Author: Cal Roach

A brief history of Weird Al covering (not parodying) other artists

October 16, 2026

If you ask people what “Weird Al” Yankovic is most famous for, a lot of them will respond, erroneously, “cover versions.” The reality is, Weird Al mostly does parodies of famous songs, not covers. In fact, u...

Chicago artists bring honking, flapping ‘Swans’ to blustery Veterans Park

Cal Roach

August 31, 2026

The swan paddle boats are a beloved if tourist-y feature of the lagoon at Veterans Park on Milwaukee's lakefront, perfect for any leisurely summer day. Wheel Fun Rentals has a whole bevy of them available to re...

David Byrne and band in front of a moon backdrop

David Byrne takes Miller High Life Theatre to moon, visits Bobblehead Hall Of Fame

Cal Roach

May 4, 2026

David Byrne has been kind to Milwaukee, the only '80s rock legend that comes to mind who's brought every one of his major tours this century to the Brew City. In 2018 he played The Riverside on his American Uto...

Ty Segall shows Turner Hall he’s the ‘f*ckin’ truth’

Cal Roach

April 22, 2026

Milwaukee can crank out all the meat-and-potatoes rock and roll it pleases, but the California bands are still gonna get all the glory. Laguna Beach native Ty Segall, a veteran of the nth wave of American garag...

Journey holds on to that feeling, brings farewell tour to Fiserv Forum

Cal Roach

March 20, 2026

No city in the U.S.A. has undergone more radical cultural makeovers than San Francisco. For many, it still symbolizes the birthplace of the 1960s hippie movement; to others it’s more famous for tech bros and pr...

Nine Inch Nails peel it back at first Milwaukee show in 20 years

Cal Roach

February 24, 2026

When Nine Inch Nails last played Milwaukee nearly 20 years ago, they’d reached an unenviable career milestone that a young Trent Reznor probably never envisioned for himself: clinging to relevance on the streng...

“People don’t know that I play guitar”: Bartees Strange kicks off first-ever solo tour at Vivarium

Cal Roach

November 3, 2025

“I’ve never toured like this before,” said Bartees Strange regarding his current three-week jaunt through the Midwest and West Coast. Sunday at Vivarium was the opening night of the singer/songwriter’s first tr...

Experimental rock duo Mute Gospel sets sail for ‘Banks Of Nowhere’

Cal Roach

October 27, 2025

"Banks Of Nowhere is the place that signifies both arrival and departure, familiar and alien, home and far from home," says multi-instrumentalist Zak Koehn, one half of Milwaukee experimental rock duo Mute Gosp...

Billy Strings delights Fiserv Forum during “Summer 25” tour stop

Cal Roach

August 9, 2025

Fresh off the "GD60" Grateful Dead anniversary celebrations in San Francisco over the previous weekend, Billy Strings started the next leg of his extensive touring schedule in Milwaukee on Friday. Although the ...

Ghost brings two hours of unabashed Satanic glam to Fiserv Forum

Cal Roach

July 30, 2025

Swedish hard rock band Ghost's first visit to Milwaukee back in 2013 was met with a mixture of rapture and bewilderment by a sparse Turner Hall Ballroom crowd. This was the group's first headlining tour and mos...

Two days at Milwaukee Metal Fest: metalcore, moshing, Milwaukee as metal mecca

Cal Roach

May 19, 2025

Research for a metal festival always proves particularly vexing, especially when the fest’s website offers no band links whatsoever. For instance, Encyclopaedia Metallum, the metal community’s most respected in...

Gang Of Four brings ‘Entertainment!’ to Turner Hall in satisfying Milwaukee farewell

Cal Roach

May 10, 2025

Friday night was last call, supposedly, for Milwaukee Gang Of Four fans. The seminal British post-punk act has gone through numerous breakups and reassemblies since its 1976 inception, but time catches up with ...

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds enthrall, entrance at Miller High Life Theatre

Cal Roach

May 1, 2025

Never one to shy away from taboo subjects, much of Nick Cave's output in recent years has been challenging in a very different sense than his past work. Over the past decade he has suffered the tragic losses of...

My Morning Jacket keeps Milwaukee guessing, excited in Riverside Theater return

Cal Roach

April 19, 2025

Nearing three decades as a band, My Morning Jacket have arrived at a rare career plateau: the sustainable-without-superstardom status. Since breaking through in 2005 with the critically-acclaimed Z album, the b...

Emmylou Harris honors Guy Clark at heartfelt Riverside Theater show

Cal Roach

April 6, 2025

Guy Clark may not be a household name, but his influence on country and Americana runs deep; even those who don’t know the name probably know a song or two that he wrote. Fans of Emmylou Harris should be plenty...

Mannequin Pussy serves punk and politics at Turner Hall

Cal Roach

April 3, 2025

A quick warning to our readers: the Mannequin Pussy show got political, and in the name of journalism, we will be forced to print language that some may find objectionable. We realize you may have clicked the M...

Umphrey’s McGee treats Riverside Theater to jam-packed performance

Cal Roach

March 9, 2025

The jam-band bounty continues to flow unabated through the Brew City. Over the past couple months, we've seen three-night stands by both Goose and Spafford, two nights of String Cheese Incident last fall, Phish...

Meshell Ndegeocello brings ‘Gospel Of James Baldwin’ to Vivarium

Cal Roach

January 28, 2025

For the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy created three new competitive categories; one of these, Best Alternative Jazz Album, went to Meshell Ndegeocello in its inaugural year, for her 2023 reco...

King Diamond reigns supreme at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

November 9, 2024

It’s been 17 years since metal godfather King Diamond released an album, but fans have been in a state of heightened anticipation for a few years now. At Hellfest in 2019, he debuted a new song onstage, “Masque...

Psychedelic Furs, Jesus And Mary Chain get loud at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

October 17, 2024

Twenty-twenty-four has been a banner year for UK bands helmed by male siblings. Not only did Oasis announce a handful of reunion shows that are totally gonna actually happen, the U.S. is currently in the throes...

Author Cal Roach