What to do in Madison this week: Amanda Jones, Lake Street Dive and more Isthmus Picks

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A Bold Peace: Costa Rica’s Path of Demilitarization, Monday, Sept. 23, Madison Central Library, 6 p.m.: Mainstream films seem to get more violent every year. The Antiwar Film Series offers a respite, showing a different side. Tonight’s film is A Bold Peace: Costa Rica’s Path of Demilitarization. Costa Rica gave up its military and this film argues it is a better place for it, investing instead in public higher education and universal health care. The film will be shown in two rooms, in Spanish and in English; small group discussions follow. RSVP if you can to warabolition@gmail.com. The Antiwar Film Series is sponsored by the Madison chapters of Veterans for Peace, World BEYOND War, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Joe P, Monday, Sept. 23, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: New Jersey singer-songwriter Joe P found viral success courtesy of TikTok after he began posting acoustic videos early in the pandemic. That led to a record deal and, in 2024, his debut full-length, Garden State Vampire, where Joe P puts his elastic vocals to use in a range of musical styles from indie-pop to blown-out crunchers like lead-off track “Everybody’s Different.” Opener Anna Shoemaker is another rising artist, on tour ahead of the January release of sophomore album Someone Should Stop Her. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Faces of Railroading: The Making of Madison and Dane County, through Oct. 20, Garver Canvas: A big part of the history of America in the 19th century is the growth of the railroads; the impact of tracks coming to town — or where someone hoped a town would someday be — still reverberates today. (That’s certainly the case in Madison, as the city currently considers the return of passenger rail — but, where to place the station? — and grapples with the denial of a long-planned bike path connector by the state railroad commissioner.) This exhibit of historical photos of railroad workers and scenes in Dane County is coordinated by the local nonprofit Center for Railroad Photography and Art.

Amanda Jones, Tuesday, Sept. 24, Central Library, 7 p.m.: The number of attempted book bans in school and public libraries reached a 20-year high in 2022, and it’s only getting worse. During the first half of 2024, the nonprofit organization PEN American reported more than 4,000 instances of book banning — mostly targeting stories by and about BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals. Enter a warrior like Amanda Jones, a longtime educator and past president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, who arrives in Madison during Banned Books Week 2024. Her engaging new book That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, is part memoir/part manifesto; it recounts her harrowing experiences advocating for inclusivity and the freedom to read while also offering a blueprint for advocating in our own communities. Read Bill Lueders' review here. Jones will discuss the book at this Wisconsin Book Festival event.

Lake Street Dive, Tuesday, Sept. 24, Breese Stevens Field, 7 p.m.: Oddly enough, Lake Street Dive has nothing to do with Madison’s Lake Street. The band formed in Boston in 2004 intending to play a more free-form country sound; it's evolved to a kind of lively, mainstream pop that incorporates influences from various genres but sounds like none of them — easy to like but hard to pin down. Vocalist Rachael Price can sing just about anything, giving Adele vibes — if Adele weren’t quite so over-the-top. The Madison stop is part of the ambitious 46-stop “Good Together” North American tour. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

La Ballonniste, Tuesday, Sept 24, Hamel Music Center-Collins Recital Hall, 7:30 p.m.: La Ballonniste is a new opera-in-progress by composer, producer, vocalist, and 2023 Guggenheim Fellow Lisa Bielawa, with libretto by Claire Solomon. Set in 18th century France, this comic opera takes as its subject Élisabeth Tible, the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon, with the French Revolution as its thrilling backdrop. Bielawa says she was inspired by elements as disparate as 2023’s Barbie and Gogol’s The Nose, and she speaks highly of the “sense of adventure and discovery” in the University Opera. This workshop presentation is free, no ticket required. More info here: music.wisc.edu.

13 Months Below Zero, Wednesday, Sept. 25, MMSD Planetarium, 6:30 p.m.: The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole indirectly observes the action of neutrinos, subatomic particles so small they pass through most matter undetected, via a large array of optical modules frozen deep in the ice. UW-Madison is the lead institution in charge of data-gathering and maintenance — that means someone needs to be at the South Pole all winter. The team in 2022-2023 was Hrvoje Dujmovic and Marc Jacquart, and they will talk about the experience, followed by a screening of the film Chasing the Ghost Particle, at this free event. Tickets at madison.k12.wi.us/planetarium.

Black Uhuru, Wednesday, Sept. 25, Barrymore, 7:30 p.m.: A little old school reggae to say good-bye to the summer. Black Uhuru first formed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1972 and while the group has undergone numerous lineup changes, the groove is unchanged. While Black Uhuru never achieved the ultra-recognizable hits that Bob Marley did, this is reggae as solid as it comes. Tickets at barrymorelive.com.

King James, through Sept. 29, Overture Center-Playhouse: Playwright Rajiv Joseph’s King James was originally produced at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater in 2022; Forward Theater presents its Wisconsin premiere. Two Cleveland Cavaliers fans meet in a classic sport transaction: one has tickets he wants to sell, the other needs tickets for the team’s first season with LeBron James. It’s a comedy about fandom, friendship and loyalty. The play stars Marques Causey as Shawn and Greg Pregel as Matt. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, plus 2 p.m. on Sept. 21 and 28. Tickets at overture.org.

The National + The War on Drugs, Thursday, Sept. 26, Breese Stevens Field, 5:45 p.m.: If you missed The National’s sold out show at The Sylvee last August, you have another chance. No longer the obscure indie sweethearts of yesteryear, The National has matured while retaining its moody vibe, driven by Matt Berninger’s dark vocals. Co-headliners The War on Drugs pump out timeless, driving, melodic rock that defies specific era comparisons — which is a good thing. Indie pop female duo Lucius opens. Read Stephen M. Coss' preview here. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

An Evening with Lalo Alcaraz, Thursday, Sept. 26, UW Elvehjem Building-Room L140, 6 p.m.: Visual artist Lalo Alcaraz is perhaps best known for his editorial cartoons examining U.S. politics and culture from a Chicano perspective; his work earned him the Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning in 2022 (see a gallery of his 2023 syndicated cartoons at laloalcaraz.com). But that’s just the start of Alcaraz’s work, which also includes the daily strip La Cucaracha, work in Hollywood (notably, as cultural consultant for the Oscar winner Coco), and more. Alcaraz will discuss the intersection of art and politics with Notre Dame historian Tatiana Reinoza during this UW Latine Heritage Month talk.

Opera on the Point, Sept. 26 and 28, Picnic Point, 7 p.m.: The council circle at the tip of Picnic Point is the perfect place for a fall gathering, and now innovative opera company Fresco (which brings opera to suburban garages in summer) brings arias there — as accompaniment to a campfire in the woods. The 50-minute program is described as “an evening of ghostly narratives and enchanting opera.” There is a UW parking lot at the entrance to Picnic Point on University Bay Drive and it’s a 0.8-mile trek to the fire circle. It's free, but donations are suggested (as well as bringing a camp chair).

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

Editor's note: This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Lalo Alcaraz's name in the description.