2012 won’t necessarily be remembered as a great one. It’s almost certain to go down as the year the nation endured another bitter election cycle, stretches of unusual and frequently destructive weather patterns

  Boney Fingers look very much at home in their full-length concert DVD, Live @ The Miramar Theatre. The crowd is large and approving and the band members have an evident connection with their audience as they roll on low simmer through a set of songs that echo a run that had entered its third decade. Boney Fingers’ roots in the Grateful Dead are evident in their group spirit, their ...

  Even if it's just a passing trend, it's nice to see the Steampunk aesthetic gain popularity. The latest local manifestation is The Dainty Rogues…a group of theatrical performers that includes burlesque dancers, fire eaters, singers, comedians and drag kings.    The group presents its debut performance at summer's end as it presents The Clockwork Dolls--a burlesque performance at the Miram...

In the climactic scene of John Fante's 1939 novel Ask the Dust, Fante's grieving alter ego Arturo Bandini takes a copy of his novel and tosses it into the desert. The scene resonated with Milwaukee electronic artist Lorn, who titled his latest...

Fresh Cut Collective took their time when they began recording their new album last fall...

It may not exactly live up to the full meaning behind the poetry of its name, but Dead Man’s Carnival is a fun mixture of different performance styles. Every year there’s a little something different. Some of it’s very tight and brilliantly executed. Some of it lurks around the paler shadows of the forgettable. If nothing else, there’s a poetry to the name. It makes me feel good just ...

Thursday, Sept. 3, Jazz in the Park w/ The Jazz Orgy @ Cathedral Square Park, 6:30 p.m. The Fox Valley’s resident jazz heads prefer variety to traditionalism. Claiming that if they played Miles Davis and John Coltrane all night it would put their audience to sleep, The Jazz Orgy plays a variety of funk...

Thursday, Aug. 20, WMSE’s Radio Summer Camp w/ Sometime Sweet Susan @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 7 p.m. WMSE launches its Radio Summer Camp festival, a multi-day, multi-venue concert series, with tonight’s showcase of Milwaukee music past and present at Turner Hall Ballroom. Headliners...

Thursday, July 16, Festa Italiana @ Summerfest Grounds, 2 p.m. For its 32nd year, Festa Italiana pays tribute to fairy-tale author Carlo Collodi’s most enduring creation, Pinocchio, an endearing wooden puppet with a Sarah Palin-esque penchant for stretching the truth. A team...