What to do in Madison this week: The Skatalites, Fred Armisen and more Isthmus Picks

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Waging Peace in Vietnam, through April 22, Wisconsin Historical Society: This historical exhibit documents the stories of active duty military members and vets who found a way to participate in the anti-war movement during the conflict in Vietnam. “Waging Peace in Vietnam: U.S. Soldiers and Veterans who Opposed the War” first opened in 2018 at the Vietnam’s War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, and has since traveled to more than 20 locations around the U.S.; its Madison stop is scheduled to be the end of the tour, and the last day is April 22. Find the full schedule at wagingpeaceinvietnam.com.

Earth Fest, through April 26, UW Campus: Previous UW-Madison Earth Day and Earth Week events are now under the new umbrella of Earth Fest, sponsored by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Office of Sustainability and open to all. Monday includes talks on a pair of new books: author Jeff Goodell discusses The Heat Will Kill You First, noon, Memorial Union; and a panel discussion (including author Sumudu Atapattu) focuses on UN Human Rights Institutions and the Environment: Synergies, Challenges, Trajectories, 4 p.m., UW Law School Room 7200. The full schedule (earthfest.wisc.edu) contains everything from T-shirt upcycling to night walks in the Arboretum.

Suzanne Vega, Tuesday, April 23, Barrymore, 7:30 p.m.: Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega emerged from Greenwich Village and her 1980s hits had a definite spiky, city vibe. “Luka” alluded to child abuse in a multi-story apartment building; “Tom’s Diner” had the staccato rhythm of the street. Since then Vega has continued making her own kind of music, with her hushed vocals undiminished. Playing a bill entitled “Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs,” Vega should cover all the bases with her longtime guitarist, Gerry Leonard. Part of the cost of each ticket will be donated to Madison’s Solace Friends, a group working to provide end-of-life hospice home care for the unhoused. Tickets at barrymorelive.com.

OUTER-INNER, Wednesday, April 24, Arts + Literature Laboratory, 7 p.m.: For the cross-disciplinary concert “OUTER-INNER,” visual artists Peter Charles Allen and Ryan Lansing will create video art (using video synthesizers and looping) accompanying and responding in the moment to music. Performers include Niels Jorgensen, Seth Klekamp and Def Sonic, who will debut songs from the new album For the Rest of Forever. Find tickets for this Mills Folly Microcinema presentation at outerinner.bpt.me.

Fred Armisen, Wednesday, April 24, The Barrymore, 8 p.m.: Although it now seems like Fred Armisen was a Saturday Night Live cast member during one of the show’s periodic golden eras, at the time SNL did not appear to be putting Armisen to his best comedic uses. That came with IFC’s stealth hit series Portlandia, where Armisen’s boggled earnestness meshed perfectly with then it-city Portland’s, well, boggled earnestness. His current show, Comedy For Musicians But Everyone Is Welcome, draws on his background as a musician and features his on-point routine about the history of punk rock. With AZITA (aka, Azita Youssefi of Scissor Sisters). Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Alvvays + Spllit, Wednesday, April 24, The Sylvee, 8 p.m.: It is the dual attack of the needlessly doubled letter bands. Alvvays (pronounced “always”) is perhaps the best known thing to come out of Prince Edward Island since Anne of Green Gables. Strummy, minor key indie folk-rock is capped with Molly Rankin’s soaring vocals. Spllit, from New Orleans, has a more experimental, electronic edge, but twanging electric guitars burst out of the mix often enough to keep things mostly melodic. The band’s self-description as “a galaxy of textured sonic synapses, totally wired and deeply imaginative” is right on. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Madison’s Funniest Comic, Wednesdays, through May 1, Comedy on State, 9 p.m.: Every spring, Madison’s Funniest Comic takes the place of Comedy on State’s popular open mic. This year more than 90 (!) folks participated in the preliminary rounds, and it's down to a dozen for the second round on April 24. Note, tickets are available only at the door, starting at 7:30 p.m. Watch for updates on the competition at facebook.com/comedyonstate.

