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Old 97's
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Ghostface Killah
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Misha Siegfried
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Cake and Ben Folds
Hip-Hop Week MKE brings Ghostface Killah and RZA to town, while Walker’s Point prepares for an epic Guy Fieri-themed bar crawl.
Thursday, Aug. 23
Cake and Ben Folds
Cake and Ben Folds w/ Tall Heights @ BMO Harris Pavilion, 7 p.m.
With their droll grab bag of rock, funk, country, hip-hop and mariachi music, few bands embodied the anything-goes spirit of ’90s alternative quite like Cake. With a new album in the pipeline, their first since 2011’s Showroom of Compassion, the band returns to Milwaukee to co-headline this show at the BMO Harris Pavilion with another ’90s alternative radio staple who transcended that era: Ben Folds, the piano-pounding singer-songwriter who has bounced from one quirky project to the next over the last couple of decades, among them albums with actor William Shatner, author Nick Hornby and the classical ensemble yMusic. Folds also wrote the soundtrack for Jeff Garlin’s 2017 comedy Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie.
Friday, Aug. 24
Mexican Fiesta @ Summerfest Grounds
From its beginnings as a modest South Side street party in the ’70s, Mexican Fiesta grew into one of the Midwest’s largest celebrations of Hispanic culture and a mainstay of the Milwaukee summer festival calendar. This year the event celebrates its 45th anniversary with another three days of music, food and merriment. Highlights include a genealogy exhibit, a Friday night Día de los Muertos parade, more than 150 arts and craft vendors, a car and motorcycle show, a tequila tasting bar, art workshops, and a bounty of mariachi bands. (Through Sunday, Aug. 26.)
Asleep at the Wheel @ Potawatomi Hotel and Casino, 8 p.m.
Since their inception in the ’70s, Austin’s Asleep at the Wheel have been the most devout torchbearers of the Western swing style of country music popularized by the late Bob Wills. Throughout the decades, the ensemble has frequently crossed paths with one of Wills’ most famous fans, Willie Nelson, with whom they recorded the 2009 collaboration Willie and The Wheel, which included guests Vince Gill and Paul Shaffer. They reunited with Nelson for his 2015 album for Cracker Barrel, Willie Nelson and Friends.
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A Couch Conversation with DJ Kool Herc @ Miller High Life Theatre, 4 p.m.
No history about the creation of hip-hop is complete without DJ Kool Herc, the Jamaica-born DJ who introduced the Bronx to one of hip-hop’s signature sounds in the early ’70s: the break, which followers like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa ran with and popularized years later. As part of Hip-Hop Week MKE, Herc will discuss his legacy as the “Father of Hip-Hop” at this conversation moderated by author Michael Arceneaux.
Ghostface Killah
Ghostface Killah @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Though few in the ’90s would have pegged him to become the Wu-Tang Clan’s hottest commodity—at the time Method Man was the member of the group with the most commercial potential—Ghostface Killah always stood out for his excitable delivery and his detailed, by-the-neck storytelling. Since the new millennium, though, Ghostface has proven himself the most consistent and acclaimed Wu-Tang member, releasing instant classics like 2006’s Fishscale and interesting oddities like 2009’s absurdist R&B record Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City and his 2013’s musical comic book Twelve Reasons to Die.
Saturday, Aug. 25
WMSE Backyard BBQ w/ Old 97’s @ Humboldt Park, noon-8 p.m.
For nine years running, Milwaukee’s independent radio station 91.7 WMSE has commemorated the end of summer with a leisurely day of hot barbeque, cold beer and live music in the park. This year’s Backyard BBQ boasts one of the event’s strongest lineups yet, with Texas alt-country favorites Old 97’s headlining at 6:30 p.m., following a full afternoon of music from Bailey Dee, Altered Five Blues Band, Vitrolum Republic and Buffalo Gospel (who will be joined by members of Field Report).
RZA: Live from the 36th Chamber @ Oriental Theatre, 9:30 p.m.
Wu-Tang Clan founder and producer RZA has never been one to hide his love of kung-fu films. He named his group after one and titled the group’s classic 1993 debut Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) after one of his personal favorites, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, a 1978 epic widely regard as one of the genre’s greatest films. In conjunction with Hip-Hop Week MKE, RZA will present a live score of the movie at the Oriental Theatre as part of Milwaukee Film’s ambitious Craft Cinema program.
FieriCon @ Walker’s Point, 2 p.m.
Few celebrity chefs invite as much mockery in foodie circles as Guy Fieri, the frosted-tipped Food Network fixture who’s never met a dish he couldn’t drown in Donkey Sauce. Last year New York hosted a bar crawl that encouraged participants to don Fieri’s signature goatee, bowling shirts and backward sunglasses, and now Milwaukee is getting in on the action with its own FieriCon, a marathon bar crawl with 16 scheduled stops across Walker’s Point. It kicks off at O’Lydia’s at 2 p.m.; the complete schedule is available at the event’s Facebook page.
Lil Baby w/ YK Osiris, City Girls, Kollision, B La B @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Thanks to an early co-sign from fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug, Lil Baby hit the ground running after serving two years in prison on drug charges. Less than a year after his release, he’d cemented himself as one of the city’s hottest rappers, thanks to mixtapes like last year’s Too Hard, which showcased his melodic voice and vivid storytelling. It was only this year, though, that Baby took his act to the masses with his official debut album Harder Than Ever and its single “Yes Indeed,” which became a top 10 hit thanks in no small part to a guest feature from Drake.
Pablove One Another @ Nomad Nacional, 5 p.m.
Most Milwaukee music fans know the pediatric cancer nonprofit Pablove through its annual benefit concert at Turner Hall Ballroom each winter. Like that flagship event, this “mini-festival” at Nomad’s Walker’s Point location will feature a variety of Milwaukee music acts old and new, among them DJ Paul J, Pet Engine, Daniel Rey (the alias of Dejan Kralj of The Gufs), Wire and Nail, No No Yeah Okay and some surprise guests. Cover for this all-ages event is $10.
Wednesday, Aug. 29
Misha Siegfried
Misha Siegfried: The Moments Before Dark @ Riverwest Jazz Gallery, 8 p.m.
“What if music was a place?” Milwaukee jazz/blues/ambient musician Misha Siegfried asks in his new project The Moments Before Dark, an immersive art exhibit he spent three years creating with the assistance of a dozen designers, animators and fellow musicians. Siegfried has said he won’t be releasing the music he’s created for the project as an album or a download. The only way to hear it will be at this one-night installation at the Riverwest Jazz Gallery, but for the curious who want a sneak peek Siegfried has teased snippets of music and video from the installation on his website, mishaband.com.
The Diaspora Arkestra @ Washington Park Bandshell, 6 p.m.
When Radio Milwaukee DJ Tarik Moody was tapped to book a night for Washington Park’s Wednesday night concert series last year, he didn’t just book a band. He created one—and an ambitious one at that. With the help of saxophonist Jay Anderson and singer B~Free, he created The Diaspora Arkestra, an ensemble of more than a dozen musicians who created a program that, in a little over two hours, tried to capture the scope of the entire history of African American music. It was a little cruel, given all the work that the musicians put into creating that set, that weather cut the band’s debut at Washington Park short last year, but thankfully they’re back this year. Once again, The Diaspora Arkestra’s performance will serve as the kickoff for this year’s Strange Fruit Music Festival, a series of concerts and events sponsored by the Milwaukee label Voodoohoney at venues around the city through Sunday, Sept. 2.
