This Week in MKE Music: Feb. 20-26, 2025

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

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This Week in MKE Music

Celebrate Black History Month with blues at West Allis Public Library and at an event at UWM’s Manfred Olson Planetarium, Vivarium celebrates one year, CD release shows by Francesca & the Night Sky and The Truck and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!

Thursday, Feb. 20 

Coleman Williams w/ Lightnin’ Luke and Jayke Orvis @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

You think you have a lot to live up to? You could say Coleman Williams (aka IV aka son of Hank Williams III aka grandson of Hank Jr. aka the great-grandson of Hank Williams) is in the family business. Perhaps nothing encapsulates Coleman Williams’ story better than the song “Stand Your Ground,” a seize-the-day anthem that advises its listener to roll with the world's punches and refuse to remain knocked down. The song opens with a leisurely lope, only to segue into a faster section propelled by train beats, banjo arpeggios and Coleman's anthemic melodies. There are flashes of country twang and rock and roll grit throughout, fused together by a man who's not afraid to blur the dividing line between those camps. 

Friday, Feb. 21 

Camping in Alaska w/ Silver Fern, Lagrimas, Human Ant Farm @ Cactus Club, 6 p.m. 

X-Ray Arcade, The Basement Collective and Cactus Club present an all-ages show in Bay View. Three acts, who must be hearty souls to venture from Alabama and California to play Wisconsin in February. Post-emo band Camping in Alaska initially drew from influences Jawbreaker, Modest Mouse and Knapsack.  

Silver Fern is based on the songwriting of singer and guitarist Shannon Whaley. Steady bass and drums provide the backbone for layers of echoing slide guitar, and Fripp and Eno-esque pedalboard looping. Live sets are sprinkled with covers ranging from UK trip-hop pioneers Portishead to Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim. 

Los Angeles screamo-melodic crust band Lagrimas and Milwaukee’s Human Ant Farm, a five-piece that aims to bridge the gap between potently dreamy, twinkly shoegaze and jangly, overdriven emocore, rounds out the bill. 

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Saturday, Feb. 22 

Black History Month – Young Blues Bloods @ West Allis Public Library 

You don’t have to be quiet in a library. Get a history lesson without opening a book. In honor of Black History Month, Wisconsin Blues Music Hall of Fame presents Young Blues Bloods featuring Pat Love, Victor Reid, Big Al Dorn, Stephen Hull and Cameron Webb.  

The Erotic Adventures of The Static Chicken w/ Caley Conway and Holy Pinto @ Vivarium, 8 P.M. 

Vivarium celebrates one year with an evening of local artists that go a ways to demonstrate just how varied and vital the local music community is—from the aggressive improvisation of The Erotic Adventures of The Static Chicken to Caley Conway’s experimental songwriting to Holy Pinto’s indie pop. Proceeds will benefit Friendship Circle of Wisconsin in memory of Alderman Jonathan Brostoff. 

Psychedelic Rodeo: Modern Joey w/ Diet Lite, Sugar Lads and Greyhound @ Mad Planet, 9 p.m. 

Saddle up, Mad Planet is ground zero with a full night of music in Riverwest with Modern Joey’s jam rock sounds, Diet Lite’s insane energy, Moonglow’s pop-soul and DJ Megadon. 

Sunday, Feb. 23 

CD Release - Francesca and the Night Sky w/ Bernie Bernhoft @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 2 p.m. 

Francesca and her band of veterans, guitarist Tom Plutshack, drummer Mike Farrow and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Larry Koehn celebrate the release of their new album Songs We Allegedly Know with a free matinee. 

CD Release - The Truck w/ Kitty Soft Paw @ Club Garibaldi's, 4 p.m.

In honor of National CD Release Day, The Truck unveils Greatest Hits Vol. II. Partly homage, partly in on the joke of big riff rock, these dudes genuinely genuflect to Taco Bell, 7-Eleven, double wide trailers, Black Sabbath, Beatles, Van Halen. If you detect a faint odor of Spinal Tap among the lap steel riffs feel to bask Proust-like back before to the daze of camels, toes and pseudonyms. Truck may have gotten older, but they refuse to grow up.  

Monday, Feb. 24 

Public Assassination w/ Bungee Jumpers, Missile Strategy, Brainwash Victims @ Cactus Club, 8 p.m. 

Kick off the week with this benefit show for Voces de La Frontera and Milwaukee Trans Queer Depot. 

Tuesday, Feb. 25 

The Craic @ Milwaukee Rep, through March 16 

Co-written by Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements (who also directs) and Deanie Vallone, The Craic (pronounced “crack”) is literally just that; a fun time given all the great Irish music—and musicianship—set within a well-defined storyline that engages from start to finish.    

Set in a cozy, family-run Irish pub, four musicians gather for their weekly session entertaining the locals as much as themselves. But when a former member shows up unexpectedly after a decade-long absence, the evening’s entertainment is as much “therapy session” as music session as unresolved conflicts rise up—and the throw downs begin. Read more from Harry Cherkinian’s review here.

Wednesday, Feb. 26 

Stars, Stories, & Rhythms of Africa @ UWM Manfred Olson Planetarium, 7 p.m. 

Celebrate Black History Month under the stars with a night of music, storytelling, and stargazing.