Enjoy a compilation of selected tracks by artists playing shows we're excited about in Madison this week. For more information on these shows, read on under the playlist or check out all this week's Isthmus Picks.
Dom Flemons, Thursday, Oct. 25, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm: Dom Flemons may be best known for his work as a co-founder of Carolina Chocolate Drops, the popular stringband featuring Rhiannon Giddens that played Orton Park Festival in 2010. In his solo career, Flemons is a performer and keeper of African American music forms, a status reflected in his performance at the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He’ll play from a deep songbook, including 2018’s Black Cowboy. With Nickel & Rose.
Far Out Folk, Thursday, Oct. 25, Gates of Heaven, 7:30 pm: Cellist/composer/arranger Fred Katz had a wide-ranging career, from pioneering “chamber jazz” with the 1950s Chico Hamilton Quintet to scoring various Roger Corman films to three decades as an ethnomusicologist at California universities. At this concert, Madison composer Geoffrey Brady pays tribute to Katz’ 1958 album Folk Songs for Far Out Folk by incorporating traditional and other music from around the world into extended frameworks for Yid Vicious to do their thing.
Michelle Wolf, Thursday, Oct. 25, Comedy on State, 8 pm: Michelle Wolf has had an eventful year. After giving Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders the business at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and the short run of her Netflix show The Break, Wolf returns to the stand-up circuit with new material. The former Daily Show correspondent takes a sly approach to comedy, attacking the topics of the day with biting wit and ironic enthusiasm. ALSO: Friday-Saturday, Oct. 26-27, 8 & 10:30 pm.
Freakin’ Halloweekend, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 26-27, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: Halloween is a yearly chance to be someone else for a while, and that includes local bands. This year’s Freakin’ Halloweekend is set to feature some killer cover sets from a wide array of genres. Friday will feature tributes to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Modest Mouse, The Pretenders, The Police and Black Sabbath, while Saturday includes Ani DiFranco, Foo Fighters, (Fat) Elvis, The Cranberries and Foreigner. Plus, there’s a costume contest both nights. Get in on the fun for just $10.
Tune-Yards, Friday, Oct. 26, Majestic Theatre, 8:30 pm: Eclectic, eccentric and energizing, Merrill Garbus’ extrapolations of soul and ’80s electro-pop-dance tunes position Tune-Yards as a jewel in the crown of American music. Touring on her latest, I can feel you creep into my private life, Garbus contemplates themes such as white feminism, digital existence and the ongoing quagmire of a failing empire. Yet she still manages to be fun and arty — like a musical Miranda July. Fittingly, Blondie-esque French Canadian protest band U.S. Girls opens.
GWAR + Hatebreed, Friday, Oct. 26, The Sylvee, 7 pm: Long a heavy-metal punchline, the grotesquely costumed GWAR is touring with metalcore veterans Hatebreed on “The Gore, Core, Metal and More Tour.” The show is part of WJJO’s Hell-O-Ween metal mayhem. Obviously. With Miss May I, Ringworm.
Freakfest, Saturday, Oct. 27, State Street, 7 pm: This year’s iteration of Freakfest emphasizes the “party” aspect of the annual Halloween party. Its three stages are packed with can’t-miss acts, including 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winners Tank & the Bangas, New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia and Canadian punks The Dirty Nil, plus a host of local bands. Avoid serious FOMO and make sure to hit Freakfest.
Anders Svanoe, Sunday, Oct. 28, Arts + Literature Lab, 3 pm: A longtime Madison jazz musician known for his ability to coax a mind-boggling range of sounds from an enormous woodwind instrument, Anders Svanoe has put baritone saxophone front and center on his State of The Baritone series. He’s celebrating the release of his third volume, 747: Queen of the Skies, which promises to bring the titular instrument to new heights — and, hopefully, some bone-rattling lows. There will also be samosas from Dobhan!
Craig Ferguson, Monday, Oct. 29, Barrymore Theatre, 7 pm: American audiences first got a glimpse of Craig Ferguson in 1996 in the role of Nigel Wick on the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show. But the plucky Scotsman really hit his stride serving as host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson from 2005 to 2014. In between he’s done stand-up comedy and won two daytime Emmys as host of The Celebrity Name Game. He also has been a rock-and-roll drummer in his native Glasgow, most notably with the punk band The Bastards from Hell, and once played a character named Bing Hitler that was a hit at the 1986 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We’ll see just how many of these disparate influences come together as part of his “Hobo Fabulous Tour.”