A Celebration Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Progressive Third Party Campaign of Robert M. La Follette for President of the United States, April 25-27, Wisconsin Historical Society (and other venues): In 1924, then-U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin ran for president as part of a new political party, the League for Progressive Political Action (aka, the Progressive Party). He didn’t win but his advocacy for governmental reform still reverberates today. The Progressive magazine is hosting a conference looking back at La Follette’s campaign and ideas on April 25-26 at the Wisconsin Historical Society; related events include a fundraiser dinner on April 25, a performance by Tavia La Follette on April 26 at Arts + Lit Lab, and a “100 Years of Progressive Politics” celebration on April 27 at the Barrymore. Find the full schedule at progressive.org.

Alison Thumel + Aurora Shimshak, Thursday, April 25, A Room of One’s Own, 6 p.m.: As Isthmus has underlined for you several times recently, April is poetry month. This reading pairs two up-and-coming Madison poets. Alison Thumel’s collection Architect recently won the 2024 Miller Williams Poetry Prize (read Linda Falkenstein’s interview with Thumel here). Aurora Shimshak, like Thumel a master of fine arts recipient from UW-Madison, read at the investiture ceremony of Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin last year, performing her “The Appleshaped Earth and We Upon It,” a poem in which she asks, “Is there a poem in this?” We feel safe in saying, yes, there is.

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The Skatalites, Thursday, April 25, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7 p.m.: The Skatalites have been a steady international touring presence since the late 1980s, but the band’s origins go back much further, to the beginnings of rocksteady and ska; the group played its first show as The Skatalites in 1964, and the original members had been playing together in various forms since the mid-1950s. This year’s tour marking the 60th anniversary makes a Madison stop for a free concert as part of UW’s 175th anniversary. With One Beer Please.

Orlando, through April 28, UW Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre: Shakespeare’s influence on the Bloomsbury group is the subject of an entire 2023 book (Shakespeare in Bloomsbury) and perhaps nowhere is that influence more overtly present than in Virginia Woolf’s playful short novel Orlando (called “A Biography,” pointing to its status as satire). The poet Orlando, in the book as well as this stage version, switches gender roles, crusading through the centuries in search of true love. University Theatre’s shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are available at artsticketing.wisc.edu, at 608-265-2787, and at the Mitchell Theatre box office one hour prior to performances.

The Arcadian Wild, Thursday, April 25, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 p.m.: The lineup has changed a bit over the years, but the core of The Arcadian Wild remains mandolinist Lincoln Mick and guitarist Isaac Horn; in recent years, fiddle player Bailey Warren completes the trio. In the bluegrass tradition the group is currently drum-less, but they are more progressive than hidebound by genre conventions, pulling from varied influences in creating harmony-forward songs. They are on tour with the 2023 album Welcome. Tickets at stoughtonoperahouse.showare.com.

Stabbing Westward, Thursday, April 25, Crucible, 8 p.m.: Stabbing Westward emerged as one of the finest bands from the late-1990s industrial alt-rock movement — enjoying major-label success, five Top 20 mainstream rock singles and tours with The Cult and Depeche Mode. Even today, the band doesn’t play smaller venues like the Crucible very often, which makes this weeknight gig especially worthy of attention. Stabbing Westward fell apart in 2002 but reunited in 2015 with two of its original members; 2022’s Chasing Ghosts was the band’s first full-length album in 21 years and proved that anthems full of rage, dejection, betrayal and heartache never go out of style. Bellhead (a Chicago-based guitar-free, post-punk male-female duo) and Caustic (an industrial/powernoise band straight outta Madison) open. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.

Cat Birk, through July 14, Chazen Museum of Art; reception April 25, 5 p.m.: The 2024 Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize exhibit, “my mother is a horse,” features paintings by Cat Birk. As stated in the Madison-based artist and researcher’s bio, “Their interdisciplinary practice brings transgender studies, queer theory, and critical theory into the expanded field of painting.” Along with an opening reception on April 25, during the exhibit’s run Birk will introduce screenings of two films on themes of transformation: Piaffe (5 p.m., May 1) and Desert Hearts (5 p.m., May 29). More info at chazen.wisc.edu.

Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.