Photo by Cara Robbins
Foxygen @ Turner Hall Ballroom, April 7
Thursday, April 2
Kevin Hart @ The Riverside Theater, 7 and 10 p.m.
It’s difficult to think of mega-stars as “self-made,” but Kevin Hart fits the bill. On the strength of his stand-up comedy, he landed roles in films like The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Little Fockers and a couple of Scary Movie sequels. It’s only been in recent years, however, that those supporting roles have given way to star turns in big hits like Ride Along, About Last Night and his new Will Ferrell comedy Get Hard. Despite his new star status, Hart’s stand-up comedy remains both insightful and relatable, emphasizing universal topics like family and marriage. With Get Hard still doing good business in theaters, this weekend Hart parks at the Riverside Theater for a whooping six shows. (Also Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4.)
Friday, April 3
Watcher’s Woods w/ Staring Problem, Blonder and Lost Spirit @ Cocoon Room, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee’s Watcher’s Woods looked toward the darker sounds of the ’80s on last fall’s cassette release Autumn Cassette, paying particular homage to the chilly, lo-fi aesthetic of that decade’s goth music. The group is about to head out on tour, but first they’ll play this all-ages show at Cocoon Room, joined by the similarly gothy Chicago band Staring Problem, Milwaukee’s indie-pop charmers Blonder and local shoegazers Lost Spirit.
Amber Rose @ The Eight, 9:30 p.m.
Some might knock her as being famous for being famous, but it’s hard to deny the role that Amber Rose has played in rap, first as a video model and then as a muse. She inspired one of Kanye West’s most important albums, 808s and Heartbreak, simply by breaking up with him, and her divorce from rapper Wiz Khalifa has played out in a similarly public fashion. As is often the case at club appearances from celebrities, it’s not exactly clear what, if anything, Amber Rose will be doing when she appears at Milwaukee’s The Eight nightclub this weekend, but the event will feature music courtesy of V100.7’s DJ Gee-A. The station’s Reggie Brown will host the night.
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Katrina w/ Lisa Ridgely and the Fainting Room @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
The ’80s were truly the heyday of feel-good music, and few acts embodied that uplifting spirit better than Katrina and the Waves, whose 1985 smash “Walking on Sunshine” became one of that year’s biggest smashes. The group carried on through the ’90s, memorably winning the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with their hit “Love Shine a Light,” before singer Katrina launched a solo album in 2001. Last year she released her latest solo album, Blisland, which she describes as a tribute to the rock music of her youth, particularly formative albums like Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive! and Neil Young’s Harvest.
Saturday, April 4
Ourmada w/ Black Belt Theater and Else @ Club Garibaldi, 10 p.m.
Milwaukee alternative rockers Outmada have gigged steadily around the area over the last several years, but now they have an album to play behind. This weekend they’ll celebrate their Jeff Hamilton-produced debut album, Through the Wires, with a release show at Club Garibaldi. Sonically, the album looks to the rougher-edged modern rock of the late ’80 and early ’90s, capturing the anguished charge of bands like Cracker and Soul Asylum. The Soul Asylum comparison is especially hard to miss, since vocally singer Drew Ingle is a near-deadringer for a young David Pirner.
Sam Hunt w/ Michael Ray @ The Rave, 9 p.m.
A former college quarterback, Sam Hunt was good enough at football that he could’ve gone pro. Instead, he turned his attention to country music, writing songs inspired not only by the ’90s country music that he grew up with, but also the hip-hop and modern pop that he was exposed to in college. As a result, Hunt’s hit debut album Montevallo is a decidedly contemporary affair, as in tune with the rhythms of modern Top 40 as it is with the old-fashioned values of country music. He’s clearly in touch with what the masses want to hear: The album debuted at number one on the country charts, and his current tour is almost entirely sold out—many dates sold out literally within minutes of going on sale.
Tuesday, April 7
Foxygen w/ Alex Cameron @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Foxygen made the gutsy decision in May 2011 to give their musical hero Richard Swift a CD-R of their album Take the Kids following his show at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. Fortunately for them, Swift enjoyed that album and immediately contacted them. He mixed a reissue of it, and later the band joined him for a weeklong recording session at Swift’s National Freedom Studio to track their breakthrough album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic. That album could have made them stars, but instead they seemed hell-bent on self-destruction. What followed was an endless cycle of in-fighting, on-stage meltdowns, concert cancelations and generally bad press. Given the constant turmoil, nobody was too surprised when Foxygen revealed this year that their current tour behind last year’s …And Star Power will be their last before breaking up.
