Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
Concerts on the Square
June winds down this week with a whirlwind of live music. The calendar includes: the opening of Summerfest in Milwaukee; the season opener of Concerts on the Square; a producer battle for DJs; and, more live music from Sexy Ester & the Pretty Mama Sisters and Black Jet Radio, White Suns and Sinking Suns, Rubblebucket, and Ivan & Alyosha.
Monday 6.27
NOTEWORTHY: Stonewall riots erupt, 1969.
BIRTHDAYS: Cowboy Junkies vocalist Margo Timmins, 1961.
Sexy Ester & the Pretty Mama Sisters, Black Jet Radio
High Noon Saloon, 8 pm
Glammy garage rockers Black Jet Radio roll in from Indiana to share the stage with Sexy Ester & the Pretty Mama Sisters, a modern take on classic rock fueled by singer Lyndsay Evans' hard-hitting vocals.
Tuesday 6.28
NOTEWORTHY: Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo, 1914.
BIRTHDAYS: Actress Kathy Bates, 1948; actor and former Madison resident John Cusack, 1966.
Wednesday 6.29
NOTEWORTHY: U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docks with Russian space station Mir for first time, 1995.
BIRTHDAYS: Actress Sharon Lawrence, 1962.
Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee, through July 3
The music festival will suck many Madison fans into its gravitational pull. The first day's lineup alone suggests the riches in store over the next two weeks: Peter Gabriel, Matisyahu, Buddy Guy, Meat Loaf, et al.
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra's Concerts on the Square
Capitol Square, 7 pm
Summer in Madison really has begun when the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra kicks off its free concert series on one of the city's most attractive lawns. Tonight's program, "Young at Heart," features guest pianist Amy Hua and music of Mendelssohn, Grieg, Ravel and Tchaikovsky. Start spreading your blankets in three...two....
Thursday 6.30
NOTEWORTHY: Great Britain gives Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1995.
BIRTHDAYS: Boxer Mike Tyson, 1966; swimmer Michael Phelps, 1985.
Project Lodge, 8 pm
Physical aggression, dissonant chords and maniacal screams fuel this Brooklyn, N.Y., trio's blend of noise, No Wave and hardcore. Another not-so-sunny solar-themed triumvirate -- the noisy local post-punk project Sinking Suns -- will warm up the stage. With Birth and Den.
High Noon Saloon, 9 pm
Showcasing their best samples, arrangements and freestyle beats, contestants will compete to win an interview with Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes and a free slot at Istandard's beat-slinging event in New York City. DJs up for the challenge can register at Rubblebucket
Majestic Theatre, 9 pm
SF Weekly describes this eclectic, Shapes and Sizes-style band as the sound of "eight different freak flags fly[ing] in perfect unison." Celebrate your own eccentricities, musical and otherwise, at this free show.
UW Memorial Union Terrace, 9:30 pm
The West Coast soul-folkies have a gift for Beatles-esque pop hooks, making critics at Alarm, American Songwriter and Relix praise their free EP, Fathers Be Kind.
