Though it feels like summer just started, we’ve now entered the last full month of the season. Summer isn’t going out with a whimper, though. Quite the opposite. Since this looks to be an active August, Milwaukee Record has attempted to help you out by finding 15 especially worthwhile things you should do this month. Enjoy!
Friday, August 1 — Sunday, August 10 (also July 31)
Wisconsin State Fair @ Wisconsin State Fair Park
One doesn’t hit up the Wisconsin State Fair to eat organic small plate cuisine and witness evocative performance art. People go to the fair to eat cream puffs and weird stuff on a stick, watch pig races and dog diving demos, compete in livestock competitions, and catch performances from acts like Boyz II Men, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Darius Rucker, John Pardi, and NE-YO. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it’s back.
Sunday, August 3
Cyndi Lauper + Jake Wesley Rogers @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater
We’ll keep this short and sweet, folks: Music icon Cyndi Lauper will bring her “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour” to Milwaukee’s American Family Insurance Amphitheater on Sunday, August 3. The show is part of the final leg of Lauper’s yearlong farewell tour, which kicks off July 15 and ends August 30. Jake Wesley Rogers will open the show. Cyndi Lauper rules.
Friday, August 8
Billy Strings @ Fiserv Forum
Just shy of four years removed from his sold-out show at the Riverside Theater, finger-picking and Grammy-winning bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings will return to Milwaukee to headline Fiserv Forum on Friday, August 8.
Friday, August 8
Broncho @ Cactus Club
Fresh off the release of Natural Pleasure, which has been described as “Radiohead’s Kid A filtered through a haze of pot smoke and reimagined for a generation craving both grit and transcendence,” Oklahoma indie rock outfit Broncho returns to Cactus Club for what’s sure to be a sellout. If there are still tickets available when you’re reading this, you should probably get them now.
Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16
LCD Soundsystem @ The Rave / Eagles Club
It’s been 15 years since LCD Soundsystem played The Rave, but that will all change this summer when the seminal James Murphy-led dance-punk project returns to the Milwaukee venue for shows Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16.
Tuesday, August 19
Indigo Girls + Melissa Etheridge @ BMO Pavilion
Come to our Pavilion, walk inside and wait by the light of the moon. Come to our Pavilion, Melissa Etheridge and Indigo Girls will be here soon. Yes, these two legends will be swinging by the BMO Pavilion on Tuesday, August 19 as part of their “Yes We Are” tour.
Wednesday, August 20
Milwaukee Record presents ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ @ Avalon Theater
Everyone knows the absolutely true story of music legend “Weird Al” Yankovic. But have you seen this 100% true origin story dramatized in a 100% true biopic? And have you seen that 100% true biopic on the big screen? Well, the answer to the second question is likely NO, because Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was released directly to The Roku Channel in 2022. But on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, we’ll be screening it at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater. Yep, this is the one where Daniel Radcliffe plays Yankovic, where Evan Rachel Wood plays Madonna, and where a host of oddball celebrities play a host of other oddball celebrities in an infamous pool party scene.
Friday, August 22
Lil Wayne + Tyga, Belly Gang Kushington @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater
A Lil Wayne show in Milwaukee may not be rare (like Mr. Clean with hair), but we’re still pleased to report that the veteran rapper (and Green Bay Packers superfan) is scheduled to play Milwaukee’s American Family Insurance Amphitheater on Friday, August 22. Tyga and Belly Gang Kushington will play in support.
Friday, August 22
Cypress Hill + Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, The Pharcyde @ The Rave / Eagles Club
The Rave will be deep in the “Dank Daze Of Summer” on Friday, August 22 when a quartet of hip-hop greats converge in Milwaukee. If you’re not at that night’s Lil Wayne show, you pretty much have no excuse to skip seeing Cypress Hill, Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, and The Pharcyde at the Eagles Club.
Saturday, August 23
WMSE’s 15th Annual Backyard BBQ @ Humboldt Park
For the past decade and a half, WMSE’s Backyard BBQ has spiced up the waning days of summer with a shot of music, food, drink, and good vibes. And it’s all free! Two years ago, the legendary Bob Mould headlined the BBQ; last year, it was the equally legendary Guided By Voices. For 2025, WMSE will tap a closer-to-home legendary act for its BBQ headliner. Yep, ’90s Midwest emo giant Braid will headline the 15th annual fest on Saturday, August 23, in Humboldt Park. As for the rest of the 2025 Backyard BBQ musical lineup…it’s great! Here it is!
Saturday, August 23
Emmitt James Big Band BBQ @ Third Space Brewing
The ever-active Emmitt James is always up to something, but since the hip-hop/jazz musician moved back to his native Milwaukee from Los Angeles just over three years ago, his annual “Big Band BBQ” has pretty much been his Super Bowl. The third annual affair will bring a 25-piece band (!!!) to Third Space Brewing for a can’t-miss performance. The show is free, but any proceeds raised through sponsorship and donations will benefit Your Move MKE. Need more? Well, Gemini Gilly will DJ a guest set and Third Space will have a bunch of its award-winning beer on tap.
Thursday, August 28
St. Vincent + Gustaf @ The Rave / Eagles Club
The shapeshifting, ever-active, and always interesting Annie Clark (better-known throughout the world as “St. Vincent”) is coming to The Rave / Eagles Club on Thursday, August 28 in belated support of last year’s intense and altogether awesome album, All Born Screaming.
Friday, August 29
Neil Young And The Chrome Hearts @ BMO Pavilion
Neil Young. In Milwaukee. On Friday, August 29. YES.
Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31
Damon Wayans Jr. @ Milwaukee Improv (5 Shows!)
Despite sharing most of his name with a certified comedy legend, Damon Wayans Jr. has fashioned quite the comedic career of his own. Beyond starring in the criminally underrated Happy Endings sitcom, being a series regular on New Girl, and stealing scenes in Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar, the younger Damon also routinely travels the country to perform standup. He’ll set camp at the Milwaukee Improv in nearby Brookfield this summer for a five-show run August 29-31.
Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31
Dirtnap Records 25th Anniversary Fest @ X-Ray Arcade
In honor of the label’s 25th anniversary, Dirtnap Records is bringing an astounding group of acts with Dirtnap affiliation to Cudahy this summer for a three-day festival. The aptly-named “Dirtnap 25” festival will take place at X-Ray Arcade from Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31. Over the course of the weekend-long affair, the ambitious celebration of all things Dirtnap Records will feature performances by Radioactivity, Drakulas (featuring members of Rise Against, Gwar), Marked Men, Mean Jeans, The Ergs, Direct Hit!, Nervosas, a Fox Face reunion set, Dusk, Phylums, Chinese Telephones, a solo outing from Betsy Borst from Sugar Stems, and many more.