Shannon & the Clams, Tuesday, Oct. 30, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: It’s been a busy year for Shannon & the Clams frontwoman Shannon Shaw. This summer she unleashed her first solo record, Shannon in Nashville. Made with a bevy of studio legends at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Studio, the album gives Shaw a crack at applying her gritty and soulful voice to the big beat ballad style of vintage Roy Orbison or Brenda Lee sides — and she proves more than up to the task. Earlier in 2018, Shannon & the Clams released Onion, its fifth collection of ‘60s-inspired rock ‘n roll, and they’re on the road this fall in support. With Dirty Fences, The Hussy.
Lake Street Dive, Tuesday, Oct. 30, The Sylvee, 8 pm: Lake Street Dive blew the minds of unsuspecting Orton Park Festival patrons back in 2013. Since that time the Brooklyn-based pop quartet, whose members met while studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, has taken on a new keyboardist and evolved their Beatles-centric vibe into a bolder, heavier sound. “Good Kisser,” from the new release Free Yourself Up, showcases Rachael Price’s ability to shout and soar. The new music is killer, but one can still hope that their Sylvee set will include their ferocious cover of Paul McCartney’s “Let Me Roll It.” With Jalen N’Gonda.
Loudon Wainwright III, Thursday, Nov. 1, Stoughton Opera House, 7:30 pm: Since his lone “hit” chart-wise remains 1973’s Top 20 surprise “Dead Skunk,” it’s an odd fact that in modern times more people may know Wainwright from his work over the years as an actor (from a memorable recurring role on M*A*S*H* to various Judd Apatow projects) than for his songwriting. His 20-plus albums over the last nearly five decades represent a monumental body of work, and his songs are filled with pointed wit and sharp observations, both heartbreaking and hilarious.
Joywave + Sir Sly, Thursday, Nov. 1, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Two alternative music heavy hitters share a headlining spot, both showcasing unique fusions of pop and indie rock. Joywave’s recent single “Blastofff,” featured in a Fortnite trailer, is laden with synths and lead singer Landon Jacobs’ emotional vocal delivery. Sir Sly combines electronic funk and psychedelic sensibilities on the recent Billboard charting groove “&Run,” from 2017’s Don’t You Worry, Honey.
Eric Johnson, Thursday, Nov. 1, Barrymore Theatre, 7:30 pm: Eric Johnson wrote “Cliffs of Dover,” one of the most memorable electric guitar instrumentals of all time (and it won a Grammy, too). Now, almost 30 years after its 1990 release, Johnson is performing the album on which it appears — Ah Via Musicom — in its entirety, backed by an electric band.
Serengeti, Thursday, Nov. 1, The Wisco, 10 pm: Following the release of his new album, prolific experimental rapper Serengeti visits Madison from his hometown of Chicago. On Dennis 6e, Serengeti (real name David Cohn) is appearing for the last time as his fictional Kenny Dennis character, a washed-up Chicago rap legend. On “Date Story,” he wistfully recounts stories of lost love and missed opportunities over sparse and at-times menacing beats. With Lil Guillotine, Mekong.
Randy Rainbow, Thursday, Nov. 1, Overture Center-Capitol Theater, 7:30 pm: Whether he’s singing about Judge Kavanaugh to the tune of Camelot or skewering Omarosa Manigault Newman to the sweet strains of Oklahoma!, actor and comedian Randy Rainbow’s humorous YouTube videos have provided ongoing must-watch relief to gays and straights exhausted by the Trump White House and everything it represents. With pink-framed glasses perched on his nose, Rainbow — and, yes, that is his real name — may not provide the most incisive political parody on the market, but it is certainly the most fun. He sings what others are thinking, and does so with brass and sass. More than a half-million viewers follow his video feeds, and he once received a fan letter from Stephen Sondheim. What more could a young man with the surname Rainbow want?
Fun Home, Thursday, Nov. 1, Overture Center-Playhouse, 7:30 pm: To celebrate its 10th season, Forward Theater has added a musical to its lineup, and not just any musical. Based on the graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home is an eloquent, irreverent, groundbreaking production about love, extreme family dysfunction, homosexuality, suicide and growing up in a funeral home. Adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, it garnered Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, Best Leading Actor and Best Direction in 2015. Playing the lead role is Madison’s resident Broadway star Karen Olivo (Hamilton, In the Heights), fresh off her Boston run of the new musical Moulin Rouge. Through Nov. 25.
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
