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Things to do this week

Things to do this week

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Kujichagulia Center for Self Determination is hosting over 20 events for Juneteenth. The week of activities begins with a flag raising at the city county building on Monday. Check out the full schedule here.

— Sam

The Moth Madison Storyslam
Monday | Show at 7:30 p.m. | High Noon Saloon | $15
Prepare and share a story about birthdays — party hats, blowing out the candle, opening the gifts, or weeping in solitude, wondering where all the years have gone…

Harry Potter Trivia
Tuesday | 7 p.m. | High Noon Saloon | Free
Award given for best dressed.

Fermenting Flavor: The Art & Science Behind Big Beers
Tuesday | 7 p.m. | Giant Jones Brewing Company | $35
Learn about the brewing process, ingredients, and fermentation  with brewer/owner Jessica Jones. Includes a with a beer & chocolate pairing.

Stand Up Face Off
Wednesday | Show at 8 p.m. | $10 advance, $15 doors
Comics face off. You choose who wins. Part competition show, part stand-up comedy showcase.

The Amazing Acro-Cats
Shows Wednesday-Sunday | Bartell Theatre | Tickets start at $35
Cats who roll on balls, ride skateboards, jump through hoops, and more. Includes a performance from Cluck Norris, a chicken that plays the tambourine.

James Patterson discusses "James Patterson"
Wednesday | 7 p.m. | Overture Center | Free
The Wisconsin Book Festival hosts superstar author James Patterson, who will discuss his new memoir. Copies will be distributed for free to all attendees.

Words with Nerds
Thursday | 7 p.m. | Crucible | $10
Funny (and often R-rated) educational lectures mixed with stand-up comedy.

Movies with Madison Parks: Encanto
Thursday | 7:30 p.m. | Elver Park | Free
Outdoor screening of Encanto (2021). From IMDb: "A Colombian teenage girl has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers."

LINE, MQBS, Bear In The Forest
Friday | 7 p.m. | Memorial Union Terrace | Free.
Somewhat making up for Madison's weird "oh we do Pride in August instead" thing, WUD Music and the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center mark the occasion with this free show. LINE is a great pick for it: The Madison band deftly balanced poignant themes of self-reflection and turmoil on its 2020 debut EP, Choosing Sides, bringing an outsized heft to gentle folk and pop elements on the tense "Kind/Of" and the beautifully plodding "Monday Morning." Which is not to say that you're in for a downer of a show. The band's 2021 single "No Burden" is a bubbling celebration of hard-won joy, proving that LINE's music is just as powerful at the other end of the emotional continuum. The band is also planning to release a live version of a new song soon.
— Scott Gordon, Tone Madison

Nonagon, Daughters Of St. Crispin
Friday | Music at 7 p.m. | Communication |
This two-band post-hardcore show is a land of contrasts. Chicago band Nonagon jams lots of complex but deliciously catchy figures into its 2021 album They Birds—it's as full-on fun as it is angry and exacting. The delirious, spiraling rhythms of tracks like "Slow Boil" and "Boxes" belong right on the top shelf alongside the brilliantly mangled likes of Jawbox and Unwound. Madison duo Daughters Of Saint Crispin, on the other hand, wants to take you on a demoralizing trudge. If you're going to have song titles like "Debt Grief" and "A Woman Crying In Her Car," the music better be like guzzling the black oil from The X-Files. The Daughters' fusion slowcore and doom makes good on it, with menacing riffs, scathing vocals, and an eerily effective drum machine.
— Scott Gordon, Tone Madison

Summer Breeze
Friday and Saturday | 4 - 9 p.m. | Olbrich Botanical Gardens | Prices vary
Live music, drinks and games.

Dirtnap Records Super Show Extravaganza
Friday and Saturday | Music at 7 p.m. | $30 for one-day pass, $50 for 2-day pass.
After two years of postponements, Dirtnap Records' 20th-anniversary festival is finally set to take place at the High Noon Saloon, as was originally intended. As was the case when Dirtnap rolled out the initial announcement, the lineup is a behemoth of punk acts that dabble in different adjoining hyphenates (indie, pop, Americana, etc.). All three of Jeff Burke's acts—Lost Balloons, Radioactivity, The Marked Men—remain committed to the two-day 20-band blowout. All bands playing have released work through the label, which is the product of Madison native Ken Cheppaikode. Proud Parents, Dusk, Fox Face, and Sugar Stems will further the festival's Wisconsin-based flavoring. While the event is currently sold out, a number of would've-been attendees are currently selling their tickets in the comments section of a recent Dirtnap Facebook post.
— Steven Spoerl, Tone Madison


Paddle and Portage
Saturday | 9:30 a.m. | $50+
Race starts at Tenney Beach with a paddle in Lake Mendota. Participants then portage across the Isthmus through Tenney Park to the Yahara River. Once at the Yahara, it is a down river paddle to Lake Monona, ultimately finishing at Olbrich Park.

Jazz on the Terrace
Saturday | 2:30-11 p.m. | Memorial Union Terrace | Free
A free day of jazz music. Part of the Madison Jazz Festival.

Sugar Maple Concert Series at the Biergarten: Kendra Swanson
Saturday | 5:30 p.m. | Olbrich Park Biergarten | Free
Folk music performed by Kendra Swanson.

…or Does It Explode?, Lunar Moth, Rae
Saturday | 10 p.m. Mickey's Tavern | Free
...or Does it Explode plays this show to celebrate the release of Chrysalis, a heady post-punk album that took shape as the project morphed out of another Madison band, Our Friends The Savages, repurposing some of the earlier band's songs and writing new music. It feels like something that's been simmering for a while, bringing a swirl of lofty ideas into sharp focus. Standout tracks like "Cleveland Harbor Effect" patiently build atmosphere until it's time for a lean, furious crescendo. Guitarist/vocalist Shawn Bass, guitarist Brandon Boggess, drummer Erik Rasmuson, and bassist J Granberg make the fundamentals sound big and multifarious—all through well-honed dynamic shifts, not just quiet to loud but compression and release. That no-frills approach bodes well for the live set.
— Scott Gordon, Tone Madison

The Rock and Roll Playhouse plays the music of Bob Marley for Kids
Sunday | Show at 12 p.m. | $15
Core audience is families with children age ten and under. Music volume is turned down for little ears.

Concert For Mental Health Awareness: Rezurec, Maestranza, Supa Friends, Quick & Painless
Sunday | Music at 8 p.m. | The Bur Oak | $10 advance, $12 doors
If you didn't see Madison hip-hop act Supa Friends' recent opening slots for a couple of touring artists in town (R.A.P. Ferreira, 81355), this benefit show for NAMI Wisconsin and Journey Mental Health Center is a good excuse to catch up. The long-brewing chemistry among the group's six members translates to an easy charm onstage, bringing the songs alive in a rapid-fire collision of brash and clever verses. Supa Friends' 2020 debut EP Super? No, Supa kicked off a fast-growing body of solo and collaborative releases, including MC SooDoNiM's Beats And Ink Stains and producer Hardface The Pilot's Behind Closed Doors. Supa Friends member Tyler Brunsell (stage name Tyrel The Well Treated) tells Tone Madison the group is working on a new record, aiming for an August or September release.
— Scott Gordon, Tone Madison

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