Milwaukee’s festival season continues with several big outdoor events as Hip-Hop Week MKE kicks off.
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Photo credit: Rankin
Shelby Lynne
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Irish Fest
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Fat Joe
Thursday, Aug. 16
Irish Fest
Milwaukee Irish Fest @ Summerfest Grounds
The name Milwaukee Irish Fest doesn’t do justice to just how global the event is. The festival isn’t just Milwaukee’s celebration of Irish culture—it’s the biggest celebration of Irish culture in all of North America, and a virtual Lollapalooza of Celtic music. Each year Celtic bands travel from all over the globe to play the festival, with performers this year including Gaelic Storm, Screaming Orphans, Chicago Reel, Frogwater, Colm Donnelly, Hearthfire, Jiggy, Pay The Devil, Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Reilly, Tallymoore, The Coronas and We Banjo 3 (see our feature in this week’s Music section). In addition to the music, there are also dance performances, a cultural village, whiskey tastings, hurling competitions, a Celtic Canine Area, children’s activities and fireworks. (Through Sunday, Aug. 19.)
A La Carte @ Milwaukee County Zoo
Anybody who’s been to the Milwaukee County Zoo knows that nobody visits for the cafeteria, yet for one weekend a year the zoo becomes a culinary hot spot. This year’s A La Carte event will feature food from more than two dozen vendors including Three Lions Pub, The Soup Market, Saz’s, Aladdin’s, Café el Sol, Miss Beverly’s Deluxe Barbeque and Hue Vietnamese Restaurant. It’ll also feature music from The Beatles cover band 1964 The Tribute (on Thursday night), Wynonna Judd’s band Wynonna & The Big Noise (on Friday night) and classic rockers ASIA featuring John Payne (on Saturday night). (Through Sunday, Aug. 19.)
Wilson Center Guitar Festival @ Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
Fifty-five guitarists from more than 40 cities around the world will compete for $32,000 in cash prizes at the latest installment of the Wilson Center’s annual Guitar Festival. It’s a three-day weekend featuring classes and clinics from a host of master guitarists, as well as vendor displays and concerts, including a headlining show Friday from blues and rock legend Elvin Bishop featuring Bob Welsh and Willy Jordan. Other highlights include a Friday night fish fry, a guitar yoga session Saturday morning and a Saturday afternoon block party featuring Milwaukee singer/songwriter/rocker Brett Newski. For the complete lineup visit wilson-center.com. (Through Saturday, Aug. 18.)
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Friday, Aug. 17
Weezer w/ White Reaper @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Since reuniting in the early ’00s, Weezer has been uncommonly prolific for a ’90s alternative band, releasing nine albums with a tenth, yet another self-titled album, on the way. And while many of the band’s new singles have found airplay on alternative rock stations, few have had the impact of their cover of Toto’s schlock-rock classic “Africa.” Weezer covered the song in response to a social media campaign from their fans, and they must be glad they did: The cover became their first number one alternative hit in a decade (the last one was “Pork and Beans”). This month Toto tried to cash in on the viral exposure, recording an in-kind cover of Weezer’s “Hash Pipe.”
Saturday, Aug. 18
IndiaFest @ Humboldt Park, 11 a.m.
Not all of the city’s great ethnic festivals take place on the lake. For six years running, Humboldt Park in Bay View has hosted its annual IndiaFest, an enormous celebration of Indian culture featuring music, dance, art and fashion. Timed in conjunction with Wisconsin’s first-ever official India Day, this year’s daylong event culminates in a trio of concerts on the main stage starting a 5 p.m.: Rang-E-Ghazal, Misty Trails and Bollywood Hungama Beats, who showcase some of the more modern, danceable sounds of India. As always there will be plenty of children’s activities as well.
Brew City Cigar Festival @ Heidelberg Park, 6 p.m.
Nearly two dozen cigar manufacturers will show off some of their finest products, along with more than 50 beer, wine, liquor and food vendors, at this event celebrating the finer things in life. Now in its sixth year, the Brew City Cigar Festival will donate a portion of ticket sales to the Milwaukee chapter of Pets for Vets. Ticket prices range from $95-$250.
Fat Joe
Fat Joe w/ Yung Joc and Ying Yang Twins @ Miller High Life Theatre, 7 p.m.
One of the titans of Bronx hip-hop, Fat Joe carved out his place in rap history in the ’90s, when he launched the label Terror Squad and introduced the world to fellow Bronx legend Big Pun. Over the years Joe has proven himself surprisingly resilient, though, scoring a run of big rap hits including the 2004 club smash “Lean Back” and, more recently, his triumphant 2016 Remy Ma and French Montana collaboration “All The Way Up.” At this concert, Joe will be supported by fellow 2000s radio staples Yung Joc (who scored the 2006 hit “It’s Goin’ Down”) and Ying Yang Twins, the ridiculous Southern rap duo behind party singles like “Salt Shaker” and “Wait (The Whisper Song).” Rising Milwaukee rap star Munch Lauren is also on the bill, along with Erlwill and Mr. Competition.
Sunday, Aug. 19
Photo credit: Rankin
Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne w/ Dana Erlandson @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Like a lot of winners of the Grammy’s Best New Artist category, country singer Shelby Lynne wasn’t exactly a newcomer when she took home that award in 2001. Before she found acclaim with her breakthrough 1999 album, I Am Shelby Lynne, she had already released five albums and spent well over a decade navigating a music industry that had continually tried to repackage her sound for the widest audience possible. On her recent records, she’s veered away from the glossy pop of I Am Shelby Lynne and toward a rootsier, more rustic Americana sound. Her latest release, Not Dark Yet, is a duets record with her sister Allison Moorer that includes covers of Jason Isbell, Townes Van Zandt, Merle Haggard, The Killers and Nirvana.
Monday, Aug. 20
Hip-Hop Week MKE @ multiple locations
No music speaks to the times quite as vividly or as pointedly as hip-hop. It’s yet another sign of how respectable the once-insurgent genre has become that this month Milwaukee is hosting an official Hip-Hop Week, sponsored by Alderman Khalif Rainey. It kicks off on Monday, Aug. 20, with a 1 p.m. press conference at the Miller High Life Theatre, followed by a networking event and free concert at the theater featuring Milwaukee rappers that night, then continues through Sunday, Aug. 26 with an eclectic lineup of panels, concerts and parties at venues around the city. Highlights include a conversation with hip-hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc Friday, Aug. 24 at the Miller High Life Theatre; a Ghosface Killah concert at the Rave that same night; a live score of the kung-fu film, 36 Chambers, from RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan at the Oriental Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 25; and a block party outside the new Milwaukee Bucks arena on Sunday, Aug. 26.
