The Blind Boys of Alabama @ The Pabst Theater, Nov. 8
Thursday, Nov. 7
Thomas Dolby @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
One of the more inventive figures from the early ’80s new wave movement, Thomas Dolby remains best known for his 1982 hit “She Blinded Me With Science,” but since that fluke hit, Dolby has spent the following decades continuing to experiment with synthesizers and technology. His latest project is a multimedia show, The Invisible Lighthouse Live. For this performance, he’ll accompany a screening of the film with a live soundtrack, which will include songs spanning his entire career.
Music Under Glass: Tweed Funk @ Mitchell Park Domes, 6:30 p.m.
Already nostalgic for all those summer concerts in the parks? The Mitchell Park Domes’ Music Under Glass is the next best thing: a weekly concert series set against the tropical backdrop of the Mitchell Park Domes. Every Thursday through April 3 (yes, including Thanksgiving), the Domes at 524 S. Layton Blvd. will host live music and a light show; there will also be music and beverages on sale and information booths from local nonprofits in the lobby. The series kicks off its season tonight with the WAMI-winning funk and blues group Tweed Funk.
Wisconsin Local Foods Journal: Cheese and Cheesemakers Edition @ Clock Shadow
Creamery, 4 p.m.
Madison-based food writers Joan Peterson and Terese Allen will stop by Milwaukee’s Clock Shadow Creamery cheese factory to discuss and sign copies of their new book, Wisconsin Local Foods Journal: Cheese and Cheesemakers Edition. A guide for local cheese aficionados, the book includes interviews with local cheesemakers, a calendar of 2014 cheese-related events, and a travel guide and map including cheese factories and cheese shops across Wisconsin.
Friday, Nov. 8
The Black Crowes @ The Riverside Theater, 7 p.m.
As music fans know all too well, the word “hiatus” is often just a polite way of saying “break up,” but sometimes the word can be taken at face value, as Atlanta boogie rockers The Black Crowes attest. The group spent three years apart from each other at the start of the ’00s, then picked up right where they left off with a number of strong albums, including 2009’s Before the Frost…Until the Freeze. They took another break in 2010, but like clockwork, they returned three years later, with new product in tow: the live album Wiser for the Time.
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The Blind Boys of Alabama w/ My Brightest Diamond @ The Pabst Theater, 7 p.m.
Few groups can claim longer track records than the Southern gospel and blues ensemble The Blind Boys of Alabama, which has been performing in some capacity since 1939. The group’s current lineup looks a lot different than it did back then—the last decade has seen several longtime members either retire or pass away—but the group keeps finding new spins on their proven sound. Their latest album, I’ll Find a Way, was produced by Bon Iver’s ubiquitous Justin Vernon. Those newfound indie-rock ties probably explain why this old-time gospel ensemble is sharing this unlikely bill with hip singer-songwriter (and sometimes Sufjan Stevens collaborator) My Brightest Diamond.
L&R (Logic and Raze) w/ DJ Bizzon @ Cactus Club, 10 p.m.
Despite their shared love for hip-hop, Milwaukee rappers Logic and Raze came from quite different backgrounds. While Raze cut his teeth in the cartoonish, superhero-themed ensemble House of M, Logic was trafficking in a decidedly darker, more cerebral strain of hip-hop with his group The Hollowz. The two discovered they have easy chemistry together in 2011, though, when a shared track led to a full-length album, ...STILL Untitled. This year the duo, now rebranded as simply L&R, followed up that album with a sophomore album, LandR. DJ Bizzon joins them for this record release show.
Saturday, Nov. 9
Kneel to Neil Benefit @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.
For the eighth year in a row, area musicians with a shared love of Neil Young’s songbook are gathering at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on a bill to raise money for the Bridge School for disabled children and WMSE 91.7. Among the bands and songwriters interpreting Young’s music for this year’s bill are Crooked Keys, Midnight Reruns, The Viper and His Famous Orchestra, Twin Brother, Jonathan Burks, Thriftones, Murder Gifts, Bella Bruto, The Aimless Blades, Chris DeMay and The Gentleman Farmers and The Carolinas.
Sunday, Nov. 10
Dom Flemons @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Singer-songwriter/guitarist/banjoist/multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons is one third of the North Carolina folk trio Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose old-time string music has netted a couple Grammy nominations, including a Best Traditional Folk Album award for their 2010 disc Genuine Negro Jig. Between touring with that group, Flemons records solo projects on the side. He’s currently working on his third solo album, but has slipped out of the studio for a bit for a brief fall tour.
The Devil Wears Prada w/ The Ghost Inside, Volumes and Texas in July @ The Rave, 7
p.m.
Since forming in 2005, metalcore stars The Devil Wears Prada have produced five intense studio albums and an EP graphically detailing a zombie apocalypse, 2010’s Zombie. Don’t let that interest in the occult confuse you, though: These Ohio natives are devoutly Christian. The group’s latest album, 8:18 (named for the Bible verse about suffering leading to glory) even topped the Billboard Christian chart, though it’s unlikely that many churches would welcome its combination of bruising guitars and guttural screaming.
We Are Hex w/ Body Futures @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
We Are Hex singer Jill Weiss’s trashy, oversexed growl owes more than a little debt to Blues Explosion’s pelvis-thrusting singer Jon Spencer, so it’s only fitting that Spencer produced the Indianapolis sleaze-rock group’s latest 7-inch, Lewd Nudie Animals. The group has cemented some lasting Milwaukee ties this year. Milwaukee’s Latest Flame Records released their 7-inch, and tonight they return to the city after driving a Turner Hall Ballroom crowd into a frenzy at this spring’s Die Kreuzen reunion show.
Wednesday, Nov. 13
David Dondero w/ Lady Cannon and Shoot Down the Moon @ Cactus Club, 9 p.m.
A musician whose reach far exceeded his sales, David Dondero has inspired plenty of political songwriters over the last 15 years, first as a member of the political folk-punk band This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, then as a solo folk songwriter. Among those who were moved by Dondero’s shambolic, lo-fi folk was Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, who signed Dondero to his Team Love label in 2005. Since leaving Team Love, Dondero has scaled back the relative bells and whistles of his three records for that label, returning to the all-acoustic, live-from-a-cardboard-box sound of his early recordings. This year he released the career retrospective Golden Hits Vol. 1 and an album of elegant new material, This Guitar.
