Thursday, May 12
Jam for Jam Music & Camping Festival @ The Concord House, Sullivan
Jam for Jamaica is an organization started a decade ago to improve the lives of impoverished Jamaicans. One of its biggest fundraisers is its annual Jam for Jam Music & Camping Festival, which runs four days at the Concord House in Sullivan, just between Milwaukee and Madison. Last year’s festival drew about 2,000 people and raised $15,000. This year’s could be even bigger, thanks to a wide-ranging lineup that includes Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Painted Caves, Fat Maw Rooney, R.A.S. Movement, Buffalo Gospel, Lorde Fredd33, Bryan Cherry, Shonn Hinton & Shotgun, Chicken Wire Empire, The Mosleys, Thistledown Thunders and The Raglanders, among many, many others. (Through Sunday, May 15.)
Carrot Top @ Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, 8 p.m.
Carrot Top may be one of the most hated comedians of his generation, but you’ve got to give him credit for this: He’s in on the joke. The red-headed prop comic’s shtick relies heavily on self-depreciating humor, and he hasn’t been shy about lampooning himself on television (or taking other comedian’s insults with relative poise, as he’s done when he’s been eviscerated by his peers on Comedy Central’s celebrity roasts). At the heart of Carrot Top’s routine, though, is a suitcase full of crude, self-assembled props he uses to set himself up for one-line gags, and he keeps those gags coming at an impressive clip.
Punch Brothers w/ Gabriel Kahane @ The Pabst Theater, 7:30 p.m.
As you may have heard if you’re the sort of person who follows public radio, virtuoso mandolinist Chris Thile will soon be reaching a whole new audience when he replaces Garrison Keillor as the host of “A Prairie Home Companion.” That won’t stop Thile from recording and touring, however. Since Nickel Creek first went on hiatus in 2007, the bluegrass trio where he first made his name, he’s dedicated most of his energies to the Punch Brothers, a quintet that nurtures Thile’s ever-expanding ambitions, letting him perform lengthy, classical-inspired suites. At their best, Punch Brothers place more emphasis on composition than on showboating jamming, but that’s not to say that Thile doesn’t still toss the bluegrass faithful loads of red meat in the form of plentiful banjo, mandolin and fiddle solos.
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Friday, May 13
Friday the 13th Fest @ Riverwest Public House Cooperative, 8 p.m.
In hopes that the truth really is out there, the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference will return this October, but first the organization is hosting this eccentric fundraiser at the Riverwest Public House—timed for the most superstitious of all calendar days. The lineup includes a splatter of horror-punk and metal bands, include Ratbatspider, Nadoula, The Dead Morticians and the inaugural performance of a band called Brain-Bats. There will also be ghoulish burlesque dancers, a sideshow and belly dancing. The organizers are promising a special appearance by Friday the 13th madman Jason Voorhees as well. We can’t tell whether they’re joking or not.
Lewis Black @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
As you might expect, Lewis Black has some strong opinions about Donald Trump. He may be one of the few people in America not completely blindsided by the billionaire’s swift ascension to GOP nominee. In a 2011 bit for the “The Daily Show,” where he’s been a commentator for two decades, he fumed that America is a “turd wrapped in a bow” that deserved Trump as a president. This heated election cycle should give Black plenty to get worked up about when he returns to Milwaukee for a pair of shows this weekend. (Also Saturday, May 14.)
The Used w/ The New Regime @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
Setting out in 2002 from the gallows of poverty and substance abuse, the screamy emo band The Used has now amassed a huge discography of music all dedicated to suffering. The group’s 2009 record Artwork was its most brutal yet, but recent albums Vulnerable and Imaginary Enemy have dialed back some of that intensity in favor of slicker hooks. The band’s current tour finds them in a nostalgic mood, celebrating their 15th anniversary by performing their first two albums in their entirety. At their first night at the Rave on Friday, May 13, they’ll run through their 2002 self-titled debut. Then on Saturday, they’ll revisit their 2004 high watermark In Love and Death, a harrowing album inspired by the death of singer Bert McCracken’s pregnant girlfriend. (Also Saturday, May 14)
Saturday, May 14
Harry Connick Jr. @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
“American Idol” didn’t have much to offer during its final years, but one thing the aging reality hit did get right was the casting of Harry Connick Jr. as a judge. The charismatic pop standards singer was a ray of light on an otherwise declining institution. For his most recent album, That Would Be Me, Connick teamed with Sam Smith and Taylor Swift producers Eg White and Butch Walker for a decidedly more contemporary spin on his usually old-school sound.
Tuesday, May 17
Kevin Smith @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Outspoken filmmaker Kevin Smith inspires such devotion from his fans that he’s made something of a second career out of talking about being Kevin Smith. The Clerks director’s frequent Q&A appearances, where he geeks out about his work as well as all things sci-fi, pop-culture and comic books, have been documented in a series of DVD releases; Smith also hosts multiple podcasts in which he discusses every topic imaginable. This summer will see the release of Smith’s latest movie, another horror comedy called Yoga Hosers (Smith cameos in the movie as a Canadian Nazi constructed from Bratwurst), but first he’s on the road again talking about his wacky life. There’s a good chance he’ll have strong opinions about the latest crop of blockbuster superhero movies.
Wednesday, May 18
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros w/ Harriet @ The Pabst Theater, 8 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.” She’s very much missed on the group’s latest album, PersonA.
