As the city bundles up for the impending winter months, the music calendar slows to a halt during this especially languid period in early January. That’s clearly evident this week, since there’s very little going on music-wise until Friday night. Fortunately, that lull completely dissipates for a short time throughout the weekend, as there’s a large slate of shows from which to choose (see below).
Perhaps no show is bigger or more important than the performance from Milwaukee’s own GGOOLLDD at Turner Hall Ballroom, 1032 N. 4th St., on Saturday night with fellow local synth-pop groups Canopies and Rio Turbo. GGOOLLDD is a band that seems to be teetering on the edge of something greater and this show could be the push that takes them to the next level.
There’s plenty to celebrate with GGOOLLDD, a band that makes no reservations about wanting to party all the time. The glitzy synth-pop group was an unstoppable force during 2015. Their year started with a new single, “Boyz,” a playful music video companion and a corresponding cassette that featured demos and a Dashcam remix of one of their first songs, “Gold.” They broadened their reach by playing multiple shows at the annual mega-fest South By Southwest in March. They cut through the summer festival circuit in Milwaukee, playing to large crowds at Pridefest, Summer Soulstice and Summerfest and opened for a reunited Death from Above 1979 at Turner Hall. In November, they released more new material in the form of a sparkling four-song EP, For the Night, which celebrated the never-ending search for that one great party. And closing out the year was an announcement of the band’s first vinyl release, a compilation of previously released tracks. [And they’ve shown no sign of slowing down, as just today they premiered a music video for “Dance Through the Winter.”]
This headlining show on one of the city’s biggest music stages could be a sign for even better things in 2016 for GGOOLLDD. But even if it isn’t, there’s no doubt that the show should be a really fun time. After all, that’s the band’s main target.
Stream of the Week
Listen to the snappy four-song debut EP from folk outfit Rocket Paloma. It’s Great, literally.
This Week in Live Music
Friday, January 8: Color TV with Helta Skelta, Ramma Lamma and The Pukes at Riverwest Public House, 9 p.m. ($5) – (815 E. Locust St., RiverwestPublicHouse.WordPress.com)
Also: Buildings with Volunteer, Midwives and Soup Moat at Frank’s Power Plant, 9 p.m. ($5) – (2800 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., FranksPowerPlant.com)
And: Ryan Joseph Anderson with Devil Met Contention, King Courteen and Heavy Leaves at Company Brewing, 9:30 p.m. ($5) – (735 E. Center St., CompanyBrewing.com)
And: The Squish with Phylums and The Ornerys at Cactus Club, 9:30 p.m. – (2496 S. Wentworth Ave., CactusClubMilwaukee.com)
Saturday, January 9: New Age Narcissism presents No Name Noise at Fire on Water, 9:30 p.m. (FREE) – (518 N. Water St., FireOnWaterStreet.com)
Also: Absolutely with Show Me The Body, Straya and Bad Wig at Riverwest Public House, 9 p.m. ($7) – (815 E. Locust St., RiverwestPublicHouse.WordPress.com)
And: Birds of Chicago at Walker’s Point Anodyne, 8 p.m. ($15) – (224 W. Bruce St., AnodyneCoffee.com) Sunday, January 10: Paul Rabe with The Women, The Viceroys and Myles Coyne at Bremen Cafe, 8 p.m. (FREE) – (901 E. Clarke St., BremenCafe.com)
