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Mouse Corn
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Photo credit: Rob Sheridan
L7
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Photo credit: Dale Reince
Mississippi Cactus
Gamers flock into town for the Midwest Gaming Classic, while the city goes big for Milwaukee Day. Also: Watch out for Rob Schneider sightings!
Thursday, April 12
Mouse Corn
Mouse Corn w/ Action Jelly, Dogs at Large and Devils Teeth @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 9 p.m.
For more than a half decade, Myles Coyne has been one of the most prolific players in the city’s indie-rock scene, fronting one project after another while moonlighting in plenty of side bands. His latest primary outlet is Mouse Corn, probably his most direct, rock ’n’ roll-minded of all of his bands, and the closest he’s ever come to capturing the raucous spirit of early Replacements. The band will celebrate the release of a new album at this show, Mouse Corn vs. the World, which is getting a limited cassette release on the Chicago label Midwest Action.
Friday, April 13
MJ Uncovered @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Uncovered ends its 2018 season with a tribute to one of the most successful musicians of all-time: Michael Jackson. The event is led by Milwaukee soul singer B~Free, who has recruited a huge team to help reinterpret Jackson’s songs, including Klassik, Arséne DeLay, Brian Dimetri, Cree Myles, Evan Lane, Jesse Weinberg, Jaleel Amir, Kyndal J., Lili K., Immortal Girlfriend, SistaStrings, Dailen Harris, Michaela Usher, Brit Nicole, WTCA, Cedric Gardner, Vee Adams, Christopher DeAngelo Gilbert and Jay Anderson.
Midwest Gaming Classic @ Wisconsin Center, 6 p.m.
If you’re one of those gamers who thinks new video games don’t have the same charm as the old classics, you’re in good company. Each year the Midwest Gaming Classic draws thousands of gamers to Milwaukee for one of the biggest gaming conventions in the country. This year the event moves to its largest venue yet, the Wisconsin Center, which it’ll fill with hundreds of arcade games and pinball machines, as well as home gaming consoles both new and old (ColecoVision anybody?) There will also be a gaming arena with air hockey, tabletop games, board games, tournaments, cosplay, vendors and a classic gaming museum. No need to bring quarters: All games are free with admission. Kids 9 and under get in free on Saturday and Sunday. Doors open both of those days a 10 a.m. (Through Sunday, April 15.)
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Friday the 13th Fest IV: Jason Goes to Bay View @ Frank’s Power Plant, 9 p.m.
That’s right, it’s another Friday the 13th this month, and if you thought the horror obsessives at the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference were going to let it pass without a celebration, you have seriously underestimated the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference. The fourth installment of the group’s Friday the 13th Fest will feature spooky music from Ratbatspider and the Dick Satan Trio, as well as burlesque performances from Skully Sati, Nina Nazir and Katie Kadaver. And if you’ve been looking for an excuse to catch up on those early Nightmare on Elm Street films, now you have one: There will also be ’80s horror movie trivia hosted by Deadgar Winter, of the local horror/comedy TV show “Deadgar’s Dark Coffin Classics.”
Photo credit: Dale Reince
Mississippi Cactus
Mississippi Cactus @ Club Garibaldi, 8 p.m.
Bands reunite all the time these days, but it’s hard to think of a more dramatic comeback story than Mississippi Cactus. For almost two decades the boozy rock band played shows all over the city, until gradually burning out after a third album, 2012’s The Lost Album, that took far longer than any of them imagined to release. And then, a few years after that album, guitarist Mike Friedl suffered acute multiple system organ failure and went into a medical coma for nearly a month. Despite the bleak diagnosis, he survived, and after a hard-fought recovery where he learned how to walk again, he resumed playing guitar—his bandmates marvel that he’s better at it than ever now. The band’s revival begins with this show at Club Garibaldi, and will feature the group’s longtime producer Jeff Hamilton on bass.
Saturday, April 14
Milwaukee Day @ Multiple Venues
Not that Milwaukee needs an excuse to celebrate itself—city pride has been mighty high the last few years—but every April 14 (4-14, at in the 414 area code), the city comes together to cheer all things Milwaukee for its annual Milwaukee Day celebration. This year more than a dozen venues will mark the occasion with concerts and promotions. Highlights include shows at Company Brewing (featuring Tigernite, Midwest Death Rattle and Zed Kenzo), Cactus Club (a Lex Allen release show for his Table 7: Sinners & Saints LP featuring DJ DRiPSweat, Max Holiday, and DJ Lotusmark), Boone & Crockett (which will celebrate the final weekend of its Bay View location with a show from Devil Met Contention and Paper Holland), and the Riverwest Public House, which is throwing a benefit concert featuring The MilBillies, Area Jazz Band and Lee's Cash & Carry. There will be shows at Tonic Tavern, The Bottle and the Moon Room at Landmark Lanes. Meanwhile, Estabrook Park will host the Brew City Half Marathon and Discovery World will host the Milwaukee Makers Market. And for those looking to dress for the occasion, Too Much Rock for One Hand (207 E. Buffalo St.) will be selling special “414 Everyone” T-shirts.
Sunday, April 15
Margo Price @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
“A little pain never hurt anyone,” Margo Price sings on her second album of sweet, old-school country, All American Made, and she should know, because she’s experienced her share of pain. Like Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette and the other country greats of yesteryear that she adores, Price draws from a deep well of personal tragedy, turning her losses into resilient, peppy tunes. It’s easy to see what Jack White saw in her when he signed her as the first country artist on his label Third Man Records. Price’s latest album also features a cameo from the legendary Willie Nelson on the track “Learning to Lose.”
Max and The Invaders @ Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, 2 p.m.
All ages are welcome at this Sunday matinee concert at Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall featuring Milwaukee ska legends The Invaders, who are still going strong after well over two decades on the scene. The show will double as a birthday party for a six-year-old, so there will be cake, and kids 18 and under are welcome so long as they’re accompanied by a parent. Kids 16 and under get in free.
Monday, April 16
Photo credit: Rob Sheridan
L7
L7 w/ Death Valley Girls @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
One of the acts that helped spark the riot grrrl movement, L7 brought a distinctly political attitude to their blend of punk and grunge. Like many underground rock acts at the time, they found some fleeting success on alternative radio, thanks to their Butch Vig-produced 1992 album Bricks Are Heavy and its infectious hit “Pretend We’re Dead,” but by the turn of the century the band has faded away. In 2014 they announced their reunion, and last fall they released their first new song in 18 years, “Dispatch from Mar-a-Lago.” As you might have expected, this band has a lot to say about Donald Trump.
Wednesday, April 18
Adam Sandler w/ Rob Schneider @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Few “Saturday Night Live” alums have ever gone on to find bigger box-office stardom than Adam Sandler, who’s starred in one hit comedy after the next while occasionally taking a stab at more serious roles in films like Punch Drunk Love and Funny People. Lately Sandler has directed most of his creative energies toward Netflix, which signed him to an enormous multi-film deal that’s worked out quite well for the streaming service (his films The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over and Sandy Wexler have been some of the most-streamed ever on Netflix). This month Netflix will release his latest film with Chris Rock, The Week Of, but first Sandler will perform at these two shows in Milwaukee, which will be filmed for—yup, you guessed it—a Netflix special.
