TGIT: Our Weekend Picks!

photo by Scott Winklebleck

Thursday, November 12th

Quinn Scharber and the… + Surgeons in Heat @ Club Garibaldi’s (2501 S. Superior), 10 p.m.

Word on the street is, is that Quinn Scharber’s got some new tricks up his sleeve, music-wise. The Midwestern-tinged pop quartet is still a quartet and still plays Midwestern-tinged pop, but now includes new-to-the-fold drummer Jon Phillip and guitarist/backup vocalist Johnathon Mayer. Mayer proves his worth as a newcomer by doing double-duty, also performing in opening act Surgeons in Heat.

flier from MySpace

Friday/Saturday, November 13th & 14th

Stumblurfest @ Frank’s Power Plant & Club Garibaldi’s

Friday @ Frank’s Power Plant: Gut Reactions + Sleepovers, The People’s Temple, Sang Des Loups, Legendary Wings, The Get Drunk DJs

Saturday @ Club Garibaldi’s: Mistreaters, Hex Dispensers, Cococoma, Digital Leather, Drugs Dragons, The Get Drunk DJs

Whether you decide to venture out for the 2nd annual Stumblurfest on both nights, or just one, it’s guaranteed that you’ll be pleasantly suffering from the “two nights of brain, ear and liver damage” as its hosts promise. Local and national highlights include the intense hardcore of Gut Reactions, the return of the Mistreaters and Nebraska’s own Digital Leather, with a brand new, spazzed-out album in tow.

flier from MySpace

Saturday, November 14th

The Conformists + Microwaves, IfIHadAHiFi, Dear Astronaut @ The Borg Ward (823 W. National), 8 p.m.

The Borg Ward brings different levels of crashing static, noise and general sonic bludgeonry to a new level on Saturday as it joins forces with some pretty heavy hitters. Bring the ear plugs, and don’t forget to congratulate IfIHadAHiFi. Didja hear they’re opening up for the Jesus Lizard at Turner Hall Ballroom on the 24th? Oh, yeah. They are.

TGIT: Our Weekend Picks!

 

flier from MySpace

Friday, October 23rd (and Saturday, October 24th)

It’s About to Be Cold As Fuck Fest! @ The Borg Ward (823 W. National)

Friday @ 7pm: Dear Astronuat, Manic Zamboni, Mildew, Beast in the Field, Sonic J, Inyan Kara, New Labor, Cowards, Slob Donovan

Saturday @ 6pm: Guzzlemug, Busybodies, Gold, E=MC Hammer, Face of Ruin, Strawberry Horsecake, Go Blind, The Spur and the Longlost, Toad Throat, Blessed Sacrifist, Masonry

It’s just what it sounds like — a music festival to get Milwaukee pumped up and warmed up before the inevitable winter shitstorm drops.

 

photo by Marie Kuzniar

Friday, October 23rd

Farms in Trouble and The Curious Mystery @ Frank’s Power Plant (2800 S. Kinnickinnic), 10 p.m.

Farms in Trouble‘s pastiche sound concocted of loops, samples, random instrumentation and a slight mad professor creative mentality makes their infrequent shows an extremely worthwhile and interesting spectacle. With Seattle’s The Curious Mystery.

 

photo by Adam Bubolz

 Saturday, October 24th

Jail, The Mojomatics (ITL), France Has the Bomb (MN), Death Dream @ the Bay View Brewhaus (2535 S. Kinnickinnic), 10 p.m.

Milwaukee’s Jail has been out on a month-long tour — their last tour stop of Milwaukee should give them a little energy boost, as well as their insanely energetic show mates, Italy’s Mojomatics and Minneapolis’ France Has the Bomb. Making their premiere performance will be locals Death Dream, featuring members of the Mistreaters, IfIHadAHiFi, Freight, White Problems and Mother Orchis.

Happy Birthday, Borg Ward!

 

photo of Mondo Drag courtesy of MySpace

The Borg Ward, 823 W. National Avenue, may be only two years old, but with that two years under their belt, they’ve done a lot to give local and touring acts a welcoming home for their amps, guitars, keyboards and drum kits. To celebrate their natural philanthropic spirit, the Borg is hosting a free show at 6 p.m. on Sunday, September 6th with The Butts, Cartilage Party, Dear Astronaut, Mondo Drag and Slob Donovan: who doesn’t like free presents? Don’t say the Borg Ward never gave you anything.

