Brady Street, Marvin Gaye, and a Gym Full of Chili

Despite a few days when temperatures soared into the mid-30s, The Endless Winter of 2014™ is still very much upon us. But never fear, frozen and mentally beaten Milwaukeeans, there’s a ton of stuff happening this week that will warm your weary hearts and fill your empty stomachs.

’60s British rockers Badfinger had everything going for them: a deal with The Beatles’ Apple label, plenty of great songs (“No Matter What,” “Come And Get It,”) and a really cool name. But financial troubles and suicide plagued the group throughout its history, eventually relegating them to tragic classic-rock has-beens. Then along came the final episode of Breaking Bad, which used Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” in the most bittersweet, awesome way possible. The band has been enjoying a slight surge in popularity due to that episode, and performs tonight with Milwaukee’s preeminent power-poppers, Trolley.

Saturday, March 1
Blessed Feathers at Pabst Theater (lower level)

Husband-and-wife duo Blessed Feathers have a backstory most bands would die for—former Jehovah’s Witness leaves church to be with bandmate and proposes to same bandmate during a show—but it’s the group’s music that truly stands out. Donivan Berube and Jacquelyn Beaupre breathe new life into the oft-stale “old-timey” folk genre, as evidenced by last year’s excellent Order Of The Arrow. Tonight, The Fatty Acids and comedian Ryan Holman join Blessed Feathers for a special lower-level show at the Pabst.

Saturday, March 1
East Side Music Tour at various Brady Street locations

What do you get when you combine more than 80 local bands and one local street? Well, a ton of bands playing in a lot of weird places, that’s what. Newaukee’s 2^nd Annual East Side Music Tour (or “Eastside,” if you’re into corporate-approved typos) takes over Brady Street this weekend, jamming just about every worthwhile Milwaukee band (and P.O.S. and Why?, for some reason) into every conceivable nook and cranny. (Think of it as a Milwaukee SXSW, except not as overhyped.) Need some names? How about Maritime, Altos, Kane Place Record Club, De La Buena, Vic And Gab, Klassik, Juiceboxxx, The Delphines, and Sat. Nite Duets? Oh, and if you’ve ever wanted to see Animals In Human Attire play at Hosed On Brady, now’s your chance. (Visit the “tour’s” website for more information.)

Saturday, March 1
Unlooped vs. Marvin Gaye at Pitman Theatre

Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear was no one’s idea of a classic record when it was released in 1978. Gaye unapologetically used the album as a way to pay alimony to his ex-wife Anna Gordy, and fans and critics quickly rejected it. Decades later, Here, My Dear has been reassessed as a classic, an intimate and challenging work that documents the dissolutions of a marriage and makes Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks seem positively sunny by comparison. Tonight, 88Nine DJ Tarik Moody uses his collaborative Unlooped series to re-imagine Gaye’s landmark album. Joining him will be members of Choir Fight, Altos, Herman Astro, and The Celebrated Workingman, as well as Christopher Porterfield, Kiings, Alida LaCosse, Klassik, and Dasha Kelly.

Sunday, March 2
Rockabilly Chili at MSOE Kern Center

There’s nothing quite like WMSE’s annual Rockabilly Chili blowout: Thousands of Milwaukeeans flood into the first-floor gymnasium of the MSOE Kern Center and sample chili from more than 50 local restaurants; awards are given for best meat, best vegetarian, most unique, best heat, and best presentation; everyone goes home happy. For the 2014 event, the station is kicking things up a few notches by utilizing the second-floor field house of the Kern Center, inviting six Milwaukee Fire Department houses to the contest, staging a chili pepper race for the kids, and featuring a live rockabilly band.