Live Music Venues in Riverwest, Milwaukee

Milwaukee houses lots of venues for live music, and many of them are located in the hippie-friendly, counterculture-driven Riverwest neighborhood. Living up to its reputation as a haven for artists of all types, Riverwest welcomes live musical acts at its bars, cafes, and small clubs. While bigger names perform downtown at concert venues like The Rave, up-and-comers perform in Riverwest music venues like these.

Bremen Caf�©
901 E. Clarke Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414-431-1932
www.bremencafe.com

Best described as a mix of bar, coffee shop, and cafÃ?©, Bremen is one of Riverwest’s most welcoming venues for live music. At capacity, the place holds 125 people, so the atmosphere is cozy and chill but not cramped. Mondays and Thursdays are traditionally open mic nights, but shows are booked for almost every other night of the week. The schedule reveals a healthy mix of regular standing gigs (including a Tuesday night blues jam on alternate weeks), yet each weekend finds something new at the CafÃ?©. Though Bremen brings you lots of brooding boys with guitars, they host everything from basic rock to bluegrass, folk, and reggae. Most shows get underway around 9:00 or 9:30, with minimal charges. Because of the mix of beverages available (beer, coffee, sodas, etc.), Bremen is a great spot for drinkers and nondrinkers to enjoy music together. The sandwiches are also noteworthy here. At Bremen you can simultaneously enjoy roast beef, beer, and a blues guitarist.

Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
1001 E. Locust Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414-263-9844
www.linnemans.com

Similar to Bremen CafÃ?© in the types of acts it attracts, Linneman’s is your Riverwest venue for everything from prog rock to the Riverwest Accordion Club’s occasional concert. Eclectic and relaxed, Linneman’s is the perfect place for a $1 Blatz beer and a band to boot. Shows typically begin at 10:00pm, and there’s something on the calendar almost every night. To get a taste of the local music you might hear, Linneman’s has a “Milwaukee Sampler” CD available for purchase at the bar or on their website ($5).
Oh, and if you don’t live in Riverwest, Linneman’s is still a welcoming venue: unpretentious and unassuming, offering good live music and good times.

Onopa Brewing Company
735 E. Center Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414-264-3630
www.onopabrewery.com

Joking that they can hold “upwards of 300 dead bodies,” Onopa Brewing Company is known for consistent live music. As a place to see rising Milwaukee bands and desirable out-of-town acts, Onopa offers a diverse array of shows. You’ll hear rock, hiphop, blues, electronic, world, and anything else that can be enjoyed with a hand-crafted microbrew. Onopa is a well-known spot for local brew in an otherwise big business beer town, and the bands they bring regularly garner positive reviews in Milwaukee’s alternative newspaper, Shepherd-Express.

Club Timbuktu
520 E. Center Street
414-265-7000
www.clubtimbuktu.com

Named for the capital of Mali, Club Timbuktu is a club/restaurant offering traditional African meals and some fusion cuisine. They couple it with live music: varied schools of jazz, world, reggae, calypso, neo-soul, and Afrobeat. Club Timbuktu is a place for Riverwest denizens to feel the rhythm of African dance on weekends, while regular events like Tuesday night “Music for the Soul” warm up the weeknights.

Other venues known for live music in Riverwest include:
The Uptowner
Mad Planet
Art Bar