Thursday, July 28
Art Turns 30 Party @ Lakefront Brewery, 6 p.m.
Iconic Shepherd Express Columnist-Philosopher Art Kumbalek has been at this for a long time—30 years, to be exact. To celebrate his three decades commentating for the paper, we’re throwing him a party at Lakefront Brewery, where they’ll be serving up Art’s very own Focktoberfest beer. Tickets are $20 and include a souvenir mug full of Focktoberfest, complimentary appetizers and live music from the Brewhaus Polka Kings. What a world, ain’a?
Ra Ra Riot w/ Paper Holland @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Ra Ra Riot couldn’t help but attract comparisons to another young, chipper, indie-rock band charming New York college campuses around the same time, Vampire Weekend, and even the most casual listeners couldn’t help but notice how closely singer Wes Miles’ fluttering voice mirrors that of Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. The indie-pop sextet distinguished itself, though, with string-heavy, bouncy baroque arrangements. The band has evolved over the years, transitioning from an organic pop-rock sound to a more overtly retro, electro-pop style on their 2013 effort Beta Love, but they’ve shown no desire to escape the Vampire Weekend comparisons. Their latest album, Need Your Light, was produced by that band’s Rostam Batmanglij.
Friday, July 29
German Fest @ Summerfest Grounds
There will be even more polka than usual in the Milwaukee air this weekend as German Fest returns to the Summerfest grounds. As always, there will be stages upon stages of music and dance, as well as events and attractions including vintage carousel organs, a fairy tale parade, sheepshead classes (it’s a card game!), and, of course, the return of the festival’s most adorable tradition, the annual Dachshund Derby Race. Highlights on the entertainment schedule include Grammy-nominated musician and producer Alex Meixner, as well as festival favorites Alte Kameraden, who will be making their 36th appearance at the event. (Through Sunday, July 31.)
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MishMash Fest @ Fratney and Burleigh Streets, 5 p.m.
Over the years, the Riverwest 24 bike race has grown from a quirky neighborhood tradition into one of the Midwest’s most distinctive cycling events, drawing national attention and plenty of competitors from out of town (let’s hope nobody from Chicago wins this year). It also doubles as a massive, neighborhood-wide party, with spectators filling the streets and cheering on riders. In conjunction with the race, for the last six years Art*Bar has hosted a street party called MishMash. This year looks to be the fest’s biggest yet, with a full lineup that includes two stages of music and bands like Mortgage Freeman, Thee Grateful Dub and Tigernite—because, really, no local street festival is complete this year without a performance from Tigernite—as well as a local marketplace, a bunch of food trucks and a performance from the Brewcity Fire Brigade.
JR JR @ The Rave, 7:30 p.m.
In the pantheon of “so bad they’re good” band names, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. was one of the all-time greats. It’s a shame they changed it, but as JR JR, the duo of Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein have continued making sweet, mass-appeal, indie-pop music. Their latest is last fall’s self-titled JR JR, which featured some of the group’s biggest, friendliest, most sing-along-ready tunes to date.
‘I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast’ with Latrell Sprewell @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Though he’s more or less the same in every role, Michael Rapaport has nonetheless appeared in more than a hundred move and TV roles, including films like Mighty Aphrodite, Higher Learning and a bunch of Spike Lee joints. Lately, the excitable actor has turned his attention to the world of podcasting, with his “I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast” show. For this live recording of the podcast, Rapaport will be joined by his co-host, Gerald Moody, and a guest with special ties to Milwaukee: former NBA great and Milwaukee native Latrell Sprewell. As anybody who follows basketball knows, Sprewell has had his share of troubles over the years, all of which should lend themselves to a particularly lively conversation. We’re guessing his yacht comes up at least a few times.
Saturday, July 30
Brady Street Festival @ Brady Street, 11 a.m.
The East Side has changed considerably over the last decade, as the UW-Milwaukee campus has grown, and some of the cultural amenities that once defined the area have relocated west to Riverwest and south to Bay View. Through it all, though, Brady Street has retained its historic and cultural character; the street remains as vibrant as ever. The street will be even busier than usual this weekend, when it hosts its annual Brady Street Festival. In addition to the requisite arts and crafts vendors and music—a whooping four stages of it, with performers including New Boyz Club, Devil Met Contention, The Pukes, D’Amato, Canopies and Sounds of Time, among many others—there will also be Division BMX shows, wrestling matches, outdoor yoga, dance troupes, a climbing wall and history tours.
Queen Tut w/ Zed Kenzo, Lorde Freddee and Klassik @ Company Brewing, 10 p.m.
Milwaukee is saying goodbye to one of its brightest young rappers, at least for the time being. Queen Tut, the commanding, incredibly creative fire-spitter whose debut album, Psychedelic Traphouse, was one of last year’s most confident local rap releases, is leaving the city for Brooklyn, but not before saying goodbye with this farewell show. She’ll be joined by some of the city’s most artistically minded rappers, including Zed Kenzo, Lorde Freddee and Klassik, who will be backed by the live band Foreign Goods.
Sunday, July 31
Hari Kondabolu @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
These are good times to be a politically minded comedian, given how this current election cycle has practically written its own material. Still, Hari Kondabolu has a particularly unique perspective on this year’s Trump vs. Clinton showdown. Since this June, Kondabolu has co-hosted the podcast Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell, whose FX series, “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell,” he wrote for and regularly guested on. As an Indian American, he frequently explores race and cultural stereotypes in his performances. He’s also working on a documentary about perhaps the most prominent Indian character on television, Apu from “The Simpsons.”
Monday, Aug. 1
Louis C.K. @ BMO Harris Bradley Center, 8 p.m.
Louis C.K. has long carried the respect of his peers—he’s a true comedian’s comedian—but over the last half decade his stature has raised to nearly impossible heights. Since he established himself as a true auteur with his FX series “Louis,” a series of sometimes comic, sometimes melancholy Woody Allen-styled vignettes about his life as a single father and his struggles to find his place in the world, the comedy world has treated him with an almost god-like reverence. Last year, he affirmed his status as comedy’s king by becoming the first stand-up to sell out Madison Square Garden three times in a single tour, and this year he debuted yet another labor of love, a well-reviewed web series called “Horace and Pete,” which he wrote, directed and starred in. He also voiced the lead character in one of this year’s highest-grossing movies, the animated trifle The Secret Life of Pets.
Tuesday, Aug. 2
Wye Oak w/ Tuskha @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Wye Oak has never been afraid to mess with a winning formula. On their earliest records, the Baltimore-born, indie-rock band laced their spine-chilling dream-pop with some blistering guitar riffs from singer Jenn Wasner. That guitar was the defining quality of 2011’s masterful Civilian, the album that introduced Wye Oak to a bigger audience than ever, but for 2014’s divisive follow-up, Shriek, Wasner abandoned the guitar completely, letting her bass and drummer Andy Stack’s thick synthesizers carry the record. The group’s latest record, Tween, finds a middle ground between those two efforts. It’s comprised of eight songs the band wrote then shelved between Civilian and Shriek.
Wednesday, Aug. 3
Mark Sultan w/ The Pukes and High School Pizza @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
One of the leaders of the Montreal garage-rock scene, and easily one of its most prolific players, Mark Sultan has performed his fuzzed-out, doo-wop-inspired rock ’n’ roll under a slew of guises and in more than a half-dozen bands, including The Spaceshits, The Almighty Defenders and The King Khan & BBQ Show (he was BBQ). He has recorded much of his recent work under his given name, and in addition to running his label, Sultan Records, he’s spent the last few years touring behind what he describes as a “doo-wop infused garage rock one-man show.”
