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Photo credit: Simon Emmett
The Darkness
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The Decemberists
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Vinyl Theatre
“Weird Al” Yankovic shows off some of his deep cuts, while The Decemberists return to Milwaukee.
Thursday, April 5
Don Waterski Goes Up Nort’ @ Underground Collective, 7:30 p.m.
One of the more notable recent success stories from Milwaukee’s comedy scene, Jake Kornely left the city for Los Angeles, but his heart clearly still lies in Wisconsin. How else would he have come up with the character Don Waterski, a hapless woodsman and educator who teaches his audience the ways of the wilderness? At this interactive show, Waterski shares his unique approach to survival in the Northwoods, while soliciting help from the audience. (Through Saturday, April 7.)
Friday, April 6
Vinyl Theatre
Vinyl Theatre w/ Vesperteen and The Middle Ground @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
One of the Milwaukee music scene’s great success stories from the last decade, electro-rockers Vinyl Theatre first caught a major break when they landed a gig opening for Twenty One Pilots at the Rave in 2014, and from there good fortune continued to rain on them. That fall, they signed to the legendary punk and emo label Fueled by Ramen, which released their debut album, Electrogram, and its 2017 follow-up, Origami. The band has since split from the label, but they’ve been making the most of their independence. This year, they released a ripping new single called “Feel It All.”
WMSE’s Art & Music @ Pritzlaff Building, 6 p.m.
Milwaukee’s independent radio station, WMSE 91.7 FM, will showcase some of the city’s best art, music and food as its Art & Music event, which returns after an impressive debut last year. WMSE DJs will provide the mood music, while restaurants—including Lulu, Nightmare’s, DanDan, Hi Hat, Miss Molly’s and Transfer—provide samples. But the main event is a silent auction featuring contributions from more than 100 artists, including Jeff Redmond, Dwellephant, Ken Vonderberg, Charles Dwyer, Katie Jordan, Janelle Gramling, The Dry Points and Tom Noll. There will also be a live art room, where Chuck Webb, Sue Berce and Curt Crain will be creating real-time pieces on large canvasses. The night will end with live music from Milwaukee’s improvisational ensemble The Erotic Adventures of the Static Chicken.
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Saturday, April 7
The All Stars of Rap Tour @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Rap nostalgia bills are nothing new, but the artists on this lineup have shown more longevity than most. At the top of the bill are DJ Quik, the legendary West Coast rap producer who is still doing solid work—he just put out a solid collaborative album with Problem called Rosecrans last year—and E-40—one of the most influential and prolific Bay Area rappers ever. They’re joined by New York legend Jadakiss as well as Spice 1, Do or Die and Luke of 2 Live Crew infamy.
Sunday, April 8
Ministry w/ Chelsea Wolfe and The God Bombs @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
Perhaps outside of Nine Inch Nails, no other act changed the shape of industrial metal music more than Ministry, one of the genre’s earlier pioneers. Fans are lucky they’re still going, though. Guitarist Mike Scaccia died in 2012 after suffering a heart attack on stage with his other band Rigor Mortis, and to honor his memory, Ministry leader Al Jourgensen has announced that the band’s 2013 effort, From Beer to Eternity, which contains the last material he recorded with Scaccia, would be the group’s last album. Jourgensen has since walked back those comments, saying he was speaking out of shock and grief, and last month, the band released a new album, AmeriKKKant, a furious response to the alt-right with guest contributions from Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell, DJ Swamp and former N.W.A member Arabian Prince.
The Decemberists
The Decemberists w/ Shortly @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
The Decemberists will probably always be remembered for the ornate, chamber-pop arrangements and hyper-literary lyrics of their earliest and best-known records, but on recent albums, band leader Colin Meloy hasn’t been afraid to branch out. 2011’s The King is Dead was uncommonly breezy—all good cheer and early R.E.M. jangle—and 2015’s What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World showcased Meloy’s ear for pop hooks. The band’s latest, I’ll Be Your Girl, is one of its most daring ever. Produced by indie-rock veteran John Congleton, it gives the band a dramatic ’80s synth-rock makeover on several tracks, including the lead single “Severed.” It turns out this band sounds as good doing Depeche Mode as they do R.E.M.
The Illusionists—Live From Broadway @ Miller High Life Theatre, 7 p.m.
Broadway’s spin on a modern, Las Vegas-style magic revue, The Illusionists pairs five very theatrical magicians, most of whom are dressed as brightly as comic book characters (and most of which have comic-book names like The Manipulator and The Daredevil). A whole lot of stunts, spectacle and audience participation ensues, much of it set to loud rock music. Some of the tricks rely on elaborate technical setups, while others—like a guy getting cut in half by a chain saw or a quarter going through an eye socket—aim for a visceral gut reaction.
Monday, April 9
“Weird Al” Yankovic w/ Emo Philips @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Don’t worry, “Weird Al” Yankovic hasn’t stopped writing the parody songs that made him famous. His last studio album, 2014’s Mandatory Fun, included his usual good-natured riffs on artists like Lorde, Robin Thicke and Pharrell. For this tour, though, Yankovic is trying something different. His “Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour” will put his biggest hits like “Smells Like Nirvana” on the backburner to spotlight Yankovic’s original, non-parody songs, including many he’s rarely if ever performed live before. (Also Tuesday, April 10.)
Tuesday, April 10
Photo credit: Simon Emmett
The Darkness
The Darkness w/ Diarrhea Planet @ Turner HallBallroom, 8 p.m.
British rockers The Darkness believed in a thing called kitsch, and that faith paid off remarkably when their 2003 debut, Permission to Land, became a hot seller on the strength of its hooky, Journey-styled hit single. By 2005’s One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back, however, the masses had already lost interest, and the group went on hiatus the following year when singer Justin Hawkins checked into rehab. Since reuniting in ’11, the group has released several more albums of schlocky glam-rock and over-the-top falsetto, including last year’s Pinewood Smile. They’ve still got the goods, but whether the joke is funny anymore depends on whether you thought it was ever funny in the first place
