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Photo credit: Eliot Lee Hazel
Death Cab For Cutie
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Howard Levy
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Mac Miller
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Photo credit: Daniel Arnold
Phosphresent
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Tengger Cavalry
Milwaukee rappers pay tribute to Mac Miller, and Krampusnacht returns to celebrate everybody’s favorite Christmas demon.
Thursday, Nov. 29
Punk House Kegger 5 @ Burnhearts, 5 p.m.
Like skateboards and clove cigarettes, house shows are one of those traditions that punks tend to gradually age out of—once you hit legal drinking age, the idea of drinking flat PBR out of a plastic cup loses some of its appeal. Once a year, though, Burnhearts invites patrons to relive their wilder, younger days with its annual Punk House Kegger party, which cleverly swaps the usual watery domestic beer with genuinely great beer from Three Floyds. Now in its fifth year, the event will feature sets from the Milwaukee thrash metal band Population Control and street-punk enthusiasts Law/Less.
Friday, Nov. 30
Brewers Clubhouse Sale @ Miller Park, 8 a.m.
Milwaukee Brewers fans can get their holiday shopping done early—or just treat themselves to a little something during the offseason—as this annual tradition returns for its 38th year. For two days, the team will hold this sale in the visiting clubhouse, with up to 80% off Brewers apparel and souvenirs. There will also be a huge variety of game-used baseballs, bats, helmets, bases and even clubhouse name plates. Bernie Brewer and the Racing Sausages will be available for photo opportunities at 11 a.m. each day. (Also Saturday, Dec. 1.)
Christmas in the Ward @ Catalano Square, 5:30 p.m.
Once again, Historic Third Ward celebrates the holiday season with this outdoor gathering, now in its 30th year. The event features a tree lighting ceremony, live reindeer, photo opportunities with Santa Claus, a cookie sale, horse-drawn carriage rides and hot chocolate, in addition to a winter fireworks display over the Milwaukee River. There will also be music and performances from Rhythmic MKE, the Bach Chamber Carolers, Trinity Irish Dancers and the Sussex Hamilton A Cappella Choir.
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Howard Levy
Howard Levy 4 @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
When most people think of the harmonica, they understandably think of the blues, but that’s not the only genre the instrument lends itself to. As a co-founder of The Flecktones along with Béla Fleck, Howard Levy has spent decades demonstrating how versatile the harp can be, applying it to play jazz, Latin and world music, while debuting new playing techniques that have allowed for a fuller harmonic range. His new ensemble, the Howard Levy 4, pairs him with three ace Chicago musicians, including guitarist Chris Siebold and bassist Larry Kohut, both veterans of “A Prairie Home Companion.” The group draws heavily from Brazilian and Latin music.
Mac Miller
Mac Miller Tribute Show @ Company Brewing, 9 p.m.
Though few would have expected it from his early releases, which played hard to hip-hop’s college crowd with party-minded music, Mac Miller evolved into one of the most thoughtful, influential rap artists of his era. His final album, Swimming, was his most sophisticated yet, a beautifully soulful account of addiction and depression that sadly foreshadowed his own death. He died of an overdose in September at age 26. Miller had been scheduled to return to The Rave for a show this weekend—“He was one of those magical artists with an infectious laugh, always smiling and always putting others first,” the venue wrote in tribute to him—but in his absence, some of his fans in the Milwaukee rap scene have arranged this tribute show. Nile, Shle Berry and Airo Kwil will perform, along with a Mac Miller tribute cypher featuring assorted local musicians and DJ sets from Moses. Proceeds from this benefit will go to The New State, a planned all-ages Milwaukee venue with an ambitious vision.
Saturday, Dec. 1
Tengger Cavalry
Tengger Cavalry @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Here’s one for metal fans who think they’ve heard it all. The Mongolian folk-metal band Tengger Cavalry draws deeply from traditional Mongolian sounds, blending hard riffs with Khoomei-style throat singing and native instruments like the Mongolian flute and the Morin Khuur, an ancient fiddle. The band promises to show their range on this tour. “We will showcase two sets every night, featuring both traditional Mongolian folk music (inspired by the success of our Carnegie Hall performance) and brutal, heavy, nomadic metal songs,” frontman Nature G said in a statement. “The goal is for us to broaden the musical minds of our audiences on this tour.”
Photo credit: Eliot Lee Hazel
Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab For Cutie w/ Jungle, Albert Hammond Jr. and Barns Courtney @ The Rave, 7:30 p.m.
After emerging as one of the biggest indie-rock bands of the ’00s, Death Cab For Cutie went through something of a wilderness period a few years ago. They parted on good terms with Chris Walla, their guitarist and also the producer who shaped their sound, and they sounded somewhat driftless on their final record with him, Kintsugi, which featured unusually pronounced synthesizers. The response from fans and critics has been much warmer for the group’s new album, Thank You For Today, which marks a return to form that doesn’t tinker all that much with the band’s classic formula. The band is joined by U.K. retro-funk outfit Jungle and rockers Albert Hammond Jr. and Barns Courtney on this FM 102.1 Big Snow Show bill.
Sunday, Dec. 2
Photo credit: Daniel Arnold
Phosphresent
Phosphorescent w/ Liz Cooper and the Stampede @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Before recording under the pseudonym Phosphorescent, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based musician Matthew Houck traveled the world playing under the moniker Fillup Shack, releasing the album Hipolit in 2000. Houck soon changed his recording name to Phosphorescent, an exploratory alt-country guise under which he released A Hundred Times or More in 2003. Several albums later, Houck paid homage to one of his most enduring influences on the 2008 Willie Nelson tribute To Willie, which he followed up with a batch of outlaw country originals called Here’s to Taking It Easy. This fall, he released his first new studio album in five years, an intricately arranged, reflective record called C’est la Vie.
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Thom Yorke w/ Oliver Coates @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Radiohead’s last tour skipped Milwaukee, which is par for the course for the band, but this is a nice consolation prize: Frontman Thom Yorke will play this show as part of his current tour, joined by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s longtime producer) and visual artist Tarik Barri. The three first toured together in 2015, following the release of Yorke’s second solo album Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. The tour will include songs from that album and Yorke’s solo debut The Eraser, as well as from Atoms For Peace, Yorke’s side project with Godrich. The opener on this tour is British electronic producer and cellist Oliver Coates, who worked with Radiohead on their latest album, A Moon Shaped Pool, and has collaborated with Jonny Greenwood on his soundtrack work.
Milwaukee Krampusnacht @ Bavarian Bierhaus, 5 p.m.
In Central European lore, every December 5th, children are visited by St. Nick and a less welcome visitor: Krampus the Christmas demon, an unsavory figure who punishes bad children. After a sold-out first year, Milwaukee Krampusnacht returns to a new location, the Bavarian Bierhaus, to celebrate the darker side of the holiday season with a night of live music, food and drink, craft vendors (at the Krampus Market) and a freaky Krampus parade. The Squeezettes, Sunspot, Xposed 4heads and Sweet Sheiks will provide the music, and the Bavarian Bierhaus has brewed a special barrel-aged whiskey doppelbock for the event called Bells & Chains. Tickets are priced between $1-$5, and attendees are encouraged to bring a toy to donate to Toys for Tots.
