Photo by Zoe Ruth
Thursday, Nov. 12
Rainn Wilson w/ Nineteen Thirteen @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
For nine years, Rainn Wilson played the socially stunted, highly competitive salesman Dwight Schrute on the American remake of “The Office” so convincingly that it’s hard to imagine him as anything other than that character. But as Wilson’s new memoir The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith and Idiocy makes clear, the real Wilson is a far cry from the delusional beet farmer he played on TV. The book details Rainn’s experiences as an actor, as well as his time working in college radio, his early years living in Nicaragua and his devotion to the (decidedly un-Schrute-like) Bahá’i faith. At this event, Wilson will discuss the book in a conversation moderated by former Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo, whose current band Nineteen Thirteen will open the night. Every ticket includes an autographed copy of The Bassoon King.
Friday, Nov. 13
The R&B Cadets w/ The Mosleys @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
The R&B Cadets were one of Milwaukee’s most popular bands during their initial ’80s run, and a launching pad for several of the city’s most revered musicians. After the Cadets split in 1986, John Sieger went on to form Semi-Twang; singer Robin Pluer carried on as one of the city’s most distinguished voices; and Paul Cebar, of course, went on to lead his bands the Milwaukeeans and Tomorrow Sound. Expect to see plenty of original fans break out their dancing shoes at this long-overdue reunion show.
Saturday, Nov. 14
‘RISK!’ Live Podcast @ The Back Room at Colectivo, 8 p.m.
Unlike Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio and seemingly every other alum of MTV’s short-live comedy show “The State,” Kevin Allison didn’t become an especially sought-after comic actor. He found a calling nonetheless, though, as the host of an unusual podcast called “RISK!,” which invites guests to tell true stories they thought they’d never share in public—think of it like a dirtier, higher-stakes alternative to “The Moth.” Past participants have including Marc Maron, Sarah Silverman, Kevin Nealon, Dan Savage and Andy Dick, and while there’s no word on who exactly will be participating in this live recording of the podcast at the Back Room at Colectivo, you can expect to hear some uncomfortably funny antecdotes riffing on the night’s theme: “Fuck this.”
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Guster w/ Georgia Rae Family Band @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
Following the jam-band business model even though they don’t much care for jamming, alt-rockers Guster have gradually built their following by encouraging tape trading and touring colleges like the one they formed two decades ago at Tufts University. They’ve become a better pop band with each release, casting themselves as something of a small-scale Coldplay without the egos and with a friendly sense of humor (in 2005 guitarist-vocalist Adam Gardner celebrated Judaism with his side project, The LeeVees, releasing Hanukkah Rocks). If there’s a downside to all the time they spend on the road, it’s that it sometimes keeps them from recording. This January they finally got around to releasing a follow-up to 2010’s catchy Easy Wonderful, a similarly lighthearted alt-pop album called Evermotion.
Jackson Browne w/ Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Beginning his career in the mid-’60s in Los Angeles folk clubs, Jackson Browne combines an intimate artistry with a strong vision of social justice. Since his debut album came out on Asylum Records in 1972, Browne has released 14 studio albums, writing and performing a moving oeuvre of songs imbued with honesty and a strong sense of personal politics. Browne is known for his advocacy on behalf of the environment, human rights and arts education, co-founding Musicians United for Safe Energy, Nukefree.org, and the Success Through the Arts Foundation, which provides education opportunities for students in South Los Angeles, and inevitably that political advocacy creeps into his music. His latest record, 2014’s Standing in the Breach, contains some of his most political songs in years.
Milwaukee Zine Fest @ Falcon Bowl, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Though the Internet has given voice to anybody with an opinion and a laptop, it has done little to curb zine culture. As long as there is paper, it seems, there will always be writers, music fans, artists and cartoonists eager to self-publish their works. Dozens of such zine makers will be displaying and selling their work at the eighth annual Milwaukee Zine Fest at Falcon Bowl in Riverwest. Zines from all over the Midwest will be on display, including ones dedicated to feminism, horror, politics, punk and comics.
Sunday, Nov. 15
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound w/ Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers @ Shank Hall, 7 p.m.
Chicago’s JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound draw from the brassy sounds of soul music’s past, taking particular cues from the Memphis R&B popularized by Stax Records. Those influences came across cleanly on the group’s deliciously funky 2011 album Want More—which included a mean, if unlikely, cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” that was a long-time staple of Radio Milwaukee’s playlist. A born showman who trained as an actor, singer Brooks revels in the opportunity to dance, swivel and sweat in front of an audience. On this bill the band is joined by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, an act with a very different sound—Southern-fried roots rock—but with a similar M.O. of making crowds move their feet in concert.
Monday, Nov. 16
Skinny Puppy w/ Youth Code @ The Rave, 8:30 p.m.
No one band can claim to have created industrial music, but few have left as much of their DNA on the genre as Skinny Puppy, the Vancouver act that helped introduce electronic influences to industrial in the early ’80s. Album for album, they’ve proven as consistent as just about any other industrial act in the decades since, and even after reuniting following a split in the ’90s, they’ve continued releasing some powerful music. Their latest album, 2013’s Weapon, crackles with typical fury. Inspired by the band’s distain of gun culture, it contains some of their heaviest, most pointed songs yet.
‘To Kill a Mockingbird: An African-American Perspective’ @ Marquette University’s Helfaer Theatre, 6 p.m.
For decades Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has been one of the most cherished works of its time in part because of its depiction of the kind-hearted lawyer Atticus Finch. It was no wonder, then, that many readers felt betrayed this year when an unearthed sister book, Go Set a Watchman, revealed Finch to be a curmudgeonly bigot, but in truth the book’s depiction of Finch as a white savior has always rubbed some scholars the wrong way. In conjunction with Marquette’s Theatre and Social Justice production of the stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird, which runs through Nov. 22, the university will host this discussion of the play from an African American perspective. Reggie Jackson of America’s Black Holocaust Museum will share his take on this iconic story. The event is free and open to the public.
