Some of the best Milwaukee concerts and comedy shows this winter
Here are some top shows to check out in Milwaukee from December 2025 through February 2026.
It was indisputably cool for the few hundred MGK fans who got to see the artist also known as Machine Gun Kelly play a free Shank Hall show in August.
But there are some things you just can’t do in a club – like make your entrance by ascending through the gaping, smoking mouth of the Statue of Liberty.
It was one of several elaborate set pieces MGK offered at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 6, one of the first stops of an expansive tour stretching deep into next year behind his latest album, “Lost Americana.”
MGK actually ended up playing every song from his most popular album to date, “Tickets to My Downfall,” whose fifth anniversary he’s also celebrating at his 2025 shows.
If announcing in advance that he was playing the album in its entirety to sell more tickets for tour dates in December, it worked. Fiserv Forum was full, with MGK proclaiming 11,000 were in attendance. And he ultimately offered a better major scale show then at Summerfest in 2022, where his sour commentary about his critics stifled the fun. This time out, MGK was clearly having a blast – and he also delivered a show that was even better than that free club gig.
It was longer for one – two hours and four minutes versus 65 minutes at Shank Hall. But also, MGK, even if he’s underrated as a guitarist and especially as a rapper, is an artist that thrives on showmanship and theatrics, and there was a whole lot of that at Fiserv.
In addition to that memorable entrance (the Statue of Liberty also had glowing eyes and nose rings, a national landmark recast in an MGK-style punk rock vibe), MGK performed “I Think I’m Okay” high above the ground from behind an outstretched hand of the statue, which was clutching a cigarette, while a suspended massive Zippo lighter cast a giant flame that “lit” up the cig. For “Papercuts,” he shredded on electric guitar as it fired off sparks from its head. There were slick handheld mic flips, flames and fireworks and lasers aplenty, and for the final two songs from “Americana,” “Cliché” and “Vampire Diaries,” he did some smooth synchronized dance moves, heavy on the pop and lock, alongside his two backing dancers.
He also managed to recreate the best aspect of that Shank Hall show in the arena: electric close encounters with his fans. His performances of “Bloody Valentine” and “Forget Me Too” in the middle of the “Downfall” portion of the set were the best of the night, largely because of the guests that joined him on stage. For the former, eight cheering, singing, dancing fans joined MGK, the dancers and his six backing musicians, with one fan having the privilege of ripping off a piece of duct tape from his mouth. “Forget Me Too” was even better – not just because it’s one of MGK’s better songs. He called out to a young girl he said he met at Harley-Davidson (the museum, a dealership or headquarters, he didn’t specify), and said he was going to fulfill his promise to bring her on stage. She made her way up to sing along to the Halsey parts, relentlessly bouncing through the performance, the overwhelming excitement of the moment registering on her face.
Fans in their seats also did their part to enhance one of the most moving parts of the show, a performance of “Lonely,” a raw and unflinching song about MGK’s father, and the complicated relationship they had, after he passed. Fans put on the lights of their smartphones, but put filters over them to cast soft pink glows – with MGK taking notice, and thanking them for enriching a moment he thought he squandered given his emotional struggle to sing his song.
For the most part, this was a party, but MGK acknowledged the pain that can fuel his music, and bring his fans together. It came through in a nicely rendered snippet of Zach Bryan’s “Sun to Me” that he dedicated to his mother, and in a tribute to his late friend Luke “Dingo” Trembeth in his song “Your Name Forever,” which also illustrated how commanding and fluid MGK can be when he raps. And it was especially touching in a tribute to his daughter Casie, complemented by home videos from her early childhood through her current teen years, for “Play This When I’m Gone.”
MGK and his Milwaukee fans may have been inside an arena, not a club, this time out – but moments like that one managed to make this show much more intimate.
Three takeaways from MGK’s concert, including opener Julia Wolf
- There were several Wisconsin nods in MGK’s Fiserv Forum set. Early on he unbuttoned his “Lost Americana” jacket to reveal a sequin-encrusted Harley-Davidson shirt, and later in the set, wore a different Harley-Davidson vest. His drummer and one of his guitarists had Harley shirts too. MGK also briefly sported a Milwaukee Bucks-branded WWE-style championship belt he proudly showed off, and as he did at Shank Hall, he referred to his Milwaukee fans as “my cheese curds.”
- At the Shank Hall show, MGK revealed his plans for an arena tour, and he offered another inside scoop this time out: In 2026, he’ll be releasing a rap album.
- Opener Julia Wolf set the mood with emo and Evanescence-flavored originals like “Loser,” but her most winning moment was when she joined MGK suspended on platforms in the air for a cover of the Goo Goo Dolls’ classic, “Iris.”
Contact Piet Levy at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
