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Boy George and Culture Club, The Avett Brothers and rapper Juice WRLD highlight this week’s concert calendar.
Thursday, Aug. 9
Boy George and Culture Club @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Few bands embodied the sound of the s’80s quite as well as Culture Club, the London new wave band that flirted with all kinds of different styles of pop, reggae and soul, scoring hits like “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon” in the process. Famously androgynous frontman Boy George went on to enjoy a fruitful solo career in the ’80s and ’90s, often dabbling in dance and electronic music, but in recent years he’s been back on the road with Culture Club. This year they finally have some new music to share, too. After shelving a planned album in 2016, this fall they plan to release Life, their first new record since 1999’s Don’t Mind If I Do.
Dick Dale w/ Devils Teeth @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Not only did guitarist Dick Dale help establish instrumental surf-rock in the 1960s, he also helped lead its resurgence in the ’90s when his track “Misirlou” opened the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Though it’s been a long time since he’s hit the studio to record a new album, he’s continued to tour aggressively, even at age 81. For this return to Shank Hall, he’ll be joined on the bill by Devils Teeth, a Milwaukee band whose feverish rock ’n’ roll frequently nods to Dale’s brand of bravado surf rock.
Friday, Aug 10
Tall Tales Music Festival @ Downtown Burlington
For six years running Burlington has opened its doors to folk, rock, country and blues musicians from around the country for its Tall Tales Music Festival. The free, two-day festival on the 200 block of East Chestnut Street this year will feature, aside from Field Report, a lineup that almost exclusively showcases woman songwriters and band leaders, among them Erin Rae, Nicole Atkins, Lilly Hiatt, Tristen, Kashena Sampson, Roco Reilly and The Savage Radley. The weekend will also include workshops on playing the harmonica and ukulele, a kids zone, a drum circle, a dance workshop from the Burlington Dance Academy and a 15-mile group bike ride (as well as a 3-mile one for kids). For more details, visit talltalesfestival.com. (Through Saturday, Aug. 11.)
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Waukesha Rotary BluesFest @ Nega-Waukee Park, Delafield, 1 p.m.
The Waukesha Rotary BluesFest returns to Delafield’s Nega-Waukee Park for another stacked two full days of music representing nearly the entire spectrum of blues. Electric blues rock is especially well-represented on this year’s two day lineup, which features artists including The Hungry Williams, Joe Louis Walker and Carolyn Wonderland on Friday, Aug. 10, and Harper and the Midwest Kind, Nikki Hill and Jarekus Singleton on Saturday, Aug. 11. Tickets are $25 at the gate ($40 for both days), and music runs from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day.
Morgan Page @ Site 1A, 9 p.m.
It’s been 10 years since Vermont DJ Morgan Page released his breakout single, “The Longest Road,” featuring singer Lissie, and few songs from that era sound quite so prescient. The track helped predict the big, blown-out electro-house sound that came to dominant the club scene and the pop charts in the 2010s. Page has been busy in the years since. He recently signed a deal with Dutch producer Armin Van Buuren’s Armada Music label, which released his latest EP, Born To Fly, in March.
Saturday, Aug. 11
The Avett Brothers @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Brothers Scott and Seth began recording as The Avett Brothers in 2000, roughly at the beginning of the modern roots-revival movement jump-started by O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and in the 15 years since, with bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon, they’ve emerged as one of the movement’s biggest crossover acts. The North Carolina ensemble transcended their native folk and bluegrass scene by drawing from pop melodies and rock ’n’ roll—particularly at their rowdy live shows—before consolidating their critical reputation with the 2007 Emotionalism. Even better was 2009’s I and Love and You, a softer, more focused collection produced by Rick Rubin, who polished away the band’s rough edges to better emphasize their song craft. Rubin returned to produce the group’s next three albums, including their latest, 2016’s True Sadness, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album. The band does two shows at the Riverside this weekend. (Also Sunday, Aug. 12.)
Tuesday, Aug. 14
The Richard Lloyd Group w/ Sleepersound @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Few guitarists’ sounds are more instantly recognizable than Richard Lloyd’s. Lloyd will forever be legendary for his work in the band Television, the New York group behind one of the most mesmerizing guitar records of all time: 1977’s Marquee Moon. In the decades since, he has continued as a session musician, supporting acts like Matthew Sweet and John Doe, and last year he released his memoir, Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB's and Five Decades of Rock and Roll: The Memoirs of an Alchemical Guitarist.
Juice WRLD w/ Lil Mosey, YBN Cordae and BLAKE @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Like some of the buzziest rappers in his age bracket, 19-year-old Illinois rapper Juice WRLD find inspiration well outside of traditional hip-hop, drawing particularly from the hyper-youthful, expressive spirit of emo and pop-punk. This spring he released his debut record on Interscope, Goodbye & Good Riddance, a breakup album that wears its heart on its sleeve—it’s like a Taking Back Sunday album—if Taking Back Sunday had come up under the influence of Chicago drill music. It features the hit “Lucid Dreams” and a cameo from Lil Uzi Vert on “Wasted.”
Poetry in the Park @ Juneau Park, 6:30 p.m.
The latest installment of Juneau Park’s intimate Poetry in the Park series features another quartet of area wordsmiths, including Mikey Swanberg, Su Cho, Rebecca Dunham and former Milwaukee Poet Laureate Matt Cook. As always, guests are welcome to bring their own blankets, lawn chairs, beverages and snacks, and dogs are welcome.
