This Week in MKE Music: Oct. 16-22, 2025

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

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This Week in MKE Music

Violent Femmes’ two-night stand, Shawn Phillips, Herbie Hancock, Leroy Airmaster, Acid Mothers Temple and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music! 

Thursday, Oct. 16 

Film Screening - Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool @ Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, 6:30 p.m. 

The Chuck LaPaglia Jazz Film Series will continue with the screening of Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool. The Milwaukee Jazz Institute “A” Train Ensemble, under the direction of Mark Davis, will conclude the event by performing several Miles Davis pieces following the screening. 

The documentary is a look at the life story of the legendary musician Miles Davis. Directed by Stanley Nelson, it includes appearances by Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Carlos Santana and archival video commentary by Miles Davis himself. 

The Milwaukee Jazz Institute's “A” Train Ensemble, directed by Mark Davis, with Emmet Fettig on alto sax, Samuel Caiola on piano, Thomas Renz on bass and Adrian McCants on drums, competed as a finalist in the 17th Annual Charles Mingus High School Competition in February The New School in New York City. 

Cassini Echoes w/ Bunk Bed, HOSTS and Dave Purcell @ Anodyne Coffee Roasters, 7 p.m. 

Stop by Anodyne for an eclectic evening of music. Atmospheric indie rock for Cassini Echoes; Bunk Bed’s mix of psych, surf, metal and jazz; indie-Americana from HOSTS and singer songwriter Dave Purcell. 

Friday, Oct. 17 

Smoke N’ Mirrors w/ Gabriel Harris and Digbii @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m. 

A night that leans into jazz and groove. Jazz organ trio Smoke N’ Mirrors traffic in improvised solos and hypnotic grooves, Gabriel Harris blends genres, including blues, rock, soul, funk and alternative sounds. He “is known for his high-impact vocals and finger-twisting guitar work.” Digbii blend original compositions and improvisation, taking inspiration from Steely Dan, John Coltrane, David Bowie, Mose Allison, Buena Vista Social Club and The Bad Plus. 

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Brandy & Monica: The Boy Is Mine Tour 

Featuring: Brandy, Monica, Kelly Rowland, Muni Long and Jamal Roberts @ Fiserv Forum 8 p.m. 

GRAMMY Award-winning artists, Brandy and Monica, embark on their first-ever co-headlining tour. It also marks a moment more than 25 years in the making, building on the legacy of their 1998 game-changing duet “The Boy Is Mine,” which became a defining cultural touchstone of late ‘90s R&B. 

Joining them is a lineup of special guests: GRAMMY winner Kelly Rowland, chart-topping singer-songwriter Muni Long, and rising star Jamal Roberts, fresh off his 2025 American Idol Season 23 win. 

Saturday, Oct. 18

Leroy Airmaster @ Ope! Brewing, 4:30 p.m.

After a 40-year hiatus, when lockdown struck, Steve Cohen resumed his work in pottery. With the pandemic in the rear-view mirror Cohen and Leroy Airmaster have been playing shows. The band is Milwaukee’s blues tornado—harmonica howls, gritty guitar, and grooves that don’t quit. Led by Cohen, this band brings classic Chicago blues swagger with a local twist, delivering sets packed with raw energy, tight musicianship, and the kind of soul that fills a room. 

Acid Mothers Temple w/ The Macks, Wisconsin Space Program and Rare Visions Light Show @ X-Ray Arcade, 6:30 p.m. 

Back in 2018 Acid Mother’s Temple played Company Brewing, taking the stage with a -minute freakout. In 2023 the band would return to play Milwaukee Psych Fest. 

Formed in 1995 by Makoto Kawabata at the same time as the Acid Mothers Temple Soul Collective. The group released its debut album in 1997 on PSF Records (Japan), and in 1998 the group played their first tours of the US and Europe. Since then, the group has released around 80 albums. The group has performed in collaboration with many musicians including psychedelic originators Gong and Guru Guru, Simeon (Silver Apples), Nik Turner (Hawkwind) and the Occitanian trad singer Rosina de Peira. Japanese collaborators have included Afrirampo, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins), Maso Yamazaki (Masonna), Seiichi Yamamoto (Boredoms), Jun Kuriyama (The Ox) and many others. 

Sunday, Oct. 19 

The Rat Pack @ South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, 3 p.m. 

The Rat Pack is a live theatrical production that transports the audience back in time to the glamorous, glitzy nights of Las Vegas in the early 1960s to experience the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin accompanied by The Rat Pack Orchestra performing at the famous Sands Hotel along with a special guest appearance by Marilyn Monroe. 

Enjoy hit after hit, including: “Witchcraft,” “The Lady Is A Tramp,” “Mr. Bojangles,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “That’s Amore,” “Everybody Loves Somebody,” “New York, New York” and many more. 

Shawn Phillips @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m. 

Concert producer Bill Graham called Shawn Phillips “The best kept secret in the music business.” Singer-songwriter Phillips has recorded 28 albums, and is also known for teaching Joni Mitchell her first guitar techniques, giving George Harrison his first lessons on sitar and writing the music for Donovan’s “Season Of The Witch.”

Monday, Oct. 20 

Social Cinema w/ Sego, Alley Eyes and Kat and the Hurricane @ Cactus Club, 7 p.m. 

Kick off the week with this four-band bill. By way of Wichita, Kansas and Lincoln, Nebraska, Social Cinema draws from a discography of three EPs of garage and power pop sounds. LA-by-way-of Utah’s Sego brings “Art-Punk by non-punk non-artists,” Milwaukee’s Alley Eyes deliver “indie sleaze” and Madison’s Kat and the Hurricane whips up a storm of synth rock/indie pop. 

Tuesday, Oct. 21 

Herbie Hancock @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.

There are few artists who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, “Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him.” Hancock proved yet another link in music’s evolution with his song and video for “Rockit” in 1983.

At his April 2024 show at The Pabst Hancock explained why Milwaukee was special to him. Early in his career the Chicago native got a call and played Milwaukee nightspot Curro’s as a fill-in for the regular pianist in Donald Byrd’s group, which led to Hancock joining the group. 

Once again, Hancock’s top-flight band will include trumpeter Terence Blanchard.