This Week in MKE Music July 23-29, 2026

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

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This Week in MKE Music

Outdoor music on Brady Street, Kenosha, Eau Claire, the annual Riverwest 24, German Fest, Aimee Mann and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music.

Thursday, July 23

The Championship - Duo @ Jackalope Lounj, 7 p.m.

Joe Crockett and Quinn Scharber of The Championship play an acoustic set as part of the Lounj Acts series. The unassuming Scharber has a long resume as sideman but his own music, including low-profile gems, the albums Being Nice Won't Save Milwaukee and Every Other beg the question when will he be releasing another album?

Green Bay UFO Invasion Fest 2026 (990 Tony Canadeo Run, Green Bay), through Saturday

This annual music festival has roots in the legendary Concert Café, the Green Bay all ages venue. This year’s GB UFO Fest is three days of alternative bands with headliners Pet Mosquito, Man…Or Astroman and the Didjits. More info here.

Friday, July 24

Riverwest 24 – 7 p.m.

Since 2008, RW24 has captured the imagination and streets of Riverwest with neighborly fun, music and a 24-hour bike race that is less about competition than enjoying the neighborhood and its character.

The 4.6-mile lap starts and finished at Pierce and Center  (2600 Pierce) and moved to Checkpoint #1: Beerline Plaza (3300 Booth/Beerline Trail), Checkpoint #2: Burleigh and Douseman  (1100 Burleigh) and Checkpoint #3: Swing Park on Oak Leaf Trail, under the Holton Bridge. More info here.

Ray Bonneville @ Café Carpe (18 S. Water St. West, Fort Atkinson), 8:30 p.m.

With a discography of nine albums, 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.

Often called a “song and groove man,” Bonneville has lived the life of the itinerant artist. From his native Quebec, he moved to Boston at age 12, where he learned English and picked up piano and guitar.

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Later, he served in Vietnam and earned a pilot’s license in Colorado before living in Alaska, Seattle, and Paris. Six years in New Orleans infused his musical sensibilities with the region's culture and rhythms.

And then, a close call while piloting a seaplane proved pivotal: After two decades working as a studio musician, playing rowdy rooms with blues bands, and living hard, Bonneville’s lifetime of hard-won experience coalesced into an urge to write his own music.

German Fest @ Henry Maier Festival Park, through Sunday

Milwaukee’s ties to German heritage are strong. German Fest Milwaukee brings the spirit of Germany to life each summer with authentic food, lively entertainment, and a vibrant community atmosphere. Since 1981, this beloved festival has grown to become the largest German Fest in the United States, welcoming tens of thousands of guests across 75 acres of lakefront festival grounds.

Culture, food, drink, the 19th Annual Dachshund Derby and music from Die Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band, Die Heimatklänge, Dorf Kapelle, The Biermen and more. More info here.

Taste of Wisconsin @ Harbor Park, Kenosha (5501 Ring Road, Kenosha), through Sunday

For 17 years, Taste of Wisconsin has celebrated summer, food and music at Kenosha’s Harbor Park on the shores of Lake Michigan. Free admission, kid zone, food and drinks and entertainment—over 80 acts on four stages. More info here.

Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival @ Carson Park (100 Carson Park Dr., Eau Claire), through Saturday

Founded by hometown artist Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver) this year’s Eaux Claires Music and Arts Festival returns for the first time in eight years. It includes writer workshops and performances by Jon Cleary, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas.

Friday features a special performance by Bon Dylan as Bon Iver's Justin Vernon will perform as Bob Dylan circa 1994, playing songs from every era. Joined by a 12-piece band of close friends and frequent collaborators, Bon Dylan is the only concert event Vernon has planned for 2026, as he tries to turn Bon into Bob—blurring the lines and becoming someone else, not as an impersonation but a personification.

Trivia - on Monday the Milwaukee Brewers celebrated the 50th anniversary of Henry Aaron’s 755th and final home run at County Stadium. In 1952, Aaron began his professional career playing for the minor league Eau Claire Bears at Carson Park.

Saturday, July 25

Brady Street Festival – Farwell Avenue to Van Buren Street, Noon

The annual street festival offers blocks and blocks of food, drink, vendors and three stages of music. Acts include Social Cig, Modern Joey, School of Rock, Wire and Nail, Wave Chapelle, Fellow Travelers, Brady Street Babes and more.

Sunday, July 26

Buddy Guy 90 w/ Carlise Guy and The Nu Blu Band @ The Riverside Theater, 6:30 p.m.

On July 30 Buddy Guy turns 90, the youngster is warming up with a show at the Riverside.

The Chicago blues guitarist has been a familiar face in Milwaukee over his decades of performing. As one of the young guns on the Chicago scene in the ‘60s he made a name with his singular style that was often anything but polite; you can hear his playing on records by Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter. With his polka dot covered Fender Stratocaster, Guy stands out visually. Here is a chance to glimpse a living legend who connects a history of music that migrated from the deep South to the clubs and Chess Records of Chicago, before it was borrowed by some famous British upstarts.

Caroline Rose @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Effortlessly shapeshifting across all of their releases, Caroline Rose’s albums blend psychobilly, pop, shoegaze, alt-country, folk, electronic and experimental music. They infuse satire, perspective-shifting, film-inspired narratives, and an array of storytelling devices that transport listeners straight into Rose’s self-described “weird buffet” of a mind.

With each album–from the alt-country folk of I Will Not Be Afraid, to the psychobilly of LONER, and 2020’s self-produced synthpop album Superstar, Rose crafts a multifaceted character that draws the listener into their world.

Monday, July 27

Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2 Album Tour w/ Kimon Kirk @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.

Songwriter Aimee Mann’s career shifted to high gear with a three-album streak I’m With Stupid (1995), the soundtrack to the film Magnolia (1996) and Bachelor No. 2 (1999). For this show Mann will perform Bachelor in its entirety.

Tuesday, July 28

Chill on the Hill - Father Sky w/ Sugo @ Humboldt Park Bandshell, 5 p.m.

Expecting to see the German drone doom duo? You’ll be out of luck. This Father Sky happens to be the work of Milwaukee pianist Anthony Duetsch. In 2017 Kevin Lynch wrote, “Deutsch’s Father Sky-meets-Mother Earth sensibility tends a personal ecological vision, like someone picking bits of grimy dust out of a spider’s web. Deutsch croons, but his spacious baritone sometimes projects like a wolf howling at the moon. He leans on the sustain pedal and major keys, but the piano also dapples sun-lit atmospherics.”

Another Chill note: In order to accommodate Mother Nature’s whims this summer, makeup dates have been added for Chillith Fair, Tuesday, September 8 and Milwaukee American Legion Band, Tuesday, September 15.

Wednesday, July 29

Goldpine @ Var Gallery, 7 p.m.

Break up the week with Nashville duo Goldpine.  Benjamin and Kassie Wilson bring their brand of “aggressive Americana.” In a Nashville Voyager interview talked about the DIY lifestyle and offered a legitimate hack for touring acts to look into.

“A typical day for us is definitely not typical in the traditional sense—but it’s our normal. We usually wake up in a Planet Fitness parking lot in whatever city we drove to the night before. First thing, we hit the gym to work out and get ready for the day—Planet Fitness has become our unofficial tour HQ. After that, we get back in the van, handle any admin work—emails, routing, booking, merch—and then hit the road toward the next show.

Somewhere along the way, we’ll cook lunch in the van and by the time we get to the venue, it’s time for sound check and settling into show mode. After the performance, we load out, regroup, and do it all over again the next day.”