Photo by Ted Barron
Steve Earle & The Dukes, Nov. 19 @ Turner Hall Ballroom
Thursday, Nov. 19
Punk House Kegger Party w/ Dorth Nakota and Piles @ Burnhearts, 6 p.m.
The Bay View beer hub Burnhearts doesn’t typically host live music, but it goes all out when it does. For its annual Punk House Kegger Parties, the bar celebrates the spirit of DIY basement shows, albeit with a high-end twist: Instead of tapping a keg of Esser’s Best or whatever else happened to be discounted at the liquor store, it offers prestigious craft beer from Three Floyds Brewing Co. This year’s lineup includes two Milwaukee punk bands, one that draws heavily from post-punk, Dorth Nakota, and another that digs deep into the sounds of ’80s underground rock, Piles. There will be seven Three Floyd’s beers to pick from, including the brewery’s all-too-hard-to-find Zombie Dust and free Jinx Proof.
Steve Earle & The Dukes w/ The Mastersons @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Southern rocker Steve Earle’s story is one with many chapters. Jail time, seven marriages and drug addiction are just of some of the hardships that twisted Earle’s life—and his songwriting voice—into what it is today. Now reborn as a political activist and a jack-of-all-trades actor, playwright and novelist, Earle continues to deliver detours and surprises at every turn of the road, but his penchant for rocking out has rarely wavered. Like much of his recent work, his seventeenth and latest album Terraplane, released in February, contains deeply intimate musings on mortality and second chances. It’s one of the bluesiest records he’s ever made.
Friday, Nov. 20
The Bottle Rockets w/ Sam Llanas Band @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
More than two decades after their debut album, and long after the peak of the No Depression movement that spawned them, The Bottle Rockets continue to carry on as one of alt-country’s most consistent acts. Years of lineup changes and record-label debacles have slowed the band’s output some, but leader Brian Henneman, a former guitar tech and auxiliary player for alt-country icons Uncle Tupelo, continues to turn out solid, Woody Guthrie-inspired songwriting on the group’s recent albums, including 2009’s Lean Forward, a briskly rocking set for Bloodshot Records, and this year’s sturdy South Broadway Athletic Club, which draws heavily from the sounds of Southern rock.
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Greil Marcus, Jon Langford and Sally Timms: The History of Rock ’n’ Roll in Ten Songs @ Wehr Hall, 8 p.m.
A veteran critic for Rolling Stone, Creem and The Village Voice, Greil Marcus was part of the first real generation of rock critics and helped establish the blunt but informative voice the still rules the field today. His work remains as provocative as ever. In his 2014 book The History of Rock ’n’ Roll in Ten Songs, Marcus details the genre’s evolution through just 10 songs recorded between 1956 and 2008, including Joy Division’s “Transmission” and “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” a hit for The Teddy Bears later recorded by Amy Winehouse. For this show, Marcus will discuss his selections accompanied by Jon Langford and Sally Timms of the long-running country-punk band The Mekons.
Steve Martin and Martin Short w/ The Steep Canyon Rangers @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
Though they’ll be one Chevy Chase short of a full ¡Three Amigos! reunion, this bill unites the two greatest Martins of “Saturday Night Live,” Steve Martin and Martin Short, for an evening of comedy. The two longtime friends will share film clips, talk about their lives in show business and perform with The Steep Canyon Rangers, a bluegrass band that has frequently toured with Martin and backed him on his 2014 live album Live.
EL VY w/ Soren Juul @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
Matt Berninger’s band The National are still working on a follow-up to their glorious 2013 album Trouble Will Find Me, but this fall he helped ease the weight some by partnering with another veteran indie-rocker, Menomena’s Brent Knopf, for the side project EL VY. As expected, the duo’s debut album Return to the Moon sounds like a cross between The National’s sensitive crooning and Menomena’s more off-the-wall experimentation, but it still offers some real surprises—it’s funkier and more psychedelic than anything Berninger’s ever recorded, and the singer’s mordant prose remains as sharp as ever.
Saturday, Nov. 21
Guitars For Vets Benefit with CircleSwitch, Imperial Fall, American Zeros and Beyond Atlas @ The Metal Grill, 8 p.m.
When treating post-traumatic stress disorder, even little things can make a big difference, including music. That’s why, since 2007, the Milwaukee nonprofit organization Guitars for Vets has worked to provide veterans with guitars and guitar lessons as a form of therapy. Four area hard-rock bands will come together in support of the organization at this benefit, including CircleSwitch, Imperial Fall, American Zeros and Beyond Atlas.
Seventh Annual Milwaukee Ukulele Festival @ Sunset Playhouse, 10 a.m.
Organizers have a full day of workshops, demonstrations, jam sessions and vendor displays lined up for the Seventh Annual Milwaukee Ukulele Festival at Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove. The day culminates in a big concert at 7 p.m. featuring ukulele talent from around the entire country and the U.K., including Richard Ash, Ukulele Barrett, Amanda Lynn Boisen, Dave “Bones” Boyles, Steve Cohen, The Fabulous Heftones, The Hortonville Ukulele Orchestra, Stu Fuchs, Lil’ Rev, Milwaukee Hot Club, John Nicholson, Peter “Madcat” Ruth, Will Ulrich and Victor & Penny.
Sunday, Nov. 22
Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra @ UW-Milwaukee Recital Hall, 4-6 p.m.
Not every city can claim to have the oldest mandolin orchestra in the world—in fact, not many cities can claim to have a mandolin orchestra, period. But for 115 years, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra has showed off the instrument’s surprising versatility. For this performance, the orchestra will be joined by California mandolin virtuoso Evan Marshall for a program that includes compositions from Mozart, Hummel, Brahms and Telemann.
Tuesday, Nov. 24
Colors & Chords @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7 p.m.
Eight bands and eight visual artists will come together at this benefit for Islands of Brilliance, a Milwaukee nonprofit that offers creative, tech-centric classes for children and young adults with autism. The lineup spans generations of Milwaukee musicians and includes Nineteen Thirteen, Argopelter (featuring Field Report’s Chris Porterfield), Testa Rosa, Jon Mueller and Chris Roseneau of Volcano Choir, Light Music, Marielle Allschwang, Panalure and The Exotics. Each will perform a 20-minute set which will be captured on canvas by an artist. Participating artists include Pamela Anderson, Melissa Dorn Richards, Jeff Redmon, Cynthia Thomas, James Carlson, John Kowalczyk, David Mark Zimmerman and Bass Structures.
Wednesday, Nov. 25
Found Footage Festival @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
They say that everything lives forever on the Internet, but even long-ago discarded video tapes can have a longer shelf life than their creators ever imagined. For more than a decade, comedians Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have been digging up old VHS tapes at thrift shops and garage sales, amassing promotional and instructional videos never intended for mass audiences and recordings of bizarre public access shows. They whittle down those finds into their Found Footage Festival, screening the clips for disbelieving live audiences while offering their own running commentary. The theme for this year’s festival is one that could apply to just about every Found Footage Festival: “Salute to Weirdos.”
