This Week in MKE Music: Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2025

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

by

This Week in MKE Music

Paw Paw Lawton and his Jigsaw Band CD release, Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts, Billy Idol and Joan Jett, Texas Headhunters, Deftones, Laborfest and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!

Thursday, Aug. 28

Paw Paw Lawton and his Jigsaw Band – Tornado CD release w/ God’s Outlaw @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7 p.m.

On Route 40 in Michigan, the distance from Paw Paw to Lawton is about six miles. In 2008, Kevin Hyman was busy preparing for a birthday party Saturday afternoon at his downtown Paw Paw restaurant when he saw a gray-green dust cloud swirling outside it. Next a tree on his property snapped in half and his outdoor deck and the trees that surrounded it were in rubble.

Brian Miller has always been writing songs; the guitarist locked into the Americana genre when he saw Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at Pabst Theater, where he works as a sound engineer. As his alter ego Paw Paw Lawton, Miller assembled a jigsaw puzzle of musicians from his decades playing in bands Miss Trixie, Mudflap, The Truck, Cat Call Killers and work with Violent Femmes. Both Tornado and the debut Kansas were recorded at Miller’s studio; with a dozen members in the extended fold the band is a musical ark. If the names Jason Pinkowski, Dave Voss, Chris Conrad, Leroy Deuster, Cory Bonkalski, Cherie Modrow and Craig Halstead ring any bells, you are in the right place. Miller jokes with so many fellow musicians and engineers in the band, a Thursday night show made sense—everyone might be working during the weekend.

Texas Headhunters w/ Tallan Noble Latz @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Ian Moore, Johnny Moeller, and Jesse Dayton—three of Texas' fiercest fretmen—join forces as Texas Headhunters, a band born from deep roots, old friendships and a shared reverence for the raw, swaggering spirit of Texas blues. Cut over five days at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio, Texas Headhunters deals 12 tracks of grit, groove, and gut-level truth. No smoke, no mirrors—just seasoned musicians in a room, plugged in and turned up.

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“We all grew up on that sound,” says Moore. “Tailgators, LeRoi Brothers, T-Birds, Stevie. The blues in Austin was just cool. That's what we're feeling here.” Texas Headhunters is a reminder that Texas blues, in all its grit and glory, still matters. It’s not retro—it's revival. Dayton sums it up: “We tracked it live in the room. The way our heroes did. It felt right. We’ve all done records with other people, but this one ...  this one feels like the start of something.”

St. Vincent  - All Born Screaming Tour w/ Gustaf @ The Rave, 8 p.m.

St. Vincent’s first fully self-produced album All Born Screaming is Annie Clark her most primal. Featuring Clark leading “a curated group of rippers” through the brawny “Broken Man, infectious “Flea,” and mordant catwalk sashay through deafening assault of self-loathing that is “Big Time Nothing,” All Born Screaming is equal parts spiritual desolation and rapturous acceptance. “If you’re born screaming, that’s a great sign,” says Clark, “because it means you’re breathing. You’re alive. My god. It’s joyous. And then it’s also a protest. We’re all born in protest in a certain way. It’s terrifying to be alive, it’s ecstatic to be alive. It’s everything.”

Friday, Aug. 29

Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts “Love Earth World Tour” @ BMO Harris Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

“People my age, they don’t do the things I do,” Neil Young declares in “The Ocean,” the leadoff track to Coastal, the soundtrack to Young’s recent documentary film of a solo tour that included songs that reached as far back as his days in The Buffalo Springfield. The film played in theaters for one night. Concurrently, Young released an album of new material. Talkin to the Trees. It is Young’s unfiltered Rorschach, circa 2025.

What do these albums have to do with Friday’s show? Maybe nothing. As listeners who have followed Young’s wildly mercurial career realize you buy the ticket, you take the ride. He’s been known to unveil entire new albums of material in concert. But if recent setlists are any indication, the show will be a healthy blend of well-known favorites and deep cuts with some thinly veiled social commentary. The Chrome Hearts are made up of legendary session musician Spooner Oldham and members of Promise of the Real, which includes Micah Nelson (son of Willie) who was part of Crazy Horse when Young performed the Tonight’s The Night record in its entirety at the Roxy Theater in 2023.

Dirtnap 25 - Dirtnap Records 25th Anniversary @ X-Ray Arcade, through Sunday

Irony? Dirtnap is slang for death.

