Spring tours make for another prolific week of live music in Madison, with shows by James McCartney, The Lonely Wild, Paul Kelly, Hollywood Undead, Arlo Guthrie, Soja, and The Big Wu. The calendar also includes: Mad Toast Live with Shaman Juan, classical Chinese dance by Shen Yun, and a talk by Freija Descamps.
Monday 5.6
Frequency, 8 pm
This artist is a spitting image of his dad, Paul McCartney, and his finely crafted pop-rock bears a resemblance as well. Listen closely and you'll hear the influence of other topnotch Brit acts such as PJ Harvey and Radiohead. With Zachary Scot Johnson and the Living Statues.
Tuesday 5.7
Mad Toast Live with Shaman Juan
Brink Lounge, 7 pm
James Brown's original funky drummer, Clyde Stubblefield, joins Eric Koppa, John Prigge and Pauli Ryan to form Shaman Juan at this podcast recording hosted by string players Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines.
Overture Hall, 7:30 pm. Also Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 pm
Based in New York City, the classical Chinese dance troupe whirls into town with striking costumes, a live orchestra, animated backdrops and tales from ancient times. Family-friendly!
Frequency, 9 pm
This fresh young quintet has been turning heads with a new song about the Arab Spring and a sound the L.A. Times has described as "rustic guitar pop that's equal parts sweet harmonies and power-chord bombast." With the Sharrows.
Wednesday 5.8
NOTEWORTHY: World Health Organization announces that smallpox has been eradicated, 1980.
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, 6 pm
Descamps is a researcher who braved minus-100 temperatures in the Antarctic at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. She'll share photos and video at 7 pm; beforehand are hands-on activities for all ages.
High Noon Saloon, 8 pm
The Aussie performer has experimented with dub in recent years, but his folk and rock have landed on the Billboard charts the most, in the form of tunes like "To Her Door" and "Billy Baxter." With Pieta Brown.
Thursday 5.9
Orpheum Theater, 7 pm
Will the ski-mask-clad members of local punk band Masked Intruder come out to see this rap-rock band, who hide their faces behind hockey-goalie face protectors? Musically, the show will revolve around Notes from the Underground, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 in January.
Barrymore Theatre, 8 pm
See if the revered protest singer dusts off "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," the colorful story-song that made his career. Better yet, see if the crowd knows the words to all 18 minutes of it after more than 45 years.
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 8 pm
The D.C.-area reggae band have gained an enthusiastic following since singer Jacob Hemphill outgrew his tendency to imitate Bob Marley's vocals. See if they can make Capitol Theater feel like a tropical island. With Los Rakas and Air Dubai.
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
Travel back in time at this concert by the regional jam superstars from the late '90s. With Horseshoes & Hand Grenades.
