Milwaukee is chock full of things to do, but only a handful of Milwaukee events are worthy of the lofty honor of “Record Recommended” (patent pending). Here are our recommendations—brought to you by Lilliput Records—for September 29 – October 5, 2025.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Toad The Wet Sprocket + KT Tunstall, Vertical Horizon @ The Pabst Theater
“Toad The Wet Sprocket, the beloved alternative rock band from Santa Barbara, California, first captured audiences in the late 1980s with their heartfelt lyrics and melodic sound. Rising to prominence with albums like Fear (1991) and Dulcinea (1994), they became known for hits such as ‘Walk On The Ocean,’ ‘All I Want,’ and ‘Good Intentions.’ Their ability to blend introspective songwriting with catchy, folk-influenced rock has cemented them as a lasting presence in the music world.”
sombr + Devon Gabriella @ The Rave / Eagles Club (sold out)
“Shane became sombr via a make-shift recording studio in his bedroom. The now 19-year-old Lower East Side native honed his talents at New York’s LaGuardia High, the public performing arts school celebrated for inspiring the film Fame, spending his days studying classical music and late nights dabbling in young romance, skateboarding, and generally getting into trouble. When COVID hit, his own music became an escape for the young artist from the physical and social isolation brought on by the pandemic. Sombr taught himself music production and immersed himself in obsessively recording emotional indie-rock anthems.”
Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) + Emperor X, Barely Civil, Endswell @ X-Ray Arcade
Chris Acker + Old Pup @ Cactus Club
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Tune-Yards @ Vivarium
“Formed by Merrill Garbus in 2006, Tune-Yards has become a name synonymous with creativity and forward motion. Known for explosive performances, surprising song structures, and danceable rhythms, their music also highlights connections between song and social consciousness. The New York Times praised their debut album, BiRd-BrAiNs, as ‘a confident do-it-yourselfer’s opening salvo,’ and relentless touring established Garbus as a commanding live performer.”
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1
Milwaukee Night Market @ West Wisconsin Avenue between 2nd Street & Vel R. Phillips Avenue
This is it! The final Milwaukee Night Market of the season! (It’s a make-up date for the canceled July installment.) “The October Market will feature the Retro Rewind theme, which was originally scheduled for July 16, taking us back in time to the 80s, 90s and early 2000s eras. Many of the local vendors scheduled for July will return as well, including All Goods, Clutch Vintage, Refresh Vintage and Fresh to Death Vintage.”
Midweek Music: dak duBois (duo) @ Crafty Cow Tosa
Join us at Crafty Cow Tosa on select Wednesdays and Thursdays in October and November for a total of eight more Midweek Music performances. Once again, there will be NO COVER for these all-ages shows, which will run 7 – 8:30 p.m. The series will begin with dak duBois on Wednesday, October 1 and wrap up with Ian Olvera on Wednesday, November 19. Find the full lineup HERE.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Howl 20th Anniversary Tour @ Turner Hall Ballroom
“For a select few, rock ‘n’ roll is a life sentence. It’s in every muscle in your body, it’s in every thought you have, it’s written all over your face. When you arrive at Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s headquarters in East Hollywood, you know you’re sidling up to the home of some of rock’s most primal prisoners.”
MKE River Roundup: Wire And Nail + Valley Fox @ Twisted Fisherman Crab Shack
Cowboy Killer Comedy Show: Justin Leon + Mason Pingel, Erin Morris, RV @ Falcon Nest
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2
Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival @ Oriental Theatre (through October 5)
“The Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival (MMFF) stands as a testament to the transformative power of storytelling through film by promoting understanding, empathy, and unity among all walks of life. MMFF celebrates the vibrant tapestry of Islamic culture and commemorates the shared human spirit that binds us all together, reinforcing the values of compassion, respect, and coexistence.”
Colter Wall & Friends + Red Shahan @ Miller High Life Theatre
“Following the release of his acclaimed Little Songs album and a sold-out promotional tour, Colter Wall found himself back home, calving and branding. Playing to tens of thousands at country music festival strongholds such as Montana’s Under the Big Sky, Texas’s Two Step Inn, and Dusty Boots in Colorado, Colter Wall and his band, The Scary Prairie Boys, have become a major headline act. He’s partnered with organizations like the National Western Stock Show, selling concert tickets with rodeo tickets, to help make those coveted tickets more accessible to working folks.”
