Errol Morris
Madison is treated to an exceptional slate of talks and tunes this mid-autumn week. The calendar includes: lectures from Michael Corradini with Jane Davidson, Merlin Mann, and Errol Morris; performances by John Scott and Con Vivo; and, more live music from Killa Bane, Deadmau5, Tim Eriksen, and IfIHadAHiFi with System & Station.
Monday 10.18
NOTEWORTHY: U.S. takes possession of Alaska, 1867.
BIRTHDAYS: Tennis star Martina Navratilova, 1956; jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, 1961.
High Noon Saloon, 9 pm
Flex your poetic muscles at the High Noon as Killa Bane of L.O.S.T S.O.U.L.S leads a freestyle rap competition.
Tuesday 10.19
NOTEWORTHY: Nixon Veep Spiro T. Agnew dismisses Vietnam War protesters as an "effete corps of impudent snobs," 1969.
BIRTHDAYS: South Park producer Trey Parker, 1969; Fugees singer Pras Michel, 1972.
Michael Corradini, Jane Davidson
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 7 pm
At this Academy Evenings event, the experts present "Fuels Paradise: A Conversation on Nuclear and Renewable Energy Technologies." Corradini is a nuclear engineering and engineering physics professor at UW-Madison, and Davidson is a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota.
Coliseum at Alliant Energy Center, 7:30 pm
The purveyor of progressive and electro house has a stage show so elaborate that it's been moved from the Orpheum Theatre to the Alliant Energy Center. Expect to hear at least a few cuts from his newest compilation album, At Play 3. With Skrillex, Dirty Disco Kidz and DJ Nick Nice.
Wisconsin Union Theater, 7:30 pm
At this Distinguished Lecture Series event, the productivity expert, founder of the blog 43 Folders, gives a talk called "Who Moved My Brain? Revaluing Time & Attention." Go, because it's about time you got some work done.
Overture Hall, 7:30 pm
The Madison Symphony Orchestra launches an all-organ series with Yorkshire-born Scott, who plays music of Bach, Buxtehude, Elgar and more. When he's not playing the organ, he is a choir director at New York City's St. Thomas Church.
Wednesday 10.20
NOTEWORTHY: First Widow Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, 1968.
BIRTHDAYS: Rock star Tom Petty, 1950; rapper Snoop Dog, 1971.
Brink Lounge, 7 pm
The singer from seminal folk-punk band Cordelia's Dad is also a sought-after expert on Sacred Harp, a form of unaccompanied choral music that originated in the South. He's found it so inspirational that he ditched instruments for his latest recording, Soul of the January Hills, and recorded 14 traditional American songs in one take at a majestic abbey in Jaroslaw, Poland. See how they sound on the Brink stage.
Thursday 10.21
NOTEWORTHY: New York's Guggenheim Museum opens to public, 1959.
BIRTHDAYS: Go-Gos guitarist Charlotte Caffey, 1953; Star Wars princess/actress/author Carrie Fisher, 1956.
First Congregational United Church of Christ, 7:30 pm
The chamber-music ensemble performs a program called "Trio!" with music of Beethoven and Haydn.
Wisconsin Union Theater, 7:30 pm
The inimitable documentarian -- he made The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War and other classics -- discusses "Elusive Truths: Filmmaking & Politics" at this Distinguished Lecture Series outing.
Frequency, 10 pm
Milwaukee's noise-rock champions team up with former Madison residents System & Station, whose new album, A Series of Screws, revives the sound and energy of Seaweed's late-'90s recordings. With Nervous Curtains and Waxeater.