1 of 3
Screaming Females
2 of 3
Rodriguez
3 of 3
Ty Dolla $ign
Break out the antacids: WMSE’s Rockabilly Chili contest is back for another year.
Thursday, March 8
Screaming Females
Screaming Females w/ Radiator Hospital and Detenzione @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
New guitar gods don’t come around too often, and when they do, they almost never stem from punk circles. Screaming Females shredder Marissa Paternoster is breaking from tradition. Over seven albums with her New Jersey power trio, she has honed a loose, gnarly and endlessly hooky guitar style inspired by first-wave British punk bands, pairing her slashy riffs with a badass, Johnny Rotten snarl. The group’s latest album for Don Giovanni Records, All At Once, is one of their most eclectic yet, a sprawling hodgepodge of heavy alt-rock, ripping punk, bluesy slow numbers and gritty throwback classic rock. A talented cartoonist, Paternoster drew its cover herself. As with the band’s previous bills at Cactus Club, Screaming Females will be joined by a couple of solid openers, including Philadelphia’s Radiator Hospital, whose latest album, Play The Songs You Like, blasts through 16 tracks of sunny, poppy, buzzy indie-punk.
The No Sleep Podcast @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
There’s only one big rule on Reddit’s wildly popular “No Sleep” scary stories forum: The stories can be fiction, but they’ve got to be written as if they’re true. Each month hundreds of amateur authors submit their stories for readers willing to suspend disbelief, and some of the most popular have been featured on the forum’s podcast spinoff hosted by David Cummings, which is now in its 10th season. In 2016, the podcast began launching live tours with a cast featuring some of the voice actors from the show.
Uriah Heep @ Potawatomi Hotel and Casino, 8 p.m.
Classic rock bands tend to record new material at a slow, cautious pace, but Uriah Heep have been the exceptions to that rule. Since 2008’s critically acclaimed comeback album Wake the Sleeper introduced the classic British band to a younger audience, the group has recorded at a feverish pace, firing off one a new album every year or two. There’s another on the way: Last year the group entered the studio with producer Jay Ruston to record a record called Living The Dream, which they plan to release later this year. Original guitarist Mick Box anchors the current lineup of Heep, with longtime vocalist Bernie Shaw and keyboardist Phil Lanzon joined by relative newcomers Russell Gilbrook on drums and Davey Rimmer on bass.
|
|
Friday, March 9
Ty Dolla $ign
Ty Dolla $ign w/ Marc E. Bassy, Dre Sinatra and Toni Romiti @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
There are countless artists on the radio blurring the lines between rap and R&B, but few have done it with the same grace and songwriting prowess as Ty Dolla $ign, the velvet-voice Los Angeles behind hits like “Or Nah” and “Paranoid.” He’s written as many hits for others as he has for himself, including Omarion’s “Post to Be” and Chris Brown’s “Loyal.” Ahead of his first-ever appearance at The Rave, last year he released his latest album, Beach House 3, another laidback set filled with guest spots from kindred spirits like Future, Swae Lee, The-Dream, Pharrell William and Wiz Khalifa.
Gabriel Iglesias @ The Riverside Theater, 6 and 10 p.m. (also on Saturday)
Gabriel Iglesias has never been a member of comedy’s inner circle. You won’t see him grab coffee with Jerry Seinfeld or lend his voice to an edge Adult Swim cartoon. Nonetheless, he’s one of comedy’s biggest superstars, thanks to his many jokes about his considerable girth (or as his calls it, “fluffiness.”) His size is at the heart of much of this former “Last Comic Standing” contestant’s stand-up material, including his breakout 2009 Comedy Central special, I’m Not Fat… I’m Fluffy, and his new Netflix special I’m Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry. In a testament to his popularity, the comedian is headlining a whooping three shows at the Riverside Theater this weekend, including two Friday night and a 6 p.m. show Saturday night.
Saturday, March 10
Albert Cummings w/ Twila Jean @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Over his nearly two decades on the road, Massachusetts-born bluesman Albert Cummings has shared shows with greats like Buddy Guy, B.B. King and Johnny Winter, so it’s no surprise that he carries himself with the poise of an old pro when he’s on stage. As a young player, Cummings had dedicated himself to bluegrass banjo before discovering Stevie Ray Vaughan and turning his interests toward the guitar, and a little bit of the country and bluegrass spirit still carries through his playing. His latest release, Live at the ’62 Center, captures the fiery intensity of his live performances.
Railroad Earth @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Taking their name from a Jack Kerouac short story, Railroad Earth fuses bluegrass, rock ’n’ roll and occasional hints of jazz into their Grateful Dead-style vision of Americana. Formed in Stillwater, N.J., Railroad Earth is more studio-minded than some of their jam-scene peers, having recorded seven albums since their 2001 beginnings (including two for the String Cheese Incident’s SCI Fidelity label), but they’re also known for their improvisation-heavy live performances. Last year they released a new EP titled Captain Nowhere.
Sunday, March 11
WMSE’s Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser @ MSOE Kern Center, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
WMSE’s largest fundraiser returns for its 16th year. Once again more than 50 Milwaukee-area restaurants and chefs will compete against each other for honors in five categories (including best meat chili, best vegetarian chili and most unique chili) at the city’s most prestigious chili cook-off. There will also be tap beer from Milwaukee Brewing Company, Miller Park-style racing chili peppers, a children’s area and live surf music from The Exotics. Advance tickets are $12 ($15 at the door) and include four chili samples; additional sampling tickets are a buck each. Attendees who bring two or more non-perishable food items to donate to the Hunger Task Force will receive a couple extra sampling tickets, too.
The Musical Box @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Among Genesis diehards, 1973’s Selling England By The Pound holds a special place. It was the band’s fifth album, and it introduced the group to its widest audience yet by pairing ambitious prog-rock arrangements with some of the band’s most direct and rocking songs ever. One of the best-known Genesis tribute bands (and one licensed by Peter Gabriel and the rest of Genesis), Canada’s The Musical Box is playing the album in its entirety for their current tour, going to painstaking lengths to recreate the band’s performances from that era down to the smallest detail. For their encore, the band will do songs from Genesis’s 1975 follow-up, The Lamb Lays Down on Broadway. It’s not quite like seeing Genesis in their prime, but it’s as close as new fans will ever get.
Wednesday, March 14
Rodriguez
Rodriguez @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
We’re living in a golden age of music documentaries, and few this decade have been more moving than 2012’s Searching For Sugar Man, an Academy Award winner that detailed the search for Sixto Rodriguez, a folk singer who had long been rumored as dead. Rodriguez released a couple of underperforming albums in the ’70s before disappearing, only to find a massive audience over time in South Africa, unbeknownst to him. The film introduced Rodriguez to a belated following in America, where he is now enjoying the stardom that eluded him in the ’70s. It also inspired Rodriquez to begin writing new material.
