This Week in MKE Music Sept. 10-16, 2026

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This Week in MKE Music

Thursday, Sept. 10

Jon “Bowzer” Bauman of Sha Na Na and Mitchell Berman @ Cudahy Library, 4 p.m.

Tom Tiffany Protest @ Kelly’s Bleachers, 6 p.m.

Sha Na Na frontman Jon “Bowzer” Bauman also serves as president of Social Security Works PAC, the organization that is dedicated to protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He joins congressional candidate Mitchell Berman to talk about social security and healthcare at the Cudahy Library.

After, a bus will transport folks from Cudahy to Kelly's Bleachers for a peaceful protest of Tom Tiffany “and his billionaire donors like Elizabeth & Richard Uihlein and Diane Hendricks” at his event. Join labor leaders, healthcare professionals, local voters, community leaders and advocates

More info here: Protect Social Security and Medicare mobilize.us/s/gW6V1O and MAGA Tiffany Protest mobilize.us/s/FZtqjI

Jazz in the Park – Goth Barge @ Cathedral Square Park, market 3 p.m.; music 6 p.m.

One last chance as Jazz in the Park concludes the 2026 season when the all-inclusive Goth Barge sets sail with Scary Lady Sarah. The dark wave DJ collective marks the first time a DJ has been the featured performer at JATP; be there and make history!

Friday, Sept. 11

Long Line Riders @ Wiggle Room, 4 p.m. DJ/6:30 p.m. live music.

In Milwaukee we a blessed with an absurd amount of live music to pick from. One of these gems is Long Line Riders who just happen to be celebrating two years of hosting Wiggle Room’s Honky Tonk Happy Hour.

Open Mic South Shore with host Doug Thompson @ Puddler’s Hall, 7 p.m.

Humble and historic, Bay View’s Puddler’s Hall invites you to take the stage for an open mic. Host Dog Thompson will be on hand to oversee the evening.

Saturday, Sept. 12

13th Annual Puerto Rican Festival of Wisconsin @ Henry Maier Festival Grounds, 11 a.m.

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Celebrate the rich culture and heritage of Puerto Rico. Enjoy live music, authentic food, salsa dancing, cultural performances and family fun--the 13th Annual Puerto Rican Festival of Wisconsin at Henry Maier Festival Park is where Milwaukee spends a day in Puerto Rico.

Main stage headliners include Michael Stuart, DIA, BLB and Paquito Acosta.  More info here https://www.prfestivalwisconsin.com/

Conan Neutron & The Secret Friends - Album Release w/ Daniel James Gang and Resurrectionists @ Cactus Club, 6:30 p.m.

Here’s the road map: this show celebrates Conan Neutron & The Secret Friends’ album The Way of the Neutron. Since last paying Milwaukee, the band has toured seven times including one to Japan.

Neutron also made the video for “Jokers and Their Jokes” by Resurrectionists. He describes the video as “a take on the ‘powerful men in a room’ trope/reality. All these unaccountable and unelected men who make decisions that control our laws, politics and actual justice. Some of the props are used to be a bit absurd (actual bags of money, monocles, top hats). But the danger of this is very, very real and ever since the Citizens United ruling it is just our reality.”

As for the song itself, Cannon describes it as, “the angriest and most directly political song I’ve written in a long time.” It comes from the frustration of “seeing how easily bad actors can get us fighting each other instead of focusing our energy on them. And how fights we once thought won keep coming back around in uglier and uglier forms.” Keen listeners will note a coy Minutemen quote in there.

It’s not all dire though. Cannon notes “that weird nasty off-time skronk our bassist Jeff does in the verses is one of my favorite things in any of our songs.”

The prize in the crackerjacks just might be Daniel James Gang, who unfailingly keeps the torch lit for the best of garage, punk and rock and roll.

Jon Burks and The Donkey King w/ Mostly @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.

It’s been a while since prolific Milwaukee songwriter Jon Burks made an appearance. A 2019 show at Circle A found Burks’ tunes “could be songs he made up walking through the park on his way to work in the morning—if that walk had the occasional chorus, sing-speaking in a Midwestern drawl that is a cousin to Coney Island Lou Reed.”

