Photo by Steven Friederich - Wikimedia Commons
Alice Cooper at White River Amphitheatre
Alice Cooper and his band perform at the White River Amphitheatre in Washington state in 2023.
Eric Blowtorch and Ras Ameen @ Biersall Tavern; Jerry Grillo @ The Jazz Estate; Gang of Four’s farewell tour stops at Turner Hall; Derek Pritzl and Dandy L. Freling @ The Uptowner; Robert Świstelnicki’s ‘Songs of a Decaying Empire’ @ Sugar Maple and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!
Thursday, May 8
Ari Hest @ Anodyne Coffee Roasting, Co., 7 p.m.
Photo via Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.
Ari Hest
Ari Hest
Ari Hest has played every state and toured extensively through Europe. His discography includes a dozen albums and EPs, and work with the bands The Open Sea, Bluebirds of Paradise and the duets album Silver Skies Blue with Judy Collins.
His music can be heard on television or movies The Path, The Lincoln Lawyer, Private Practice, Army Wives, and One Tree Hill.
Eric Blowtorch and Ras Ameen @ Biersall Tavern, 7 p.m.
“Sanctuary City” by Eric Blowtorch
Ever-restless songwriter Eric Blowtorch is joined by percussionist Ras Ameen who plays the ashiko, a West African hand drum. When still in high school, Blowtorch (also known by his given name, Eric Beaumont) hopped the No. 15 bus from Whitefish Bay to the East Side, where he discovered, in rapid succession, punk rock, reggae and hip hop.
His first band, The Laytons, were punks searching for the funky reverberations of Jamaican dub. Experiencing hip hop up close in segregated early ‘80s Milwaukee meant “crossing artificial boundaries because I wanted to meet hip hop musicians. I didn’t belong visually in the hip hop world, but all the brothers blessed me—and the sisters too!” he says.
The Exotics @ The Foundation,
"Go Go Guitars" by The Exotics
Since 1958 The Exotics have been performing their blend of surf, spy, hot rod and spaghetti western instrumentals. Dang it, 1958 was The Ventures debut. The Exotics have only been around since 1994. Easy mistake.
Friday, May 9
Long Line Riders @ The Wiggle Room, 6:30 p.m.
The vinyl-centric Wiggle Room offers up an early show with honky-tonkers Long Line Riders, who play honest, familiar songs about unrequited love, loss, life and the open road thawed out and interpreted through a Midwestern lens.
|
|
Jerry Grillo @ The Jazz Estate, 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Grillo
Jerry Grillo
Jerry Grillo
On May 13, 2022, Mayor Cavalier Johnson declared “My Hometown Milwaukee Day” and presented Jerry Grillo with a proclamation, honoring the singer for writing a song in homage to our city.
Grillo will wheel out “My Hometown Milwaukee” at his May concert at the Jazz Estate and introduce a brand-new number, “The Strength of America.”
The Milwaukee song was heartfelt and whimsical, conjuring the spirit of “Chicago” and “New York, New York” but with cheese curds and beer. The American song comes from a different place, striking a hopeful note in unsettled times with its insistence that “We are brave, we are proud—and we will sing out loud!” and demand the “freedom to live our own lives.”
Gang of Four @ Turner Hall
“To Hell With Poverty” by Gang Of Four
Funky, abrasive and smart; Gang of Four is calling it a day. The pioneering English post-punk band is going out with a bang by celebrating the 45th anniversary release of the album Entertainment! The show will be two sets: Entertainment! in its entirety followed by the best of the rest in the second.
Saturday, May 10
Saturday Mass with Derek Pritzl and Dandy L. Freling @ The Uptowner, 3 p.m.
A pair of songwriters bless The Uptowner with their talents with the monthly matinee that continues June 14 and July 5. Derek Pritzl takes his craft seriously. Back in 2016 he played a rough mix of “Ossippi,” a song in progress. “There are probably 75 recordings of that song,” he said then. “Every night I just veg out and play. That song could have started out as a waltz or in a different key. I’ll get into a groove and play it again maybe two days later and it has evolved into something different. Maybe the water was dripping and I am in that rhythm.”
‘Songs of a Decaying Empire’ @ Sugar Maple, 8:30 p.m.
The project of music and poetry will feature Mark Feldman, Ana Everling, Jason Roebke and Wiktor Schwarzman. ‘Songs of a Decaying Empire’ is a project at the intersection of jazz, poetry, avantgarde and the singer-songwriter genre. It contemplates the dark corners of contemporary imperial depravity, it explores dreams, ecstasies, horrors and comedies of our “late capitalistic” circumstance, and philosophizes on the aberrations of contemporary socio-political habits and paradigms.
But it also looks- in the dark matter that it investigates- for light, love, humor and redemption.
Sunday, May 11
Milwaukee Jazz Orchestra and UWM Youth Jazz Ensemble – UJAY @ Skylight Music Theatre, 6 p.m.
Milwaukee's premier ensemble for jazz big band music is joined by a big band comprised of greater Milwaukee’s finest high school jazz musicians.
Monday, May 12
Winged Wheel w/ Nurse Julie and DJ Gosha @ Cactus Club,7 p.m.
Photo via Winged Wheel - Bandcamp
Winged Wheel
Winged Wheel
Big Hotel, the sophomore effort of Detroit’s Winged Wheel, finds core members Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), and Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to include Lonnie Slack (Water Damage) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), when they convened in person in Kingston, N.Y. for a long weekend of live studio recording.
After tracking three days’ worth of group improvisations, weirdly born songs and spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited … half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material by Can, Faust or more recently,the experimental production of the International Anthem camp.
Tuesday, May 13
Venturer w/ Cripes, The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors and Vanity Plates @ X-Ray Arcade, 6 p.m.
A trio of Milwaukee bands are joined by The Mystical Hot Chocolate Endeavors, whose Great Midwestern Prog-Rock Extravaganza Tour stops in Cudahy. The Boston band’s 2023 double CD A Clock Without a Craftsman is a 98-minute concept album, bringing together sounds and styles for fans of alternative, progressive and metal music from heavy to atmospheric ambience.
Wednesday, May 14
Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Sasquatch and the Sickabillys
Over a decade of relentless touring has cemented Sasquatch as one of the most high-gear, powerhouse band leaders around. His bands, The Sick-a-Billys, Holy Hellraisers, Full Moon Boys and his critically acclaimed King Sickabilly “One Man Band” have all stayed true to his vocals, lyrics and his fiery guitar-work—never giving up his songwriting mission: keeping real music alive and dangerous in the under-underground.
Alice Cooper @ Miller High Life Theatre, 8 p.m.
“Black Mamba” by The Original Alice Cooper Group
Formed in the late ‘60s, Alice Cooper (the band) perfectly blended hard rock, catchy hooks and an over-the-top image that was as at home on AM radio as it was in arenas. Songs like “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out” still sound fresh today.
By 1975 the band had broken up with Alice, the frontman, continuing on with the name and refining the legendary tongue-in-cheek blend of humor and horror. Earlier this year, it was announced that Cooper had reunited with original members Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith for the band's first studio album together in 52 years.
The Revenge of Alice Cooper will be released in July. Produced by Bob Ezrin, who worked on many of the band’s iconic LPs, it will also include previously unreleased contributions by original guitarist Glen Buxton who died in 1997.
