photo of the Pulltops courtesy of MySpace
Thursday, April 30th – Sunday, May 3rd
International Pop Overthrow Festival: Linneman’s (1001 E. Locust), 8 p.m. (Thursday-Saturday), 3 p.m. (Sunday)
Nope. This isn’t a four-day stint of bands covering Material Issue’s 1991 album of the same name: The International Pop Overthrow Festival is a four-day pop festival that started eleven years ago in Los Angeles, and has since crept Midwest-wards. Other IPO festivals are being held in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Cleveland and even Liverpool, England. Milwaukee’s version hits this weekend as Linneman’s plays host to some of Milwaukee’s finest procurers of major chords jammed into a less than five-minute time slot: Bored Games, the Pulltops, Heathrow, the Reckless Hearts, the Nice Outfit, the International Date Lines, Jetty Boys and Certain Stars are just a few of the bands that will be taking the stage.
image courtesy of Google
Friday, May 1st – Sunday, May 3rd
Okka Disc 15th Anniversary Celebration: The Sugar Maple (441 E. Lincoln), various times
The best in avant garde music and free-form jazz will be filling the cavernous space of Milwaukee’s premiere spot for craft beer, the Sugar Maple this weekend. Owner of the Sugar Maple, Bruno Johnson, prior to feeding Milwaukee’s appetite craft beer has fed Milwaukee’s growing appetite for music cerebrally akin to a Rubik’s Cube through his Okka Disc label. Okka Disc, throughout its fifteen year existence, has put forth music by Peter Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark and Joe McPhee. See these avant gard-ists and more: Jeb Bishop, Tim Daisy, the Engines, Survival Unit III and Collections of Colonies of Bees will all be playing throughout the weekend, with a special Saturday afternoon set at Johnson’s additional, more intimate establishment, The Palm Tavern (2989 S. Kinnickinnic).
image courtesy of MySpace
Friday, May 1st
E=MC Hammer + Zebras, ifIHadAHifi, All Tiny Creatures, Dear Astronaut @ The Borg Ward (823 W. National), 6:30 p.m.
Celebrate, because Madison’s Zebras and Milwaukee’s E=MC Hammer are releasing a split this Friday. Anyone with a penchant to shake off some excess energy should take to this show like a thirteen year old to a paintball gun. Zebra’s high energy riffage and shouts is Pretty Girls Makes Graves’, tougher, more cracked-out older sister and the drums and bass duo of E=MC Hammer (Peter Woods and Danny Friedman) is loud, crunchy, abrasive and carnival-esque headbanging at its finest. Also playing: ifIHadAHifi, All Tiny Creatures and Dear Astronaut.
