Thursday, Feb. 4
Cullen Omori w/ Light Music and Hemispheres @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Even in the late ’00s and early ’10s, a time when decent garage-pop bands were springing out of seemingly every city, Chicago’s Smith Westerns stood out with their youthful, glammy, hooky take on the genre. But buzz around the band fizzled following their 2013 album, Soft Will, and the band broke up later that year, leaving singer Cullen Omori to go solo. In March, Omori will release his debut album for Sub Pop, New Misery, and Smith Westerns fans might be surprised by it. It looks beyond the twitchy pop of that band’s early releases toward denser, synth-based sounds and the big-production pop music of the late ’80s, yet it never sounds like a stretch. Regardless of which genre he’s working in, Omori knows his way around a catchy song.
The Musical Box: ‘The Black Show’ @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Cover bands don’t get any more meticulously researched than the French-Canadian Genesis tribute act The Musical Box, which doesn’t just cover Genesis songs, but rather recreates entire Genesis tours, right down to the costumes and set designs. For their latest round on the road, the group is restaging the band’s elaborately staged 1974 “The Black Show” tour, which featured music from one of Genesis’ best-regarded albums from that era, Selling England by The Pound. It’s not quite like seeing Genesis in their prime, but it’s as close as new fans will ever get.
Friday, Feb. 5
Indonesian Junk w/ STATIC EYES, Bad Wig and Mono In Stereo @ High Dive MKE, 8 p.m.
Great rock ’n’ roll should make you feel a little dirty. Milwaukee’s Indonesian Junk don’t take the scuzz factor as far as some similarly styled garage bands—they’re not trying to creep you out or anything—but on their new self-titled LP they evoke the lecherous cockiness of ’70s fixtures like Alice Cooper and KISS. Each of these 10 songs lands like an exhilarating punch to the gut. They’ll celebrate the CD and digital release of the album at this free show, which will cater to budget-minded rock fans with $2 PBR tall boys and other drink specials.
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Milwaukee Gospel Jubilee @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
Milwaukee has always had a rich gospel tradition, but for years its gospel music was a secret to nearly all but the faithful who attended the churches where it can be heard each Sunday. That’s been changing in recent years, thanks in part to the organization Milwaukee Gospel and its annual fundraiser for Progressive Community Health Centers, which for three years running has spotlighted a variety of vocal ensembles, many of which have roots that go back decades. This year’s lineup features six acts: New Gospel Five, The Milwaukee Community Quartet, Levi Gospel Singers, Holy Hill Ensemble, Voices of Faith and The Skylight Singers.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
From his roots as an underground rapper heavily indebted to Atmosphere, Seattle rapper Macklemore shot to the top of the charts and frat-house playlists alike with his inescapable 2012 novelty hit “Thrift Shop,” and the hits kept coming from there. The Heist, his debut album with producer Ryan Lewis became one of the best-selling rap LPs of that era, and earned the duo a 2014 Grammy for Best Rap Album. That puts a lot of pressure on their follow-up album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, which is set for release later this month, but so far all the signs are pointing toward another big seller. The video for the album’s debut single “Downtown,” a song that does for old-school hip-hop what “Uptown Funk” did for early ’80s funk, has been viewed more than 90 million times on YouTube, while Macklemore’s follow-up song, “White Privilege II” has spurred widespread discussion online about race in hip-hop. In 2016, this guy still knows how to dominate the conversation.
Three Dog Night @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Three Dog Night has issued recordings of new songs since regrouping in the ’80s, but let’s face it: What keeps the band on the road are memories of the late ’60s and early ’70s, when the intriguingly named group was dominant on AM radio. FM rock devotees seldom took them seriously—after all, they scoffed, the Dogs don’t write their own songs. Ah, but what songs! Whether motivated by their own taste or the dictates of savvy management, Three Dog Night recorded a string of gems by top writers during their golden years. Among the 21 Billboard Top 40 hits were nuggets by Harry Nilsson (“One”), Laura Nyro (“Eli’s Coming”), Hoyt Axton (“Joy to the World”) and Randy Newman (“Mama Told Me Not to Come”). Even if you weren’t singing “Joy to the World” in the back of a yellow school bus circa 1971, their recordings are worth rediscovering for their superb pop craftsmanship.
Tuesday, Feb. 9
Buckwheat Zydeco @ Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, 8 p.m.
Perhaps the most popular modern accordionist outside of “Weird Al” Yankovic, Stanley Dural Jr., better known as Buckwheat Zydeco, is one of the primary ambassadors of zydeco music. The Louisianan Creole blues master first cut his teeth with a conventional Southern funk band, Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, before he left to back up legendary zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier. Dural eventually eclipsed his mentor in popularity, becoming the first zydeco performer to be signed to a major label and, in the summer of 1996, also the first to perform for a worldwide audience at the Olympics. His latest album is 2010’s dance-minded Bayou Boogie.
