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Photo credit: Mark Surridge
Ed Sheeran
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Polythymics
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Photo credit: Andy Tennille
Widespread Panic
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Steven Page
The Milwaukee Film Festival kicks off with a crowd-pleaser, while The Dude’s least favorite band comes to the Fiserv Forum.
Thursday, Oct. 18
Milwaukee Film Festival @ multiple locations
It’s the event film lovers look forward to all year: hundreds of film screenings spread across 15 marathon days at theaters around the city. Guests at this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival include Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley, actress Felicity Huffman, director Carrie Hawks, New York Times culture editor Aisha Harris, Arrested Development rapper Speech and actor Martin Starr, who is featured in Freaks and Geeks: The Documentary. Once again, the festival has picked a crowd-pleaser for its opening night screening on Thursday, Oct. 18: Science Fair, Milwaukee native Cristina Costantini’s upbeat documentary about students competing for the top prize at Los Angeles’s International Science and Engineering Fair. The film won the Sundance Festival Favorite award. Following that screening there will be an opening-night party at Good City Brewing featuring music from Rio Turbo and B~Free.
The Eagles @ Fiserv Forum, 8 p.m.
Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski might not have had much patience for them, but that puts the beloved Coen brothers character at odds with many Americans. After all these years, The Eagles’ 1976 greatest hits compilation is still the single best selling record in the history of the country, rivaled only by Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Buoyed by their never-ending play on classic-rock radio, The Eagles milked a fortune out of their on-again/off-again ’90s reunion tours, but it was only in 2007, after a 28-year absence, that they returned to the studio for a new album: Long Road Out of Eden, a continuation of the ’70s country-rock sound The Eagles will always be known for. It would prove to be the band’s final album with founding member Glenn Frey, who died in 2016.
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Friday, Oct. 19
Steven Page
Steven Page Trio @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Steven Page was one of the two frontmen leading Barenaked Ladies before he left the group in 2009 to pursue a solo career. Since then his relationship with his former band has been rocky at times—he filed a claim against the band for withholding royalties from the group’s inescapable “Big Bang Theory” theme song—but this spring he performed with the group for the first time since their split at the Juno Awards to celebrate the group’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It remains to be seen whether he’ll ever work with the band again, but in the meantime he released a new solo album this fall, Discipline: Heal Thyself, Pt. II.
The Second City @ Marcus Center, 7:30 p.m.
For more than a half century, The Second City has been one of America’s most formidable comedy institutions, training stars from Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler and Jason Sudeikis. Just in time for the upcoming mid-term elections, the Chicago improv troupe returns to the Marcus Center for this show, “Made in America—Some Assembly Required.”
Photo credit: Andy Tennille
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Ranking right behind the Grateful Dead and Phish is the pantheon of influential jam bands, Athens, Ga., rockers Widespread Panic have been playing together since the mid-’80s, back when fans didn’t even have the internet to help them trade tapes. The band built their audience the same way that today’s younger jam bands do: through relentless touring. After decades on the road—including some epic annual stops in Milwaukee—the band announced in 2016 that they intended to tour less, shocking fans who’d grown accustomed to seeing them regularly. That announcement hasn’t stopped them from returning to Milwaukee for their customary run of October shows at the Riverside, though. (Through Sunday, Oct. 21.)
Pumpkin Pavilion @ Humboldt Park, 6 p.m.
Each year Bay View comes together to carve enormous quantities of pumpkins for its annual Pumpkin Pavilion celebration in Humboldt Park. Ahead of the mammoth lighting of 1000 pumpkins at 7 p.m., there will be a pet parade and costume contest and a performance from the Bay View High School Drum Line. There will also be magic shows and fire dancers later in the evening. The festivities continue Saturday afternoon and night with horse-drawn hayrides, a screening of Beetlejuice, a 5K race, and music from the Dick Satan Trio.
Saturday, Oct. 20
Abby Jeanne’s Cosmic Weekend @ The Cooperage, 5 p.m.
Few Milwaukee musicians have had a bigger couple of years than Abby Jeanne, the soul-rock singer whose titanic voice has helped her grow a following well beyond the city. Jeanne curated this two-day mini festival at the Cooperage, which features performers from around the country as well as some local favorites. Nashville grunge rockers Bully headline Saturday night, joined by The Shivas from Portland, Lucille Furs and DEHD from Chicago, and Milwaukee Immortal Girlfriend and The Quilz. Then on Sunday Jeanne herself headlines, following a day of music from punk legend Lydia Lunch, New York’s Fiona Silver, Milwaukee’s Amanda Huff and Saebra & Carlyle and Madison’s Proud Parents. There will also be multimedia art installations.
Direct Hit! w/ The Copyrights and Telethon @ The Back Room at Colectivo, 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee punk rockers Direct Hit are doing more than any other band to put the city’s punk scene on the map. The fall the group will release its latest album on Fat Wreck Chords, and to judge from early singles like ‘Welcome to Heaven” and “Pitch Black,” the record is shaping up to be another scorcher. And in news that’s just as exciting, the band plans to open up a new venue in Cudahy later this year at 5026 S. Packard Ave., in the spot formerly occupied by Vnuk’s and The Metal Grill. “We want it to be more of an all-purpose event space for DIY-minded people, not just a punk club or a metal club,” singer Nick Woods tells the Shepherd Express. “We’re trying to make it not just a place for live music, but a place that people who want to premiere their films can show them on a big stage with really good sound.
Tuesday, Oct. 23
Photo credit: Mark Surridge
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran w/ Snow Patrol and Lauv @ Miller Park, 7 p.m.
There’s a little bit of drama around this one. As of press time, we can’t say for certain whether “Shape of You” singer Ed Sheeran’s concert at Miller Park will take place as scheduled, or whether it’ll be delayed because of the potential for Miller Park to host its first World Series ever this month. Needless to say, though, this is a very good problem for the city to have. If delaying an Ed Sheeran concert by a few weeks is the price to pay for a historic Milwaukee Brewers season, we’ll take it.
Wednesday, Oct. 24
Polythymics
Polyrhythmics w/ Coventry Jones @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
There are certain styles of music you can only pull off with a large brass section, and the eight-piece Seattle ensemble Polyrhythmics dabbles in almost all of them, from the crisp funk of the Dap-Kings and the propulsive Afrobeat of acts like Antibalas and Fela Kuti. The group is touring behind their highly danceable latest album Octagon.