A quarter of a century is a long time. In the fickle music business, it may seem like an eternity. But then consider Dirtnap Records, a label helmed by a music fan with a vision that doesn’t’ seem to waver. The label celebrates with a three-day festival at X-Ray Arcade.

“Initially I had envisioned Dirtnap Records as a continuation of my radio show at the time, Dirtnap Radio,” says Ken Cheppaikode, who started the label when he lived in Seattle. “In the early days it was much more locally oriented (Pacific NW at the time) but gradually spread outwards to release records from bands all over the globe.”

Saturday, Aug. 30

Strangelander w/ King Corteen @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.

Strangelander, led by guitarist-composer Steve Peplin, is populated by leaders and members of notable bands including the Static Chicken, De La Buena, Amanda Huff, You Win!!, Tontine Ensemble, November Criminals and more. “I have been slacking on my guitar practice for a couple weeks, as I've been writing and working on my house and car a lot,” Peplin said back in 2020 about his focus during the pandemic. “But I ‘go to work’ (composing) every night at about 8 p.m.  and usually work till 1:30 or 2 a.m. Even if I have no inspiration, it always shows up after about five minutes on my keyboard.”

Deftones: North America Tour 2025 w/ Phantogram & The Barbarians of California @ Fiserv Forum, 7 p.m.

With 10 albums to the band’s credit, Deftones latest album Private Music is a “sort of homecoming for group members Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Abe Cunningham, and Frank Delgado,” Rolling Stone reported. They “co-produced the project with Nick Raskulinecz in Malibu and Joshua Tree, California, as well as Nashville. Raskulinecz worked on 2010’s Diamond Eyes and 2012’s Koi No Yokan with the group.”

Sunday, Aug. 31

Wilson Family Band w/ Billy Peterson @ The Uptowner, 3:30 p.m.

In the summer of 1967, 16-year-old Billy Peterson joined the Righteous Brothers tour. By the mid-‘70s Peterson played with Leo Kottke and in 1975 he played bass on Bob Dylan’s classic album Blood on the Tracks. For 23 years Peterson played bass with the Steve Miller Band. On Sunday, he adds another line to his long resume when he joins the Wilson Family Band for the Sunday blues matinee.

The Mothership Bar Takeover @ Cactus Club, 11 a.m.

Milwaukee is still cleaning up after the Flood of 2025. The flooding destroyed Bayview tavern Mothership’s basement along with everything in it. It’ll be a while before they can reopen. Cactus Club is stepping in with this special event to help out the staff of The Mothership Bar. They are creating some boozy blended cocktails, so bring some cash to over-tip them! Mothership staff will be behind the bar from 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Billy Idol w/ Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: It’s a Nice Day To … Tour Again! @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater, 6 p.m.

Turn back the clocks. In 1978 a young Billy Idol fronted Generation X as he ramped up to a career strung with hits like “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without Face.” Idol was comfortable enough to parody his image in film and commercials.

With the Runaways, the 15-year-old Joan Jett blazed a trail that rivals James Brown’s work ethic. Hits like “Bad Reputation,” “I Love Rock N' Roll,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You” were balanced with reimagined covers like “Crimson And Clover,” “Everyday People” and “Androgynous.”

Monday, Sept. 1

Laborfest Parade Kickoff @ Zeidler Union Square, 11 a.m.

Laborfest @ Henry W. Maier Festival Park, 11 a.m.

Do you have the day off? Thank a union member.

In 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday. Every year, labor unions and union members of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, put on one of the biggest Labor Day celebrations in the country on the Milwaukee Lakefront that's free and open to the public. The event includes live music for adults and families, children's entertainment, bingo, wrestling, a classic car show, and union raffle with a Grand Prize of $5,000.

But before heading to the lakefront, visit the parade route to see the union members in their trucks, on their Harleys, and marching with their locals in downtown Milwaukee. The parade ends at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds where Laborfest takes place.

Tuesday, Sept. 2

Milwaukee Public Schools are in session.

Drive safe.

Wednesday, Sept. 3

Cowboy Killers featuring Reier Cammerman, Carly Malison and Peggy Hurley @ Falcon Bowl, 7:30 p.m.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHDUNwlPes8

Domesticating a Wild Reier by Reier Cammerman

Take a midweek laugh break when comedy returns to the Falcon Nest. Headliner Reier Cammerman is joined by Carly Malison and Peggy Hurley; the evening is hosted by Raegan Niemela.