3 DON’T-MISS SHOWS THIS WEEK
TDM Festival
Style: Hip-hop showcase spotlighting some of Milwaukee’s finest.
Why you should go: For the past few years, the Journal Sentinel and other media outlets in town (and beyond, in a few instances) have been shouting as loud as they can to let people know about the golden age of hip-hop happening in Milwaukee right now. Among the more passionate promoters is local hip-hop artist Tone Da Man, who has staged a festival featuring Milwaukee rappers for four years now. The roster this year is one of the finest assemblies of Milwaukee rappers on one bill that we’ve seen, from established stars like Webster X, IshDARR and BoodahDARR (the latter two debuting their new project, Violet Star), to promising up-and-comers like Lil Chicken and MT Twins. Nile, Emaad, R&B artist Siren and DJay Mando round out the bill.
Time and place: 7 p.m. Saturday, Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. Phillips Ave.
Price: $15 to $50 at the door, the Pabst Theater box office (144 E. Wells St.), the Riverside Theater box office (116 W. Wisconsin Ave.), (414) 2863663 and pabsttheater.org. — Piet Levy, plevy@journalsentinel.com
Sarah McLachlan
Style: A consummate singer in a pops context with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Why you should go: After the 1993 release of her third album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy,” Canadian songstress McLachlan and the mainstream embraced one another, and the embrace got tighter with 1997’s “Surfacing” and ubiquitous songs like “Building a Mystery.” In the 21st century, she’s settled into MOR beauty (2014’s “Shine On” is one of her better examples), and she’s been working on a clutch of new songs for her next studio disc. She’s currently playing shows with local orchestras, and at this date with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, she’ll focus on matching the lush backing with her most adaptable songs and the smoothest application of her warm caress of a voice.
Time and place: 8 p.m. Friday, BMO Harris Pavilion, Maier Festival Park, 200 N. Harbor Drive.
Price: $80.05 to $150.15 at the box office, (800) 745-3000 and ticketmaster.com. — Jon M. Gilbertson, Special to the Journal Sentinel
The Faint
Style: Dance music that rocks, with a New Order undertow.
Why you should go: Around 1995, Nebraska friends and brothers formed Norman Bailer, a band that became the Faint and incorporated metallic and electronic elements into its indierock sound. The height of that incorporation might have been 2001’s “Danse Macabre” (and a 2003 remix), but 2019’s “Egowerk,” the Faint’s first new album in five years, is strong rhythmically and thematically, with as much emphasis on social commentary as dance-floor pleasures.
Openers: Ritual Howls, an atmospheric postGothic trio, and Closeness, with of Faint lead singer Todd Fink and his wife, Azure Ray’s Orenda Fink
Time and place: 8 p.m. Saturday, the Rave, 2401 W. Wisconsin Ave.
Price: $20 at the box office, (414) 342-7283 and therave.com. — Jon M. Gilbertson