June 11 - June 17
This Week in Milwaukee
Thursday, June 11
Fat Maw Rooney w/ Euforquestra @ The Miramar Theatre, 9 p.m.
Though
the re-emergence of Phish as a touring act this summer after a long
slumber might threaten to steal the spotlight from other bands of a
similar jam persuasion, Fat Maw Rooney shouldn’t have too much
difficulty drawing a crowd when they bounce between North Dakota,
Minnesota and Wisconsin on their three-month summer tour, since the
rustic Wisconsin jam band has amassed a growing following around the
Midwest. Along for the ride for this leg of the tour is the Fort
Collins, Colo., septet Euforquestra, a self-described
Afro-Caribbean-barnyard-funk act that has shared stages with Phish’s
Page McConnell and is known to be generous with Talking Heads covers.
Q-Tip w/ Auto Erotique @ The Rave, 8 p.m.
It
took nearly a decade, but A Tribe Called Quest leader Q-Tip finally
released a second solo album last year, a well-received fusion of
neo-soul and meat-and-potatoes hip-hop called The Renaissance. The
record is the latest chapter in the rapper’s stormy solo career, which
began with 1999’s Amplified, an album many Tribe fans initially derided
as a flossy attempt at commercial stardom, but would embrace years
later and cite as an early highlight from the pioneering, late producer
J Dilla. When Q-Tip tried to assuage concerns that he’d gone pop by
recording message-heavy hip-hop on his 2001 live-band experiment Kamaal
the Abstract, his label shelved the disc, deeming it too noncommercial.
Friday, June 12
Cyndi Lauper @ PrideFest, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee’s
weekend-long LGBT celebration has always emphasized music and
celebration over parades and politics, and in recent years PrideFest
has secured entertainment lineups that rival any other pride event in
the country. This year’s might be the most impressive yet, featuring an
opening-night performance from one of the biggest LGBT icons in the
world: Cyndi Lauper. The “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
singer’s loud fashion sense and fierce individualism made her one of
the biggest cultural sensations of the 1980s, but over the past two
decades Lauper has recast herself as a tireless gay-rights advocate.
Lauper’s latest album is last year’s Bring Ya to the Brink, a return to
up-tempo dance-pop after years of indulging her acoustic and
adult-contemporary leanings.
Clyde Stubblefield and the B3 Bombers @ The Jazz Estate, 9:30 p.m.
Clyde
Stubblefield was James Brown’s drummer during the entertainer’s 1960s
prime, filling in funk staples like “Say It Loud—I’m Black and I’m
Proud,” “Cold Sweat,” “Ain’t it Funky Now” and “Funky Drummer,” songs
that have all found second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) lives in
hip-hop, where Stubblefield’s breaks have been endlessly recycled. Stubblefield
boasts of being the most sampled musician in the world, and while
there’s no way to quantify that, it’s hard to imagine anybody else
coming close. Stubblefield settled down in Madison decades ago, where
he hosts a low-key, weekly Monday night gig and occasionally jams with
the locals (memorably joining Garbage for a couple of cuts on their
debut record), but tonight he gives his Clyde Stubblefield Band the
night off and sits in with Dan Trudell’s B3 Bombers, a low-end-riding
Chicago ensemble led by Trudell’s eager Hammond organ.
Realicide @ The Borg Ward Collective, 7 p.m.
Touring
in support of Resisting the Viral Self, their first complete studio
album after a plethora of live bootlegs and scattered other recordings,
the Cincinnati ensemble Realicide re-envisions hardcore for the 21st
century, pairing it with caustic, industrial electroclash. Relying
primarily on a Korg ES1 filled with preprogrammed digital hardcore
beats, screeching vocalists Robert Inhuman and Jim Swill outline their
aggressive punk ideals and sociopolitical agendas over a blend of
hardcore gabber and digital explosions. They top a characteristically
packed Borg Ward bill tonight with several other noise and punk acts of
varying degrees of abrasion: Victory!, Rex Winsome, Peter J. Woods and
Blessed Sacrifist.
Saturday, June 13
Animal Magnets w/Plexi 3 and Van*Gloria @ Points East Pub, 8 p.m.
