Thursday, July 14
Inter Arma w/ Withered and Ara @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
Metal is such an ambitious, ideas-rich genre that it takes a lot to stand out these days. Standing out, however, hasn’t been a problem for Richmond, Va.’s Inter Arma, whose sound has only grown more epic with each album. The group’s latest is Paradise Gallows, which plays like the imagined soundtrack to an epic Charlton Heston film. Almost biblical in its scope, it’s a tumultuous 71-minute suite of proggy sludge metal—and a logical next step for a band that had previously built an EP around a lone 45-minute song.
Friday, July 15
40th Anniversary Weekend @ Mr. J’s Lounge, 6:30 p.m.
Milwaukee has seen countless music clubs come and go over the decades, but for the last four decades one has held steady: Mr. J’s Lounge, the longstanding jazz and blues destination on the city’s northwest side at 4610 W. Fond du Lac Ave. This weekend, owner Arlis R. Jones celebrates his 40th year in business with two shows featuring two big names in contemporary jazz: fusion saxophonist Walter Beasley on Friday and pianist/composer Bob Baldwin on Sunday. Tickets for both shows are $65 in advance, $70 at the door or $75 for VIP seating. On Saturday the club will celebrate with a barbecue from 1-7 p.m.
Anthony Hamilton w/ Avant and Avery Sunshine @ Milwaukee Theatre, 8 p.m.
Anthony Hamilton was not an overnight sensation. The soul singer toiled throughout the ’90s, recording two albums only to see one tank and the other shelved by his label, while collaborating with any hip-hop act in need of a hook, in order to keep his name out there. That persistence paid off. A pair of singles from his breakthrough 2003 album, Comin’ From Where I’m From, including the gorgeous, slow-drip ballad “Charlene,” established Hamilton as one of the biggest neo-soul acts of the mid-2000s. 2011’s Back to Love expanded on Hamilton’s love of ’70s soul to reveal him as a lover of all eras of soul music. And like its predecessor, this spring’s What I’m Feelin’ is a grab bag in the best way possible, bundling funk, gospel and contemporary R&B into a joyous package.
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Huey Lewis and the News @ Mequon Rotary Pary, 7:30 p.m.
During the ’80s, Huey Lewis and the News ran the charts with singles like “Hip to Be Square” and the Back to the Future tie-ins “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time.” Their 1984 album Sports remains one of the top-selling records of its era, and although the group’s studio output has slowed quite a bit in recent years, 2010 saw the release of their ninth album, Soulsville, a tribute to Stax Records that draws from some of the less obvious corners of the label’s songbook. The band shares this installment of Mequon’s Gathering on the Green concert series with opener Zach Pietrini.
Super Furry Animals w/ Mountains and Rainbows @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
The Welsh psychedelic rock band Super Furry Animals formed in 1993, right around the time that alternative rock was hitting unprecedented levels of popularity. Although their sound was always a little more underground than the big modern rock hits of the time, they drew heavily from the inclusive spirit of alternative, incorporating elements of electronica and trip-hop on album’s like 1997’s Radiator and 2001’s Rings Around the World. The band went on a five year hiatus following 2009’s Dark Days/Light Years, but they are back on the road again, and this spring they released their first new single in seven years, “Bing Bong.”
Saturday, July 16
Steely Dan w/ Steve Winwood @ BMO Harris Pavilion, 8 p.m.
Will Steely Dan ever record a new album? Smart money says it’s unlikely. After the legendary jazz-rock group disbanded in 1981 to focus on solo projects, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker reunited in the ’90s as primarily a touring act (which is ironic, given how rarely the group toured during their ’70s heyday). They’ve only recorded two albums since that reunion, but both have held up: 2000’s Two Against Nature won an improbable Grammy for Album of the Year, while 2003’s Everything Must Go caught the group at their most carefree. The group shares this show with another musician who blurred the boundaries between rock, jazz and pop, Steve Winwood, who has enjoyed a long solo career since his days playing with The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith.
Marilyn Manson w/ Lockjaw @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
As his relevance dwindled after the late ’90s, when he was briefly the most controversial musician in America, Marilyn Manson remained a public figure, settling comfortably into his role as a free-speech advocate by weighing in with surprisingly intelligent opinions about current events. And though radio has been indifferent to his recent output, the shock rocker has been churning out some reliably entertaining hard-rock albums. His ninth and latest is 2015’s The Pale Emperor, which, though recorded without his fan-favorite guitarist Twiggy Ramirez, has attracted some of Manson’s strongest reviews in a decade.
Sunday, July 17
Savages w/ A Dead Forest Index @ The Rave, 7:30 p.m.
Nothing cements a band’s reputation like a great debut album, and Savages released an absolute stunner in 2013: Silence Yourself, a no-prisoners collection of visceral post-punk updates. This winter the London quartet followed it up with a second album for Matador Records, Adore Life, a nearly as ferocious record that finds the band headed into more psychedelic territory.
Monday, July 18
John Carpenter: Live Retrospective @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
John Carpenter is one of the most influential horror directors of all time, redefining the look and feel of the genre with films like The Fog, The Thing and his slasher masterpiece Halloween. He’ll always be known first and foremost as a director, then, but in recent years critics have given new consideration to his work as a film composer, as his eerie, synthesizer-based compositions have been cited as a key influence by many modern electronic acts. That renewed interest in his music has inspired Carpenter, now in his late 60s, to tour behind his music for the first time in his career. With a new non-soundtrack album, Lost Themes II, under his belt, he’ll perform a mix of classic compositions and new work at this appearance, where he’ll be joined by a full live band including his son Cody Carpenter.
