Summerfest wraps, Musical Mondays kicks off, Voot Warnings, Folk Music w/ Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano & Ches Smith, Chill on the Hill, Long Mama w/Driveway Thriftdwellers and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!
“The Star Spangled Banner” by Jimi Hendrix
Thursday, July 3
Summerfest @ Henry Maier Festival Park – through Saturday
The Big Gig closes out with a final weekend filled with live music. Shepherd Express previewed many of the acts and also publishes reviews of local and national acts.
“Wristwatch” by MJ Lenderman
Thursday’s lineup includes Klassik, MJ Lenderman, The People Brothers Band, Enuff Z’Nuff,
“Santa Monica” by Everclear
Friday includes Diet Lite, Social Distortion, Fountains of Wayne, Bully, Tommy Odetto and Everclear, celebrating the 30th anniversary reissue release celebration of the band’s album Sparkle and Fade.
“tenfold” by Sophie Hunter
Summerfest concludes Saturday with Bob Mittnacht & The Crowning Glories, Louie & the Flashbombs, Sophie Hunter, The Gufs and Am Fam Insurance Amphitheater headliners The Lumineers.
Voot Warnings @ The Uptowner, 10:15 p.m.
“Dance MF Dance” by Voot Warnings
The next installment of Voot Warnings’ never-ending “On-Or-Near-a-Holiday Tour” returns to the charming confines of The Uptowner. Raise a toast to the anniversary America declaring independence from British rule, take a break from the politics of the day or simply “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance.” Expect songs mocking the president, questioning deities, rewriting history filled with psych wards, long-ass heads—and still loving Nelson Brothers. Garage rock with soul. And humor.
Friday, July 4
Pride Hangover! 4th Of July Burlesque Bash @ X-Ray Arcade, 9 p.m.
Lavish Jules
Brew City Bombshells Burlesque is serving red, white, and RUDE at this Pride Hangover Show. Milwaukee's classy, tassel twirlin' burlesque troupe. The Brew City Bombshells have been entertaining audiences for over a decade. The troupe features award winning dancers, comedy acts, vocalists, fire-eating and a variety of other performers.
Saturday, July 5
Symptoms w/ Billy Batts and the Made Men and Floor Model @ Last Rites, 9 p.m.
If you can believe the internet, Billy Batts and the Made Men might be headed home to Georgia due to sickness. Hopefully nothing serious and they return to MKE soon, but is the irony of playing shows with a band called Symptoms lost on anyone?
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Sunday, July 6
Folk Music w/ Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano & Ches Smith @ Sugar Maple, 3:30 p.m.
Photo by Peter Gannushkin
Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano and Ches Smith
Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano and Ches Smith
Folk Music is Nate Wooley, trumpet/amplifier; Chris Corsano, percussion/half-clarinet/electronics; and Ches Smith, percussion/sampler/electronics. After a decade of conceptually-minded bands such as Mutual Aid Music and knknighgh, Wooley put together the trio Folk Music to reconnect with pure improvisation. Asking two of his favorite collaborators, the percussionists Chris Corsano and Ches Smith, to join him with the only rules being flexibility and spontaneity. The result has become an improvising trio capable of whispering sensitivity and huge monoliths of sound.
Monday, July 7
Musical Mondays - Sinkane @ Lake Park (2975 N. Lake Park Rd.), 6:30 p.m.
“Come Together” by Sinkane
Musical Mondays kicks off its 27th season with Sinkane (aka Ahmed Gallab) and his high-energy six-piece band bring ambitious, dazzling sounds of a world of music—from funk to free jazz to pop—set to the foundational soul of the rhythms of his native Sudan.
Tuesday, July 8
Chill on the Hill – Long Mama w/Driveway Thriftdwellers, Humboldt Park Bandshell, 6 p.m.
Photo Credit: Lily Shea
Long Mama
Long Mama
Written partly in Alaska and partly in Wisconsin, Long Mama’s debut album Poor Pretender is a 10-song trek through genre and emotional ups and downs, sometimes told through the perspective of songwriter Kat Wodtke, other times lived through the eyes of fictional characters based on Wodtke’s travels.
“Our dad was really into the country music that was on the radio in the ’80s and ’90s,” Driveway Thriftdwellers’ Ryan Knudson told Shepherd Express in 2019. “Anytime we were in the car, it was Travis Tritt or whoever was big at the time, so we grew up hearing that, and really not really liking it that much. But there were certain elements of that sound that hit a nerve, especially the twangy, crying sound of the pedal steel, and it always stuck with me. I guess somewhere between those Sunday morning drives home from church with my dad listening to the radio, then going home and listening to Black Flag and The Circle Jerks, something hit.”
Heat On @ Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, 8 p.m.
Photo by Leah Wendzinski
Heat On
Heat On
Heat On, a new Chicago powerhouse, multigenerational jazz quartet led by drummer and composer Lily Finnegan (Ken Vandermark’s Edition Redux, the Sarah Clausen Trio), featuring saxophonists Edward Wilkerson Jr. and Fred Jackson Jr. and bassist Nick Macri. Their debut album was released by Cuneiform Records in June.
Wednesday, July 9
Heart Attack Man w/ The Dirty Nil, Carpool and Dear Seattle
“Joyride The Pale Horse” by Heart Attack Man
Exploring our existential fate, Heart Attack Man ponder not just death, but life in between the crunch of palm-muted pop-punk guitar chords and snappy hooks you just can’t shake. As such, the Cleveland, OH trio—Eric Egan (vocals, guitar), Adam Paduch (drums) and Ty Sickels (guitar)—stare down fate with an ear-to-ear smile on their fourth full-length LP, Joyride the Pale Horse.
Canada’s The Dirty Nil has made a few stops to Milwaukee and the band’s high energy performances made an impression. This four-band bill should be a welcome mid-week jolt.