No-Cover Night: Jon Wood Trio @ The Estate
Justin Witte Trio @ Ope! Brewing Co.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3
Re-Animator 40th Anniversary Screening And Q&A With Jeffrey Combs @ The Pabst Theater
There’s no film quite like 1985’s Re-Animator. Is it a horror film? A comedy? A Frankenstein/”mad scientist” spoof? A horror-comedy-Frankenstein/”mad scientist”-spoof? Whatever it is, it’s an absolute hoot. And a 40th anniversary, 4K screening of it is coming to Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater tonight—complete with a post-film Q&A session with iconic star Jeffrey Combs! Milwaukee Record‘s own Matt Wild will moderate the Q&A, which should be a hoot as well. Tickets just $25!
Milwaukee Oktoberfest @ Henry Maier Festival Park (through October 5)
Swarmm Events is bringing Milwaukee Oktoberfest to the Summerfest grounds for the first time in the event’s 15-year history. Expect three days of Germanic fun including live polka music, plenty of beer and food from Kegel’s Inn, and contests like a bratwurst eating competition and a Wiener Dog Beauty Pageant. “In the 1960s, Milwaukee’s mayor, Henry Maier, boarded a plane to Germany with a big idea,” writes Swarmm. “He wanted to see Munich’s world-famous Oktoberfest firsthand—the beer, the music, the joy that brought millions together every fall. Mayor Maier came home inspired. He dreamed of creating a space in Milwaukee where our city could celebrate its heritage and gather in the same spirit of Bavarian joy. That dream became Henry Maier Festival Park—the Summerfest grounds where we still celebrate today.”
QWERTYFEST MKE @ various locations (through October 5)
That increasingly loud clacking sound you hear throughout the city isn’t your imagination—it’s just the return of QWERTYFEST MKE, a homegrown celebration of a homegrown Milwaukee invention. That’s right! Working in Milwaukee in 1873, Christopher Latham Sholes invented the modern QWERTY keyboard layout we still use today. QWERTYFEST MKE was founded in 2023 by Milwaukee writers Molly Snyder (OnMilwaukee) and Tea Krulos (author, Milwaukee Record contributor). For the 2025 installment, the duo promises such nerdy delights as a “Typewriter Ball” at Turner Hall Ballroom (complete with music from the Boston Typewriter Orchestra and Milwaukee’s own Nineteen Thirteen), a workshop discussion with Bob Marshall (the typewriter repair engineer for typewriter enthusiast Tom Hanks), more workshops and events at the Central Library, a cemetery tour, a party at the Newsroom Pub, and much more.
Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound (record release) @ Shank Hall
Paul Cebar’s 40-plus-year history in Milwaukee music could fill volumes. There’s his role as ambassador and hep-cat conduit for vintage R&B, soul, roots, and Afro-Caribbean music. There’s his work with The R&B Cadets, the Milwaukeeans, and Tomorrow Sound. There’s his constant presence at Summerfest and every other Fest on the Milwaukee summer calendar. There’s his “Way Back Home” show on 91.7 WMSE, celebrating 35 years in 2025. And there’s his fantastic new full-length record, simply titled Paul Cebar. The one-two opening punch of “When We Sing” and “We Sure Got Enough” is deliriously jubilant, Cebar at his most soulful and get-up-and-dance crowd-pleasing. “We bring a lot together when we sing,” he croons on the former song (originally written for The Blind Boys Of Alabama.) There’s real joy emanating from these tracks.
Frankie And The Witch Fingers + Population II @ X-Ray Arcade (sold out)
“Los Angeles psych-punk shapeshifters Frankie And The Witch Fingers have spent the last decade mutating their sound into bold, electrifying new forms. Their latest release, Trash Classic (via Greenway Records and The Reverberation Appreciation Society), plunges into a sewer-slick fusion of proto-punk venom, fractured new wave, and industrial grime.”
Destroyer: Dan’s Boogie Tour + Jennifer Castle @ Vivarium
“What is a ‘boogie’? In the common tongue, it’s a dance or an occasion to dance, a song or a shindig, an incitement to move, quickly, whether it’s on the floor or out of town, getting down or lying low. This being a Destroyer album and not the common tongue, the implications of a title like Dan’s Boogie are at once more alluring and dangerous. ‘A boogie is a hustle, a scam that doesn’t quite work, the moves we make when we’re up against it,’ explains Dan Bejar. ‘I think of spy work, double agents, sleeping with one eye open, an eye on the exits. But I also think of petty street-level victories and losses and improv.'”
Milwaukee Tattoo Arts Festival @ Baird Center (through October 5)
The 15th annual Milwaukee Tattoo Arts Festival is a celebration of all things ink, as body illustration enthusiasts and renowned tattoo artists take over the Baird Center for three days of fun, connection, and tattoos.
