Photo by Elizabeth Weinberg
Sylvan Esso @ Summerfest, July 3
Thursday, July 2
Carrie Underwood w/ A Thousand Horses @ Marcus Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.
As a telegenic blonde with a lung-buster of a voice and built-in following as a winner of “American Idol,” it was almost a foregone conclusion that Carrie Underwood would succeed in any style of music. She chose commercial-radio country and, as expected, an Underwood single that doesn’t reach No. 1 in airplay is rare indeed. At her best, she can sell a song like few others. Give her credit, too, for the occasional forays into material that plays against her light, sweet persona. Underwood’s vegetarianism and PETA support give her an edge that probably rubs some of her rural listeners the wrong way, but no doubt many of those cynics succumbed just like all those “Idol” voters who became converts as well. That voice makes it tough not to be a fan.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros @ BMO Harris Pavilion, Summerfest, 9:45 p.m.
With dreams of a permanent summer of love, Los Angeles musician Alex Ebert of the dance-punk band Ima Robot reinvented himself as his messiah-like alter ego Edward Sharpe and formed a merry band of ’60s fetishists. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ wildly lovable 2009 debut, Up From Below, updated the flower-power chants of The Mamas & The Papas with flashes of Arcade Fire grandeur and Polyphonic Spree’s stage-filling showmanship; those catchy songs, along with the band’s exuberant concerts, made them a fast live draw. Though the group never shied away from sunny sounds, their subsequent albums have been a bit more subdued and contemplative than that shiny, happy debut, including 2013’s self-titled effort, which was the group’s last with singer Jade Castrinos, Ebert’s duet partner on the band’s signature song “Home.”
Jazz in the Park w/ Nabori @ Cathedral Square Park, 6 p.m.
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Over the last decade, Nabori have emerged as staples at Midwest festivals like Jazz in the Park, and it’s easy to see why: The salsa group’s kinetic rhythms and brassy energy reliably bring audiences to their feet. The ensemble plays salsa music in the modern sense, blending traditional Spanish and Mexican music with contemporary R&B and funk, all of which makes for a hip-shaking live show. That sound is well captured on their 2013 album De Nuevo En El Solar.
Dale Watson @ Kochanski's Concertina Beer Hall, 8 p.m.
Austin country purist Dale Watson often sang of tragedy even before he experienced it firsthand, but after his fiancée’s death in a car accident in 2000, his songwriting took a turn toward even more emotionally pained territory. The singer’s struggles coping with her death were captured in Zalman King’s 2006 documentary Crazy Again, which details Watson’s subsequent nervous breakdown and the period of his life he spent convinced the devil was speaking to him. Watson’s albums have chronicled his attempts to move on and reconcile his own mortality, including 2008’s To Terri With Love, which he dedicated to his fiancée, and 2010’s Carryin’ On, but lately he’s run with lighter sounds, embracing honky tonk of recent albums like this year’s Call Me Insane.
Friday, July 3
U.S. Bank Fireworks @ Milwaukee Lakefront, 9:25 p.m.
By far the largest fireworks display in the greater Milwaukee area, the U.S. Bank Fireworks feature hundreds of rockets shot from barges anchored in the breakwater near Veterans Park. Each year the lakefront is packed to the brim with spectators, some of whom stake out choice spots more than 24 hours in advance. The riotous display lights up the sky as soon as dusk falls and continues for roughly an hour, colorful rockets competing for attention as the booms and crackles bounce off of Downtown buildings and turn the lakefront into a scene of shifting light and rolling sound.
Lupe Fiasco @ Miller Lite Oasis, Summerfest, 10:15 p.m.
Plenty of rappers have struggled to reconcile the obligations of fame with their core values, but few have struggled more than Lupe Fiasco, the Chicago rapper who emerged as a principled alternative to more conventional rap stars in the mid-’00s. When his label pressured him to commercialize his sound on his third album, 2011’s Lasers, he resisted at first, insisting the disc would be his most political yet, but he eventually acquiesced, recording the Modest Mouse-sampling hit “The Show Goes On.” The resulting album was an odd compromise, divided between unabashed, crowd-pleasing pop songs and resentful political sermons. Thankfully, Fiasco has demonstrated more creative control over his recent albums, including 2012’s Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1 and this year’s feisty Tetsuo & Youth, both of which set aside pop pandering in favor of elaborate critiques of American values and hip-hop culture.
Sylvan Esso @ Johnson Controls World Stage, Summerfest, 10 p.m.
For years Nick Sanborn has been one of the great utility players of the Milwaukee and North Carolina music scenes, lending his musicianship to bands like Decibully and Megafaun, while producing electronic tracks on the side. That production experience laid the ground for his latest gig as the beat-making half of the electronic-pop duo Sylvan Esso, Sanborn’s collaboration with Mountain Man singer Amelia Meath. Although Meath is a folk singer by trade, her sweet, jazzy voice provides a sly counterpoint to Sanborn’s dense, crackling beats on the duo’s widely acclaimed 2014 self-titled debut.
Saturday, July 4
The Avett Brothers w/ Brandi Carlile and Warren Haynes @ Marcus Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.
Brothers Scott and Seth began recording as The Avett Brothers in 2000, roughly at the beginning of the modern roots-revival movement jump-started by O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and in the 15 years since, with bassist Bob Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon, they’ve emerged as one of the movement’s biggest crossover acts. The North Carolina ensemble transcended their native folk and bluegrass scene by drawing from pop melodies and rock ’n’ roll—particularly at their rowdy live shows—before consolidating their critical reputation with the 2007 Emotionalism. Even better was 2009’s I and Love and You, a softer, more focused collection produced by Rick Rubin, who polished away the band’s rough edges to better emphasize their song craft. Rubin returned for the group’s follow-up albums, 2012’s The Carpenter and 2013’s Magpie and the Dandelion.
Jane’s Addiction @ Harley-Davidson Roadhouse, Summerfest, 10:15 p.m.
Perhaps no band better bridged the chasm between sleazy, Sunset Strip glam-metal and arty alternative rock better than Jane’s Addiction, the group that helped lay the groundwork for what frontman Perry Farrell described as “the Alternative Nation.” Since disbanding in 1991 (with a farewell tour that launched the Lollapalooza music festival), the group has reunited on and off. One of those reunions yielded the band’s third full studio album, 2003’s Strays, a straightforward, radio-ready effort curiously lacking in the off-kilter energy that had once seemed to be the band’s raison d’être. Their 2011 follow-up The Great Escape Artist is far more adventurous. That record paired the band with TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, who played bass and lent the record an uneasy, electronic edge.
Sunday, July 5
Neil Young and Promise of the Real w/ Grace Potter @ Marcus Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.
Few songwriters have a richer legacy than Neil Young. After springing to countercultural superstardom with the folk-rock groups Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Young launched an enormously successful solo career, trademarking his ragged, melancholy folk-rock in the early ’70s, then paving the way for grunge and ’90s alternative-rock with his feedback-heavy ’80s records. For his latest Milwaukee show, Young will perform accompanied by the Los Angeles rock band Promise of the Real. Featuring Lukas and Micah Nelson, the sons of country star Willie Nelson, the band backed Young on his latest album The Monsanto Years. The album returns to the environmental themes that have marked Young’s work for decades. Tickets to all shows on Young’s summer tour will include either a CD or digital copy of the album.
