This Week in MKE Music: February 22-28, 2024

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

Flat Out Friday (and Thursday and Saturday) returns, Molly Grace graces Vivarium, City Fools debut gig, jazz in Riverwest and Bayview a synth meetup and more—This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, Feb. 22

Molly Grace w/The Wonderlands @ Vivarium, 8 p.m.

Milwaukee music opens a new chapter with the official debut of Vivarium; the venue replaces The Back Room @ Colectivo. The Wonderlands christen the stage followed by the headliner, a “bonafide pop-funk starlet” Molly Grace who is “blazing her own lane with her heart, humor, and charm.” Currently there are 57 announced shows scheduled at the 450 capacity all-ages venue in the Brady Street neighborhood: shepherdexpress.com/culture/happening-now/vivarium-to-open-early-2024.

Flat Out Friday @ Various locations, through Saturday

Milwaukee’s other motorcycle event convenes around the indoor flat track motorcycle racing that takes place on a sticky soda syrup track. Riders from the ages of 6-79 years old come from across the country to compete at the largest and most distinguished indoor flat track race in the U.S.A. Part race, part rock show and part circus it all adds up to 110% entertainment.

Thursday includes a pre-party at H-D Museum and a keg party at Fuel Café; Friday is the main event at Fiserv Forum and an official after party at Boone & Crocket with Poison Hand; Saturday finds another after party at Iron Horse Hotel. More info: flatoutfriday.com.

Friday, Feb. 23

John Sieger @ Café Carpe (18 South Water St. West, Fort Atkinson), 7:30 p.m.

As a serious music fan, you owe yourself a trip to Café Carpe. The cozy listening room is a treasure. If you should find yourself in Fort Atkinson you can catch songwriter, singer and guitarist John Sieger in solo mode. 

The artist whose resume include the R&B Cadets and Semi Twang inspired noted music connoisseur Bill Bentley to write, “If there’s an unsung hero in American Music right now it just might be John Sieger… His voice is a study in emotional grace, one that touches all the places inside us that need touching… Sieger shows us that walking down a familiar sidewalk and grabbing melodies from thin air is a holy pursuit, and then carving words into the music takes things right into an eternal quest for permanence.”

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Rainbow Cobra, Apollo Vermouth and City Fools @ Club Garibaldi, 8 p.m.

A triple bill of artists to keep an ear on. City Fools will be starting things off with their live debut; this group of local veterans bring the energy with garage and punk sounds. Moody, lo-fi groovers Apollo Vermouth and Rainbow Cobra, guided by songwriter Oli Smith, round out the night.

The Music Of Thelonious Monk – Monk’s Music Group @ Bar Centro, 8 p.m.

Thelonious Sphere Monk’s music contains multitudes. His influence on bebop ultimately was a singular slant on what was happening in jazz in the ‘40s and beyond. Milwaukee’s Monk’s Music Group has been playing and interpreting the music of Monk in various formats for nearly a year. Hopefully with no end in sight.

Saturday, Feb. 24

Leroy Airmaster @ Harley-Davidson Museum, 5:30 p.m.

In the 1980s, Leroy Airmaster was a dominant blues band in a vibrant live blues music scene in southeastern Wisconsin. They performed constantly and released four well-received recordings. 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. 

Steve Cohen talked about beating the pandemic blues a few years back: shepherdexpress.com/music/artists-beating-covid-19/steve-cohen-reaches-into-his-trick-bag.

Ten Penny Picassos w/ JT & Congregants @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.

The folk rock of Ten Penny Picassos and the rock, Americana, fingerstyle guitar and rhythm & blues of JT & Congregants add up to a full night of music in Riverwest.

That 1 Guy @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

It began as a lark, Mike Silverman (a.k.a. That 1 Guy) finished a gig with his San Francisco Bay Area group The Fabulous Hedgehogs. After the club owner paid the five-piece band a meager $50, Silverman joked that the next time around he'd play the show alone. The owner took him up on the offer, and right then and there, That 1 Guy was born. In a fit of experimentation, Silverman removed all his bass strings except for one and picked up a drum machine as accompaniment.

Since that fateful night, Silverman has worked hard on perfecting his one-man show and building the beautiful monstrosity that is The Magic Pipe. Seven feet of galvanized steel and hardware store trinkets, the metallic, one-stringed instrument is brought to life by an array of electronic gadgets. Silverman claims the pipe “not only has a limitless harmonic and sonic range, but limitless rhythmic possibilities as well.”

Sunday, Feb. 25

The Milwaukee Synth Meet @ Golfshoe Music (635 E. Wright St.), noon

Luke/Valcove is a master of BIG sounds. Stacks of polyphony, reverbs into endless space and analogue warmth coming all the way from the heat death of the universe. But how does he get those sounds, and with a portable synth setup? Gordon of gordonswireworks and R. Mann will be connecting the different worlds of visual synthesis. From Resolume, Synesthesia, and the classic Milkdrop to hardware video synths and live camera feedback loops. Also, there will be a unique system for everyone to play with. A pair of dueling ARP 2600 clones, the TTSH and Blue Marvin.

Monday, Feb. 26

Marbin @ Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, 5 p.m. and Cactus Club, 7 p.m.

Marbin is a progressive jazz-rock band based in Chicago. In this 5 p.m. workshop, Danny Markovitch (saxophone), Dani Rabin (guitar), Jon Nadel (bass) and Everette Benton Jr. (drums) will explore their process of improvising, composing, arranging and using Solkattu (Indian Solfege) to rhythmically enrich their music. 

Marbin will also share their expertise in the field of music business and explain, with many fun stories and anecdotes, how they built a fusion band into a viable business over the course of a decade. Later, they head across town to Cactus Club for show drawing from their eight albums.