Thursday, May 26
Magic Men Live @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Playing off of the girls-night-out spirit of Magic Mike, the 2012 box-office hit that sent flocks of women to the theaters, the touring production Magic Men Live advertises that it was “designed with the desires of contemporary women in mind.” And what does the contemporary woman desire, exactly? Apparently lots and lots of beefcakes. The show has a loose plot, along with some special effects and lots of choreography, but all that takes a backseat to muscle men with exposed skin.
Friday, May 27
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience @ Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, 8 p.m.
When Jason Bonham, son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, was asked to replace his father at a one-off Zeppelin tribute concert in London in 2007, he was more than prepared for the task. He’d been playing the Zeppelin songbook since his youth, then toured with guitarist Jimmy Page in 1988 and released an album of Zeppelin covers in 1997. Since 2010, he’s been touring with yet another Zeppelin-minded project, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, a cover group that performs to a backdrop of video screens that tell the story of the band.
Trashcan Sinatras w/ Sophie Auster @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Part of a spate of Scottish indie-pop bands that emerged in the late-’80s, Trashcan Sinatras released a string of blissful, clean-cut guitar-pop records at a time when radio was beginning to favor modern-rock with a grittier edge. Despite all the critical accolades they invited, commercial success eluded them, and they slowed down after their 1996 album A Happy Pocket. They’ve continued recording at a relaxed clip, however. 2004’s Weightlifting was followed by 2009’s In the Music, a softer collection featuring an unlikely guest spot from Carly Simon, and this spring they returned with another likable new effort, Wild Pendulum. It was recorded with Bright Eyes producer Mike Mogis, and includes many of his usual bells and whistles.
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Saturday, May 28
The Milk Carton Kids w/ Margaret Glaspy @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Ever since the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack popularized the roots-music revival in 2000, traditional folk acts of all stripes have been getting their due. But there’s one style of folk act that’s been mostly ignored: The old-fashioned folk duo. Singer-songwriters Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan of The Milk Carton Kids model their act after the wholesome harmonic interplay of Simon & Garfunkel and The Everly Brothers, an approach that’s earned them a big fan in “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor, who has regularly invited them on his show, and producer T Bone Burnett, who featured them in the concert documentary Another Day/Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis. They released their fourth studio album, Monterey, last year.
JD Souther @ Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts, Sheboygan, 7:30 p.m.
Few songwriters typified the mellow outlook of Southern California in the ’70s more than JD Souther. Though he never found the stardom of some of his contemporaries, he wrote big songs for a number of stars during the era, including Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and the Eagles, for whom he co-wrote “Heartache Tonight,” “Best of My Love” and “New Kid in Town,” among many other songs. In recent years he’s rededicated himself to his solo career, releasing a series of new albums, the latest of which, Tenderness, was released last year on Sony Masterworks.
Tuesday, May 31
‘Kinky Boots’ @ Marcus Center, 7:30 p.m.
It’s telling that many of the biggest Broadway hits from the last few years have come, at least in part, from outsiders. Though pop star Cyndi Lauper had never written for the stage before, she teamed with actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein to create the music for one of the decade’s breakout musicals, Kinky Boots. Set to a funky, perky soundtrack, the musical tells the story of a shoe factory owner who partners with an eccentric drag queen to produce a line of extremely high-heeled boots. In 2013 the musical took home six Tony Awards. A touring production of the show stops at the Marcus Center with multiple performances through Sunday, June 5.
Wednesday, June 1
Fishbone w/ Andy Frasco and the UN and Downtown Brown @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Perhaps the most singular American ska act of the ’80s, Fishbone fused the hyperactive rhythms of ska with the freaky, oddball spectacle of vintage Parliament-Funkadelic performances. Instead of cashing in on the ’90s ska craze, the band’s sound only grew heavier and weirder as time went on. Their output slowed considerably around the turn of the century amid record-label turmoil and a slew of lineup changes, but they regrouped for a typically lively 2006 album, Still Stuck in Your Throat. They’ve issued a couple of punky EPs over the last few years, but these days they spend most of their time where they always left the biggest mark: on the road.
Purity Ring @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Purity Ring proved to be trendsetters. In the years since the Canadian duo’s lovely 2012 debut Shrines, plenty of similar acts have cropped up with similar “forceful beats plus pretty vocals” aesthetic. Purity Ring remain more grounded in contemporary pop than many of their peers, though. They’ve covered Soulja Boy, remixed Lady Gaga and collaborated with rappers like Ab-Soul, Danny Brown and Angel Haze, and their latest release, Another Eternity, often plays less like indie appropriations of pop music than actual pop music. It’s not outside the realm of reason to imagine them landing a real Top 40 hit on their next record.
