaimed raconteur, Ray Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana down to its essentials and steeps it in the humid grooves of the South, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling. An exquisite listening room, Café Carpe’s dining menu features locally grown and produced food.

Saturday, Aug. 3

The Caribbean and Latin America Festival @ 4th and National, 11 a.m.

Celebrate the diversity of the Caribbean and Latin America—multiracial and multilingual, comprising many cultures, histories and traditions. The festival will have live cultural entertainment, contests, music, exhibitors and vendors. New this year is a parade allowing the community to showcase itself while celebrating its successes and diverse culture.

Black Arts Fest MKE @ Henry Maier Festival Park, Noon

Art, culture, poetry, music, food and more. Catch musical performances by Sam Guyton, Shonn Hinton and the Evolution of African Drums by Ajamou Butler and King Kamonzi, Black country artist Jarvis Redd and gospel performances by James Fortune & FIYA, Anthony McGahee & Praise Motivated. 

“African heritage is deeply ingrained in this city,” said Derek Tyus, Black Arts Fest MKE board chair. “This is an amazing opportunity to learn how the Black community has proudly shaped both art and culture in Milwaukee throughout its entire history.”

Returning festival highlights include the popular “Divine 9 Party Roll Call,” celebrating all nine historically Black sororities and fraternities, free sip and paint sessions and new coloring kickbacks hosted by Vibez Creative Arts Space.

Soberfest IV - A Spark of Hope @ Pere Marquette Park, 5 p.m.

Milwaukee’s largest sober festival, live music, free catered meal, mocktails games and more. The Phoenix, a national sober community that embraces connection through a shared, active lifestyle, is the place for sober adults to enjoy music festivals without a fear of missing out. Preregistration is required. More info here: thephoenix.org/events/soberfest-milwaukee.

Mike Baggetta (mssv) & Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) PunkJazz Tour w/Swim Two Birds @ Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.

In their first tour, guitar duo Peter DiStefano (Porno for Pyros) and Mike Baggetta (mssv) explore no-boundaries improvised music, informed by their lives and songs, with just two electric guitars, electronics and maybe some vocals. “Think Albert Ayler meets Stooges meets Jimi Hendrix and you might be getting close …”

John Ballantyne Presents: Chicago 1971 @ Thrasher Opera House (506 Mill St., Green Lake), 7:30 p.m.

Scotsman John Ballantyne tells the ​story of John Prine, Kris Kristofferson and Steve Goodman. One night on the North Side of Chicago in the summer of 1971 Goodman opened for Kristofferson and convinced Kristofferson to see Prine. Knocked out by the songs he heard in the late-night private concert, Kristofferson helped set the illustrious recording careers of those songwriters in motion.

Sunday, Aug. 4

Leroy Airmaster @ Raised Grain Brewery, Waukesha (1725 Dolphin Drive), 2 p.m.

In the 1980s, Leroy Airmaster was the dominant blues band in a vibrant live blues music scene in southeastern Wisconsin. They performed constantly, released four well received recordings and garnered numerous WAMI awards for best blues group. The members of the most popular version of the group reformed in 2010 and continue to perform their unique blend of blues jazz and rock music.

Monday, Aug. 5

Mokoomba @ Musical Mondays – Lake Park, 6:30 p.m.

Zimbabwe’s Mokoomba is touted as one of Africa’s most exciting young bands, setting dance floors ablaze with its unique mix of traditional Tonga and pan-African music cultures with dashes of rap, ska, soukous and Afro-Cuban music.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

Green Jelly w/ The Convalescence, The Size 5's and Litwax @ X-Ray Arcade, 6 p.m.

A theatrical, costume-heavy comedy rock band, Green Jelly found success in 1993 with their surprise Top 40 hit “Three Little Pigs” and its accompanying claymation video. The single appeared on their Billboard-charting sophomore LP Cereal Killer Soundtrack. The Size 5’s present the musical ventures of Juan Avalos, Ryan Larsh, Joe Martinez and Mike Meyers as they present their high energy, raw emotion and heartfelt attitude.

Wednesday, Aug. 7

Zach Pietrini Band – Heartbeats of the City @ Red Arrow Park, Noon

“Milwaukee’s Zach Pietrini has been plying literate, agreeable music flitting between indie country, Americana and rootsy rock for a while now,” Jamie Lee Rake wrote (shepherdexpress.com/music/album-reviews/rock-roll-is-dead-by-zach-pietrini), “but Rock & Roll Is Dead sounds like a departure from his previous aesthetic, if not entirely a rebirth.” 

Back in 2019 Pietrini released an EP thanks to the generosity of a fan who enabled a Denver recording session (shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/zach-pietrini-gets-a-little-help-from-a-fan).

Adem Testaye w/Aliesa Nicole @Washington Park Wednesdays, 6 p.m.

Take a midweek breather at Washington Park’s weekly music series. Madison’s Adem Testaye’s craftsmanship of storytelling is unique and rhythmically hypnotic. Having lived in Seattle and NYC his sound is an elixir of grit, instrumentation, big stage performance and Broadway lights—a soul funk rock band with a hip-hop edge.