Bike Night, Bay View Gallery Night, Bay View Jazz Fest, Riverwest Radio celebrates 14 years, Linneman’s celebrates 33 & 1/3, Dan Tymnski Band and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!
Thursday, May 28
Bike Night: The Cactus Bros. @ Harley-Davidson Museum, 5 p.m.
Photo via Cactus Bros.
Cactus Bros.
Cactus Bros.
Gear up with the weekly music series at the H-D Museum, Thursdays through September. Acts include The Cactus Bros., The Grovelers, Bourbon Jockeys Trapper Schoepp’s Tom Petty Tribute, Bruce Humphries & The Rockabilly Rebels and others. More info here www.insurance.harley-davidson.com/resources/harley-davidson-museum-bike-night-concert-series
Rilo Kiley w/ Jean-Luc Eldenwood @ The Riverside Theater, 7 p.m.
“Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley
When Rilo Kiley got an invitation to play a festival a couple years ago, guitarist Blake Sennett had to reacquaint himself with songs like “Dreamworld,” “With Arms Outstretched” and “Portions for Foxes” that he hadn’t played for years. When the ‘00s indie rock band that paired Jenny Lewis’s sweet, emotional lyrics and melodies with knotty, buzzing guitar reunited for a tour last summer, Sennett had to take an even closer dive into the songs he did a quarter century ago.
“I was able to approach them as though they weren't mine at all. They were someone else's, and it was my job to honor them and make them as beautiful as I could—and try not to mess up the part,” he elaborated. “I feel in awe of what we were able to do so many years ago. Thanks, younger Blake, for this.”
Friday, May 29
Bay View Gallery Night and Bay View Jazz Fest @ many locations, 5 p.m.
“Table For Four” by KASE + KLASSIK
Over 70 spots will become galleries for a night. Melt Chocolates, Pedro’s Barbershop, Mac’s Pet Depot Barkery, Voyageur Book Shop, Tease Salon, Saint Augustine of Hippo, The Art School, Tennis Courts in Humboldt Park are among the locations that will turn into art galleries. Even art galleries will be art galleries. More info here https://bvgn.org/gallery-night-milwaukee/
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Need a soundtrack? You can catch live jazz at seven locations from Sam Neufeld Quartet, Sam Catral Trio, Davis/Peplin Duo, Jazz Flux and others. More info here https://bvgn.org/bay-view-jazz-fest/
Peter Mulvey & Jenna Nicholls present Floyd Mercantile @ Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co., 6:30 p.m.
Photo via Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.
Peter Mulvey and Jenna Nicholls
Peter Mulvey and Jenna Nicholls
In April 2025, Peter Mulvey and Jenna Nicholls, along with guitarist Ross Bellenoit, traveled to Floyd, a small mountain town located in the Blue Ridge Highlands of southwest Virginia, for five uninterrupted days of recording. What emerged is Floyd Mercantile—a record that feels both intimate and timeless.
The makeshift studio was a decommissioned general store called Floyd Mercantile—a weathered wooden building standing across the road from an open pasture where cows wandered and grazed in the gentle early spring. (One cow even volunteered to be on the album cover.) Inside those old walls, the trio recorded the album live—no isolation booths, no heavy overdubbing—just three musicians in a room, listening closely and letting the songs unfold in real time.
The repertoire bridges eras. Mostly comprised of songs Mulvey and Nichols wrote separately, there are a few gems from the Great American Songbook: “Skylark” (HoagyCarmichael/Johnny Mercer), “Them There Eyes" (Maceo Pinkard/Doris Tauber/William Tracey) and “I'll Be Seeing You" (Sammy Fain/Irving Kahal).
Riverwest Radio 14th Anniversary Sunset Cruise @ Milwaukee Boat Line Dock, 1124 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., 6:30 p.m.
For 14 years, Riverwest Radio has been punching above its weight class from the humble storefront studio on Center Street. With 100 watts and a five-mile radius, the station continues to provide programming you simply cannot find anywhere else; shows are archived on Soundcloud.
Celebrate with Riverwest Radio on a sunset cruise through Milwaukee aboard the Vista King for an evening of community, music, appetizers, and a raffle supporting independent, community-powered media. More info here www.riverwestradio.com/product/riverwest-radio-14th-anniversary-sunset-gala-cruise-may-29-2026-7-9-pm/?preview=true
Kyle Feerick and Lost Orange Cat: Double Album Release Show @ Falcon Bowl, 8 p.m.
Celebrate a pair of new releases. Kyle Feerick’s album Shine On is bookended by short pieces, the chill earworms of “Protostar” and “Red Giant.” That pair of tracks laced with spoken work snippets that draw you for a subliminal mission statement. “You Lie Awake” takes an oom-pah polka groove and adds joyfully blaring horns, to conjure what sounds like a Harry Nilsson outtake—with lyrics that strike as simply as haiku.
Lost Orange Cat’s Electric Desert EP brings plenty of high-octane energy and downshifts a bit with “At My Door” recalling The Band.
Dan Tyminski Band @ The Argo, 8 p.m.
“Hey Brother” by Dan Tyminski
A three-decade member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, Dan Tyminski gained major notoriety as the voice of George Clooney in the Coen Brothers film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? singing the Stanley Brothers’ classic song, “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.”