StrummerfestMKE @ Club Garibaldi, 6 p.m.

The future is unwritten. Here’s the annual StrummerfestMKE, a night celebrating the one and only Joe Strummer while raising money for MPS Music programs to help keep music education alive in Milwaukee.

Eight bands, 15-minute sets, eight different takes on songs from one of the most legendary voices in punk rock. Kilbourn, Static Unknown, Que So What, Kitty Soft Paw, Bruce Humphries, Black + Blue Hearts, Cat Call Killers, and Peppers & Pineapples kick out the jams.

Sunday, Sept. 13

Madeleine Peyroux @ Marcus Performing Arts Center, 7:30 p.m.

The American singer Madeleine Peyroux began her career as a street performer in Paris, where she honed her unique blend of jazz, blues and folk. Her breakthrough came with the release of her 1996 debut album, Dreamland, which showcased her Billie Holiday-esque vocal style and earned critical acclaim.

She has collaborated with notable musicians and producers, continually evolving her sound while staying true to her roots. Peyroux’s music is celebrated for its emotional depth, lyrical sophistication, and her ability to convey complex feelings with a timeless, soulful voice.

Emergent @ Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m.

Emergent is a new monthly series debuting with the Emergent Trio—Jane Buttars, piano; Rick Ollman, wind instruments; Eli Smith, drums—and featuring guest Steve Gallam, alto saxophone and bass guitar. A new guest the second Sunday of each month at the Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts.

Emergent Trio formerly known as the Buttars/Ollman/Smith Trio has been together long enough to name themselves with a word that evokes new realities born from the close listening of each member responding to the evolving music of the group as a whole.

Peaches W/ Wheelchair Sports Camp @ The Rave, 8 p.m.

Feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist Peaches stops in Milwaukee for her “No Lube So Rude Tour.”

Peaches’ newest album, No Lube So Rude, recorded with co-producer The Squirt Deluxe, is a brash, unapologetic exploration of identity, sexuality, age and bodily autonomy, a provocative work of emotional and sonic alchemy that balances the poetic and the profane in equal measure as it transforms all the friction and frustration of modern life into joy and transcendence.

Monday, Sept. 14

Fred Sonic Smith Day

Happy Birthday to Fred Sonic Smith (1948-1994), the 20th century musician who kicked out the jams with the MC5, penned one of rock music’s greatest songs “City Slang,” and was the muse for future wife Patti Smith’s haunting song named for him.

No Raza w/ Scroll, Swapmurders and Amputated @ X-Ray Arcade, 6 p.m.

No sleep ‘til Cudahy. Florida by way of Colombia, South America’s No Raza is joined by a trio of Milwaukee metal groups Scroll, Swapmurders and Amputated.

Tuesday, Sept. 15

Roger Daltrey - A Great Night Out w/ Jeffrey Gaines @ The Riverside Theater, 7 p.m.

As lead singer for The Who, Roger Daltrey gave voice to Pete Townsend’s songs. And what a voice it is.  This show blends The Who classics, rare gems, and solo favorites. Backed by a semi-acoustic, rock-driven band, the performance offers a fresh, intimate take on iconic songs, alongside candid stories that give you an inside look into rock history.

With any luck Daltrey will play selections from his collaboration with the great Wilko Johnson, 2014’s Going Back Home.

Wednesday, Sept. 16

Joe Jordan w/ Maxwell Rincón @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Joe Jordan has an eclectic musical background, playing any bar or honky-tonk that would let him plug in his guitar. His honest unfiltered lyrics led Jordan to write one of the biggest country hits by an indie artist in decades—Rayne Johnson’s “Front Seat.”

Opener, Maxwell Rincón is a singer-songwriter carving a path through the intersection of Western Gothic and soulful blues. Based between the industrial grit of Detroit and the heart of Columbus, his music ranges from haunting, intimate stories to foot-stomping Folk Rock anthems.