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead @ The Riverside Theater
The Sword + Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol + Pink Fuzz @ The Rave / Eagles Club
Shady Bug + Brief Candles, Gore Area II @ MKE Ultra
Bad Cop / Bad Cop + The Iron Roses, Avenues @ Cactus Club
Peppers & Pineapples + Cozy Danger, Bellends @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
Eric Jacobson Quintet: “Joy Spring” The Music Of Clifford Brown @ The Estate (early and late shows)
Friday Night Retro Dance Party: DJ Paul H @ Mad Planet
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4
Beet Street Fall Festival: Os Mutantes + Sophie Hunter, FTBK, Fellow Kinsman, Klan 414, DJ Cozmiika @ Cactus Club
Beet Street Fall Festival—hosted by Cactus Club, Palomino, and Goodkind—is set to bring about a day of live music, local food and retail vendors, community organizations, and pie-based competition to a parcel of Wentworth and Potter avenues outside the aforementioned businesses. The family-friendly event will run from 1-7 p.m., with an 18+ afterparty to take place at Cactus Club once Beet Street concludes. See the whole music, food and vendor lineup HERE.
Collections Of Colonies Of Bees + Field Report, MATTHÚ @ Vivarium
Collections Of Colonies Of Bees first buzzed into existence way back in 1998, an instrumental side project of Pele guitarist Chris Rosenau and drummer Jon Mueller. Members have come and gone in the years since; these days, Rosenau serves as both the instrumental focal point and the group’s sole original member. Serving as the current vocal focal points are Daniel Spack and Marielle Allschwang, the latter on board since 2016. Live, it’s not unusual to see Allschwang shimmy across the stage, lost in the music. That simple joy comes through on the new LP Celebrities. Opener “Letters” and follow-up “You Can Go Again” perfectly encapsulate the modern CoCoBees framework: the slow-burn buildup, the free-form lyrics, the baritone purr of Spack vs. the crystalline call of Allschwang, and the cinematic explosions of guitar-solo catharsis.
Robot Witch (record release) + Fake Twin, The Quilz DJ Team @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
“Robot Witch is an electro psych, punk rock band from Milwaukee, WI. Described as synth rock with attitude, Robot Witch brings a sound that is unadulterated and true onto itself. Our 11-song album is finally here entitled Take Me To The Show. Robot Witch has recorded 9 new tracks with two remixes full of electro punk. Everyone in attendance will receive a complimentary coaster with links to the new tracks.”
Blocktoberfest @ The Blocks Of Becher (69th and Becher in West Allis)
From noon to 8 p.m., a variety of businesses near the corner of 69th and Becher in West Allis will host Blocktoberfest. The 5th annual block party and artisan market will offer a wide range of live music, homemade German cuisine (and other non-German eats), makers and other retail vendors, and “plenty of Oktoberfest beer!”
The Erotic Adventures Of The Static Chicken @ The Estate (early and late shows)
Retro ’80s Night LIVE: The First Wave + Substance 101, Subspace @ Mad Planet
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5
Adam Sandler: You’re My Best Friend Tour @ Fiserv Forum
You know what’s great? Adam Sandler. You know what else is great? Seeing Adam Sandler when he brings his “You’re My Best Friend Tour” to Milwaukee’s Fiserv Form. If seeing Adam Sandler is cool, consider us Miles Davis. LET’S GO.
The Beaches + Fightmaster @ The Rave / Eagles Club
Just over a month after releasing its latest album, the excellent and single-laden No Hard Feelings, Canadian rock outfit The Beaches will swing through Milwaukee to play songs from that new effort (and possibly its two other records) at The Rave / Eagles Club.
Brady Street Pet Parade @ Brady Street
Attention, four-legged creatures and the two-legged creatures who love them: The beloved Brady Street Pet Parade will return to the bustling East Side street on Sunday, October 5. Dogs, cats, pigs, ferrets, rats, lizards, and humans are all welcome. The big event will take over a multi-block parcel of Brady Street from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors, and oodles and oodles of adorable pets will be involved. Similar to years past, there will also be judged contests and a pet blessing.
A.J. Croce Presents: Croce Plays Croce @ The Pabst Theater
Bowvee (record release) + Limber Brain, Human Ant Farm, Jasno @ Cactus Club
Brawl In The Beer Hall II: Pour Decisions @ Lakefront Brewery
Rap J’s Limitless Release Show @ Anodyne Walker’s Point Roastery
The Swivels + Kismet @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
Third Coast Blues Collective @ Ope! Brewing Co.
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