A solo artist since 2000, Tyminski’s impressive resume includes 14 Grammy Awards and four-time Male Vocalist of the Year honoree by the International Bluegrass Music Association. He has also recorded instrumental or vocal harmony contributions for projects by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Joan Osborne, Charlie Daniels, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Rob Thomas and Charlie Haden.
Saturday, May 30
Radiate @ Third Space Brewing, Noon
Image via WMSE - Facebook
WMSE Radiate 2026 line-up
The lineup for WMSE's inaugural EDM festival, Radiate
On a March morning in 1997 DJ Jayx took over the 3-6 a.m. slot with his WMSE radio show “The Loop.” Prior to that he was seven hours shy of completing the station’s old requirement of 100 hours of training to be an on-air DJ.
This Saturday Jayx will curate a 12-hour, noon to midnight event at Third Space Brewing, WMSE’s inaugural EDM festival, “Radiate.” The lineup from opener to headliner includes DJs Lukewarm, Brian Small, Asher Gray, JaiRoc, Blaze Orange, Amy Octane, D1, Jayx, Subspace, Surge, Jonn Hawley and The Demix. The “Radiate” lineup is a representation of the Milwaukee DJ scene which is mainly broken up into small collectives or solo acts. The event brings them all together from Amy Octane’s Drum & Bass to Surge’s Trance to Brian Small’s Italo Disco.
“The one thing all dance music festivals strive to do--and dance music in general is based on, is togetherness and unity, one big group vibing to the sounds,” Jayx says.
“Musical Joy By the Lake” @ Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (1450 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr.), 6 p.m.
“Musical Joy By the Lake” is a celebration of music and community, bringing together performers and audiences in a shared experience of joy and connection, featuring musicians from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Amazing Grace Chorus.
Pat McCurdy @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Bright Beautiful World - The Infectious Joy of Pat McCurdy - Trailer
As frontman for Yipes!, The Men About Town and The Confidentials, Pat McCurdy’s stock in trade was driving melodic pop rock as the ‘80s dawned. By the time the ‘90s hit, McCurdy had reinvented himself as a troubadour-entertainer, building a devoted fanbase along the way. The Milwaukee Film Festival recently screened the documentary Bright Beautiful World: The Infectious Joy of Pat McCurdy. Yipes! recently released the EP Irish Exit; hardly the sound of geriatric rockers lining up for the early bird special, the songs hit with the testosterone rush of a frat house on a Friday night. Here’s a chance to catch him in his natural habitat.
Sunday, May 31
Locust Street Festival @ Locust Street from Humboldt Avenue to Holton Avenue, 11:30 a.m.
In the early ‘70s, Milwaukee planned to widen Locust Street between Humboldt and Holton. In 1976 after much discussion and debate the neighbors in Riverwest let the authorities know they were against it. Miraculously, the authorities agreed and the neighborhood threw a party to celebrate. They called it the Locust Street Festival of Music and Art.
This year’s fest includes a beer run, vendors and five stages with music from Lovanova, Diet Lite, The MilBillies, Joseph Huber, Eave Chapelle, Ladybird and many others. More info here https://www.locuststreetfestival.org/music
Linneman’s Anniversary 33 1/3 Anniversary – Noon
The venerable corner establishment has hosted private functions, neighborhood meetings, long-running poetry readings, weekly open mics and annual benefit concerts. Jim Linneman and Marty Hacker’ history of presenting live music is a heady chapter in Milwaukee history. Appropriately, Linneman’s celebrates 33 1/3 revolutions with what they do best, a day and evening of live music from Shell Bells, Natalie Sue & the Steed, If I Knew the Way plays Dylan & the Dead (Garrett Waite), De La Buena and The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken.
Oteil & Friends featuring Steve Kimock, Jason Crosby, Johnny Kimock, Tom Guarna, & Lamar Williams, Jr. @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
“Morning Dew” by Oteil & Friends ft Lara Cwass
Two-time Grammy-winning bassist has been touring and recording for over three decades. He was a founding member of the early ‘90s southern jazz-fusion group Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit with Jimmy Herring, Jeff Sipe and others; he joined The Allman Brothers Band as their final bass player and in 2015 he joined Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart with John Mayer to form Dead & Company.
Monday, June 1
‘68 w / Nate Bergman @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
“Whether Terrified or Unafraid” by ‘68
Not to be confused with Elvis’ ’68 Comeback, Atlanta band ’68 makes stop in Cudahy on their farewell tour. With a catalogue of 100 published works and more than a hundred more, film scores, Americana-punk-folk artist shares the bill.
Tuesday, June 2
MV Wells w/ Speedy Muffler @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m.
“Killing Time” by MV Wells
In a Chicago Reader interview last year multi-instrumentalist, producer and mixing engineer Joshua Wells said, “I like all kinds of bands that don’t really fit in a mold. That’s part of my approach to music; I definitely don’t like to do one thing.” He described MV Wells, the project with his cousin Mike Wells, as “sort of an exploration of, like, Burt Bacharach singer-songwriter pop with some orchestration.”
Wednesday, June 3
Indaba Nights: Peace, Love & Soul Band @ Indaba Band Shell (2450 W. North Ave.) 6:30 p.m.
Indaba Nights kicks off the 2026 season of Wednesday concerts with Peace, Love & Soul Band. The weekly music series continues through August 26. More info here facebook.com/photo?fbid=1366216828877615&set=pcb.1366219352210696
