Photo credit: Justin Harris
Slow Walker
Despite a dip due to the New Year, there are plenty of opportunities to go out and have fun in the next two weeks in Milwaukee. If you're looking for New Year's Eve, check out our annual Milwaukee New Year's Eve Guide here.
Thursday, Dec. 26
Winter Week @ Museum of Wisconsin Art
From Thursday until Sunday, Dec. 29, enjoy a great string of events that range from family friendly Winter Creation Stations to talks by canoe paddler Timothy Bauer who shares his Wisconsin water adventures. Artist Tom Uttech will speak of travel, his artistic process and what it’s like to be a contemporary landscape painter today.
Friday, Dec. 27
Holiday Stand-Up Comedy Show @ Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co., 8 p.m.
The show features noteworthy comics. Jeff Spankowski’s quick jokes and rapid punchlines make him a hit with audiences across the Midwest. Beneath Chris Schmidt’s polite facade beats the heart of a savage joke writer, as evidenced by his warped wordplay and twisted punchlines. Mike Berg’s comedy focuses on growing up middle class during late-stage capitalism. Topics typically covered include being a proud member of the boomerang generation, fast-food Twitter beefs and existential malaise. Judd Reminger tells outrageous stories and the corny short jokes of a self-proclaimed narcissist.
Truly alternative music is celebrated at Cactus Club with these five bands. Meat Wave are driving up from Chicago but will face stiff competition from Milwaukee DIYer So Zuppy and the dynamic Saebra & Carlyle. A backroom with this smorgasbord of sounds begs the question: If those walls could talk, what would they reveal?
Gabriel Harris Band @ Fire on Water, 7 p.m.
This Water Street club could easily become one of this city’s finest. Booking acts playing original music is always welcome. Case in point: Gabriel Harris Band’s groove and guitar sound.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra—‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories’ @ Fiserv Forum, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be bringing its Winter Tour 2019 back to Milwaukee, boasting all-new staging and effects in the show that started it all, “Christmas Eve and Other Stories.” It played to 12,000 people in five cities in 1999, eventually playing to 9 million fans over the course of 12 years.
BoDeans @ Northern Lights Theater, 8 p.m.
Three decades on, led by original member Kurt Neumann, the band that has roots in Waukesha returns to Wisconsin to play the Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.
The Goddamn Gallows w/ Primativs, Zör and Cashed @ X-Ray Arcade, 7 p.m.
The world-famous, train-hoppin’ hobos shack up at X-Ray Arcade for an unpredictable night of punk-rock gutterbilly, aka hobocore, aka gypsy-punk, with “a new strange recipe of seamless genre-bending profundities.”
Saturday, Dec. 28
Dr. Noah’s Ark—A Night of Stories and Songs to Benefit Underserved Local Animals @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7:30 p.m.
Shorewood veterinarian Noah Arnold started a foundation called Save the Forlorn World (abbreviated as Save the F’n World) to help supplement the costs of care local underserved pets need. For this gig, Arnold will perform original songs and share stories about the animals his organization is helping.
Tree Down Yet? @ Circle A, 8 p.m.
For the last Saturday of the decade, the plan is simple: three bands, no waiting. The in-your-face roar of Resist Her Transistor will be followed by one horse town’s mercurial songwriting and Spud Bucket’s timeless sound. In fact, Spud Bucket’s “Fraction of a Reaction” has recently gotten airplay on East Orange’s WFMU-FM.
Donna Woodall @ Blu Bar & Lounge in the Pfister Hotel, 8 p.m.
Singer-songwriter Donna Woodall’s blues, jazz and “soulful folk” could be compared to a blend of Carole King and Cassandra Wilson.
Wednesday, Jan. 1
Polka Open Jam @ Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall, 7 p.m.
The weekly event is scheduled as always, despite falling on the first day of the new year. Bring your accordion or concertina and kick up that lively polka rhythm at a venue that is as much Milwaukee history as an episode of “Around the Corner with John McGivern.”
Friday, Jan. 3
Albert Lee @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Guitarist Albert Lee played with Emmylou Harris, the Everly Brothers and—here’s the clincher—Eric Clapton. He started in the ’60s in London alongside the likes of Jimmy Page, and he carved a niche as a virtuoso player in country and country-rock circles.
Saturday, Jan. 4
Miles Nielsen and The Rusted Hearts @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Rockford, Ill., has long been one of the heartland’s rock music hubs. Rockford’s Miles Nielsen has a heritage behind him as well—he’s the son of Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, but he has gone his own way musically with a soulful rock band that draws inspiration from the ’60s through the ’00s. Milwaukee’s superb Mike Benign Compulsion opens the show.
Bandoleer Bacall w/ Not the Cops and Loud Library @ Company Brewing, 10 p.m.
Bandoleer Bacall’s Bandcamp page pegs their sound in the vicinity of great, lost, homemade, four-track recordings of yesteryear. Not the Cops, on the other hand, add healthy doses of driving cacophony to their music. Loud Library offer up a melodic pop approach with experimental touches.
‘My First and Last Film’ @ The Sugar Maple, 4 p.m.
Milwaukeean Tracy Thomas’ debut film looks at life after 60. With the documentary, she discovers that “risks are meant to be taken, fear is something to push aside.” Her subjects share their wisdom that age is just a number. (Also, Sunday, Jan. 5, at 3 p.m.)
Wednesday, Jan. 8
American Blues w/ Billy Flynn, EG McDaniel, Jimi Schutte @ Caroline’s Jazz Club, 7:30 p.m.
Green Bay native Billy Flynn took a liking to the sound of Chicago Blues music in the ’70s. Since then, the guitarist has played and recorded with a long list of performers including Jimmy Dawkins and Otis Rush. Bassist Greg McDaniel, son of iconic guitarist Floyd McDaniel and Bessie Jackson, has shared the stage with the likes of Junior Wells and Buddy Guy. Jimi Schutte played drums with Luther Allison early in his career and has worked with Jim Liban for two decades.
Yacht w/ Juiceboxxx @ X-Ray Arcade, 7:3 p.m.
Yacht, the Grammy-nominated dance-poppers from Los Angeles, and Milwaukee rapper Juiceboxxx offer up an all-ages, mid-week mind-melting spectacle.
