What to do in Madison this week: Las Cafeteras, HalloWEEN and more Isthmus Picks

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Tehan Ketema, Oct. 30-Nov. 4, UW Art Lofts-Backspace Gallery: A photographer and printmaker, Tehan Ketema is an alumna of the First Wave program's 8th cohort. Ketema is returning to UW to help inaugurate a new initiative: the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts and Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, in which she will work with professor Faisal Abdu’Allah in the Art Department. An inaugural exhibit takes place Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in the Backspace Gallery, with a reception from noon-1:30 p.m. on Oct. 31 (register at eventbrite.com).

Webbed Attachments: Psychedelic Lessons from the Multiverse, Monday, Oct. 30, UW Elvehjem Building-Room L140, 6 p.m.: This is not your mother’s humanities lecture. UW-Madison professor of English Ramzi Fawaz will discuss how the effects of psychedelic experiences (including the dissolution of the self) offer hope in a world full of chips on shoulders. Fawaz will draw evidence from the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Differences, he argues, are “an endless web of relations across multiple dimensions rather than rigidly formed identities.” Fawaz is the author of The New Mutants: Superheroes and the Radi­cal Imagination of American Comics (2016) and Queer Forms (2022). and is currently at work on a new book project titled Literary Theory on Acid. The lecture is part of the UW Center for the Humanities "Focus on the Humanities" series.

OutReach 50th Anniversary Dinner, Saturday, Nov. 4, Monona Terrace, 5 p.m.: Located at 2701 International Lane, OutReach (and forebears Madison Gay and Lesbian Resource Center and The United) has been providing a plethora of programs and a communal space for the LGBTQ+ community for more than 50 years. Celebrate five decades and look forward at the organization’s annual dinner, which includes a program featuring a keynote by Shiva Bidar-Sielaff (a VP and chief diversity officer for UW Health), emcee Amethyst Von Trollenberg, and music by Willma Flynn-Stone & the Quarry Boys, Skye Gia Garcia, Perfect Harmony Chorus, and Terry Watters. Ticket sales end on Oct. 31 at outreachmadisonlgbt.org.

Pop Evil, Tuesday, Oct. 31, The Sylvee, 7 p.m.: The spooky video for Pop Evil’s latest, “Skeletons,” is on the mark for a Halloween show, though the Michigan group’s sound is generally straight ahead rock with touches of grunge — and even the heartbreak of country. With the slightly poppier hard rock of Fame on Fire and the eclectic rockers Lylvc. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

hidden figures: unveiling selfhood, through Nov. 10, Tandem Press, 1743 Commercial Ave.: Teyjhana Barton-Neal, the Tandem Press curatorial intern for the summer, has curated this exhibition from “a limited number of available artworks from the Tandem Press inventory,” writes the Press. Her “hidden figures: unveiling selfhood" show “asks the viewer to consider what experiences in their life helped define who they are. The goal of this exhibit is to guide viewers on a journey of self-introspection,” writes Barton-Neal. The gallery is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday; a reception will take place from 5-8 p.m., Nov. 3.

Penelope Haunts Twice, Tuesday, Oct. 31, Arts + Literature Laboratory, 7 p.m.: Falconbridge Players continue a Halloween storytelling tradition with their dramatic readings of two spooky short stories: “The Lady Penelope,” by Thomas Hardy, and “Penelope” by Vincent Starrett. What you can’t see is always scarier than what you can. Free, RSVP at eventbrite.com.

Happy House, Tuesday, Oct. 31, Mickey's Tavern, 10 p.m.: Who says trick-or-treating is just for kids? Madison-based Siouxsie and the Banshees tribute act Happy House will perform at this adults-only Halloween bash. Also on the bill are more psych rock sounds: Madison group Mossmen and doomy Milwaukeeans Zang! This stacked lineup is sure to get you in the spooky spirit. And yes, costumed attendees will get candy. Note: This show has moved from Dark Star Art Bar.

HalloWEEN, Tuesday, Oct. 31, High Noon Saloon, 8 p.m.: Couldn’t get tickets to Ween in September? Alex White & the Friends are here to help with a set pulled from the musical world of Dean and Gene. It’s a multigenerational tribute night, also featuring Cruisin Round taking on The Beatles, and Wise Jennings playing music by The White Stripes. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

Las Cafeteras, Wednesday, Nov. 1, UW Memorial Union-Shannon Hall, 7:30 p.m.: The wide-ranging music of Los Angeles band Las Cafeteras pulls together Afro-Mexican rhythms, traditional instruments, and modern sounds like electronics and rapping. This Madison tour stop will feature “Hasta La Muerte,” a two-act multidisciplinary concert by the band drawing on Day of the Dead traditions, featuring original and traditional songs, choreography and storytelling. Tickets at artsticketing.wisc.edu.

Tatsuya Nakatani Gong Orchestra, Wednesday, Nov. 1, Garver Feed Mill, 8 p.m.: Percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani pretty much has the gong world to himself. The avant-garde sound artist travels with a huge array of gongs he’s created and he doesn’t just bang on them. Sure, mallets are deployed but he bows them as well, with bows he makes himself. Nakatani’s Gong Orchestra will be made up of Madison players who will play, naturally, gongs. The sum of the parts is insanely seductive and textured. The show is presented in collaboration by Arts + Lit Lab, Communication, Garver and Tone Madison; tickets at exploretock.com.

DakhaBrakha, Thursday, Nov. 2, Overture Center-Capitol Theater, 7:30 p.m.: Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha melds traditional musical forms of their home country to sounds drawn from around the world. The group has taken this bracingly fresh musical blend all around the world, and has been one of the hardest-working bands on the planet since Russia invaded their home country, playing hundreds of concerts to raise awareness of Ukraine’s plight and funds for relief efforts. Tickets at overture.org.

John Cleese, Thursday, Nov. 2, Orpheum Theater, 7:30 p.m.: Featuring one of the founders of the Monty Python comedy crew, “An Evening with the Late John Cleese” takes a typically irreverent tack in branding this tour by the still “not dead yet” legend. As stated on Cleese’s website, “In lieu of flowers, the comedian wishes for you to please buy the premium Meet & Greet tickets.” You can find them at ticketmaster.com.

Clyde’s, Nov. 2-19, Overture Center-Playhouse: Clyde’s was the most produced play in the U.S. in 2022, according to American Theatre magazine, and Forward Theater jumps in with its Wisconsin premiere. The comedy by Lynn Nottage centers on a group of formerly incarcerated individuals working at a diner, and their quest to create the perfect sandwich. Shows at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, plus 2 p.m. on Nov. 11 and Nov. 18. Tickets at overture.org.

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