Maybe
it was the demise of Atomic Records, but for some reason, Milwaukee
bands from the ’80s are recalling their past and regrouping. The
latest, Animal Magnets, has been sidelined since 1995. Led by vocalist
Rob McCuen (ex-Plasticland), the Magnets include such familiar local
faces as Paul Wall (bass), Cliff Ulsberger and Chris Tishler (guitars)
and Joel Beskow (drums). They perform a Stones- Stooges influenced set
of largely original tunes, hard rock with a pop accent. “Reunions are
usually sad affairs,” McCuen says. “This is nothing more than a bunch
of old buddies doing it for fun.”
Aerosmith w/ 3 Doors Down @ Alpine Valley, 7:30 p.m.
The
ravages of time are beginning to take their toll on Aerosmith, with
Steven Tyler recently recovering from a bout of pneumonia, and Joe
Perry rehabbing his knee after a long-overdue surgery. This week the
band added a third member to its injured list: guitarist Brad Whitford,
who will be benched during part of the band’s clumsily titled “Guitar
Hero: Aerosmith Presents Aerosmith” tour to recover from his own recent
surgery. Though various ailments have sidelined their planned new
album, Perry recently suggested the band may be considering releasing
it exclusively through Wal-Mart, similar to recent deals between the
big-box giant and other rockers of a certain age, AC/DC and The Eagles.
In the meantime, fans can get their fill of old favorites like “Walk
This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” when the band plays their 1975 mission
statement Toys in the Attic in its entirety on this tour.
Aerosmith
Sunday, June 14
Locust Street Festival @ East Locust Street and Humboldt Avenue, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Over
the last three decades, the Locust Street Festival has grown with the
neighborhood, emerging from a modest, bohemian-leaning block party into
one of Milwaukee’s most broadly popular bacchanals, drawing more than
20,000 people. Dancers, art sales, puppets, buskers and food vendors
will line the street, but as usual the major draw is the music: five
stages of it, drawing largely from Riverwest’s fertile music scene.
Among the performers are Wizard of Cause, Decibully, The Championship,
Big Fun 4Ever, Jonathan Burks, Masonry, Southbound, Brother Louie, The
Candeliers, The Trusty Knife, Fresh Cut Collective, Farms in Trouble,
The Delta Routine and Heidi Spencer and the Rare Birds.
Etta James and the Roots Band w/ Deborah Cox @ PrideFest, 7 p.m.
It
was William Congreve who first said, “Hell hath no fury like a woman
scorned,” but Beyonce Knowles might better know what that scorn feels
like. Knowles felt the wrath of R&B veteran Etta James after
performing James’ 1961 hit “At Last” at President Obama’s January
inauguration ceremony. James Etta James made reference to the
president as “the one with the big ears,” and went on to threaten
Beyonce (who portrayed James in the biopic Cadillac Records), saying
“she’s going to get her ass whooped,” and fuming, “she has no business
up there … singing my song that I’ve been singing forever.” Though
Glenn Miller and Nat King Cole recorded it before her, James does have
some claim to the song, having performed it for half a century as her
signature ballad. If nothing else, though, the squabble proved that at
71, James still has some fight in her.
Monday, June 15
The Dillinger Four w/ Japanther, The Brokedowns and Holy Shit @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.
After
a six-year wait between albums, pop-punk veterans Dillinger Four
released Civil War on Fat Wreck Chords last October. While staying true
to form with catchy hooks and power-pop melodies, Dillinger Four shows
signs of adulthood by injecting more mature political and social
commentary into their lyrics. While the focus of their subject matter
may have developed since their early days with Hopeless Records, the
Minneapolis quartet certainly hasn’t compromised the amount of “Heys”
and “Whoas” that build their melodic sound, or toned down on the silly
song titles—new additions to their songbook include
“Parishiltonisametaphor” and “Americaspremierfaithbasedinitiative.”
Wednesday, June 17
Enter the Haggis @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.
Toronto’s
Enter the Haggis nicely taps two separate growth industries in the
live-music market: Irish-rock and jam music, laying down bagpipe-spiked
ditties grounded in the Celtic tradition while fusing in bits and
pieces of rock, bluegrass, folk, prog, jazz and even the occasional
dash of ska and reggae. In 2007, the hard-touring band released its
second live album, Northampton, but for this return performance at
Shank Hall they’re playing behind this March’s Gutter Anthems, a studio
record that tones down some of the jammy digressions in favor of
tighter songs and a harder rock edge that invites U2 comparisons.



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