The return of Waterfront Fest, tons of jazz, and more events of note in Madison this week.
Hi folks. If you’re a longtime Tone Madison reader, you’ve probably noticed that it’s taken us a while to get back in the habit of event previews. The pandemic demolished our usual routine of events coverage in March 2020, and to be honest it’s been hard to start putting things back together! But for the last few months we’ve been partnering with the wonderful independent email newsletter Madison Minutes to bring you event recommendations every week. Starting this week, we’re dipping our toe back in with a few actual write-ups, some of which will appear in Madison Minutes‘ weekly event email, and all of which will appear here.
A few notes: This events roundup is, as before, selective and not comprehensive. Each week, we’ll focus on a handful of things our editors and writers find compelling, and that’s it.. We’ll write up a few of them, and just list a few more. It’ll take us a while to get back to full strength with this part of our coverage, because we’ve had so many other exciting, demanding things to work on lately. Please reach us with suggestions—and info about your event, as long as you’re able to get it to us a few weeks in advance—at [email protected].
Anyways, if it’s listed below we think it’s at least worthy of your consideration, and probably pretty damn good. Enjoy.
ONGOING
Crimes Of The Future at AMC Madison 6, AMC Fitchburg 18, and Marcus Point Cinema, length of theatrical run in Madison TBD.
Body horror genre progenitor David Cronenberg returns to his early days as a filmmaker, reviving the title of one his microbudget projects of the same name, Crimes Of The Future (1970), about a ravaging cosmetic plague in 1997 and a dermatological clinic called House Of Skin. With its starkly macabre surgical sights, Cronenberg’s first film in eight years continues to look forward in an avant-garde vision about human evolution as channeled through high-profile performance artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen). It’s also the latest to earn the honor of making the list of Cannes walkouts. —Grant Phipps
JUNE 6
Jazz On State: New Orleans Tribute Band, Mr. Chair on 100 Block of State Street. 5:30 p.m. Free.
JUNE 8
Steve Braunginn and Jane Reynolds Going Away Party at Café Coda. 7 p.m. $20.
JUNE 9
Luke Leavitt’s Sound Tile Piano Series at Garver Feed Mill. 4 to 6 p.m. Free.
JUNE 10
Strollin’ Capitol East at multiple venues, 5 to 11 p.m., free.
The 2022 Madison Jazz Festival kicks off with this free and varied night of music across four spots within a quick walk of each other: Arts + Literature Laboratory, Dark Horse ArtBar, the High Noon Saloon’s patio, and Robinia Courtyard. Highlights include the bracing free-jazz trio Brennan Connors & Stray Passage (7:30 at ALL), a fresh look at vocal-driven standards from Feest Quintet (7:30 at Robinia), and the Tony Castañeda Latin Jazz Band (9:30 p.m., Robinia). The festival continues through June 19 with a variety of separate free and ticketed events; I’d especially recommend saxophonist Jon Irabagon, who returns in a quartet (June 12 at ALL) after an excellent solo set at ALL in March, a night of spoken-word and hip-hop with the New Breed Jazz Jam and Rob Dz (June 14 at Robinia), and a couple of history-oriented sessions celebrating Duke Ellington’s 1972 residency at UW-Madison (June 11 at Sequoya Library and June 17 at Hamel Music Center). —Scott Gordon
JUNE 11 THROUGH 12
Marquette Waterfront Festival at Yahara Place Park, 10:30 a.m., see link for set times
Much of the bumper crop of Americana roughage at the first Waterfront Fest since 2019 is a treat to see for free: transcendent and terminally smart-assed country artist Robbie Fulks (main stage, Sunday, 4:45 p.m.), Madison’s Paul Mitch playing behind his debut solo album (main stage, Sunday, noon), the return of beloved once-Madisonian folk outfit Count This Penny (main stage, Sunday, 1:30 p.m.). That said, Saturday’s headlining set from Kaleta & Super Yamba Band (main stage, 6:30 p.m.) is far and away the best reason to go. On the 2019 album Mèdaho, the veteran Nigerian musician and his NYC-based band channel tap into undeniably rich, funky layers of music worthy of someone who’s played with legends like King Sunny Adé and Fela Kuti. —Scott Gordon
JUNE 11
Gentle Brontosaurus, Reaching Venus, Legs Akimbo at Dark Horse ArtBar. 9 p.m.
Graham Hunt, Cold Lunch, The Cult Of Lip at Mickey’s Tavern. 10 p.m. Free. Read Tone Madison‘s profile of Graham Hunt from February 2021. This show is a release celebration for Hunt’s new album, If You Knew You Would Believe It.
JUNE 12
Jennifer’s Body at Memorial Union Terrace. 9 p.m. Free.
A Terrace viewing of THE Jennifer’s Body? During Pride Month, no less? An absolute revelation. This film literally helped a generation—myself included—realize their queerness (and star Megan Fox knows it, too). The 2009 film was written by Midwest native Diablo Cody, of Juno (2007) fame and directed by Karyn Kusama, a match made in girl heaven. In the movie, high school teen dream queen Jennifer Check is possessed by a demon who feeds on humans (boys and girls, because she goes both ways). Her somehow-BFF nerdy Needy Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried) learns what’s happening and tries to put a stop to her demonic bestie’s carnage. To top it all off, the film’s soundtrack was produced by Fall Out Boy’s former record label Fueled By Ramen, and yes, it absolutely slaps. — Hayley Sperling
