Bob Weir has spent a lifetime exploring what a song can be, and at 74 years of age, those excursions are only getting more interesting. As a member of the Grateful Dead, Weir and his cohorts expanded the scope of what American folk music could be many times over.

Chicago’s Neal Francis owes a lot to musicians that came before him, and honors that in every note or shimmy across the stage. On his new record, In Plain Sight, he shares a lot of DNA with artists like Benny Sings or Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats. But let loose upon a stage on a Saturday night in Milwaukee the deeper roots of Dr. John, Traffic, and an entire history of psychedelic soul come rushing to the surface.

The kids are all right (but they also may all be on drugs).

black midi’s chaotic, revelatory performance at Turner Hall in Milwaukee ripped the band-aid off our collective live music drought and left a path of destruction (and joy) in its wake.