Enjoy a compilation of selected tracks by artists playing shows we're excited about in Madison during the week of Jan. 4-11, 2018. For more information on these shows, read on under the playlist!
Madison Hip Hop Awards Winners Party, Thursday, Jan. 4, High Noon Saloon, 9:30 pm: A victory lap for another successful award show and season for Madison hip-hop. As victors from this 2017's awards, which took place on Dec. 16, are presented with their plaques, you can catch performances from the group of the year winner 3rd Dimension as well as rookie of the year Chris Hanko. With CHAS, Chris Jewson, DJ Pain 1.
RENT, Thursday, Jan. 4, Overture Hall, 7:30 pm: It's difficult to overstate the influence of Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking 1996 musical RENT on our culture. Larson re-imagined Puccini's La Bohème, recasting the story with a diverse group of New York City artists struggling through economic hardship and the AIDS crisis. This 20th anniversary tour of the Pulitzer and Tony winner is based on Michael Greif's original direction, and reassembles some of the original creative team. See it and weep. ALSO: Friday (8 pm), Saturday (2 & 8 pm) and Sunday (1 & 6:30 pm), Jan. 5-7.
Nick Brown Band + Evan Murdock and the Imperfect Strangers + Josh Harty + Wrenclaw, Friday, Jan. 5, High Noon Saloon, 9 pm: The new year will only be five days old but it's unlikely you'll see a better local Americana music lineup than this in 2018. It's a veritable roll call of Madison's folk-rock royalty. Murdock and Brown both produced dynamic new albums in the last year. Harty's live act shows the power and polish that comes with his recent two months of road shows in Europe. And Wrenclaw keeps on keeping on as Madison's most reliable and rowdy bar band. Look for the players to dip in and out of each other's sets.
Wisconsin Punk Fest, Friday, Jan. 5, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Ring in 2018 with a little bit of punk attitude. Headlining Wisconsin Punk Fest this year will be Sheboygan's Jetty Boys, a semi-active but widely beloved pop-punk trio. They'll be joined by Milwaukee's Thin Lizzy-loving Platinum Boys, as well as four eclectic Madison bands: the danceable surf-punks Venus in Furs, breakneck skate rats The Moguls, ska-punk revivalists 4 Aspirin Morning, and Madison's favorite I.T.-themed pop-punks, Help Desk. All that for just $10. Don't miss out — it's not every day The Jetty Boys get together.
Bryan Bowers, Friday, Jan. 5, Brink Lounge, 7 pm: Bowers is a master of the autoharp, a many-stringed instrument usually strummed chordally. But Bowers developed his own complex, stunning way of fingerpicking the instrument to accompany his singing of material both from the folk tradition and more modern sources. Find out what he's up to currently at this Madison Folk Music Society concert.
Mead & Metal Fest, Saturday, Jan. 6, Bos Meadery, 4 pm: Bos Meadery will be hosting the fifth incarnation of Mead & Metal fest, pairing brutal music (and poetry!) with Bos' many varieties of mead, including a new, non-alcoholic ginger mead. This year's lineup includes Madison's Lords of the Trident, HellMuff and headliners Birth of Tragedy, as well as Chicago thrashers Cunning Like Cobras. Metal and Viking costumes aren't mandatory, but they are highly encouraged.
Honor Among Thieves, Saturday, Jan. 6, Harmony Bar, 9:45 pm: Led by guitarist-singer Andy Ewen and anchored by the beat of drummer Joey B. Banks, Honor Among Thieves is one of Madtown's longest-tenured, unique bands, building an at-times crazed sound on a roots rock base. What other band would have the guts to write an entire album around lyrics by artist P.S. Mueller? Save some dancing energy for another local treasure, the instant party that is disco kingpins VO5, who will close the night.
Wisconsin Bluegrass Fest, Saturday, Jan. 6, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Nothing says Wisconsin winter like bluegrass. Okay, not really. But this stellar lineup will warm your heart: Joseph Huber Band, the award-laden WheelHouse, Them Coulee Boys, Armchair Boogie and Feed the Dog. There's a whole lotta pickin' goin’ on.
Rebirth Brass Band, Sunday, Jan. 7, NOTE: Moved to Ruby Lounge at Liquid, 8 pm: What do you get when you put a loud-ass brass band in a small room? The Rebirth Brass Band may very well blow the top off the Stage Door, the Orpheum’s newly renovated lounge space (enter at 121 E. Johnson St.). Ain't no party like a New Orleans party, and Rebirth has kept their well-established brand of second-line music going since 1983. With a mixture of funk, soul and R&B, this show should draw a diverse and energetic crowd.
Seisma, Sunday, Jan. 7, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: Bringing a combination of industrial and doom metal, Madison's Seisma wouldn't sound out of place jamming in a Godzilla-wrecked Tokyo. For your safety, however, they'll have to settle for the High Noon stage. Playing alongside them will be a handful of other local headbangers: goth oddballs Caustic, folk-metal mystics Gods in the Chrysalis, and druggy keyboard virtuosos Dear Violence. For those who like heavy music a bit strange and unusual, this is one not to miss.
The Devil Makes Three, Wednesday, Jan. 10, Orpheum Theater, 8:30 pm: Fans of folk, alt-country and contemporary Americana will find plenty to love about this California-based trio. Consistently at the top of the U.S. bluegrass charts since 2007, the group blends classic revival with elements of jazz and blues. Their latest album, 2016's Redemption & Ruin, is a collection of beautifully interpreted covers by musical legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams.
G. Love and Special Sauce. Thursday, Jan. 11, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Has it really been a quarter-century since this Philadelphia-based trio first blessed the world with its extremely chill fusion of hip-hop and blues? The answer is yes, and they're kicking off their 25th anniversary tour right here in Madison. So crack open a "cold beverage" and transport yourself back to the halcyon days of the 1990s. And their new stuff is pretty good, too.
POSTPONED: Ken Page, Thursday, Jan. 11, Overture Center, 7 pm: A versatile performer with a career spanning more than four decades, Ken Page has lent his distinctive voice to everything from Broadway musicals to animated characters. Best known for playing Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Page in recent years has developed a traveling show, Page by Page, which blends Broadway music with blues favorites. He performs here as part of the Overture Center's popular cabaret series, a unique musical dining experience that transforms the Capitol Theater stage into an elegant nightclub. (Page will be unable to appear tonight due to a flight cancellation; this show will be rescheduled during summer.)
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
