Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
Monday 10.27
Fred Schepartz and Alex Bledsoe
Barnes & Noble East, 7 pm
The local writers promote their seasonally appropriate works. Bledsoe, who most recently authored The Sword-Edged Blonde, is working on the vampire tale Blood Groove. Schepartz, meanwhile, is the author of Vampire Cabbie, about a blood-sucking type who winds up driving taxi in a little place called Madison, Wis.
Garaj Mahal
High Noon Saloon, 8 pm
San Francisco's Garaj Mahal fuses funk-tastic rock with sounds from India in a way that draws both jazz-rock addicts and jam-band junkies. The Madison stop of the band's tour for their new album, wOOt, should give both fans and newbies the fix they crave. Uninvisible opens.
Tuesday 10.28
Samuel Hutchison and the Rhapsodie Quartet
Overture Center's Overture Hall, 7:30 pm
The string quartet, featuring musicians of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, performs with MSO organist Samuel Hutchison in a program that includes Handel, J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn and Mozart. Overture Hall's organ is a wonder to behold and even more of a wonder to hear.
Ghostwriter
High Noon Saloon, 6 pm
On the surface, folk and punk may seem like unlikely bedfellows, but they make a beautiful pair of rabble rousers in the hands of one-man band Steve Schecter, aka Ghostwriter. Using a hollow-body guitar, homemade percussion and sometimes a harmonica, Ghostwriter embodies the DIY spirit and pushes the messages of both genres into uncharted territory with songs from his new LP, Wreck the City / simplify your life. Also playing: Linda.
Red Romero
Cafe Montmartre, 9:30 pm
Madison's Red Romero has inspired other local musicians to step up their promotional efforts. The band's been playing free shows in front of the UW-Madison dorms and handing out free copies of their 2008 EP, Pass It On. Tonight's show features an acoustic set of rock 'n' roll with congas and marimbas. Also playing: Brown Shoe, GreyCoats.
Wednesday 10.29
Capitol Steps
Overture Center's Overture Hall, 7:30 pm
What with the election and all, it is the high season for the D.C.-based musical satirists whose revues are sometimes sometimes groan-inducing, sometimes smarter than they have any right to be, and always a hoot. Do you think they'll make fun of Sarah Palin?
The Bottles
The Inferno, 9 pm
With songs like "Beer" and "Joe Six Pack," the dirty basement punk of Madison's Bottles makes a fine soundtrack for rocking the hell out of Hump Day with a brewski or six. Also playing: The Atrocities, Pyroklast.
Thursday 10.30
The Song and Dance Ensemble of West Africa
Overture Center's Capitol Theater, 7:30 pm
The Malian group performs traditional sounds.
UW Symphony Strings
UW Humanities building's Mills Hall, 7:30 pm
The university ensemble performs works by Leo Janácek, Nikos Skalkottas and Ottorino Respighi, as well as the "Winter" movement of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Already with the winter?
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
High Noon Saloon, 8:30 pm
The former Pavement front man and indie-rock legend visits Madison with a new album, Real Emotional Trash, and his current band, which includes ex-Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss and bassist Joanna Bolme, the creative force behind Elliott Smith's posthumous From a Basement on the Hill. Blitzen Trapper opens.
