Weekend Agenda Aug. 8-9: Festival-palooza!
Milwaukee has plenty of festing opportunities today and tomorrow
Gringo Starr, appearing today at the Cream City Music Festival
Forget Lollapalooza. You don't need to go to Chicago for live music this weekend. After all, they don’t call Milwaukee the city of festivals for nothing—we grow ’em in this town like Idaho harvests potatoes. There’s a ton of them this weekend, including the first-ever Cream City Music Festival, which will take place in Catalano Square and feature national touring acts Sam Roberts Band and Gringo Starr as well as local favorites The Championship and Invade Rome. Roberts is the can’t-miss act here: An unapologetic plunderer of classic rock—his latest record, Love At The End Of The World, kind of sounds like Paul McCartney fronting The Who—Roberts is one of the best pop-rock craftsmen working today. Live, he's a big ol’ cheeseball—he’s been compared to Bruce Springsteen, but his excitable antics are more reminiscent of Peter Frampton. (Believe it or not, that’s a compliment.)
As the Cream City Festival preps for its first installment today, Riverwest’s annual motorcycle party Rockerbox returns for another year. Along with spotlighting a healthy collection of vintage bikes, choppers, customs from the U.S., Europe, and Japan, Rockerbox is also a great street party and showcase for local bands, including The Wildbirds, Red Knife Lottery, Speedfreaks, The Fatty Acids, and Battle Royale.
While the words “party” and “The Middle East” don’t often appear in the same sentence,the exception takes place in Milwaukee. The annual Arab World Fest—one of the nation's largest Arab-American celebrations running through Sunday—brings the area's favorite Middle Eastern restaurants together for three days of delicious food, but there are other activities, ranging from camel rides to music and dancing, plus the two-day Arab Film Festival.