TGIT: Our Weekend Picks!

photo by John Knappe

Thursday, August 13th

Haz Solo + Philthy @ Stonefly (735 E. Center), 10 p.m.

Haz Solo has been throwing down his skills at Stonefly for quite some time, making it the place to see the Milwaukee MC/producer in his element. Lyrical prowess and fluid jazz-y hip hop showed that Haz Solo is a hip hop artist to reckon with and watch at the recent Miltown Beatdown. Catch Haz, solo, as he presents live versions of his popular mix tapes. 

Friday, August 14th

Daniel Johnston + The Candeliers @ Turner Hall Ballroom (1032 N. 4th), 8 p.m.

An enigma of a man, Daniel Johnston made the musical world sit up and take notice with his simplistic genius and intensely troubled personality. The 48-year old began writing music as a teen on piano and organ, armed with a boombox as a recording device. Johnston brings a local element to his performance on Friday night by including The Candeliers as not only his opener, but backup band.

photo by David J. Cubberly

 Saturday, August 15th

Sleepcomesdown + Zebras, Daydreams, Worrier @ The Borg Ward (823 W. National), 8 p.m.

Sleepcomesdown does stage effects like no other band in Milwaukee. Swirling and flashing lights compliment the discordant, frenetic wash of effects, loops and sometimes-dual percussion on the artsy post-rockers’ songs. Expect to hear some new material at The Borg Ward on Saturday as the band is currently working on a follow-up full length to their EP release from last spring.

Thomas Function and Six Degrees of Milwaukee

 

image from MySpace

Words by Erin Wolf

Huntsville, Alabama is a long way from Milwaukee. Five hundred and seventy nine miles to be exact. No matter, according to Huntsville’s garage rockers, Thomas Function. The quartet finds ways to play Milwaukee shows as often as they can and likewise, brings Milwaukee bands such as The Goodnight Loving and International Datelines to their city to play shows and festivals. While technically not considered to be ‘sister cities’, Huntsville and Milwaukee have been acquainted in this fashion for quite some time. How did it all come about? Thomas Function’s Josh Macero backtracks for Fan-belt as the band heads up to their home away from home for two shows this Saturday: one at the Borg Ward and one at the Cactus Club, throwing us a song from their upcoming Fat Possum release In the Valley of Sickness as a snack ’til they get here.

When was your first Milwaukee show and who did you play with?

That’s a hard question to ask. Travis and myself were in a band a long, long time ago that played in Green Bay, and the and previous to Thomas Function (Alabama Jihad) also played in Milwaukee quite a bit. So, I’m not real sure. Maybe the summer of 2005 or 2006?

About how many times have you played here since then? What keeps you coming back?

Ten? Twenty? Who knows. We keep coming back because we have more friends in Milwaukee than we do in Alabama and the shows are just too much fun.

Is Milwaukee’s scene similar to Huntsville’s?

Eh, not quite. Milwaukee has a lot more people adding to the ‘scene’. More local bands, more shows, more places to have them, etc.

Bamalama Fest just happened recently and lots of Milwaukee bands played (Squidbotz, The Goodnight Loving, International Datelines, Juiceboxxx, etc.), plus Digital Leather, Wizzard Sleeve and Dan Sartain. Why do you think Milwaukee bands fit well into the mix?

Well, it’s an easy source to pull from. There are a lot of really good bands in Milwaukee, and as I said earlier, we happen to be friends with a lot of the people involved, so it’s almost a given.

The title from your album Celebration has ties to Milwaukee from what I’ve heard, and the back cover features a few Milwaukeeans. How did that come about?

Um, Tabman, Matt Chic and Adam K came up with the whole cult religion of Celebration and it seemed applicable to the album. They’ve always been super supportive of what we’re doing, so we figured we’d honor the people and the town. As for the back cover, Holy Shit! just happened to be in town when we took the photo. P.S.: don’t eat muscle relaxers to try and get fucked up. It’s messy.

What’s in store for your shows here this weekend?

Gongs, pyrotechnics, Meth, venereal disease, pizza, gin, a show at the Borg Ward and a show at the Cactus Club. Oh, and we may all get bent!

Thomas Function, “Not Asking for Much”