What to do in Madison this week: 'John: The Last Cowboy', Little Feat and more Isthmus Picks

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Lake Monona Waterfront Design Challenge, Monday, Oct. 3, Central Library, 6 p.m.: City leadership, public space advocates and designers, and many others have pondered for decades how to best utilize the Lake Monona shore along the John Nolen Drive corridor. The city approved funding for a master planning process in 2018, and this year the Madison Parks Division launched a design challenge inviting planning teams to apply for consideration. The top three teams to emerge from that process are beginning to work on design proposals, and will introduce themselves (virtually) at this kick-off event. The meeting will also be livestreamed at the Madison City Channel.

John: The Last Cowboy, Monday, Oct. 3, Barrymore Theatre, 7 p.m.: Norway-based filmmaker Frode Fimland found an intriguing subject for his latest documentary: John Hoiland, the nonagenarian son of a Norwegian immigrant who owns and runs a Montana ranch. John: The Last Cowboy follows Hoiland as he lives a way of life that is rapidly disappearing. Fimland will be on hand to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A after this one-time-only screening hosted by the Idun Lodge-Sons of Norway. Tickets at barrymorelive.com.

The Head and The Heart, Oct. 3-4, The Sylvee, 8 p.m.: It’s crazy to think this award-winning indie folk band met at an open mic in Seattle. Almost a decade later, The Head and The Heart have Billboard folk chart-topping albums like Signs of Light and Let’s Be Still, not to mention popular hits like “Rivers and Roads.” Get ready for their Every Shade of Blue Tour, with the ever-talented and ever-shaggy Shakey Graves opening both nights in Madison.

Tatsuya Nakatani, Tuesday, Oct. 4, Arts + Lit Lab, 7 p.m.: Avant-garde percussionist Tasuya Nakatani is a sound artist — and an artist of sound. The Japanese creator, based in New Mexico, has more than 80 recordings to his name. His specialty is bowed gongs but he also makes unique music on singing bowls and an arsenal of drums, both traditional and exotic. If a bowed gong sounds like something you can live without, hearing it may change your mind; Nakatani makes his own bows for the purpose and the result is mesmerizing, a metal symphony. With Russell/Sexe.

Little Feat, Tuesday, Oct. 4, Barrymore Theatre, 7:30 p.m.: Little Feat has been cooking its musical gumbo of rock, blues, boogie, country and jazz for more than 50 years — and, by our count, it’s been more than a decade since the band last set foot in Madison. When they do this time, Little Feat will perform its 1978 live album, Waiting for Columbus, in its entirety. Led by 73-year-old co-founder Bill Payne on keyboards and vocals, Little Feat also includes three longtime members and a pair of relative newcomers. The band hasn’t released a studio album since Rooster Rag in 2012, but this is a tight unit intent on carrying the band’s legacy forward. Country-Americana singer Miko Marks opens.

Sueco, Tuesday, Oct. 4, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: An overnight sensation, LA-based Sueco is a refreshing take on '90s-'00s punk nostalgia mixed with nods to the modern rap scene. His 2019 gold-selling single “Fast” reached the #1 spot on TikTok and the US and Global Spotify Viral 50s. Sueco’s tour comes on the heels of his latest album, It Was Fun While It Lasted, and is sure to be a night full of scream-singing and punk spirit. Opening are the exceptional lil aaron and KILLBOY.

Nick Chiarkas, Wednesday, Oct. 5, Mystery To Me, 6 p.m.: Doug Moe will interrogate Madison-area author Nick Chiarkas, a former New York City cop and Wisconsin state public defender who now writes violent yet witty crime fiction. His novels take place in the hostile housing projects of Lower Manhattan where he grew up, and his 2015 debut, Weepers, nabbed seven book awards. Weepers introduced readers to powerful crime boss Nunzio Sabino, and Nunzio’s Way — the new standalone sequel — transports them to the beginning of the Kennedy era as an unlikely assassin sets her sights on Nunzio.

GLEAM, Wednesdays-Saturdays, through Oct. 29, Olbrich Gardens: Olbrich Gardens is lighting up at night with a new installment of GLEAM: Art in a New Light, an annual fundraiser during which the gardens are dotted with art displays that involve light and transform the already magic botanical paths into something otherworldly. Timed entry is available from 6:30-9:30 p.m. with the gardens closing at 11 p.m. in October, in advance only at olbrichgleam.org. Tours of the art guided by Mercury Stardust are also available at 7:45 p.m. (family-friendly) or 9:30 p.m. (PG-13), Oct. 12 (tickets here).

Sifting & Reckoning, through Dec. 30, Chazen Museum of Art: Museums and other cultural institutions have begun the work of recognizing the sometimes tainted provenance of the works they house and acknowledging the underrepresented in their collections. This has itself caused a backlash from the right. UW-Madison Public History Project's "Sifting & Reckoning: UW-Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance” examines 150 years of struggle, discrimination, exclusion and resistance at the university through various artifacts and oral histories. Kacie Lucchini Butcher, co-curator of the exhibit, calls it "an opportunity for us to reflect on what happened here at UW-Madison so that we can better understand what we need to do in order to create a more equitable future.” Lucchini Butcher and Chazen Director Amy Gilman will discuss the exhibit at 6 p.m. on Oct. 6; RSVP here for the in-person event, or watch a livestream on Facebook.

Half Gringa, Thursday, Oct. 6, The Bur Oak, 8 p.m.: The band name Half Gringa refers to Isabel Olive’s Venezuelan family combined with her bicultural experience growing up in the American Midwest. Her mom loved Bruce Springsteen and Maná, and Olive's songs can incorporate both influences at once. It’s catchy, Latin pop that benefits from a forward-leaning band of Chicago players who lay down reams of reverb in their rock. Tickets at theburoakmadison.com.

Kælen Mikla, Thursday, Oct. 6, Crucible, 8 p.m.: If the name Kælen Mikla is not familiar, perhaps this fact will pique your interest: The band was on the bill among a bevy of post-punk legends as part of The Cure's 40th anniversary concert in 2018. The Icelandic trio's 2021 album Undir K​ö​ldum Nor​ð​urlj​ó​sum is a collection of darkwave synth music at mostly icy tempos, with a few glimmers of hope and raised tempos for those ready to get their dance on. The emotion behind the music is captivatingly moody even if you don't speak the Icelandic language. With LA-based electronic musician Kanga and Madison's own Null Device. Tickets here.

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